Stories from 22 January 2010
Haiti: Shelter Coming Both Too Slow and Too Fast
Talk is already turning to reconstruction in Haiti. Early reports on the damage pointed mostly to lax construction standards, but Marc Herman takes a closer look.
Trinidad & Tobago: Butter Bread
“In one of Port of Spain’s wealthiest neighbourhoods…the older, tastefully-designed homes can no longer be admired because they cannot be perceived: their garden walls are now higher than their eaves; and topped with razor wire: pass your butter bread over such a wall and it comes out the other side...
Russia: Gamer, Cat And Intellectual Are Most Popular Memes On RuNet
“Hero of the Runet” prize is awarded this year to the following Internet memes of Russian Internet: computer games reviewer Ilya Maddison, cute Cat Manul and Russian flamboyant intellectual Anatoly Vasserman.
Trinidad & Tobago: Emergency SMS
Further to Taran Rampersad‘s call for Trinidad and Tobago to get an emergency SMS number, he finds out a local communications provider has plans to implement one: “Kudos if they get it up before a national disaster. Well, other than continued parliamentary disaster…”
Trinidad & Tobago: By George!
Aisha at MEP Caribbean Publishers puts two rival Trinidadian doubles vendors to the taste test.
Haiti: Packing List
An interesting packing list from Caribbean Free Radio about what she's taking to Haiti.
Video: Drug legalization and life post-prohibition
There are groups of people advocating for the legalization of drugs, but what would that actually mean? From Hungary to Colombia, from youth to teachers, from cops and clergy, individuals and groups are taking to citizen media to put forth their arguments regarding this potentially controversial subject.
Global Screening Of Gaza War Documentary “To Shoot An Elephant”
To Shoot An Elephant is a documentary by Alberto Arce and Mohammad Rujailah, filmed in Gaza during the war a year ago. To mark the first anniversary of the end of the war, the film, released under a Creative Commons licence, was shown at special screenings around the world.
Interview With Popular Indian Bloggers
Read Blogadda's interview with forty two popular Indian bloggers (Part 1, Part 2). Blogadda is the largest community of bloggers in India.
Sri Lanka: Tamils And Democracy
Lankanyyz at Musings from Toronto explains the reason for the claim that the Tamils in Sri Lanka don't have a voice: “the Tamil population don't have a strong political presence to represent them democratically.”
Democracy And Pakistan
“Is Pakistan ready for democracy?” asks Bilal Qureshi at Pak Tea House.
Peru: Metallica Rocked in Lima
Internationally-known rock bands do not play in Lima, Peru very often. When do they do, as the case of Metallica, interest and profits reach high levels. However, not all are pleased to see the band in the country.
South Africa: The Polygamist President – “Doing a ‘Zuma'”
The President of South Africa has decided, once again, to marry. The number is up to 5 this time with recent news saying he's engaged to his sixth. The man moves fast, and works fast too... he is now up to 18 children and with a new wife I think we can expect more. Here's what the South African bloggers say.
Bhutan, China: Of Cyber And Border Wars
With quiet diplomacy and tact the tiny Himalayan state Bhutan took on giant China over encroachment and border issues recently. The Bhutanese officials and netizens are usually cautious to protest these issues with China, the powerful neighbor, but some netizens are voicing their dissent anonymously or under pseudonyms.
Hong Kong: A Post-50s Professional in Support of Today's Post-80s
ITvoices posted a support statement to the young generation (post 80s) who protest against the abuse of public expense in the construction of the world's most expensive rail.
China: The future of mobile media
DANWEI has a short Q & A with Lu Gang, co-founder of Kuukie.com and OpenWeb.Asia and chief editor of Mobinode.com, on the future of mobile media.
Russia: Regional Officials Urged To Go Online
Russian regional officials may lose their jobs if they don't start blogging soon, Russian daily “Nezavisimaya Gazeta” reported [RUS]. Allegedly, the Kremlin is disappointed with declining influence of traditional media in regions and it calls for government officials to adopt a new form of public life online.
Ukraine: Citizen Media and Political Forecasting
There was no lack of interest in the outcome of the presidential election in Ukraine, and, as a result, the blogosphere was overflowing with political forecasting attempts on the eve of the Jan. 17 first-round vote. Below are summaries of a selection of polls and forecasts that appeared on Ukrainian and Russian blogs.