Stories about Ideas from January, 2011
Iran: “Our friend Mr. ElBaradei” in Egypt
Iranian bloggers from across the political spectrum continue to share their opinions on uprisings in the Arab world. One conservative Islamist blogger sees an opportunity for the Iranian regime if Mohamed ElBaradei were to come to power in Egypt.
Japan: Free Press Association
Carrying on the mission of abolishing the monopoly in information in Japan [en], a group of freelance and online journalists founded the Free Press Association of Japan (日本報道協会, Nihon Hohdoh Kyohkai). The name of the non-profit association is still tentative but the first speaker has already been announced: Ichiro Ozawa,...
Taiwan: Ma Ying-jeou on Facebook
President Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan(Republic of China) opens his official facebook fan page today. At the “About” session it says that the goal of the fan page “…is not to be trendy, but to exchange ideas with all of you, share experiences through wall posts, think together, click ‘like’ for...
Ecuador: Blog Competition Focusing on Public Safety
Ecuadorian bloggers are encouraged to participate in a Blog Competition [es] organized by the Guayaquil Canton to, “encourage the use of blogs as a platform for expression of ideas by discussing proposals related to public safety in the canton.” Visit the site [es] for more details and follow the competition on Facebook and Twitter.
Jamaica: “Dog-Paw”
“The cliche that truth is stranger than fiction is true”: Active Voice interviews the author of Dog-Heart about parallels with the story of Christopher ‘Dog Paw’ Linton, who was recently arrested by Jamaican police.
Video: Life in a Day
Collaborative documentary recounting what the 24th of July of 2010 was like all around the world through people's uploads on YouTube will premiere later on today, live from the Sundance Film Festival on the YouTube Life In a Day Channel.
Caribbean, U.S.A.: Contemporary Art Exhibit
“It includes work by thirty-six artists from twelve Caribbean countries and the international diaspora”: Antilles blogs about an exhibition of contemporary Caribbean art that is now on show at the Museum of the Americas in Washington, DC.
Trinidad & Tobago: Independent Mas
Alice Yard blog is excited about Coalition, the 2011 independent mas band offering which “will provide potential masqueraders with a variety of design components they can use to decorate their costumes themselves — a practice similar to elements of the sailor mas tradition.”
Guyana: End of Relationship, Not End of Life
The Guyana Groove is concerned about “the extremely high rate” of domestic violence, especially “in those cases in which one or both of the partners left the relationship.”
India: Storytelling Program with Kids at Hospitals
Uday Foundation reports that every Saturday its volunteers and friends visit various hospitals in Delhi, India for storytelling to the kids admitted there to cheer them up.
Argentina: Experimenting with Natural Dyes
Jade Scully blogs about the experiments with natural dyes that are taking place in The Argentine National Institute for Industrial Technology (INTI).
Trinidad & Tobago: Young People Die in Car Accident
On the heels of a horrific car crash in which two young people lost their lives, KnowTnT.com blogs about “three elements that cumulatively share in the complicity of this tragedy.”
Cambodia: TEDx Phnom Penh
Preparations are ongoing for TEDx Phnom Penh which will take place on February 5.
Brazil: Micro Grants for Transparency Hackers
Esfera [Sphere, pt] has launched the second round of micro grants for transparency hackers in Brazil. Find out what they are looking for and apply until February 5.
Guyana: “real” men
The Signifyin’ Woman contemplates Caribbean homophobia and notions of what it means to be a “real” man vs an “anti” man.
Bahrain: Our Arabian Homeland
Bahraini Sabeeka questions the meaning of “our Arabian homeland” in this post.
China: Better metrics for measuring Asian happiness
With Spring Festival just around the corner, Tsinghua University economics professor Andrew Sheng proposes a more enhanced approach to measuring quality of life: We need Stiglitz Report 2.0, with more Asian input.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: New Art Mag
Antilles and Repeating Islands blog about the launch of a new magazine “focusing on works by contemporary artists practicing in the Caribbean and its diaspora.”
Haiti: Time for a Change
“I thought that after Duvalier left, things in Haiti were going to improve. What I never imagined was that the leaders who came after Duvalier were going to take Duvalier's concepts and use them to their own benefits”: Changing Perspectives republishes an interesting take on Haitian politics by Richard Morse...
China: Glenn Beck takes aim at China
In case you missed it, Glenn Beck on Hu Jintao's US visit: Burger King kids meals are a Chinese plot for world domination, and so was Leonardo da Vinci. Turns out, it doesn't add up quite so neatly. Next week: the Chinese run Opus Dei, too.
Bahamas: Fixing the Nation
“Something is wrong with us”: Weblog Bahamas‘ Edward Hutcheson says that Bahamians must make hard choices if things are to improve.
