Stories about Digital Activism from October, 2009
Trinidad & Tobago: Politics & Race
“When it comes to race in politics, Trinidad and Tobago has a colourful past”: Taran Rampersad thinks it's time for a change.
Cuba: Feeling the Disconnect
Cuba's Generation Y feels like a nomad in cyberspace, but is confident that “one day my blog will be found on a server on this Island and, believe me, it will not be because it has performed an ideological pirouette.”
Bermuda: PATI Problems
Vexed Bermoothes says that Bermuda's draft freedom of information law “is a rather opaque transparency law. It also misses a singular opportunity to protect whistleblowers…”
St. Lucia: Death of the Artiste?
“In the Caribbean you’re more likely to wake up one day in summer and find it snowing than find a writer or poet who believes that the way to get ahead in the book trade and the literary field is to look to the governments for support”: St. Lucia-based Caribbean...
Philippines: Relief Goods Rotting in Government Warehouses
Ella's Blog from the Philippines posts photos of donated goods intended for typhoon victims rotting in government warehouses. The expose has sparked fears that the goods might be misused to support administration candidates in next year's elections. The original site shows a “404 Not Found error” when it is accessed...
Syria: 80 Year-Old Human Rights Activist Arrested
Omar Mushawah reported [ar] the arrest of Haytham al-Maleh, a Syrian lawyer and human rights advocate who also spent 6 years in prison in the period between 1980 and 1986 for demanding constitutional reforms. Al-Maleh is also a co-founder of the Syrian Human Rights Society.
Trinidad & Tobago: Trini To The Bone?
“Every day that I go through the news I become more convinced that I want to quit the ‘I am a Trini’ club and head off to somewhere else”: Coffeewallah has had it with everything from crime to taxes.
Trinidad & Tobago: 350 Action
“Trinidad and Tobago is a wealthy small island developing nation rich in oil and natural gas. But we are also seeing the damaging effects of aggressive industrialisation on our islands. This is an opportunity for women’s voices to be heard”: Attillah Springer is getting involved in 350's climate action tomorrow.
Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago: Dealing With H1N1
KnowTnT.com and Jamaica's Girl With a Purpose blog about the H1N1 virus in their respective countries,
Brazil: Between democracy and doubt
The country awaits its first National Conference of Communication that will signal a very first step in democratising Brazil’s communications system.
Russia: Soviet Legacy and Street Names
A few weeks ago, it seemed as if every single Russian blogger took the time to write something about the re-naming of Anti-Soviet Shish Kebab Restaurant in Moscow, a dissident journalist's protest article and a pro-Kremlin youth movement's counter-protest activities. One blogger alluded to the scandal in a post about street names that kept on preserving the questionable Soviet legacy.
Trinidad & Tobago: No Hope?
As a legendary Trinidadian artist's sculpture is given a coat of paint to “spruce it up”, Nicholas Laughlin says: “This…is a telling symptom. It tells me how unaware we are, as citizens, of the civic spaces we live and work in, and how irresponsibly we behave towards them. It tells...
Mexico: The Internet as a Necessity, not a Luxury
An increase in taxes was approved by the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico, including an special tax for Internet and cable services prompting online protests saying that the Internet is a necessity, and not a luxury.
Western Sahara: Hunger Strike in Support for Separatists
Solidarité Maroc [Fr], an online forum regrouping some Moroccan human rights activist, publishes an appeal (video) by French national Jean François Debargue who's on hunger strike in solidarity with Sahrawis whom he says are living in “dire conditions” in Western Sahara – a territory administered by Morocco and contested by...
Trinidad & Tobago: Truth or Dare
“We are a society that publicly cries corruption but privately upload mega-project photos on Flickr with misguided pride”: This Beach Called Life uncovers “the hidden truth” about Trinidad and Tobago.
Russia: Polina Zherebtsova's 1999 Chechen Diary
Jost A Mon translates the intro and excerpts from Polina Zherebtsova’s 1999 Chechen Diary that were published in Bolshoi Gorod (RUS) in Sept. 2009.
Puerto Rico: Money & People
Gil the Jenius blogs about money and self image as it relates to Puerto Rico.
Cuba: Press Freedom Ranking
“Press conditions were considered worse only in Burma, Iran, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea”: Uncommon Sense refers to the latest Reporters Without Borders index of press freedom around the world, noting that once again, Cuba is low on the list.
Cuba: Internet & Freedom
Generation Y makes a call for “freedom for Cuba” and thinks that the Internet is the way: “It occurs to me to use kilobytes, to take advantage of the cutting edge of a word that is also sharp and makes precepts grow more durable than the machete.”
ICT4D: When mobile phones link with computers
In the second of three posts, we ask: How are new technologies changing the field of ICT4D? Will linking computers to portable phones benefit human development in the developing world?
India: Factual Error In Lonely Planet Guide About Chennai
Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan at Selective Amnesia points out that the Chennai city proper is 172 square km large, not 70 square km as claimed by Lonely planet.