[MUSIC] Björk, Volta

The ongoing riots in Tibet have made the possibility of Björk having anything to do with the People's Republic of China ever again after her association of "Declare Independence" with Tibet in Shanghai even more unlikely. This is a pity for the Chinese, since her latest album Volta is quite listenable, her best album since the difficult but compelling Homogenic. Very much a revisiting of some of the themes of Post, Volta manages to avoid being little more than a remix album thanks to some very interesting creative collaborations. "Declare Independence", with its unusual percussion and shouted lyrics and revisiting of the theme of "Army of Me" remains the standout track for me, but the duet "The Dull Flame of Desire" with Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons fame is an interesting sort of torch song and "Earth Intruders" is just so wonderfully catchy.

[BRIEF NOTE] Arthur C. Clarke, rest in peace

So far, five people on my friends list have noted that Arthur C. Clarke has died at the age of 90.

We'll miss him.

[BRIEF NOTE] Canada recognizes Kosovo

On the same day Japan recognized Kosovo earlier today, Canada followed suit, Foreign Minister Maxine Bernier making it clear that the Canadian government doesn't see the particular route by which Kosovo gained independence as a precedent for Québec or any other secessionist territory.

Canada on Tuesday formally recognized Kosovo's independence, but stressed it was not setting a precedent to be exploited by the Quebec separatist movement.

The move swiftly triggered an angry response from Belgrade which recalled its ambassador to Ottawa in protest, as world powers called for calm after some of the worst violence since Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia last month.

"Today, we joined the international community and recognized Kosovo as a new state," Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier told public broadcaster CBC, a day after Serbs clashed with UN police in the town of Kosovska Mitrovica.

However, Bernier made it clear that Kosovo's new nation status was a "unique case" which would have no bearing on the aspirations of Quebec nationalists to split from the rest of Canada.

"As the declaration issued by Kosovo's parliament also makes clear, the unique circumstances which have led to Kosovo's independence mean it does not constitute any kind of precedent," Bernier said in a statement.

"Statements made by other countries recognizing Kosovo's independence have echoed this point."

"You cannot compare that with Quebec," he told CBC.

Serbia's ambassador to Canada, historian and writer Dušan T. Bataković (personal homepage, Wikipedia), has been recalled in line with Serbia's policy of withdrawing ambassadors from any country which recognizes Kosovar independence. It's worth noting back in 1998, Bataković came up with a plan for cantonizing Kosovo that would have involved the attachment of the lands of monasteries (including lands lost to land reform after 1941, disproportionately distributed to Albanians) to ethnic Serb cantons and the division of political power 50:50 between Kosovo's two major ethnic groups in all of Kosovo's major cities. (Elsewhere, he said that Serbia should avoid "the completely outdated concept of administrative decision making by simple majority vote.")