Media Smorgasbord: Now with less fat

In my post this week "Repeat After Us," I mentioned the likelihood that very few Americans check out the English version of al Jazeera. For those of you who are a bit curious, may I make a few suggestions? These articles are hard to come by on the American media stage, as of today:

Cuba signs human rights accords
Soldiering on after Putin
Denmark to oppose Sudan debt relief
Israel warns of Gazan "Holocaust"

These are some incredible news stories. Within days of Fidel Castro stepping down, the nation agreed to sign these important human rights accords set forth by the UN General Assembly back in 1966 (!), which Cuba previously held that if signed, they would be "cede [ing] to pressure from the US."

Who among us knew Russia was having elections?! I sure didn't. I was flabbergasted when I found Putin was on his way out to make way for a new President. The man was just voted Person of the Year by TIME magazine and has been said to restore some confidence back into Russia as being "more important."

Supporting Sudan debt relief, and the other problems associated with the displacement of refugees there, is about as hip a cause as you can support: All the American celebrities are doing it. So how can Denmark refuse to help these people? Well, it comes down the Muslim community decrying Denmark's publishing of a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad: the country's president asked the Muslim world to boycott Danish goods.

Finally, there's that word again: Holocaust. Because Palestine has been firing rockets into Israel, the country threatens that Palestine is bringing a Holocaust (Hebrew: "shoah") upon themselves. Israel threatens "all [their] might" to defend themselves. Who can point me to Palestine's almighty military that will meet Israel's army if they invade? Not one of you can, because there isn't one. If you're interested in reading a bit of one person's perspective on Palestine and some history thereof, please visit this blog.

Gleaning our news from only American outlets is like overloading your diet on only carbohydrates or sugars: It's unhealthy for you. You need a balance of protein, amino acids, calcium and vitamins to round out your healthy news diet. I think most of us are much too bloated on Britney and Democrats for our own good.