Category Archives: Text

Global Mayors Campaign

Dear longtime or recently new readers of the Communique:

Welcome! That’s the most important point I want to start with. Although my blog is very old (4 year anniversary just passed a few weeks ago), and you may notice alot of names in the comments, I want to make sure you understand this is one very open place, where you can comment and pick apart my sometimes not fully thought out ideas. You could insult too, but that’s fairly pointless if it isn’t backed by a real arguement. Still, I’m glad you stopped in and hope you’ll subscribe via RSS or at least bookmark me.

With that out of the way, I’d like to announce a new series I will be working on for my podcast. Throughout the remainder of 2006, I will be embarqing on a series of podcasts focusing on global mayors.

Why mayors? Because I’ve observed how all over the world, national governments rarely accurately represent their citizens. While I’ve also come to realize that the world’s cities are often led by very unique and wacky officials, who sometimes embody wonderfully creative and progressive ideals, or in other cases, do the exact opposite.

Therefore I will be focusing in on the personalities, who they are, and what policies they are implementing, all over the world. I will of course do my own research and presentations, but I also intend to find representatives from those cities to appear as guests on my program.

These programs should begin next week, as I already have a long list of some of the more well known cities and their famous mayors. But if you have a mayor that has either done very interesting or very terrible things for your city, and you’re willing to appear or recommend someone as a guest, please get in touch, either via comments or by emailing me: bicyclemark at gmail…

My purpose, by doing these programs, is for me personally, to learn about what is going on in different corners of the planet within urban centers, and more generally, I hope those following these interviews might learn something new as well, and perhaps we will notice some patterns regarding mayors and their policies.

So stay tuned.

Dare to Debate

For me, the most annoying part about listening to American politicians talk about the world, is when they decide everything is linked to Iran. It’s ponderous… a relatively small country in the world, yet everything bad somehow originates from there.. according to Us politicians regardless of which of the 2 twin parties they belong to.

While riding through fairly sunny Amsterdam en route from work, I once again had a fit of cursing and could barely focus on pedaling, as I listened to Santorum debate Casey, as both men are running for senate in Pennsylvania. You’d think that a love fest where two men profess how much they agree with each other and how they both believe the same things, that should be a lovely and touching occasion. Not so. The more they played the “who can play war better” game, the more I pitied anyone who lives and hopes to vote in the state of PA. And of course, the rest of the nation, that has to tolerate one of these ignorant assholes, once they get elected. But it makes it EVEN MORE annoying for me when they go on and on about how Iran is the true problem of the planet.

Speaking of everyone’s favorite and willing scapegoat, the president of Iran was on 60 minutes a few weeks back. It was a pretty funny interview, as he is a very stubborn and confusing man, but never mind what I think of Mike Wallace. (insert laughter)

No, seriously, the interview wasn’t terribly impressive. The president did the usual, speaking in a very round about, confusing manner, that allows people to read into his words and make conclusions like “he’s a halocaust denier” or “he wants to wipe Israel off the map”, both statements, which have actually been debunked (see On the Media Episode from June and the very confusing Spiegel interview i linked in June). But no doubt about it, it seems like he is too stubborn to speak in a more clear and direct manner about his opinions and plans for the country.

Regardless, throughout his many interviews in the past 6 months, one fact continues to shine through, and it is one I very much want echoed for all to hear: he is a human being that can be talked to and even… dare I say it… reasoned with! The latter being more certain. Yet the American government, regardless of party, seems obsessed with pointing fingers and making him some kind of madman. They need him to be a madman. Their last madman is currently giving long speeches in a Baghdad courtroom, they’re really hoping for a new figure to rally the country around and keep everyone nice and scared.

Now he proposed a televized debate with Bush. And yet, we don’t even need to ask, because you know Bush won’t debate him. Hell, Bush tries his best not to ever debate American politicians, nevermind the leader of Iran. And so the offer remains on the table, another sign this is NO madman. Annoying, perhaps. Conservative and a jerk, clearly. And yet, he proposes a duel of words, not a duel of weapons. But that’s not how the American government wants the story to read.. so they’ll keep pushing their version.

I guess I’ll keep pushing mine.

All About the Vietnam Visit

Just back in from a visit with Frisbee Girl, who just returned from a long journey through Vietnam. Tonight was one of those, dinner, wine, and looking at photos that each have a story.

