Stories about Weblog from October, 2009
Brazil: Between democracy and doubt
The country awaits its first National Conference of Communication that will signal a very first step in democratising Brazil’s communications system.
Adoption: Securing the Rights of Mothers and Children
Women speak out from all sides of the issue: adoptees, natural mothers and adoptive mothers try to make sense of the legal, reproductive and human rights issues behind adoptions.
Activism and Motherhood in Asia
What does a woman sacrifice for the cause she fights for? How are her children affected by persecution taken against her? This post explores briefly the lives of women activists in Asia who are also mothers.
Morocco: Education Under Bloggers’ Scrutiny
Torn between insistent calls for modernization and a powerful conservative drive; caught in an excruciating debate over which languages to include in its programs; overburdened by an opaque and centralized administration, the Moroccan education system has long been the target of passionate critiques, not least among bloggers.
Russia: Soviet Legacy and Street Names
A few weeks ago, it seemed as if every single Russian blogger took the time to write something about the re-naming of Anti-Soviet Shish Kebab Restaurant in Moscow, a dissident journalist's protest article and a pro-Kremlin youth movement's counter-protest activities. One blogger alluded to the scandal in a post about street names that kept on preserving the questionable Soviet legacy.
Online Tools to Monitor Climate Change
Leading up to the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP15) in December 2009, here is a sample of online tools to monitor climate change.
Kenya: Transforming sports coverage through blogs
The last 10 years has seen an explosion of sorts in sports coverage across the continent. The now famous SuperSport is an African powerhouse in pay TV for satellite users and subscribers. This has given Africa and indeed most states a platform to be able to showcase their best. Bloggers have also joined the coverage of sports in Africa as as Richard Wanjohi shows in this article.
China: Nobel Dream
This month, the Chinese press and online forums are saturated with coverage of Charles Kao’s winning of the Nobel Prize in Physics. Yet another overseas Chinese scientist has snatched the prestigious prize, this temporary moment of shared glory is quickly turned into a more profound question: when would China produce its first indigenous Nobel Prize winner?
Cambodia: Award honors sex slavery survivor
Sina Vann from Cambodia is an activist with the Somaly Mam Foundation helping fellow survivors of slavery as well as those still working in brothels. For her work, she was honored with the Frederick Douglass Award.
Mexico: The Internet as a Necessity, not a Luxury
An increase in taxes was approved by the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico, including an special tax for Internet and cable services prompting online protests saying that the Internet is a necessity, and not a luxury.
Brazil: The challenge of hosting a worthwhile Olympic Games
Brazilians highlight the problems that the country will have to deal with before the 2016 Olympic Games with wry humor, hoping that organizers will learn from the mistakes made during the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio.
Namibia: Introducing Namibia election bloggers
Namibia will hold presidential and national assembly elections on 27 and 28 November 2009. A number of Namibian journalists will use blogs to report and monitor the elections. We are introducing these new election bloggers to you.
Inheritance tax and children in limbo: adoption in Japan.
Adoption in Japan is a statistically under-represented, multi-dimensional issue. Young families seeking children, inheritance tax-evading grandchild adoptions, conservative opposition to confusing family blood-lines, and loosely regulated groups illegally netting profit from international adoptions out of Japan.
USA: Interracial couple denied marriage license
Last week, in Hammond, Louisiana, a couple applied for a marriage license and were refused on the basis of their different races. The justice of the peace claimed that "interracial marriages do not last long" and stated that he was "doing it for the children."
Guinea: In the aftermath of a massacre
Amid widespread international condemnation of Guinea's military regime, the United Nations announced Friday it would launch a formal investigation into the September 28th massacre of opposition protestors in Conakry. Meanwhile, Guinean netizens continue trying to process and assess the meaning of the tragedy.
Malaysia: State government introduces ‘1Toilet’ policy
Borrowing the branding of 1Malaysia, the state government of Terengganu recently introduces the ‘1Toilet' policy as a move for both teachers and students to share toilets to promote a sense of oneness. There were mixed reactions from the blogosphere regarding this topic
Indonesia: The President's second term
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia took his oath marking his second term as head of state of the world's most populous Muslim country. Bloggers, twitterers, and plurkers share their reactions to this event
Saudi Arabia: Where Plagiarism is a Crime
Saudi bloggers are rallying to the support of a fellow blogger who claims that a newspaper had lifted photographs and copy from his blog without permission.
ICT4D: When mobile phones link with computers
In the second of three posts, we ask: How are new technologies changing the field of ICT4D? Will linking computers to portable phones benefit human development in the developing world?
Uganda: Bloggers discuss anti-gay bill
A Ugandan bill that would make homosexuality officially illegal and punishable with death sentence or life in prison has been tabled in parliament and now only awaits president Yoweri Museveni's signature. Gay bloggers in Uganda discuss.
China: From heroic to ignorant masses, and then…
The Chinese communist ideology has been eroding rapidly in the past two decades due to economic development. Traces of its revolutionary belief can still be found in political propaganda pieces...