22 November 2010

Stories from 22 November 2010

Chile: Education Reform Sparks Debate

  22 November 2010

Mauricio Rojas explains and critiques [es] a recent education reform presented by the Ministry of Education. Mauricio ends his post linking to another point-of-view on the reform by José J. Brunner [es]. The reform has sparked a debate because, among other things, it would reduce class time for Social Science...

Trinidad & Tobago: Children's Rights

  22 November 2010

“ALL of us together changed the world a little bit for the better by our combined actions on Universal Children's Day 2010″: gspottt and Plain Talk attended the Justice for Children March this past weekend.

St. Lucia: Struggling After Tomas

  22 November 2010

“What struck me…as it poured down again today…the soil was so thoroughly soaked by those 23+ inches that fell 3 weeks ago that the rain has no-where to go, the soil is full, floods are instant, landslips continuing”: Sun Rain Or… says that the harsh wet season, coming on the...

Japan: Young voices against job-hunting system

  22 November 2010

Students who are obsessed with job hunting [en] and cannot find a job, young workers who had to give up on the job of their dreams because their hunt wasn't successful, graduate students who had to enroll in a master's to have a chance to be hired by companies who...

Jamaica: Funeral of the “Cool Ruler”

  22 November 2010

Active Voice attends the funeral service for Gregory Isaacs and observes: “Considering how big Gregory was abroad it was surprising to see how small the crowd that came to send him off in Kingston was.”

Guyana: Writers’ Challenges

  22 November 2010

“I wonder…if being categorized as ‘Caribbean writer’ helps or hurts a book's promotion and sales”: The Signifyin’ Woman blogs about some of the challenges Caribbean writers face.

Uganda: New U.S. Lord's Restistance Army Strategy

  22 November 2010

Ledio Cakaj blogs about the new strategy by the U.S Congress aimed at dismantling the Lord's Resistance: “It appears the strategy will mostly continue the current course with beefed up support to the on-going Ugandan army offensive against LRA groups in Congo, Central African Republic, and Sudan.”

Japan: Kids perform traditional Kabuki drama

  22 November 2010

Photojournalist Buddhika Weerasinghe published on his blog a series of photos of kids performing Kabuki, a traditional Japanese form of theater. On occasion of the 10th anniversary of Maruoka Kid Kabuki, a group of elementary and junior school students performed Chushingura, the legendary 18th century tale of 47 ronin (or...

Africa: The Mobutu Prize of Corruption International

  22 November 2010

Do you know the Mobutu Prize of Corruption International? “The first nominee is the King of Ethiopia, His Excellency King Haille Gleedie, who sold the entire national food reserve to buy his wife those diamonds.’ ‘Hurray!’ shouted the crowd. ‘What courage! What sacrifice!’”

Somalia: Why do pirates hijack vessels?

  22 November 2010

Hassan explains the motive behind piracy in Somalia: “Piracy is becoming fashionable among Somali youth because of the huge sums of money involved. According to reports in the Somali media-pirates live a lavish lifestyle, with most of them driving big cars and marrying the most beautiful girls in Town.”

Ukraine: “Revolution 2.0″

  22 November 2010

Andriy Kachor (@Ka4or) reports (UKR; #kat_ua) that Khreshchatyk, Kyiv's central street, has been “blocked” by the protesters and that “the number of cops is growing proportionally to the number of the people.” Dan Matteush (@Matteush) calls it (UKR) “Revolution 2.0″, alluding to the protests known as the Orange Revolution six...

China: bridge-blog posts original documentary of rural life

  22 November 2010

C. Custer, of bridge-blog ChinaGeeks, has posted his first original documentary of life in China's rural northeast. Plans are also underway for a second project, entitled Finding Home, which will look at the kidnapping and selling of children in the People's Republic.

China: Messages behind the flowers to the Shanghai fire victims

  22 November 2010

Yesterday, thousands of mourners in Shanghai flocked to the 28-storey apartment block that was gutted by a tragic fire on November 15 to pay their respects for the 58 residents who perished. Much of China's headlines today focus on the collective mourning, but few have highlighted the messages behind citizens' insistence in offering flowers at the disaster site.

China: Campaigning for Wang Yi

  22 November 2010

A Safe World for Women is campaigning for Wang Yi, a Twitterer, who was sentenced to one year labour re-education for retweeting a satirical message. (via WLYeung)