· July, 2011

Stories about North America from July, 2011

Russia: US Support of Opposition?

LJ user grad46 (Maxim Petrovich) claims [ru] that several Russian opposition groups are funded by US-interests. Until recently an opposition activist himself, Petrovich publishes corroborating documentation, accuses several leading opposition activists of taking American money, and is interviewed [ru] on the issue by Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets.

U.S.A., Japan: The US Declares War On The Japanese Mafia

  31 July 2011

Investigative journalist Jake Adelstein reported [en] that US President Obama has officially declared war on the Yakuza, the Japanese mafia, as it represents an “extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.” Japansubculture.com also published the text of the actual executive order.

Kenya: Facebook Should Unfriend John Mwau

  29 July 2011

A Kenyan blogger, Daudi Were, has raised an interesting question about whether the U.S. government will be willing to enforce the Kingpin Act against Facebook for apparently doing business with a Kenyan national Mr Harun Mwau who had earlier this year been designated as a drug lord under the Kingpin Act.

Russia: Upsides to Tandemocracy

Edward Lozansky at Russia Blog argues that so called Tandemocracy – power sharing – between Russia's President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin, on the whole has had positive effects for the country, not least in foreign policy.

China: NetEase's business

  16 July 2011

iChinaStock.com has written a post and some slides for introducing a Chinese web-portal company, NetEase’s business model, financials, management, and user experience. NetEase was listed on the Nasdaq in 1999 and its market cap was $6.1 billion in July 2011.

TED Talk by Global Voices Co-Founder Rebecca MacKinnon

  13 July 2011

In a TED talk on July 12, 2011 Rebecca MacKinnon describes how the internet has become a primary communication channel between citizens and governments, but warns that there is a corporate layer of “internet sovereigns” between the two. Let's take back the Internet," she says.

Cuba, U.S.A.: About that Embargo

  13 July 2011

Iván García contends that despite the general pragmatism of U.S. policy, “regarding the Cuban embargo, the Americans show a notable stupidity”, calling it “an authentic mirrors game…of course, the ones who blame the embargo for all the misfortunes that have been happening are also lying.”

Russia-USA: Looming lobbying scandal

John Helmer of Dancing With Bears reports about a looming lobbying scandal in Washington, DC, where senior US officials allegedly have been intensely courted by PR-people, employed by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, trying to influence US policy towards Russia.