Russia for 2018 and Qatar for 2022 World Cup!!!

FIFA announced today that Russia won for 2018 and Qatar for 2022 world Cup. Qatar, America's main competition won as the underdog. Both Russian and Qatar are places where the World Cup has never been. So, this is making things fair by letting everyone have a chance. Many newscasters and contributors were visibly upset by the news, but think about it: Soccer is not really a national sport here. Many people play it but it is not as big as football or (national past time) baseball. Many Diplomats in the international community already have pre concieved notions that Americans are arrogant and have a sense of Entitlement. With WikiLeaks, and the international political climate at the moment did you really think America or UK would win for the World Cup bid? Just a question.

Image courtesy Reuters.

The elections in Haiti earlier this week have been deemed a gross failure. Not surprising, the elections were marred with voter intimidation, lack of election materials that were to be provided to voters, etc. According to The Economist, 12 of the 17 Presidential candidates cited illegal activity by Haiti's current governing party, Inite. However, one of the candidates that did not protest the election results was Jude Celestine. Backed by Haiti's current President, Preval, Celestine is from the political party Inite. Hmmm...well maybe it's just a coincidence.

American Government Agencies Put Heads Together.

With all the "hoop-la" surrounding Wiki Leaks founder, Julian Assange: representatives from The Pentagon and Department of State appear on CNN's John King to discuss their takes on Assange's actions.

Eid Mubarak!!! Today marks Eid Ul Adha! A Muslim holiday commemorating the Abraham's sacrifice of his son, Isaac, to show his love for God. May Allah guide us and answer all of our prayers. May HE also answer the prayers of Muslims all over the world who have congregated in Mecca to perform Hajj (Amen).

What do you do if you get mail from Greece and you don't know who it's from? You run do not walk to the nearest exit. Apparently there have been a string of letter bombs trying to make their way out of Greece for the past couple of days. One of them was addressed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy. These letters are in the wake of protests against Greek austerity measures that have gotten many Greeks angry at the European political community. A bomb though? Like Cedric the Entertainer so famously said: "They be fightin' too much."

What does this mean?

Well the results are in. In what was a nail biter election, my state has remained Democrat (thank God). However, the House of Representatives got a majority Republican vote. What's strange about this is that some of the republicans that were elected were "Tea Party favorites." In some of the states there wasn't really a difference between the incumbent and the newly elected official. For example, in Louisiana where Blanche Lincoln was in office, a Republican was elected. However, those of us who remember the tough fight for healthcare in America know that Blanche Lincoln is a Blue Dog Democrat (aka extremely conservative democrat, aka wolf in sheeps closing, aka might as well be republican. So is there really a difference between her political stance and the stance of the newly elected official who replaced her?
More importantly, what does this mean for President Obama? Even though the House is a majority Republican, the Senate is a majority Democrat. So the entire Congress is not in a deadlock with the President. To be honest, the negotiation that was going on between the President and the Congress over the past year shows that there won't be much of a difference with the new officials in office. So chill, don't freak out, and enjoy the show, because something tells me Congress is going to become highly entertaining.

Elections in Cote d'Ivoire!

Yes, yes, yes it finally came. The day that we all thought would never come. Remember earlier this year when reforms were put in on the electoral commission in Cote d'Ivoire and we all thought Gbagbo would be extending his term...yet again? Well it seems that he aimed to prove us all wrong yesterday. On Sunday October 31st...something scary happened...an election took place with 13...yes 13 Presidential candidates. Many of you remember that reforms were taking place to make sure that the voters and the candidates were of Ivorian decent due to claims about many of the candidates not being of Ivorian decent...some were from Burkina Faso, and they had to be taken off the list. If you remember, the main political contender against Gbagbo in 2000 was found to not even be Ivorian thus causing Gbagbo to take office and hang on to the reins for 10 very long years. It is said that Gbagbo was greeted to a heroes welcome by many voters. Wether or not this means he was popular.....we don't know. Was intimidation used to cause this? hmmmmmm. According to the New York Times many of those cheering for Gbagbo were intoxicated and we all know what that means. However, BBC Africa maintains that the elections were "peaceful"....riiiight. Of course there were the normal third world issues like polling stations opening late..blah blah blah. All I know is, this is going to be a very very close race and of course...I'll be watching (POPCORN PLEASE!!)