bicyclemark

How High’s The Water

As I got on the international train from Brussels to Amsterdam, I knew it would be packed and bursting at the seams with people returning home from their weekend in Belgium. And this day was no different, with people huddling in the space between train cars, struggling to find a spot just to stand and read their magazines in peace.

I’m an international train veteran, so I used my secret methods for getting myself a seat. And as luck would have it, the person sitting next to me was a gentleman heading to the Hague on business. Not just any business… urban planning to deal with rising water levels! Who did he work for, as I surely asked, the government of London!

Amazingly before I knew any of this, we started chatting casually in between his soduku and my final chapters of 4th of July, Asbury Park. He was asking about the train, and what time it actually arrives in the Hague. It eventually evolved in how the city is layed out, and more generally, the ol’ “how the dutch have built the country in unorthodox ways.” We spoke of the taking land from the sea and building below sea level. And it was right around there where he smiled and said “Enjoy while you can, because things will certainly change.” And right there we got into the rising sea levels and the struggle to keep water out; he then explaining what he was doing for the city government of London.

Among the interesting things he pointed out to me, were the cases of London as well as New York City, both of whom are in need of plans to deal with sea levels that are definitely rising. Apparently his work was to address the problem for his city’s context. And I wondered aloud about what New York City could possibly do to protect against water rising up and swallowing its streets.

He wasn’t big in offering me solutions. It was, as he said, the purpose of his meetings in places like the Hague. I asked if he would be heading to New Orleans, he said he very much wanted to:

“That’s really what the future is about… mass movement of people, away from situations where they must leave in order to survive. Cities must all get into planning for it… how and where to move mass amounts of their populations.”

Eventually we got to the Hague and he wished me goodluck with my journalism endeavors.

When I got home I went right to my boat and started taking the water out of it.

Heading North Thru BENELUX

Few words today, it’s sunday and I’m catching up on the American Football.

Eventful train ride back from Brussels, which I’ll talk about tomorrow. During the ride I heard all about how Ed Bradley (of 60 mnutes) had died. Very sad to hear it… he was my favorite reporter on that program. Television news needed him.. the public needed him… out of all the old people working on the program, hadn’t figured he would go anytime soon. Thanks for your work Ed… made a difference in my life.

Blogging and Friendship

Couldn’t sleep last night. And I don’t sleep much at night anymore since crossing over into the world of freelancing. A mix of too many things on my mind and too many concerns about what the future will hold and how life will be.

But last night there was one fundamental reason: my best friend.

We used to call each other “my heterosexual life partner” because ever since our first year of college up in North Jersey, that’s how it was. As we progressed through college we both found ourselves knee deep in the political science department, both admiring similar professors and strategically ending up in the same classes. It used to be my task to bring candy just in case the man needed a little boost during class. And as those years progressed, we always lived somewhere near each other.. on campus, off campus, never a dull moment with my boy D.

As college came to end we both went to europe for a semester. Him, interestingly enough to Amsterdam, and myself down in Aix-en-Provence. Naturally we visited each other and took turns showing our respective international student worlds. Not soon after we both finished our student life in New Jersey and the man ended up working for a very prominent human rights organization in DC. Myself I worked as a waiter in NYC, with aspirations of either being a freelancer for the then-still-alternative Voice or flat out taking off to live in Portugal. Portugal won that contest.

It was around that time, 2001/2002 that I launched this here blog. It was a place for my opinions on current events, as well as for telling personal stories… like this one. And underneath it all, it was the perfect way to continue the daily conversations and debates that D and I always ~~had~~ have. In a time when no one had heard of a blog and certainly not this one, he was there commenting… sometimes the only one.. and in my eyes the most important one anyway. Years went by.. and this blog changed.. I changed.. moved to Amsterdam.. and he also made big changes.. climbing the DC non governmental ladder (or thats how I saw it). Every year I’d go back to Jersey…. and he’d offer to pay my ticket for me to come down to DC and spend some days with him. And so it has been.. year after year.

But last night threw me off.. tho perhaps I should have been more aware of things. As lately I’ve been attacking those that celebrate the results of the recent US elections. I try very hard to stick to very strict expectations for the country of my birth, obviously you’ve noticed that I hate stopping to celebrate anything when in my eyes.. things are so disappointingly far behind where they could and should be. Somewhere in there I forgot some things.. most importantly my buddy who has been working very hard on a campaign in Virginia. Yesterday it was finally announced the candidate for which he had worked so hard for had won. And here I was, making my heavy statements, denouncing the entire outcome… I hadn’t (and should have) considered that in doing so I was insulting his hard work. It’s easy to insult strangers in vague sweeping statements, and I certainly do it, but last night I got to thinking about D and what Id been saying lately. Nevermind arguements and values and words… I was utterly depressed to read the angry and condemning words of the man I still think of as my partner in this life.

