Stories from 15 December 2008
China: “08 Charter” Signers Arrested and Questioned by Police
Big Brother searching and questioning people involved in an collective appeal for democracy.
Ukraine: NATO; Crisis vs Luxury; Baba Paraska
A roundup of Ukrainiana‘s December posts: Ukraine and NATO; the math of the Russian-Ukrainian relations; ex-defense minister on “martial economic law”; Ukrainian PM's Chanel necklace and the First Lady's Chanel handbag vs. the president's call “to ‘live without’ expensive foreign-made items in times of crisis”; the beating of Baba Paraska...
Brazil: Manifesto For The Immediate Release of Graffiti Painter
While a police officer who mistakenly killed a boy of just three has been acquitted of murder, a graffiti painter arrested on October 26 for spraying the walls of the Art Bienal of São Paulo's pavilion spent her 24th birthday in jail. Bloggers comment on the ironies and discrepancies of the Brazilian judicial system.
Russia: December History Highlights
Some of the Russian/Soviet history December highlights at De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis: Birobidzhan demographics; Cherubina de Gabriak and the duel between Maximilian Voloshin and Nikolay Gumilyov; Vladimir Gilyarovsky; the Soviet war in Afghanistan; and a cookbook by Elena Molokhovets.
Armenia: Opposition Trial
Unzipped comments on news that seven prominent opposition member including one former foreign minister and three MPs are due to go on trial in Yerevan later this week charged with attempting to violently overthrow the government after the presidential election held earlier this year. The blog says that all signs...
Maldives: Presence in Flickr
Unique Maldives is a Flickr group dedicated to images of or from Maldives only. So far it has more than 1100 members and more than 17000 photograph entries. Similar groups on Maldives in Flickr are Networld – Connecting Maldives and Simply Maldives.
Bhutan: A Member Of Parliament Blogs
Tshering Tobgay, a Member of Parliament of Bhutan and the leader of the opposition party, writes about the Folk Life Festival in Punakha in his blog.
Israel: No Limit Texas Dreidel
My Right Word explains the rules for No Limit Texas Dreidel, combines the traditional dreidel game with Texas Hold'em poker.
Malawi: Murderous Thanksgiving, AIDS Day and crossing the Zimbabwean border
Victor Kaonga highlights a few posts from blogs about Malawi: an expat Thanksgiving, World Aids Day and a long bus trip from Malawi to South Africa with an interesting border crossing in Zimbabwe.
Israel: Chrismukkah
Jewlicious comments on the new interfaith phenomena of Chrismukkah (a combination of Christmas and Hanukkah) that “is supposed to be a warm event that celebrates tolerance and diversity, but all to often, multi-faith marriages leave the children confused or annoyed and what is meant to inspire diversity ends up inspiring...
Saudi Arabia: What Women Can Do
American Bedu starts a list of what Saudi women can and can not do.
Egypt: Reaction to Mexico's Playboy Magazine
Zeinobia from the Egyptian Chronicles is equally offended by the Mexican version of Playboy and its decision to publish photos of a nude woman portraying the Virgin Mary.
Bahrain: A Near Death Experience
“When I felt sand splatter on me I remember thinking that this was more serious than just a tip to the side. This was it. I was gone. I was going to go. I was definitely dying. Wasn't there something I was meant to say before dying?” writes Evil Odd...
Cuba: We Shall Overcome
Cuban bloggers all link to video of what they say is Generation Y‘s “call to action to all bloggers, a plea for solidarity with the ‘embryonic’ Cuban blogosphere.”
North Africa: Regarding the Shoe Tossing
The Moor Next Door deconstructs the cultural implications of having a pair of shoes thrown at you: “In either case, the insult is obvious: Few people of any culture would take having a loafer or sneaker thrown at them as an expression of endearment.”
UAE: Hip Hop Documentary Opens
The Palestinian music documentary “Slingshot Hip Hop” opens in Dubai according to Bataranzi.
Turkey: The New “Old” Turks
Talk Turkey presents the faces of the youngest member of the Ottoman Dynasty.
Iraq: Throwing Shoes at the President Kurdish-style
In response to the recent throwing of shoes at US President Bush by an Iraqi journalist, Kurdish blogger Rasti adds the following suggestion: “If it had been a Kurdish mother launching the shoes, Bush would have easily had one shoe firmly lodged in each nostril at that close distance. When...
Cyprus: Banning Turkish Placenames in GPS Systems
The Cyprus government is currently attempting to ban GPS systems that use Turkish place names in the Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus, Homeboy Media News reports: The Ministry of Education and Culture meanwhile has come up with some additional reasoning for the campaign to ban the GPS receivers. In its feedback, the...
Sri Lanka: Capturing Killinochchi
Ajith P. Perera at Dare To Be Different criticizes the Sri Lankan Army's ongoing efforts to gain control in Killinochchi and warns Sri Lankans of dire consequences.
India: Cashing In On Mumbai Terror Attacks
Santosh at Über Desi is disturbed by the news that Bollywood producers are trying to cash in on Mumbai terror attacks by registering movie names based on the tragedy.