Of course I’ve always been fascinated by Vietnam, especially considering all the destruction that war brought that country only a few decades ago. But also because it is technically run by a communist government, though in this day-in-age, no communist government is really very communist. But let’s leave that discussion for another day.

Listening to FG’s stories and looking at these photos, I was amazed at the bustling life and beauty that seemed to fly out of every image. I’m talking not only of the beautiful nature, but also of the Vietnamese people and their amazing ways of doing things.

In looking at these photos and the background in each one, I saw very little signs of desperate poverty, as is sometimes assumed of this region of the world. I asked FG if she had noted widespread poverty, and she informed me that she had noted no such thing. Instead, she talked about how there weren’t people starving in the streets or begging every tourist for some money. She spoke and presented photos of the neverending amounts of trade and bartering that seemed to go on, fruit traded for fruit. Fish dried into paste. Rice cooked into puffed rice. Bananas grown into… bananas. In so many different regions she visited, the one thing I noted was that each one featured a large amount of people doing some sort of economic activity that involved the land or the sea.

Naturally I didn’t see these things first hand. And of course one person’s impression is not always the whole story. But i think there is something to be said for the quality of life Vietnam has achieved, especially having been bombed into the stone age, not so long ago.

I also came to another conclusion. With all the regional and international trade deals their government is starting to move towards, now is the time to go to Vietnam… before the global market turns it into a brave new world of mcdonalds, starbucks, and kfc.

Bonus: Went seeking a Vietnam based blog, found – Our Man in Hanoi.

Experimenting

Im experimenting with some new looks this morning… maybe shield your eyes. Should be back to normal shortly.

I’m Done With Ray Nagin

You remember Ray Nagin right? The mayor of New Orleans during the largest humanitarian crisis in the history of the United States? The guy who you hear in that radio clip where he starts crying and yelling at the rest of the country for not doing anything while people were dying while staring up at the sky begging for help. Her earned alot of respect for his directness and honesty during that disaster. Hell, I respected him for it.

Of course that was before I knew more about the man and what he had done with the city. Mostly nothing if you don’t count fostering curruption and fiscal irresponsibility. But still I held out hope that Nagin might be a changed man, having seen bodies of his own voters floating around face down throughout his streets. I still wanted to cheer for him… until now.

I’m done with Ray Nagin. Besides the numerous episodes that had shown he was two faced and a typical wishy washy politician, this latest appearance on Meet the Press did me in… or rather.. him in.

Anytime the man was asked if the federal government had failed him, a government that took over a week to respond, and when they finally did it consisted mostly of private contractors and overzealous military police, he refused to acknowledge it. As if someone is pulling his strings or controlling his speech, he refused to admit the the US government has a double standard when it comes to saving the lives of black people. To his credit, he did acknowledge it was a matter of class. Still, a man who once sounded unafraid to speak his mind and admit what a disaster his city had become, now he chose his words carefull, dodged criticizing anyone in particular, and pretended his city was doing rather well in terms of recovery.

Sorry Ray, you’re pathetic and I’m over you. I hope you fall into obscurety after serving your zillion terms as mayor of a city that will never recover, and will never have a leader who will push for a true investigation and trial for the crimes against humanity resulting from the neglect of the federal government, as well as that of the state and local governments.

About the only cool thing I could find in his whole interview, was when he called the site of the former WTC in NYC, a big hole in the ground and Tim Russert got all preachy and bitchy like it was a sin to say so. Of course he backed down on that one too, even though it is, when it comes down to it, a big hole in the ground.

Poor New Orleans. First Katrina. And then this fakester gets re-elected.

The Night Before the American Invasion

They’re coming.

They’re using planes as their method of transportation.

They leave from various US cities, often travelling alone or in groups of 2 or 3.

They travel with a great deal of electronics, mostly ipods, laptops, and other personal devices.

They are very well financed, with enough money to run their operations in Europe for at least 5 months.

They tend to look suspicious, easily identified by speaking loudly in their distinct accent.

And they will stop at nothing, until they can move into our neighborhoods, put up some posters of the icons their worship, and infiltrate our higher education system, posing as students.

… They are the American exchange students. And they arrive in T-Minus 9 hours.

My mission, which few would be brave enough to accept (I need the money and I’m mentally unbalanced), is to assist in this process. I must not show signs of weakness if they complain or make demands of me. I must be stoic and in control. Although they may be determined to disrupt my freedom and way of life, I must meet them head on, for my mission is noble and I will not give in to their desctructive, my-closet-isn’t-big-enough ideology.