Archive for
March 26th, 2008
Stories
India: Tata, Jaguar and Rover.
· 20:33
Earlier today it was announced that Tata Motors of India is acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motors, which was once one of three automotive giants of Michigan. Tata’s acquisition of these two high-end automobile brands is one of the central topics of conversation in global mainstream media and blogs.
Within a short span of three months Tata Motors has creates quite a bit of ripple in the global automotive industry. In early January Ratan Tata unveiled its people car “Nano” aptly dubbed as the “people’s car” in New Delhi. What caught many people by surprise, especially from the automotive world, is the price point of the Nano: $2500. That makes Nano the cheapest car in the world. Earlier today Tata Motors created yet another major ripple when it announced that it is acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover, two well-known auto brands from the struggling US auto giant Ford Motors. Tata Motors will pay $2.3 billion to acquire Jaguar and Land Rover. Mark Silva captures the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover by tracing back the British roots of these two automobile companies and in a way points out the irony of the sale.He writes:
The empire was turned on its head today: With Ford Motor Co.'s announced sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to India's Tata Motors, the ownership of two of Great Britain's legendary motor marques will pass this year from one former British colony to another.
This isn't so much a story of globalization as it is a tale of the globe turned on its axis…Today, in the history of an upended world economy, India's Tata bought two of the proud motor marques of England, Jaguar and Land Rover.
John Elliot of Riding the Elephant wonders if Ratan Tata can break a cycle of decline of these two high-end automobile brands? Elliot thinks that Ratan Tata has a chance of pulling it off, but wonders about who will step into Tata’s (70 years old) shoes once he retires:
It is Tata who has provided the personal drive and leadership to turn Tata Motors into a business that can produce the Nano and buy two world famous brands - in the same year. There’s a big job waiting for someone – and Tata is not yet saying who.”
Truemors, a Silicon Valley blog takes a friendly and humorous dig at Tata's acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover. Jaguar is expected to become affectionately known as the “left Tata”, while the slightly larger Land Rover will take the role of “right Tata”.
Krishna Raj of My Capital Market Weblog sums up the key points of the deal in his blog post.
Ford will also supply power trains, stamping, and other components. Along with that, it will provide engineering support, including research and development. Ford Motor Credit will provide financing to JLR dealers for 12 months. There will be no change in the terms of employment for JLR employees. Ford added that the deal comprises of brands, manufacturing plants, and IPR. The deal will be closed by the end of the next quarter.”
Gaurav Shukla of brandfaqs writes that the Tata Group has almost 98 companies in its fold and provides a nice overview of some of the major companies.
AutoPandit points out that Tata Motors is now the maker of low-end as well as high-end luxury cars. Nishant Kaushik points out that 10 years ago such a thing as an Indian company buying a well-known company was unheard of. His blog post underscores how far India has changes since then.
3 comments · »»Cuba: Blocking Bloggers
· 17:49
Want to get the Cuban blogosphere talking? Block access to a popular blog. Ever since Cuban authorities did just that to several less-than-supportive Havana-based blogs earlier this week, the blogging diaspora have come out in full support of Cuban bloggers - especially Yoani Sanchez and her popular Generacion Y blog, which, according to this post, seems to be the principal target.
El Diario de la Resistencia II and Cuba File quote from the Reuters story:
Sanchez, whose critical Generacion Y blog received 1.2 million hits in February, said Cubans can no longer visit her Web page (http://www.desdecuba.com/generaciony/) and two other home-grown bloggers on the Web site on a server in Germany.
All they can see is a “error downloading” message.
The Cuban Triangle, however, in touch with friends in Cuba, reports that “the site was blocked, then ‘a slow access' was permitted.” But this “slow access” does nothing to change the opinion of El Cafe Cubano, who compares Raul Castro's regime to apartheid:
While the media and some bloggers are praising raulita like he's some sort of saint or the catalyst for FREEDOM. He's using the Chinese model FOLKS! Wow computers are available now, but no one can afford them and as you can see the internet is restricted.
Blog for Cuba adds:
What will Cubans do with all those new computers? One thing for sure, they won't be reading Cuban blogs that voice dissent. Raul the reformer, remains Raul the Oppressor.
Blue Star Chronicles is not at all surprised, but admits to being a little confused:
Don’t the progressives (aka communist) of our country just love the current Cuban form of government. I keep hearing how superior it is to ours. I keep hearing how they have a better medical care system, etc. Of course, the people who say that are almost exclusively well-to-do latte liberals who don’t have to live under the confines of a petty dictator. I’ve not seen a one of them actually move there.
