Good riddance to a bad year

If U.S. President-elect Barack Obama can walk on water, then change really is coming to the United States and the world. If there are no more big unexploded bombs buried in the world's financial systems, then this may be just an ordinary recession. But the most telling image of 2008 was Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi throwing his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush. What he did had enormous resonance elsewhere.
This is the end of an era, and everybody knows it. In the minds of most people we are not just saying farewell to 2008, but also saying good riddance to a long period when brutal and ignorant policies reigned supreme. We are saying goodbye to Bush, and al-Zaidi said it most eloquently more..http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20081231gd.html

Leadership void root problem in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- The ongoing instability in Somalia is the result of a vacuum of leadership in the country, according to a top United Nations official.
Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, U.N. secretary-general special representative to Somalia, said Wednesday the crisis in the country has less to do with the decades of violence and more to do with a lack of political leadership, the United Nations reported.
Somalia, which hasn't had a functioning government since 1991, has drawn increased international attention for the escalation of pirate attacks on ships passing through the Gulf of Aden off the Somali coast. Ould-Abdallah's comments echo a growing chorus of criticism from groups like the Belgium-based International Crisis Group, which point out the root of the security problems are largely the result of the country's ongoing political crisis more..http://www.upi.com/Emerging_Threats/2008/12/31/Leadership_void_root_problem_in_Somalia/UPI-65331230762933/