· May, 2010

Stories about Governance from May, 2010

Jamaica: Resetting the Clock

  27 May 2010

“Jamaica's bizarre socio-economic clock cannot turn back but it can be reset”: Living in Barbados suggest the current situation “may be the spur to find ways to start dealing with that process.”

China: Hebei’s “Great Leap Forward”

  27 May 2010

More than 1000 residents of Hebei Province will be subject to forced evictions before June 5, in a government development project online opinion has dubbed a “Great Leap Forward.” Guangping County, an impoverished area in southern Hebei, will see 2 billion yuan ($293 million) invested in new building and development...

Jamaica: Situation Improving?

  27 May 2010

Four days into the state of emergency imposed on the Jamaican capital, the situation is becoming clearer - not simply in terms of statistics - but in understanding the chain of events that led to the current impasse. There are also reports that life in the capital city may slowly be returning to normal.

Russia: Explosion in Stavropol

Miriam Elder reports at GlobalPost on the explosion in Stavropol, which took place next to a centrally-located concert hall shortly before a Chechen folk dance troupe was to perform there. LJ user dimazelensky, whose office is inside the concert hall building, wrote (RUS) that the police had cordoned it off...

Sri Lanka: Vanni One Year After War

  26 May 2010

Ruki at Groundviews visited Vanni, the war torn city in the North of Sri Lanka, and analyzes the situation there after one year since the end of the war against LTTE.

Trinidad and Tobago: Election Landslide

  26 May 2010

After a snap election ends the rule of Prime Minister Patrick Manning, Trinidadian bloggers react to the new People's Partnership coalition government, led by the country's first female prime minister.

Slovenia, Croatia: More on the Border Dispute

Sleeping With Pengovsky posts The Definitive Guide to the Arbitrage Agreement Between Slovenia and Croatia – Part 1 and Part 2. Borut Peterlin posts this comment: “The border dispute with Croatia is the most important tool for manipulation with voters emotions, so no doubt [Janša, Podobnik and Jelinčič] would do...

Cape Verde: Using an Online Tool to Fight Dengue

  25 May 2010

The Government of Cape Verde is using the internet as a powerful tool to fight dengue [pt]. By creating an epidemiological watch online through which it is possible to insert every new case on a database as soon as it is discovered, they are able to assist and help areas...

Fiji backs down on suspending Parliamentary pensions

  25 May 2010

Fiji's government has overturned the practice of suspending pensions to former Parliamentary leaders who have been critical of the present regime. This announcement “is the sort of forward-looking conciliatory acts we need to see more of,” says blogger Crosbie Walsh. Coup Four And A Half says the government has “done...

Taiwan: Heavy metal and death penalty

  25 May 2010

One of the top public issues in Taiwan blogosphere recently is whether Taiwan should abolish death penalty or not. Thus, The Ball Music sorts out and introduces several heavy metal songs that are about death penalty(zht). “…You don't have to support the abolishment of death penalty just because you are...

Russia: Moscow Government Abandons Social Media

Moscow mayor's office prepared a draft bill on access to the information with no mention of blogs or any kind of social media, gzt.ru reported [RUS]. Gzt.ru suggests the reason of the absence of Web 2.0 is the inability of the city's telecommunications committee to provide an effective information policy.

Trinidad & Tobago: People's Party Position

  24 May 2010

Afra Raymond thinks that in the context of today's national elections, “with the distinct probability of a victory by the united PP…it is timely to consider the way in which that group might handle the bailout [of the CL Financial group].”

Nepal: Why Not To Fear The Maoists?

  24 May 2010

“Nepal is scheduled to have coalition governments for a long, long time to come, just like India. That might be a good reason to not fear the Maoists,” comments Democracy For Nepal.