Stories from 19 December 2011
Iran: ‘Pure comments campaign’
Iranian officials are going to launch a “pure comments campaign” against blasphemy and pornography. Khoshnevis says [Fa] that 1000 individuals have been recruited to put comments on “dirty websites and blogs” to “diss-effect” their content.
Rwanda: Blogging From Rwanda
Mpenzi2 is a blog by an East African based in Rwanda, his mission is to promote and encourage young Africans from different professional background who are making the difference to build a better Africa.
Africa: Women4Africa Awards
Women for Africa Awards celebrates and encourages African women: “‘Women for Africa’ was birthed from a 20 year desire and passion to see women honoured and appreciated in a celebratory way. Everywhere you go in life you see women.”
Zambia: Sata at Close Quarters
Gershom Ndhlovu blogs about Zambia's new president: “You got to love Michael Sata, Zambia’s fifth president, or hate him—for his abrasiveness bordering on rudeness tinged with crude language—and now as head of state, disregard for protocol.”
Jamaica: vote or not?
Idle Yout Speeks asks if he should bother to vote in Jamaica's upcoming general election. “I blame my reluctance … on a deep rooted fear that stemmed from the more violent days of Jamaica's more violent election campaigns,” he writes. “I see some subtle differences in the parties but ultimately...
Cuba: Prix Carbet for Padura
Cuban writer Leonardo Padura has won the 2011 Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe, reports Repeating Islands. The prestigious prize for works of Caribbean literature in French, founded by the late writer Edouard Glissant, was awarded to the French translation of Padura's novel El hombre que amaba a los perros (The...
Barbados: remembering “Hitch”
Barbados-based B.C. Pires posts his reflections on the death of writer Christopher Hitchens: “for all his flaws … worth a few hundred pastors and priests to me, perhaps a few thousand.”
El Salvador: Environmental Groups Meet to Discuss UN Climate Change Conference
Voices from El Salvador blogs about climate change in El Salvador and a local forum organized by environmental groups to discuss the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which was held in Durban, South Africa from November 28 to December 11, 2011.
Colombia's Capital: Dream or Nightmare?
Rodrigo Sandoval reacts to a column in El Espectador [es] where Carolina Sanin says she hates the city where she was born: Bogotá. In his blog [es], Rodrigo refutes Carolina's arguments and explains why, in his opinion, Bogotá is “a dream city”.
Trinidad and Tobago: making zines
Trinidadian artist Rodell Warner posts images from a zine workshop for young artists which he organised in Johannesburg, South Africa, and explains that the experience made him think “of all the people at home who are concerned with actively sharing and making the place richer and more fertile.”
Barbados: debating “the letter”
Barbados Underground and Barbados Free Press comment on a controversial letter allegedly written to Prime Minister Freundel Stuart by members of his party, expressing a lack of confidence in his leadership, and subsequently leaked to the media.
Iran: Shocking video film from egypt
Several bloggers have published a video film where Egypt's security forces beating brutally a female protester. Xcalibur with irony writes [fa] now I see why Iranian government says the revolution in Egypt is inspired by Iranian one.
Mozambique: The Irrepressible Facebook Blogger
Mozambique is a country with a few superbloggers and little else to report in terms of consistent expression on the open internet, but with dramatic growth of Facebook (via mobile) one brave personality has risen to the fore in this walled, blue and white world. With his frontal political comment and criticism "Apóstolo da Desgraça" has become a reference, and received threats.
Kazakhstan: Longtime Strike Bursts into Violence; State of Emergency Declared
As Kazakhstan was preparing for the pompous celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the country's independence, the seven month-long strike of employees sacked from the national oil company's subsidiary in West Kazakhstan was evolving into brutal clashes with police forces, apparently, with the help of unidentified provocateurs.
South Korea: North Korean Dictator, Kim Jong Il Is Dead
Kim Jong Il, the North Korean dictator has died. Although the death of the world's one of the notorious dictator is something what people should welcome, most South Koreans have expressed worries on the instability his sudden death might bring to the Korean peninsula.
Spain: Interview of “Arreglamicalle.com”
Periodismociudadano.com interviews Idoia Soto from Arreglamicalle.com [es], a website created to help municipalities and citizens collaborate in finding solutions to local problems.
Puerto Rico: Why Don't You Go Back?
In the digital magazine El Punto Es [es], author Nuria Net has convened exiled Puerto Ricans [es] to answer the following question: Why don't you go back to Puerto Rico? The question has already generated some interesting responses.
Puerto Rico: Feminist experiences at the “Encuentro”
Lawyer and blogger Verónica RT writes about her intense and wonderful experiences at two of the most important feminist regional meetings in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Puerto Rico: Henry Cole on the Drums
Puerto Rico Indie [es] interviews Puerto Rican drummer Henry Cole on occasion of his first solo album “Roots Before Branches” and his presentations at La Respuesta, Santurce, next December 22 and 23.
