October 2007
October 22, 2007
The three news that I would like to bring to your attention today, concern the Euro 2008 qualifying soccer match, The Czech Grand National - a horse race which is one the most famous Czech sporting events and Starbucks, making its way to Prague.
Just like in many European countries, soccer is huge in the Czech Republic. It would be very unpatriotic of me not to mention the important victory that secured the Czech Republic's qualification for the Euro 2008 championship.
Continue reading "Euro 2008, The Czech Grand National and Starbucks"
Hi, I am going to talk about Chinese basketball players in NBA. Undoubtedly, the Houston Rocket has an all-star---Yao, but right now the Milwaukee Bucks has Yi who is No. 6 overall pick in the 2007 draft. Yi, expected to star alongside Yao for China in the Beijing Olympics next summer, signed with the Bucks after concerns about his development and playing time were eased. Eventually, Yi was in the flesh Wednesday afternoon, arriving at Chicago's O'Hare Airport after a 15-hour United Airlines flight from Shanghai, and receiving an enthusiastic greeting from a small group of Chinese fans from Milwaukee.
Continue reading "Chinese Basketball Players in NBA"
Many people who think about Sweden think about all the good stuff: hospitality of the country towards immigrants, free health care, free education including college, the most democratic country in the world and similar thoughts. Although one might get entitled to many of the Swedish societies benefits, there is evidence that shows it might be harder to get into that society.
Continue reading "The hypocrisy of Swedish hospitality "
Right now there is a dispute going on between Chile and Peru. But it is not a political or social issue they are arguing about. It is all about a drink. A drink? you might ask. Why would they fight about something like that. Well the issue is, that it is considered as a national drink - but by both countries. A national drink as part of a country's cultural identity is obviously difficult to share. I chose to talk about that topic because it does not only talk about a current dispute but also tells us about the values of cultural identity.
Continue reading "PISCOLITA!!! Chilean or Peruvian?!"
A few weeks ago, a piece of news concerning the newly independent country of Montenegro surfaced. Bulgaria had threatened to refuse signing their “Stabilisation and Association Agreement” (SAA), which was one of the fundamental steps for Montenegro’s EU application to advance. Why? Because of a letter.
Continue reading "What is in a letter? (Еуро / Евро)"
I chose to introduce an article about one of the most controversial issues these last days in France.
It is about one of the amendments to a bill on immigration introduced by Brice Hortefeux, the Secretary of Immigration. Indeed during the election campaign immigration issues were a very important part of discussions. One of the main points of Nicolas Sarkozy's government agenda was to 'control' immigration.
Continue reading "Controversy about DNA tests for immigrants in France"
President Rafael Correa signed an executive decree in which he establishes that 99% of the excess profits from oil will remain with the State and only 1% will be for oil companies.
Continue reading "Ecuador decrees: 99% of oil profits go to the State"
Hi, Caroline and I wanted to introduce this article about Peter Grünberg and Albert Fert, German and French physicists, who both just won the Nobel Prize in Physics last week.If you want to know more about their amazing work, go take a look at this article. You'll be surprised to see how much use we now make of their discoveries in our every day life!
International Herald Tribune:
Nobel Prize
This post might be interesting for those of you who are keen to know something about politics in Central Europe. Namely, on upcoming Sunday (21st October )the seventh democratic , parliamentary election since the collapse of communist regime and since the political and economic transition has begun, will take place in Poland That election is due to political crisis which had arisen in my country a few months ago and which finally led to the dissolution of the parliament. Among the most important reasons that caused the political turmoil were: the disintegration of the parliament because it was occupied by five parties, none of them had enough seats to form the stable government. Secondly, the final configuration of the political coalition that emerged was composed from exotic and controversial parties from the far right side of the political spectrum.
Continue reading "the parliamentary election in Poland"
October 04, 2007
The media frenzy around the arrival of the high profile Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the United Sates for a United Nations General Assembly meeting and a question and answer event at Columbia University, invited by the University's president Lee Bollinger is an important issue. There are two matters that I want to highlight here. One is the obvious issues that were raised during Mr. Bollinger’s introduction of the Iranian president and the second being the controversy of the Iranian presidents right to be at Columbia University.
