Stories from Quick Reads from April, 2014
Chile: “Strength Built with Hands”
The author of blog Palabras para gastar shares his impressions after a visit to cerro Merced [es], in Valparaíso, days after the devastating fire that destroyed the area: There it was, a crowd moving along like ants, solving on the go, communicating with each other; not even asking for a...
French Newspaper Publishes Chart on What Nationalities Commit Crimes
The newspaper Le Progrès based in Lyon, France published an infographic [fr]entitled “”Délinquance : à chacun sa spécialité – principales nationalités impliquées” (Crimes: To each his own- the main nationalities implicated [for each type of crimes]) (see image in the twitter update below): Dans son édition du jour, Le Progrès...
Who Benefits from Trafficking Women from Madagascar to the Middle East?
Aaron Ross reports on his investigation in the heart of the ongoing human trafficking of young women from Madagascar to Middle Eastern countries: For some enterprising businessmen, the collapse heralded a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So-called placement agencies sprang up in Antananarivo and other cities across Madagascar, promising the good life in...
Guyana: The Walter Rodney Enquiry
Two different narratives are taking hold in Guyana when it comes to the Commission of Enquiry into the death of political activist Walter Rodney: Barbados Underground reports that the Guyana Trades Union Congress is looking after its interest in arriving at the truth, while propaganda press, which is not in...
Grenada, Antigua: Life Lessons
Kara Stevens, blogging at Groundation Grenada, shares five lessons about finances and life from Lessons her “Superhero Antiguan Grandpa”.
International Organizations, Activists and Authors Against #LeyTelecom
Several digital rights international organizations sent the Mexican Congress a letter expressing international support [es] for the defense of the freedom of expression and Internet freedom in Mexico. The letter is signed by Electronic Frontier Foundation, Vía Libre, Digital Rights NGO, among other academics and experts. According to the signers,...
Jamaica Names Poet Laureate
Jamaican diaspora litblogger Geoffrey Philp is thrilled to hear that Mervyn Morris has been named Poet Laureate of Jamaica by the country's National Library, saying: It speaks to the years of commitment to his craft and the guidance that he has given and continues to give to poets and to...
French Economist Piketty Links Inequality to Instability of Democracies
French economist and Associate Chair at the Paris School of Economics, Thomas Piketty recently published a book called “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” that has generated quite a buzz among fellow economists and political leaders. Piketty's central thesis is that inequality is not an accident, but one of the consequences of the excess of capitalism. Piketty...
East Timorese Protect Land Rights Against Australian Cement Plant Deal
The announcement of a new cement plant project by an Australian company in Baucau, northeast of East Timor, has led local community groups to set up a non-governmental organization “to protect and preserve the communities’ rights to their culture, development and traditional land rights.” According to the community organization, Kapeliwa, the government...
Will there be a Popular Consultation for Yasuní?
(All links are in Spanish, otherwise noted as [en] for English) Following the president's decision last year to exploit the oil fields in Parque Nacional Yasuní [en] [Yasuní National Park] an oppositional movement began and became quickly organized. It started carrying out marches for collecting signatures in order to hold a popular consultation regarding...
Egyptian Turns to YouTube to Object to Compulsory Service in Egyptian Army
An Egyptian activist has turned to YouTube to spell out his objection to the mandatory military service in the Egyptian army, compulsory for men aged between 18 and 30. In an email sent to Global Voices Online, Adam writes: I am Egyptian conscientious objector against serving in Egyptian Army because...
An African Tale of The First Love Story Ever Told
The website Histoire Africaine/African History [fr] narrates the tale of the oldest love story ever told, the story of Osiris and Isis [fr] and explains what makes it stand out [fr] from the other love stories. Osiris was the king god of Egypt and Isis his queen. Set, his brother, murdered...
The Africanized Experience of Lisbon
The media and racial stereotypes [pt], through the perspective and experience of two specialists in the area of the study of race, both Afroportuguese, born in Lisbon, Portugal. is the topic of a new podcast. An interview with Grada Kilomba, academic of Santomean origin at the Humboldt University Berlin, translated into...
Peru: Blog Site for Women Claims Unethical Use of Web Domain
A blog site for women in Peru claims that its site domain was registered in bad faith by the PERU.com website after a brief association between the two entities.
The New Government of Prime Minister Roger Kolo Announced in Madagascar
Tananews in Madagascar has published the full list of the 31 members of the new Malagasy government [fr]. Mitsangana Madagascar notes that the list includes 6 women and that 7 ministers were already part [fr] of the previous transitional government. Former prime minister Beriziky wished the new government well on twitter :...
87-Year Old Gabriel Garcia Marquez Dies
Colombia Nobel laureate author Gabriel García Márquez passed away on Thursday, April 17, 2014, in Mexico City. He was 87 years old. Colombian network Caracol posted a chronology [es] of his life. On Twitter, user Pepin Balongo expressed his sorrow: Ya no son cien años en soledad; a partir de...
Is Valparaíso's Wildfire Result of Neglect by Municipal Government?
A report [es] from Chile's Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIPER) has stirred up a story of neglect and corruption about how, since 2012, local authorities have been aware of the danger posed by the extensive growth of underbrush in the hills and ravines around Valparaíso as well as the proliferation...
Caribbean: Kids & Technology
Caribbean diaspora blogger Tobias Buckell says that the biggest surprise about living with five year olds is “their uptake of [tech] devices.”
9 Essentials Uncles You Need In Sri Lanka
Cerno opines that ordinary Sri Lankans need the right network of relationships with many ‘powerful uncles’ to survive properly.
Trinidad & Tobago: End of Traditional IT?
ICT Pulse, in reading the latest McKinsey survey, wonders if the IT department – as we know it – is on its way out.
Historical Overview of Cambodia's Land and Housing Problem
Hallam Goad analyzed the problems and issues that plagued Cambodia's urban development in the past two decades: Phnom Penh has followed the clichéd patterns of newly emerging nations almost to the letter with the urban poor shouldering many of the downsides. What few people recognise is that most of it...
