Stories from 22 August 2011
Trinidad and Tobago: Debating a State of Emergency
On Sunday 21 August, the government of Trinidad and Tobago declared a national state of emergency to deal with the violent crime that has afflicted the Caribbean nation in recent years. This legal move — which affects citizens' civil rights — triggered debate and concern among Trinidadians online.
Russia: Memories of 1991
Kim Green of The Greenery shares her memories of living in Russia in 1991 as a student, right after the August Coup 20 years ago.
Russia, Libya: RT's Coverage of the Conflict
Democratist writes about Russia Today's coverage of the situation in Libya.
Armenia: Artificial smiles and a beauty pageant
Unzipped comments on the closing ceremony of this year's Pan-Armenian Games, an irregular sporting competition intended to bring together young Armenians from all over the world. The blog criticizes what it says was “the most boring, pathetic and tasteless ceremonies I have ever seen in Yerevan.
India: The Root Cause Of Alcoholism
Sukant Khurana at Youth Ki Awaaz writes about the root cause of alcoholism in India and the possible solutions to prevent it.
India: A Twitter Poll On Popularity Of Political Parties
Harini Calamur conducted a Twitter poll on the current popularity of Indian political parties. Get the results here.
Pakistan: Help The Flood Affected People
The recent floods in Pakistan has displaced over a million people. Beena Sarwar highlights the relief efforts so far and lists the ways you can help the flood victims.
Nepal: The Taslima Nasreen Controversy
Bangladeshi writer in exile Taslima Nasreen was drawn into a controversy and had to cancel her trip from India to Nepal after she tweeted to her Nepali friends that she didn't consider Nepal a foreign country. Read more about the debacle at Ushaft's blog.
Chile: New Partnership Between Global Voices and Mi Voz
Global Voices and Mi Voz - a Chilean network of online citizen newspapers - recently launched a content partnership. With this partnership Global Voices will enhance its coverage of Chilean news from a hyperlocal citizen perspective focused on news outside the capital, Santiago.
Trinidad & Tobago: Dr. Pat Bishop Passes On
Netizens of Trinidad and Tobago are coming to terms with the loss of one of its patriots: artist and musicologist Dr. Pat Bishop, who collapsed during “a meeting with a cabinet appointed committee of high level experts on culture and the arts” this past Saturday. Online tributes soon started to pour in.
Iran: “Tonight, the Islamic Regime's Generals will Have Nightmares”
Several Iranian cyber activists celebrated the victory of anti-Muammar Gaddafi forces in Libya, and compared it with the situations in Iran and Syria. They shared in the joy of liberation with Libyans, but also expressed their anxieties for the future.
Bolivia: An Indigenous March Against an Indigenous Government
Sueños para Atar [es] says Bolivians are wondering “Why are indigenous people marching against an indigenous government?” and “Why does an indigenous government refuse to listen to indigenous people?” as indigenous groups march towards La Paz protesting a road threatening the Indigenous Territory National Park Isiboro Sécure (TIPNIS).
Chile: Police Prevent Reporters From Covering Raid on Mapuche Community
Two Mapuche and a police officer were shot when “on Thursday, August 18th, the police raided sixteen Mapuche homes in search of weapons”, Ryan Seelau reports in Indigenous News. He adds that police “initially would not allow [the Radio Bio-Bio] vehicle to pass [es] in order to view and report...
Peru: Spanish Media and Prostitution in Iquitos
Global Voices author and Spanish Translation Manager Juan Arellano comments [es] on recent reports about the Amazon from Spanish media. He shares Peruvian's reactions to an article from Spanish newspaper La Razón [es] which describes Iquitos as a “brothel city”.
Cuba: Oh, the Horrors!
Rebeca Monzo blogs about what she calls Cuba's architectural and monumental horrors.
U.S.V.I.: The Power of Film
“Is there any artistic medium that raises more ugly questions of representation and power than film?” In the context of this, A Nation or Nobody blogs about film and neo-colonialism.
Bermuda: Who's Driving the Bus?
a bermudian's view weighs in on the country's bus strike.
Pakistan: Islamic Televangelist Caught Out by Behind-the-Scenes Video
Dr. Amir Liaquat Hussain, a Pakistani Islamic televangelist and host of numerous religious shows, has been criticized after a behind-the-scenes video was released. The video depicted Dr. Amir, a notable religious scholar who otherwise poses as a humble, moral man, uttering abuse and profanities as well as religious blasphemy.
Caribbean: Watching Irene
Bloggers are keeping a close eye on Tropical Storm Irene in Jamaica, Cuba, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Haiti.
Russia: Police Refused To Start the Criminal Prosecution Against LiveJournal DDoS Attackers
Russian police acknowledged the DDoS-attacks against LiveJournal blogging platform in April 2011, but refused to start a criminal prosecution against the attackers, gazeta.ru reported [ru]. Police wrote to the source that it was ‘unable to identify attackers.’ Aside from paralyzing the Russian blogosphere, DDoS attacks against LiveJournal led to nearly...
Peru: Customers Show Support for Ripley Department Store Employees
Peruvian social networks are buzzing with talk about the temporary closing of a Ripley department stores. Although the closing of the store is officially in accordance with the lack of a security certificate issued by the Civil Defense, it has come about in the middle of a long conflict with its employees.
