[PHOTO] Dovercourt street cat

I don't think that this handsome one liked being photographed.

Dovercourt street cat (1)
Originally uploaded by rfmcdpei

Dovercourt street cat (2)
Originally uploaded by rfmcdpei

Maybe I should bring more cat treats with me.

[DM] "On Central Asian migration"

Over at Demography Matters I've a post up taking a look at the phenomenon of post-Soviet Central Asian migration to Russia, with a particular concentration on Tajikistan.

[MUSIC] Eartha Kitt, "Where Is My Man"

I first learned of Eartha Kitt in December 1997 through several pages of Lucy O'Brien's 1995 She Bop. I first heard Eartha Kitt's 1983 single "Where Is My Man" in March 2002, at a GLBT/queer dance hosted by AIDSPEI in a ballroom of the Delta Prince Edward Hotel in Prince Edward Island's capital of Charlottetown.

"Kate Bush - Why Should I Love You" (Watch on YouTube)

First, some backstory. After I realized that I had a sexual orientation and no, that it wasn't straight (4 February 2002, 11:55 pm), I was desperate to find someone locally to talk to but wasn't sure how since the Island's capital doesn't host a particularly visible gay community. Somehow I did--I think it was through Altavista--and he was very helpful and understanding. One day in March, he suggested that I might want to go to this dance, so I made my excuses to my parents and went.

It wasn't a fun experience. Up until that point, the only things that I knew about GLBT culture were things that I learned through my Island friend, through various long-range eelectronic correspondences, through what I absorbed in the ambient environment, and through the sexuality section in Robertson Library's stacks. It didn't help that I was still depressed, still unable to do anything outside of the narrow range of academia without freezing. As the people danced, I froze and sat on a chair by the wall and watched and successfully kept myself from crying.

"How did I not pick any of this up?" I thought. "How couldn't I have picked it up?" I continued as the disco ball turned. "How could I have been so stupid as to not pick it up," I continued. Finally, "How could I have done this to myself? How could I have destroyed myself?" as a remix of "Where Is My Man" began to play and the dance continued.

I really wasn't happy when I got home not too late after midnight. I'd a test, I'd failed, and that, I knew, was that, forever, not that I didn't deserve it, of course, for being so negligent. If I was so smart, how could I have not picked any of that up? I still logged on to Audiogalaxy and downloaded another dozen Eartha Kitt songs. I don't know why I did that: Maybe I hoped that I'd have a chance to be tested again.

I haven't listened to any of those songs for years.

[BRIEF NOTE] On the possible establishment of Turkish-Armenian ties

Wikipedia's quite correct in concluding in its detailed assessment of Turkish-Armenian relations that they're quite tense, notwithstanding the actual lack of direct relations, with issues like the Armenian genocide and the conflicts around Nagorno Karabakh. But now, it seems that the two countries are quite close to opening up official bilateral ties.

Hours after Turkey and Armenia announced a tentative, Swiss-mediated peace deal, opposition politicians in Turkey were blasting the proposal.

The plan would normalize relations and open the common border between the two neighbors.

Political analysts warn that there are still immense hurdles left, before Armenians and Turks can overcome nearly a century of bad blood and re-open a border that has been sealed shut for more then fifteen years.

In a joint press statement released late Monday night, Switzerland, Armenia and Turkey announced they had agreed to start six weeks of "internal political consultations" on two protocols, aimed at establishing diplomatic and bilateral relations.

"The protocol can be signed in six weeks, ratified by the parliament completing the process there and come into force," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, in an interview to Turkey's NTV news station. "However it is not known how long the approval process would be."

Doug Merrill at A Fistful of Euros notes that all this was made possible by the soccer diplomacy of 2008, when FIFA set up a game between the Turkish and Armenian teams in Yerevan and the Armenian president invited his Turkish counterpart to come watch the spectacle. This deal may yet be torpedoes by opposition in both parliaments, but here's to hoping.

[LINK] "Afrique du sud : ceux qui descendent d'ailleurs"

Le monde diplomatique's Africa blogger Jean-Christophe Servant has written about how, even as South Africa is planning to welcome huge numbers of tourists to the 2010 World Cup in soccer, it's reinforcing--and not necessarily succeeding--in keeping out the very large numbers of sub-Saharan African migrants who are very determined to make it to the region's richest country.

