· April, 2014

Stories from Quick Reads from April, 2014

Sexy Monday: Between Sexual Expression and Censorship

  27 April 2014

(All links are in Spanish) David Troya writes for Gkillcity about the Ecuadorian Superintendence of Communication's sanction on the newspaper Extra for its cover picture of model Claudia Hurtado and headline: “Start the week off right with your hot and sexy Monday. Damn, what a hot babe!” Troya reflects:  If...

#EPNStop : Human Chain in Mexico against #LeyTelecom

  26 April 2014

A human chain protest against the Telecommunications Bill proposed in Mexico took place in Mexico City, the country's capital, on Saturday, April 26, 2014. The chain was planned to link the official residency of the Mexican president in Los Pinos to the headquarters of Televisa [es] in Chapultepec, covering an approximate distance of 7 kms. But the...

Bob Marley – A New God for the Bhutanese Youth?

  26 April 2014

Bob Marley has suddenly become a god among the already confused generation. The Rastafari Flag, with either Bob himself or with a marijuana leave on it, is all over the place. For someone who died in 1981 to brainwash smart kids of 21st century is so unbelievable. Passang Tshering, a...

Menstruation Is Not a Shameful Secret. Let's Talk Periods.

  26 April 2014

“Why do women hush themselves when it comes to discussing menstruation?” asks Sourav Kumar Panda at Youth Ki Awaaz and goes on to discuss that in this day and age, keeping periods a ‘hush-hush’ issue is unnecessary – the time has come for us to break the silence and shame...

El Salvador: Letter to Minister of Public Works

  26 April 2014

[All links direct to pages in Spanish.] On the blog Siguiente página, Paolo Lüers posts a letter addressed to the Minister of Public Words of El Salvador, Gerson Martínez, where with some irony he makes reference to the announcement made by the minister on a local TV station where he...

Venezuela: Conclusions on the Dialogue

  25 April 2014

(Links in Spanish are signaled as [es]) Daniel Lara Farías, @DLaraF [es], writes [es] on Infociudadanos about the dialogue [es] between the government and the opposition. He launches criticism against the president of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello (links added).  Due to Diosdado's lack of credibility within the fraction of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...

Ukrainian Artists Cage Russians Like Animals

RuNet Echo  25 April 2014

A group of artists in Kiev has opened a new exhibit that many Russians are calling dangerously xenophobic. Yesterday, April 24, 2014, the “Ukrainian Cultural Front” presented four interactive installations intended to criticize Russia for its opposition to the EuroMaidan movement and its interventions in southeastern Ukraine. The most controversial...

Do Not Blame the West for Africa's Woes

  25 April 2014

Gershom Ndhlovu argues that Africa leaders are making a mistake by blaming the West for Africa's problem: At the last EU-Africa Summit held in Belgium, Zambia's president Michael Chilufya Sata reiterated what other African leaders had said in the past about the West contributing to wars on the continent through...

Myths and Environment

  25 April 2014

On a short post, Panamanian website Avarana notes [es] “We have to save the Earth” and reflects on what each of us has to do to preserve our environment: We have to save the Earth. Frankly, the Earth doesn't need to be saved. Nature could not care less if human...

#NETmundial, Tweets from São Paulo, Brazil

  24 April 2014

Here we share some Storify stories that sum up what happened on the first day of NETmundial, the conference on the future of Internet governance in São Paulo, Brazil (April 23 and 24, 2014). In English: – @APC_News: #NETmundial officially kicks off  – First impressions of #NETmundial. – @PdF_Europe: NetMundial...

Call to Stop Construction to Protect the Leopard Cats in Taiwan

  24 April 2014

Leopard cat is listed as a vulnerable species [zh] in Taiwan. Since the big cats live in the forests and jungles in both plains and in hilly areas and their home range is very broad, their habitats in Taiwan are easily disturbed by new construction projects. The Taiwanese environmental evaluation...

Pure Grenada

  23 April 2014

What comes to mind when an unexposed individual envisions the Isle of Spice? Grenada’s brand, though it fuels patriotism, isn’t targeted at Grenadians. We already know what our country has to offer.  Nisha writes about about the re-branding of Grenada‘s tourism product.

China Clamp Down on Slash Fiction

  23 April 2014

China recently launched a crackdown on online pornographic content: “Cleaning the Web 2014″. According to the campaign, all online texts, pictures, videos, and ads with pornographic content will be deleted in order to “create a healthy cyberspace”.  According to Offbeat China, since the launch of “Cleaning the Web 2014″, many Chinese fiction-sharing websites...

Cycling to Save Archeological Heritage

  23 April 2014

(Links are in English, otherwise noted [es] for Spanish) How can two apparently very distinct interests, such as cycling and archeology, come together? Nils Castro shares his experience in an article [es] as a guest blogger on Lima Milenaria.  Niles mentions that even though he had already created the Facebook group...