Stories about Governance from September, 2006
Tunisia: Opening prisons to the world
At this site, I’m trying to show videos that show or speak about human rights abuses, and – as in the Tunisian video above – the impact of human rights abuses on ordinary people. I don’t speak Arabic, so how do I know what this video’s about? It's thanks to...
Ethiopian bloggers rally to save controversial bill
Ethiopia’s diaspora bloggers are flexing their political muscles in a bid to save a controversial bill they claim has been blocked in the US Congress. The highly-politicised groups of Ethiopian writers living in the USA published a flurry of posts over the past week to persuade Congress to pass House...
More banned journals and Khatami in the USA
According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the International Federation of Journalists, the Iranian media is under an increasing amount of governmental pressure. More newspapers and magazines such as daily Shargh and the monthlies Nameh and Hafez have been shut down by the Commission for Authorizing and Monitoring the Press,...
Kenya: land grabbers become millionaires
Report: Land grabbers become millionaires in Kenya, via Kenyan Pundit.
India: Agriculture and the Government
Recursive Hypocrisy on what really ails Agriculture in India. “To start with, there simply isn't any real investment in technology or innovation in this area. Farm credits, crop insurance and support prices are only measures to help those in misery. What about solutions that result in yields which would make...
Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome
Todays post is full of revelations. Find out what is really behind all the violence in Iraq … where the Iraqi government is these days … original reactions to the Pope's comments on Islam … a recipe for a failed state … if Jews and Muslims really do get along...
Nepal: The relevance of Democracy
Maila Baje reacts to survey findings on perceptions of democracy in Nepal. “:On the other hand, were the survey participants skewed – deliberately or otherwise – heavily in favor of the palace on account of class, ethnicity or outlook?”
Estonia: Reaction to a Headline in the Economist
Edward Lucas, the Central and East European correspondent of The Economist, writes about Estonia and other “small” countries: “Small countries are often more interesting than big ones, and size may be one reason that the Baltic states and Slovenia have done rather well in the past 16 years. Politics works...
Thailand: Coup Council Website
Enda Nasution has a post introducing the website created by the Council for Democratic Reform Under the Constitutional Monarchy. This council is currently running the country after they took over the power in a coup last week.
China: Shanghai corruption scandal
The corruption scandal and removal of Shanghai's top leader, Chen Liangyu, have recieved much echoes from local web users and blogsphere. The China media project has translated some reactions from sina.com. Ai Wei Wei was glad that finally the central government took action against the corruption in Shanghai. Positive solution...
Barbados: Piggies At The Trough Awards
Barbados Free Press announces that nominations are open for the 1st annual Barbados Piggies At The Trough Awards: “the winner will be the Barbados politician or civil servant who, in the opinion of the judges, best misuses position, political contacts or internal knowledge to benefit self, family or friends.” The...
Cuba: Dengue fever
By making the eradication of the Aedes aegypti mosquito a government priority, Raúl Castro has more or less admitted that Cuba has a dengue fever problem, says Luis M. Garcia, “and yet, the secrecy-obsessed Communist regime refuses to reveal the extent of the epidemic.”
Hungary: Budapest's “Watergate”
As the first week of the Budapest protests ends and what seems to be “the Watergate case of Hungary” hasn't been resolved, Henrik of Hungarian Accent writes about “the violence, the lies, the media and the path ahead.”
Turkey is Typing…
Ramadan begins this weekend, or Ramazan, if you are Turkish, and I thought that it would be nice to open up this week's article with a link from Binnur's Turkish Cookbook for Ramazan Pide. Let the celebrations begin! The pope's comments have been a hot topic of dicussion in the...
Lesotho: the state of politics
Sotho on the state of politics in Lesotho, “Has the government of Lesotho taken a leave of absence? Are our leaders out of their minds? Instead of acquiring a Toyota Camry, how about doing something for joblessness, for AIDS patients?”
Serbia: Belgrade Taxis
Belgrade Blog writes about the city's taxis: “Its a sad fact (or happy depending on your perspective) that educated taxi drivers are increasing in numbers.”
Serbia: The Military and Internet Domain Issues
Dictionary of the Serbian Mess writes about Serbian military and domain issues.
Russia: A Road From Moscow
English Russia posts pictures of the Russian Federal Highway “Moscow-Yakutsk”: “Everytime it rains the road gets paralized, these shots are made a few days before the traffic jam for 600 cars got stuck there. Hunger and lack of the fuel followed, according to the witnesses. One woman gave a born...
Ukraine: New Head of Presidential Secretariat
LEvko of Foreign Notes writes about the new head of Victor Yushchenko's Presidential Secretariat, a 43-year-old Victor Baloha, a former mayor of Mukachevo, a man of “decidedly ‘mixed’ [political] background.” .
Notes on Montenegro and Transnistria
In his yesterday's Balkans Blog Roundup, Ljubisa Bojic quoted this passage on Montenegro by a Serbian blogger: […] I know how things operate down there. Its also a privatised state – I wonder how long it will be before the Europeans become intolerant of all those Russian businessmen who own...
Argentina: Legislatura de la Ciudad
Robert Wright continues his virtual tour of Buenos Aires with a look at the city's legislature.