· September, 2008

Stories about North America from September, 2008

Bermuda, U.S.A.: Political Slander

  30 September 2008

Vexed Bermoothes is “glad that the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers is taking an active role in lobbying in the United States to slow down the political slander facing Bermuda.”

Dominica, U.S.A.: Financial Crunch

  30 September 2008

Dominica Weekly thinks that the current U.S. financial crisis “will seriously affect financial markets around the worldwide and there will almost certainly be a trickle down effect on the already weak Dominican economy and throughout the Caribbean.”

Bermuda, U.S.A.: Presidential Debates

  29 September 2008

A Bermudian's View weighs in on the first US presidential debate and says he is looking forward to the upcoming vice-presidential debates: “Given what I’ve seen of Palin…I’d say all Biden has to do is show up. I keep waiting for Ashton Kutcher…to pop out and tell the American people...

Pakistani Bloggers on the McCain-Obama Debate

  27 September 2008

Pakistani bloggers found much to analyze in last night's televised debate between United States presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. What the US approach to Pakistan should be was a core part of discussion, since Pakistan has come under greater scrutiny in recent times and is considered a hot-spot....

China: One Trillion US Bonds and Debt Scandal

  27 September 2008

According to a New York Times report in early September, the Chinese Central Bank has invested over USD $1 trillion on U.S. Treasury bills, bonds and debt securities. Among the one trillion dollar bill, $376.3 billion have been put into the mortgage backed securities of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,...

Russophone Bloggers Discuss the U.S. Presidential Candidates

  27 September 2008

Last week, Israel-based LJ user avva asked his Russophone readers - some of whom are eligible to vote in the upcoming U.S. election - whether they supported Barack Obama or John McCain, and for what reasons. The post generated over 300 comments from bloggers based in the United States, Israel, Canada and Russia. Below are some of the responses.

Environment: Maps, Online Communities & Carbon Footprint Calculators

  27 September 2008

Earlier this year, GV Environment listed the web2.0 tools for environment activism. Since then many more tools have been developed. This post will highlight some mashups, online communities, carbon footprint calculators and one online game. Mashups Rory of Carbon Smart Blog announced the Greening Africa Map by outlining the goal...

Japan: Views on Wall Street Crisis

  26 September 2008

The ongoing collapse, bail-out and buy-out of Wall Street investment banks, threatening a U.S. and possibly worldwide recession, has triggered no lack of debates in Japanese blogs on the country's strong financial connection with its overseas ally.

Japan: Google or Galapagos?

  25 September 2008

Blogger and economist Nobuo Ikeda [池田信夫] remarks in an article [ja] that whereas U.S. papers are making their sites more Google-friendly, articles on Japanese news sites do not even have permalinks. His comparison of the isolation of the Japanese web to Galapagos sparks a response from Fukuyuki Murakami [村上福之] at...

Barbados, Jamaica, U.S.A.: Political Issues

  25 September 2008

Living in Barbados says that the recent battle for leadership in Jamaica's opposition party proves “that the overlapping values of candidates’ religion, race, gender, class, colour, speech, perceived intelligence and such personal characteristics–may play out in our little garden of politics at least as much as we think they do...

Bermuda, U.S.A.: Political Dilemma

  25 September 2008

Bermuda has got some unwanted attention with the Obama camp's latest campaign ad, which accuses McCain of being on the side of tax-dodging Bermuda-based US companies – Breezeblog says the whole thing “underlines the dilemma many Bermudians feel: as much as they wish to finally see a black US president,...

Japan: Name of new PM poses challenge for Canadians

  25 September 2008

At Canada de Nihongo (カナダde日本語), a Japanese blogger living in Canada describes how she can't stop laughing [ja] when people mention the name of Japan's new Prime Minister: although they try to say “Taro Aso”, what comes out inevitably sounds like “Taro Asshole”.

Palestine: Prejudice in the USA

  22 September 2008

Palestinian blogger Laila El-Haddad has had an unpleasant encounter with a man in Virginia: “Free Palestine? Palestine's already free!!” he raged, gesturing to a bumper sticker on the back of my windshield as he began to walk away. … He then turned around and bellowed out “Why don't you go...

Deaf Awareness Week: A different type of book signing.

  22 September 2008

Did you know that most deaf people who sign, consider sign language their first language and the written language as their second? I didn't, but thanks to the dozens of videos uploaded by members of the deaf community from all over the world, I've learned about this and many other things. International Deaf Awareness Week takes place during the last week of September, so I'll be showcasing different videos from or about the deaf communities around the world.