24 December 2008

Stories from 24 December 2008

Cuba: Be Part of the Solution

  24 December 2008

Generation Y‘s Yoani Sanchez has the solution to Cuba's problems: “Let everyone speak, no matter whether in complaint or in support of a proposal designed to address the problems…only freedom of opinion will allow those who can advance remedies to dare to do so.”

Barbados: Journalists Appear in Court

  24 December 2008

Barbados Free Press is keeping an eye on the case of the two arrested journalists, calling the open court hearing “a stunning victory by the dozens of local news media people who showed up to support”, while at the same time denouncing local mainstream media for not making an issue...

Jamaica: Bailout Plan?

  24 December 2008

“It is indeed a sorry state of affairs. Usually in times of downturn, alcohol sales increase as people look to drown their sorrows!”: As employees of a rum manufacturer are laid off, Jamaica Salt wonders whether “the government of Jamaica should be considering a bailout plan.”

Guyana: Bridge Opens

  24 December 2008

Living Guyana congratulates the government on the opening of the Berbice bridge, but reserves the right to ask a few questions.

Gaza/Sderot: Israel and Palestine together on video

  24 December 2008

The Gaza/Sderot: Life in Spite of Everything Project is one of the prime examples of the variety of ways a bridge between different cultures and world-views can be created through online media. In this project created by ARTE.tv, a French-German cultural television station, twelve people going on their day to day business on either side of a violent border were exposed on a website for ten week project which ended on December 23rd. The two minute videos documented snippets of the lives of 6 characters in Gaza, Palestine and 6 characters on the other side of the border in Sderot, Israel during two months.

Taiwan: Pandas arrive at Taipei Zoo

  24 December 2008

Two pandas arrived in Taiwan yesterday from China and are now in quarantine at Taipei Zoo. They will go on public display in late January. Michael Turton explains the pandas are likely to be a fad. The Foreigner in Formosa writes that accepting the pandas means sacrificing Taiwan's sovereignty.

Central and Eastern Europe: A Christmas Roundup

  24 December 2008

A holiday season roundup: Tanja of Czechmatediary recalls family Christmas celebrations of her childhood, writes about the Czech Christmas Mass, and shares a recipe of Vanocka (“Christmas bread”); CzechFolks.com writes about a calorie-free yet mouth-watering way of decorating a holiday table with crocheted Czech Christmas cookies; The Foreigner's Guide to...

Guatemala: Mincemeat Pie

  24 December 2008

Christmas in Guatemala often means celebrating with food. Luis Figueroa of Carpe Diem [es] is especially fond of the dessert “Mincemeat pie.“

Venezuela: Telling the Country's History Through Film

  24 December 2008

A group of young Venezuelan filmmakers have succeeded in illustrating some of the country's history or adapting famous pieces of literature through films that have been well-received by the general public. Many Venezuelan movies in the past are considered extremely violent, and the emergence of these new kinds of films are showing new expressions of creativity.

Czech Republic: A Politics-Free Roundup

  24 December 2008

Politics-free posts from the Czech Republic: a charity project to help orphans organized by Czech model Tereza Maxova, bankruptcy of one of the largest Czech glass companies, and Karel Gott's lasting popularity – at CzechFolks.com; the winner of the Bravest Czech of the Year award, and tips on how to...

Ukraine: Hutsuls and Crimean Tatars

  24 December 2008

My Simferopol Home writes about her dissertation plans to compare histories of exoticism in the Ukrainian Hutsul and Crimean Tatars cultures: “So, why these two groups? While distinct in ethnogenesis, history and territory, Hutsuls, the superstitious, hard-drinking subsistence farmers to Poland and Austro-Hungary’s urban intellectuals, and Crimean Tatars, the perceived...

Ukraine: Yushchenko's Press Conference

  24 December 2008

Tetyana Vysotska of What's Up, Ukraine? writes about the Ukrainian president's annual press conference and his response to one of the most popular questions posed to him via the internet: “Mr. President, how much money should the people of Ukraine pay to convince you and other top authorities to leave...

Bulgaria, Russia: “Open Source AK-47″

  24 December 2008

Eternal Remont writes: “Apparently, Russia's state-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport is livid that Bulgaria would violate the sacred principles of intellectual property and trademark protection to produce an, um, we're going to call it an ‘open source AK-47′.”

Russia: Patriarch; Yoshkar-Ola; Stalin's Legacy; Protests

  24 December 2008

A selection of recent posts from Window on Eurasia: a “Ukrainian” metropolitan who may or may not become Russia's next patriarch; Hungarians react to the Russian authorities’ suggestion to rename Yoshkar-Ola, the capital of Mari El, to Tsaryovokokshaysk, the city's pre-1917 name; some Russian history teachers’ efforts to educate students...

Russia: Gas News

  24 December 2008

Siberian Light and Robert Amsterdam's blog write about “the annual Russo-Ukrainian gas crisis”; the latter also writes about the fledgling “gas OPEC.”