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from Photographers Blog:
Stopover in Mexico: The train to dreams
By Edgard Garrido
What really happens when a man, or a woman, or even a child, abandons their home motivated by the idea of a better life? How do they imagine it? What do they wish for, what are they missing?
There is violence, overcrowded neighborhoods and gigantic infrastructure on the outskirts of Mexico City but there are also hundreds of thousands of people who walk day and night; different people every day and every night for weeks and months next to the train tracks, trying to jump on a train car filled with merchandise as the train passes. Fear is engraved in their faces and makes their feet heavy. Solitude, hunger, the cold and above all a painful uncertainty, are carried with them. They left behind their homes in a land without miracles and few joys, like the last of the deserts.
In Huehuetoca, 67 km (41 miles) from Mexico City:
Edgard: (photographer) “Hi, what’s your name? Where are you from?”
Carlos: (migrant) “Hi, I’m from Honduras, and you?”
Edgard: “From Chile”
Carlos: “From Chile! How are you Alexis (a reference to Chilean soccer player Alexis Sanchez), have you been to Honduras?”
Edgard: “Yes, I lived in Honduras for several years”
Carlos: “And you’re not afraid of migrants?”
Edgard: “No, why should I?”
Carlos: “Because people say we are thieves and gang members. That we rape girls and that we only do damage."
Edgard: “But not all of them. From what part of Honduras are you?"
Carlos: “From Tegus... (the capital Tegucigalpa)"
Edgard: “What neighborhood?”
Carlos: “Did you get to know Little Hell?”
Edgard: “Behind the Basilica, going down the staircase. Are you a member of a gang?”
Carlos: “You’re definitely not afraid of migrants! You wanna have a beer?”
Edgard: “How far are you traveling?”
Carlos: “Well, up north, to Uncle Sam (laughs). I’ve been there and they have deported me nine times, but here I go again. I know the tracks like no one else. Come on, let’s have a beer.”
I’d been asked to cover the possible dismantling of a provisional migrant shelter in Tultitlan, on the outskirts of Mexico City. It was about to be shut down due to the innumerable complaints from neighbors. The official shelter had been shut down for just the same reason, complaints by the neighbors about thieves, drunks, robbers, rapists and drug dealers they see in every migrant.
from Oddly Enough Blog:
This train is bound for glory, this train
Whoa! Did you see that, Clancy? Looked like Pope Benedict on that train that just went by!
Nah, it couldn't have been, Lamar.That's an express and the Pope takes the local.
from George Chen:
A turning point for China?
By George Chen
The opinions expressed are the author’s own.
Is the train crash tragedy becoming a turning point for China's political and economic development?
Frustrations among the Chinese public have been growing rapidly -- at least on the internet if not yet in the streets. People are particularly unhappy with the way the Ministry of Railways has dealt with the train accident, which so far has cost 39 lives.
from George Chen:
Not just an accident
By George Chen
The opinions expressed are the author’s own.
We’ve talked about whether China's economy will have a soft or hard landing. In fact, what China needs is a pause. Lots of things in China may be moving way too fast. Including our trains.
On Saturday, at least 35 people died when a high-speed train smashed into a stalled train in eastern Zhejiang province, raising new questions about the safety of the fast-growing rail network. For a Reuters story, click here.
from Oddly Enough Blog:
A loco motive for doing this?
Hey Doctor, it's me! Earl! I'm calling from out here on the railway line where you sent me. Are you positive this will make me better?
Yes Earl, we're on the right track.
You say the electrical energy from the rails will cure me, but how do I get it from the train into me?
from Your View:
The exodus for Eid Al-Adha
People ride on a train roof to leave the city to celebrate Eid Al-Adha with their friends and families, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, November 2010. Your View/Saad Shahriar
from Your View:
The exodus for Eid Al-Adha
People ride on a train roof to leave the city to celebrate Eid Al-Adha with their friends and families, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, November 2010. Your View/Saad Shahriar
from FaithWorld:
Amazing photo of Eid travellers in Bangladesh
An overcrowded train approaches as other passengers wait to board at a railway station in Dhaka, November 16, 2010. Millions of residents in Dhaka are travelling home from the Bangladeshi capital to celebrate the Eid al-Adha holiday on Wednesday. Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Adha to mark the end of the haj by slaughtering sheep, goats, cows and camels to commemorate Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail on God's command. Reuters photo by Andrew Biraj.
from FaithWorld:
Saudi Arabia opens Chinese-built haj pilgrimage train
Hoping to decrease accidents and boost tourism, Saudi has built a railway line to improve transport for millions of Muslims who flock to the kingdom on the annual haj and move en masse from one holy site to another. At least 2.5 million pilgrims are expected to perform the haj, which began on Sunday. One of the world's biggest religious gatherings, it has been marred in the past by stampedes, accidents and political demonstrations.
(Photo: Haj pilgrims in Mina, near Mecca, November 14, 2010/Fahad Shadeed)
Authorities say the 6.6 billion riyal ($1.76 billion) project will lessen congestion of the pilgrim route swollen with
some 70,000 cars and buses jamming the roads. The railway is the first such project in more than half a century in the world's top oil exporter. It will ferry pilgrims around holy sites outside Mecca to perform rites such as the "devil's stoning", when pilgrims stone a wall in ritual defiance of the devil and temptation.
from Russell Boyce:
Asia – A Week in Pictures 3 October, 2010
At the beginning of the week I had my doubts that we would actually see pictures from two major events taking place in Asia; North Korea's ruling Workers' Party conference, the biggest held for 30 years intended to push ahead the succession process for Kim Jong-il's son Kim Jong-Un and the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. As it turned out, the pictures from both fronted publications around the world.
Kim Jong-un (8th L, seated), the youngest son of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il (C), poses with the newly elected members of the central leadership body of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and the participants in the WPK Conference, at the plaza of the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang in this picture released by the North's KCNA news agency September 30, 2010. North Korean state media released a photograph on Thursday of the reclusive state's leader-in-waiting Kim Jong-un. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il anointed his youngest son as successor this week, promoting him to senior political and military positions. REUTERS/KCNA
