Global Voices Online

BaLashon (On the Tongue) explores the Hebrew term kalgas קלגס, meaning soldier. He discovers Latin roots: “Caliga- Roman sandals, secured with nails (which made quite a bit of noise)- were apparently frightening enough to give their name to the Roman soldiers.”

Ikeda-san, at Greenz, uploaded some old and recent pictures and videos [ja] of Nobushi Japan, the football team that represented Japan at the Homeless World Cup, the championship held in Milan at the beginning of September.

LJ user supehero gives his very own explanation [RUS] to why President Medvedev looked so drowsy at the G8 summit in Italy.

Vilhelm Konnander writes about a namesake of Vladimir Putin who was arrested for shoplifting in Italy.

Italian comedian and opinion-leader Beppe Grillo's blog [ja] is the only blog that is translated into Japanese (and English), presenting Italy from an unusual perspective. In his blog, he also hosts the translated version of journalist Marco Travaglio's weekly talks on the misdeeds of the current Italian government [it].

Read all about Christian Okpara, the Nigerian who wants to join Italian Parliament.

Belatedly, links to some posts on Entropa: Margarete of The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia believes “it should be taken down”; Kosmopolito thinks that “the debate around the project is also part of the installation”; BBC's Mark Mardell writes that “the fact that it is a hoax does not mean that the art itself is bad”; Blue, Black and White Alert doesn't think Entropa is “that incendiary”; A Fistful of Euros considers Entropa “an ugly but really funny piece of work.”

In Iranian.com we can watch beautiful clips of Iran made by an Italian traveler.

Id:sawabonroma, a Japanese writer living in Rome, describes her everyday life in the Italian capital at Roma no Heijitsu (ローマの平日). In a post on October 30th, she writes about a students demo against the education reform proposed by Minister of Education Gelmini. Millions of high school and university students, professors, researchers and school employees protested in the streets of Rome against the demolition of the public educational system, paralyzing the city center. Blaming the Japanese media, Sawabonroma points out how they gave more importance to the resulting traffic problems than to reasons for the demo. Besides, the blogger adds, everybody knows that traffic jams are part of the everyday routine for Roman people.