Stories from 12 March 2011
El Salvador: Thoughts on International Women's Day
2011 finds El Salvador with the highest rate of femicides in the word, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais. Some Salvadorean bloggers have made their own reflections on the day and what it means for women in El Salvador.
Sri Lanka: On The Cup That Counts
Indi.ca writes about two thrilling matches in the ongoing cricket world cup, which is being hosted in three South Asian countries.
Azerbaijan: More Protests, More Arrests…
Following yesterday's protest by youth activists in Azerbaijan, opposition supporters today staged their own. Also inspired by pro-democracy protests in Egypt and Tunisia, the demonstration might not have been as large as those, but it was certainly intense.
Japan: Iodine Distribution Needed
@Traysizzzle writes: “I hope #Japan starts distributing #iodine asap to anyone close to the radiation…it's not #Chernobyl but its prognosis is not good…”
Pakistan: Say No To Violence And Ensure Our Civil Rights
Beena Sarwar informs that Citizens for Democracy arranged a mass letter-writing campaign in Karachi today. The letters urge the Pakistan authorities to take appropriate actions to reverse the erosion of civil and human rights and to uphold the rule of law without fear or favor.
Ukraine, Japan: Drink Red Wine to Reduce Radiation Toxicity
@DJLoli shares a health tip that was popular in Ukraine in 1986: “If u r in the area affected by Japan radiation: drink red Wine to get it out. It what helped us in Ukraine during #Chernobyl. […]” (Here's an article on a 2008 study that showed that “resveratrol, the...
Japan: Fukushima Reactor Has Different Design Type Than Chernobyl
@BrianDunning, author of a science podcast Skeptoid, explains: “Fukushima nuclear plant does NOT have a combustible graphite core like Chernobyl. A total meltdown should flow into underground containment.” (This explanation has been retweeted by over 100 people already.)
Egypt: Leaked Documents Reveal Dirty Games of Former Regime
When a number of Egyptian protestors attacked the headquarters of the hated State Security in different Egyptian cities, their aim was not to show their contempt for the unpopular institution, a symbol of Mubarak’s regime, but it was rather to rewrite history.
Japan: Onagawa, the Hometown I Once Knew
A personal account of evacuation in Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture: Twitter user @kombu_s evacuated to Sendai City and posted tweets and images from her journey, saying "I am an ordinary person that went to pick up her family."
Japan: Hashtags for Earthquake Related Tweets
The official Japanese Twitter blog has published a list of earthquake related hastags, along with special search queries that “filter out noise and provide the clearest results”.
Japan: Official Profiles of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants
From Roy Berman: “Some bad info regarding Fukushima plants is going around so I translated the official profiles of BOTH plants.”
Japan: Fear in Fukushima
The day after a 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck Japan, an explosion at Fukushima Daiichi power plant, 150 miles north of Tokyo, is causing both fear and confusion on Twitter about what may happen next.
Portugal: A Protest Generation, Foolish and Scraping By
Hostilities have commenced: today the “Scraping-by Generation” goes to the streets in Portugal and beyond, protesting that 23% of young people are unemployed and hundreds of thousands are underemployed or in precarious work situations. With an anthem and some anti-conformism, is this Generation foolish?
Taiwan: Reflection on Japan Earthquake
When the 5th strongest earthquake ever recorded hit Japan yesterday, Taiwanese were also shocked. Taiwan and Japan share a lot of geological similarity and both countries are very vulnerable to natural disasters such as earthquake and typhoon.
Japan: The earthquake, as I experienced it
Miu tells her experience [en] during the 8.9 magnitude earthquake that struck north-eastern Japan yesterday. The blogger says she was in a department store in Tokyo and thought that “things didn't seem terribly abnormal”.
Belarus: Petition to Move 2014 Ice Hockey Championship Elsewhere
Pyotr Kuznetsov posts a petition (RUS, ENG) to the International Ice Hockey Federation, drafted by Lithuania-based Belarusian opposition activists, in which they are proposing “to change the location of the [2014 ice hockey championship] from Belarus to another country” – because “[t]he atmosphere in Belarus and the actions of Mr....
