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Unimportance of Borders

“When I was a kid, we arrived at this border, on our way from Austria to Slovakia (Czechoslovakia) and we would have to stand at this border sometimes from 24 hours.? They would search every inch of our car, ask questions, and we would be here for ages.”

D tells me this as we drive back from a day trip to Austria today, as we drive past dozens of dusty, abandoned booths and buildings. The sign reads “Slovakia” with the EU blue around it, and the speed limit through the mess of former guard posts reads “40”.? In less then 2 minutes we’re back to regular speed, back in Slovakia, and over a border that when it comes down to it, no longer exists.? And although plenty of people young and old have stories of how the border crossing used to be, you can bet they would all think it insane toContinue reading “Unimportance of Borders”

Mobile StoryCorps

You’ve heard me mention one of my top 5 programs to listen to, NPR’s StoryCorps podcast. Today I listened to a beautiful edition of the program dedicated to letting individuals and pairs of people tell their stories to us the public and to each other.? This particular edition featured, in part 1 – A mother who served in the US military in Iraq speaking to her young daughter about what it was like when she was away. In part 2 – Two prisoners telling how they feel about their families and their time in prison. Talking about what they miss most from the outside.

Now besides recommending you hear these beautiful and gut wrenching stories, I would also recommend you support the StoryCorps Mobile Tour.? The program has long been great, but being able to hear, for example, prisoners reflect on what their lives are like and how they see the world since being behind bars… that is a rare oppertunity and worth supporting. But getting the recording booths into the prisons requires funds, and thats what I hope they manage to raise. Take a second and click over to their site, consider supporting the mission.

bmtv102 Failure to Yield

The Union of Concerned Scientists put out a report recently which runs down the last decade of genetically modified crops. As you know thats a topic that greatly concerns this website; what genetically modified crops have done to and for the world.

Although GMO crops have only been in use for about a decade, the? report looks at this decade in terms of yield/production? as well as the impact these crops have had on the environment. The results, as you can read and hear about, are poor for a technology that is supposed to save the world from hunger. In fact, it turns out there are a few other methods that have proven far more productive than genetically modified crops.

In this video entry I go over the biggest conclusions of the report. I recommend you also have a look for yourself, don’t just take my word for it.

Future of Television, Ahem

One of the fun parts of working as part of a freelance journalist collective in a city filled with creative minds, sometimes you get invited to something interesting and unexpected.? Sometimes its just the opposite.

Today some of my ambitious colleagues asked if I wanted to sit in and give my 2 cents at a meeting regarding the future of television programming (on Dutch public TV specifically).? What started as a meeting of 4 warped into a meeting of 8, with various people coming from TV, radio, documentary and backgrounds of all kinds.? Everyone got a chance to say their piece regarding what they think the future of television should be, what their media consumption habits are, and what kind of programs they would like to see.

I sat there completely conflicted. My blanket answer, Continue reading “Future of Television, Ahem”

Without a Big Commotion

So what you know ’bout the pirates terrorize the ocean,
To never know a simple day without a big commotion,
It can’t be healthy just to live with a such steep emotion,
And when I try and sleep, I see coffins closing.

This is the chorus of the song I’m listening to as I read the news from around the world. The lyrics of the great Somali hip-hop artist who immigrated to Canada and is dedicated to performing songs about his hometown, Mogadishu, and the reality he grew up in and the experience of immigrating with his mother, to Canada, leaving behind a country falling into an ever more violent abyss.? I’m listening to K’Naan sing these lines:Continue reading “Without a Big Commotion”

Omnivores Unite!

Its sunday and I’ve been throwing myself all over a frisbee field all day, so rather than doing deep research or extensive writing, I bring you a recommendation from my listening over the last few days.

Michael Pollan is an author that many of you recommended to me during the time I was focused on the soy industry, and over the last few months he has certainly made the rounds on the radio.? For the last few months I myself have been skipping around his book, the Omnivore’s Dilemna, going back and forth between chapters.

Pollan was a guest on Democracy Now last thursday and he gets into alot of important issues. Among them, genetically modified crops, high-fructose corn syrup, farm subsidies, swine flu, and the FDA.? Interestingly he points out that for the first time in a very long time, the FDA (food and drug regulator of the US government) is actually investigating food companies and enforcing rules on nutrition and production.

He also gets into a recent study on genetically modified food and production statistics that warrants a post and perhaps a video unto itself.? For now I simply recommend, if you’re concerned about what you and your children eat, and also concerned about how food producers are behaving, listen, read or watch this segment.