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bm110 GI Joan on the Military, Iraq, Disaster Recovery, and Powerlessness

Following the interview a few weeks ago with GI Jane, GI Joan contacted me to express how she saw things as a national guard soldier who joined prior to Sept. 11th. In this interview we talk about her view of the military, the invasion of Iraq, the government, her experience helping with hurricane recovery, and the power (or lack there of) that civilians have in the grand scheme of things.

AudioCommunique #110 (mp3)

Additional Links:

ANSWER coalition Demonstrations Worldwide March 18-20
Lisbon area listeners can meet me for a drink on Sunday night March 12th, 21h, at O’Guillen’s Pub in Cais do Sodré. (assuming its still opened on Sunday night, I forget.. best to just email me.)

Music:

Joan Baez – One Tin Soldier
Bjork – Army of Me
Bonus Audio After I say Goodbye – Proof of Negligence

UnCivil War and the American Public

Public opinion oh public opinion…. so often I find the significance public opinion to be one of the worst side effects of this era of alleged instantenous communication.

Not to undermine the importance of people’s thoughts, experiences, and ideas… those things are fundamentally of interest and should ideally – be shared. But often times I look at public opinion reports, consider the kinds of initiatives different publics have supported throughout history, and I start to think – why the hell should we trust what is called “public opinion”? Seems like more often the public has behaved like an angry and fickle mob, who will support some very violent or irrational practices and then change their minds a year later, only to change their minds again sometime later. And what contributes to such poor judgement and dangerous behavior? – Misinformation. Poorly educated – or rather – educated in such a way that their world view is skewed to be based on half-truths and nationalistic revisions of history.

I bring this up because lately I see the news stories and blog posts about the American public opinion regarding the occupation of Iraq. I see them all the time on blogs like Americablog and Talkleft – pointing out the lack of support the government has from its citizens on this issue.
Granted – this matters in this type of democracy, especially when an election is coming up. But what strikes me is the idea that this opinion is a good barometer to measure what is happenning in Iraq. It almost assumes that the American public is very in tune with what is REALLY going on in that country. This, in turn, suggestions that the more popular sources – CNN, FOXnews, NYTimes (less popular than the first two obviously) – that they provide enough information for the viewing public to make a proper evaluation. Which at a certain level, I do not agree with.

Some will say it’s very Machiavelli of me, to distrust the public. But I am one of the public, and one thing I know for sure, is that the basic education combined with the dominant media outlets, did not give me the critical tools and a broad world view, which would allow me to see world events unfold through a wider and more informed lense. That ability came from other sources, university professors, people in my life, the internet, life experience abroad… not the typical education the average person can afford or will seek. Which means although I respect collective action and social consciousness, I refuse to accept “public opinion” as a reliable measure of how foreign policy should be carried out. That may not add up within the American political system, but that is my personal opinion.

That being said – there are voices that have proven themselves more qualified over the years, especially as first hand observers of the events as they unfold. And one major source for me regarding Iraq observations, over the past 3 years, has been Chris Albritton at Back-to-Iraq. And indeed – he has described the situation as a medium-grade civil war. Similar observations have been made by a man who’s been at the epicentre for years – Robert Fisk. And then I look to infrequent bloggers like Dear Baghdad, and I get another clue to what’s going on.

Anyway all this to simply say – public opinion polls are nice and important in the foggy context of american politics. It is also nice, but somewhat wishful, to think that the American public is just now waking up from a deep sleep, and seeing things more clearly. But do I actually trust the opinion of the american public when I look back over the past 6 years? Hell no.

Vlogs that challenge, not just entertain

I realize that many internauts still haven’t gotten into videoblogs. Some believe they take up to much time and too much of one’s attention. (both audio and visual) Others believe they don’t cover anything of interest. Still, I believe it just takes time for the critics to realize the value and the wealth of entertainment, knowledge, and creativity that can be found through the magic of vlogs.

Of course, just like with blogs and podcasts, you have an abundance, nee, an over-abundance of tech related or generall fluff video blogs, like the most popular Rocketboom. Now I watch RB and I give them lots of respect for what they do, but my number one criticism is that they don’t really challenge the audience or address social issues. Once in a blue moon you’ve a report from “africa”, in between all the funny websites and gadgets that apparently the audience goes nuts for.

