Stories from 2 May 2009
Japan: On Takiji's “Cannery Ship”
‘The “Boom” was Manufactured and Real’ – ikjeld.com offers an online edition of Norma Field's “Commercial Appetite and Human Need: The Accidental and Fated Revival of Kobayashi Takiji's Cannery Ship” (published in the Asia-Pacific Journal) on how and why Takiji's pillar of Japanese proletarian literature hit it off with the...
Peru: Newspaper Questions Spanish Language Proficiency of Indigenous Congresswoman
The Lima newspaper Correo published a front page story about the low level of Spanish language proficiency by the indigenous Congresswoman Hilaria Supa. As a result, the Peruvian blogosphere put forth various opinions including agreeing that legislators should have a minimum level of education, and others put forth accusations of racism and discrimination.
Kenya: The state of Kenyan public universities
Odegle thinks something needs to be done about Kenyan public universities: “What I wonder is, are we as Kenyans losing the meaning of everything? Yes I appreciate the need to have more people go through university. But should it be for its own sake. The simple truth which does not...
Japan: Tsukiji Fish Market
Check out Davewalsh's precious photos of the tuna auctions and of the whale meat shop, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market (or Tsukiji Fish Market).
Egypt: Combating H1N1 with pigs culling
While the world is busy trying to figure out a way for necessarily precautions to stop swine flu or H1N1 from spreading, the Egyptian government decided to take one more step forward and cull all pigs in the country. Since then bloggers, as well as mainstream media, have been engaged in a long debate whether this is a wise decision, or whether the crisis should have been managed in a better way.