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Update Ivory Coast: Post-Gbagbo

Just a few weeks ago Pauline was here on the podcast to update us about the violence in Ivory Coast, as Pro-Ouattara (the newly elected president) forces fought against Gbagbo (sitting president who lost the election) forces. As you may recall the danger was so clear and present that she was unable to leave her home and reported that most people were doing the same to avoid the risk of being caught in the cross fire.

Troops — Photo by flickr memeber: cupcaca

Since that report the world has watched as Pro-Ouattara forces overtook the capital and forcibly removed President Gbagbo. While this does mean the new President is finally able to claim the office and get to work, this also means numerous side effects of being in a country where the President, even if he was elected, came to power by using force and violence.

As Pauline reported in her latest post following the ouster of Gbagbo:

“the first signs are not encouraging. Ouattara started off in the worst imaginable conditions, his speeches lack compassion, and his FRCI army bears all the hallmarks of a rebel group. The FRCI is gradually gaining control over the city and seems to hunting for thieves and looters among its ranks. Neighborhood grocer Salif walked to the bakery this morning and was a witness to the execution of four “thugs” in military uniform who were about to drive off in a car without license plates.”

According to the UN High Commission for Refugee’s, over 1 million people have been displaced by the fighting over the past few months. They note the usual needs in such a situation, food and water, but an indicator of just how bad things are, they point out the need for medical assistance for gunshot wounds.

Yet another change of power brought on by violence, showing signs of being as violent as any other government before them.

Art, Genocide, and Handbags

I’ve never been to a court house in the Netherlands, in my 9 years in this country, somehow I never had cause to enter one. After weaving through some of the plethora of government buildings one can find in the Hague, I somehow managed to find the courthouse, though I was somewhat surprised there was no crowd out front. Considering the importance of the case, which features an art student being sued by a multinational corporation for depicting their product in her art, I figured there would be at least a dozen people holding signs outside in support. Silly me, too many hollywood films with people behind police barricades in front of ye olde city courthouse.

I waltzed my way in and navigated my way through very modern hallways, past doors A through G, until I found my destination, court room H. A uniformed cop sat outside the door, the lonely figure in the hallway, fiddling with his phone in silence. I asked if I could go in and he gave a nonchalant nod. As I carefully opened the door I found myself in the audience, creeping quietly to find a seat, being noticed by all among the 15 to 20 people in attendance. I choose a spot by some people scribbling in notepads, “how old fashioned and quaint” I thought to myself in a condescending technologist tone. I looked forward and studied the figures in the front of the medium sized room, 2 judge looking people behind the big desk facing me, 2 lawyers dressed in black robes, one woman standing at the little microphone going over what seems to be a prewritten text, a young bearded man to her left going through pages of notes. Just next to them I see the long blonde hair and nervous look of who I immediately recognize as Nadia Plesner. She looks sad, which is not a surprise considering the magnitude of damages (5,000€ per day since January) she faces. As I look on the left side of the room, opposite the defence, I see the profile of what looks like a very shrewd legal mind, the Louis Vuitton lawyer. Close behind him sit 4 to 5 extremely well dressed, prim and proper individuals. Behind them two ladies are gabbing away into small microphones, I recognize what has to be simultaneous French translation, I presume, for the people back at the home office. The rest of the audience sits quietly, an assorted crew of concerned faces, occasionally shaking their head in disagreement or agreement with a statement that is made up front. Many are wearing little hand written pins with slogans about supporting art, supporting Nadia, and urging “Louis” to lighten up. And finally I notice there behind all of us, taking up the entire back wall of the court room is the subject of all this activity… the painting – Darfurnica.

I happen to be sitting right in front of the image of the boy holding the chihuahua and the luxurious handbag, which I now know is a Louis Vuitton bag. He’s decked out like Paris Hilton, while all around him are conflicting symbols of death and horror in Darfur, and Hollywood gossip-news-images of the rich and famous. In between are images of influential politicians with some role in what happens or does not happen in Sudan. Above it all, the sun, just like in Picasso’s Guernica, only instead of a lightbulb inside the sun, it is the logo of Petro-China, the oil company with the most investment in Sudan.

