Stories from 4 February 2010
Russia: Blogger Addresses Russian President With Environmental Claim
Blogger tebedam from Norilsk, one of the most polluted cities in the world, wrote a post [RUS] addressing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and demanding the introduction of innovative environmental technologies.
Russia: Forbes Magazine Publishes List Of Top Government Bloggers
Forbes magazine published the list of the top-20 official bloggers [RUS]. President Medvedev [RUS] tops the list, followed by an ex-oppositionary Maria Gaidar [RUS] and Perm Governor Oleg Chirkunov [RUS].
Ukraine: “If Google Were a State-Owned Company…”
A Lviv-based blogger mocks Ukrainian state bureaucracy and red tape, describing what it would take to do a Google search if Google were a Ukrainian state-owned company. Most readers find the parody hilarious, albeit a bit scary and a bit sad - because is is so close to truth.
Brazil: Kiss-in for homosexual and abortion rights
São Paulo will stop on Sunday for an evening of mass kissing in protest against resistance to the Brazilian government's third edition of the National Program for Human Rights
Spain: Citizen Journalist Award
The Spanish citizen journalism site Bottup announces its 2nd Citizen Journalist Award. The winner, open to anyone in the world, will receive up to 1,800 euros towards a trip to anywhere in the world where he or she will be a “Special Correspondent” for Bottup.
Dominican Republic: Coop Marena Cooperative Hotel
The Coop Marena is a typical resort hotel in the Dominican Republic. However, blogger José Rafael Sosa notes that what sets this hotel apart is that it is a cooperative [es], and does not belong to a corporation or single individual.
Haiti: Tent Cities
~/zaboka reports on conditions in the Haitian tent cities, which sprung up as a result of the homelessness caused by the devastating January 12 earthquake: “I was amazed by how clean it was and how they had separated the camp in different sectors and assigned people in charge to make...
Ecuador: Creation of Colambo Yacuri National Park
The blog Voces Lojanas [es] writes about the creation of the Colambo Yacuri National Park located in the region of Loja, Ecuador.
Trinidad & Tobago: Cricketer's House Burgled
Cricket icon Brian Lara's house is burgled and tickets to the upcoming Beyoncé concert stolen, prompting Trinidad and Tobago girls, politics, sports, technology, carnival, and lifestyle to comment: “Brian Lara's company, Lay Management, was controversially awarded the contract to construct the massive stage for the concert, but the question on...
Suriname: Tattoo You
At Paramaribo SPAN, Christopher Cozier considers the work of a tattoo artist “using skin as another canvas”, which “coincides with the painted decorations on Paramaribo minibuses, reaching out to a larger contemporary public and extending the dialogue about visual production.”
Dominica: On Censorship
Dominica Weekly puts forward its take on the issue of censorship, commenting: “Dominican authorities must pay close attention to other lyrics which glorify guns, drugs, violence or deviant behaviour. Calypso, as a art form [has] tremendous influence on the behaviour of youth…and governments have a responsibility to ensure that the...
Trinidad & Tobago: On Carnival
TriniGourmet.com “shine[s] a spotlight on Trinidad’s largest cultural festival, Carnival”, while gspottt publishes a list of Carnival safety tips.
Bermuda, Barbados: Indebted
As Bermuda's debt climbs, Vexed Bermoothes thinks that “government would downsize both its expectations and its size, institute rigorous budgets and controls, and get a grip on its finances”; Barbados Underground, meanwhile, is afraid that “the Barbados economy appears to be headed for the rocks.”
Palestine: Dissatisfaction With New ADSL Policy By Paltel
A new ADSL internet service from Paltel (the Palestinian Telecommunication Group) has triggered a wave of online demonstrations by internet users in the West Bank and Gaza due to the limitations that will be placed on the speed.
Yakuza and cops have something to teach
Former Yomiuri Shimbun journalist Jake Adelstein writes of his experience as crime reporter in Japan in two juicy entries titled Everything I Ever Really Needed to Know I learned From The Yakuza or The Cops 1 & 2 [en].
Taiwan: Photoblogger Featured in Windows7 Theme
Photoblogger frogfree's 5 sets of photographs are officially recognized and featured in Windows 7 theme. He hopes it could encourage people around the world using Windows 7 to get to know the beauty of Taiwan(zh).
Japan: Favorite fruit ranking
Mari Kanazawa highlights an interesting survey on Japanese favorite fruit ranking.
Japan: Snow Candle Sparking Hope for Haiti
Over 100 international students of the International University of Japan joined together to build a snow ball in lighting the candle of hope for Haitians who have been suffering from the earthquake devastation since January 12th.
South Korea: Citizenship
Ask a Korean! explains the South Korea policy on dual citizenship.
Who writes about ICT4D online?
After several months of dedicated analysis about how ICT for development is covered on the web, here are some thoughts from Global Voices about the online availability of information about ICT4D
Colombia: New Human Rights Watch Report
Plan Colombia and Beyond recommends the new Human Rights Watch report on Colombia about the ‘rise of emerging paramilitary groups.’
