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West Papua Research

The last week I’ve seen the small articles appearing in different corners of the internet.? A few emails from friends who work on the issue.? Word was that the Indonesian military was going into West Papua and rounding up the opposition, burning down homes, and generally terrorizing the population. It isn’t the first time that they’ve done this, but the reports were enough to convince me its time to try and shed more light on what is going on.

So slowly I’ve been collecting these articles. Looking into West Papuans who have gone into exile in different corners of the world, getting in touch with them to hear what information they’ve been receiving.? I’ve also been looking into the history of the region, going back to its days as a Dutch colonyContinue reading “West Papua Research”

Numbers Reminder

Us vs Them Splits

Painting my part of the house we call the politburo, I’m listening to the most recent edition of Radio Open Source. Chris’s guest, investor, teacher, writer and sometimes politcian Juan Enriquez, touches on a topic that has been playing back in my head all weekend: The Us vs. Them mentality.

The topic comes about 14 minutes into the interview, where Juan starts on about how the US could easily expand to 55 states. He points to situations around the world like Catalunya or the Basque region in Spain, Scotland or Wales in the UK, Flanders and Wallonia in Belgium, etc.? Examples of places where regions are calling for more Continue reading “Us vs Them Splits”

Flying Blind

When the Obama Administration took over in January, along with a few new faces in the US congress, there were sure to be changes in how the government does business. Soon after, Defense Secretary Gates, kept on by Obama despite being a Bush appointee, presented a proposed defense budget that called for cutting back on some programs. (programs, not necessarily military spending, that remains higher than anytime in history) The proposal got some press as it called for cutting things like missile defense, C-17 cargo planes, and the F-22 program.? The main point of this move was to scale back or cut extremely expensive programs who’s goals are purposes never really materialized.?? It wasn’t the reduced military spending overall that alot of people who voted for change had hoped for, but it was a small step towards reigning in a government that spends record shattering amounts in the name of defending the homeland.

Then came the month of June and statements byContinue reading “Flying Blind”

The Foreign Correspondent

Perhaps fitting that during my return from Slovakia yesterday, I had the Current Podcast playing an episode that examined the career of journalist Joe Schlesinger. Joe was born in Bratislava, on one of the streets that I’ve been walking for the past five days. He was and is the epitome of the foreign correspondent, with that tone of voice and cadence that just naturally makes you listen. He reported from war zones throughout the world, and places that at the time, few people had ever heard from.

By the end of the interview Anna-Maria asks Joe what he thinks about journalism now as compared to then. Despite beingContinue reading “The Foreign Correspondent”

On the EU Elections

I wrote a piece for the Guardian on the Dutch vote during last week’s European Parliamentary elections. Here’s an excerpt:

The headlines on Friday morning in Amsterdam looked not unlike those in the international press around the world: “Far right wins big in Holland”. This was followed by a few paragraphs of analysis, or at least background as to why a leader who says he won’t even show up for work if he is elected could progress in a party in a country that some people still consider as a beacon of open-mindedness.

Yet no matter how big the font or how many exclamation points they use, the power of the far-right voters in the Netherlands is not the only development in 2009. What failed to get much more than a two-line afterthought in all these reports over the weekend is that the Freedom party (PVV) was not the only party to have made gains for the Dutch. Among them, the D66, a progressive-liberal party that has historically championed issues like gay marriage, euthanasia, legalised prostitution and the decriminalisation of drugs, also gained seats. While the PVVContinue reading “On the EU Elections”