Stories from 8 July 2008
Jamaica: Heat in the Dancehall
Several countries have banned Jamaican dancehall artists because of the violent, misogynistic and often homophobic content of their lyrics. Claude Mills.com discusses the marketing nightmare that this offshoot of reggae has become, and asks “Is Dancehall Dying?”
Armenia: Corruption & Scapegoats
Blogrel reports that the head of the notorious Passport and Visa agency (OVIR) in Armenia has been fired for corruption. However, Unzipped wonders why no legal proceedings have been launched and if the government is truly fighting corruption in earnest.
China: Summer Olympics Disaster Guide
Probably going to see a lot more posts like this in the coming few weeks, so let this be GVO's chance to (hopefully) get it out of the way now: What could go wrong in Beijing? Everything.. Via Shanghaiist.
“No Car Day” in Southwestern Chinese City
Last year, Kunming, China took part in “No Car Day” (无车日). Now, the southwestern Chinese city has gone above and beyond by instituting a “No Car Day” every month. Kunming, home to many environmental NGOs, has Car Free Days on the last Saturday of every month. China's Green Beat gives...
China: Crackdown on Olympic-related video content
Was it footage of the Olympic torch relay that killed top video sharing website 56.com? Danwei's Eric Mu today reports that 20 such sites were recently censured for carrying “Olympic-related content”.
Trinidad & Tobago: Fashion forward?
Afrobella comments on the highly publicised all-black issue of Italian Vogue, and wonders whether it's a “one-time-only bone” to placate the increasingly loud chorus of complaints from women of colour.
Malawi: Radio Host seeks Help in Blog
An 18 month-old radio program that attracted a faithful following in Malawi is in danger of ceasing, thanks to expensive phone rates and limited bandwidth. The program's host, Malawian blogger Victor Kaonga, has made an appeal for the program to find sponsorship and be saved.
Armenia: LGBT Blogs
While most political blogs in Armenia simply duplicate the views of an already polarized media, the voices of those stuck in between, denied access to the airwaves, or who are simply misrepresented, are often ignored. That might now all be changing with the appearance of several LGBT Blogs from Armenia and the Diaspora.
Hong Kong: Shaping Hong Kong's Digital Future
Charles Mok blogs his speech on the conference: “Shaping Hong Kong's Digital Future”.
China: Wall Street Journal gets it wrong on Weng’an
Buxi comments on the recent report by the Wall Street Journal which stressed the power of blogger (in particular Zola) in exposing the Weng'an incident. Buxi points out that traditional media has a much stronger role in Weng'an, not any individual blogger.
China: Comment on the Shanghai Police Murder Case
Happyvag, a police blogger, comments on the recent Shanghai police assault case which resulted in the death of 5 polices. He admitted that the violence comes in a circle and if the police department doesn't change its practice, there will be more police assault cases.
China: Agricultural Revolution
Xueyong predicts that, with the world food crisis, the development of agriculture may become an economic driving force. The blogger hopes that China can make use of the opportunity to develop its agriculture and improve the living condition of rural population.
China: Stock Market
Ah Q wrote an article about the stock market character in China: strong government intervention, media (mis)information and lack of monitor in stock market listing.
China: Blood Storage and Internet Censorship For Olympics
Keeptalking pointed to two local news, one on Beijing city government's call for reserving blood for the Olympics, one on Guangzhou city government's announcement on increasing internet and mobile phone monitoring during the Olympics.
Kazakhstan: No commitments
Adam reports that General Secretary of the Parliamentary Assembly of OSCE R. Oliver Spencer has said in Astana that Kazakhstan will chair the OSCE in 2010 even if the commitments, undertaken in Madrid last year, are not going to be fulfilled.
Kazakhstan: Opposition wants reforms
Adam says that opposition in Kazakhstan offers its own draft legislation to be adopted in order to enhance democratization of the political system and “earn” a grounded OSCE chairmanship of Kazakhstan in the OSCE.
Uzbekistan: Attack on RFE/RL Uzbek Service
Libertad writes about the attack of state-controlled TV channels against RFE/RL Uzbek service staff.
Kyrgyzstan: Peace Corps’ 10 years
Elena reports that Peace Corps celebrates it’s 15th anniversary of activity in Kyrgyzstan.
Kazakhstan: Nobel for Nazarbayev
Joshua Foust reflects on a letter from U.S. Congressmen Darrel Issa and Charlie Melancon in which they nominated Nursultan Nazarbayev, president of Kazakhstan, for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Uzbekistan: Lady of the Hour, GooGooSha
Michael Hancock writes about Gulnora Karimova, daughter to Islom Karimov, president-for-life of Uzbekistan.
Afghanistan: From Life of Fear to Life of Freedom
The Rumi tells the story about the secondary school in Mazar-i-Sharif, northern town of Afghanistan.
