Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2007 December 19

19 December 2007

Daily archive · 6 posts

Stories from 19 December 2007

Russia: Putin's Year

Written by Veronica Khokhlova · Eastern & Central Europe

Vladimir Putin has been in the news a lot lately. If it's not the overwhelmingly overwhelming majority of Russians voting for his party, then it's Time Magazine naming him as its Person of the Year. Below are some initial reactions to today's piece of Putin news from Anglophone Russia bloggers.

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Morocco: Eid al-Adha

Written by Jillian C. York · Middle East & North Africa

In my last post, I shared the thoughts of foreigners on Christmas (or a lack thereof) in Morocco. This week, we'll change focus to the celebration of Eid Al-Adha, the holiday which Muslims celebrate as a commemoration of Ibrahim's (Abraham's) willingness to sacrifice his son Ismael for Allah (God).

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Bolivia: Two Regions, Two Documents

Written by Eduardo Avila · Latin America

December 15 marked a pivotal day in Bolivia, when two regions celebrated their newly created documents. In La Paz, members of the ruling party formally presented a controversial Constitution. On the other side of the country, in midst of hunger strikes, members of a provisional assembly in Santa Cruz approved an autonomic statute that sits in opposition. Bloggers participated in both celebrations and also hope that there is still an opportunity for the country to close this divide.

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China: Sobbing without tears

Written by Bob Chen · East Asia

A land thirsty for water is calling for help. How many more villages would die out due to the drought? How much more land would be eroded, even buried by sand?

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Korea: Election Day

Written by Hyejin Kim · East Asia

I am writing this post in the middle of election day (2 hours left) in Korea. Not surprisingly, until now, the turnout of voters is recorded as the lowest in...

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Kazakhstan: 2007 - Filthy Politics and Grapes of Wrath

Written by Adil Nurmakov · Central Asia & Caucasus

The passing year was rich in shaking news and political scandals in Kazakhstan, all of which have been finding reflection in the blogosphere’s reactions and online debates. Many of those...

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Updates from 19 December 2007

Romania

Transatlantic Politics writes about the disastrous state of Romanian health care.

• Veronica Khokhlova

Russia

Streetwise Professor writes about the man some (or many?) believe will succeed Putin as Russia's president in 2008: “I have not commented about Putin’s anointing of Dmitri Medvedev because I don’t do Kabuki theater or puppet show reviews.”

• Veronica Khokhlova

Russia

Streetwise Professor reviews Yegor Gaidar's new book: “I believe that Gaidar is right that down this path lies ruin. I fear, however, that Russia will have to find this out the hard way. So Yegor Gaidar is a prophet without honor in his own country, among his own kin, and in his own house. But I believe he is a prophet nonetheless. And I heartily recommend that you read his excellent book.”

• Veronica Khokhlova

Lithuania

Music and Life - Everywhere! writes about Vilnius coffee houses and health care costs.

• Veronica Khokhlova

Russia

Dr. Sean's Diary writes on Russia's middle class, a subject that has inspired “a lot of informed journalistic comment - […] - but seemingly little in the way of academic research. How can you research something that doesn’t exist - and perhaps historically never did?”

• Veronica Khokhlova

Czech Republic

Czech president is due to be elected Feb. 8 by a joint session of both chambers of the parliament, and Dr Sean's Diary writes about a likely contender for the post: Jan Švejnar, who “emigrated to the US in 1970 (where, as a dual-national, he is still based) taking a PhD at Princeton and carving out a high profile career as academic economist […].”

• Veronica Khokhlova