Recent Posts

Bikes in Belem

One of the oddities of my visit to Belem was first encountering predictably chaotic streets with little room for pedestrians or bikes, but then hearing that Belem was considered one of the more bike-friendly places in Brazil. Turns out both are true. There is a huge population of daily cyclists, often two to a bike, […]

February 5th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Category: General Musings, Travel report | 2 comments

First-Ever Amazonian Critical Mass!

Under steady rain, 100 cyclists took to the streets of Belem in the first Bicicletada in the Amazon!

It was a great night! Pai d’Egua! (That’s a charming idiomatic expression that local Belem cyclists have taught us: literally Father of the Mare, but translates as “Cool!” The Paulistas were charmed by this as […]

January 31st, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , | Category: Travel report | One comment

Trade Unionism: Long Past the Peak

The panel on the proposed Global Labour Charter here at the World Social Forum on January 29 demonstrated in stark terms the historic dead-end of trade unionism. The Charter was cautiously embraced by some, dismissed by others, but in any case, has yet to be written by a broad effort (Peter Waterman, who […]

January 30th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , | Category: History, Travel report, Work and The Economy | One comment
« Newer Entries  
  Older Entries »