Word: regionality
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...sports team that sponsors language study? In Catalonia, the semi-autonomous region that makes up the northeastern corner of Spain, the coalition hasn't taken anyone by surprise. Barça has been a symbol of Catalan nationalism since its founding in the late 19th century. Under the Franco dictatorship, which suppressed the Catalan language as part of its campaign to create an authoritarian centralized state, the team provided an outlet for the expression of local identity, a place where Catalan flags could be waved and Catalan cheers shouted. And now, at a time when Catalonia has achieved an unprecedented...
...perhaps not the most telling example of Catalan nationalism's strange intermingling of sports and politics. For that, look to a quieter game scheduled a week later. Although international sporting organizations such as UEFA and the IOC have long rejected Catalonia's efforts to field its own sides, the region continues to mount unofficial efforts. And on December 29th, a Catalan selection will take to the San Mamé s stadium in Bilbao for a friendly match against - who else? - Euskadi, the Basques' national soccer team. It won't get the international attention of the Barça-Madrid game...
...French dish is as steeped in history, myth and religion as cassoulet. Natives of southwestern France's Languedoc region link their very cultural identity to the archetypical peasant dish, a rich, earthy casserole of beans, meat and herbs. Cassoulet is said to date back to the 14th century siege of Castelnaudary during the Hundred Years' War, when citizens created a communal dish so hearty their revivified soldiers sent the invaders packing. But since then several cities have laid claim to the true recipe. In a conciliatory gesture, chef Prosper Montagné decreed in 1929 that "God the father...
...that the building style Bawa pioneered - melding Asian and global design traditions in a way that suited the requirements of monsoon climates - has become ubiquitous. Verandahs, water features, local craftwork, lush landscaping: today these kinds of elements are taken for granted in resorts, spas and villas all over the region, and it is easy to believe that it was ever thus. But had it not been for Bawa, things may have looked very different...
...said of their administration of the country. Their appointed government of mostly elderly bureaucrats has been criticized as slow-moving and inept. A Muslim insurgency in the south rages on, the economy is mired in doldrums - Thailand's 4.3% growth for 2007 is the lowest in the region - and the government's failure to spend heavily in the provinces has left the rural poor longing for Thaksin and his populism. That's why Samak is playing the Thaksin card. The two men are strange bedfellows - they were once political rivals - but now each needs the other...