· June, 2007

Stories about North America from June, 2007

CIA facility in Tunisia?

From his prison cell in Bizerte (65km north of Tunis), The Tunisian prisoner Ramzi Bettibi managed to smuggle a very alarming letter that found its way on to the Internet (available in French). Ramzi is serving a four-year sentence at Bizerte for copying, onto a forum board he moderated, an...

If Bloggers attended the Conference on the Caribbean…

  25 June 2007

This past week (June 18-21) leaders of CARICOM met with President George W. Bush and other top U.S. government officials in Washington as part of the Conference on the Caribbean. Official word from the U.S. Press Secretary is that: “The Conference on the Caribbean continues an important dialogue between the...

Russia: Moscow's Top Secret and Other Exaggerations

According to a recent survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Moscow is “the world’s most expensive city for expatriates for the second consecutive year.” To Moscow locals, however, Mercer’s findings may look a bit like an exaggeration - and one blogger explains why. Another blogger happens to cross paths with Vladimir Putin's motorcade in Moscow, getting a glimpse (and a few furtive photos) of the exaggerated security measures taken to secure the president's passage through the city.

U.S. Concerned About Armenia’s Ties With Iran

“Iran is planning massive investments into the economies of Georgia and Armenia. We’re talkingof 1 billion dollars for Tbilissi and a analogous offer to Yerevan. For your consideration: the total amount of Russian investments in Georgia in 2006 did not exceed 30 million dollars, as to Armenia, after arrangements made...

Eastern & Central Europe: U.S. States’ GDPs

U.S. states have been renamed for countries with similar GDPs and the new map has been posted at Strange Maps: Russia is New Jersey, Ukraine is Idaho, Belarus is Alaska, Poland is Missouri, Czech Republic is Nebraska, Hungary is New Mexico, Romania is Delaware, Croatia is South Dakota.

Iraqi Blogger Arrives in Canada

Iraqi blogger Alaa has immigrated to Canada. “It is true that I have sadness in my heart for our poor old Iraq, but deep down I am convinced that we shall win in the end… And I don't like to hear anything against President Bush, either, because I still hold...

Japan: Video Art, Media and Zen

  19 June 2007

An interview with Montreal-born Japan-based video producer Michael Goldberg has been posted at gyaku. In the interview, Goldberg discusses his experience with media art movements in the 60s and 70s, as well as his recent documentary entitled “A ZEN LIFE” about Japanese author/translator D.T. Suzuki, widely credited as having introduced...

Gabon: Libreville mermaid hoax (via St. Petersburg, Florida)

  15 June 2007

Association des gabonais d'Amiens dispels a mermaid hoax [Fr]. Photographs of a mermaid supposedly discovered dead on a beach in Libreville were actually downloaded from an eBay auction for a mermaid sighting in St. Petersburg, Florida. The St. Petersburg photographs sold for US$1500 to a French natural history museum.

Israel: Celebrating Father's Day

“Thousands of American families will celebrate Father's Day this Sunday without Father. He is either in Iraq risking his life for Chevron or is in his grave in a military cemetery,” writes Desert Peace from Israel.