Tim Worstall echoes his sentiment in this post, while TonyTeri.com acknowledges that “it takes extreme guts for her (Sanchez) to write about what she does. She actually has to roam about Cuba blogging from hotels and other areas with Internet access usually reserved for foreigners.” Underscoring this point is 1Click2Cuba:
Blogging in Cuba can get you in a heap of trouble (translation: jail), but that threat hasn't stopped hundreds of bloggers on the island determined to get their messages out. Lately, Cuban bloggers have taken to dressing like tourists, feigning accents and secretly using hotel internet lines (native Cubans aren't allowed inside tourist hotels). Once inside the hotel, Yoani Sanchez has to write fast. Not only because she fears getting caught, but because online access is prohibitively expensive. An hour online costs about $6, the equivalent of half of what the average Cuban make in a month. Independent bloggers like Sanchez have to build their sites on servers outside Cuba, and they have more readers outside Cuba than inside.
Readership in fact extends to other Caribbean territories and Child of the Revolution notices that “the attempt to effectively shut down the sometimes critical blog has received wide coverage in the international media, in outlets as diverse as The Sun Sentinel and the Left-leaning London daily, The Guardian.”
Jefferson Lives posts a thoughtful perspective on the situation, saying:
I have always found it fascinating that each country can have its own laws regarding something that is supposed to be the World Wide Web. Understandably it is tough to regulate something on a global scale. However, valuable information and potential freedoms are being violated repeatedly by restricting freedom of the press and freedom to post on a global scale. This begs this question, in an arena without borders, is Cuba violating essential rights for citizens in the US by restricting this website for all to see, or just their citizens?
…while Uncommon Sense asks:
4 comments · »»Looking for an easy way to stick it to the Cuban dictatorship?
Visit Generación Y, the most popular Cuba-based blog.
Taiwan: Religious buildings–a way to explore how cultures mix 
· 15:05
The popular image of multi-culturalism as a mosaic, a salad bowl in which different cultures mix but keep their integrity, is misleading. Cultures are more like soups, flavored with many ingredients, some identifiable. –From the book ‘Cultures and societies in a changing world,’ written by Wendy Griswold.
Taiwan has a long history of diasporas and colonization. Even the so-called ‘aboriginal people’ in Taiwan drifted there several thousands years ago. About four hundreds years ago, many Han Chinese from China migrated to Taiwan and changed the aboriginal culture.
For example, Siraya, one group of the aboriginal people, has its own religion, A-Li-Tsu. The historied religious building is very simple. After sinicization, their religious buildings look more like the religious buildings for Groundskeeper God in Han’s culture.
Japan had colonized Taiwan from 1895 to the end of WWII. In 1949, the government of Republic of China lost its former territory following the Chinese civil war and moved to Taiwan. Therefore, it is not surprising that we can saw Japanese-style Buddha statue in a Han’s religious building (photo # 1), which was rebuilt after 1949.
Photo# 1 Japanese-style Buddha statue in a Han’s religious building (Photo courtesy of yueh-feng)
In the 17th century, the Spanish and Dutch ruled Taiwan shortly, and the exposure to the western culture seems to influence the decorations in traditional Han’s religious building–the sculpture in photo # 2 shows a western man wearing a suit in a Han's temple.
Photo# 2 A western-man decoration in a Han's temple (Photo courtesy of sunny)
The Spanish and Dutch also brought Christianity to Taiwan, and Christianity is one of the major religions in Taiwan. Photo # 3 shows a church with Torii, a traditional Japanese gate commonly found at the entry of to a Shinto shrine.
Photo# 3 A torii in the property of a church (Photo courtesy of little fox)
There is another flavor added to the religious buildings in Taiwan: modern. Decades ago, some fishermen picked up several damaged god statues and set up a temple for them. However, where they set up this temple became a park and the government asked them to move the temple. Because they do not have other place to set up the temple, they can only move the temple when the policemen came. At the end, the government decided to let the temple stay, but due to the possibility of flooding, the temple is designed to be able to be raised up when needed (along the four pillars around the temple).
After reading this article, do you think multi-culturalism observed in Taiwan is a salad bowl or soups?
