By ALLISON LORD – Caribbean

From the time I was able to vote in America, everyone who knows me knows that I have always longed for a young, intelligent, energetic and vibrant President. I would take good looks too.

Bill Clinton came close. He was my sweetheart for years! Oh, how I fantasized about that sexy man holding his cigar. Anyway, sidetracked!…I really didn’t care about race or gender, but I was certainly tired of the stream of old men making out-of-touch decisions that affected everyday Americans.

When Barack Obama threw his hat into the ring for Elections 2008 my prayers were finally answered. I was ecstatic. But, with just one year into office, I can’t believe there are already some grumblings about his performance. People are blaming him for the lack of change, unfulfilled promises, unemployment, recession and starvation, yes, even starvation – in India! (more…)

By Guest Blogger:  KAZ MATAMURA – Japanese

When I was 13, I was involved with a theatre company, turned into a night owl and stopped going to school. I came home at 1 AM, then stayed up reading and watching old movies, and around 5 AM, turned the TV on to watch “I Love Lucy”, where I learned English from Lucy and Ricky. Then I stayed up for CBS Evening News with Dan Rather.  Well, because of the time difference, the evening here was the morning in Japan.

At first, Dan Rather was speaking to me in Japanese.

There was a time that instead of saying, “That’s the way it is” – he signed off by saying just one word: “Courage.” That was it. “Courage.” The Japanese didn’t know how to translate it, so the Japanese voice just said “KA-RAIJI”. (more…)