Stories from 27 July 2009
Caribbean: On Henry Gates Jr.
Caribbean bloggers are still abuzz about the Henry Gates arrest: Jamaican diaspora blogger Pamela Mordecai, 21 Square and Catch a fire from Bermuda and Weblog Bahamas.
Cuba: Light & Shadow
“This was the speech of the ‘shadow’ because light is something the authoritarians cannot tame…Raúl Castro is right: we can no longer see him, because the twilight he represents lacks…any kind of luminosity”: Cuba's Generation Y blogs about her impressions of this year's July 26th speech.
Jamaica: Gladys Bustamante Passes On
Repeating Islands acknowledges the passing of 97-year-old Gladys Bustamante, “the widow of Jamaica’s first prime minister and a fierce supporter of women’s and workers’ rights.”
Trinidad & Tobago: LGBT Rights
As Emancipation Day approaches, Trinidad and Tobago blog gspottt focuses on human rights, observing that “in the Anglophone Caribbean, discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender often intersect with other socio-economic conditions.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Anti-People?
“The Prime Minister is on record for saying that despite what the people think he will proceed with the [aluminium smelter]. Despite what people think. And the environmentalists, those crazy people who want to sustain the environment longer so that we can sustain ourselves…are ‘anti-people'?” Trinidadian blogger Taran Rampersad takes...
Barbados, Guyana: Immigration Debate
As reactions to the government's clampdown on illegal immigrants goes “off the boil”, Barbados Underground “condemns…the holier than thou attitude which President Jagdeo of Guyana and his cronies have directed at Barbados.”
Jamaica, U.S.A.: Tributes to Michael
“This year’s Reggae Sumfest was all about Tributes to Michael”: From Jamaica, The Phoenix in a Gas House reports.
An Indian's Perspective On Tipaimukh Dam
A Minority Of One comments on the controversial Tipaimukh Dam from an Indian's perspective: “I feel that the responsible course of action is to re-consider the project, or at least its scale.” The blog reminds Indians to look for options, “if not for the sake of humanity and neighbourliness, then...
Bhutan: Misconceptions of Democracy
Freedom in Bhutan comments that: “there seems to be serious flaws on concept and thought about Bhutanese political leadership regarding the democracy and its values.”
Armenia: Political graffiti
The Hima! [AM] youth movement blog posts a photograph of graffiti appearing in Yerevan. The blog posts a photograph of one example remembering 1 March 2008 when 10 people died in clashes between opposition supporters and police in the Armenian capital.
An Indian View On India-Pakistan Relations
Supriyo Chaudhuri at The Sunday Posts comments on the relations between India and Pakistan: “we should indeed try to create a new Pakistan based on democracy and tolerance rather than pakistanizing the whole region based on violence and chauvinism.”
Maldives: Celebrating Independence
Maldives celebrates today 44 years of independence. Mohamed Nasheed opines that there is no need for dress rehearsals of the independence day celebrations, rather the people should be reminded of the Maldives story – “Who are we? How are we? Where are we? Where did we start from? Where do...
Sri Lanka: New LTTE Blog
ICT for Peacebuilding (ICT4Peace) takes a look at the blog site of S. Pathmanathan of the department of International Relations of LTTE.
Azerbaijan: Smashing idealism
Thoughts on the Road comments on the English translation of an interview with the official investigator on the case of recently detained video bloggers Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli posted on the OL! blog. The blogger says that he still considers the case against the two youth activists to be...
China: Missing iPhone pressured mainland worker to suicide
Sun Dangyang, 25, was born in a small village. He earned his college degree in Harbin University and was then employed by Foxconn, a Taiwanese company and one of Apple’s largest contractors. His parents were proud of their son however they never expected that the job and an iPhone would...
China: The New York Times Enrages Netizens
C. Custer from China Geeks reported on anti-CNN's criticism on the New York Times’ misleading photo captions concerning the Urumqi riot.
China: How Buildings Are Built In Shenzhen
ESWN translated a short piece (with photo) from Voice of China BBS featuring Lao Liu, who used pole to carry bricks off the boats for 21 years at the Xixiang pier.