I expected to see Sweden get high marks for its treatment and policies related to immigrants. Especially in a year where there has been alot of information published on how they are doing such a good job with welcoming Iraqi immigrants in particular. But as a Portuguese citizen, not to mention a global citizen, I [...]

I gave out a little sigh of satisfaction after a long period of concern.  Germany has decided to put the Maglev train to real use. According to Spiegel international, by 2014 the electromagnetic train will link the Munich airport to the city.  After years and years of “testing” and that infamous accident in 2006 when [...]

While in Belgium the debate rages on about how to manage one state with two groups with so many rifts between them, I find myself thinking about a case of 3 languages and 3 cultures who share one land – the region known as South Tyrol or (for the Italians) Bolzano-Bolzen. Although they are two [...]

After many years of enjoying the NoComment segment on the European newschannel Euronews, NOCOMMENT has finally gone digital. Since the beginning of this year I’ve been an avid subscriber to the NoComment podcast: a 1 to 2 minute daily segment of NoComment which also appears on the tv channel. This segment is not only something [...]

In the winter of 1912 in a place called Lawrence, Massachusetts, 20,000 textile workers went on a long bitter strike.  They worked long hours and lived in the worst conditions imaginable.  As immigrants from all over Europe, and mostly women and children, the workers were outraged that their already meager wages would be cut.  In [...]