Archive for
May 15th, 2009
Stories
Tunisia: Ammar 404 is Back and Censoring Blogs Again
After a short hiatus, the dreaded Ammar 404 has once again attacked the Tunisian blogosphere. Ammar is the nickname given by Tunisian bloggers to the censorship machine plaguing their access to the Internet and his victim this time is Zig Zag blog by 3amrouch. It seem that the blog has been censored for republishing screen shots of a Canadian newspaper which unveils a real estate transaction in which the Tunisian President's son-in-law Mohamed Sakhr El Matri bought a villa in Canada for a huge amount of money - information which the Tunisian Government wants to hide from its people. Many bloggers wrote about this censorship and condemned it.
Samsoum wrote:
Le blog de 3amrouch a été censure car il a repris une information publique sur un journal canadien qui est accessible a tout le monde. Par solidarité je publie aussi le lien vers ce journal qui cite dans sa page 10 la transaction immobilière qu'on veut cacher a tout prix. Et qu'on censure ce blog aussi!!!
Thoughts of an ex-Muslim wrote:
لا للحجب دون قرار قضائي واضح و علني و مسبب، لا للحجب بسبب نقد مظاهر الفساد ، الغبي الذي اتخذ القرار تقفيفا لسيدي بوحجر انما خدم عمروش و أضر سيده الصغير
Ordinary stories blogged saying:
قد ما قلنا ونددنا بهذه الممارسات، عمار ما فهمش، ما هوش فاهم وماهوش ناوي يفهم
هذاك علاش، تضامنا مع المدونة المحجوبة باش نعاود ننشر الموضوع إلي أغلب الظن أنه كان السبب وراء عملية الحجب
Guatemala: Rosenberg Video Causes Uncertainty and Speculation
It is the video that all of Guatemala is talking about. The 18-minute clip posted on YouTube depicts the murdered lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg and was released under the instructions to do so only in the event of his own death. After his body was found in a Guatemala neighborhood, his family released the video, in which Rosenberg names Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom, the First Lady ,and two close associates as those personally responsible for the murder.
In the video, Rosenberg accuses them of corruption and money laundering through the use of a state-owned bank Banrural (Rural Bank). He also accused them of being responsible for the murder of his clients former bank board member Khalil Musa and his daughter. Rosenberg claimed that Musa had found out about the corruption and that was what the reason for their deaths.
Naturally, an event of this magnitude in Guatemala, would elicit a flood of responses from that country's blogosphere and twittosphere. One such blogger and twitterer, Jean Anleu Fernández tweeted the following recommendation [es], “The first action people should take is to withdraw your money from Banrural, and bankrupt the bank of the corrupt.” That was enough for the country's Office of the Prosecutor to arrest and charge Anleu, also known as @jeanfer on Twitter. He was charged with “intent to commit financial panic.”
Anleu's arrest comes as a surprise to many Guatemalan bloggers because of the non-political nature of his blogs. Many of his subjects are about his favorite books and about the field of information technology, in which he works. In addition, Anelu only had 212 followers at the time, according to Maestros del Web [es]. A judge sentenced him to house arrest and ordered him to pay a fine in the amount of $6,500 USD.
The arrest has angered many bloggers causing campaigns of solidarity, including the collection of donations to pay for the fine [es]. Others don't buy the fact that such a tweet could produce the panic claimed by the government. Jorge Mota wonders why the authorities could move so quickly on a case like this, but the more serious accusation from the Rosenberg video has yet to receive the same treatment [es]:
Sí, así de absurdo es este país, Te incriminan de asesinato en un vídeo y puedes negarlo todo, y claro la impunidad en el país te protege. Pero haces un comentario en Twitter y te arrestan. Por qué fue tan eficiente la policía para localizarlo, conseguir la orden, allanarlo y arrestarlo en este caso? por qué la ineficiencia reina y campa contra cada caso de violencia, asesinato y demás en nuestra patria. Pero claro, El gobierno quiere callar el movimiento online en contra suya.
Yes, the country is that absurd. One gets incriminated for murder by a video and one can deny everything, and of course the country's impunity protects. But one makes a comment on Twitter, and is arrested. Why was the police so efficient in located, obtaining the order, raiding and arresting in this case? Why does inefficiency rule during any case of violence, murder and everything else in our country. But of course, the government wants to silence the online movement against it.
