May, 2010

Stories from May, 2010

Japan: My Eyes Tokyo

  31 May 2010

Isao Tokuhashi at My Eyes Tokyo interviews foreigners living in Tokyo. The latest interview, the 32nd in the series, is Robert Koch, an audio products manufacturer from Pietermaritzburg in South Africa.

Azerbaijan: Animal rights

Thoughts. Dreams. Visions. Nightmares. Me. reports on an action staged in support of animal rights in Azerbaijan. The blog says that the event held close to Baku's Zoo was a welcome event and centered on the need to create a special center to cater for stray animals. However, it also...

Pakistan: The Lesson In The Facebook Ban

  31 May 2010

Following the lifting of the ban on Facebook by Lahore High-court, Adil Najam at All Things Pakistan questions: “So, what is the lesson in all of this? Who gained what in this entire episode? And who lost what?”

Sri Lanka: Where To Put Your Trash

  31 May 2010

Iromi Perera at Groundviews writes about the garbage problem in Sri Lanka and comments: “dumping your trash in front of another person’s house seems to be the common and recommended solution.”

Why Invest In Bangladesh?

  31 May 2010

Why invest in Bangladesh? Because “Bangladesh is a winning combination with its competitive market, business-friendly environment and cost structure that can give you the best returns,” comments GuruMia.com.

China: lost in translation

  31 May 2010

The machine translation of Chinese character into English can be really hilarious. PH from veggie discourse has a few examples.

China: Responses to FoxConn's suicides

  31 May 2010

SACOM have several updates on reactions and responses to FoxConn workers’ consecutive suicides, including 1. Appeal by Sociologists on FoxConn suicides, 2. Global Day of Remembrance for Victims of Foxconn, 3. Letter to Apple and 4. A protest action in Hong Kong

Japan: Okinawans vent frustration over Futenma

  31 May 2010

Japanese PM Yukio Hatoyama has backtracked on promises to reduce the presence of American military forces in Okinawa, and inhabitants of the prefecture are furious. In blogs, they express their disappointment and rage against the failed Japan-U.S. negotiations.

Russia: Journalist's Blog Hacked

Both LiveJournal (sina-ja-mina) and Facebook accounts of Andrei Maltsev [RUS], journalist and blogger, were hacked on May 31, Vladimir Pribylovski reported [RUS]. This is the fourth blog hack this year and the third during the previous week (Following hack attacks of Maxim Sviridenkov [EN] and Renata Guseletova (aka demonessa22 [RUS])).

Maldives: A Non Muslim In the 100% Muslim Nation

  31 May 2010

Hasan Ziayu reports about a Maldivian who openly announced his disbelief in Islam on state television and was detained by police. Now the dilemma is: one cannot become a Maldivian unless he is a Muslim, but since the person is already a citizen, what will happen to his citizenship?

France: Scholar Unpacks the Concept of National Identity

  31 May 2010

Reflets reposts (Fr) from newspaper Le Monde a review of “L'identité nationale, une énigme“, a book by a specialist in comparative anthology Marcel Detienne, denouncing the “mythideology” of an immanent France, whose brand of nationalism rules out interracial mixing. The author was interviewed in two videos, here and here (november...