Stories from 18 August 2009
Cuba: Pills as Panacea?
“If I take my clue from what people are looking for to relieve their suffering, I would have to conclude that depression is on the rise”: Cuba's Generation Y explains.
Montserrat, Dominica: Habitat Hope
Repeating Islands links to a report which suggests there is hope for Dominica and Montserrat's mountain chickens “after the spread of the deadly chytrid fungus throughout its habitat…”
Bolivia: Honoring Dogs on the Feast of St. Roch
Bolivians recently celebrated the Feast of St. Roch, the patron saint of dogs. On this day, many people give extra attention to pets that have given them so much throughout the year.
Bolivia: Price for a Stand at Book Fair
Willy Jordan writes that the price for each square meter of a stand at the latest La Paz Book Fair [es] costs Bs. 600, approximately 85 USD, which makes it out of reach for some small publishers to participate.
Paraguay: President Fernando Lugo's First Year
Despite some of the difficulties over the past year, Carlos Rodríguez of Rescatar [es] writes that Paraguayan President’ Fernando Lugo's first year “was positive and was worth it.”
Colombia: The Other Side of the Flower Fair
The Flower Fair in Medellín, Colombia is a highly anticipated event, which attracts many visitors to the city. However, Xady of Expresate [es] shows another side to the fair, which includes traffic congestion and an increase in accidents.
El Salvador: President Mauricio Funes’ Honeymoon
The President of El Salvador Mauricio Funes currently enjoys an 86% approval rate, but Tim Muth writes that his “honeymoon will be challenged by the economy.”
China: Why have they taken citizen Xu Zhiyong?
Uln looks into the Xinhua article for the official explanation for the arrest of citizen rights lawyer Xu Zhiyong.
China: Curing Internet Addiction
ESWN brings into focus CCTV's investigative news story on “Curing Internet Addiction”, in which the reporter Chai Jing questioned the label of “mental illness” from those who use the Internet eight or more hours per day.
Armenia: Newspaper promotes homophobia and hate crimes
In an extended post, Unzipped: Gay Armenia reacts in horror to an article published by one local newspaper which not only displays its own homophobia, but also appears to advocate hate crimes — including murder — against gays in the country.
Poland, Ukraine: Łemkowszczyzna/Lemkivshchyna
Raf Uzar writes about “Lemko Land, better known as Łemkowszczyzna or Lemkivshchyna” and its people.
Hungary: Rudapithecus Hungaricus
Hungarian Spectrum leaves politics behind and turns to paleontology, writing about a fossil hominoid found in Rudabánya in Northern Hungary and known as Rudapithecus hungaricus.
Cambodia’s AIDS colony
Various human rights groups have accused the Cambodian government of setting up a de facto AIDS colony when it resettled 40 families with HIV and AIDS to a village 25 kilometers outside Phnom Penh City
Azerbaijan: Eurovision voting scandal
Although held in May, some media outlets in Azerbaijan last week reported that 43 people who voted for the Armenian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest have been identified by police and one has even been called in for questioning. Bloggers react.
Georgia, Russia: More on DDOS Attacks
More on the recent DDOS attacks – by Evgeny Morozov of Foreign Policy's Net.Effect – here and here.
