18 February 2009

Stories from 18 February 2009

lsrael: Spiderman Stops Traffic

  18 February 2009

Who is least likely to slow your daily commute? Spiderman probably features low on the list. Israeli police arrested a costumed Spidey yesterday who had created a traffic jam by jumping from car to car with webbed ropes, Benji Lovitt of What War Zone??? reports.

Bahrain: “Just Ban It”

  18 February 2009

Bahraini blogger The Dude is frustrated: “Our ‘parliament’, in their infinite wisdom, have decided that they can best serve society by banning everything and anything that they disagree with, for reasons that they clearly invent.”

Palestine: From Gaza to Puerto Rico

  18 February 2009

Palestinian blogger Laila El-Haddad, currently based in the United States, describes a visit to Puerto Rico to give a talk: “It was clear the people of Puerto Rico were thirsty for knowledge about the Palestinian conflict, and have a deep sense of the injustice of it all.”

Caribbean, USA: Stanford Charged with Fraud

  18 February 2009

Fresh on the heels of the latest regional financial meltdown comes another: news that U.S. billionaire Allen Stanford has been slapped with charges for investment fraud - more than 8 billion dollars' worth. The potential fallout for West Indies cricket appears to be concerning Caribbean bloggers as much as the economic ramifications.

Trinidad & Tobago: Taking Responsibility

  18 February 2009

What really sticks in Trinidadian blogger Coffeewallah‘s craw when it comes to the CL Financial fiasco, is: “At the head of this debacle, someone who has taken no responsibility at all. Someone who is basically being left with his personal wealth intact while the taxpayer via Government intervention is bailing...

Iran:”Ahmadinejad, a lion in the Islamic World”

  18 February 2009

Mehdi has published a photo of a cover of a book that he discovered in a university book store in Malaysia. We can see on this cover Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's photo and book's title is “Ahmadinejad, a new lion in the Islamic World”. The blogger adds [fa] Ahmadineajd's speeches...

Cuba: “Boring Home”

  18 February 2009

The book Boring Home, which was banned at the 2009 Havana International Book Fair, is now available on the Internet. Cuban bloggers talk about it here, here and here.

Trinidad & Tobago: Eyes Wide Shut

  18 February 2009

Although Slacker says that Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is an intrinsic part of him, he cannot, in all good conscience, participate in the national festival: “Not when the murder toll as at yesterday stood at 84…a rate of 1.75 a day; not when press freedom and freedom of expression is...

Trinidad & Tobago: Facing Down Facebook

  18 February 2009

“While I have a tendency to be critical of social networks and the companies that run them, it appears Facebook – at the least – is listening”: Trinidadian blogger Taran Rampersad is back on Facebook after learning that its Terms of Service have been changed back to what they were...

Caribbean: Economic Effects

  18 February 2009

Keith in Trinidad says that “it is troubling that we seem so oblivious to the meltdown that's occurring” in Martinique and Guadeloupe, while Living Guyana cites the many examples of regional economic discord to add weight to his question of whether “Guyana's tenuous economy will be negatively affected.”

Jamaica, Spain: Considering the Environment

  18 February 2009

As the King and Queen of Spain visit Jamaica, Snailwriter is concerned about what an alliance between the two countries could mean for the environment: “‘Spanish hotels have become part of the geography of Jamaica and they are here to stay.’ And that is the tragedy. When the economic downturn...

Egypt: Bloggers Take on the “Sons of Zion”

  18 February 2009

The bombs on Gaza may have stopped falling, but a fierce cyber battle continues, with bloggers on both sides of the fence mobilising their troops to 'obliterate' the presence of the other - at least online. Marwa Rakha taps into the Egyptian blogosphere to present to us another facet of this war.