June 2009 – Citizen Reporter

Us vs Them Splits

Painting my part of the house we call the politburo, I’m listening to the most recent edition of Radio Open Source. Chris’s guest, investor, teacher, writer and sometimes politcian Juan Enriquez, touches on a topic that has been playing back in my head all weekend: The Us vs. Them mentality.

The topic comes about 14 minutes into the interview, where Juan starts on about how the US could easily expand to 55 states. He points to situations around the world like Catalunya or the Basque region in Spain, Scotland or Wales in the UK, Flanders and Wallonia in Belgium, etc.? Examples of places where regions are calling for more Continue reading “Us vs Them Splits”

Flying Blind

When the Obama Administration took over in January, along with a few new faces in the US congress, there were sure to be changes in how the government does business. Soon after, Defense Secretary Gates, kept on by Obama despite being a Bush appointee, presented a proposed defense budget that called for cutting back on some programs. (programs, not necessarily military spending, that remains higher than anytime in history) The proposal got some press as it called for cutting things like missile defense, C-17 cargo planes, and the F-22 program.? The main point of this move was to scale back or cut extremely expensive programs who’s goals are purposes never really materialized.?? It wasn’t the reduced military spending overall that alot of people who voted for change had hoped for, but it was a small step towards reigning in a government that spends record shattering amounts in the name of defending the homeland.

Then came the month of June and statements byContinue reading “Flying Blind”

The Foreign Correspondent

Perhaps fitting that during my return from Slovakia yesterday, I had the Current Podcast playing an episode that examined the career of journalist Joe Schlesinger. Joe was born in Bratislava, on one of the streets that I’ve been walking for the past five days. He was and is the epitome of the foreign correspondent, with that tone of voice and cadence that just naturally makes you listen. He reported from war zones throughout the world, and places that at the time, few people had ever heard from.

By the end of the interview Anna-Maria asks Joe what he thinks about journalism now as compared to then. Despite beingContinue reading “The Foreign Correspondent”

On the EU Elections

I wrote a piece for the Guardian on the Dutch vote during last week’s European Parliamentary elections. Here’s an excerpt:

The headlines on Friday morning in Amsterdam looked not unlike those in the international press around the world: “Far right wins big in Holland”. This was followed by a few paragraphs of analysis, or at least background as to why a leader who says he won’t even show up for work if he is elected could progress in a party in a country that some people still consider as a beacon of open-mindedness.

Yet no matter how big the font or how many exclamation points they use, the power of the far-right voters in the Netherlands is not the only development in 2009. What failed to get much more than a two-line afterthought in all these reports over the weekend is that the Freedom party (PVV) was not the only party to have made gains for the Dutch. Among them, the D66, a progressive-liberal party that has historically championed issues like gay marriage, euthanasia, legalised prostitution and the decriminalisation of drugs, also gained seats. While the PVVContinue reading “On the EU Elections”

Unimportance of Borders

“When I was a kid, we arrived at this border, on our way from Austria to Slovakia (Czechoslovakia) and we would have to stand at this border sometimes from 24 hours.? They would search every inch of our car, ask questions, and we would be here for ages.”

D tells me this as we drive back from a day trip to Austria today, as we drive past dozens of dusty, abandoned booths and buildings. The sign reads “Slovakia” with the EU blue around it, and the speed limit through the mess of former guard posts reads “40”.? In less then 2 minutes we’re back to regular speed, back in Slovakia, and over a border that when it comes down to it, no longer exists.? And although plenty of people young and old have stories of how the border crossing used to be, you can bet they would all think it insane toContinue reading “Unimportance of Borders”

Mobile StoryCorps

You’ve heard me mention one of my top 5 programs to listen to, NPR’s StoryCorps podcast. Today I listened to a beautiful edition of the program dedicated to letting individuals and pairs of people tell their stories to us the public and to each other.? This particular edition featured, in part 1 – A mother who served in the US military in Iraq speaking to her young daughter about what it was like when she was away. In part 2 – Two prisoners telling how they feel about their families and their time in prison. Talking about what they miss most from the outside.

Now besides recommending you hear these beautiful and gut wrenching stories, I would also recommend you support the StoryCorps Mobile Tour.? The program has long been great, but being able to hear, for example, prisoners reflect on what their lives are like and how they see the world since being behind bars… that is a rare oppertunity and worth supporting. But getting the recording booths into the prisons requires funds, and thats what I hope they manage to raise. Take a second and click over to their site, consider supporting the mission.