If you’ve got panties, you can contribute to world peace!

by Abha Malpani on

First it was those ugly yellow rubber peace bands that became a fashionable accessory because it flaunted your inner most desire for world peace (!?), now it goes ‘inner’ as you can buy panties for peace, but hopefully you won’t be flaunting those too many places.

Jokes apart, if panties can shudder a superstition and bring peace, why the hell not.

Mahatma Gandhi took a vow on celibacy because he believed that if you could control your sexual desire, you could control anything in the world. Perhaps the Asian belief that ‘women’s intimate clothes can take away your power’ has some relation to that thinking(?), which is why an activist group in Burma might make some headway in their protest against the current anti-democratic regime. (See our current series, A Keyhole Into Burma for more on this topic!)

140 panties were delivered to the Burmese embassy in Geneva, but so far it seems no reactions from the embassy have surfaced. Wouldn’t it be priceless candid-camera just to see the faces of Burmese officials as they open boxes of underwear!

Since anything remotely to do with intimacy gets media coverage, not to mention numerous and repeated search hits on the world wide web, the panty-flinging act might just have been a great ploy to get more exposure in the international media.

If you over analyze this mode of activism, there maybe an inspiring lesson for us to learn: if you can grab the intention of all those people who don’t give a rats about peace, be it with panties or whatever tickles your fancy, you can contribute to world peace. Way better than wearing a yellow rubber band, no?

Cool canes for elder travelers

by Neil Woodburn on

Traveling can be a difficult and grueling ordeal at times. I can’t imagine how much more difficult it would be if I was retired and having difficulty walking.

That’s where canes and walking sticks come in handy.

As a sign of the times, however, today’s demanding senior citizens want more from their canes than just a hardened piece of wood. That’s why the Voyageur Travel Collection offers all sorts of bells and whistles on their canes and walking sticks. Their 007 model, for example, contains a secret compartment for medication as well as a high beam LED built into the handle to illuminate the path ahead. Other models offer internal shock springs, camera mounts to convert canes into a monopods, and engineering designs which allow the canes to easily break down into convenient travel sizes.

Wow, getting old has never been easier!

Rome’s Trevi Fountain runs red

by Catherine Bodry on

Last week, Rome’s famous Trevi Fountain ran red, tainted by paint or dye. The fountain runs on a closed cycle, so the waters remained blood red until police and technicians shut the water off and restored a clear flow. What at first seemed like a practical joke was actually a political statement; the group that claimed responsibility for the act left leaflets at the sight explaining that it was protesting expenses incurred in organizing the Rome Film Festival. The color symbolized the event’s red carpet.

Once I was assured that nothing was damaged permanently, I had to laugh at this harmless act. Some lucky tourists got a once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity! It looks as if blóm, on Flickr, was one such lucky viewer.

[via Msnbc]

U.S. amendment hopes to guarantee three weeks of vacation

by Neil Woodburn on

Here’s a great campaign I think we should all get behind.

Take Back Your Time is an organization that is fighting the “epidemic of overwork, over-scheduling and time famine that now threatens our health, our families and relationships, our communities and our environment.” In short, they are protesting the lack of vacations available to employees in America and Canada. The website claims that only “14% of Americans will get a vacation of two weeks or longer this year.” And this, as we all know, is tragic–especially considering that the US is the only industrialized nation that does not guarantee vacation to employees.

As a result, Take Back Your Time is initiating a campaign to pass The Minimum Leave Protection, Family Bonding and Personal Well-Being Act. The aim is to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act with a guarantee of three weeks of vacation to EVERYONE who has been employed by a company for at least a year.

Hey, that sounds great to me! Where do I sign up?

Local Bloggers Revealing Country Secrets

by Abha Malpani on

The political situation of many countries doesn’t allow much freedom of press; what gets printed is thoroughly watch-dogged. That’s kind of messed-up when you realize that the media is the one thing that keeps us connected and informed about the rest of the world.

I remember when I lived in Dubai, I saw journalists fearing to write about anything outside the standard protocol of the publication. I would get bored senseless reading the local publications and as a budding writer, would get itchy palms when some meaty news would come to me through the grapevine, that of course, would never see the day of light. Until we started blogging!

I think blogging has taken to new levels our insight into otherwise forbidden cultural information of cities. Secret Dubai Diary, UAE Prison blog (blocked in Dubai) and Neurotic Iraqi Wife, are some blogs I read for raw insight into lives of people and culture in these countries. Others such as Sex and Dubai and controversial Beijing blog of Zhao Jing have unfortunately now been shut down.

There was great story in the IHT recently about underground bloggers in Havana who are screaming out to let people know the realities of life in Castro’s city.

My only contribution to the free press cause is being part of Global Voices and Reporters Without Borders. Both blogs are fighting for freedom of press and doing their best to provide untainted feeds and news from around the world.

It takes solid guts to blog on the edge, as it could result in imprisonment and/or deportation. I don’t know if I’d have the balls.