· October, 2013

Stories about History from October, 2013

South Korean Tear Gas Being Used in Bahrain?

  29 October 2013

Bahrain interior ministry allegedly ordered 1.6 million teargas canisters to use against protesters, and South Korean company DaeKwang is believed to be one of the major suppliers. R. Elgin wrote in Marmot's Hole blog about the ironic history of tear gas– a notorious symbol of Korean government's clampdowns back in...

Kazakhstan's Soviet Mosaics: “Ghosts of an Epoch Gone By”

  23 October 2013

In a post titled “The Walls Are Crying”, a blogger reflects [ru] on Kazakhstan's slowly disappearing Soviet artistic mosaics that once adorned housing blocks and industrial facilities across the country: Many of these works of art died along with the buildings which they adorned. Some are being destroyed. But many mosaics...

Gulf Cities: Cultural Capitals of the Arab World?

  23 October 2013

UAE commentator Sultan Al Qassemi argues that “some of the cities of the Gulf were transforming into cultural capitals of the Arab world as the traditional capitals of Baghdad, Cairo, Beirut and Damascus continue to suffer from civil strife.” He posts arguments in support and against this notion on his...

Remembering and Reviving Vietnam's Ca Tru Singing

  20 October 2013

Đoan Trang interviews Pho Kim Duc, a famous ca tru (sung poetry) vocalist in Vietnam in the 1940s. Kim Duc said ca tru is a very noble form of art. “It’s is not just singing but also poetry. Whoever with a taste for poetry will love ca tru to find...

Trinidad & Tobago, Grenada: “The Killing of a Revolution”

  4 October 2013

I was transfixed; in turns horrified, unbelieving, angry, and sad. Worse still, frustrated. Because the verdict of the film as to who was really responsible was inconclusive. Norman Girvan reviews Bruce's Paddington's film “Forward Ever”, about the executions of former Grenadian Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and members of his cabinet.