Stories from 27 March 2009
Romania: TV Ad Breaks
Csíkszereda musings writes about ad breaks on Romanian TV: “In Romania, you can not only go to the toilet, you could run a bath, lie in it for half an hour until the water gets too cold, get out, shave, trim your nose hairs, get dressed, go to the kitchen,...
Latvia: Health Care Budget Cuts
Latvian Abroad cites an example of how “the budget cuts are taking their toll” in Latvia: “Sometimes, it's a very heavy toll.”
Hungary: Foreign Media Coverage
Hungarian Spectrum writes about the coverage of Hungary in the U.S. and Canadian media.
Czech Republic: After the No-Confidence Vote
Updates on the situation in the Czech Republic following the no-confidence vote – at The Czech Daily Word and A Fistful of Euros.
Global Recession Survey: Survival Tips and Business Opportunities
Everybody is trying hard to cope with the global economic crisis. Bloggers are offering survival tips to their readers. Businesses around the world are adjusting. Some are even profiting from the crisis. In this post, I will feature individuals and companies exerting their very best to overcome the recession.
Sudan: Chilling Account of the Arrest of an Online Activist
Sudanese Internet activist and lawyer Abdel Hakim Abdel Rahman Nasr was arrested in a raid on his house on the night of March 5 - and released March 11. Nasr was detained only a few hours after he expressed his support for the International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on the online International Forum for Nubia, where he is a moderator. In this chilling post [Ar], on the forum which is now open to members only, Nasr details his arrest.
St. Lucia: Waclott Square
Repeating Islands Blog pays a visit to Derek Walcott Square in St. Lucia.
Jamaica: Curtains for Calabash?
Diaspora blogger Geoffrey Philp is part of a group that has written an open letter to the Jamaican Prime Minister expressing disappointment over the news “that the 2009 Calabash Festival has been cancelled due to insufficient funding.”
Barbados: Moving On Up?
“Will Barbados’ proposed housing developments be part of an economic and social package that is geared to give people a better standard of living?”: Living in Barbados questions the wisdom of high-rise developments on the island.
Bermuda: Going on Faith?
Both Vexed Bermoothes and The Devil Island discuss the Bermudian government's faith-based tourism programme.
Jamaica, Canada: Caribbean Voices
Is there room in Canadian literature for a Caribbean voice? Jamaican diaspora author and blogger Pamela Moredecai shares her thoughts…
Pakistan: Suicide Bombing at Mosque While People Praying
CHUP! – Changing Up Pakistan is reporting that ” 48 people were killed (today) when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque near the town of Jamrud in the Khyber agency in northwest Pakistan.” The Blogger comments: “For a suicide bombing to occur at all is horrific, but...
Korea: Blog, Bloggers, and Etiquette.
While bloggers seem to be equally distant from each other, they are in fact not. They have their favorite blogs and bloggers, and they link their blogs to each other. They share their favorite posts from other bloggers with other websites. They leave their opinions on the posts of the...
India: Attending TEDIndia vs. Buying a TATA Nano
Pluggd.in is irked by the high cost (in Indian standard) of registration of the TED India conference and compared that one can buy a Tata Nano car with the same amount. The blog adds: “There are ‘Ideas worth spreading’, but there are ‘people worth knowing/interacting whose ideas are worth spreading’”...
India: Cruelty To Animals vs. Cruelty To Humans
The Life and Times of an Indian Home Maker comments: “Cruelty to animals is not a proof of our love for humanity. On the contrary people who are cruel to animals are likely to be cruel to humans also.”
Tunisia: Outcry over Italian Court's Verdict on Tunisian Pilots
Two Tunisian pilots of Tuninter Flight 1153, which crash landed in the sea off Sicily in 2005 killing 16 people, were sentenced to 10 years in prison by an Italian court. The decision is being contested by Tunisian bloggers, who say the pilots' heroic efforts in saving the 23 other passengers on board should have been celebrated.
India Elections '09: Netizens react to Political Campaigns
With the General Elections round the corner, major political parties like the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have each unleashed their election campaigns on the Indian populace. In a series of posts, we will explore blogger reactions to the election campaigns of various political parties. In this post, the first in the series, we look at how netizens have reacted to the BJP's Online Campaign.
Palestine: The Purpose of Checkpoints
Marcy Newman, who lives in Nablus in the West Bank, describes driving home late at night, and the difficulties she had getting into the city through the numerous Israeli checkpoints that surround it: “these checkpoints are not to keep people in and out – it is to make people think...
Palestine: Experiencing Contempt in Egypt
Gull from the Gaza Beach is angry with Egypt: “The overwhelming majority of Palestinians who passed through Cairo International Airport have a stock of stories about the humiliation to which they are exposed … The Egyptian government contributes to the suffering of the Palestinian people.”
Qatar: Lost in the Carpark
Christian San Juan, a Filipino based in Qatar, reminds us how easy it is to forget where your car is in a large carpark.
Azerbaijan: Corrupt Medicine
Scary Azeri in Suburbs continues to compare life in England with that in Azerbaijan. In particular, speaking from experience, she compares health-care in the UK to that available in the former Soviet Union.