So here I sit in Brussels. Took the long train ride to come see family and feel loved… because I was hoping to find answers or at least clear my head. But I couldn’t NOT write these thoughts and these feelings. If you read the comments yesterday than you’ll see the statement that he won’t be reading this anymore. I don’t know if its a coincidence but he hasn’t responded to any emails either. While I can picture him yelling at me for writing this and being so dramatic… I’m willing to take that risk just to have this out there and stated.

Having already said too much Ill stop here. The point of this is not to make someone like me more than him, or justify anything Ive done. The point is for me to write how sad I am because I may have just alienated one of my oldest friends and a constant source of inspiration.

bmtv26 Time Will Tell

Click To Play

A Statement for my videoblog regarding the recent voting results. Normally I would have deleted it because I find it less than interesting. But Im tired and spent too much time putting it together to destroy it now.

A Media Pact

First of all, I hereby promise that this will be the last post this week related to US congressional elections and US politics. Not because I’m one of those “lets not talk politics, it makes everyone upset” people… but rather because on this blog, I value the fact that the world is larger than just one country… plus its a personal blog.. so I could surely tell a story or two of interesting cultural learnings for make benefit of great internet.

Most of you probably don’t watch GW Bush press conferences. This because you value your mental health, time, ears, and intelligence. Watching him speak has been proven to put any of these at risk.
But I live in Amsterdam and things here are always in some sort of twilight zone, so I watch the press conferences… I guess because everyone has an unhealthy passtime.

So what I notice tonight, more than ever, is that exactly at a moment where the press should be asking tough questions and making this man explain all his vague promises and preminitions when it comes to the election, national issues, and the ever-so-vague “finish the mission” talk about Iraq…. instead of pressuring him to actually answer what the hell he has planned, they do the exact opposite. Throw the man softballs… and worst of all… and this one almost made me spit up my dinner all over innocent roomate: they joke with him!

Now I know some us like to joke on the job… hell I did.. when I had a job. But the relationship between media and president is not one of colleagues. They are monitors. Their role is to ensure he is doing his job, as leader of the country, properly and not misrepresenting or adopting policies that could prove detrimental. You know.. like sending thousands of people to their deaths.. that kind of thing.

A Media with such a role; acting as the fourth estate of checks and balances, would not be a media that shares inside jokes and winks and nudges with the president. They wouldn’t further allow the president to avoid doing his job or facing criticism by laughing at his jokes and responding with more jokes. That wouldn’t work very well, if they are to be a critical force that the president takes seriously.

But the fact is… they do this. They laugh it up. He calls them by their first names. He probably buys them booze, drugs, and sex like Nixon used to do for his campaign press.

My thought after once again seeing this sick and useless relationship… is an idea. A pact, if you will. The entire white house press core should take this oath.. make this pact.. for the good of the nation and to properly due their job as the fourth estate: promise to never ever laugh at the presidents’ joke during a press conference or an interview. Sure he’ll tell them often.. trying to avoid producing answers or revealing his dark secrets.. but the press should keep to this strict rule… and there should be dead silence anytime he tells one of his one line zingers. Dead silence! And wait for the president to answer the question.. or keep asking the same question if he tries to move on.

In my little imagination I can see it now… the great media stonewall… no more kidding around and laughing it up. Just watchdogs.. reporters… investigators.. who can joke around once the job is done and the president has gone back to his lonely corner.

Thats what I’d like. Just a little wish.

(If you seek post-election analysis not from the mainstream.. don’t look to me.. consult Liberty Cap)

Destroy a Voting Machine for Christ

Did you vote already today?

Sucker. That machine didn’t record your vote.

But hey, I don’t blame you for trying.

They should crunch some numbers and come up with a statistic: what percentage of cast votes are actually counted?

I sent ace reporter, recently laid off from CNN, innappropriate Brian to the polls with a camera only a few minutes ago. And as he is a great journalist with a terrible camera eye, and I think he was worried he’d get arrested, he came through with this picture. If it were at all in focus, you could see Hillary Rottenham Clinton, supporter of all illegal wars and corporate welfare, located right there on the ballot. And get a load of that machine… it is wacky.

Good luck out there voting citizens. Buy a pint of ice cream on the way home, sit in front of the TV and watch something you left on TIVO. Because it is going to be a bumpy ride once the republicrats take over the government they already control.

Ugh.. I sound all sarcastic and uppity. Maybe I should get back to world news and personal stories.

UPDATE: I’m picking up voter irregularity stories from around New Jersey; Patterson, Newark especially. The awful truth is hard to surpress.