Stories from 19 November 2012
Bolivia, Do You Have Internet?
After more than a decade, Bolivia’s National Census of Population and Housing will be held on November 21, 2012. There is only one question regarding Internet access, and it inquires only about the service, disregarding type of connection, quality, uses, and more. Analysts and activists argue that the government has missed an opportunity to collect in-depth information on this matter.
Confessions of Paid Political Trolls in South Korea
The practice of hiring trolls to hijack the comment section in online political posts is an open secret in South Korea. These paid commenters copy-and-paste slanderous messages crafted by their leaders and post it on major online platforms, some more skilled workers conjure up original vicious comments all by themselves.
Ibero-America: Free Software Assessment Report 2012
The recently released Free Software Assessment Report 2012 shows the opinion, assessment and preferences of more than 5,000 people from Spain and Latin America. The study published in its fourth edition is promoted by PortalProgramas and supported by a number of experts and collaborators [es]. The report aims to contribute...
Turkmenistan's Omnipresent Leader
Imagine if every poster on the wall, every advertisement on the side of a bus, hanging in the center of every wall in an office, and even overlooking little children playing in kindergarten, was the face of one man.
Outrage as Facebook Post Leads to Arrests in India
Police detained a 21-year-old woman after she posted a Facebook a status update protesting the total shutdown of Mumbai city following the death of the founder of the Shiv Shena party. Her friend, who ‘liked’ the update was also arrested. Both were later released on bail.
A Dying Putin Shakes Up Russia's Defense Ministry to Promote An Heir?
Earlier this month, as Americans prepared to re-elect President Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin fired his long-time ally Anatoly Serdyukov, the man who's served as Russia's Defense Minister since 2007. Russian netizens are now busy speculating about his replacement, Sergei Shoigu, and whether or not he's meant to replace a rumored-to-be-ailing Putin.
Nicaraguan Blog Contest Focuses on Human Rights
Hagamos Democracia (“Let's make democracy”) invites netizens to participate in the “Let's make a blog” contest, which aims [es] to, encourage in Nicaragua the creation of communication spaces that inform and express citizens’ views about human rights.
Thousands March Against Repression in Costa Rica
On November 15, thousands of citizens participated in a march in response to the confrontations that occurred during a previous demonstration on November 8. In addition to renewing their protest in defense of the Costa Rican Social Security organization, the protesters also marched on behalf of the non-criminalization of social protest, rejection of political repression, and their objection to the new Cybercrime Law.
On World Toilet Day, Introducing the Crap Map Project
With both big technology players and local partners in Ghana, we’ll be hacking together our “crap map” using existing open source tools and software paired with meaningful offline facilitation around behavior change in sanitation. Molly Norris of Ideo.org explains the objective of the Crap Map project: “to stimulate collective action...
Coming out of the Water Closet: Haiti on World Toilet Day
Today is World Toilet Day. Of a global population of 7 billion, a staggering 2.5 billion people have no access to clean toilet facilities - that's about 1 in 3 people. Some of them live in the Caribbean; many of these live in Haiti - and the lack of this fundamental human right to sanitation continues to cause unnecessary disease and death.
“The Needle” Threads Another Story of Puerto Rican Trans Community
The sidewalks on the main avenues of San Juan’s donwtown sector of Santurce feature members from Puerto Rico’s trans community working the street corners. “The Needle”, a new documentary directed by local filmmaker Carmen Oquendo-Villar, focuses on the underground beauty business on which these street workers rely.
Chileans Protest in Support of Gaza
The latest hostilities between the Israeli government and Hamas in the Gaza Strip prompted an unusual protest in front of the Israeli Embassy in Santiago, Chile. Reactions come from a country that, despite the physical distance, is home to around 350,000 ethnic Palestinians, making it host to the largest community of Palestinians outside the Arab World.
Bangladesh: Money Doesn't Build A School
Shawn Ahmed of Uncultured.com explains in a video blog that donations only doesn't help building a school. Watch the video to see what he means:
2012 Peaceful Protest for Gaza in Hong Kong
Hong Wrong has collected reports and photos on the weekend protest demanding an end to the Israeli occupation and the current bombardment of Gaza.
Renaming Villages, Streets in Tajikistan
This is just another attempt to rewrite history and build a myth that since the ancient period, the territory of contemporary Tajikistan has been settled by ethnic Tajiks and there were no other ethnic groups here. Blogger Harsavor shares [ru] his thoughts on why the authorities in Tajikistan have been...
300 Km Long March Against Rare Earths Refinery in Malaysia
To stop the Australian rare earths mining company, Lynas Corporation from operating a rare earths refinery in Pahang, Malaysia, a group of activists started a 300 km march, dubbed “the Green Walk”, from Kuantan to the Parliament in Kuala Lumpur on November.
