Stories about Governance from September, 2006
Turkey is Typing…
As that transition from the lazy days of Summer turn into Fall, a gloomy spell has fallen over the Turkish bloggers this week…and actually, I can agree with them myself. Murat from American Turk writes about the frustration of the day to day mundane of the office: I'm unhappy at...
Ukraine: Lviv is 750 Years Old
Dominican Cathedral in Lviv, built in the late 18th century. In the Soviet times, the building housed Lviv's atheism museum, which has now been transformed into the museum of religion; also, organ music concerts and religious services are being held in the cathedral. (Photo by Lyncis/Cyril Kalugin.) The wonderful Western...
Iran:Ayatollah Khomeini's letter and nuclear bomb
Kamangir talks about Ayatollah Khomenii's letter that was published after 18 years. We read in media, a letter from 1988 in which Iran's top commander says Iran could need a nuclear bomb to win the war against Iraq has come to light in Tehran. The blogger adds I do not...
Poland: Coalition-Building Crisis
The beatroot reports on Poland's government crisis: “So even the Peasants don’t want to get into bed with PiS, it appears. Which shows how bad the image of the government has become: in the past 17 years since parliamentary democracy began in Poland PSL have been known to get into...
Belarus: Protest Diaries and Opposition Leader
Ivan Lenin of Rush-Mush reports that the online diaries of a Belarusian protester Dasha Kostenko have been published in Moscow. He also criticizes the opposition leader Milinkevich: “It's a big shame that the brave Belarusians who were risking their health, their freedom, and their very lives didn't have a better...
Serbia: Kosovo Is (Not) Changing
Wu Wei observes the changes that are taking place in Kosovo and those that aren't.
Russia: Open Letter on Orphanage Child Abuse
Russia Blog posts an open letter from an American mother of three adopted Russian children: “While looking for articles about the orphanage abuse that occurred in late July, 2006 in Krasnoyarsk, I came across your story about the “Boys for Sale“. It has had a profound affect on me. Thank...
Nigeria: Vice-President in self-denial
Aba Boy argues that the Nigerian Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, is in self denial: “His fight to clear his name has led a few to believe that his denial is taking the form of spreading outright falsehood, and by implication refusing to address the facts. Reading his letter, one could easily...
Barbados: Land sale
Barbados Free Press employs a bit of allegory to highlight possible flaws in the logic behind the government's decision to sell the island's lands to foreign investors.
China: Killing chickens, not for bird flu
A corruption probe has led to the dismissal of Chen Liangyu, the highest-ranked Communist official in Shanghai and key member of former Chairman Jiang Zemin‘s Shanghai Gang, a rival faction to the current administration headed by Chairman Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. Where the hundred million dollars has gone...
Serbian Blog Roundup
A house at the Golija Mountain – by Bogdan Cirovic At English section of Serbiancafe discussion board, Toshiba blogs out: Village of Rudno at Golija mountain is at altitude of 1200 meters. You would need four hours from Belgrade to get here by car. Beauties of one region are not...
Voices from Central Asia and the Caucasus
After a busy summer, we bid you welcome to a new roundup of notable online conversations from Central Asia and the Caucasus, brought to you by neweurasia and read out loud to you by the headmaster of a school in southern Kyrgyzstan's Sary-Moghul. There is not all too much being...
Nigeria: corruption in high places
Oloniyi David Ajao writes about corruption in high places in Nigeria, “Accusations have been that the Vice President is corrupt, and should not be allowed to stand as president in next year’s election. Gbenga Obasanjo (President Obasanjo’s son) accused him, as did the President himself. Several such accusations have been...
Kazakhstan: The Deal with Blogs
Leila at neweurasia writes a detailed post on the legal status of blogs and online journalism in Kazakhstan.
Russia: Sakhalin Housing and Other Problems
Tim Newman of White Sun of the Desert posts pictures from Sakhalin Island and writes about housing and other problems he's encountered there: “We have managed to find a very nice apartment to rent for three months until we find somewhere permanent, which is costing my employers a mere $2,700...
Russia: Media Stereotypes Discussion
Yuri Mamchur's recent post on Russia Blog about media stereotypes has drawn some media response in Russia and the blogger has been interviewed on Radio Liberty (RUS).
Kyrgyzstan: Lie Detetector
Yulia of neweurasia Kyrgyzstan translates a Russian-language post on a plan to use lie-detectors to try to root out corruption in government.
Poland: “The Polish Watergate”
The beatroot has posted three entries so far about the beginning of a major corruption scandal, already labeled the “Polish Watergate”: one, two, and three. “It looks very bad for a government that has fashioned itself as the ‘anti-corruption’ government.”
Puerto Rico: Anti-discrimination bill
Andrés Duque drums up support among LGBT organisations and communities to combat the blocking of an anti-discrimation bill fom being debated in the Puerto Rican legislature.
Kenya: know your MP
Kenyan Pundit asks, “What would you like to know about your MP?“
Nepal: Death of a dignitary
The government reacts differently to people's death. If you're a dignitary, the nation might get a few days off says United We Blog! “I don’t want to be portrayed as an insensitive and emotionless idiot but this special treatment to those who died in chopper crash has clearly done injustice...