Stories from Quick Reads from November, 2009
Ecuador: Power Outages Back Home
The blogger from Viviendo en Venus [es] , who is currently living in Germany, is concerned about her fellow Ecuadorians who are going through too frequent power outages.
Suriname: Seamlessness
“There is a way that Caribbean music or musical interests create a seamlessness between locations”: Blogging at Paramaribo SPAN, Chris Cozier ruminates on seamless spaces created by sound.
Haiti: Lavalas Banned From Elections
Repeating Islands reports that “Haiti’s electoral council has banned the influential party of exiled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from next year’s legislative elections.”
Trinidad & Tobago: The Queen & the PM
B.C. Pires pokes fun at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which kicked off in Trinidad and Tobago today.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: ‘No’ It Is
Vincentian bloggers discuss the fact that the citizenry recently voted ‘No’ to “the current manifestation of a proposed constitution for this country.”
Cuba: Call to Respect Human Rights
As four Cuban dissidents are reportedly arrested in Havana, Uncommon Sense profiles political prisoner Oscar Biscet's call for his compatriots “to join an international campaign set for next month to demand that the Castro dictatorship respect human rights.”
Russia: Official Government Web sites Will Be Regulated By Law
A new law “On Ensuring Access to Information about Activities of Government Bodies and Municipal Authorities” [RUS] will require, among other things, creating public Internet terminals all around Russia. But netizens question [RUS] the feasibility of the law.
Nepal: Machine Readable Passport
“I wouldn’t want to cancel my trips due to the the failure of the government to issue passport,” says Xnepali while discussing whether the Nepali government will be able to meet the deadline of producing machine readable passports (MRP) for the Nepalis within four months (April 1, 2010).
Pakistan: A Letter To The Neighbors
To mark the anniversary of Mumbai terror attacks, Yasser Latif Hamdani at Pak Tea House writes a letter to the Indians: “let this day signify an awakening on both sides that (says) enough with this ‘geo-strategic thinking’ of one-upping each other.”
South Asia: Mass Murder Of Animals
Dipen Bhattacharya at Mukto Mona criticizes the rituals of sacrifices – be it during Kali Puja for Hindus or Eid-ul-Adha sacrifices for Muslims. “Man might need to eat meat, but mass murder of helpless animals using brutal methods cannot be considered self-sacrifice,” he opines.
India Should Wake Up On Climate Issues
Supriyo Chaudhuri at Sunday Posts discusses why India must wake up on climate change issues.
India: On Liberation Of Women
“For me the strongest drag force working against my desire to return home is my experience of life as a woman in India,” confesses Heartcrossings while discussing about the lack of freedom, independence and safety of Indian women.
USA: Conflict Cell Phones
Rima Abdelkader reports from New York about ‘conflict cell phones’ in the Democratic Republic of Congo on her CUNY University journalism blog.
Ecuador: Recent Protest Against President Correa
Danny Ayala Hinojosa of El Federalista [es] has photos of a recent protest against Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa.
Peru: Belief in the Pishtaco
In light of the recent arrest of a Peruvian gang accused of killing their victims to sell their body fat and whose actions closely resemble that of the mythical character the “Pishtaco,” J. Francisco Canaza of Apuntes Peruanos [es] writes that many people in the Andes region still believe in...
Costa Rica: Science Fiction Anthology called Possible Futures
Costa Rican writer Antonio Chamu writes that
Venezuela: Independent Film The Devil's Faces
Las Caras del Diablo (The Devil's Faces) is an independent film from Venezuelan director Carlos Malavé and Carlos Caridad-Montero of Blogacine [es] writes that it follows the local trend of producing film “with a small budget, taking advantage of the latest technological advances.”
Russia: Social Networks Help Find Debtors
Court enforcement officers in Russia actively use social networks to gather information on debtors and their properties, Russian news agency Prime-TASS reports [RUS].
China: Dwelling Narrowness
A popular Chinese drama “Dwelling Narrowness” was “re-scheduled” without explanation recently. ESWN translated various reports and discussions about the drama. A recent development of the drama is that one of the main characters becomes the mistress of a government official in order to help repay her older sister's mortgage.
China: 41 Popular Chinese Internet Memes From 2009
Fauna from ChinaSMACK translated local web portal Netease's pick of 41 popular Chinese internet memes.
Pakistan: Spare The Animals
Pakistani blog Baithak suggests that people should understand the spirit of religion rather than just following the rituals of sacrificing animals during Eid-ul-Azha: “The purpose of sacrifice is to understand the spirit of parting with what you hold dear (your wealth), it is not some muqabla against four-legged animals.”