As a result of this desire to watch vlogs that report about the world and what’s happening to different populations of the world, I recently went on a quest to find vlogs that concern themselves with social justice, poverty, and well – real life problems. Interestingly the two best ones that I have found and am now subscribed to (in my fireant, the best program for watching vlogs) are: Sierra Club TV – Their latest special about Cordova, Alaska and what has happenned to the Prince William Sound since the Exxon spill is nothing less than gripping… frustrating.. something that every high school student should have to watch.

My other recommendation, though not as good, is UNICEF TV, videos from different parts of the world where UNICEF is working to help children in need.

And since Im recommending stuff, let me just highly recommend that you NOT just click on those sites and look, but you actually subscribe to those video feeds using itunes or fireant or whatever program of choice… it’s a much better way to stay informed and better use of your time.

bm109 Ivory Coast, The Forgotten Struggle

Once hailed by some as the economic miracle of west Africa, Ivory Coast has been in a tailspin of political instability, economic dowturn, and de-facto civil war for the past 5 years. Now the clock is ticking, while the UN and France stand guard, for a new peace agreement to take shape and the road to recovery to begin. International journalist Pauline Bax joins me direct from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to discuss what is happenning there, how it got to this point, and what might happen next.

AudioCommunique #109 (mp3)

Music Includes:

Cheikh Lo – Boul di Tagale
Petit Denis – Insecurite

Paper Mills and Border Troubles

It’s always curious to hear about border disputes in South America where I tend to assume they’ve lived next to each other long enough to have nothing to fight over when it comes to borders. I had already heard about Peru and Chilé having issues. But today I’ve been reading up in both the Argentinian Clarín newspaper and on the BBC about the struggle between Argentina and Uruguay over the building of paper mills along the border.

Actually the conflict involves two more important actors: Greenpeace and a Finnish paper company. The company is building two paper mills along the river that separates the two countries. The Uruguayan government talks highly of the jobs and benefits, the Argentinian government says they will take them to the international court for violating treaties, while many people, including greenpeace, are against the building of the mills as they will pollute the river. (because paper mills are, in fact, well known polluters!)

Naturally being the activist and the lover of the earth that I am, I admire the Argentinians who are taking direct action, and peacefully blocking the roads, to prevent trucks from bringing building materials into the area. Meanwhile Greenpeace is doing what they are famous for and never ceases to impress me, putting themselves between the ships and the construction.

It will be interesting to see what happens, Greenpeace has had alot of success recently as they helped pressure the French government to recall their asbestos ship from being sent to be taken apart in India. With the support of the Argentinian government and international law, we may just see a little environmental justice on this one.

A-Ren Development Log

It has been quite some time since I last wrote about the cross-atlantic star of my family; the champion of potty training; the sultan of using sticks to drum on things; my toddler nephew who will one day read this weblog and laugh: A-Ren.

Mom told me to go check out the private photo stash online, and what followed was a mix of uncontrollable smiling and near tears of joy at seeing how our boy has changed since I last saw him in December. He’s using one of those toddler poty things and sitting on the bowl while reading the latest issue of the NATION no doubt. Or maybe it’s muppet nation… also an under-rated publication.

The best is hearing my mom and dad describe all his latest phrases and to-cute-to-be-legal reactions to situations. (you can bet my brother has tons of these) Apparently the other morning, grandpa the babysitter was sitting at the kitchen table with an orange, apple, kiwi, and a banana, and the two were eying them carefully. Eventually the elder Rendeiro would hold up the orange and ask his understudy – what’s this? (or sometimes, como é que se chama) to which A-Ren eagerly responds ORANGE! Being the next generation of billingualists in the family, he frequently responds in Portuguese too.

As the absentee virtual uncle, I did what any good uncle would do. I started plotting a last minute trip to the US which I neither have time for nor can I afford. I got over it soonafter, hence this post.

A-Ren if you’re reading this and it’s the year 2011, this is just a little reminder of the wonders of your development as a unique and special human being, who will no doubt save the earth like Flash Gordon did back in the 80’s. If you’ve no idea who that is, look up the band Queen and give them a listen… just don’t tell your friends.

Hmm, I got derailed. I think that’s it for this A-Ren development report. The overall evaluation gets an A for Adorable. Oh and I know it’s shallow, but I’ve seen lots of my own baby pictures, and he looks like me with blonde hair. If he starts asking about Wi-Fi and recording audio, lookout world.