Just when I thought it wouldn’t get too exciting and that perhaps this would all be very routine until the judge finally makes a decision, the Vuitton lawyer gets his 20 minutes. Pacing around his little podium area, often with his arms folded, with a booming voice he presented a story filled with drama, conspiracies, and even some stern looks-jabs at the “media” in the room . Looking at the judge, even he seemed half fascinated and half bored with the extent to which events can be dramatized.

After long back and forth presentations and a few heated moments (more than 2 hours later), court is adjourned. It is hard to tell what the judge is thinking, but he’s giving both sides a critical look and has reprimanded them all at different times. As everyone files out into the hall, Nadia stays in the courtroom to do an interview with the big Dutch news program. Outside the Vuitton friends are huddled with the lawyer, they’re discussing where to get some drinks before some of them fly off to wherever it is they live. They’re confident but they keep it to themselves, glancing only occasionally at the young people adorned with pins, chatting only a few steps away.

As the corporate lawyer, now dressed in a very nice suit, walks towards the exit, he passes one of the girls with supportive pins. “May I have one as well, I think these are lovely…”, the somewhat surprised and nervous girl takes a step back and holds her bag of pins close.. “No, these are for those who support Nadia. Therefore not you. I think it wouldn’t be right.” Realizing the moment has passed, the lawyer shakes it off like he was only kidding, and walks out the door.

Radioactive Lessons Not Learned

One of the greatest speeches I ever attended that to this day has an immense impact on how I look at the world, was given by Dr. Helen Caldicott at William Paterson University of New Jersey. It was the late 1990’s, I was in the middle of my college career, and I had never heard of this physician and global activist who travelled the world explaining the health effects and health risks posed by radiation from nuclear weapons and power plants.

Shrine near Chernobyl | by flickr member: Pedro Moura Pinheiro

Dr. Caldicott was the first voice in my life to ever speak about the lack of a method for handling deadly nuclear waste which is a by-product of all nuclear power plants. She was the first person to ever talk to me about Yucca mountain, the massive project where the US government planned to bury nuclear waste under ground. Years later the Yucca mountain plan, for many of the reasons Caldicott had been speaking about for more than a decade, was shut down before it ever opened.

Yet as the 2000’s arrived so to did, what many observers and industry lobbyists like to call, the nuclear renaissance. The international dialogue called for clean-green energy and the nuclear guys lined up to be considered in the same non-carbon emitting club as the wind and solar people. Experts and pseudo experts came forward to point out the importance of building a new generation of plants for both generating power as well as replacing old plants seen as increasing safety risks. As the nuclear fan club grew the voices of resistance seemed increasingly muffled and forgotten, the unspeakable horrors of Chernobyl and other accidents were treated as anomalies from the past that could not be repeated.

Then came the most recent earthquake in Japan and the Tsunami that followed, resulting in the massive nuclear accident who’s devastating effects are only in their earliest stages. Suddenly the information about the risks and costs of the world’s reliance on nuclear energy and the underlying quest to go more nuclear came back into question. Highly experienced and well informed voices like those of Helen Caldicott could be heard again, amplified in such a way they had not been for many decades. Yet even now, at another of the world’s darkest hours caused by deadly radiation from a nuclear accident, opinion makers and world leaders still try to push their support for nuclear expansion on the people of the world. Insisting that the effects are small and the risks are minimal, if not worth it.

One such voice is that of George Monbiot, a journalist and commentator who perhaps in your world is not well known, but in some circles is very respected for his work. Despite being a staunch environmentalist, his see’s what has happened in Japan as cause to further support more nuclear power plants. He tries to discredit Helen Caldicott’s message about the dangers of radiation and the impact these accidents have already had on the world. In an even more mind boggling move, he denies the massive numbers of casualties and long term damage done by the Chernobyl accident.

To read the debate or listen to an audio version of it, listen to this episode of democracynow. You can also read the words of Helen Caldicott regarding the insistance that this accident is not so bad and that nuclear energy is not a danger to the planet.

Dangerous Pursuit of Cheap

At this point in my life I am neither young nor old. Im one of those, you know, adults. Whether it seems like long ago or not to you, I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s in the United States, and one thing I remember well, is the pursuit of all things cheap.