Twitterer Jomap19 echoes the sentiment [es]:
La cqaptura de @jeanfer me parece una descarada cortina de humo para desviar la atencion de las acusasiones al presidente Colon #escandalogt
The hashtag being used by Guatemalan twitterers, bloggers, and others angered by these recent events is #escandalogt (Guatemala Scandal). Ethan Zuckerman of My Heart's in Accra analyzed the use of the hashtag and found that “#escandalogt is about as frequent as several of the tags listed on Twitter’s “Trending Topics”, getting more use than #fixreplies, #GoogleFail and #theoffice, all currently featured on the right sidebar.”
As more and more buzz is created on the internet, many wonder whether the arrest of Anleu is a sign of things to come. Luis Figueroa of Carpe Diem [es] writes:
Hoy que el Procurador Portillo Merlos amenazó a quienes difundan la información que destapó Rodrigo Rosenberg, me pregunto: La administración de Los Colom ¿irá a perseguir a la revista Time por el artículo titulado A Video from the Grave Sends Guatemala into Crisis?
Today the Prosecutor Portillo Merlos threatened those who spread the information that Rodrigo Rosenberg uncovered, and I ask: The Colom administration, will it chase Time magazine for the article titled A Video from the Grave Sends Guatemala into Crisis?
As a result of much of this uncertainty and frustration, protests are starting to emerge on the streets of Guatemala City. James Rodriguez of Mi Mundo has photos and describes the two competing groups protesting:
As a result of the crisis, two very different protests were carried out in the central park of Guatemala City. The first gathering brought thousands of demonstrators who angrily demand justice for Rosenberg’s death in addition to a resolution for the out-of-control violence in which Guatemalan society lives today. This first group, composed primarily by residents from the wealthier sectors, also demands the immediate resignation of President Colom.
Simultaneously, dozens of buses brought hundreds of organized people to show their support for President Colom in front of the Presidential Palace. These governmental sympathizers come primarily from low-income shantytowns, known as asentamientos, within the outskirts of Guatemala City. During a live CNN interview on Tuesday the 12th, President Colom admitted his UNE party had strong presence and support in such areas. These demonstrators claim that Colom’s government is victim of a movement seeking political instability. Despite the tensions among the groups, no violent confrontations occurred.
As the events continue to develop surrounding the video, the protests and the speculated targeting of those spreading information about the case, it is certain that they will not stop from being discussed online.
Video: 48 Hour Young Lions YouTube Contest and others you can join
Young Lions YouTube Contest
First things first: tonight could be your chance to make it big. All it takes is 48 hours to make, upload and get as many votes on your video, and you could go to the Cannes Film Festival. If you can't make it on time, don't worry: following is a list of other contests open for participants all around the world.
If you make online videos, a good way to get inspiration and practice is to participate in video contests. By submitting entries to contests you can get experience in how to make videos that please audiences on topics you care about and in the process get your name out there. By winning, you may have the opportunity to travel or win cash prizes as well as recognition as a budding video journalist. However, one of the challenges, besides the actual making of the video, for anyone outside the US is finding contests open to international participants. Read on to find out about a few contests you may want to join.
You Tube is also expanding their contests to include citizens of many different countries outside of the ones where they have a localized presence. Such is the example of the Young Lions International 48 hour contest shown. This contest is slightly different: contestants will only have 48 hours to fulfill the challenge of producing an ad for a selected charity that will be disclosed tonight at midnight.
The prize will be an all expense paid trip to the Cannes Festival in France and the opportunity to be a part of the Team YouTube for the Young Lions' competition.
Full rules can be found on the YouTube website and on the Young Lion's Information page.
HOW IT WORKS
- Make the ad. At Midnight, GMT, May 15, we will release a brief for an ad for a charity. You’ll have 48 hours to make the ad, upload it to YouTube, and submit to the channel.
- Spread the word. Between May 17 and June 1, you will need to get your ad as many views as possible. Embed it, blog about it, tweet it - whatever it takes.
- Go to Cannes. Two winners, judged on creativity and the videos’ views, ratings and footprint. They will win an all-expenses-paid trip to Cannes to represent YouTube in the prestigious Young Lions contest.
If working under looming deadlines is not your thing, here are a few other contests. On Online Video Contests, you can search by latest additions, date due, most liked or those that offer cash prizes. However, you will have to click on each contest to discover if it is available for people outside the US. Some of the contests open for people outside the US are:
The Sparky Awards, with a prize of $1000 USD, due on December 26, 2009:
The SPARKY Awards challenges you to illustrate in a short video presentation what you see as the value of sharing information. Use your imagination to suggest what good comes from bringing down barriers to the free exchange of information.
