· March, 2015

Stories from Quick Reads from March, 2015

Before the Border: The Immigrant Odyseey Across Mexico

  31 March 2015

The perils of crossing the border between Mexico and the United States are well documented, but for thousands of undocumented migrants from Central America, crossing Mexico is even more dangerous. To reach the US border, undocumented migrants from Central America undertake a dangerous 1,500-mile trip through Mexico, where they risk...

Open Letter to 60 Minutes Regarding Its Reporting on Africa

  29 March 2015

Scholars, writers, journalists and researchers write an open letter to 60 Minutes producer about the misrepresentation of Africa by the Tv program: Dear Jeff Fager, Executive Producer of CBS 60 Minutes, We, the undersigned, are writing to express our grave concern about the frequent and recurring misrepresentation of the African...

Mapping Vietnam's Socio-Economic Indicators

  28 March 2015

The World Bank has launched mapVIETNAM, an interactive map that shows various socio-economic indicators in Vietnam such as poverty rates, employment, and electricity connectivity. The photo above shows the number of households living on $2 dollars a day. Using the map, we can see that poverty rates are high in...

Ecuadorians Take to the Streets to Protest Government

  27 March 2015

Despite the rain, on March 19 citizens participated in a protest in Loja, Ecuador, which spread over seven blocks, to express their discontent of the current government. Labor code reforms, extended reelections, free access to education, and the recent exchange rate safeguards on imports were some of the issues that...

The Media's Role in Mexico's ‘Warped’ Democracy

  27 March 2015

Blogger Fernando Vázquez Rigada reflects on the role of the media in Mexico, a country where he says democracy is “warped” because it only works on a formal level, and society isn't adequately represented by the political institutions. He adds that Mexican media bear a huge responsibility in this issue....

German Company's Videos Imagine Modern Women as Passive and Dependent

  27 March 2015

Women in Germany are outraged over one insurance company's videos explaining different types of policies, in which women are described as passive and naive — a role more in line with the expectations of the 1950s than 2015. Birte Vogel writes on her blog Thea – Frauen in Sprache, Medien und Gesellschaft (Thea –...

Prisoner of Conscience Pedro Canché's Letter to Journalist Carmen Aristegui

  26 March 2015

From jail, Pedro Canché wrote a letter to fellow journalist Carmen Aristegui after her recent and controversial exit from media group MVS. This letter was published on his Tumblr blog “Diary of a prisoner of conscience“. 15 de marzo de 2015 Carta a Carmen AristeguiA propósito del consumado golpe al equipo de investigación de MVS, en...

A Trinidadian Falls in Love with Jamaica

  26 March 2015

Trindadian diaspora fashion blogger, Afrobella, grew up “steeped in reggae music and [with] a love for Jamaican culture” – so why did it take her so long to actually visit the island? She's not sure she can answer that question, considering that her first impression was that “Jamaica is an...

Documenting the Systematic Decline of Women's Rights in Macedonia

  25 March 2015

Although southeast European countries are progressive in many other ways, the decline of women's reproductive rights in some Western Balkan countries has been a worrying trend. In Macedonia, several small protests have been held in recent years to demonstrate people's opposition to government involvement in determining public sentiment on issues...

Bermuda's 99%

  25 March 2015

The economic gap appears to be widening in Bermuda and one blogger has been paying attention. A week ago, after the Bermuda Telephone Company announced that it was considering introducing new – and more expensive – residential high speed broadband internet products and a high-end restaurant launched a $1000 per...

13 Eritrean Writers You Should Know About

  25 March 2015

Woyingi compiles a list of Eritrean literature, which includes Sulaiman Addonia's The Consequences of Love and Taught to hate: observations on madrasas, Astier M. Almedom's Re-reading the Short and Long-Rigged History of Eritrea 1941–1952: Back to the Future?, Alemseged Tesfai's Two Weeks in the Trenches: Reminiscences of Childhood and War...

#HackEC15 — An Open Data Challenge in Ecuador

  24 March 2015

As part of the Second International Conference on Democracy and Digital Government 2015 (ICEDEG 2015), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is hosting Hack Ecuador Challenge 2015 (HEC'15). The event welcomes Ecuadorians with open-data apps that promise to deliver needed services in local communities, improving the nation's online ecosystem, especially in the...

In China, Online Game Has To Comply With Laws in Real Life

  22 March 2015

An online game designer, Xu Youzhen revealed in his Weibo that the Chinese authorities require that childbearing in his company's video games comply with family planning. The guideline was issued by Internet Culture Office, Bureau of Culture Markets in their powerpoint explanation of “Ministry of Culture's Online Game Content Censorship...