1 comment · »»Malawi: Blogging about marriage, language, lifestyle and health
· 10:10
The Malawian blogging community is gradually growing in terms of size and topics. In this roundup, I introduce four blogs dedicated to marriage and children issues, Tumbuka language, health and lifestyle issues.
Marriage and Child care
Sunganani Manjolo has a passion for family and children care. His blog is full of ramblings on marriage, family and all the in between. Based in Lilongwe, Malawi, Manjolo blogs from experience as a married man and having been associated with Christian ministries, he shares practical tips for a modern young professional. He started blogging February 2007.
One of his earlier posts was on Praying With Your Spouse raised and listed some benefits to him after he had practised what he blogged about:
I am beginning to be more open to her (I think she likes it)
I am praying and thinking about her more often. (I think she must like it)
There is a sense of growing intimacy about the entire practice.
New Language Blog
The Internet is a place where the dominant language is English and this poses a challenge to seekers of information in other languages or of their own. A blog called Manyani Choyowoyero cha Chitumbuka is dedicated to teaching the Tumbuka language dominantly spoken and used in Northern Malawi. It was introduced March 2007 by Tobias Kumwenda who claims to be a proud Malawian and always striving to beat the odds in ICT sector.
Here is a taste of the lessons from his blog:
(Sghawa = Groundnuts), (Ntchunga = Beans), (Kabichi = Cabbage),
(Chinanazi = Pineapple), (Mphatata = Sweet Potatoes), (Mpunga = Rice)
(Mchele = Salt), (Shuga = Sugar), (Mbambayila = Irish potatoes)
The Eye Specialist blogging
Dr Khumbo Kalua who blogs under his name is currently a Lecturer and Researcher at University of Malawi's College of Medicine and Senior Eye Specialist in Blantyre, Malawi. He prides himself in having studied at several Universities in 3 continents. Being a medical specialist, his blog mostly focusses on health and medical issues affecting Malawi's health system.
His latest post titled “Primary Health Workers: Is Quantity better than Quality in Malawi” takes the reader to the challenges Malawi's primary health system has but also highlights the role of its players:
HSA’s (Health Surveillance Assistants) are the first level of contact with the patients in the community and they are supposed to give health promotion (HSA were first recruited in Malawi for Cholera prevention programmes), but unfortunately currently they do a lot; give immunisations to children, treat fever in children, treat pneumonia, malaria, supervise patients on TB and ARV, give support to home based care, implement NGO’s programmes and many other duties.
Career Woman
Fingani Mphande started blogging late 2007. She has so far written about the International Women's Day and Being a Career African Woman. Her latest post on “Being a Housewife” takes her to her home in Malawi away from Sweden where she is researching on malaria. She reflects on the importance of respecting women who spend most of their days at home:
3 comments · »»There are several men who would prefer a house wife because they will manage the home full time and may also respect their husbands more because that is their only source of income. As for me I would say a house wife is a woman whom we have to respect in society even though she is not a career woman (like lawyer, secretary, doctor, scientist, you name it), being a house wife is a career on its own.
South Africa: We'll argue with our parents and play video games!
· 09:02
Earlier this week, President Thabo Mbeki proposed that an oath be recited by school children every day in a nation-building effort. Breaking News says that the Opposition Democratic Alliance Leader, Jack Bloom, had welcomed the effort saying…
“I welcome the invitation to dialogue made by President Thabo Mbeki that we should develop an oath to be recited by children in their morning school assemblies,” said Bloom.
Bloom. who called the matter for debate last year, suggested that the pledge contained phrases based on the preamble of the constitution: “We, the people of South Africa … heal the divisions of the past … united in our diversity … establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights … improve the quality of life of all citizens.”
“It would be a powerful way to imprint the inspirational values of our constitution on the minds of young people,” he said.
The oath, pointed out by In The News…, reads as follows…
“We the youth of South Africa, recognising the injustices of our past, honour those who suffered and sacrificed for justice and freedom.”
“We will respect and protect the dignity of each person, and stand up for justice.”
“We sincerely declare that we shall uphold the rights and values of our Constitution and promise to act in accordance with the duties and responsibilities that flow from these rights.”
However, South African bloggers have another idea entirely. The renowned South African cartoonist, Zapiro, portrays the issue with a light touch.
Bloggers have expressed their resentment in other ways such as arbitrary user with his post “THE WHOLE F-ING POINT OF THE STRUGGLE WAS THAT OUR KIDS COULD GROW UP WATCHING DSTV (cable TV network) INSTEAD OF GETTING SHOT IN THE FACE IN SHARPVILLE!”