The conditions can be found by following this link. The video should be no more than 2 minutes in length, has to have been produced during January 1st and December 6th 2009, should be narrated or subtitled in English and has to be posted online under a Creative Commons license.
The Most Promising New Media Creative Video Contest for Asia Pacific region with a $5000 USD prize for the winner, who will also be flown to a gala event in Singapur. The Due date is August 3rd, 2009, conditions can be found here:
Capture the essence, the soul, the energy, the psyche, the quintessence of “Fame“. You've got 30 seconds to convince the “creme de la creme” of the advertising industry that you should be a part of History, winning the “Most Promising New Media Creative In Asia Pacific” award! Your chance to embrace fame!
Sometimes, websites are interested in promoting their brand and getting more users: such is the case of the $1000 USD prize for the MeHype “Food and Beverage” Video Contest (conditions here).
To encourage you to “show us what you got”, MeHype will award $1000 to the Producer of the most watched (full views only) Food & Beverage-themed video that highlights the level of capability and professionalism that our members posses to attract future Corporate Sponsors to MeHype.com, for more projects to work on…
Saudi Arabia: Will Swine Flu Threaten Hajj?
Every year millions of Muslims converge to Mecca to perform Hajj (pilgrimage), one of the five pillars of Islam. Is this year's Hajj season being threatened by the A/H1N1 or Swine Flu virus? Bloggers commenting on the region weigh in.
At CrossRoads Arabia, John Burgess explains:
A Saudi researcher in Shariah law find that there is precedent to ban Umrah pilgrims (those who undertake the non-obligatory, ‘lesser’ pilgrimage) who come from areas beset with the A/H1N1 or swine flu virus. I suspect that this opinion is being floated now in anticipation of the Haj, which will take place in late November. The Haj is obligatory, in that every Muslim is required to perform the pilgrimage at least once in his/her life, if feasible.
Similar concerns were raised a few years ago, when bird flu (H5N1) was threatening. One Saudi scholar called for Haj to be canceled if there were a severe outbreak, but that proposal was shot down by others. The argument was that Haj had never been canceled on public health grounds and that to do so would be counter to Islam. Rather, those who are ill are morally obliged to not perform Haj.
Communicable diseases and Haj are historical companions. There are many records of outbreaks of disease, from plague to cholera, killing thousands in Mecca, Madinah, and Jeddah over the years. Only toward the end of the 19th C. did strictly enforced quarantines [210-page PDF] work to stop the spread of diseases out of the region, back to the homes of the pilgrims. Quarantines and strict enforcement of medical screening can protect pilgrims and that might be enough. Only time will tell. Swine flu, as bird flu before it, may turn out to be a non-issue. If it does not, however, it good that people are starting to think about it now.
The Middle East Institute's Editor's Blog adds:
This is getting stranger and stranger. The Grand Mufti of Egypt is suggesting Muslim scholars issue a collective fatwa [religious edict] to postpone the hajj due to swine flu. Arabic version is here. Keep in mind — I know I keep repeating it — there have been no cases in Egypt. In fact, according to WHO's rundown as of yesterday, the only cases confirmed in the entire Middle East are in Israel (seven cases). And WHO says, “WHO is not recommending travel restrictions related to the outbreak of the influenza A(H1N1) virus.” Oh, yes, and another thing: the hajj isn't until November. Am I missing something here? Has the hajj ever been postponed for health reasons, in all of Islamic history? I don't know, but I expect you'd need at least one infected person to justify it. (Not only are there no cases in the Middle East, except Israel, but none in Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan — well, anywhere Muslim.)
Egypt: Court bans Porn Sites
Lawyer Nizar Ghorab (Ghorab translates to Crow in Arabic) filed a lawsuit calling for banning porn sites because they destroy the core values of the Egyptian society. The Administrative Court in Cairo ruled in his favor. Between anger and sarcasm, Egyptian bloggers react to the ruling.
Moftasa wrote:
there are ways to circumvent censorship and if people want to watch porn, and they do, they will resurrect VHS.
Not very thrilled with the decision Moftasa continues saying:
This ruling is like legalizing the monitoring of people's thoughts and controlling what they want to see. Perhaps tomorrow they will want to control what you think of too.
I understand that a court can make the production of pornographic material in Egypt illegal, which is currently the case, because of the possibility of abuse of minors and women through trafficking, etc..
