Stories about Protest from August, 2008
Singapore cancels visa permits of Burmese patriots
Singapore's immigration authorities did not renew the visa permits of Burmese patriots who are based in Singapore. Were the Burmese dissidents rejected for their peaceful political activism?
Malaysia: Avril Lavigne is too sexy?
The youth wing of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party is urging the government to cancel the scheduled concert of singer Avril Lavigne in Malaysia because the singer is deemed too sexy. Blogger My Little Sanctuary is angry.
China: Protesters’ Trap
Two 80 years old protesters was sent to labour education camp as they insisted to demonstrate in the Olympic protest area. Zhongoutese was very angry and said that the Olympic protest area was a trap for dissents.
Peru: Government Attempts to Halt Protests in the North
The news media has started to provide more coverage of the protests taking place in Northern Peru. The newspaper La República writes that the commission headed up by Environmental Minister Antonio Brack did not accomplish much. More and more indigenous groups are joining the cause and guarding important state petroleum...
Mexico: Videos raise awareness of kidnapping crisis
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: Free Wu Dianyuan And Wang Xiuying!
On the arrest and sentence to one year of re-education labor for housing activists Wu Dianyuan and Wang Xiuying, aged 79 and 77 respectively, David Seth at Daily Kos writes: We need to call on China to free Wu Dianyuan And Wang Xiuying, and everyone else they are holding to...
Bolivia: No Strike in Yapacani
The blogger Idolo from Yapacani, a province in the department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia writes that “there is no stike here [es]” and that the majority of his town did not join the strike called by the president of the civic commitee in support of civic leaders of the departmental...
Iran:”Stop war on Iran”
Stop war on Iran informs us that demonstrators in different cities in the USA asked Bush administration not to attack Iran.
India: Stopped trains in Kerala leave passengers stranded
The following video uploaded by YouTube user peshaku shows irate commuters at the Angamali railway station in the southern Indian province of Kerala after they have been stranded due to a particular type of protest where workers cease operations. This phenomenon is called Harthal (Hartal) and it has become a constant problem in Kerala.
Silencing online speech in Tunisia
Blocking web 2.0 websites (Youtube, Dailymotion, Facebook) and barring access to local outspoken websites and blogs is the most obvious way of cracking down of the online free speech in Tunisia. It should be emphasized, however, that this is only one tool in the regime’s hand. Tunisia has adapted to the web 2.0 revolution by developing a broader strategy composed of a wide range of instruments
China: The Beijing Bay
Via TorrentFreak, on the IOC's takedown notice sent not to p2p network The Pirate Bay which was hosting torrents of Olympics footage, but Sweden's Minister of Justice: “We were going to ignore the Olympics, but now we’re loading our cannons. Our weapons of mass distribution are pointed towards China.”
Georgia, Russia: Feeding Looters and Refugees
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."
Bhutan: Reduced Maternity Leave?
Recently Bhutan government has proposed reduction of maternity leave from 3 months to 45 days only in a draft revision of the labor act. Tshokey in Kuzu Bhutan weblog builds a case against the reduction stating why the leave is important for the newborn and the mother and what the...
Afghanistan: Political Opposition Rally in Badakshan
Azar Balkhi reports on another rally of the emerging political opposition in Afghanistan that unites around Dr. Pedram, the leader of National Congress Party of Afghanistan.
Japan: Yasukuni Shrine on August 15th
James from Japan Probe has a sum-up on the demonstration at Yasukuni Shrine on August 15, the anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the Pacific War.
Japan: To Japanese women, WaiWai was sexual harassment
Since it exploded on the Japanese Internet less than two months ago, the scandal at Mainichi surrounding the newspaper's former English-language column “WaiWai” has taken on epic proportions. While much has been written about the scandal and its deeper implications, the duration and intensity of attacks on one of Japan's largest national newspapers has surprised almost everybody.
Turkey: Bloggers Banning Themselves?
If you are a long-time follower of the Turkish blogosphere you will have undoubtedly heard about the Turkish ban on Wordpress....and the periodic bans on YouTube, and on the social-networking widget site Slide, oh..and now on Dailymotion as well. I think that is all? Isn't it? It is hard to keep track now-a-days and frustrating. Turkish bloggers feel the same way too, and are protesting the constant banning of sites by voluntarily banning their own.
Jamaica: Woman Power!
Jamaica has done it again! If there was any doubt after Usain Bolt's 100m Gold Medal that this Caribbean nation is a powerhouse of Track and Field, the female Jamaican sprinters made sure to underscore the point by placing first (Shelly-Ann Fraser) second (Kerron Stewart) and...second (Sherone Simpson) in the final of the Women's 100m in Beijing.
Bermuda: Peace Rally
FreshieBlog thinks that Bermuda's upcoming peace rally “will be a positive event”, but warns “that peace rallies won't be sufficient too stop the violence. Criminals need to know that they will be caught and prosecuted, and that requires police & prosecutors.”
Iran: Baha'i minority
MideastYouth.com's Censeo Productions and BahaiRights.org announce the release of their new video defending the rights of the Baha'i minority in Iran.
Iran: Several bloggers protest against polygamy bill
Several Iranian bloggers including Parastood protest [Fa] against polygamy bill. Shirin Ebadi, Noble Peace laureate, also protested against this bill.