His post reads…
You have to say it and try and sound like a 13 year old:
“It’s a democratic country and you can’t make me to do it!”
I imagine that would have been my response to my teachers if I was being forced to say an oath every day in school.
And ironically I would have been right… I would have been zit faced and snot nosed, but I would have been absolutely, categorically, right! In a democratic state you can not force anyone to recite a statement of beliefs, especially in the form of a promise to that state, against their will.
Synaptoman feels the same way with this post “The oaf of allegiance”:
Now this is all very dandy, but I have some major issues with the whole concept of hundreds of thousands of children standing up every day, hands on heart, reciting some meaningless (to them) mumbo-jumbo. A little bit too much like something our friend Mao would have liked.
And then, I also have a major problem with the wording of this oath. Children (PLEASE don’t call them learners, for f*ck sake) at school at the moment are aged between 5 and 18 (or 25 depending on the school). This means that they were born between 1990 and 2003. They had absolutely nothing to do with the so-called “injustices” of the past, and I see no reason why they should “recognise the injustices of the past”.I am 1/8 German. Does this mean that I am somehow (even remotely) responsible for the so-called (hang, I couldn’t resist that) Holocaust? Of course not, and so too are our children completely innocent in respect of South Africa’s past.
Alternative versions of the oath have also been proposed by bloggers such as one by TABANSI-OKICIYAPI:
“We, the CHILDREN THE FUTURE OF SOUTH AFRICA believes in freedom and justice without corruption from our leaders. We want to believe that we have a FARE Democratic Government free of crime and violence . We want to believe that there are homes and employment for each and every family. We want to believe that Education IS FREE so we can be the AMBASSADORS OF SOUTH AFRICA. We want to believe that we as CHILDREN OF SOUTH AFRICA are respected by our parents and teachers and not abused.
We want to believe that we can uphold the rights and values of our constitution as long as those in authority remember what is written in the constitution. Uphold to respect my place in society, MY SAFETY, MY EDUCATION, MY HEALTH AND WELFARE as a CHILD AND YOUTH in this country South Africa.
“We sincerely declare that we shall uphold the rights and values of our constitution, and promise to act in accordance with the duties and responsibilities that flow from these rights AS LONG AS OUR GOVERNEMENT, COUNCIL, TEACHERS AND OTHER ADULTS show us the respect and DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN corruption,voilance and abuse, then we as children pleadge to learn from example which we are doing at present.
…and a more humorous version was put forward by arbitrary user…
“We the youth of South Africa, recognising the hotness of Jessica Biel, honour those heroes who shape our porous minds like Tony Hawk, Steve Jobs and Natalie Portman”
“We promise to argue with our parents about music, play video games and score chicks”
“We sincerely declare that we shall eat Nandos, Bunk School, Watch too much TV, Sneak our dad’s alcohol out of the house on a Friday night, Spend way too much time on facebook, Tell our dad’s we love them occasionally, Try our best not to be fat asses and most of all, always be kief (means “cool”) to other people.”
Now that’s an oath… These are kids. The injustices of their past is that yesterday the DSTV wasn’t working.
The merits of instilling an oath in schools is very debatable, however if the intention really is nation-building, should not many other “real” aspects of service delivery and and nation-building be implemented along with this “oath”? Or is the South African government grasping at straws in order to sort out a very big structural mess of its education system as seen in Zapiro's cartoon?
The debate carries on in the blogosphere and elsewhere.
0 comments · »»26th March - Bangladesh celebrates the Declaration of Independence
· 07:25
As Bangladesh celebrates its Independence Day on 26th March, the Bangla blogosphere is inundated with posts reliving the horrific Operation Searchlight that was launched by the Pakistan Army on 25th March 1971, in a desperate attempt to stamp out the Bengali Nationalist movement.
Abul Bahar brings to life that fateful the fateful night of 25 March, 1971 with the following words:
Suddenly Dhaka came to a standstill. There was complete silence all around. The country was shivering under the heavy tread of the evil forces. The earth was soaked red and the fragrant smell of the hasnahana flower was overpowered with the stench of blood.
