· August, 2008

Stories about Humanitarian Response from August, 2008

Venezuela: Yukpa Indians, Chávez and land disputes

  28 August 2008

Citizen media videos have been uploaded informing of the situation arising in Venezuela between the Yukpa Indians of the Perijá Mountains, landowners and President Chávez. This dispute over land limits is 30 years in the making, when military forces displaced the Indigenous communities of the Yukpa by force and established landowners who have cattle ranches and have been working the lands ever since.

Brazil: The rice war on indigenous land

  27 August 2008

Brazil's Supreme Court decides today about the future of Raposa Serra do Sol's Indigenous land. Observatório da Imprensa [Press Observatory, pt] have published two texts about the media coverage of the subject. One of them is called The Rice War [pt]: “The press still own us an approach that will...

Taiwan: Where do eggs come from?

  27 August 2008

Mong compared ordinary chicken farm with special chicken farm with a humane environment. The blogger urged consumers to buy eggs with humane label.

Japan and Thailand: Children of the Dark

  26 August 2008

Roy Berman from Multant frog elaborated his comments on a newly released film “Children of the Dark” which is about how children in Thailand are exploited by developed countries.

Palestine: Boats break siege of Gaza

The latest news on the two boats attempting to sail to the Gaza Strip as an act of solidarity is that they have reached Gaza, despite earlier warnings that they might not be permitted to do so. Bloggers have reacted to the action with both excitement and concern.

South Ossetia: Tskhinvali Photos and Reports

  22 August 2008

On Aug. 21, Columbia Journalism Review published Julia Ioffe's overview of several Russian journalists' blogging from the war in South Ossetia. Featured in her piece are reports by LJ user krig42 (Komsomolskaya Pravda reporter Dmitry Steshin) and LJ user ep-news (Evgeny Poddubny, correspondent for TV Center). Below are a few more blog posts from Russian and North Ossetian journalists, with photos and accounts of what they've seen in the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali over the past week.

Pakistan: In tears again

  22 August 2008

All Things Pakistan is in pain after yet another suicide bomb blast in Pakistan that killed more than 70 people: “In what continues to be war on and in Pakistan, Pakistanis continue to die. Pakistan continues to cry.”

China: Victims of Sport

  22 August 2008

Xueyong traced the fate of two sportswomen, Guo ping and Zhou Chun-Lai, both were medal carriers and suffered from hardship after their retirement in early age. According to statistic, 40% of the retired sportsman couldn't find a second job.

China: He Kexin and “babygate”

  22 August 2008

Imagethief picks up the debate on the age issue of He Kexin, the golden girl of Chinese gymnastics, and notices a cold-war double standard in some of the mainstream media report with a story plot of Ours=plucky, heroic achievers. Theirs=manufactured robots/slaves/dopers.

Mexico: Videos raise awareness of kidnapping crisis

  21 August 2008

Mexico has seen a steep rise in kidnapping for ransom cases this year, and a group of videobloggers have decided to take a stand and make videos proposing solutions for this problem. According to the Analisis a Fondo blog, according to the Dutch NGO Pax Christi and local authorities, Mexico has surpassed Colombia in the number of kidnappings, which take place mostly in the capital and neighboring areas.

China: Earthquake 100 days

  21 August 2008

Aug 19 is the 100 days of Sichuan earthquake, Wang Ning posted photos of Beichuan earthquake zone for memorizing the deaths.

Georgia, Russia: Feeding Looters and Refugees

  19 August 2008

A number of Tbilisi residents gathered in front of the Russian embassy Saturday for a protest prank against looting. LJ user oleg-panfilov posted photos of the items left by the protesters for the Russian army; LJ user tony-geo called to Georgians to take care of the refugees' needs first, before getting involved in the "information war."