Stories from 18 April 2008
Jamaica, Martinique, Trinidad & Tobago: Césaire Passes On
Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp acknowledges the passing of Aimé Césaire, calling him “a poet honored throughout the French-speaking world and a crusader for West Indian rights”, while Caribbean Beat Blog says: “It is with heavy heart we say goodbye to this son of West Indian soil and thank him for...
Guyana: Threats of Tourism
“Third World governments invariably justify the promotion of tourism as a driving force for economic development,” says Guyana Providence Stadium, but asks: “Is tourism really the holy cow to be protected and nurtured at all costs for Guyana's development?”
Armenia: Homophobic Values
Unzipped: Gay Armenia comments on the recent suicide of a 22-year-old ethnic Armenian living in the United States. According to the blog, the young man killed himself after being forced into marriage by his family who were ashamed of his homosexuality. The blog says that the story represents the homophobic...
China: Boomtown Beijing
Onemanbandwidth introduced a documentary “Boomtown Beijing” by Siok Siok Tan. The film gave more background on the social psychology at the center of a rising state.
Paraguay: Where to Vote
“Do You Know Where To Vote?” asks Guillermo Verdún of Paraguayo [es] in preparation for this weekend's presidential elections. To help out, he places a input on his blog that links to the Electoral Court's website to inform potential voters of the nearest polling center.
Peru: The State of Archaeological Sites
The blog from the television program Presencia Cultural [es] posts a video about the UNESCO-declared “Day of Monuments and Sites,” which falls on April 18. The video shows and discusses the state of many archaeological sites in Peru.
Ecuador: The Launching of Creative Commons Licenses
Creative Commons in Ecuador is set to be launched next week [es] in Loxa, Ecuador, writes Nelson Piedra.
Kazakhstan: Nuclear Domination Ambitions
Joshua Foust reflects on the Kazakhstan's prospects and plans to take a leading position in the world's uranium market.
Myanmar: Burma Democratic Diagram
Myanmar Genocide blog publishes the “Burma Democratic Diagram“, a brain storming diagram for political calculations for Burma. “This diagram is not the opinion of one person. This is an accumulated result of opinions of many people interviewed.”
Korea: Rice Crisis in the past and at the present.
Issues related to the rice crisis are appearing everywhere. There have been serious demonstrations against opening the rice market to other countries in Korea. A netizen who participated in demonstrations for the domestic rice market talks about the past and the present. 15년전 겨울, 쌀개방 반대 선전지를 다시 읽어보며.. [68]...
Brazil, USA: Sex, Crime and the Vatican
Antônio Mello, from blogdomello[Pt], blogs about “Sex, Crime and the Vatican” — a BBC documentary (parts 1, 2, 3 and 4)[En, subtitles in Pt] about children sexual abuse by catholic priests and the shelter provided by the Vatican to the accused ecclesiastics — and a Vatican internal document named Crimen...
Remembering Aimé Césaire
Aimé Césaire - Martinican poet, politician and consummate West Indian - passed away today at the age of 94. It is not often that politics and poetry go together, but when they do, the West Indies is as fertile an environment as any for the two to coexist. Césaire seamlessly blended his love for language, ideas and writing into his political life, which spanned almost 60 years.
Chilean Shorts: Micro and Mini Movies on the Web
From Chile, three examples of online video creation: first, a Chilean pre-candidate for the presidency takes advantage of online video tools to produce documentaries and interviews for web distribution, next, two independent short film producers with videos which talk about poverty, disabilities, old habits which don't have such a hard time dying and, why not? Love.
Venezuela: The Simpsons Not Welcome Anymore
One of the world's most popular television programs in any language, The Simpsons, was recently deemed inappropriate by the Venezuelan government for being a a bad influence on children, and ordered it off the air. Even though it has been on the air since 1989 and on a daily basis in re-runs, Venezuelan bloggers think that there are worse influences on children, and what makes it worse is that the show was replaced by Baywatch.
