February 2011
1 post
January 2011
4 posts
Young Galaxy: 'Peripheral Visionaries'
A CERTIFIED JAM
BUT WAIT THIS CHORUS IS SO FAMILIAR
SERIOUSLY. ANYONE?
MP3: Young Galaxy: ‘Peripheral Visionaries’
VIA
Trish Keenan of Broadcast (RIP): 'Mind-Bending...
xeroxtapes:
Tributes abound.
‘Mind-Bending Motorway Mix’
VIA
James Ferraro: ‘Killer Nerd,’ from...
Blog retool #437 underway, patience appreciated
In the meantime, some album art for eye candy - Puro Instinct and James Ferraro.
December 2010
1 post
The Wikileaks Cables as Literature
A nice bit from Slate.
October 2010
4 posts
From Pop Montreal
Via GVB.
'Report finds slave-like conditions on fishing... →
Kasit in NY: Repatriation Sought
More chilling news from Thailand’s MFA:
‘The Thai government is planning to repatriate Burmese asylum seekers after Burma holds its first elections in 20 years next month, raising fears that refugees could be sent back to war zones.’
See the full piece from The Guardian here.
September 2010
30 posts
Two Bicycles: ‘Holy Forest/Forever.’...
The Curse of the Blue Diamond
A post on New Mandala led me to the full Reuters piece by Andrew Marshall - a quite lengthy run-through of a complicated but revealing story. Here’s the opening:
‘The curse of the blue diamond has struck Thailand once again. The torturous two-decade saga of theft, deception, incompetence, corruption and murder burst back into the spotlight this month, doing renewed damage to...
Twin Sister: ‘Meet the Frownies.’ I...
'Echo of the Modern Times Migration'
This story from Win Myint Aung at Mekong Media’s Voice is quite solid. Do have a look.
The opening gives a good sense of the piece:
‘Kyaik Paran village, which has about 150 households, is 10 miles from Mawlamyaing and most of the villagers are Mon people. I found a teashop on the roadside when I went into the village by motorbike. Although I expected to hear a Mon song from the...
Busy Times: Preparation →
theroadgoeseveron:
Les Sins :: Lina
Les Sins,...
Khon Kaen: Emboldened Migrants Pressing for Change
From Marwaan Macan-Markar at IPS, with full piece after the jump.
‘When nearly 1,000 Burmese migrant workers launched a strike at a fishnet factory in north-east Thailand a week ago, activists expected it to be a short burst of anger. After all, this frequently abused labour force was often gripped with fear during brief work stoppages in the past elsewhere in this South-east Asian...
Grace Lee and the Stylers
I came upon some very solid regional jams from the 60s and 70s today. More to follow. For now, excitement by images.
Hayley Barker
‘Artist to watch’ via Escape Into Life.
The Khon Kaen Strike Continues
More coverage from the Irrawaddy here.
Meanwhile, some 68000 Cambodian garment workers have begun a strike for higher wages, amidst harassment, intimidation, and threats of physical violence. The below image from the Clean Clothes Campaign news page - they’re doing solidarity work around the strike.
More from 'Labor Day in Hell'
The Foreign Policy photo essay on working conditions around the world.
The above from Laos - see link above for elaboration on restrictions on trade union activities.
life-aquatic:
Gala Drop // RAUZE
This is...
Day 6 of the Khon Kaen Strike
Mizzima now has coverage, reposted (essentially) by the Committee for Asian Women.
From the Mizzima article:
‘More than 1,000 Burmese migrant workers from a fishnet factory in Khon Kaen, in northeast Thailand, enter their sixth day of a strike today, over their employer’s illegal doctoring of co-workers’ travel and work documents, and other labour abuses, labour rights workers and...
Deportations in Thailand: 2003-2007
The Nation, Corrected
Jackie Pollock’s letter in The Nation corrects their terribly misinformed (see previous posting) coverage of the strike in Khon Kaen.
MAP Press Release: Day 4 of the Khon Kaen Strike →
theroadgoeseveron:
Wintercoats :: The Overture
...
Khon Kaen Strike: More Coverage
The Irrawaddy has some good coverage here, but The Nation has put together a rather terrible article here. It suggests the striking workers misunderstand their situation, whereas in actuality clear violations of Thai labour law are in play. See the MAP press release below for details. HRDF has also issued a press release, but it is not yet online. No word yet, so far as I see, from DVB, Mizzima,...
Day 3: Burmese Workers on Strike in Khon Kaen
I didn’t have a chance to post on the strike over the past couple of days, but now MAP Foundation has released a press release updating the situation - workers from Burma, many with temporary passports, are still on strike. The threat of deportation looms, as endorsed by the employer, the Labour Protection Office, and the Department of Employment.
