India: On Capitalism

As expected, the Opposition continues to dominate the Senate race. It’s a stinging defeat for President Gloria Arroyo’s party. However, most of the winners in the local elections belong to the Administration’s coalition. Election results yielded interesting surprises: A rebel soldier is poised to become a senator, many showbiz candidates lost in the elections, a world boxing champion was knocked-out in the polls, a priest defeated wealthy and powerful opponents and leftwing groups are... more

Unzipped: Gay Armenia continues to detail the ongoing saga of Agil Khalil, an opposition reporter in Azerbaijan, who was recently stabbed. Although the authorities in Baku continue to maintain that the perpetrator of the attack was a jilted former-lover, the blog notes that international organizations have determined the following trial as “fake.” The blog says that the prevalent homophobia in Azerbaijani society was instead used to protect his real attackers and the reason for th... more

Unzipped: Gay Armenia comments on letters published in the Boston-based The Armenian Weekly discussing gay rights and same-sex marriage. The blog says the letters set an important precedent for fighting for gay and human rights issues and hopes that the same will occur in Armenia proper . ... more

Stuff Armos Like, a new irreverent look at what makes Armenians tick, says that unlike many parts of the world where the anti-smoking lobby has made significant progress, cigarettes are a defining part of the Armenian reality. The blog jokingly says that even if smoking was banned in every other country, cigarette manufacturers would still have a market in Armenia . ... more