Stories from Quick Reads from September, 2012
Spain: Proposed Changes for Abortion Law
The 28th of September is the celebration of the Campaign for the Legalization of Abortion, which has taken place for years in Latin America and the Caribbean and this year will be celebrated all around the world for the first time. The group known as“Feminismos 15M”[es] has chosen this date...
Russia: Yekaterinburg Police Raid Regional Internet Publication
On September 27th Yekaterinburg-based internet news portal URA.ru was raided by city police, reports [ru] Evgeny Roizman, local anti-drug campaigner. Roizman is dating the editor-in-chief of the portal, Aksana Panova, who has apparently managed to leave the country before masked operatives arrived at her apartment and scared her mother and young son [ru]....
Georgia: A Caucasian Abu Ghraib
Eva Anderson, a Senior Analyst with Transparency International, examines the recent prison abuse video scandal in Georgia as the country prepares for crucial 1 October Parliamentary Elections. The blog post in particular looks at the penitentiary system and the urgent need for reform.
China: Intraparty Democracy
Qian Gang from China Media Project reviewed the discussion and development of Intra-party democracy within the Chinese Communist Party through the so-called “open nomination and direct election” in the election of grassroots representatives.
Guatemala: Profiting from Catastrophes
Kevin from the Guatemala Solidarity Network blog points readers to an article by Danilo Valladares published in Inter Press Service about “‘big disaster business’ – profiting from catastrophes.” In a country as vulnerable to natural disasters as Guatemala, a “state of public calamity” is frequently declared – to the joy...
Iran: Eight Years of Deception
International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has released a short video “demonstrating and highlighting systematic cover-ups accompanying the marked rise in human rights violations over the eight years of his presidency”.
A Ghanain App at TechCrunch Disrupt
Erik writes about a Ghanaian tech team that pitched at TechCrunch Disrupt event: Saya is an app for texting. That mixes SMS, Facebook chat and hyperlocal findability to get in conversations with those near you. They’re on Android, Blackberry and waiting for their iPhone app to be approved.
Zimbabwe: My Zimbabwean Sheroe
Amy Tsanga is Rumbidzai Dube's Zimbabwean sheroe: Here was a woman who lived through an era when the education of girls was not a priority yet she had done it and done it well too. She was my lecturer and I idolised her or was it, uh, hero-worshipping. Gentle, yet...
China: University's Stability Maintenance Instructions on Diaoyu Islands Dispute
Anne Henochowicz from China Digital Times translated a stability maintenance instructions from within an university from Shaanxi province which demands teachers and staffs from various departments to monitor students’ sentiment on the Diaoyu Islands disputes and prevent “rumors” from spreading.
Wal-mart In China
I have a feeling all it takes is one pissed-off customer to make a phone call to the local officials to get that Wal-mart investigation up and running. It’s tough being a foreign investor in China, as Wal-mart by this point knows all too well. Then again, things could be...
Jamaica: In Whose Image?
Whose conception of Jamaican identity resulted in the decision to market our country in this colour-coded way? Why are we still rubbing out black people from the big picture? Or, at best, downplaying blackness? Which Jamaica are we selling? And who to? Professor Carolyn Cooper writes about class, colorism, branding...
Armenia: Reflections on Homosexuality and Fascism
Unzipped: Gay Armenia reflects on Brotherhood, a 2009 Danish film about homosexuality and fascism, in the context of the neo-Nazi firebombing of D.I.Y., a gay friendly bar in Yerevan, earlier this year.
Tajikistan: Power Plant as a Symbol
Wouldn't this facility, featuring the world's tallest dam, become the most important symbol of our republic? Wouldn't it characterize us, as a state, better than a monument in [the country's capital] Dushanbe or the flag on the world's tallest flagpole?
Kyrgyzstan: Virtual Farming, Real Harvest
You can now grow real organic vegetables and raise livestock online. Caravanistan reports about a new project [ru] in Kyrgyzstan which allows users to purchase a plot of land or an animal on a virtual farm. The proceeds then go to real farmers who do the work and supply the users with vegetables...
Guinea-Bissau: Impact of Tourism in the Bijagós Islands
Tourism doesn't always mean wealth and development for the Southern countries. The statement comes from a report [pt] on “Dynamics and impacts of the expansion of tourism in the Bijagós islands”, a protected sea area in Guinea Bissau. Cape Verdean blog Morabeza shares [pt] the study by CETRI (Centre Tricontinental)...
Colombia: Chronicling a Mugging
Santiago Ardila Reyes blogs [es] about the mugging he suffered in front of his house for his smartphone, describes how he feels about it, and wonders about the causes of the increasing reports of muggings and murders in Colombia.
Venezuela: Electoral TwitCam
Journalist and Global Voices contributor Luis Carlos Díaz [es] is streaming “Electoral TwitCams” to discuss the upcoming Venezuelan elections. You can watch the first video stream [es] and tune in today [es], at 8:00pm local time in Venezuela, for his second live stream [es].
Japan: Petition to Release Violin from Frankfurt Customs
On August 16, 2012, German customs officials at Frankfurt Airport seized a Guarneri violin from Japanese professional musician Yuzuko Horigome when she failed to present correct documentation. They demanded that she pay nearly US$ 500,000 in order to get it back.
Africa: Mountain Gorilla Conservation Data
Over 5,000 days of Mountain Gorilla conservation data in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo: Fifteen years ago, ranger-based monitoring (or RBM for short) was initiated as a tool in the conservation of mountain gorillas. Whether patrolling the park for law enforcement or tracking mountain gorillas for health...
Chile: Interview with Poderopedia Founder
Jessica Weiss from IJNet interviewed Miguel Paz, founder of Poderopedia [es], a data journalism project which seeks to reveal links among members of Chile's elite: Poderopedia's team will collect and verify data from an array of sources, including news sites, public databases and information disclosed by other companies and institutions....
Why Mali's Army is Hesitant about Foreign Intervention in the North
Tiékorobani goes to great length explaining why Captain Sanogo and the Malian Army are hesitant about foreign intervention [fr] in Northern Mali. He argues that Sanogo fears that he will lose control the global military operations and that in turn, his officers might rebel against him because of his loss of...
