Stories about North America from December, 2008
Jamaica, Cuba, U.S.A.: A Shoe in Hand…
Blogging from Jamaica, Annie Paul declares Muntadar al-Zaidi (the Bush shoe-pelter) her “Man of the Year”, calling his action “the most inspired (and inspiring) act of the last few years”, while noting: “Bush must also be congratulated for his restrained response…” Review of Cuban-American Blogs and Yohandry's Weblog (ES) also...
First Vietnamese-American in US Congress
Charvey writes about the recent electoral victory of Joseph Cao who is now the representative of Louisiana's Second Congressional District in the United States.
Cuba, Brazil, U.S.A.: Composer Honoured
AfriClassical is thrilled that the Brazilian city of Sao Paolo is honouring renowned Cuban composer Leo Brouwer.
China: Charter 08, to be free and fearless
At the Eve of the sixtieth anniversary of the promulgation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Dec 10, 303 prominent intellectuals and human rights activists in China, jointly released Charter 08, demanding more political reform in China. However, the China government decided to celebrate the Universal Declaration of...
Dominica, U.S.A.: Economic Effects
Dan at Dominica Weekly notices that the economic downturn is having a trickle-down effect on Dominicans who live abroad.
Palestine: Terrorist Dolls Not the Best Stocking Stuffer
“What could be more enjoyable for your kids this year than a doll resembling an Al-Qaeda terrorist?” asks Palestinian-American blogger Nawal of Bloggin' Banat. Maya Norton picks up the story on the doll, fashioned after the classic Lego, and tells us why we will not have our hands on it soon.
Haiti, U.S.A.: Relief Delay
The Haitian Blogger reports that storm victims are dying of starvation because of the delay in getting goods to the island: “The situation is that aid agencies are in control of foreign aid to Haiti and the Haitian government as usual, is being cut out of the picture and were...
China and U.S: Ideal Citizen Education
Russo at Frog In A Well compares conservative education program in the U.S with textbook in China from 1933-39 about “being a good citizen”.
Dominica, U.S.A.: Political Strategies
As Dominicans prepare themselves to go to the polls in 2010, Chris at Dominica Weekly thinks that “there are many strategies that local political parties can adopt from the Obama presidential campaign.”
Armenia: CNN Genocide Coverage Controversy
Too short for Armenians and too long for the Turkish government, a two-hour CNN documentary by Christiane Amanpour on genocide includes a 45-second mention of the WWI extermination of Ottoman Empire's indigenous Armenian population. Premiered on December 4, 2008, Scream Bloody Murder has made many Armenian bloggers angry.
Jamaica: The Agony of Defeat?
Jamaican Kadene Porter, writing at Abeng News Magazine, notices that women are often less than gracious “when it comes to conceding defeat in a political campaign.”
Egypt: Wael Abbas refuses to meet President Bush
Egyptian blogger and activist Wael Abbas just announced on his blog that he turned down an invitation to meet up with Bush. Marwa Rakha translates his post from Arabic.
Egypt: Supporting Israel's Conscientious Objectors
Mona of Mideast Youth expresses her support for Israel's conscientious objectors: “Becoming a conscientious objector in Israel takes an extraordinary amount of courage. Although I cannot refuse with them, I am inspired by their actions and want to spread their powerful message of hope, change, and dialogue.”
Indonesia: Metaphorizing Obama
Indonesia Anonymus from Indonesia metaphorizes president-elect Barack Obama for the nation's governance: “… are [Indonesians] going to cling on to the same old divisive politics, same old status quo while at the same time happily cheering for America's Obama?”.
Belarus: Tanya Kazyra Returns Home
Tanya Kazyra, a participant in a summer program for children from Belarus’ Chernobyl-affected areas, has finally returned home, and now there is some hope that the governmental ban on travel outside the country for all “Chernobyl Children” might be lifted, Chernobyl and Eastern Europe Blog reports.
Egypt: American Books
Egyptian blogger Asmaa Yasser - Dawn - writes here about her experience at the Mubarak Public Library. Tarek Amr translates the post from Arabic.
Mideast Youth: MEFaith is Ours
Bahrain-based Mideast Youth‘s Esra'a is fuming that a US-based organisation is claiming ownership of a website, MEFaith.com, which is “created, designed, developed and continues to be maintained by the Mideast Youth team.” To prevent confusion, the website's new home is now MideastFaith.org.
Libya: Thanksgiving away from home
From Libya, American Khadija Teri celebrates Thanksgiving away from home saying: “I wish I was back home… eating turkey with my family…. relaxing in front of the TV….. and of course there would be shopping to do tomorrow….”
Iraqis react to new pact on withdrawal of US troops
Inside Iraq, a blog maintained by Iraqi journalists, provides us with live reactions to what Iraqis said when they read about the Parliament passing a pact which will end the presence of US troops in their country.
Iraq: Withdrawal of US Troops Blueprint
Raed in the Middle, from Iraq, provides us with a ‘rough’ translation of an agreement between Iraq and US on the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.
Russia: Putin's Crude Remark; Paul Klebnikov's Fund Event
Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog posts a graphic illustration for yet another one of PM Putin's crude remarks and writes about the Paul Klebnikov Fund’s event: “What is Russia Thinking? The Word from the Last of the Independent Media.”
