Stories from 8 May 2009
Bangladesh: Rabindranath Tagore, The Versatile Literary Genius
On the 148th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, the greatest poet of Bengal, An Ordinary Citizen explores the versatility of the talented Nobel Laureate. He was a poet, visual artist, playwright, novelist, educationist, social reformer, nationalist, business-manager and composer.
India: Low Cost Airlines Performing Well
Rajesh Jain at Emergic comments on the performance of the low cost airlines of India: “the air travel experience is now much more consumer-friendly.”
India: Analysis of Elections – Phase 3 & Phase 4
Offstumped published an analysis of the 3rd and 4th phases of Indian Elections 2009.
Kuwait: Election Drama, Filthy Clinics and Domestic Abuse
Salutations from Kuwait! Amer Al-Hilal here with another round-up from the Kuwaiti blogosphere, ranging from posts concerning after shocks of Swine Flu, to embarrassing official printing gaffes, to the humanitarian plight of the domestic workers and much more.
Syria: Just Say Sorry
Syrian blogger Omar, who is based in Canada, wonders what would have happened had Osama bin Laden apologised after the September 11 attacks: “[O]ver 100 Afghani civilians died in an accidental “strike” (a soft word for bombing). What does Clinton do? Well she apologizes, she just release a statement saying...
Jordan: Message to Saudis
Jordanian blogger Hareega shares his thoughts on Saudi Arabia's underage brides in this post.
Algeria: Lamenting the Freedom of Press
Algerian blogger Bilad Talsiman [Ar] laments the conditions of media in the Arab world in this post he wrote to mark the Freedom of Press day.
Bahrain: The Secret of Nicknames
Bahraini blogger Ali discusses his nicknames and how people started using them in this post.
Jordan: Queen Rania on Twitter
Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan is now on Twitter. Catch up with her tweets here.
Georgia: Public discontent and political strategies
Social Science in the Caucasus comments on the relatively low turnout at opposition rallies in Tbilisi, Georgia. The blog notes that while discontent with the government is high, that does not mean the majority of Georgians support the opposition. In fact, the analytical blog argues, many are instead undecided and...
Haiti, Dominican Republic: Enough
In the wake of an alleged reprisal killing in which a Haitian man was beheaded in Santo Domingo, blogger Wadner Pierre says: “Our government must use this case to put an end to the targeting of Haitians in the DR once and for all.”
China: Blogged down with swine flu
Kai Pan at CNReviews traces how China, despite having so far kept H1N1 from reaching the mainland, has still managed to end up at the center of a number of blog posts regarding the epidemic.
St. Lucia, Jamaica: Indian Arrival Day
Repeating Islands blogs about the celebration of Indian Arrival Day in St. Lucia & Jamaica.
Guyana: Advertising Issue
The new Banks beer commercials in Guyana have blogger Imran Khan incensed: “What does it say about a company which foists upon a nation an advertisement lecturing to the citizenry that we should all guzzle alcoholic beverages because it builds the nation?”
Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago: Poetry Picks
Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp features the poems of Trinidadian author Jennifer Rahim.
China: Journal entries from summer 1989
Philip J. Cunningham at Frontier International continues his series of posts tracking the day-to-day developments from this time twenty years ago, during his time as a journalist in Beijing, and updates today with an old journal entry and photos of a lunch with Hou Dejian, among others.
Central & Eastern Europe: Swine Flu (aka “California 0409”)
Below are some of the Central and Eastern Europe bloggers' reactions to news reports on swine flu and measures taken by some of the governments to keep the disease from spreading to their countries.
Trinidad & Tobago: Lack of Integrity
“Somehow I don’t feel a self-confessed, under-pressure, serial plagiarist should be allowed to even come within 1000-feet of a member of the Integrity Commission much less chair it”: This Beach Called Life thinks that Trinidad and Tobago's “new Integrity Commission is even worse than the last”, while B.C. Pires asks:...
China: Not subsidizing Expo 2010
Adam Minter at Shanghai Scrap is having trouble getting answers to why the United States government is having trouble getting its pavilion together for Expo 2010, but he has nonetheless had some success at piecing the back story together.
Jamaica: A Sensible Tax
Jamaica's Yardflex.com is overjoyed that “smokers and drinkers will now have to shoulder the bulk of the taxation measures intended to plug the hole in the government's budget.”
Guyana: Press Freedom Ranking
As mainstream media sources (and a regional blog) report that Guyana's press freedom ranking has improved, Signifyin’ Guyana says: “Well, in a region with Mexico and some of the other Spanish-speaking countries where there's an outright war on the press (so to speak), it's easy to see why Guyana government's...
