Blowing it up out of all proportion
Perhaps it's the summer heat that's getting to people, as the Latvian Handicapped Union and the condom company Life Styles have come up with an ingenious idea to build a raft made of 50,000 inflated condoms. The "Life Styles on Water 2000" campaign aims to raise AIDS awareness, as Latvia is experiencing an unprecedented rise in HIV infections. The raft will be tested on the Daugava River and the Gulf of Rīga, and, if it works, they'll build one with 250,000 condoms next year to sail it to Sweden.
Dial M for murder
Latvia's raft of rubbers was not the only strange behaviour in the country. This past week, Uzvara (Victory), a front for members of the banned Russian extremist group, the National Bolsheviks, protested outside the headquarters of the phone company, Lattelekom. The protestors shouted peculiar slogans and carried placards that read, among other things, "Lattelekom is a bunch of murderers!" and "Capitalism is shit!"
As the young men marched down the street, observers said that some pensioners tried in vain to keep up with the fit lads. However, construction workers at a building across the street had a bit more fun, as they banged their tools to disrupt the group whenever they tried to speak. There were more media and police in attendance than protesters.
Yet more Latvian lunacy...
The Latvian Citizenship and Migration Department has admitted that there are still about 6500 dead people on its population register. They have promised to update the list immediately.
CER Staff, 24 June 2000
Moving on:
