· December, 2009

Stories about North America from December, 2009

Caribbean: 2009 Regional Roundup

  31 December 2009

As Global Voices celebrates its fifth anniversary, the occasion has given us all an opportunity to reflect on why we do what we do and how our work makes a difference.  As my colleague Jillian York so succinctly put it, “We spread stories.  We spread words.”  We manage to do...

Cuba: History & Hope

  31 December 2009

“Hopefully, 2010 will bring, finally, an end to this sad, torturous chapter of Cuban history”: Uncommon Sense remembers Cuba's past and expresses his hopes for its future.

Jamaica: Over Hills and Valleys

  30 December 2009

Trinidadian diaspora blogger Afrobella blogs about reggae superstar Buju Banton at his best and worst, prompting Jamaican Annie Paul to respond: “Just as you…have pointed out the good and bad sides of Buju…it's necessary also to nuance what homosexuality represents in cultures such as Jamaica, that homosexuality too has its...

Iraq: Arabs, Coffee, and Resistance

  29 December 2009

Iraqi Mojo, connects the dots between calls to boycott Starbucks, calls to resist the Iraqi government, and the size of foreign troops in countries that send the largest number of suicide bombers to kill innocent Iraqis in poor cafes in Iraq.

Russia, U.S.: Brittany Murphy in Moscow on Dec. 19?

RuNet Echo  21 December 2009

LJ user becky_sharpe (Bozhena Rynska, Gazeta.ru‘s gossip columnist) claims (RUS) that actress Brittany Murphy, who died on Dec. 20 in Los Angeles, was a guest at a private party in Moscow on Dec. 19 and was [“hungover”] when she flew back home. UPDATE: a follow-up discussion (RUS) of LJ user...

American Petitioner in China

  19 December 2009

Julie Harms, an American and a Harvard graduate, hit the news as she becomes one of the few, or perhaps the first, foreign petitioner in China. Her case was a grievance against the government that her fiancé, Liu Shiliang, was jailed on a charge which she says is not true....

Cuba, U.S.A.: American Arrested in Havana

  15 December 2009

The Cuban Triangle comments on press reports that “an American citizen working on a USAID contract was arrested in Cuba” for allegedly “distributing ‘cell phones, laptops, and other communications equipment’.”

Caribbean: New Media & Celebrity Fascination

  14 December 2009

The fascination with celebrities has always been at a fever pitch, but in the current age of new media and consumer-generated content, it’s at an all-time high. While Caribbean bloggers do not tend to overly focus on gossip, they often tune in on the current story at hand.

Cuba: Human Rights Day

  10 December 2009

Diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense says that today, which commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “is a day to remember and honor this document, and more importantly, those in Cuba and around the world imprisoned and suffering for demanding that their governments abide by its precepts.”

Behind the scenes of Kiva's micro-lending

  7 December 2009

“Kiva is not quite what it seems,” says David Roodman on The Open Book Blog on the Center for Global Development. And Matt Flannery from online micro-lender Kiva.org responds.

Madagascar's forests decimated for $460,000 a day

  7 December 2009

As the world's nations gather in Copenhagen for the UN Convention on Climate Change, Madagascar, having already lost 90% of its original forest, faces continued threats from black market logging, threatening to destroy what is left of one of the world's most diverse ecosystems.

Ukraine: Arts Updates

  3 December 2009

A few last month's updates at IZO: artist and writer Vagrich Bakhchanyan dies in NYC; Ukrainian artist Aleksandr Gnilitsky dies in Kyiv; a Ukrainian Euro-2012 icon.