A Rough Commute Home

The Constitution train station here in Buenos Aires was the scene of some dramatic rioting last week. When one train broke down on the tracks, blocking the exit for all the other trains, commuters who had already been dealing with 3-4 hour delays became infuriated and within a matter of minutes were destryoing ticket booths, setting fires and fighting the police. My colleagues and I watched it unfold on tv at the office. "Those guys aren't commuters, they're hooligans," we kept saying.

The next morning everything was normal as I squeezed onto a subway already way over capacity and hoped the open windows would bring a breeze to cool the 90-degree temperatures. As the train kept starting and stopping in the stations and in the darkened tunnels, the temperature rising the entire time, I looked around and thought "Let's burn this train too."

Buenos Aires city elections take place this weekend, June 3. I'll send donations to anyone who promises to improve the public transport system. Click on the title above to see video coverage of the riot last week.

BA and Paris in the IHT

The International Herald Tribune is running a story I co-wrote with a colleague in Paris about the flood of money pouring into emerging markets around the world. I think I even understand some of it. Click here or on the title above to get the link.

What's Cooking in Peru

Many of the stories I write these days -- say, the ones about inflation-linked peso bonds, or Argentine unemployment statistics -- aren't exactly meant for a broad audience. But from time to time Bloomberg does let us break out of our financial news shell and write about the wider world. A story I did in January on coca leaf cuisine was recently posted on a blog focused on Peruvian food and the epicurean talents of Chef Gaston Acurio, who's coca-based pisco sour may make it to U.S. restaurants. Check out the link in the title above to read more.

And if you're wondering about the photos, Dana shot them in Bolivia while on a coca erradication trip sponsored by the Bolivian military and the U.S. embassy. The helicopter she flew in is down below.

On a totally different subject, with multi-billion dollar offers put up this week for financial news companies Reuters and Dow Jones, I'm sure the Mayor of New York has been distracted by all the attention on his company's main competitors. Fortune recently took a look at Bloomberg and his "money machine" in an article you can access here.