Bloggers today are vociferous about the estimated 3million people that had been exterminated during 1971. The Bangladesh Genocide Archive has been painstakingly put together by some of the leading Bangla bloggers, to make netizens aware of the extent of atrocities committed on the Bengali population by the Pakistan Army with help from the Razakars. Another new website to be launched by bloggers is Bangladesh 1971, which aims at connecting today’s generation of Bangladeshis with the life and times of the people who fought for the country’s Independence, while simultaneously keeping up the pressure on the Nation’s conscience to bring the perpetrators to book.
Why is it necessary today to relive the freedom struggle? Perhaps to avoid the ‘Hollywoodization of the liberation war’ as Rasel puts it. Also, Shamim clarifies why after so many years, it still remains imperative to bring the war criminals to trial. He says it is not out of a feeling of retribution but rather as a future deterrent that this ‘bringing to book’ is necessary. It is also a necessary step towards ensuring justice and a closure for the victims and their surviving families.
Rabab writes that on this day of Independence, he feels no inspiration but only a sense of hurt and dejection when he sees all around him the corruption and victory of the separatist forces, the dreams of a united and economically strong Bangladesh fading into despair. Blogger Shobjanta seems to share in this hurt. However, the feeling evaporates once he listens closely to the National Anthem “Amar Shonar Bangla, ami tomay bhalobashi” (my precious Bengal, I love you).
0 comments · »»Ecuador: The Aftermath of the Border Crisis
· 00:08
Picture by i-ren ishii and used under Creative Commons license.
The decision taken at the Rio Summit benefits the people living in the three countries involved: Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela, but the governments are only slowly returning their relations back to how they were before the incident. The Organization of American States (OAS) has already handed out its resolution and it seems Ecuadorean government is happy with this decision, and even though President Correa has personally said that crisis between these two brother countries has ended, diplomatic relationships are still on hold. Why? Because the Ecuadorean government thinks that Colombia is still untrustworthy. While President Uribe says he wants peace in the region while shaking hands with Correa, the Colombian media is not backing what Uribe says. The newspaper El Tiempo showed a picture with the supposed Ecuadorean Defense Minister and FARC's late leader Raúl Reyes. However, it was later revealed that the other person was not the Ecuadorean official, rather a leader from an Argentine leader from the Communist Party. This event has been widely discussed in Ecuador and the newspaper wrote an editorial apologizing for the mistake that damaged the international image of Ecuador.
Nelson Piedra the author of a blog in Southern Ecuador [es] writes about this huge mistake:
Es más rápido caer por mentiroso que por delincuente, la estrategia de Bogotá se cayó, ya que desde Buenos Aires el secretario del partido comunista de Argentina, Patricio Echegaray, salió a decir que la persona de la foto es él y no Larrea. Probado el error deliberado y mala intención de la foto, el Tiempo de Bogotá debió pedir disculpas a través de un editorial titulado “La foto que no era”. Su explicación “un error lamentable” y reconoce que “falló en sus procedimientos de verificación”.
It is easier to get caught for being a liar, than for being a deliquent. Bogotá's strategy failed, when the secretary of the Communist Party in Argentina, Patricio Echegaray, came out to say that he was the one in the photo and not Larrea (the Ecuador official). With the deliberate error and malicious intent of the photo proven wrong, El Tiempo of Bogota had to apologize through an editorial title “The photo that never was.” His explanation was that it was “an unfortunate error” and recognizes that “it failed in its verification procedures.”
Based in the capital city of Quito is Libertad Ecuador [es] which is maintained by Libertario and whose self-professed purpose is to pursue freedom in Ecuador from all angles. He explains who's responsible for all this crisis:
La única y gran culpable de la existencia de las FARC, paramilitares y bandas de narcotraficantes asesinos es la famosa “Guerra” contra las drogas, que da mas incentivos a los narcoterroristas para continuar con el tráfico. Los precios suben pero el consumo no; las ganancias se disparan y los escrúpulos de las traficantes desaparecen.
The only and great culprit of the existence of the FARC, the paramilitaries and gangs of assassain drug dealers is the famous “War” against drugs, which gives more incentives to the narcoterrorists to continue with the traffic. The prices are raised, but the consumption does not; the profits go up and the scruples of the dealers disappear
Another multi-authored blog is Cambiemos Ecuador [es] and one of its reporters Andres, says that after the conflict and his travels around Latin America, President Correa just opened up a Pandora's Box:
Hemos abierto la caja de pandora, el cuidar la frontera con Colombia es peligroso y cuesta a nuestro estado mucho dinero. Así como Colombia estableció un plan concreto, Plan Colombia y lo vendió a otras naciones, así nuestro gobierno debe, en lugar de extender la mano y esperar limosnas, preparar un plan con compromisos, que busque comprometer a otros gobiernos con apoyo diplomático, económico y de entrenamiento. Esto es, si realmente queremos sacar a las FARC de Ecuador. Ahora si queremos que se muden para acá, entonces sigamos actuando como hasta ahora.
