For those of you who are linguistically challenged, or monolingual but interested in news and views of the US election, Bush's latest gaffes, editorial opinion and perspectives from around the world, suggest you head over to WorldMeets.US
WORLDMEETS.US was created by William Kern, a news editor who has practiced his craft on three continents. Picking up where his last project (WatchingAmerica.com) left off, WORLDMEETS.US will use all the power of the Internet to promote citizen diplomacy by creating an online community where Americans can easily meet and get to know people from other nations, and where people from other nations can find Americans.
The article discusses the current fascination with Barack Obama among the young people of France, particularly those who are "of color".
the genesis of the Obama phenomenon is that he has crossed a barrier. While it's common to see French enthusiasm for Democratic candidates, they run the risk of being disappointed. But neither Al Gore nor John Kerry elicited such enthusiasm in the suburbs. Products of postcolonial immigration, the older generation - around the age of Obama’s father - say it's extraordinary to see this in their lifetime and didn't dare imagine such a fate for their own children. The younger generation, whose hostility against the United States took root during the war in Iraq, are finding something to smile about. One high school student told us that Obama’s victory would mean the "liberation of all Blacks in the world!"
All are experiencing the advent of Obama’s rise as a kind of compensation myth. Like the inhabitants of the South Side of Chicago where the senator’s wife is from, many have chosen not to live "as one." Black, Maghreb [North African], White, Asian, they are all products of this mixture which is called by outsiders "communitarian." Lacking networks of influence, they see the rise of this son of an African immigrant, raised in a family of modest means, as the symbol of a social mobility that they aren’t acquainted with. Because, in spite of its faults - the power of lobbyists and the influence of money - the American political system has managed to turn out a generation of young Black politicians: Adrian Fenty is the mayor of Washington, Michael Nutter is the mayor of Philadelphia, Cory Booker is the mayor of Newark, etc. This is a long way from France and its suburbs, where the last municipal elections showed that the rotation of political leaders is slow, and in spite of the rhetoric, continues to lack diversity.
From Bush to Obama, this is the image of an America that's about to change. Many young French, North Africans or Blacks have an aunt or cousin in New York, in Miami or in Atlanta. With an Indonesian sister and a Kenyan sister, Barack Obama belongs to this generation, whose horizons go beyond national borders. When he wants to describe the ethnic mix of his family get-togethers, he evokes not the "United States" but the "United Nations." Like that of many young people in our suburbs, this direction of affairs contradicts the words of President Nicolas Sarkozy, who said on the night of his election victory: "Love your country because it’s the only one you have ..."
On a different note - the Hindustan Times, India spits out a rebuke in
an article dealing with the world food crisis and remarks made by Bush laying part of the blame on India.
George W. Bush’s proclivity to tread on the absurd is amazing. Recently, he sought to blame the Indian people for the global food crisis by saying, "[India’s] middle-class is bigger than our entire population ... When you start getting wealth, you demand better food ... and prices ... go up."
Many believe his "insights" concerning food grain were inspired by his trusted lieutenant, Condoleezza Rice. And rely he did - on the intemperate comments Rice made a day earlier: "Improvement in the diets of people, for instance, in China and India" is contributing to the global food crisis.
There's a Saudi joke that begins by asking, "At the end of each of the next five years, what is Riyadh's preferred price for a barrel of oil? The answer is $100, $100, $100, $10 and $100. It usually takes people time to work out why this should be funny. The answer lies in the $10 price at the end of the fourth year.
Oil producers - not only the Saudis - have learned that the best thing that can happen to high oil prices is that they should collapse every once in a while. Such a collapse neatly bankrupts all investors who had bet their shirts on alternative energies like wind power, shale sands and bio-fuels. Governments of oil-importing nations then abruptly cut off their subsidies for alternative energy sources.
Embedded under it is a funny video of Bush dancing with Swords:
McCain's plans are frightening in their incoherence, total lack of realism and underestimation of economic and financial constraints.
While partly inspired by the thinking of the Republican realist school of international relations shared by some advisers like Henry Kissinger and Richard Armitage, what gives the best glimpse into McCain's strategic intentions is the interventionist and confrontational neoconservative ideology of William Kristol or Robert Kagan.
"Should Hillary wave the white flag? Lots of Democrats say yes. They fear that more of the bitter back-and-forth of the election campaign could damage the eventual nominee -- most likely Obama -- in the long run. Still, for Clinton to leave the race at this point would be an even greater danger for Obama. He is clearly in the lead, but the margin is thin and Clinton's supporters are tough. To push a political giant like Clinton out of the race against her will would cost Obama or the Democrats votes."
However the Financial Times takes the opposite view:
"Clinton's last, most poisonous move could be to play the 'race card.' Obama was presented as a new kind of candidate, one with the potential to reconcile race and class differences. This image has developed some cracks now that the prejudices of his pastor and longtime supporter Jeremiah Wright have come into the spotlight. Wright's anti-American and racist statements scared white voters and discredited Obama."
"It would be fatal for all concerned if Clinton started slinging that kind of mud. She would divide the Democrats and possibly cost the party a victory it once thought was guaranteed. If Clinton doesn't realize yet that she must give up, then the as-yet undecided superdelegates need to settle the question -- with a clear vote for Obama."
There's lots more news and views from around the world. Suggest if you are bored with US sources like the NYT and WaPo, take a trip over to WorldMeets.US