Another problem is the blurry definition of “obscene sites” that is described in the ruling as sites that “destroy the values of the family and society that injects its poisons and spreads vice.” I am sure that inclusion of political thought considered by the government as astray is next. Didn't this already happen?
In a post titled This page cannot be displayed, you naughty boy, Sarah Carr wrote:
The case was brought by a lawyer who clearly does not use Facebook and therefore has too much time on his hands. He is also clearly too concerned with what other people do with their time, and their hands. He raised a case demanding that the ministry of telecommunications ban ‘obscene' websites, and the court found in his favour, goddamit.
Carr quoted an extract from the court's “pompous and stupid reasoning”:
Rights and freedoms are not absolute, but rather limited by the [need to] protect the pure essence of the family which in its turn is the basis of society, and whose constituent elements are religion, morals and patriotism. The state and society are obligated to safeguard the nation’s high level of religious upbringing, moral and patriotic values … as well as public morals.
She then invites the reader to “Observe”:
Porn – spreading depravity. Ban.
Pigs – spreading sausages. Destroy.
Hezbollah cell in Egypt – sending aid. Prosecute.
Caritas – spreading love. Stop.*
Emos – spreading black eyeliner. Arrest.
She concludes by saying:
I'm stating the obvious, but I'll say it anyway: a paranoid regime which exerts the majority of its energies on rabble rousing against an external threat(s) is trying to conceal its own inadequacies. Which is not to say that suspicion of the other does not exist in Egyptian society. It does. Ask an Egyptian Bahai. But as with xenophobia against immigrants in Western Europe, how much of this antipathy is attributable to deliberate misinformation, and poor education, and media which loves a sensation? Does what is ostensibly over zealous nationalism mask a deep insecurity, even a loss of identity?
Zeinobia is not against banning obscene sites but she has another concern:
I just fear that the regime will use this rule and twist it in order to hunt down the political websites and blogs.This is my only concern. I am not against the rule in general but if you think about it very carefully ,you will see that it is too general and vague. I am 100% with the ban of the pornographic websites but how can you control vast virtual world online like the web ?? What is the mechanism the communication ministry and NRTA are going to use in banning porn websites ?? What are the criteria used ?? Shall the ministry declare the specifications ?
Kim wonders:
How they are going to implement it. . . . . . . . . . . . . is something I would love to see.
And she fears the day the Galabeya (long dress worn by women to cover the entire body) becomes the national dress in Egypt:
Egyptian MP Mustapha al-Gindy wants the Galabeya to be recognised as Egypt's National Dress. “In Egypt, if you wear a galabeyya, you might find yourself barred from 70% of public places. This is both unconstitutional and inhuman.”
It will be interesting to see how he plans to go about getting the Galabeyya its National Status and even more interesting to see what happens once it gets national status.
I know of restaurants that have a No-Galabeyya policy and deny entry to those males dressed in this ankle length gown. (Most of the restaurants that have this policy also serve alcohol and also try to restrict entry to veiled women - purportedly to not offend the religious sentiments of those who are seen as being more religious - simply by virtue of their clothing)
Would they be able to deny entry to those clad in galabeyyas, once it is declared the national dress?
Meanwhile, Magi wrote:
Cartoonist/Dentist Ashraf Hamdi asked three questionsunder his illustration:
Egypt bans porn sites
أتسائل عن الفئة المستهدفة ، لصالح من هذا القرار ؟ للأطفال ؟ للشباب ؟ للشعب بأكمله ؟ في الواقع أنا لا أفهم ، المواقع الإباحية مثلها مثل أي شيء في الدنيا ، مثل الخمر ، مثل شقق الدعارة ،… مثل أي شيء مرفوض دينيا أو أخلاقيا أو مجتمعيا ، هذه الأشياء لا يمكن بأي حال من الاحوال منعها ، ولكنها تقبل التوجيه من خلال حملات التوعية … ببساطة شديدة هذا القرار يعتبر سبة للشعب بأكمله.
His second question is:
القرار ببساطة شديدة يشجع على رواج الإباحية وبشكل غير مسبوق بالمرة ، حاول أن تمنع الخمور من مصر وستجد من لا يشرب يبحث عنها لمجرد المعرفة ! ، الممنوع مرغوب … وأقول بأن حجب المواقع الإباحية سيفجر قنبلة جنسية موقوتة وحالة من الهيستيريا لم تشهد لها إلا بلاد تعرفونها جميعا ، كل من لديه أفلام جنسية سيصبح في خلال ليلة واحدة ملكا متوجا على عرش سوق الجنس الذي سيفتح أبوابه على مصراعيها لكل شاب وفتاة ورجل وأمرأة وطفل أيضا .
