Audio – Page 83 – Citizen Reporter

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

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.

History is the Witness

It’s interesting, comparing the present to the past. And I’d add, it is not done often enough.

Let us start in the present, shall we; as the AP reports on the Saddam Hussein trial:

a defiant Saddam admitted in court that he had ordered the trial of the Shiites who were eventually executed, but he insisted that doing so was legal because they were suspected in an assassination attempt against him,

I’ve heard of such a crime, it’s referred to as treason in many countries. Matter of fact, I remember this, where was it again…. oh yes in the United States, 1951, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, here I’ll quote from Wikipedia:

The Rosenbergs were convicted on March 29, 1951, and sentenced to death under section 2 of the Espionage Act….The couple were executed in the electric chair on June 19, 1953. Reports of the execution state that Julius died after the first application of electricity, but Ethel did not succumb immediately, and was subjected to two more electrical charges before being pronounced dead.

Espionage. Treason. Whether its 2 people or 40 people, in the US or in Iraq, Saddam or Eisenhower, 1953 or 1988.. he’s not the first and certainly not the last. The main difference lies in who has the power, and presently he has lost his, while the US gets to re-write history. It comes back to the old saying – History is written by the victors. Something like that.

For this reason I don’t really care for the Saddam trial and I remain a firm admirer of Ramsey Clark, who has repeatedly defended the most infamous leaders on trial. Nothing good can come of it. A trial based on an illegal war cannot, in my eyes, lead to a fair and legitimate verdict. The world could have thought up a better way, this is a pretty amateur effort.

One last thing, which I’m also reminded of when reading about how Saddam justifies his terrible actions while president of Iraq. Sometime soon, they will try to execute Jose Padilla, whom they arrested in 2002 and still haven’t charged with anything. What will the crime be? A familiar one – treason.

bm108 Costa Rica, the Latin American Exception

While much of Latin America has clearly turned to the political left in the last few years, Costa Rica continues to be a nation that does things their own way. With all the hype surrounding hi-tech industry and eco-tourism, what’s in store for Costa Rica following these elections? Taylor Kirk of the LatinAmericanist blog joins me to talk about one of her favorite places.

AudioCommunique #108 (mp3)

Music:

El Guato – Linda Costa Rica
(Cant remember the artist) -Como Se Baila la Cumbia
Maria Esther Zamora, Polito Gonzalez, Jorge Lobos, Cuti Asse, Roberto Lindl – Chipi Chipi

Also: My condolences to the Accordion Guy, Joey Devilla, his father passed away over the weekend.

Depressed A Nice Girl

I think things were going well, til I started talking instead of drinking and then I swear I saw tears well up in her eyes…..

One thing you need to know, in case you didn’t already, about the difficulties of expat life, is to have visitors that you really enjoy, and that almost completely and un-noticably remove you from your daily life, routine, and people. Does that sound confusing? Stay with me.

You move to a different country where you don’t have family and you probably don’t have many friends. But you network, you get around, get involved, and over time, you find your buddy, or your preferred activity, and before you know it – you’ve got a life. Hopefully an interesting one. All the while, naturally you keep in contact with your old friends scatterred about the world, writing neverending lines of emails and frequent skype calls. You even hope those friends would visit, because it would be fun to have them here, to see and live in your world for a bit.

That’s where it gets complicated… in my twisted and very experienced opinion. They make that journey, and you clear your calender or conveniently forget previous engagements (as I have). Upon arrival you’re there, at the airport, trainstation, hotel – and you start leading them around, pointing to things, and buying them rounds. You think yourself lucky, to have your friend with you for awhile, and you do more partying then you otherwise would have all year. But it’s no problem. In fact, it’s fun, it’s easy, and you lose track of time, year, and tasks to be done.

So when a night like this comes round, when all the great visitors have left or will leave within hours and you’ve said your goodbyes. Sometimes… I’d say often times.. you find yourself sitting at a café after midnight, just you and your lovely companion for the evening, you start reminiscing. Then story telling. Then you don’t even have to say anything cause your lack of energy and temporary time-space insanity is understood. And somehow you may have depressed her, cause she understands the catch22 of life abroad:

When you get the visitors that you truely enjoy for days on end, it is very strange to say goodbye and return to life as usual, like nothings changed.

Photo by Tony, who’s jetlagged in LA right now.

bm107 John Aravosis of Americablog on Ports and the World Bank

Washington DC based writer, political consultant, and blogger @ Americablog.com, John Aravosis has been in Amsterdam for the past few days. During a recent walk back from the Albert Cuyp market we recorded this talk about the Port Sale issue, the fatal errors of the Bush administration, multinational corporations and the World Bank. Talk about hot button issues – olé!

AudioCommunique #107 (mp3)

Discussed:

Listen to the podcast you lazy shownotes reader.

Music:

Madeleine Peyroux – J’ai Deux Amours
Paco Ibañez – Como Tu