31 August 2010

Stories from 31 August 2010

Venezuela: Franklin Brito Dies After Several Hunger Strikes

  31 August 2010

Franklin Brito, a farmer who had been on a hunger strike since July 2009, died from a respiratory arrest in a military hospital on Monday night. Brito had lived through several hunger strikes protesting the confiscation of his land. Venezuelans reacted to the announcement of his death through Twitter and blogs.

Pakistan: A letter to the youth

  31 August 2010

Usama Khilji at Pak Tea House writes a letter to the youth of Pakistan asking them to prove their worth and their love for the country by being involved, standing up and questioning any wrong deeds around them.

Bangladesh: Recognizing The Vegetable Grower

  31 August 2010

Bangladesh Corporate Blog has this splendid idea of recognizing the farmers who grows the vegetables by including some personal stories in the vegetable packaging to give them some credit and make the product more authentic.

Cameroon: Prisoner of conscience Lapiro de Mbanga

  31 August 2010

Emeka writes about Cameroonian prisoner of conscience Lapiro de Mbanga: “Amid nationwide strikes and mass demonstrations, popular singer Lapiro de Mbanga, who had demanded that the president resign, was arrested and charged with inciting youth unrest. In September he was jailed for three years…”

Gambia: The Smiling Coast of Africa

  31 August 2010

Travel journalist Tony Knight blogs about his visit to Gambia: “The Gambians you meet are friendly and engaging. There is a level of bumster activity intent of selling you refreshments, gifts and tours. Having got their measure though, look beyond at the genuine welcome you get everywhere.”

Nigeria: Nigerian Spoken Word Crusader

  31 August 2010

Jibola introduces you to Plumbtifex, the Nigerian spoken word crusader:”As a person, he embodies an activist in all that he is. His dissatisfaction with all that is wrong with the Nigerian situation and general societal ills already mark him different.”

Brazil: Bolivian Immigration in Numbers

  31 August 2010

Journalist Leonardo Sakamoto questions on his blog [pt], the official statistic placing Bolivia in the fortieth position as a source of immigrants to Brazil. An activist against slave labor, Sakamoto comments that hundreds come in yearly and are often explored in underemployment jobs, particularly in the greater São Paulo area.

Trinidad & Tobago: Not Yet

  31 August 2010

On the occasion of Trinidad and Tobago's anniversary of independence, Plain Talk says: “Forty eight years ago we may have left ‘Massa’, but we kept the shackles of our minds firmly intact. Looked at honestly, we are no where near independence yet.”

U.S. Virgin Islands: The Effects of Hurricane Earl

  31 August 2010

Hurricane Earl made its way across the U.S. Virgin Islands yesterday as bloggers continued to share their thoughts and experiences. Jamaican diaspora blogger Labrish, who “[has] been fortunate to travel to these islands several times”, was concerned about her acquaintances there: My thoughts go out to everyone living on the...

Peru: Site Uses Crowdsourcing to Report Thefts

  31 August 2010

Juan Arellano writes [es] about quenoteroben.pe [es], a site that allows users to report thefts in Lima using Google Maps technology. The post includes two video interviews with the site managers, Gabriela Quevedo and Rudy Jordán.

“I love Malaysia”

  31 August 2010

SK Thew ponders on the problems facing Malaysian society and concludes that there is still hope to reform the system. Malaysia is celebrating its 53rd Independence Day.