Stories from 11 August 2011
Sao Tome and Principe: Life and Work of the Naïve Artist Canarim
Portuguese teacher MJ Falcão, from the blog O Falcao de Jade, writes [pt] about the life and work of Pascoal Viegas, “one of the greatest Naïve painters of Sao Tome and Principe”. Pascoal Viegas, known as Canarim or Sum Canalim, lived during the colonial times, in the 19th century.
Angola: “Angolanization” of the Workforce
Feliciano Cangue, on his blog Hukalilile, presents several definitions of “angolanization” [pt] and writes about national versus expatriate workforce in Angola.
Portugal: Petition For Galicia to Enter the Lusophone Space
The association MIL – Movimento Internacional Lusófono (International Lusophone Movement) [pt] – has written an open letter [pt] to the Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paulo Portas, addressing the “inflection of the Portuguese State's position towards Galicia”. MIL considers the Spanish region of Galicia as an integral part of the...
Russia: Soviet Sources to Middle East Actions
Vladimir Kara-Murza of World Affairs blog discusses a recently published book – Behind the Desert Storm – by Russian emigré Pavel Stroilov, which is based on secret soviet archives concerning policies towards the Middle East.
Poland-Russia: Haunting Memories of Afghanistan
Leoš Tomíček of Austere Insomniac reports that Russian ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, is asking whether Polish Foreign Minister, Radosław Sikorski, killed soviet soldiers in Afghanistan during the 1980s, when working as a journalist there with Afghan guerilla fighters.
World: Share Your Life With the World on 11-11-11
What will you be doing on November 11, 2011? Share it with the rest of the world through 11Eleven Project and help achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals!
Is North Korea Planning to Kill South Korean Defense Minister?
Robert Neff from the Marmot's Hole blog commented on several news reports on a team of North Korean agents allegedly dispatched to assassinate the South Korean defense minister.
Russia: Arctic and the Northern Sea Route
Mia Bennett at Foreign Policy Association writes about an ongoing international conference, hosted by Russia, about the future of Arctic resources and the opening of sea routes in the Norhtern Sea.
Russia: Much to defend but too few men
Streetwise Professor reflects upon the future of Russian defence from a piece by Russian Military Reform blog, and concludes that the only viable option for the country is to downscale its forces.
Israel: J14hackers build SMS-Twitter Gateway for Protests
The hacker collective J14hackers put together an SMS-Twitter gateway which enables easy content publishing from a local phone to Twitter. Users in Israel can send an SMS from their phones to 052-5635053, and the content of their message will be posted on the @J14Mobile Twitter account.
United States: Race Still Matters to Young People
Colorlines conducted focus group interviews with 80 young people in Los Angeles, California to find out whether race and racism is still an issue in their lives. Their detailed study is shared here: “Don’t Call Them “Post-Racial”—How Young People Actually Think About Race”.
Chile: International Support for Students Seeking Education Reforms
Movimiento Revolucionario Calle 13 (MRC13), a movement that aims to bring Latin America together “with the theme ‘education is the new revolution'” is uploading pictures to the group's Facebook page of people around the world showing their support for the Chilean student movement.
Japan: Chaos at Chitose Airport on March 11
On March 11, 2011, a Delta airplane pilot approaching Tokyo airport described his experience of an emergency landing in an email so vividly, that it spread rapidly across the blogosphere. Aviation fan blogger BUTA_NEKO responded to the meme in Japanese, to tell the other side of the story.
Japan: “Plutonium is safe,” they say
Youtube user tokyobrowntabby has translated into English the video clips of three Japanese nuclear researchers who claimed safety for plutonium in a TV show. A blogger at EX-SKF – who nicknamed the researchers the “Three Plutonium Brothers” – posted the transcript [en] of their speeches.
Poland: NGO Helps Looking for Missing Persons
Polandian writes about ITAKA: Centre for Missing People (en.zaginieni.pl), a Polish NGO that helps tracing missing persons.
