2 May 2006

Stories from 2 May 2006

Mongolia: Fleet Concerns

Luke Distelhorst reports that Mongolia is worried about all the ships flying its flag on the high seas. Mongolia's has long been a “flag of convenience,” and the government is now concerned that the ships flying it may not be safe.

Bloggers Against Vandals’ Disorders on May 1

  2 May 2006

Photo by new camerons The Workers United Centre (CUT) commemorates the first of May every year, all over the main cities of the country. In Santiago a peaceful march on Alameda, one of the main streets of the capital, started early in the morning with all the workers. Lately the...

Brazil: “Hidden Talent”

  2 May 2006

Andrew of Comings Communiqué has posted a video a talented saxophonist he encountered at a church service in Northeastern Brazil. The verdict? “Kenny G, has nothing on this guy!” I most certainly concur.

Argentina, Spain, USA: Humanity over Nationality

  2 May 2006

Martin Varsavsky, himself an Argentine immigrant living in Spain envisions “political parties made of immigrants joined by native citizens who felt that to them humanity was a stronger concept than nationalism.” In fact, he says it's already happening: “As the May 1st walkout is proving, America would suffer very badly...

Bolivia: Nationalization of Natural Gas Resources

  2 May 2006

Eduardo Ávila has posted the entire Spanish text of Supreme Decree 28701, which explains – in nine articles – the details of Bolivia's nationalization of its natural gas resources. Alvaro Ruiz-Navajas has collected reactions from news outlets across the world. We'll have more on this story in a feature post...

Argentina: Maradona Betrayal and Worship

  2 May 2006

Brandan compares Maradona's recent donning of a Brazilian football jersey to “Michael Jordan wearing a CCCP warm-up during the Cold War.” Meanwhile, Argentine journalism professor Julian Gallo says that blogger and author Leandro Zanoni has published a book about Diego Maradona's life in the media. In a followup post, Gallo...

St. Lucia: The state of things

  2 May 2006

“Our economy was never prepared for the changes which I’m certain somebody must have seen coming,” says Matthew Hunte in his all-encompassing rant against the state of things in St. Lucia,

Nepal: What really is democratic?

  2 May 2006

Blogdai on the culture of democracy, the place of youth and younger citizens and taking to the streets – “These protests represented the interests of the 7-party alliance, not the majority. In fact, without elections, how does one know exactly where the majority opinion lies? Majorities are keepers of the...

Sri Lanka: Eelam in the UK

  2 May 2006

The politics of Eelam and Sri Lanka in London, as Tamil candidates try to woo the electorate with Tamil Specific promises at Lanka Page.

Sri Lanka: Theatre and Sri Lanka

  2 May 2006

Moju in conversation with Delon Weerasinghe – “Chatting with Delon brought back memories of College drama and a renewed sense of hope for a resurgence of good English theatre in Sri Lanka through a new generation of playwrights.”

Russia: May Day in Moscow

Russia Blog reports on the May Day demonstrations in Moscow: “Zyuganov and police officials were asking the three thousand-strong crowd to refrain from carrying fascist flags, but the Russian skinheads claimed free speech and proceeded with to wave their banners and posters anyway. The crowd screamed in ecstasy ‘Christ has...

Romania: Diacritical Marks

Andy H of Csikszereda Musings writes on how Romanians and Hungarians treat their diacritical marks differently: “A few days ago, for example, I wrote a post entitled Happy Paste. Now ‘Paste’ was the way I had seen the Romanian word for Easter written, and it amused me that it was...

Iraq: Iraqi-style backfire

There is a growing sense of uncertainty in dealing with the Iran issue, even among the anti-war movement itself. This is what the “catch-22 discourse” portraying the Iranian situation looks like: Preemptive strike = an Iraqi-style backfire But no strike = a Nuclear Iran Raed trying to answer the question:...

Bahrain: Press Freedom Day

On the eve of the Press Freedom Day, the press in this, as well as virtually the whole Middle East, are in shackles, with parliaments aiding and abetting the press and its workers’ incarceration, utilising that ever-present fillip: religion, to justify imprisoning journalists and anyone else who dares to speak...

Jordan: Labor and wages

As Khalaf closes his article describing the economical situation in Jordan: “Two things go unnoticed; the whoring of the rich and the death of the poor.” The story is about government small raise of the minimum wages in the country, which didn't cover all labors, and the demonstration of recruit...