His last question is:
سيناريو الاكتفاء الذاتي
لن نحتاج هنا إلى مواقع أجنبية ولدينا شباب حلو وعسل وزي الورد ، سيتم تصوير عشرات الآلاف من الصور الإباحية من داخل مصر نفسها وتبادلها من خلال الموبايل وعناوين البريد الإلكتروني وهذا السيناريو يحدث بالفعل ولكن على نطاق ضيق.
سيناريو العبقرية التقنية الفذة
الشاب المصري العبقري ، سيكسر الحجب ، وسينشيء مواقع ومنتديات إباحية لا حصر لها يعصب حجبها ، وسيستخدم كل ما يملك من مهارة في ارسال واستقبال الصور والأفلام بألف ألف طريقة لا تمر على كيبورد السيد الحاجب الرقيب المسكين ، أمل هما اخترعوا البروكسي ليه ؟ .
سيناريو الصاحي بدلا من المجمد
الصاحي صاحي ، ولا يمكن مقارنته بأي شيء آخر ، أوعى بقى للصاحي ، اللي بيلعب ، لا حاجة للمواقع الإباحية طالما هناك دعارة ، بل سيمتد الأمر من الدعارة إلى نطاق الأصدقاء والأصحاب والحبايب والجيران والنادي والكافيه وكله بالإكتفاء الذاتي ، والصاحي يكسب ، قال صور وأفلام قال بلا خيبة .
سيناريو الكبت الوهمي
المواقع الإباحية ليست وسيلة للتنفيث ، ولكن منعها سيولد شعورا بالكبت ، حد فاهم حاجة ؟؟؟ أقصد بأن منع المواقع سيولد شعورا لدى الشاب أنه مكبوت أكثر مما هو عليه من كبت أساسا
سيناريو الهوس الجنسي
إذا كان الجنس تابو فإن غلق المواقع الجنسية سيجعله ألف ألف تابو ، سنصبح مثل الشعوب التي أصابها الهوس الجنسي فأصبحم لواطا وسحاق ولا حديث لهم إلا عن الجنس ، ستزازد أهمية الجنس كمتعة في غير إطارها المشروع ، ستتضخم المكتبات الجنسية على الهاردات والفلاشات والاسطوانات يوما بعد يوم لانها أصبحت عملة نادرة ، ولها ثمن .
سيناريو آخر مهم
بالطبع سيتم غلق مئات المواقع المدونات الجادة بحجة أنها تحوي صورا إباحية ، في الواقع هي مواقع معارضة ببساطة شديدة ، يسهل تلفيق هذه التهمة لحجب أي شيء.
SELF SUFFICIENCY SCENARIO
Who needs porn sites when young men and women can shoot their own homemade movies and exchange them via emails and phones?
TECHNOLOGICAL PRODIGY SCENARIO
Tech-savvy geeks will find a breach in the ban … what are proxy servers made for?
THE REAL DEAL SCENARIO
Who wants porn when they can get real prostitutes?
OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE OPPRESSION SCENARIO
Just banning the sites will give people a false sense of oppression - another blow at freedom of choice.
SEXUAL OBSESSION SCENARIO
If sex is a taboo, banning these sights will make it a much bigger taboo and taboos lead to perversion.
ANOTHER SCENARIO WORTH CONSIDERING
I am positive that hundreds of blogs will be banned under the assumption that they contain obscene pictures.
Japan: ‘Yoshiharu Habu and Modern Shogi', an Open Translation Project
A volunteer translation project sprang up and translated all of Mochio Umeda's book “Watching Shogi from Silicon Valley - Habu Yoshiharu and Modern Times” (シリコンバレーから将棋を観る-羽生善治と現代) into English in under a week.
‘Shogi Game' by Flickr user thrig
Yoshiharu Habu is a highly-respected professional shogi (also known as Japanese chess) player. Easily the most recognizable figure in all things shogi, he is regarded by some as the ultimate strategist of our time. Mochio Umeda is a Silicon Valley-based VC, whom Asiajin calls Japan's leading web visionary. He is the author of the bestselling book ‘Web Shinkaron' (Theory of Web Evolution), covered by GV here in 2007.
Umeda is a big shogi fan, although he doesn't play himself - a distinction that he stresses numerous times in his book. A few days before it was published, Umeda announced on his blog that the content was available for open sourced translation in any language. The timing couldn't have been better as it coincided with Golden Week and 10+ people answered the call for volunteers by Shota Yakushiji for an English translation project.
