· May, 2008

Stories about Politics from May, 2008

Ukraine, Russia: Personae Non Gratae

On May 12, Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov was declared persona non grata in Ukraine, following his calls for Russia to take ownership of Sevastopol, a Ukrainian Black Sea naval port. On May 15, Russia denied entry to Vladyslav Kaskiv, one of the leaders of the 2004 protests in Kyiv and member of the Our Ukraine/People's Self-Defense faction in the Ukrainian parliament. LJ user varfolomeev66, a Russian journalist, compares the two cases.

China: Sharon Stone on Earthquake

  31 May 2008

Lam Kay pointed out that the mainstream media had mistranslated[zh] Sharon Stone's comment on Sichuan earthquake and caused a lot of misunderstandings in the Chinese world.

Lebanon: The Doha Agreement

Lebanese political leaders who met in Doha under the patronage of the Emir of Qatar Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani reached an agreement last week. The full text of the agreement was posted by Blogging Beirut among others. As a result of the Doha Agreement the Lebanese parliament convened...

Colombia: FARC Leader “Sureshot” is Confirmed Dead

  30 May 2008

After countless false claims of the death of the FARC's top leader Manuel Marulanda Vélez aka "Sureshot," the Colombian government confirmed that he passed away in March of natural causes. Colombian bloggers were quick to react and provide their thoughts on what this means for the future of the guerrilla group, the future presidential elections, and Sureshot's legacy.

Georgia: Opposition Protests

Following the recent parliamentary election in the country, Resistance Georgia has posted photographs of the protest demonstrations which followed the landslide win for the ruling government party. The pro-opposition blog also posts some updates on the situation.

Kazakhstan: Politics and Tractors

These weeks the bloggers have been chewing upon traditionally prominent topics on the Kazakhstani blogosphere — politics and economy. Megakhuimyak says [ru] – “without aspiration to make a global-scale conclusion” – that 80 percent of the political public officials at the age older than 50 have obtained their current position...

Bahamas: Education Consequences

  30 May 2008

Christopher Lowe at WeblogBahamas.com blogs about the consequences of an ineffective education system, saying: “We are reaping that which we have sown.”

Puerto Rico, U.S.A.: Imagine That Conversation

  30 May 2008

Puerto Rican blogger Liza asks: “Can you imagine having to talk to your kids about the potential assassination of their father?”, adding: “What people don't get is how deep the wounds of political and social violence run in this country. To have people like Hillary Clinton dismiss political assassination as...

Paraguay: The Creation of a People's Union

  29 May 2008

Edgar Ruiz Díaz of Las Preguntas de Venerando [es] writes about the change in power in Paraguay, and how many public workers will now try to convince the new administration that they belong. He also suggests the creation of a “People's Union,” which will help control the public administration.

Bahamas: Social Breakdown?

  29 May 2008

Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit believes that the country's escalating violence, especially among youth, “is not crime. It is impending social breakdown.”

Bermuda: Freedom or Manipulation?

  29 May 2008

Bermudian bloggers are incensed about the Premier's statement that making certain information public is “akin to asking a neural surgeon to come out of the operating room in the middle of an operation to answer about costs and procedures”: IMHO.bm: “This is not progressive, this is regressive”; Vexed Bermoothes: “The...

Romania: Corruption

Transatlantic Politics writes about corruption in Eastern and Central Europe: “A survey made amongst Romanian judges showed that most of them don’t consider corruption as being a serious crime.”

Hungary: Ferenc Szálasi

Hungarian Spectrum writes about Ferenc Szálasi and Hungarian nationalist politics – here and here: “Perhaps no one will be surprised to discover that the man who came up with “Hungarism” wasn’t an ethnic Hungarian. His original name was Szalosján. His fraternal ancestors came from Armenia and settled in Transylvania […]....