We have opened a Pandora's box, taking care of the border with Colombia is dangerous and it costs a lot of money for our state. As Colombia established a concrete plan, Plan Colombia and sold it to other nations, so should our government, instead of extending the hand and expecting handouts, we should prepare a plan with commitments, which seeks to engage other governments with diplomatic, economic and training support. That is, if we really want to get to the FARC out of Ecuador. Now, if we want them to relocate here, then let's continue acting like we have been doing up to now.
And everyone thought the relations with Colombia were back to normal, some government officials are not ready to lower the tone. The Ecuadoran ambassador in Colombia had some harsh words saying that their citizens have been “kidnapped and assasinated by the (Colombian) army or paramilitary, then later given back disguised as guerrillas, making them believe the opposite.” And the first line in a story in El Comercio, one of the Ecuador's leading newspaper printed this headline after the OAS and meeting in the Dominican Republic, indicating: “The verbal exchanges between the governments of Ecuador and Colombia have risen in tone,” indicating that this is far from over.
1 comment · »»
Links
Americas , Eastern & Central Europe
Finally, a Russian answer (RUS) to the famous/infamous “Americans are NOT stupid” video (via LJ user maliar, RUS).
Eastern & Central Europe
Da Russophile presents “the Top 10 Russophobe Myths, in opposition to La Russophobe's Top 10 Russophile Myths.”
Eastern & Central Europe
20 East describes an ongoing ordeal of getting Russian entry visa.
Eastern & Central Europe
From the Frontline posts a video of the recent Frontline Club debate on Kosovo independence.
Eastern & Central Europe
Douglas Muir at A Fistful of Euros examines former Hague Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte's story on organ smuggling in Kosovo and links to the readers' reactions at B92 site.
Eastern & Central Europe
Grigory Pasko, over at Robert Amsterdam's blog, writes about the newest ordeal of Oborona leader Oleg Kozlovsky. Kozlovsky (LJ user welgar) reprints the text on his new English-language blog. Also, Kozlovsky has announced (RUS) the launch of his English-language column at Robert Amsterdam's blog.
East Asia
Leocardo [pt] about the future of Macao and its present day politicians: “Can we believe in these “part-time” politicians who use an electoral system which is not even democratic to be elected, and then go to the Assembly to get on with their pet lives and business? Whose children study (and in many cases live) abroad? Do they believe in the future of Macao or do they just see it as a business opportunity, a money making achine?”
Central Asia & Caucasus
The Armenian Observer reports that more than a dozen pro-opposition activists, including at least one from the Sksela youth movement have been detained after staging demonstrations on Yerevan's Northern Avenue.
Americas
Abeng News Magazine reports that “Air Jamaica's flight attendants returned to work late Tuesday after a sickout that caused the airline to cancel several flights”, while Jamaican Lifestyle looks at the issue from the underdog's perspective.
East Asia
David on Formosa collected English bloggers' thoughts on Taiwan's Presidential Election that just finished on March 22. “Frank Hsieh has announced that he will resign as DPP chairman. Expect some major personnel changes in the DPP in the next few months. The next key things to watch for are whether President-elect Ma visits the US or other countries before he is sworn in on 20 May and who he appoints to the cabinet. ” said David.
Middle East & North Africa
“A coalition of opposition groups—including the suspended Labor Party, Kifaya, the banned Muslim Brotherhood, the unlicensed Karama (Dignity) Party, the unlicensed Centrist Party, the workers of Mahalla, the Lawyers’ Syndicate, the Movement of University Professors, and others—is calling for a general strike on April 6, two days before the local council elections,” writes Elijah Zarwan, from Egypt.
Middle East & North Africa
“Ibrahim Eissa received a prison sentence of six months for having spread false information about President Mubarak´s health in August 2007. The sentence was given by Judge Sherif Kamel Mustapha at Bulaq Court of misdeamenours this morning. He was found guilty of having harmed Egypt´s economy,” announced Ibn Al Dunya from Egypt.
