Word: bhutan
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...shallow in terms of details (it describes how a series of arrests in Jordan "brought citizens rights to speak freely into question" but neglects to mention what the arrests were about), the overall sketch of events across the world comprises a sort of "freedom 2008 yearbook." Did you know Bhutan had "largely successful national elections" in 2008? Did you know that "The Comoros' political rights rating improved from 4 to 3 due to the restoration of legitimate government to Anjouan, one of the country's constituent islands?" Do you know where Comoros is? Well, read the report, then. Freedom House...
...However persuasive his arguments, Joseph's task may be Canute-like. In June, China banned shops throughout the country from giving out free plastic bags and banned the production, sale and use of any plastic bags less than one-thousandth of an inch thick. Bhutan banned the bags on the grounds that they interfered with national happiness. Ireland has imposed a hefty 34-cent fee for each bag used. Both Uganda and Zanzibar have banned them, as have 30 villages in Alaska. Scores of countries have imposed or are considering similar measures...
...Some of the strangest stamps over the past couple of decades have come from the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, or, more accurately, from a Pittsburgh-based company that produces stamps for Bhutan. Bhutan was the first to release 3-D stamps (including a series of masks and one of the country's much-loved mushrooms), silk stamps, steel stamps, scented stamps (way back in 1973) and even a stamp that could be played on a tiny record player. Now come the world's first CD-ROM stamps, containing documentaries about the country and marking Bhutan's political shift from...
Every country wants to be at the forefront of something. In Bhutan that something is cutting-edge postage stamps. The tiny Himalayan kingdom (or more accurately, the firm in Pittsburgh, Pa., that makes Bhutan's stamps) was the first to release 3-D stamps, steel stamps, scented stamps (way back in 1973), even stamps that could be played on a tiny record player. Now come the world's first CD-ROM stamps. Self-adhesive wrappers contain documentaries marking the 100th anniversary of Bhutan's monarchy and its shift toward parliamentary democracy. And at nearly...
...Kingdom's Shame Your report on Bhutan's experiment with democracy paints an incomplete picture of the real political situation in Bhutan [April 7]. Democracy and the pursuit of "gross national happiness" sound ludicrous when nearly one-sixth of the population has been languishing as refugees in eastern Nepal for nearly two decades. The international community's indifference to the situation is a sign of how the ruling establishment has successfully diverted the world's attention. Adwait Silwal, Kathmandu...