I was particularly excited and proud to have seen video footage (included in this video entry) from the school I graduated from in 2001, William Paterson University of New Jersey.  As you can see from the images, that spirit of resistance and dedication to a cause is alive and well at my alma mater. It is particularly wonderful to see the familiar faces and hear the passionate voices of faculty members who played and continue to play a big role in helping me find my voice and choose my path as an activist-journalist.

Instead of trying to further explain it, I’ll end on a lighter note, with a video of me being remixed by my good friend and videoblog veteran Raymond who was in town from Norway.

Although GMO crops have only been in use for about a decade, the  report looks at this decade in terms of yield/production  as well as the impact these crops have had on the environment. The results, as you can read and hear about, are poor for a technology that is supposed to save the world from hunger. In fact, it turns out there are a few other methods that have proven far more productive than genetically modified crops.

In this video entry I go over the biggest conclusions of the report. I recommend you also have a look for yourself, don’t just take my word for it.

It has been more than a month since CurrentTV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were detained by North Korean authorities on the China-North Korea border. Yet relatively little has been made public about what their status is as well as what the US government or their media corporation is doing to ensure their fast and safe release. If convicted of the crime of entering the country illegally, they face something between 5 and 10 years in a North Korean prison. The following video entry explains the situation.

(click play on the viewer or the link below)

References in this video include:

Huffington Post on Laura Ling and Euna Lee’s arrest.

Reporters Without Borders

(click on the player on the right or the link below)

This video entry was inspired partly by that edition of This American Life that Ive so often referred to in the last month. Its also inspired by economist and professor David Beim who has pointed to the fact that in the US the amount of GDP is now equal to the amount of public debt. Last time that happenned, 1929. Moreover he calls into question something the mainstream media isn’t willing to do, our way of life.  This way of life that call for more borrowing, spending money you don’t have, and gambling with other people’s money.  Tough questions that would force people to look at both themselves and the larger system that we’ve been taught is the only way to live by.

So here’s the video, just a citizen reporter on the internets, looking at data and being critical.

Note: As mentioned in the vlog entry, I’ll be returning to Istanbul in April to work on more content relating to press freedom, alternative media, and other quality of life related topics.

The Banana Book, by Dan Koeppel, has arrived here at the politburo. The book that looks at the secrets and controversial history of the banana. How its farmed, how it finds its way to our kitchen, and more.

Also I mention another book I just picked up, and a little on the new camera I traded-up for, the very affordable Kodak Zi6.

I’m not embedding the player on this post, just use the player at the top right of the blog or click on the direct link icon.

Note: Full credit to the 25C3 video team who put out this video and I then chopped it up into this. Thanks my friends.

For your viewing pleasure, perhaps, I offer you video of my GMO soy talk at the 25C3. It is choc-full of jokes that no one laughs at, technical mishaps, and me waving my arms around like a madman.  You can see it on archive on their flashplayer or just scroll down on that site and click on the mp4.  I don’t want to direct link to the file or everyone’s portable player will have a very large file for downloading. If 45 minutes is too long for you, I will release an 8 minute highlight reel as a video entry this week.

The Wire gives alot of great examples of the type of behavior and power struggles that take place in all levels of life.  In this video, I look at 2 particular Wire characters and who they represent, and juxtapose that with what is happening in the middle east. Yes, Im serious.

Especially pre-occupied with non citizenreporter work this week, which means not much time to put anything big together. But in about 2 weeks there will be a referendum in and about Greenland, and I’m interested in the outcome of that.  Here are a few notes about it, using wikipedia.

(woops, technical issue fixed. enclosure problem)

Being at the 4th annual vlog europe, an interesting and relaxed conference I’ve had the pleasure of attending since the first edition in Amsterdam, is always a great source of inspiration and affirmation of how far we’ve come as a community. The highlight of the conference had to have been the global online meeting where vloggers on 3 continents took turns speaking about their projects, their successes, their failures, the situation in various parts of the world, and of course – cracking some jokes.

Back to regular programming tomorrow.

Attention all who are concerned with voter fraud and/or New Jerseans: this video involves you.  IF you want your vote counted this election, you’re going to have to you absentee ballots. The voting computers they use throughout the state, especially those in Union County, have not met necessary requirements. Your vote may or may not count if you use them.  To quote the Joanne Rajoppi, Union County Clerk, “seriously consider” using absentee ballots.

Watch this video for more details, YES it is out of sync.. my computer was doing too many things at once, time for a memory upgrade.

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.

Eating green bean soup (made my mom’s style) and discussing Barcamp Munich in October, VlogEurope Budapest in November, and the larger issue of California’s Agriculture ceasing to produce significantly in the coming decades. That according to several reports about the environmental impacts of the large scale farming going on in certain regions of CA, as well as the global food market which will leave the state an unviable place in terms of costs and profit.  But this is just the initial glance, more research and reporting to come…