Charity or rights? New survey on helping poor countries

I’ve been unpacking the results of the recently released Eurobarometer survey with a focus on Malta lately. It is full of interesting trends, which are likely to translate into policy decisions about development aid. These are the most interesting findings: Respondents who experience the most difficulty in paying bills are generally less positive about development aid issues and the least …

Thailand mourns its king

After 70 years of rule and a long illness, King Bhumibol Adulyadej passed away on Thursday. He has witnessed 19 coup attempts and a multitude of electoral swings. Educated in Switzerland, the king was fond of arts and deeply interested in the welfare of his subjects, whom he supported through various Royal Projects. These are celebrated by various UN agencies, …

Article about Budapest Pride

It is always interesting to compare events. Last year the Baltic Pride, the annual march for LGBT rights, held in the Baltic capitals on a rotating basis, aroused many discussions in Lithuania, but when it takes place in the other Baltic capitals, we usually only see a photo or two. This year I had a chance to report from a …

Street signs controversy

Are multiple languages in public space an issue? Not in many countries. But in Lithuania there is an ongoing battle over some buses and street signs, which, in addition to Lithuanian, give translations in Polish. A law in Lithuania obliges all public signs (streets, institutions, etc.) to be in Lithuanian. The mainstream interpretation is that this implies they have to …

Wishlist of 2010

Lietuviškas vertimas bus vėliau. I write this in English because I want to show it to my international friends as well, and it’s not on the Wonderland blog because here I can embed youtube. All of this is based on what I blogged about, links that I bookmarked, tweeted or posted. Let’s start with the video of the year. It …