Continue reading "Was the reaction in Columbia appropriate?"
Hola a todos! Yo soy Rebeca.
I am Rebeca Lavariega, I am one of the Spanish assistants here at Willamette University this year. I am from Mexico and I was born in Oaxaca city.The name of Oaxaca comes from the Nahuatl word Huaxyacac. It's roots are Huaxin (kind of an acacia) and Yacalt (which means a peak, edge, or top), top of the acacias. King Carlos V of Spain elevated Oaxaca to the rank of 'City' in 1532. Oaxaca City is located in the Southwest of Mexico, it is an enchanting city with the largest bio-diversity of the Mexican Republic.
Continue reading " Un poquito de mi : A morsel of me "
An unusual issue has been happening in Sweden for over a month now; it has put Sweden on the list of Muslim-hating countries in the eyes of many Muslims. The issue is about freedom of speech and where the line between one's freedom of speech in a democratic country is in regard to criticizing issues in a society in a way that would be considered as a hate speech/action or a provocative act; such an act would offend thousands and maybe millions of people. The issue is not easy to resolve and the line is blurry.
Continue reading "Where do we draw the line?"
On September 30, 2007 Ecuador elected a Constituent Assembly to draft the new country's Constitution. Movimiento Alianza Pais, Rafael Correas political movement, won more than 75 seats of the 130 seats in the Assembly. Is this the end of traditional political parties in Ecuador? Is the new Constitution going to establish a different framework for a new economical system? What does "21 century socialism" mean? Are Humans beings the most important aspect in terms of production? What will be all the structural changes?
Continue reading "Ecuador: Rafael Correa wins Majority in Constituent Assembly!!!!!!"
Maybe you don't have any idea about this! But the current President of Chile is a Woman! Her name is Michelle Bachelet. Forbes magazine ranked her as the 27th in the list of the 100 most powerful women in the world, she is the only Latin Women on it. She is the most powerful woman in Latin America! See you soon!
-Karen Cresp
Continue reading "Woman President of Chile"
On Friday, Bulgaria's parliament adopted an amendment of the Criminal Code, which provides for strict punishment for everybody who tries to bribe in any way the voters on all upcoming elections in the country.
The penalty for receiving payment for a vote stands at a maximum of 1000 Bulgarian levs ($724) or a minimum of six months and a maximum of two years of jail time. The ones who offer the bribe to voters to cast their ballot for them can be punished with up to three years behind bars or a fine, ranging from BGN 1,000 to BGN 3,000.
The proposal for the amendment was introduced by MP Pavel Shopov from Ataka (literally: "Attack"), a nationalist party that rose as an important political force from obscurity in the last elections.
Ataka has accused the ethnic Turkish MRF (Movement for Rights and Freedom) of buying votes among ethnically-Bulgarian Muslims in southern Bulgaria, where they form a majority of the population.
Continue reading "Vote buying = jail?"
I browsed the internet for a while, trying to find articles that would be of enjoyment to everyone. I came up with a cultural-athletic-economical melange that, I hope, will expand your views on the Central Europe.
Beer is a big part of a Czech culture. Many say that Czechs brew the best beer an some brands - like Pilsner Urquell - became world famous. If you ever have a chance to visit Czech Republic, make sure to give a try to this liquid of a divine taste.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/95476
Continue reading "Beer, Tour de France and Czech economy"
Congratulations to Germany’s Women’s soccer team!!! On Sunday they won the World Cup 2007. Well done!!! It is very exciting for me because soccer is big in Germany - very big. It is also exciting because usually it is all about men’s soccer. I remember that in 2003 when the women’s team won the World Cup against Sweden a lot of my friends didn’t even know about it. This year the World Champions were celebrated in an appropriate manner and were enthusiastically welcomed when they arrived in Frankfurt. The team did an amazing job and never surrendered a single goal in the entire tournament.
Continue reading "German Women's Soccer Team - World Champion 2007"
