· March, 2011

Stories from Quick Reads from March, 2011

Bosnia & Herzegovina: Towards Partition

  31 March 2011

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

  31 March 2011

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

  31 March 2011

“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

  31 March 2011

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

  31 March 2011

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.

Communities in Limbo on Honduran-Salvadoran Border

  31 March 2011

Voices from El Salvador's Weblog writes about the communities affected by an ongoing dispute on the Honduran-Salvadoran border, and argues that the governments from both countries “must take immediate action to ensure that those residents in limbo are granted citizenship so that they may have the rights that everyone else...

Honduras: Security Forces in Denial Over Human Rights Violations

  31 March 2011

RNS in Honduras Culture and Politics reports that “security forces in Honduras continue to be in denial about their trampling on the human rights of Hondurans.” RNS concludes: “Until there is a recognition on the part of the police and military that they are violating the human rights of the...

Nigeria: Buhari leads in mock online polls

  31 March 2011

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

RuNet Echo  31 March 2011

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...

Tensions Between Korea and Japan Intensified Over Territorial Conflict

  31 March 2011

South Koreans have expressed deep regret over the Japanese government’s decision to endorse middle school textbooks that defined Dokdo island as part of its territory. Reflecting people's anger, Korea's power Twitterer and bestselling novelist, Lee Oi-soo (@oisoo) harshly condemned [ko] Japanese government for approving the new textbooks.

China: Inflation and Fear

  31 March 2011

Foreseeing the rocket raising inflation, Chinese people are storing up daily necessities, such as Laundry Detergent, at home. Fauna from ChinaSMACK has captured the situation and translated netizens’ response to the inflation fear.

China: Exporting Women

  31 March 2011

China Hush translated an article from a local forum concerning the imbalance in the “importation” and “exportation” of women in China where the gender ratio has already been distorted which results in a “shortage of women”.

Debate about China Model

  31 March 2011

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.

Sri Lanka: The Future Of Books In Cupboards

  31 March 2011

“In this day and age, with houses getting smaller and space becoming an issue, with E-books being the rage in the West, and Kindles and i-pads common enough in Colombo”, Ameena Hussein wonders about the future of books.

Bangladesh: Is USA Doing Excess On Yunus Issue?

  30 March 2011

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.