Stories about Digital Activism from May, 2008
Brazil: Visible and Invisible Indians and Scoops
Brazilian Indians were in the spotlight of world media this week. From the images of an uncontacted tribe in the Amazon, to the enraged protest caught on camera against the building of dams along the Xingu River in the Amazon basin where an official of Brazil’s national electric company got slashed by traditional machetes and clubs.
Brazil: PeBodyCount joins Brazilian Disarmament Network
PEBodyCount blog [pt] is now officially a member of the “Brazilian Disarmament Network”, which brings together more than 40 entities. “The network will stimulate and strengthen the idea that carrying...
Ukraine, Russia: Personae Non Gratae
On May 12, Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov was declared persona non grata in Ukraine, following his calls for Russia to take ownership of Sevastopol, a Ukrainian Black Sea naval port. On May 15, Russia denied entry to Vladyslav Kaskiv, one of the leaders of the 2004 protests in Kyiv and member of the Our Ukraine/People's Self-Defense faction in the Ukrainian parliament. LJ user varfolomeev66, a Russian journalist, compares the two cases.
China: Donation Pressure on Multinational Companies
ESWN translated a report from Southern Weekend about the public pressure on multinational companies regarding earthquake donations.
Georgia: Opposition Protests
Following the recent parliamentary election in the country, Resistance Georgia has posted photographs of the protest demonstrations which followed the landslide win for the ruling government party. The pro-opposition blog...
Singapore blogger dares Lee Kuan Yew to sue him
Blogger Gopalan Nair dares Singapore leader Lee Kuan Yew to sue him. IZ Reloaded thinks it could be “the most daring or foolish act ever in the history of the...
Bahamas: Education Consequences
Christopher Lowe at WeblogBahamas.com blogs about the consequences of an ineffective education system, saying: “We are reaping that which we have sown.”
Puerto Rico, U.S.A.: Imagine That Conversation
Puerto Rican blogger Liza asks: “Can you imagine having to talk to your kids about the potential assassination of their father?”, adding: “What people don't get is how deep the...
China: After the quake, hoping for aid
From inside and outside China, concerned citizens are helping, and putting their hands out to help the victims of the devastating 7.9 in the Richter scale earthquake that leveled out industrial cities, transforming them into refugee camps where people are living under plastic bags, trying to find out their relatives and remake their lives. Four different videos bring us perspectives on how people are dealing with their losses all around the world, and how reaching out to help others could help help ease the pain.
Iran: Hackers attacked several Arab language sites
Ashyaneh, a group of Iranian hackers, says[Fa] that they attacked several Arab language sites that renamed Persian Gulf and call it Arabic Gulf.
Guyana: Identity Crisis?
Signifying Guyana blogs about her “personal struggle with a hyphenated identity”.
From the Diary of a Sinister Egyptian Spinster
Egyptian women have their own set of challenges, ranging from the right to marry themselves off to inequality in marriage and divorce rights. Marwa Rakha sheds light on the thoughts and writings of Eman - a self-confessed spinster.
Bahamas: Social Breakdown?
Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit believes that the country's escalating violence, especially among youth, “is not crime. It is impending social breakdown.”
Trinidad and Tobago: Shame
As an eight-year-old girl is found dead in a canefield in Trinidad, Coffeewallah says: “They're killing the children…casually, as though they are no more than sand through our fingers”, while...
Bermuda: Freedom or Manipulation?
Bermudian bloggers are incensed about the Premier's statement that making certain information public is “akin to asking a neural surgeon to come out of the operating room in the middle...
Guyana: We the Bloggers
“You know that feeling you get when somebody compliment you but they slip in a few digs, so you end up puzzled?” A newspaper editorial compares news-blogs and traditional media,...
Bulgaria: Stoev's Murder and Anonymous Blogging
Maya's Corner quotes a passage on Georgi Stoev's murder and the dangers of writing under one's real name in Bulgaria.
Cuba: Free Speech?
Child of the Revolution sees the irony of the editor of Granma calling for a further restriction on freedom of speech laws in Cuba: “Instead of demanding greater freedom of...
Guyana: Copyright Laws
Signifyin’ Guyana comes across an article on copyright laws in Guyana that “made (her) jaw drop.”
Kazakhstan: Workshop in Kostanay and Aktobe
Askhat reports on his workshops on blogging skills he conducted for the Kazakh-language young men and women in the Northern Kazakhstan oblasts, which are primarily Russian-speaking areas.
Cuba: Media Manipulation?
As Fidel Castro comments on the US presidential campaign, Child of the Revolution calls him “the consummate manipulator”.
