Stories from 17 October 2011
Macedonia: Public Debate on Down Syndrome
Prof. Vladimir Trajkovski, MD, PhD, blogged [mk] about the public debate on the Down Syndrome, which was held in Skopje on Oct. 15 with over 300 participants, including the Croatian ambassador, but without the invited local politicians/public officials. He also posted a video of his short lecture [mk] on the...
Macedonia: Blog Action Day Entries About Food
Macedonian bloggers, who have joined this year's Blog Action Day, include Dzamski, who wrote [mk, en] about the ongoing campaigns to raise awareness about the socio-economic roots of the famine problem; Greener stressed the importance of making healthy choices; while Jovana Tozija warned about the consumerist abuse of the term...
Chile: Citizen Photos of October 15 Protests
Citizens throughout Chile participated in the October 15 protests. Online new site El Dínamo [es] put together a Storify post [es] with pictures shared on Twitter.
Mexico: October 15 Protests in Photos
Animal Político [es] posts photos of the October 15 protests in Mexico. Mexicans used the hashtag #15Omx to tweet reports, photos, and reactions.
Uruguay's Candombe
Eva Blair Smith from Ola Uruguay blogs about candombe music in a post titled “The Heartbreat of Uruguay: A History of Candombe Drumming.”
Poetry Slam Activism in Francophone Africa
Poetry slam is a well-known channel of expression for many activists in North America but the rest of the world has now embraced this unique blend of poetry and rhythmic oral story telling. Here are some examples from Francophone Africa and the context in which they arose.
Ethiopia: Aberash Hailay's Case Ignites Campaign to Stop Violence Against Women
Aberash Hailay is an Ethiopian Airlines flight attendant whose ex-husband, Fisseha Tadesse, stabbed both her eyes with a knife in Bangkok, Thailand. Ethiopian activists are using the Internet to call for justice for Aberash Hailay and draw attention to issue of violence against women in Ethiopia.
Cuba: Mourning the Loss of Laura Pollan
Cuban bloggers are in mourning over the death of Laura Pollan, the former leader of the opposition group Las Damas de Blanco. The sad news made its way across the blogosphere with lightning speed and bloggers, both within Cuba and throughout the diaspora, were soon posting their remembrances of the late human rights activist online.
Malaysia: #cleanbefore13 hashtag
The twitter hashtag #cleanbefore13 refers to the campaign to pressure the Malaysian government to implement immediate electoral reforms before the 2013 general elections.
Vietnam: Halal Restaurants
GoHalalPlanet is a website that provides information on Halal restaurants in Vietnam
Portugal: Photos and Videos of October 15 Protests
The October 15 protests in Portugal, calling for “participatory democracy, transparency in policy and the end of the precariousness of life”, gathered around 80,000 in the main squares of the country. Citizen reporters used online platforms to share photo and video reports of events.
Vietnam: Trial of Detained Blogger Postponed
Viet Tan reports that the trial of detained blogger and Mathematics professor Pham Minh Hoang has been postponed. The blogger was charged with subversion.
Brazil: Creating Opportunities for Life After Jail
While serving time in jail, Ronaldo Monteiro kickstarted a project with fellow detainees and turned his life around. Years later, released on parole, Monteiro now coordinates an NGO that offers opportunities of social reintegration for young offenders, detainees and former detainees in Brazil.
Anti-Malaysianism in Indonesia?
Farish A Noor discusses the perceived anti-Malaysianism sentiment in Indonesia. The author hopes for better relations between the two neighbors in the Southeast Asian region
Madagascar: The Birthplace of the “Occupy Wall Street” Philosophy ?
Dan Berrett argues in the Chronicle of Higher Education that the ” Occupy Wall Street's most defining characteristics—its decentralized nature and its intensive process of participatory, consensus-based decision-making—are rooted in other precincts of academe and activism: in the scholarship of anarchism and, specifically, in an ethnography of central Madagascar”.
Russia: Networked Volunteers Save Lives of Missing Children
In September 2010, 4-year-old Liza and her aunt went missing in the forest and were found dead. Liza's volunteer rescuers decided to establish a network called "Liza Alert" whose members would engage immediately once a child was lost.
Trinidad & Tobago: Food Posts for Blog Action Day
Regional bloggers add their voices to Blog Action Day 2011.
Trinidad & Tobago: Freedom of Speech
Trinidadian bloggers discuss freedom of speech.
Barbados: FIFA & Ethics
Barbados Free Press is keeping its eyes on the unfolding controversy with former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner and other regional football officials.
Malaysia: Proposed Electoral Reforms
Bersih 2.0 is pressing the Malaysian government to implement eight electoral reforms in preparation for the next general elections. Bersih organized a massive demonstration last July which evolved into a formidable political reform movement.
Jamaica: Cricket & Writing
The game of cricket taught diaspora litblogger Geoffrey Philp how to stay his wicket – in writing and in life.
