· October, 2008

Stories about Digital Activism from October, 2008

Serbia: Courageous Mothers

  31 October 2008

Belgraded contributes an article on what it's like to be a mother in Serbia to the Women's International Perspective, becoming “one of the rare men blogging there.” Showcased in the article is a Serbian blog called Majka Hrabrost (“Mother Courage”), whose author, Krugolina, blogs (SRP) about childbirth issues and has...

Corporations Agree to Standards for Internet Freedom

  31 October 2008

The Global Network Initiative has been launched. The Initiative is a code of conduct for corporations on privacy and free speech created by a coalition of human rights, media development and research organizations, and Internet and communications companies such as Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft. Its goal: to ensure that ICT...

Trinidad & Tobago: Building Walls

  31 October 2008

As the government of Trinidad and Tobago begins construction on a wall they say is part of a beautification project, but which many view as a tactic for hiding the squalor of a disadvantaged community, Attillah Springer says: “Build walls because, yes, this is what the nation needs. More division....

Trinidad & Tobago: The Price of Progress

  30 October 2008

Maximilian Forte, writing at Review of the Indigenous Caribbean Center, posts a video of Trinidadian calypsonian King Austin's song Progress, which he calls “a critique of the ideology and practice of progress, from the vantage points of environmental unsustainability, exploitation, inequality, and the resultant social strife.”

Jamaica: Missing Children

  30 October 2008

YardFlex refers to “some shocking figures that indicate 65 per cent of the 1,112 people reported missing in Jamaica since January 1st 2008 are children.”

Pakistan: Help the earthquake victims

  30 October 2008

Five Rupees posts some links to charities that are involved in delivering aid and humanitarian relief to the victims of the earthquake in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Please help the victims of this disaster.

India: Wikipedia Academy in Chennai

  30 October 2008

Kiruba Shankar reports that a Wikipedia Academy has been set up in Chennai, India. “It's an effort to educate people about wiki editing and to give the confidence that anyone can edit and add information to the site,” the blogger says.

Trinidad & Tobago: Not Adding Up

  29 October 2008

“Last month the record 2008-9 budget of nearly TT$50 billion was based on an assumed oil price of $75 a barrel. At the time, the price was well above that. A month later, it’s below $64. So even the richest economy in the Caribbean either has to make some serious...

Bermuda: Gambling with the Future?

  29 October 2008

As the government considers introducing internet gaming to the island, both FreshieBlog and Vexed Bermoothes think that it is a bad idea, saying that it “could taint Bermuda’s reputation as a serious business jurisdiction.”

Bangladesh: Community blogs and unique blogger identities

  29 October 2008

Arild Klokkerhaug of the largest Bangla blog community ‘Somewhere in..blog” describes the unique characteristics of the Bangladeshi blogosphere: “I guess there is no other country in the world that has a higher % of the bloggers connected through community blogs.” He calls for synchronizing unique blogger identities among the growing...

Russia: “Help Svetlana Bakhmina” Petition

  29 October 2008

As of now, 71,250 people have signed an online petition appealing to the Russian president to pardon Svetlana Bakhmina, a former senior lawyer for Mikhail Khodorkovsky's oil company Yukos, who was arrested in December 2004 and sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison for embezzlement and tax evasion in April 2006.

Trinidad & Tobago: Crime Watch

  28 October 2008

“Like any other country, we have a well-laid out and codified set of laws for the populace to follow. Of what good is our law however, when particularly in relation to serious and violent crime, we appear to have little success of apprehending and convicting those who break it?”: Trinbago...

Barbados: MSM & Democracy

  28 October 2008

Barbados Underground says that “the current fast food diet of journalism being served up by the local media” poses a threat to the country's democracy.

Jamaica, U.S.A.: Race to the White House

  28 October 2008

“Let's be real… you want him to win because he's black…”: Stories of Me thinks that “it's no coincidence that most of Jamaica supports Obama for President, and wish they could vote. Only a fraction of those ‘supporters’ know much of Obama's policies, or fully understand the impact of an...

Guyana, U.S.A.: Making History?

  28 October 2008

“We may see in the possibility of America’s first Black president the sign of more tolerant times. We may see in the possibility of this particular Black president the sign of a more genuine concern for global affairs. And we can’t help but be caught up in the positive feel...

Japan: Arrested in Shibuya just for walking?

  27 October 2008

id:inumash comments on news [ja] that three people heading a demo in Shibuya (Tokyo) on Oct. 26th with the intention of going to “see the home of PM Taro Aso” were arrested for not having notified police beforehand [ja]. The blogger points to an article by Amamiya Karin [雨宮処凛] [ja]...

Morocco: Barça Fan Jailed for Superlative Statement

  27 October 2008

Many bloggers were shocked last week to learn that a young Moroccan man had been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for what seemed like such a minor "crime." The young man, a Barça (FC Barcelona, a soccer team) fan, allegedly wrote “God, Nation, Barça” on the blackboard at his school. Morocco's motto is "God, Nation, King."

Climate Analysis of Rihanna's ‘Shut up and Drive’ Video

  27 October 2008

Empivot is an online green media aggregator, or as its tag line says, it is the ‘Online Network for Green Video’. Members can upload video, browse channels such as Renewable Energy Business Watch, YesterMorrow – Design/Build School, Green Tv and others. An interesting video that was posted on the Brighter...