Stories from 21 July 2011
Armenia: Uproar Over Head of Church's Remarks
Angered by remarks made by the the country's spiritual leader about the upkeep of churches and monasteries, some Armenians are using social networking sites such as Facebook to call for his resignation.
Guatemala's DipuKids: A New Generation of Candidates for Congress
A new generation of Guatemalan politicians under 30, dubbed the 'Dipukids', are causing controversy. Well educated and well travelled, many from the country's upper class - can they truly represent the people who may be electing them?
Armenia: Corruption
With Armenia ranking 123 out of 178 countries in a 2010 Transparency International report measuring corruption, Life in the Caucasus, a blog maintained by a Peace Corps volunteer in the country, notes that bribery take place at all levels of society and in every sphere of life.
Guatemalan Women Misrepresented by Guatemala's Tourism Board
“Please help me comprehend what’s wrong with our indigenous women that Guatemala’s Tourism Board hires light-skin ladinas and white women to represent our women? I need help understanding what’s wrong with the other 45% of the population? Don’t mestizos, ladinos, blacks and whites fit the ‘Guatemalan profile'?” asks Rudy Girón...
Colombia: Challenges of the Victims’ Law
Paula Delgado-King writes about some of the challenges the recently approved Victims’ Law faces: “the process needs to provide loans and credits, guidance for which crops and animals are most suitable where, and access to markets,” and that “the law has no accompanying truth commission to create a national conscience...
Venezuela's Football Team and Unity: A Partisan Talking Point?
“The lazy point to make about La Vino Tinto’s [Venezuela's football team] exhilarating run at the Copa América this year is that it’s a rare, exciting moment of National Unity – fútbol as the one last bastion of non-polarization in a politically fractured nation” writes Francisco Toro in Caracas Chronicles;...
Cape Verde: Blog Tears Down Statements on Climate Change
“Droughts are a well known fatality in Cape Verde (…) long before CO2 started rising”, argues the blog EcoTretas (EcoBullshit), while tearing down alleged misinformed statements from Al Gore's The Climate Reality Project.
Is Russia's Political “Black Hole” About to Reach Tipping Point?
In December 2011 Russian voters will elect a new parliament, and than in March 2012 a new (or perhaps, not so new) president. Analysts predict that the upcoming elections threaten a confrontation between the old political parties and their new, network-based, alternatives.
Portugal: “Junk” National Debt Rating Provokes Online Demonstrations
The “junk” rating given to Portugal’s ability to pay its public debts by independent American financial analysis corporation Moody's, has provoked numerous demonstrations of exacerbated nationalism on the social networks. It has also brought to the blogosphere further analysis on the economic crisis and the country's bailout.
Azerbaijan: Release Jabbar Savalan Campaign
Amnesty International has launched an online campaign calling for the release of Jabbar Savalan, a young activist in Azerbaijan who made calls on Facebook for pro-democracy protests in the oil-rich former Soviet republic. Those wishing to join the campaign can sign an online petition here.
Cuba: Approaching “Adulthood”
As her son approaches the age of majority, Generation Y says, “without maternal excess, that they are too young, too fragile, to face the burden of being considered adults by a legal system that does not correspond to international norms.”
U.S.V.I., St. Kitts: On Belonging
A Nation or Nobody “wonder[s] about the place of writers like Phillips within the Caribbean literary community, and what they might be able to tell us about belonging and diaspora.”
Puerto Rico: Perform & Get Paid
All jokes aside, Gil the Jenius wonders why not pay according to performance when it comes to lawmakers?
Grenada: Justice Isaac Dies in Canada
The Caribbean Camera acknowledges the passing of “the honorable Julius A. Isaac, Canada’s first black Chief Justice”, who “ironically…died on the eve of one of the festivals he helped formulate – Caribana.”
Cuba: Activists Under Pressure
Cuban bloggers report on several arrests and attempts at intimidating independent journalists and activists, here, here and here.
Barbados: Legal Battle over Wetlands
Barbados Free Press recounts the falling out between a Canadian philanthropist and the government over the latter's alleged action of “dumping raw sewerage into the Graeme Hall wetlands and other violations of various treaties and agreements”, saying: “The truth is that Peter Allard has been a better friend to ordinary...
Jamaica: BMW Owner Charged
Active Voice reports that the man who owns the BMW involved in a teen's killing has finally been charged by police, adding: “This case will go down in history as the one that completely exposed the fecklessness of Jamaican media.”
China: Bring Your Books to Rural Villages
A prominent Chinese scholar is encouraging netizens to "bring their books to the villages". Now a number of centres have been set up in cities across the country to handle the book donations and collect funds to go towards building libraries in rural areas.
Nepal: Riding Bicycle To Prove A Point
Dr. Divas has started to ride a bicycle and he wants to prove a point to the people of Kathmandu that regardless of social status you can ride a bicycle and still be a respectable citizen of the country.
Pakistan: Killing Karachi
Faisal Kapadia is lamenting on the recent political violence in Karachi and how the situation is affecting the lives of the people living in the city.
Malaysia: The Economist print edition censored
uppercaise reports that the latest print edition of The Economist was censored by Malaysian authorities. The government said it only ‘blackened’ the ‘false and misleading’ parts of the story on the Bersih protest.
