Stories from 4 December 2008
Madagascar: a library-on-wheels to encourage literacy
Tahina, blogging at Madagascar not the movie, posts photos of a “bibliobus”, a library-on-wheels project that promotes literacy in Antananarivo (en). He explains that the project is a true success in his neighborhood. ” If kids can’t go to a library, then a library will come to them”, he says.
Taiwan: President out of mind?
Social activist Wobblies says on his twitter(zh): “Knowing that Ma refused Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan, I began to think that my father's friend is correct. He said that this President is either a body double, or is just kidnapped by someone. Or whatelse can there be such an idiot...
Palestine: Christmas Good for the Economy
Israel Matzav writes that Christmas will be good for Bethlehem's economy.
Egypt: Supporting Israel's Conscientious Objectors
Mona of Mideast Youth expresses her support for Israel's conscientious objectors: “Becoming a conscientious objector in Israel takes an extraordinary amount of courage. Although I cannot refuse with them, I am inspired by their actions and want to spread their powerful message of hope, change, and dialogue.”
Israel: Having Fun with Fateh
International relations are rarely good for a laugh, but one Israeli blogger is having some fun, writes Maya Norton, who brings us the story.
Taiwan: Newspaper for the Immigrants
Bao Bon Phuong, a unique immigrant-focussing Vietnamese newspaper celebrates its second year from its first issue in Dec. 2006. On its blog(zh), the editor 張正 Zhang Zheng writes : “Everyday, the editorial team receives dozens of letters written in Vietnamese. Each letter contains different state of mind: to thank somebody,...
Trinidad and Tobago: recession blues
The latest news about the world economy reminds Trinidadian Coffeewallah of hard times in the 1980s: "people dropped their house keys off at banks and fled the country to escape loans."
Guyana: new crime hotspot
Living Guyana is "reliably informed" that new hotspots for criminal activity are developing west of Guyana's capital, Georgetown: "another major crime development … which the mainstream media have not yet picked up."
Barbados: HIV secrets
Barbados Free Press is outraged that the head of the Barbados Family Planning Association advocates not informing a woman about her husband's HIV-positive status. "[The FPA head] is a menace to the health of every woman on this island."
Haiti: clean water
Haiti Innovation posts detailed information about a campaign to improve access to clean water in Port-au-Prince. "Their approach is to provide cost effective tablet chlorinators and to build the capacity of community members to manage them."
St. Vincent and the Grenadines: “monopoly money”
A trip to the supermarket forces And Still I Rise to contemplate price inflation in St. Vincent and the Grenadines: "our money has become monopoly money. Yet, I am positive I heard the PM say … that cost of living is declining."
Bahamas: medical accountability
At Bahama Pundit , Larry Smith outlines the labyrinthine twists and turns in a "landmark" case of medical accountability currently before the Bahamas Medical Council — "more than six years after the 42-year-old man who started it all died."
El Salvador: Internet Favoring a Particular Candidate
Fafa Monge asks his readers whether they think that using the internet will favor a particular presidential candidates in the upcoming elections in El Salvador [es]. Many seem to think that it will not.
Peru: Municipal Recall Elections
This Sunday, many Peruvians will vote in municipal recall elections, which will determine the fate of many elected officials based on their performance writes Juan Arellano of Globalizado [es].
Guatemala: Manifestarte Festival
Ivan Vivaldi Guas Caceres writes about the 6th annual Manifestarte Festival, a cultural event held in Cerrito del Carmen [es] in Guatemala.
Costa Rica: Calling a Constituent Assembly
Some Costa Rican lawmakers are supporting the convocation of a Constituent Assembly to rewrite the Constitution, something that Mirando en Marcelo [es] has been supporting. However, he points out that he wonders about the intentions of some of the lawmakers, especially since they seem not to understand the process.
Paraguay: Heavy Rains for the Country
Carlos Rodríguez of Rescatar [es] notices that Paraguay continues to be hit by heavy rains and that the country once was a country with balanced and frequent rains, but lately they have been more damaging.
Indonesia: Metaphorizing Obama
Indonesia Anonymus from Indonesia metaphorizes president-elect Barack Obama for the nation's governance: “… are [Indonesians] going to cling on to the same old divisive politics, same old status quo while at the same time happily cheering for America's Obama?”.
Fiji: How to change the government from within?
As the two-year anniversary of Fiji's military takeover approaches, another international governing body has called the Pacific island nation to hold elections in 2009 as once promised. A discussion has broken out in the blogosphere over how exactly to initiate political change in Fiji.
India: Stop The Blame Game
At The Observers Indian and Pakistani activists discuss why India is blaming Pakistan for the terror attacks in Mumbai.
Pakistan: A Citizen Journalist On Karachi Riots
Jackie, an American expat in Karachi writes in CHUP! – Changing Up Pakistan about this week’s violence in Karachi and discusses who are the players, why are they fighting, and how it has impacted daily life in Karachi.
