Stories about North America from December, 2008
Israel: Consulate Holds Twitter “Press Conference”
Twitter gains 5,000 to 10,000 new users each day. One new user is the New York Israel Consul General, which is holding the first known Twitter government "press" conference on December 30 from 1-3 pm.
Cuba, U.S.A.: Lifting Limits?
Uncommon Sense links to an article which suggests that US President-Elect Barack Obama seems prepared to lift limits “on how often Cuban Americans can visit family members on the island and on how much money they can send them”, a move which the blogger says would end “one of the...
The Global Twittersphere Discusses Gaza
Twitter is the new blogging, or so the story goes. Never has that been more apparent than in times of crisis: During the Mumbai attacks, Twitter users provided up-to-the-minute coverage, and today, as Israeli airstrikes continue to hit Gaza, the Twittersphere is deep in discussion.
Guadeloupe: Why not celebrate Kwanzaa as well?
Besides the traditional celebration of Christmas, Guadeloupean people have recently taken up a new celebration: Kwanzaa, which starts on December 26 and lasts until January 1.
Global Health: 2008 Blogs In Review
Bloggers in 2008 showed all the ways in which global health is interconnected with other issues, by covering health stories that touched on everything from poverty and women's rights to the environment and economics. They shared stories such as the prohibition of cannabis in Japan, how ads for children's food...
Southeast Asia: Newsmakers of 2008
For Southeast Asia, 2008 was a year of terrible disasters, both natural and man-made. Rice consumption was reduced, milk products were contaminated with melamine, jobs were lost, bloggers were arrested, and homes were destroyed. But the situation is not hopeless.
Trinidad & Tobago, U.S.A.: Sock & Awe
Trinidadian blogger Attillah Springer is playing Sock and Awe, “the simply brilliant online game” in which more than 46 million people have pelted shoes at President Bush – but more importantly, she is “plotting ways to pelt intellectual shoes, coming up with ideas on how to bobolise those who would...
Russia: South Ossetia; Relations With the U.S.; Sheremetyevo Ceiling
Some of the recent posts at Scraps of Moscow: a translation of a part of “a lengthy interview with former Russian army general and former South Ossetian de facto Minister of Defense which puts the region's president, former wrestling champion and phys. ed. teacher Eduard Kokoity, in a rather unflattering...
Russia, Serbia: Gazprom, NIS, and Gas Prices
Streetwise Professor posts an update on Gazprom's “vaporware” in Serbia, which includes a recent resignation of the “anti-Gazprom” Serbian economics minister, Mladan Dinkic (more on that – at Robert Amsterdam's blog). Meanwhile, gas costs $5.80 per gallon in Serbia, according to Bill's Blog: “To put the $5.80 into perspective, the...
Caribbean: 2008 in Review
From natural disasters to lightning bolts of the athletic kind, 2008 was a busy one for the Caribbean blogosphere. Here are some of the highlights...
Bahamas: Cuba & the USA
“A constellation of events will shape the pace of the rapprochement between our geographically closest neighbours”: Simon at Bahama Pundit blogs about relations between Cuba and the US.
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Muntazer al-Zaidy Reaction
The Armenian Observer rounds up reaction to Muntazer al-Zaidy's attack on outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush in Iraq. Meanwhile, IN MUTATIONE FORTITUDO asks whether such an incident could have happened under Saddam Hussein.
Israel: LivniBoy Gives ObamaGirl a Run For Her Money
Check out LivniBoy, Israel's answer to ObamaGirl. His YouTube video, “Love Song to Tzipi Livni,” has received over 6,350 views this week alone. Tzipi Livni is the Kadima Party candidate for prime minister in the upcoming winter elections. You'll be able to enjoy the feel of the video even if...
Cuba, U.S.A.: Lat Am & Caribbean Leaders Meet
“You could call it the independence summit”: The Cuban Triangle takes a look at the meeting of Latin American and Caribbean leaders in Brazil, adding that it “seems to have been about independence from Washington and a big way of expressing that independence was opposition to U.S. policy toward Cuba.”
Media Re:public report released
Media Re:public, a project of the The Berkman Center for Internet and Society, today released their long-awaited report on the state of networked digital media. The report, “Media Re:public, News and Information as Digital Media Come of Age,” analyzes the challenges and opportunities of networked digital media. While United States...
Israel: Giving Up the Golan?
“The idea that Israel should give up a large swath of land, which it won in a defensive war, which does not have demographic dilemmas, in return for an elusive peace, is utterly ridiculous,” writes Occidental Israeli in response to former American President Jimmy Carter's claim that there will be...
China: Journalist Throws Shoe At Bush, Chinese Reactions
Ping from ChinaMACK translates a post from tianya that shows the forum users’ reactions towards the incident of Iraqi Journalist's protest against Bush by throwing shoes.
Cuba: Oppressing the Press
Uncommon Sense refers to a survey by the Committee to Protect Journalists to make the point that “Cuba takes the gold medal as the world's worst oppressor of a free press.”
Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, U.S.A.: Ducking the Issue
West Indian bloggers continue to comment on the Bush shoe-throwing incident. Barbadians Jdid and Cheese-on-bread! are unimpressed with the Secret Service's response time, while Notes from Port of Spain says: “It's a pity that the journalist Muntazar al-Zaidi isn't a better shot.”
U.S.: Rod Blagojevich's Serbian Roots
Gray Falcon comments on the media mentions of Rod Blagojevich's Serbian roots: “In this era of political correctness and mandatory ‘diversity,’ there are still groups (entire nations, really) one is allowed, supposed, or even required to hate. Serbs are one of those groups.”
Kurdistance: Similarities with the Lakota Sioux
Kurdish blogger Rasti compares the recent declaration of the Lakota Sioux (a native American people) to withdraw from all treaty obligations with the United States to the forced assimilation and cultural genocide of the Kurdish people.
