March, 2014

Stories from March, 2014

Why Learning Italian Still Makes Sense

  31 March 2014

As Italian publishing company Alma Edizioni was busy organizing an event about the Italian language in Rome, they received an unexpected letter [it] from someone who defined himself as a “disappointed student”: Why? What's the point of studying Italian today? […] No one wants to study a language that no...

Massive Online Campaign to Free Political Prisoner Oscar López Rivera

  31 March 2014

The international campaign to free Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera is asking people from all over the world to contribute in making the hashtag #freeOscarLopez a trending topic tomorrow, April 1st. Tweets should also include U.S. president Barack Obama's handle @BarackObama. This year, López Rivera will have been...

Manga “1F” Takes You Inside Fukushima Nuclear Plant

  31 March 2014

A manga by artist going by the name Kazuto Tatsuta takes readers inside the crippled nuclear plant of Fukushima Dai-Ichi, or ichi efu (1F) – as insiders dubbed it – a place he himself worked in 2012, a decision he took in a period of financial struggle. The graphic novel...

Documentaries from 29 Countries Are SIMA 2014 Finalists

  31 March 2014

These are films we want to watch! 37 powerful documentary films from 29 countries have been selected as finalists for the 2014 Social Impact Media Award (SIMA). The stories are from: South Africa, Switzerland, Zambia, the UK, Russia, India, Israel, Chile, Western Sahara, the US, Lebanon, Cambodia, Syria, Burkina Faso,...

Underpaid Indonesian Workers Producing Global Cosmetic Products

  31 March 2014

Michael Eko Hardianto writes about the poor conditions of Indonesian workers in factories that produce false eyelashes, hair extensions and other beauty products: …behind every eyelash flutter in the fashion industry and beyond lie the untold stories of invisible low-paid workers. Their financial remuneration for such monotonous work is about...

Roots of Conflict in Southern Thailand

  31 March 2014

Patrick Jory traces the history of the conflict in southern Thailand and probes the causes and impact of naming it as an Islamic insurgency: The answer can be found in the suppression of official references to the distinct ethnic Malay identity of the population of the border provinces, in favour...

Jamaica: Vybz Kartel's Sentencing

  30 March 2014

Active Voice reports that Vybz Kartel's sentencing has been postponed to April 3, and that “the Dept. of Correctional Services is to decide whether Kartel will be allowed to record music in prison, and if allowed, whether proceeds should go to the family of the victim Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams.”

South Korea: Royal Gate Restoration, Corruption and Suicide

  29 March 2014

In recent months, particularly murky allegations over the royal gate restoration have unfolded in South Korea. The project's ‘chief carpenter’ is accused not only of using substandard wood, but stealing donated wood. Moreover, several government officials involved in the project were also indicted on charges of bribery [ko], and a civilian investigator who...