Stories from 13 April 2011
Mexico: Netizens Deploy the “Failed State” Meme
The idea of Mexico as an actual or potential "failed state," pending since its introduction into public discourse in 2008 following news of a report to this effect by the U.S. Joint Forces, has become a popular meme in its own right on the Internet, as bloggers and other netizens deploy the parlance (signaled on Twitter by the ubiquitous hashtag #estadofallido) for their own critical purposes.
Puerto Rico: Blogging Again
After a long hiatus, one of Puerto Rico's blogging pioneers, Manuel Clavell Carrasquillo, has returned to Estruendomudo [es]. He comes back with a brief reflection [es] on Pablo Casals and Albert Camus.
Puerto Rico: Performance and Roots
Music scholar, musician and blogger Raquel Z. Rivera interviews [es] the Puerto Rican dancer and choreographer Noemí Segarra about her latest piece, “de rumbo de rumba.”
Puerto Rico: What is a consensual relationship?
Journalist and blogger Mari Mari Narvaez reflects on the Supreme Court's decision [es] to exclude “adulterous” victims from the special protections offered by the Law against Domestic Violence of Puerto Rico.
Suriname: Mickey Mouse Art
Mickey Mouse as “a customized symbol for progress”? Srananart's Blog explains.
Grenada, Caribbean: WICB Woes
Blah Bloh Blog is unimpressed with the new logo for the West Indies Cricket Team, while WICB Expose renames the Calypso Cup the “Collapso Cup”.
Barbados, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, U.S.V.I.: Flood Waters
Reports of severe flood damage in St. Vincent and Barbados, here and here, and an earthquake in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Cuba: Targeting Bloggers?
“The personal freedoms of members of the alternative blogosphere are at risk after the official media publicly accused them of being mercenaries”: Laritza Diversent says that referring to bloggers in this way is “completely groundless”, adding: “It is very possible that, by using the State-controlled media, they are preparing an...
Jamaica: Divine Poetry
Diaspora litblogger Geoffrey Philp says of Kwame Dawes’ poem Shook Foil: “There is a divine symmetry of the human with music and the landscape– evidence of a ‘natural mystic’ transforming the mundane into the miraculous.”
Swaziland: Protest Leaders, Journalists Arrested
Activists in Swaziland took to the streets of Manzini on Tuesday and Wednesday demanding political reform and calling on King Mswati III, Africa's last absolute monarch, to return power to the people.
Guyana: Giving Fish a Bad Name
Boy, does Guyana-Gyal have a fish story for you!
Portugal: Squatting an Empty School in Porto
A group of citizens called ES.COL.A (school) [an acronymn for self-managed collective space] has occupied a Portuguese public school that had been abandoned by the municipality of Porto 5 years ago. Read the manifesto for the creation of a community center on their blog [pt], and find out about the legal...
Interview with Gaël Brassac, Global Voices Translator
Translators are the behind-the-scenes contributors who allow Global Voices readers to access our content in other languages. One of them is Gaël Brassac who lives in France, but who always had a special place in his heart for Japan and strongly believes that the nation will recover swiftly from its current predicament.
Japan: Quakebook, a book born on Twitter
Journalist and blogger Jake Adelstein presents Quakebook [en], “a compilation of art, stories, and essays to raise money for Japan earthquake survivors” which started with a single tweet. The book, officially titled 2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake, was co-written by popular writers and artists and 100% of revenue...
Russia: Regional FSB Tries to Prosecute Blogger for Anti-Putin Photo
Kasparov.ru writes [ru] about the case of Georgiy Sarkisyan, leader of Orel city United Civil Front. Sarkisyan had posted a photo [ru] with a slogan “Putin – pid…z” (an offensive word for homosexual male). After that Orel city Federal Security Service filed a complaint in order to start a criminal...
Japan: A Japanese medical aid worker's diary
Anonymous translator ( @anontrans) translated into English some blog entries posted by “a Japanese nurse who was dispatched to Rikuzentakata, Iwate, Japan as a member of one of the first disaster medical assistance teams to be sent from Tokyo just several days after the earthquake and tsunami that struck the...
Mozambique: Police Attack Protesting Workers
On the 6th of April, police officers from the Rapid Intervention Force (FIR) used violence to put an end to a protest by the employees of the private security firm G4S. On Facebook, cybernauts showed their indignation with such acts of brutality and questioned on the role of police, justice and human rights.
Malaysia: Cyber Attacks Shut Down Independent News Website
Malaysiakini, an independent news portal in Malaysia, has been inaccessible since Tuesday 12 April, 2011, after being targeted by cyber attacks. The attacks came a few days before an important state election in Sarawak.
China: Cleaning Up Shenzhen
Mary Ann O'Donnell blogs about the recent urban cleansing movement in Shenzhen, which has rid 80,000 “dangerous people” out of Shenzhen city. While most of the mainstream media praised the city government's effort, critical voices can only be found in Weibo.
Cambodia: Durian statue in Kampot
Tales from an Expat reports that the durian statue in Kampot, Cambodia is now complete in time for the Khmer New Year. Durian is a tasty fruit in Southeast Asia.
Thailand: Censorship video
Jon Russell interviews ‘Madastro’, a young Thai student who made a video about censorship in Thailand. The video has already generated more than 100,000 hits on YouTube.
