· April, 2010

Below are posts about citizen media in English. Don't miss Global Voices, where Global Voices posts are translated into English! Read about our Lingua project to learn more about how Global Voices content is being translated into other languages.

Stories about English from April, 2010

Japan: Plastic duck race

  29 April 2010

Photoreporter Damoncoulter uploaded original pictures of the duck race held at the second Ashigara River festival in Matsuda city (south of Tokyo). Some hundred yellow, plastic ducks are emptied into the river and “the monies raised are plowed back into environmental organizations that clean up the river and Ashigara area.”

Russia: More Commentary on Sex Video Scandal

RuNet Echo  29 April 2010

A Good Treaty comments – here and here – on the sex video scandals involving members of the Russian opposition, notes an increase in blog traffic (“nothing brings visitors to a website like the promise of nudity”), and responds to Julia Ioffe‘s Foreign Policy piece on the scandal.

Japan: Kabuki Theatre to be Rebuilt

  29 April 2010

One of the most recognizable buildings in Japan, the grand, old Kabuki-za in Ginza is closing this month. It will be torn down and become a theater and office complex with direct connections to the subway station. Be sure to click this link to see a sketch of the planned...

East Timor: Connecting Civil Society

  29 April 2010

Providing internet access to civil society has been a key priority of the few information and communication technology (ICT) initiatives that exist in East Timor so far.

China: The 42th anniversary of Lin Zhao's death

  29 April 2010

Lin Zhao (林昭), a Peking University student, was arrested in 1960 during the Anti-Rightist Campaign launched by Mao Zedong in 1957 and sentenced to death on 29 of April (today) in 1968, 42 years ago at the age of 35. She could have exchanged for her freedom and life by...

Thailand: Online censorship amid protests

  29 April 2010

As Red Shirt protesters in Thailand continue to press their demand for the resignation of the Prime Minister, the government is also doing everything to weaken the protests, including the use of emergency powers to block TV stations, community radio stations, and websites that broadcast “subversive” stories.

Sudan: Checking in with Sudan Vote Monitor

  29 April 2010

On the eve of Sudan's 2010 presidential elections, I interviewed Fareed Zein, who heads the citizen election monitoring project Sudan Vote Monitor. On Wednesday I checked in with Zein to get his thoughts on the project now that the elections have ended.

Laos: Rural food

  29 April 2010

Rambling Spoon, who spent nine days in Phongsali province in Laos, kept a diary of what they ate in Laos.

Ukraine: Chaotic Ratification of the Gas-for-Fleet Deal

  29 April 2010

Below is some of the Anglophone blog commentary on the ratification of the Ukrainian-Russian gas-for-fleet deal, which took place in a chaotic environment on April 27 in Kyiv. Among other things, security guards were forced to employ two umbrellas to shelter the parliament speaker from the eggs hurled at him by opposition members.

Trinidad & Tobago: Checking the Facts

  29 April 2010

KnowTnT.com‘s Edmund Gall thinks “it would be nice if a couple professional journalists in T&T could produce a weekly fact-check column for the duration of the elections.”

Cuba: It's the Economy

  28 April 2010

“You can count on one hand the number of foreign investors who have kept their businesses in Cuba”: Iván's File Cabinet thinks that the Cuban economy is sinking.

Bermuda: Lack of Governance

  28 April 2010

Vexed Bermoothes calls the extension of a hotel's lease to 120 years “stunning”, adding: “This is a failure in governance and in accountability.”

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