Using Google Groups and the project collaboration tool Hatena::groups, the group worked around the clock for six days on the initial translation, which was then released on PBworks. The members are mostly in their 20s and have minimal translation experience.
- Discussion site: Let's Brushup 『シリコンバレーから将棋を観る』 English version!
- Full text: Yoshiharu Habu and Modern Shogi
In the past two weeks, tensions have been running high in the Hatena community over the candid comments by Chika Watanabe - an IT consultant based in San Francisco - regarding the future of Japan:
これまでずっとなるべく言わないようにしていたのだが、もう平たく／明快に言うことにしました。
１）日本はもう立ち直れないと思う。
だから、
２）海外で勉強してそのまま海外で働く道を真剣に考えてみて欲しい。
1) I don't think Japan will ever get back on its feet.
So,
2) I want you to seriously consider studying abroad and staying to work.
Watanabe's blog ‘On/Off and Beyond‘ is widely-read among the Japanese tech crowd and the uproar over these comments is a story in itself.
Shota Yakushiji, the driving force behind the translation project, refers to her statement and talks about hope as his motivation for the project:
十数名のメンバーではできることに限界がある。でも、１億２千万人のメンバーができることには希望がある」
> 日本はもう立ち直れないと思う。
なんて言われて悔しいじゃないですか。僕はまだ立ち直れないなんて信じたくない。Wisdom of Crowdsの風が吹き荒れてが日本を救う、そんな日が来ることを信じたい。
> I don't think Japan will ever get back on its feet.
Let's not take this lying down. I'm not ready to believe that Japan won't be able to recover. That the wild winds of the ‘Wisdom of Crowds' will blow and save Japan - I want to believe that such a day will come.
Professional shogi player Endo Yusuke, who participated in the project, commented:
このプロジェクトで良いと思うのは、終着点が見えていないところ、だと思います。
ああすればこうなる、じゃあ面白くありません。この後何が起こるのか、それが分からないからこそがむしゃらになれるのです。
このエネルギーがどこへ向かい何を起こすのか、間近で見られる事になったわけですし、ますますワクワクします。
The translation is a work in progress and anybody is welcome to help improve the quality or create related content based on the text. There's also a French translation in the works, run by Yoshihisa Yamada.
Elsewhere on the web: Michi Kaifu, of Tech Mom from Silicon Valley fame, gives an overview of the project. Takuya Honnma writes about the project in the context of spreading Japanese culture. Yoko Ishikura's Blog links to an impressive series of YouTube clips on the rules of shogi.
Links for Fri, 2009-05
Back to blogging after a long hiatus, Bahraini Mahmood Al Yousif lashes out at the way ‘poor unfortunate birds' and animals are treated in his country. Click on the link to find out why Al Yousif's blood “is still boiling.”
Taiwanrocks! discusses the friendly links between Taiwan and India.
“I just discovered—to my absolute delight—that the VII Festival of Caribbean Endemic Birds is being celebrated throughout the region”: Repeating Islands provides details.
On the day before the election results Blogs from Brain comments on the perils of an unstable government: “Once the results are out, the next thing is the stability of the Government. Most of them are aware that due to proliferation of regional parties with which the Government will be formed, they are already predicting that it will be an unstable Government. The result? Elections again in just over an year and a hole in Govt's exchequer.”
Repeating Islands profiles Dr. Edward Cheung, an Aruban of Chinese descent who is the Principal Engineer of the Hubble Space Telescope Service Project.
“Bad judgment or criminal wrongdoing?” asks Barbados Free Press of the CLICO debacle, adding: “The Government of Trinidad and Tobago has launched a criminal investigation into the house of cards known as CLICO and has hired one of the most respected forensic investigators in the world: Robert Lindquist.”
Sidhusaaheb at I, Me, Myself remembers the Operation Blue Star and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, India. The riots were triggered by the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, by two of her Sikh bodyguards (in retaliation for Operation Bluestar). The article in three parts can be found here, here and here.
This site is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
Please read our attribution policy.
Dechen Pemba3 posts 
Michael Hartsell25 posts 
I-fan Lin38 posts 
Ismail Dhorat7 posts 
Alexey Sidorenko9 posts 
Sana Saleem13 posts 
Filip Stojanovski17 posts 
David Reid77 posts 
Giga Paitchadze1 posts 
Sara Moreira13 posts 
tan18 posts 
Carolina Rumuat16 posts