On the surface it is an interview about Tom’s work with Arabic Script. But really, it is about world culture and the effects of the war in Lebanon. I spent a good part of a saturday at his home in Amsterdam where we recorded this program with the focus being on how his interest in Arabic developed. However don’t let the title or my words here fool you, the information and stories contained here go far beyond arabic script and into topics such as the War in Lebanon, Armenians seeking asylum in the Netherlands, writing an Arabic manual for the Dutch military, the orgin of Middle Eastern hospitality, and oh-so much more.
Towards the end of the program we mention the Decotype website where you can click on the presentation and see what we’re talking about.
On line at the grocery store, I read the big sign in the window: Seeking new colleagues to join our team. Around the block at the café there’s a small paper in the window that reads: seeking wait staff. The restaurant next door is full to the brim with customers everyday and employs only 2 servers and 1 cook, the entire staff looks overwhelmed.
No matter where I look in the service industry, the Netherlands seems to be lacking workers. Yet at the same time, I can think of many university students who would never take such jobs. I’m also reminded of my fellow university graduates who are seeking work in the field of their studies and would not take up work in a restaurant or a grocery store.
All this to make the un-scientific observation that there could be some type of labor shortage in this part of Europe. And it is getting worse.
Meanwhile I read about the situation of detained refugees in Belgium, who are currently on hunger strike. Belgium’s politics and economic reality is certainly not identical to the Netherlands, but I still think it says something about where this entire region is within the discussion of the right to work and immigration policy. For the neverending obsession with keeping people out, I’m wondering who they’re going to turn to when no one in the country will take essential jobs.
3 storms have left the poorest nation in the western hemisphere in an even greater humanitarian crisis. Several years after his first appearance on this podcast, Tarak joins me from Haiti to explain the situation on the ground there, what needs to be done and what factors have shaped the reality there.
Topics covered:
The present situation in Gonaives
Access to Water and Food
Different organizations and the aid money needed
The role of the Haitian Government
Erosion, Deforestation, and making matters worse
How long recovery will take
Conditions before the storms
The presence and role of the US
Music:
Malajube – Étienne d’août
SLackers – The Power
* note audio quality on the Haiti side is less than great. Listen closely.
Interesting piece from McClatchy newspapers included on the Guardian online today, all about the dramatic change to the Texas coastline that will follow this latest hurricane.
Texas is of course famous for being huge, but also for having a highly developed coastline and generally a very polluted environment. And one of the changes that is mentioned in the article is the rising sea level, they quote an article in the journal Science:
global sea level rise of 31.5 inches by the year 2100 should be the assumption. The highest conceivable rise, they estimate, is 6.5 feet.
6.5 feet.. 2 meters in less than 100 years, at the most.
More disturbing changes for Texas, many of the important barrier islands were washed away during Ike, and other natural barriers have also taken a huge hit. This means the next storms will do even greater damage to places further inland, possibly places that are not prepared to deal with flood waters and dangerous winds.
If you read the article for yourself it gets into oxygen levels in the gulf of mexico, which are also a major point of concern. Yet somehow since hurricane ike passed you don’t see the mainstream examining these issues and investigating how the coast is going to be OR not be re-enforced and restored in an environmentally sound way. Much like in Louisiana, once again we are left wondering if there will even be a coastline in 20 years, and why is the federal government not preparing for this reality.
Later this week I’ll be back on this topic, only this time with a focus on the very grim recovery process in Haiti.
After many weeks without a vlog entry, this one was recorded today as I floated through the Oud West. Its short and addresses the recent changes in Zimbabwe where opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has now joined in the government of Robert Mugabe as prime minister. Which begs the question, is this good news? Oh and yes the video at the end comes from the fine people at the guardian.co.uk.
On the surface it is an interview about Tom’s work with Arabic Script. But really, it is about world culture and the effects of the war in Lebanon. I spent a good part of a saturday at his home in Amsterdam where we recorded this program with the focus being on how his interest in Arabic developed. However don’t let the title or my words here fool you, the information and stories contained here go far beyond arabic script and into topics such as the War in Lebanon, Armenians seeking asylum in the Netherlands, writing an Arabic manual for the Dutch military, the orgin of Middle Eastern hospitality, and oh-so much more.
Towards the end of the program we mention the Decotype website where you can click on the presentation and see what we’re talking about.
No matter where I look in the service industry, the Netherlands seems to be lacking workers. Yet at the same time, I can think of many university students who would never take such jobs. I’m also reminded of my fellow university graduates who are seeking work in the field of their studies and would not take up work in a restaurant or a grocery store.
Topics covered:
Texas is of course famous for being huge, but also for having a highly developed coastline and generally a very polluted environment. And one of the changes that is mentioned in the article is the rising sea level, they quote an article in the journal Science:
Video Only Feed