Here is the opening paragraph:
...
We Are Not Together: the fifth track (titles...
Solidarity with Burma's Working Class
The following statement has been circulated recently. Full statement after the jump, intro here:
‘We, the undersigned organizations, do strongly condemn that the military junta of Burma has issued a new decree to curb the workers’ right to form unions and to take harsh punishments against any industrial actions.
The military junta of Burma, State Peace and Development Council...
FYF Fest 2010
Some nice related photography via Gorilla vs Bear.
Panda Bear, above; Best Coast, below.
Blogosphere Roundup
I’m working on changing this current situation where I can only post one MP3 per day. Suggestions welcome. Till then, I’m thinking it’s better to dig from my own music collection for full-on MP3 postings, and then more or less just link to the good things coming from elsewhere in the blogosphere. So here are some notes on the good and recent.
(1) Willie Loco Alexander:...
Fikret Kizilok: ‘Yagmur Olsam,’...
Sam Kalayanee
A longtime Thai ally of the movements for democracy and ethnic rights in Burma has passed away. Sam Kalayanee, known to many simply as P’ Sam, was an active photographer and filmmaker, and was involved in the founding of both Images Asia and MAP Foundation.
The Irrawaddy’s obituary begins as follows:
‘In 1988, when thousands of young Burmese student activists arrived at the...
Thach Lam: ‘Luongtuan,’ from...
Images from the Flood
Slate has posted a photo piece on the floods in Pakistan. The intro suggests that a lack of attention and relief funding may be due to the low shock value of floods as opposed to other types of natural disasters.
Despite this lack of attention, as was discussed at the Mekong Migration Network conference in Chiang Mai this past week, migration due to climate change will probably rise...
45,000
Recently via AFP:
Bangladesh plans to send 45,000 domestic workers to Singapore in the coming year.
According to Nurul Islam, the director of Bangladesh’s Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training:
‘It’s a very good news for us. It comes as our traditional markets such as the Middle Eastern countries and Malaysia have yet to ride out the impact of the global...
Foreign Policy: 'Labor Day in Hell'
A photo essay on the worst countries to work in around the world. The photography is quite expansive.
Above images from Cuba, Burma, and Turkmenistan respectively.
Clive Tanaka y su orchesta: ‘Neu...
August 2010
50 posts
Grimes: 'Weregild'
Maxed out on MP3 postings again, but check this spacey jam on Altered Zones if you have a moment to think about planets and such.
Houses: ‘Endless Spring.’ Debut record...
Lawrence Weiner
Words and images in conceptual settings.
(His work ages well.)
Union Leader in India Abducted, Released, Warned...
The Clean Clothes Campaign sent out an urgent action on Wednesday of last week when Anwar Ansari, a union leader at Viva Global factory in Gurgaon, India, was kidnapped by an armed gang at the factory. Since then Mr. Ansari has been released, but he was warned that if he returns to the factory he will be killed. The factory is a Marks & Spencer supplier factory, and one of the attackers...
International Day of Solidarity with Foreign...
The recent Day of Solidarity (28 August) was marked by CARAM Asia with a statement that opens as follows.
‘Most migrant women in Asia are working as foreign domestic workers. Such predominance in domestic work is obvious in countries where female migrants outnumbered men, such as the Philippines and Sri Lanka. As today marks the International Solidarity Day with Foreign Domestic Workers,...
Reopening Nationality Verification?
At a session organized by the National Human Rights Commission, several labour groups renewed a call for the government to reopen nationality verification, and cease deportations of those workers who were unable to meet the most recent deadline.
See here for coverage from The Nation, and here for coverage from the BKK Post.
Victoria Sambunaris and Peter van Agtmael
Documentary photography and American space.
Via The FADER.
Hong Kong and the Philippines: After the Hostages,...
The Asian Human Rights Commission has posted this very interesting commentary on the recent hostage situation in the Philippines. The statement gets at some of the underlying dynamics involved, as Hong Kong is a major destination for Filipina migrants, particularly domestic workers.
Excerpt:
“While the tragic circumstances cannot be denied, the AHRC is deeply concerned by people who are...
Totem Pole: ‘The Rain Chasers,’ from...
25 August: the 63rd Anniversary of Mon Revolution...
A few days behind with this statement, the full posting of which can be found elsewhere.
The opening paragraph:
‘August 25, 2010 marks the 63rd Anniversary of Mon Revolution Day. In order to regain Mon national sovereignty and the rights to self-determination the Mon have been waging a just war against the successive governments in Burma for over 60 years, since 1948. Since then, many...