Stories about Politics from March, 2011
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Towards Partition
At OpenDemocracy.net, Bedrudin Brljavac writes about the situation in Bosnia & Herzegovina: “Fifteen years since the end of the war, ethno-nationalist leaders continue to pursue political agendas leading to the partitioning of Bosnia rather than membership of a united Europe. And yet, without the prospect of the EU, it is...
Haiti: Monsanto's Agenda
Haiti Grassroots Watch takes “a closer look” at Monsanto's seed distribution in the wake of last year's devastating earthquake.
Trinidad & Tobago: Education – Leaving Kids at Sea
“All children now go to secondary school. But it remains an unfortunate truth that the majority of those innocents who sat SEA Tuesday will not have the secondary schooling they deserve”: Lisa Allen-Agostini blogs about the state of education.
Cuba: Meeting Carter
The Cuban Triangle summarizes former President Jimmy Carter's visit to Cuba, while Generation Y blogs about their meeting and the symbolic gift she gave him “in the name of several bloggers and other Cubans.”
Jamaica: Enquiry No Laughing Matter
As the Manatt Dudus Enquiry is extended for the third time, GWAP comments: “A Commission that should have cost Jamaican tax payers JMD $37 million has now skyrocket[ed] to JMD $78 million!”, while Pray, Laugh, Grow thinks the whole debacle is anything but funny.
Nigeria: Buhari leads in mock online polls
Nigerian presidential candidate Mohammadu Buhari leads in mock online polls: “There are now several platforms online that allow Nigerians with access to the Internet to vote for their favourite presidential aspirant and share their preference on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.”
Russia: The Most Fierce DDOS Attack On LiveJournal Analyzed
Ilya Dronov, LiveJournal's head of development, told [ru] some details about yesterday's DDOS-attack on LiveJournal, popular blogging platform in Russia. That was the most fierce attack in the history of the platform. Anton Nosik, suggested [ru] that (despite that most of the attacking machines were outside of Russia) the main client...
Japan: The Tsunami, God and Man
A few days after the disaster that killed more than ten thousand people, Italian vice-president of the National Research Council (CNR) Roberto De Mattei and Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara left the Italian and the Japanese blogosphere astounded when they declared that the catastrophe occurred as a manifestation of God’s will. Both in Japan and in Italy bloggers reacted and demanded their resignation.
Debate about China Model
The China Media Project has translated two articles written by Zhang Weiwei, a CCP think tank and Yang Jisheng, an experience retired reporter on their understanding of China Model.
China: Crackdown on Activists and Opinion Leaders
The Chinese government's crackdown on human rights activists and opinion leaders continues. Samuel Wade from China Digital Timeshas compiled information from all sources to update on the situation.
Brazil: On Opening the Archives of the Dictatorship
A collective blogging was called to demand the opening of the archives of the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964-1985), responsible for torturing of thousands and for killing 380 Brazilians. Of these, 147 remain missing and nothing is known about the fate of their bodies. Until now their families are suffering without knowing their stories.
Macedonia, Bulgaria: Facing Hate Speech
Two NGOs, from Macedonia and from Bulgaria, have published an analysis of the Macedonian-Bulgarian hate speech in the traditional and new media.
Bangladesh: Is USA Doing Excess On Yunus Issue?
US Astt. Secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs Mr. Roger Blake recently visited Bangladesh and discussed with government about the recent disputes with the Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus. An Ordinary Citizen wonders whether USA is playing excess on this issue.
Macedonia: Early Elections Scheduled for June 5
The biggest Macedonian opposition party announced [MKD] today that they will participate in the early elections in spite of the failure of negotiations with the government on the conditions that would ensure fairness. About two hours later, the Prime Minister responded [MKD] that the ruling party would suggest to the...
Cote d'Ivoire: Open letter to Not on Our Watch
Eliza writes an open letter to Not on Our Watch, a charity founded by George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Jerry Weintraub and David Pressman about the political situation in Cote d'Ivoire.
Zimbabwe: Exhuming bodies for votes?
Using the dead to win votes: “The beleaguered ZANU (PF) political party is at it again, now by trying to buy political mileage out of the discovery of bodies in the Mashonaland region, yet they continue to neglect the massacres carried out in Matabeleland in the 1980’s.”
Sudan: A road accident does not cause a revolution
Can a road accident cause a revolution? “Recent demonstrations in Sudan’s capital Khartoum over road conditions and traffic signals have led some observers in the West to speculate about the possibilities of a Egypt-style revolution there”
Russia: Blogger Translates Articles on Alexey Navalny
LJ user vadda translates from English into Russian two recent texts about Alexey Navalny, a prominent Russian anti-corruption activist: one text, by Andrew E. Kramer, appeared in the New York Times on March 27 (the Russian translation is here; 266 comments); the other, by Julia Ioffe, was published in the...
Serbia: Gaddafi's Cyber Army Oppose Rebels and NATO
A Facebook page entitled "Support for Muammar al-Gaddafi from the people of Serbia" has become a show of support for the controversial Libyan leader, with over 62,500 members. Libyan opposition activists have also reported cyber attacks on opposition websites coming from Serbia. Sasa Milosevic reports on the online support for Muammar al-Gaddafi in Serbia.
Tunisia: Bloggers Angry at Interim Interior Minister Sacking
Tunisian bloggers are outraged over the sacking of Interim Interior Minister Farhat Rajhi today. In a surprise move, he was replaced by Hbib El-Seed. Netizens are now calling for his return to managing his portfolio in blog posts and on Facebook.
Bolivia’s Conflicting Stance With the USA on Coca Chewing
The 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs ordered the elimination of chewing coca leaves within 25 years of the treaty going into effect. Bolivia has again resurfaced as a proponent to eliminate this UN ban. The US moved to block Bolivia’s request, further citing that an amendment to the article shows Bolivia’s lack of cooperation in the fight against the drug trade.
