Stories from 9 March 2006
Nicaragua: Clinics in Sebaco and Somoto
Mission World details a trip to two medical clinics in Sebaco and Somoto.
Mexico: President's Website Adopts CC License
León Felipe Sánchez announces that the website of the Mexican Presidency (ES) has officially adopted a Creative Commons license.
Guatemala: Reparations to Plan de Sanchez Massacre Survivors
Guatemala Solidarity Network gives an update to the reparations which are finally being distributed to the 300 survivors of the 1982 Plan de Sánchez massacre.
El Salvador: Elections on Sunday
Tim Muth has asked five Salvadoran bloggers for their predictions on this Sunday's elections. Their answers were almost unanimous. U.S. – El Salvador Sister Cities has a good description of a building movement against the Central American free trade agreement.
Barbados: Bridgetown Film Festival
Titilayo announces the Bridgetown Film Festival, scheduled to run from May 6-14, and now accepting submissions.
Trinidad & Tobago: ICANN wiki
ICANN committee member Jacqueline Morris links to a wiki set up to strengthen “Civil Rights and Consumer Protection in ICANN’s policies.” And Taran Rampersad writes to the WSIS governance list with his views on development.
Bahamas: Why no treasure report?
Larry Smith attributes the absence of reports about the cache of treasure rumoured to have been found in San Salvador (Bahamas) from the mainstream media to laziness and dependency on press releases.
Caribbean: Sci-fi interview
Grenada-born sci-fi writer Tobias Buckell links to an interview in which he talks about his first novel. Among the issues he addresses are the representation of Caribbean voices and researching Aztec culture.
Jamaica: Four charged with Harvey murder
Andrés Duque links to a Jamaica Observer report which states that three men and a woman have been formally charged in relation to the murder of Jamaican AIDS Support staffer Lenford “Steve” Harvey.
Indonesia: Experiment on Superstition
Indonesia Anonymus conducts another one of their social experiments: this time they try to see whether superstition has a hold on urban office workers.
Malaysia: Marathon Man
Kenny Sia gets up before dawn to run in the Kuala Lumpur International Marathon. His pictures tell the tale.
Southeast Asia, Philippines: Adequacy of Democracy
An underthought article in the Guardian decrying the lack of democracy in Southeast Asia angers Eevil Midget, a Filipina in London, who responds: “democracy is a farce anyway! as if the Western world is that much better.” Torn and Frayed in Manila shares his own thoughts on the piece.
Singapore: Office Space
Singapore's Tinker, Tailor explains the difference between working in a low office cubicle and working in a high one.
Vietnam: Fate of an Expatriate
Our Man in Hanoi worries that he'll end up like many Westerners in Asia: “Am I destined to be the movie ex-pat villain, stuffing my face, sweating profusely and shouting at a befuddled waiter to be quicker with the drinks? I hope not. But you can see it happening over...
A plea against the 26 province parcelling of the DRC
At UDPS Liege [blog of the Liege, Belgium chapter of a DRC opposition party] blogger Kayembe Tshipamba Jean P. opposes (FR) the parceling of the DRC in 26 provinces, deplores interim President Joseph Kabila's blaming of the continent's problems on the West, invites the DRC to cooperate with Belgium in...
Ukraine: Taras Shevchenko's Birthday 5 Years Ago
March 9 is the 192nd anniversary of the birth of Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine's national poet. Two translations of his best-known poem, The Testament, are posted at Orange Revolution. Peter Byrne at Abdymok recalls this day five years ago, when opponents of Leonid Kuchma's regime clashed with the police – first...
Japan: Volunteer firemen
Miyakonojo gives a heart-warming (and lung-burning) account of his debut at the volunteer fire department in a small town in southern Japan, where visits to Filipina hostess bars punctuate the sameness of fishing and pachinko.
Belarus: Opposition “Decapitated”
br23 blog reports on the arrest of one of the opposition figures, Vincuk Viachorka: this is “the end of the elections.” Russian observers, however, think otherwise.
The Balkans: The ICJ Genocide Trial (1-3)
Eric Gordy of East Ethnia tackles a number of issues inherent in the dispute between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro, which is currently being heard by the International Court of Justice. The first three parts posted so far highlight these questions: 1. Did genocide occur? 2. Was there a policy?...
Ukraine: Jackson-Vanik Amendment Scrapped
Dan McMinn of Orange Ukraine reports that Ukraine is finally going to have “normal trade relations status with the United States,” after the House of Representatives passed legislation yesterday “to graduate Ukraine from the Jackson-Vanik Amendment.”
