· March, 2008

Stories about North America from March, 2008

Middle East and North Africa: Client Number Nine

Eliot Spitzer's fall from grace grabbed the headlines as soon as newsmen caught wind of the scandal. Bloggers followed closely on their heel, including those from the Middle East and North Africa, whose attention was turned to the humiliation his wife must have suffered from and indignation of having her to stand by him as he announced his resignation.

Egypt: American Navy's Friendly Fire

Egyptian bloggers lament to the loss of one of their countrymen who was killed in an incident involving the American Navy in the Suez Canal. They are also wondering where their sovereignty as a state has gone and whether the slain man's family will ever see justice.

Pakistan: Mush and Clinton

  25 March 2008

Five Rupees draws parallels between the careers of Musharraf in Pakistan and Clinton in the US – and says it's time for them to bid their farewells.

Armenia: Uprising Radio

  24 March 2008

Uprising Radio has a program on the recent election in Armenia, the protests that followed, and the state of emergency lifted last week. The guests on the radio station based in Los Angeles were Dr. Harry Sarafian and Harout Der-Tavitian from the Coalition for a Democratic Armenia.

Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, USA: Obama's Vision

  24 March 2008

Jamaican Geoffrey Philp thinks that Barack Obama “has a deep understanding of America and that he offers a transcendent vision of America that we haven't had in a long time”, while Notes from Port of Spain quotes Obama's “race speech”: “‘I am the son of a black man from Kenya...

Environment: Colbert on World Water Day

  24 March 2008

On ecopolitology, Tim Hurst posts video clips of Colbert on World Water Day: “Stephen Colbert celebrates World Water Day – the way only he could” Colbert is a popular American comedian, satirist and actor.

Environment: Paper magazines better on carbon than websites?

  24 March 2008

On the enviro blog Gristmill David Roberts takes on Wired Magazine Editor,Chris Anderson, who states that paper mags are better on carbon than websites. “The claim is mostly based on the fact that by cutting down (sustainably managed) trees and burying them in landfills, paper magazines sequester carbon. There are,...

LiveJournal: Bloggers Protest Basic Account Cancellation

  21 March 2008

Yet again, LJ users are in distress. Unlike the previous times, however, the current situation involves both the Russian-language and the English-language segments of LiveJournal. It all began when LiveJournal's management announced that no account created after March 12, 2008, could be turned into a free-of-charge and ad-free Basic Account. Today, some Anglophone and Russophone LJ users protest against this unpopular measure.

Bermuda, USA: Watching US Elections

  20 March 2008

“As the American election process grinds on, I find myself more and more impressed by Barack Obama’s apparent decency and integrity”, writes Breezeblog, while Politics.bm says that “many of the themes” in Obama's latest speech “are very applicable to Bermuda.”

Armenia: Shameful Diaspora

  19 March 2008

Unzipped expresses its concern with statements issued by ethnic Armenian groups and organizations in the United States calling for political forces to find a peaceful solution to the post-election standoff in Armenia and to refrain from violence. Noticeable by its absence, the blog explains, are calls for an independent inquiry...

Environment: China's Challenges from pollution to severe storms

  19 March 2008

Dale Wen, writing on China Dialogue looks at the myth that high income lifestyles in the west come with a clean environment; noting that China needs to rethink its development model The (impossible) American dream: “Exporting pollution” In the past few decades the environmental movement has achieved a number of...

Armenia: Moving Forward?

  17 March 2008

Unzipped comments on an op-ed co-penned by president-elect Serge Sargsyan and former parliamentary speaker Artur Baghdasarian published by the influential Washington Post. The piece is in response to another op-ed published in the same newspaper by opposition leader and former president Levon Ter-Petrossian.

Jamaica: Corrosive Column

  17 March 2008

Francis Wade is left without words after reading a recent article in the Jamaica Gleaner that deals with US politics, “Jamericans” and race.

Japan: Obama gets support from Japanese city

  16 March 2008

Excitement is growing in a sleepy fishing town on the coast of the Japan Sea. The city of Obama, whose name means “little beach” in Japanese, is receiving unusual attention for its coincidental resemblance to the name of a certain US presidential candidate.