Stories from 14 March 2008
Vietnam: Hamsters as Pets
Vietnam bans hamsters as pets.
Cuba: No Restrictions?
Child of the Revolution is hesitant to regard the news that “Cubans will be able to buy a range of electronic consumer goods without restrictions” as a sign of political development.
Guyana: Threads that Bind
“Sometimes we life is one unending seam, same colour, same strand, same stitch, not varying in size. Then suddenly the thread snap and…”: Guyana-Gyal discovers a “delightful variation” from her daily routine.
Ukraine: A Hacker's Party
Orange Ukraine links to the Washington Post's Security Fix blog for its coverage of a new Ukrainian party founded by a hacker: the Internet Party of Ukraine.
Ukraine: Minister of Transport's Transportation
Ukrainiana reports on the coverage of “the transportation habits of Yosyp Vinsky, a former member of the Socialist Party and current Minister of Transport.”
South Korea: Migrant Worker Film Festival
The 2nd Migrant worker film festival has been announced. The program can be found here.
Kazakhstan: Pictures from the West
Mikhail is on the road again with his photo-camera, offering a breath-taking set of pictures from Mangyshlak, a mountaneous peninsula on the Caspian Sea, Western Kazakhstan.
Turkmenistan: The Meeting of Two Khans
Maciula analyzes the reasons for and the outcomes of the Turkmen president's visit to the neighboring Uzbekistan, which was arranged with great ceremony although tangible results of the visit were very scarce.
Turkmenistan: Presidential Orders Neglected?
Abdulgamid reports on the Turkmen president’s problems getting Head of the Ministry for National Security (Secret Service) to carry out orders.
China: SARFT's Insanity
Wang Xiaofeng tries to explain SARFT’ insanity by looking into its unrestricted administrative power and the history of censorship against cultural workers.
China: Nansha Oil Refinery Campus
Buchong visited the planned construction site of an giant oil refinery campus at Nansha, a river mouth peninsular at Zhujiang delta [zh]. The villagers are looking forwarded for the construction, however, the project would result in serious air and water pollution affecting nearby districts, in particular residents in Macau, Hong...
Cuba: A Blog About Internet Censorship
Potro Salvaje [es] (Wild Colt) is a blog about the use of internet in Cuba. “We'll talk about censorship, fliters, blocked pages, proxys, and all of the limitations that we Cubans have…”
Ecuador: Google Maps and Flood Zones
Christian Espinosa of Cobertura Digital [es] provides an update on the project of using Google Maps to show and provide more information of the areas affected by the heavy flooding in Ecuador.