May, 2009
Stories from May, 2009
29 May 2009
Serbia: Torture or Therapy?
Last week, on May 21, a short film about torture in the Spiritual Rehabilitation Center "Crna Reka," located in south-western Serbia, was shown on the web site of Vreme, a Serbian weekly magazine. The patients of this center are drug addicts and its head is Branislav Peranovic, a Serbian Orthodox priest. Nearly all Serbian media have shown the horrible scenes from the short film, in which Peranovic is shown beating one of the patients brutally with a spade and with his fists. Sinisa Boljanovic reviews Serbian bloggers' responses.
28 May 2009
Russia: Farewell to Actor Oleg Yankovsky
Renowned Russian actor Oleg Yankovsky, 65, died in Moscow on May 20 and was buried at Novodevichiy Cemetery two days later. Thousands of fans came to the Lenkom Theater to bid farewell to him. LJ user drugoi re-posted AP photos from the memorial event, and LJ user leosat wrote about it.
Mexico: Television Comedy Show Makes Light of Actor's Mental Disability
The Human Rights Commission of Mexico DF has asked the television network Televisa to apologize the actor known as Sammy, after the contestants of a comedy game show played a prank on him, even though it is widely known that he suffers from moderate mental disability. The incident brought to light the frequency that Mexican comedians mock others or their situations in order to get laughs.
Guadeloupe: In May 2009, keep May 1802 and May 1967 in mind
2009 will definitely be a "new" year in Guadeloupe - at least judging from a pun that people used as their New Year's wish, since in Creole "new" is pronounced "nef" and "nine" is also pronounced "nef". The first social movements in December 2008 foreshadowed the massive mobilization which took place from January until March 2009, which resulted in 45 days of an all-out strike on the island. Although an agreement was signed, the situation still has not been properly settled - and May, traditionally a month of protest in the French and Guadeloupean social history, is particularly hot this year.
Peru: Freezing Temperatures in Puno Result in Children Deaths
While much of Peru and the media has been discussing the 16 confirmed individuals with AH1N1 virus, very little has been mentioned about the 133 children that have recently died as a result of the freezing temperatures affecting the southern part of the country. Bloggers have been noting this difference in coverage, and have been criticizing the lack of planning by local and national governments for what has been become an annual tragedy.
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India: Perspectives on Growing up in India
Thanks to the Adobe Youth Voices program, young people in different parts of the world are having the opportunity to experiment with audiovisual equipment and tell their stories from their perspective. Such is the case in India, where youth from many different schools and slums have been making videos to show the world that surrounds them and their concerns.
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First, let us ignore your assertion that at the time only 1% of young Chinese attended university because its not...