bm105 Health vs Jobs in Western India

In the town of Alang, in the state of Gujarat, India, the ship breaking industry once accounted for half of all the world’s ships that are broken down. It was also once a clean and beautiful beach. Neither is exactly true anymore, and the case of the Clemenceau may become the watershed moment in the history of Alang. Blogger and author Dilip D’Souza of the blog Death Ends Fun talks about his visit to the town and his analysis of what is going on and what the future holds for the workers, the community, and their environment.

AudioCommunique #105 (mp3)

Music:

Dropkick Murphys – Boys on the Docks
Coralie Clement – Indecise
Phil Ochs – Pleasures of the Harbor
Bright Eyes – Ship in a bottle

bm104 Cheney’s Cronies

This is a very sloppy background into who Cheney was hunting with and what connections they have and the ethical questions involved. Also it’s an analysis of how the press has focused on the talking points and the smaller points instead of asking hard questions about how Cheney hides things from the public and illegally secures contracts and jobs for his friends.

AudioCommunique #104 (mp3)

Discussed:

This didn’t turn out as I intended.. hard to draw conclusions
White House Press is putting pressure but on the wrong issues
Hilarious Press conference on the shooting
Who are the members of the VP’s hunting club… and who are they connected to
The question of Halliburton

A brief message and song in memory of Gussie

Music:

Gil Scott-Heron – WashingtonDC
Jurassic 5 – High Fidelity
Warren Zevon – Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Billy Bragg – Red Flag
Clash – Im so bored with the USA
Death Cab for Cutie – What Sarah Said

show on the ship breaking industry of India, this weekend…

First World Garbage

Fighting off a fever, I’ve been researching what is rarely discussed yet a huge issue in the world. Where do all those first world ships; cruise liners, war ships, etc., where do they go when they’re too old?

Perhaps you’ve never thought about it. Maybe you’ve even sailed on one of those mickey mouse cruises, and while playing shuffle board the thought of one day having to dispose of this ship never crossed your mind. But it has to be done. And worst of all, lots of these ships leave a very dirty and dangerous legacy.

I’m still doing prelimenary research for my podcast on this subject, but one important place to start with is Alang, India. This is a place where breaking down ships is a big industry. And unfortanately as a side effect, workers have to endure some very dangerous factors, like asbestos or whatever chemicals they’re exposed to from these ships. And of course, not only are the workers in danger, but the environment and the community as well. But there you have it, that is their major industry, send your rust buckets from the first world, and they will break them down, with minimal questions.

But then there’s the Clemenceau, a former french warship filled with a uncertain quantity of asbestos. And there are treaties that say you can’t transport toxins from France to a developing nation. And the supreme court of India now wants some answers and so does greenpeace. Lots of interests collide on this one. No clear answers. My biggest question is – are we now building boats that won’t destroy the planet and it’s people when it comes time to break them down?

More in an upcoming podcast…

Crazy Paths That Often Cross

I haven’t been talking about the meetings, the observations, and the thoughts, Ive been having since being back in New Jersey. Mostly because days melt into days and like some kind of battery-recharging, I don’t tend to do much with my time here, besides read blogs, play with the A-Ren, and take care of xmas shopping.

However last night was one of those great meetups, the kind that I look forward to long before making the trip out here. As you may have read elsewhere, I had dinner in the East Village with Ms. Thingk and Jamie of the Known Universe. I’ve been saying those two names alot lately, perhaps because they are great friends with whom I’ve always felt at ease around, or maybe because they both live in Brooklyn and can easily meet up with me at say, the Starbucks at Cooper Square.

And just as I had anticipated, it was pure joy to be around them again. Ms Thingk who I had met in the fishtank at the U of Amsterdam, with whom I had so often explored Amsterdam with and blogged about our adventures. After her wonderful adventures in DC, it is fun and almost fitting to watch her progress as a New Yorker. Jamie who I somehow met through bloggging and blog comments, who later came to Amsterdam and I remember sitting with him in my living room (one of my old living rooms) drinking Scotch and talking about his friend who was travelling to India. He handed me a copy of his book last night, and I haven’t been able to put it down since.

The three of us ate our Moroccan dinner and then proceeded to start taking photos of each other – obviously for our blogs. I recorded some audio but have decided some things are not meant to be shared. That and I messed up the volume level pretty bad. No matter – it was good to be back in the neighborhood that used to greet me every morning, and it was even greater to see good friends with whom I share so much in common.

bicyclemark85: CIA Prisons and Torture Airlines

Radio Journalist and Blogger Peter Gentle joins me from Warsaw, to discuss the talk about CIA gulags and where these prisons might and might not be. We also get into the role of Europe has a landing pad for the torture flights, etc.

AudioCommunique #85(mp3)
31min+, 80kbps, 17Mb+

Discussed:

The Beatroot – blogjournalism
Radio Polonia
unnamed sources and the washingtonpost
Not in Poland, but could be anywhere – especially Baku
torture flights
EU will try to do something, but will it result?
Poland’s Role in the War and their Dependency on the US
Intolerance for freedom and openess at home vs. tolerance for torture and killing abroad

oh and I recommended Saskia Nation and Radio Clash – the Anniversary Show

Music:

Outlandish – Guantamo
Boards of Canada – (some background tune)
Jets to Brazil – air traffic control
Vinicius Cantuaria – India

the People’s Space Program

It has been a while since I’ve talked about space programs, especially those non-American ones. Some of you may recall that I’m a huge fan of the space programs belonging to the European Union, India, Japan, Brazil, and of course – China. This because NASA has proven over the last decades that they’re basically the bitches of the military industrial complex and not interested in exploration and science. (not including the science of killing or spying)

So of course I must express excitement at the fact that yesterday the second Chinese space mission ever was launched. Two Chinese “taikonauts” are now in Orbit, and will remain there for a few days.

Naturally all these countries I listed might also use their space programs for military purposes, like the US. But at the very least, my hope is that the more nations that go into space – especially old wise ones – the greater the chance we will finally make some faster and larger advances in exploring the universe.

Oh and of course, a great source for space info and one my favorite left coast bloggers – the space tramp – is also a good read.