Stories about Governance from January, 2009
Greece: Economy and Protests
BBC's Mark Mardell writes about the state of the Greek economy and the farmers’ protests.
Guadeloupe: A new social movement
Guadeloupe has been in a state of social unrest for about a week now as record numbers of trade unions, cultural and political associations have united around a motto: "Lyannaj kont pwofitasyon", Creole for “Let's gather up to fight against all sorts of abuses.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Construction Confusion
“Some of the things being revealed are proving to be so massively embarrassing, so massively corrupt that it boggles the mind”: Trinidadian diaspora blogger Jumbie's Watch is following the Commission of Inquiry into the local construction sector.
Jamaica, Zimbabwe: Hunger Strike
“Do people in Jamaica and the Caribbean care enough about events in Zimbabwe to lend their help to this call for moral action?”: Annie Paul has a friend who is on a hunger strike to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe and tells us how we can help.
Azerbaijan: Democratization Under Siege
Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines comments on the state of democracy in Azerbaijan and wonders about the country's future now that foreign radio broadcasts have effectively been banned and a referendum to remove the two-term restriction on the presidency is scheduled for March.
Japan: Obama vs. Aso
Like every other country in the world, Japan, one of the strongest of America's allies in Asia, followed closely the election of President Obama. His speech has been broadcast, translated and commented on in all kinds of ways by the Japanese media and local TV shows. So it was natural that many bloggers drew a comparisons between the American President and the Japanese Prime Minister, Tarō Asō.
Romania: Rural Life in the EU
Tessa Bunney, who photographed rural life in the Carpathians of Romania, wrote this about the implications of the EU accession for some of the subjects of her photos: “The Romanian government’s interpretation of EU policy has resulted in the banning of horse and carts and hand milking of cows. No...
Russia: Medvedev vs Putin's Espionage Law
RFE/RL's The Power Vertical reports that president Medvedev “has instructed his administration to re-work a controversial bill broadening the definition of treason and espionage to assure that it doesn't violate human rights.”
Ukraine: Medical Center for Street Children
Scenes from the Sidewalk posts pictures and writes about the only medical center in Kyiv “where street children can get medical attention without documents”: “Many At-Risk Children or street children do not have these documents and will be turned away at the door if they try to get medical attention....
Latvia: Economy Update
An update on the economic situation in Latvia – at Edward Hugh's Latvia Economy Watch.
Latvia: Flash Mob To Support Public Radio
Free Speech Emergency in Latvia writes that “employees of Latvia's public service radio (Latvijas Radio) have called for a flash-mob to gather near the parliament (Saeima) building for five minutes on Friday, January 30 to stand in complete silence to protest the “silencing” of the national radio service through budget...
Pakistan: Lawyers And The President
Teeth Maestro discusses about the recent controversy regarding Pakistan president Zardari's remark on the lawyers’ protest.
China: Name Change for the Minzu University of China
Highpeakspureearth discusses the cultural political implications in the recent change of English name of “the Central University of Nationalities” to “Minzu University of China” (MUC) (since November 20th, 2008).
Trinidad & Tobago: New Grassroots Effort
“As tens of thousands come together in Belem, Brazil for the…World Social Forum, we send early word of a parallel volunteer, grassroots effort coming out of the Caribbean to extend the debate over globalization and the global economic crisis into new realities of social justice, equity, sustainable development, and peace...
Guyana: Going High-Tech
Guyana 360 maintains that the former First Lady is not the only one who has suffered “high-tech abuse” at the hands of the country's President.
Iran: Political prisoners under more pressure
Ghomar Asheganeh, an Iran based blogger says [fa] that “Iranian political prisoners have been under more pressure recently.They are forced to follow some religious activities such as prayer in order to meet and contact their family members”.
Two-party system inappropriate for Singapore?
groundnotes criticizes Singapore's Prime Minister for saying that political change cannot come from the opposition but from within the ruling party and that a two-party system is not suitable for Singapore because it doesn't have enough talent.
Azerbaijan: Parliamentary Deputy Blogs
The USAID Internet Access and Training Program (IATP) blog reports that it has helped five deputies from the Azerbaijani parliament set up their own blogs. The blogs in Azeri are at kamranramazanov.blogmilli.com, mmehdi.blogmilli.com, mmfirdovsi.blogmilli.com, rafikismayilov.blogmilli.com, and vuqarqaracayev.blogmilli.com.
Russia: “Economic Shock Therapy”
Sean's Russia Blog cites the director of the Serbsky State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry, who says that “since the financial crisis requests for psychologists have grown by 10 percent and psychotherapy by 20 percent. So much so that the Center has opened a hotline for people in...
Russia: “Izbrannoe” Stops Publication; Gryzlov's Crisis Denial
Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow links to LJ user barabanch‘s report (RUS) that the online magazine Izbrannoe has stopped publication, and notes on Boris Gryzlov's denial of the economic crisis.
Poland: Racism, Bad Roads and Euro 2012
Writing about Euro 2012 and racism, the beatroot concludes: “There are some nasty little racists at Poland’s football stadia, but believe me, Poland’s roads are a lot bigger threat to the fabric of society – and international football tournaments – than those idiots.”