The World is Talking. Global Politics

The Los
Angeles Times reports that the controversial proposal to change California’s electoral vote allocation from winner-take-all to by congressional district “that could have helped Republicans hold on to the White House in 2008 was a shambles Thursday night, as two of its key consultants quit.”

“There remained a chance that the measure could be revived, but only if a major donor were to come forward to fund the petition drive. However, time is short to gather the hundreds of thousands of signatures needed by the end of November. And backers said Thursday that they believed the measure was all but dead, at least for the 2008 election.”

Said Democratic consultant, Chris LeHane: “We want to to make sure this is not the Freddy Krueger of initiatives that comes back to life. We’ll continue to monitor it.”

How do Koreans think about the Myanmar situation? Interestingly, many bloggers strongly feel an attachment to this situation and link it to Korean history.
The Myanmar situation reminded some bloggers of their own experiences in the 1980s of Korea.
고등학교 시절 까지 줄곧 미얀마라는 곳을
버마라고 부르기 시작하면서,
버마는 내게 아주 특별한 곳이 되었다.
낯선 한국 땅에서 노동을 하며,
고국의 […]

Bonnae from 1510.com comments that the recent crisis in Myanmar has put Beijing in an embarrassed position as there will be more international pressure to China on the one hand, on the other hand, there is some economic interest between China and Myanmar, for example, there is a planned oil pipe construction project at the […]

“In places around the country I hear politicians running in tough places and local races express concern about the possibility of her being at the top of the ticket. But I think that the only test for that is the election itself.”

– John Edwards, on CNN’s Situation Room, about Sen. Hillary Clinton.

A $330 million national broadband network deal between the Philippine government and ZTE firm from China. Critics describe the contract as overpriced, unnecessary and disadvantageous to the Philippines. Tales of bribery, corruption and harassment have surfaced which could implicate the First Family.

John Edwards said he “will accept public financing for his presidential campaign, and challenged his chief rivals for the Democratic nomination, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, to follow his lead,” CNN reports.

Said Edwards: “This is not about a money calculation. This is about taking a stand, a principled stand, and I believe in public financing.”

“Edwards is the first top-tier Democratic candidate to agree to this funding mechanism, and he noted it will include the primary and general elections. Although he has already begun raising money for the general election, federal law requires him to return those funds if he accepts public funding.”

President Evo Morales of Bolivia became only the 2nd sitting president to appear on the Daily Show, a popular comedy show that focuses on current events. During his visit to New York City for the United Nations Summit, Morales sat down with host Jon Stewart and through the use of translator spoke about his ideas for his country and for the world. However, many bloggers thought that the comedic nature of the program became lost in the translation and that many of Morales’ statements sounded too good to be true.

The beatroot and Dr. Sean's Diary write about the Women's Party of Poland.

Dr. Sean's Diary critiques Transitions Online's “confused tabloidy democratization writing” on the Czech politics.

Douglas Muir of A Fistful of Euros posts the second installment on Transnistria.