Stories about Governance from January, 2013
Trinidad & Tobago: Proper Procurement Practice
In part one of a two-part series on governance and integrity in Tobago, Afra Raymond examines the Tobago House of Assembly project.
France: NGOs Condemn Privatisation of Public Domain
Seven European free culture associations issued a statement [fr] protesting against a public-private partnership between the French National Library BNF and Proquest database [fr], whose aim is to digitize a large amount of Public Domain works and privatize them with an exclusivity period of commercialization of ten years. Activist Philippe...
Guyana: Literary Controversy
Writer Ruel Johnson has expressed concern at what he considers to be possible case of nepotism at Caribbean Press, a publishing company owned by the government of Guyana: When I saw the recent launch of young Ashley Anthony’s book Mysterious Association and the Virtu Gems [sic] I declined to publicly point out the...
Egypt: Why Open Source Software?
After introducing to Free and Open Source Software (F/OSS) in the previous article, one might still wonder why corporates and governments need to adoption it or encourage its adoption. Tarek Amr elaborates in this second post of a two-part series in the argument for F/OSS
Free and Open Source Software
We received an email from Richard M. Stallman (RMS), after publishing the article about the Egyptian demonstration calling for the government to adopt Free Software. Tarek Amr digs deeper into open source software and arguments in its favour in this first post of a two-part series
Hungarian Student Protesters Face Punishment, Keep Fighting
In December 2012, Hungarian university and high school students united to protest against the large cutbacks in higher education admission quotas. Their fight for tution-free slots continues.
Russia's Siberian State Within A State
Roughly 90% of Russian gas production originates in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, located in the northwestern corner of Siberia. In recent months, bloggers and Russian netizens have reacted to the latest in a series of changes to internal migration laws inside YaNAO that make it difficult for non-residents even to pass through the region.
Tobago's Election Results Send Message: Hit the Road, Jack!
Tobago's election results have come in and bloggers don't seem surprised. The incumbent, Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary Orville London, won by a landslide, while the main challenger, Ashworth Jack, representing the Tobago Organisation of the People, which has links to the country's current administration, failed to win even one seat.
Bolivia: 2012 Census Initial Data
Bolivian President Evo Morales announced the initial official data from the Census of Population and Housing 2012, carried out last November. According to the results, Bolivia has a population of 10.3, with the two most populated departaments being Santa and y La Paz, each with 2.7 million people. Netizens are...
Skills of a Chinese Police Porn Examiner
Alia from China Beat puts together a picture about the work and requirement of being a police Porn examiner in China: To be a porn examiner, one has to be an “outstanding, well-behaved and highly politically-sensitive” police officer who “won’t have any problems after watching porn materials.”
Côte d'Ivoire: Charles Blé Goudé Charged with War Crimes
After his arrest in Ghana, Charles Blé Goudé, nicknamed ‘Street General’ and close associate of former president Laurent Gbagbo, was charged with war crimes on January 21, 2013. His arrest caused great debate in the Ivorian blogosphere as it happened against a backdrop of national reconciliation in Côte d'Ivoire.
Police Use Pepper Spray on Bangladesh's Teacher Protesters
For the very first time in Bangladesh, the police used pepper spray to scatter hundreds of teachers and employees of private schools who were demonstrating in Dhaka. One teacher ended up with fatal reactions to the spray and died, sparking intense debate in Bangladesh.
Guyana: Minimum Wage and Inflation
The welfare of the working poor who have seen their purchasing power steadily eroded in the past ten years, or what one must consider, after reviewing the facts, as phantom concerns over inflation? Or is there something more than money involved? Guyana Mosquito responds to Ralph Ramkarran's argument that increasing the minimum...
Iran: A Crime on YouTube, an Execution in Public
Two young men, Alireza Mafiha and Mohammad Ali Sarvari, were executed by hanging in Tehran, Iran in the early hours of January 20, before the eyes of public spectators who had gathered to watch.
Colombia: Was There a Ceasefire During Peace Conversations?
On his personal blog, Colombian journalist Javier Contreras wonders [es] if there really was a ceasefire during the Christmas and New Year truce between the Guerrilla group FARC [es] and Colombian government, in the context of peace negotiations ongoing since late 2012:
China: Viral love diary of mistress ends career of a senior propaganda official
Another sex scandal exposed online by the mistress of Yi Junqing, a senior propaganda official has brought Yi down. Ministry of Tofu has the full story.
Inside the Audacious Assassination Attempt in Bulgaria
The January 19 gunman attack on the Bulgarian politician Ahmed Dogan has provoked many reactions by politicians and netizens - with some convinced that the assassination attempt was staged.
Slovakia: Social Benefits for Roma
Lucia Kureková, in her blog analysis [sk], shows that in Slovakia the majority of those who receive the Benefit in Material Need (BMN) are not the “typical” Roma families with many children, but are single, of any ethnicity, and childless (62%), often young and unemployed. About two-thirds of the Slovak...
Blame Jihadis Financial Incentives, not Gaddafi's Fall, for Troubles in Mali
Jihadis venture capitalism extended to an even more lucrative business: kidnapping western hostages all over the Sahara yielded over 90 Million Euros over a decade [..] The modus operandi was very simple: why get killed trying to create an Islamist emirate in “apostate-ruled” neighboring countries when you can build your...
Philippines: Anti-Cybercrime Law Denounced as ‘Cyber Martial Law’
More voices in the Philippines are questioning the Cybercrime Prevention Law as the oral arguments on the petitions against the law are being heard in the Supreme Court. The law was denounced by activists as a 'Cyber Martial Law' because of provisions that would limit free speech and expression in the internet sphere