L’Afrique subsaharienne risque ainsi de se retrouver minoritaire dans les travées, qui seront largement occupées par des supporters britanniques et américains. Elle sera en revanche majoritaire aux alentours des stades. Alors qu’entre 3 et 5 millions de continentaux se seraient déjà installés illégalement sur le territoire sud-africain, certains redoutent en effet que l’approche de 2010 n’intensifie encore ces flux migratoires. Le gouvernement de M. Jacob Zuma prévoit de dépenser 102 millions d’euros pour prévenir un afflux de clandestins venus tenter leur chance à l’ombre du Mondial.

Pour autant, Darshan Vigneswaran, spécialiste des questions liées aux migrations à l’université de Witwatersrand, estime que le renforcement des contrôles aux frontières n’ empêchera pas hommes et femmes descendus du Nord de rallier les neuf métropoles où seront organisés les matchs de qualification en vue de la finale (« World cup could lead to migrant influx », Agence Sapa, 23 juillet 2009). Le chercheur note qu’il est en effet facile pour les migrants, à l’instar des nombreux Zimbabwéens qui versent déjà des pots-de-vin en traversant pourtant « officiellement » le fleuve frontalier du Limpopo à Beitbridge, de « payer » leur passage vers l’Afrique du Sud. Un récent voyage le long des frontières sud-africaines, dans le cadre d’un reportage à paraître pour le magazine Géo, permet de constater que la corruption est en effet courante parmi les fonctionnaires d’Etat en poste sur les principales portes d’accès à la nation arc-en-ciel. La porosité des 3 500 km de limes séparant le pays le plus riche du continent de ses voisins d’Afrique australe, l’ancienne ligne de front, contribue tout autant à faciliter cette migration.

Sub-Saharan Africans may thus find themselves a minority in the aisles, which will be largely occupied by British and American fans. It will be, however, a majority around the stadium. While between 3 and 5 million sub-Saharan African already live illegally in South Africa, some fear that the approach of 2010 will intensify this migration. The government of Jacob Zuma plans to spend 102 million euros to prevent an influx of illegal immigrants trying to sneak through under the shadow of the World.

However, Darshan Vigneswaran, a specialist in migration issues at the University of Witwatersrand, said that the strengthening of border controls does not prevent men and women descended from the North to reach the nine cities which will be held qualifying matches in for the final ("World Cup could lead to migrant influx," Sapa Agency Sapa, July 23, 2009). The researcher notes that it is indeed easy for migrants, like many Zimbabweans who are already paying bribes to "officially" the Limpopo river border at Beitbridge and pay their way into South Africa. A recent trip along the borders of South Africa, as part of a forthcoming report for the magazine Geo, shows that corruption is indeed common among the government officials stationed on the main access routes to the Rainbow Nation. The porosity of the 3500 kilometre-long border separating the richest country in the continent from its southern African neighbours, also helps facilitate this migration.

[LINK] "Oslo's reinvention as a chic waterfront town leaves Toronto in the dust"

While the Toronto Star's Christopher Hume has found an interesting comparison between the Ontarian and Norwegian capitals, suggesting that Oslo is more authentically and actively innovative than the much larger Toronto, I can't help but feel that the comparison is more than a bit forced. Still, here's some interesting parts below; take them and the article as you choose.

With a population of just over 500,000, about the size of Hamilton, the capital of this tiny (pop. 4.8 million) nation feels like a big city trapped inside the footprint of a small town. But don't let size fool you; Oslo today is still adapting to its new role as one of the richest cities in the world, let alone Europe. Fuelled by abundant North Sea oil reserves, Norway's economy chugs along quietly but comfortably.

Through it all, Oslo remains a rather modest, even self-effacing, community. Still, this is a city accustomed to a certain standard of living – high. The streets are clean, the buildings well maintained, the people well turned-out, though with a studied casualness.

Public transit is quick and efficient, especially the train that runs downtown from the international airport. The roads and highways are full of cars, though few are luxury vehicles. Many ride bicycles, and the LRVs run through public squares as well as down the main streets.

[. . .]

As befits a time of unprecedented urban expansion, Oslo is under pressure to accommodate all the people who want in, from within and without. More than ever, perhaps, Norwegians are susceptible to the allure of the city.

In many respects, Oslo, and many other European communities, is easily 20 years ahead of North America. Wander these streets to get a glimpse of where Toronto might be two or three decades ahead: Public parking spots with outlets for electrical cars, quiet, efficient and frequent streetcar service, a buried expressway ...

Even the train station, which sits in the heart of the city, is about to get a major makeover. Though no one's sure when that will start, it's expected in the next four years. Like Union Station, it is Oslo's main transportation hub.