Latest posts by Ben Paarmann from August, 2007
Armenia: Genocide notes
The quest for the acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide might prevent seeking an explanation for why it happened. Join Onnik Krikorian for several interesting thoughts on the issue of the...
Kyrgyzstan: Meet the summit press
Joshua Kucera was one of 500 journalists who covered the SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek. The Kyrgyz hosts provided the journalists with all they could wish for, except one,...
Georgia: IDPs
Steady State says that in Georgia, Internally Displaced People from the Abkhazia war are now being evicted from their temporary shelters. At the same time, the Caucasian country spends record...
Afghanistan: Misinformation or Taliban divisions?
Afghanistanica has serious doubts on the authenticity of an alleged Taliban pamphlet distributed in Afghanistan's Helmand province this July. Was it written by the Americans instead?
Kazakhstan: Elections
Sean Roberts analyses the importance of today's parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan, and finds that the real results of the poll will only be clear over the course of the next...
Azerbaijan: Islam on the rise?
Asking Tough Questions in Tough Places discusses whether the eclipse of political opposition to the current Azeri government is promoting a surge of radical Islam.
Mongolia: Media and journalism
Tom Terry, Managing Director of independent station Eagle TV, dissects a UNESCO report on media and journalism in Mongolia, and finds little reason to disagree.
Armenia: Orphanage
Thomas of Follow the Way posts photos taken by Lilit Abrahamyan. They depict the daily life in an orphanage for mentally handicapped kids near Armenia's capital Yerevan.
Kyrgyzstan: Let the show begin
Mirsulzhan Namazaliev provides a comprehensive summary of Livejournal coverage of the opening of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan, including links to many first-hand photo reports.
Kazakhstan: Exhibition
The blogging artists of Artpologist have successfully opened their exhibition about the changing face of Kazakhstan's southern capital Almaty. Daniel has some thoughts on how it all went (photos here)....
Turkmenistan: Reaching out
Bonnie Boyd notes that Turkmenistan's isolation on the world stage seems to decrease under new president Berdymukhamedov. Meanwhile, Turkmen national Merdjen is having bad flashbacks of totalitarian rule in her...
Afghanistan: Debunking myths
Afghan President Karzai criticised the kidnapping of women (of the Korean hostage group) as un-Islamic and un-Afghan. Blogger Mohammad Fahim Khairy disagrees and says that during most of Afghanistan's recent...
Kyrgyzstan: Chinese Flattery
Kyrgyz Report reports that now that the Chinese delegation has arrived in Kyrygzstan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, the Kyrygz president Kurmanbek promptly signed a declaration that Taiwan is...
Afghanistan: Hostage crisis
In the latest developments of the Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan, Eugene Echo reports that another female hostage was picked to be released today.
Afghanistan: Glass half full or half empty?
In describing the situation in Afghanistan, Barnett R. Rubin argues that it does not matter if the glass is half full or half empty: “The Afghan glass may be half...
Mongolia: Street children
Bonnie Boyd links to a Worldvision video documenting the plight of Mongolian street children.
Kyrgyzstan: Legalise prostitution?
Asel discusses whether one should legalise or ban prostitution in Kyrgyzstan. On his blog, Mirsulzhan argues for legalisation, and on Genderstan, Anna compares the situation in Kyrgyzstan with examples from...
Afghanistan: Sabotaging a radio station
Sanjar reports that during a fight with government troops, Taliban fighters destroyed a radio station in the Wardak province.
Armenia: Racist graffiti
Both Onnik Krikorian and Tirami Su find the recent surge of racist graffiti in Yerevan disgusting.
Armenia: Smoking waste
Anahide writes about a dump site outside of Yerevan, where unrecycled waste is slowly burning and releases toxic emissions. Thomas of Follow the Way took some pictures of the site.
Kazakhstan: Building a tent
Michael Hancock finds “Khan Shatyr” to be a manifestation of the widening gap between rich and poor in Kazakhstan: the huge tent which is being built in the capital Astana...
