Stories about North Macedonia from December, 2011
Macedonia: Pioneering Battery Disposal Initiative
Greener, a Macedonian NGO, blogged [mk] about their pilot-project Go Clean [FB page, mk], which aims to grow into a national campaign for proper disposal of used batteries and accumulators.
Macedonia: Twitter Hashtag for Prime Minister – #Ж
The Macedonian Twitter community is using the hashtag #Ж (uppercase of the Cyrillic letter romanized as Zh or Ž) as the shortcut symbol referring to the Macedonian PM. Filip Stojanovski explains why.
Macedonia: Health System Software Vendor Lock-in
Novica Nakov warned [mk] that the state discriminates against users of operating systems like GNU/Linux or Mac OS X, purporting vendor lock-in by forcing medical doctors to use the latest version of Windows as the only platform for the obligatory e-health card software [mk] by the Fund for Health Insurance...
Macedonia, Greece, Turkey: Bridging the Divides Through Multilingual Reporting
Two recent initiatives by civic-minded journalists added value to the e-content in local languages from Macedonia and nearby countries: Diversity Media is offering news analysis through text and audio podcasts in Macedonian and Albanian, and Balkon3.com is enabling “peeking over the neighbors’ fence” in Macedonian, Turkish, Greek, and English. The...
Macedonia: Christmas Tree Made of Plastic Bottles
Inspired by the example of Kaunas, Lithuania, Macedonian Twitter users made a Christmas tree from plastic bottles at the Skopje City Park on Dec. 25, to raise awareness of everyone's responsibility for the environment. The action's organizers used their blogs [mk, mk, mk, mk] as a starting point for the...
Macedonia, Poland: Remembering Solidarność
Macedonian blogger Zoriv reminisced about the fall of socialism by publishing original photos [mk] he made during the 1981 protests in Warsaw, Poland, organized by Solidarity Trade Union.
Macedonia, Nepal: First Female Macedonian on Major Himalayan Peak
Macedonian climbers Ilina Arsova and Ilija Ristovski have successfully climbed the Himalayan summit of Ama Dablam, on Nov. 18, 2011. Ilina wrote about this achievement on her blog, in Macedonian and English.
Macedonia, China: Comparing Air Pollution in the Capitals
Anastas Vangeli, а Macedonian studying in Beijing, compared the levels of air pollution and policy measures between that city and his hometown Skopje.
Macedonia: Ajvar, Glorified
Jovana Tozija wrote lovingly about making ajvar, a traditional favorite winter provision in Macedonia and some other post-Ottoman countries.
Macedonia: Is Skopje Really the Most Polluted City in the World?
Unlike the authorities, social media users are reacting to the empirical information about high levels of pollution in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. Filip Stojanovski reports.
Macedonia, Greece: Reaction to International Court of Justice Decision
Blogger Effo was the first to comment on the verdict [pdf], in which the Hague International Court of Justice found that the Greek obstruction of Macedonia's NATO entry in 2008 was in violation of the 1995 Interim Accord. He demands [mk] that Macedonia stop the negotiations about the name issue...
Macedonia: Satirical Blog Blames Name Dispute for Greek Bankruptcy
A renowned Macedonian blogger published a satirical article which, in a way, sums up many of the local jokes about the Greek financial problems and the political situation in Macedonia. Filip Stojanovski reports.
Macedonia: NGOs and Netizens Prevent Undemocratic Youth Law
The withdrawal of the undemocratic Draft Law on Youth from the parliamentary procedure indicates that the otherwise stubborn authorities can be persuaded not to do more harm if the civil society, social media users and international organizations work together. Filip Stojanovski reports.