Choco Bunny Without a Heart On Sunday’s my suburban New Jersey home would have the Sunday paper at the breakfast table, and at some point someone would go through the coupon section; it seemed only wise to find deals on foods we may or may not want this week. At the supermarket my parents had club cards, because again, if you can save money on whatever item is on special this week, why not do so. In terms of clothes, whether it was through a commercial or word of mouth among the neighbors, when there was a sale on types of clothing we kids might need, off we would go to the big department stores. There is nothing controversial or strange about any of this, it was the way people lived and the way people live even today. Life wasn’t cheap, things were needed, and if you could get things for cheaper, you would absolutely do it. You’d even tell of your exploits proudly to anyone who would listen, “I found socks on sale at so and so store.. I bought the boys 2 pairs for school.”

My story may have taken place in the US, but the reality is that variations on this theme have been playing out throughout the world for the better part of the last century. Even before that, if you look back in history, the practice of trying to find cheaper ways to acquire things we need or think we need, has led to the rise and fall of nations, not to mention war, peace, and a never-ending list of historical events. Again, there is seemingly nothing to question here.

Fast Forward to today, I’m sitting on an Easyjet flight from Amsterdam to Madrid where I will spend a few days exploring, learning, and enjoying myself. The flight is cheaper than most, and when you look closely you see how the company saves. Less staff, less services, many extra costs, rapid turn-over. And voila, millions of people who perhaps would not have flown otherwise or who needed to fly to this destination, are now flying with this low cost company. Elsewhere someone buys a new computer, among other reasons for choosing this specific model, because it is priced so low. Even if that computer is broken within 2 years, it was purchased at such a low price, this is now acceptable. Getting back to the supermarket, someone buys the bundle of bananas from the big fruit producing company; They look good, they taste pretty good, and they don’t cost much. Like the airlines and the computer, there are reasons for this price, but in that moment and the short term period after purchasing, none of these reasons matter as much as the fact that you’re paying a low price.

This is only the beginning of the discussion you may occasionally have among friends these days. It may also be the beginning of a discussion you have no desire to have. It is too complicated, too difficult to do anything about, and it sounds like the answer involves you having to spend more money… money you don’t have anyway. It goes counter to how we were raised, how people have lived for generations, and how we live our lives going forward.

So for now, I will stop here. With this coarse, simple attempt at an explanation of the world we have been living in, the world where – above all the other information surrounding how we get what we need – getting it cheap is the most vital aspect. The pursuit of cheap is the way of the world, and suggesting there might be a problem with that is an irritating bourgeois or a hippy way of thinking that no rational working person is going to sit around thinking about.

bmtv124 La Tabacalera, Madrid

La Tabacalera de Lavapies has long been important site for both workers and the community around it in Madrid. So when it stopped being a factory, members of the community occupied the building and started developing social services, education, arts, gardens, eating establishments and an ever expanding list of features all housed within this large complex. The following is a brief video tour of what I saw during my few hours at La Tabacalera, an intoxicating and exciting place for anyone interested in informal, not for profit, community spaces.

Guardian Piece on Sousa Mendes

Today my piece on visiting the Casa do Passal and the Legacy of Sousa Aristides de Sousa Mendes was published on the Guardian CiF. It looks at the failure to truly honor his memory as well as how even today there are those with the power to decide to break a rule or a law to save lives. Here’s an excerpt, please click the link to read the whole thing:

“So you’ve seen our shame, our disgrace?” Those were the first words from an older gentleman wearing a sash along the parade route. It is carnival in Cabanas de Viriato, the ancestral home of Portuguese second world war hero Aristides de Sousa Mendes, and I’m walking alongside Francisco Antonio Campos, director of the local philharmonic.

He sounds frustrated as he stares in any direction to avoid looking at theghastly abandoned mansion looming over us in the town square. More than 70 years since Sousa Mendes, a diplomat assigned to the consulate in Bordeaux, saved over 30,000 people from the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, his story remains largely unknown and his majestic home, Casa do Passal, is falling to pieces.

Abandoned Casa do Passal — Casa do Passal, What is left of it.

Note: For those in the NYC/Long Island area, there is a special event being put on by the Sousa Mendes Foundation on Saturday in Mineola. Full details here.