Eastern & Central Europe , Middle East & North Africa
Algerian Nouri Luhemiya writes about Kosovo and the Islamic Ummah.
Americas
“All the fake, elegant-suited blather about bringing democracy and prosperity to Haiti has boiled down to murderous military occupation…while starving people survive by eating cakes made of dirt”: Toni Solo writes a detailed editorial of the situation at HaitiAnalysis.com.
Americas
“Are Ya Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot?” asks Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit, as he blogs about the impact of climate change on Caribbean tourism.
Americas
Lifespan of a Chennette blogs about Dhal (a beloved dish of both Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana) and posts a helpful recipe.
Americas
“When people think about the destruction and degradation of tropical forests, they tend to focus on rainforests. Tropical dry forests tend to get overlooked.” Trinidadian blogger Further Thoughts explains.
Americas
“Many Barbadians are in awe that a Black man in the year 2008 could be challenging for the presidency,” says Barbados Underground.
Americas
As the government pulls its advertising dollars from local newspapers, supposedly for reasons of retribution, Vexed Bermoothes asks: “Is this about governing or controlling Bermuda?”
South Asia
Pickled Politics on the reactions of various countries on the issue of Tibet and China.
Americas
Pedro Dória [pt] is aghast with the increasingly aggressive comments in his blog and with no time to moderate them, he proposes the readers help him keeping courteous. “We're not barbarians, we are civilized. This is a democracy. Everyone is welcome no matter their creed, colour, belief, age, sex. In a democracy, those who we don't agree with have full right to express their ideas. We can disagree, we can even strongly disagree, but we can never make assumptions about their character.”
South Asia
Freedom in Bhutan on the outcome of the elections, and a quick look at the winners.
South Asia
Whatever Matters!! on the recently conducted elections in Bhutan, the results and the huge voter turnout.
East Asia , Western Europe
There is a heated debate at Blasfemias' 4th post about the Beijing Olympics. More than 70 commentators agree or not with Gabriel Silva's [pt] that a boycott would not help, but halt the scrutiny China will come under.
Americas
Márcio Claesen [pt] has the highlights of the É Tudo Verdade [It's All True] festival, devoted to the culture of documentary in South America. The 13th edition starts today and takes pleace until April 6th. The 2008 program will screen 138 non-fictional productions.
Americas
André and Luciana present their first podcast, LoveLive [pt]. The name is self explaining, but Luciana explains: “We do not want to be relationship gurus, no way. We are just people who prefer speaking up to silence”. “To start with, we debated the act of sharing among couples: sharing problems and multiplying solutions, for example”, adds André [pt].
East Asia
Blogger and economics professor Ikeda Nobuo has started [ja] an English-language blog entitled “Spectrum Japan” focused on spectrum policy in Japan. In the first post, he explains that the Japanese government is planning to stop analogue broadcasting by 2011, and writes about closed meetings held to allocate the spectrum, a range of frequencies amounting to more than 180 MHz, which he refers to as a “command and control” approach.
East Asia
Vutha introduces a Cambodian snack consisting of fish meat wrapped in banana leaf.
East Asia
Malaysia's ruling party now wants to befriend bloggers.
Nazarian comments on news that prominent radical opposition figure Aram Sargsyan has been charged by police for his role in what the authorities consider to be an attempt at a coup d'etat following the 19 February presidential election in Armenia.
Central Asia & Caucasus
Unzipped posts videos produced by the radical opposition on the post-election turmoil in Armenia. Although both government and opposition continue to disseminate propaganda, The blog says that until an independent and objective inquiry is held, a plurality of opinion should be heard.
East Asia
ESWN translated the anti-CNN website and commented on the debate between the Chinese Netizen and western media.
East Asia
Michael Solis from Ohmynews! reported on Korean comfort women who live in the house of sharing.
East Asia
I'm Vlog has a video spoofing the election advertisement for promoting an online game: “Let's change the future!”
East Asia
Lianyue refered to a suggestion made by a property developer on turning the “Forbidden City” into a residential development project in order to bring down the property price in Beijing [zh].
Middle East & North Africa
Maktoobblog.com, one of the most popular Arab blogging platform, has been recently blocked in Yemen cutting off Yemeni Internet users from the more than 46960 blogs the service hosts. According to MaktoobBlog, there are currently 1226 Yemeni blogs hosted by the service. All of them disappeared from the Yemeni Internet.
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