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November 28, 2008

The real story of Thanksgiving, Jen Paton

Aggregated from: open Democracy News Analysis - USA

In November 1863, President Lincoln made Thanksgiving Day (up till then rather unofficial and only vaguely celebrated) a National Holiday, inviting his "fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart...

November 26, 2008

HIV/AIDS: Obama's easy win, Alan Ingram Kris Peterson

Aggregated from: open Democracy News Analysis - USA

Amid international financial meltdown and recession, the challenge of withdrawal from Iraq and the growing crisis in Afghanistan, there will be few "quick wins" available to President Obama. But fixing the US response to HIV/AIDS is one way he can do a lot of good relatively quickly a...

Uncharacteristically feverish rhetoric from Minnesota, Thomas Ash

Aggregated from: open Democracy News Analysis - USA

Tempers are flaring in Minnesota, a state that has long prided itself on what its residents call 'Minnesota nice' (for an amusing portrayal of this style of behaviour, look no further than Fargo, perhaps the best film the Coen brothers have made to date). The pyrogen is the still unsettled S...

Change we don't really need, Kanishk Tharoor

Aggregated from: open Democracy News Analysis - USA

The Obama campaign pioneered the use of 21st century social networking in American electoral politics. Its My.BarackObama.com website was a small miracle of technology and tact, building a platform that at once spread information, enlarged the supporter base, directed energy and, most importantly, ...

US: Mosque and Synagogue Twinning Week

Aggregated from: Global Voices Online » U.S.A.

Richard Silverstein, a Jewish blogger in the US, writes about how 40 mosques and synagogues in the US conducted a joint programme on Islamophobia and anti-Semitism this weekend. “The goal of this national project sponsored by the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding is to combat ethnic tension ...

World Video Responses to Obama's ElectionThis is a Video post

Recharge your video camera. Tell Barack Obama what you think he should do when he becomes president. Read on, for an opportunity for citizens around the world to be heard by television viewers in the USA.

November 23, 2008

Africa: Back to Reality after Obama's Election

The election of Barack Obama prompted hope throughout Africa that the perception of the continent and the nature of relations between Africa and the US will now be different. However, many bloggers are now warning their fellow Africans against unrealistic expectations. The fact that Obama’s father was Kenyan, they argue, will not alter the fact that Obama was elected by Americans to look out for American interests in the world.

November 22, 2008

Hillary Clinton: a good Secretary of State?, Thomas Ash

Aggregated from: open Democracy News Analysis - USA

A picture of Barack Obama's cabinet is starting to emerge, and it is not pleasing his more left-wing supporters. Some of them were already unhappy about the appointment of Clintonites like Rahm Emmanuel. Now, the New York Times is reporting that Hillary Clinton will almost certainly become Sec...

November 20, 2008

NYT comes out against electoral college, Kanishk Tharoor

Aggregated from: open Democracy News Analysis - USA

Following in our footsteps, a New York Times editorial today forcefully argues for the abolition of the electoral college in favour of the popular vote. There are numerous reasons to dispense with the creaking, archaic system: much of the initial rationale of the system lay in slavery; it is uncons...

Will Obama govern from the left?, Thomas Ash

Aggregated from: open Democracy News Analysis - USA

The tea leaves are ready, and the crystal balls are out. Now that the campaign is over, everyone's attention is focused on predicting what sort of president Barack Obama will be. The real answer is that it is too early to tell: the degree to which he moves the country to the left will be limite...