Category Archives: Opinion

Workshop for independent thought

Manco You-punky and the mannequins

For its fair quality-price ratio, the Brasa Viva is arguably the most popular grillroom in Moquegua’s capital city (we are in Peru). Its online rating is high and, unsurprisingly, it is usually full during eating peak hours, despite its fast-food … Continue reading

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The Hispanic peculiarity

It is any given midday of the mild winter in Torata, a small village in the mountains of Peru. A large group of schoolkids, dressed in blue and white, appear around a corner of the main square under the direction … Continue reading

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On Western ‘sanctions’

So, what is a sanction? Depending on the dictionary, this word may be defined as: –Action by one or more states toward another state calculated to force it to comply with legal obligations. Or as: –A coercive measure, especially one … Continue reading

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On nuclear porn

Most people would  agree with the idea that the world is basically governed by Big Money. There are exceptions, but I think we may assume as a fact that this is the general rule. Better informed ones would be able … Continue reading

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Overcoming defeatism

I confess that at the beginning of September, after the Ukrainian “Kharkov counter offensive”, and influenced by the heavy criticism for Vladimir Putin and his “way of doing things”, for a couple of days I somewhat lost my faith in … Continue reading

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Trading places

Almost four decades ago Hollywood released a comedy titled Trading places. In the plot, two filthy rich old billionaires discuss on whether people, once modeled by their upbringing, can be changed by the environment. One sustains that we basically remain … Continue reading

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Foreign toponyms

When we allude to foreign proper nouns and toponyms we bump into a couple of linguistic obstacles, translation and transliteration, which present two different sides of the same issue. Transliteration (which for us westerners is synonym with romanization) deals with … Continue reading

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A thesis on visa restrictions to Russians

Visa isuing policies can be either symmetrical or asymmetrical. Whereas the first type is, I assume, a matter of bilateral agreements between two given countries (or blocks), the second type is more likely a result of “the market”, meaning that … Continue reading

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