Category Archives: Text

A Preacher Man

Normally religion doesn’t get much attention here on citizenreporter. Probably because I’m not a religious person.? Nevertheless my recommendation for you today is related to faith and preachers and yes.. evangelicals.. a group I really never pay attention to.

This evening I found myself on a train, coming home from Brussels, mind wandering… and sure enough I turn on This American Life.? This episode focuses on a preacher, an evangelical preacher who went from being a superstar to being a pariah among his own people.? But its not the rise and fall that caught my attention. It is the man’s voice, in the interviews and in church… his voice keeps me captivated.. its magic. It doesn’t make me suddenly religious.. but it does make me think about life and friends and love and how things change.? Plus its a story that just hangs there in my mind.? Therefore I recommend giving it a listen.

Threatening NYC Water

Some of you may recall a great guest I had on the podcast last year, Al Appleton, the man who saved the NYC water system.

I thought of Al today as I read about how NY state has loosened restrictions on drilling for gas in the NYC watershed are. Using a method called horizontal drilling under the Catskill Mountains, there are proposals to drill for gas. This despite the risk that drilling would bring of spilling toxic chemicals into New York City’s drinking supply. Interfering with the water system could also force the need for building a water treatment plant which would cost an astronomical amount. This despite the fact that over a decade ago, concerned citizens and watershed experts like Al Appleton eliminated the need for building such plants byContinue reading “Threatening NYC Water”

Antarctic Importance

Results of a new survey in the Antarctic seas have just been released, showing that more than any other region in the world, the Antarctic contains the most amount of species and overal biodiversity on the planet.

The survey recorded 1,224 species in 50 different biological classes. The team discovered five new species and one genus – the biological category that is higher than species – that was new to science.

Continue reading “Antarctic Importance”

Chomsky Breaks it Down

Production schedule is still not back on track, but close. Thursday the topic will be Philippines and the war in Mindanao with a correspondant there. More details and research can be discussed this week as well.

But for now I’ll do another recommendation, Monday’s edition of DemocracyNow featured Noam Chomsky talking about what happens now after the elections. He points out alot of details that are regularly passed over or ignored when it comes to what happened in these latest elections. I recommend listening to at least that segment, if not the whole program.? Obviously there will be some mention of the first appointments from the Obama team and the questionable financial and political backgrounds of some of those individuals. But it also gets into money, besides the donations we heard so much about, where alot of the money for the democratic campaign originated and what it means for the incoming administration. Follow the money… I recommend listening to it.

Story Core Time

Unfortunately my macbookp is in the shop getting some minor battery issue looked at, in hopes of avoiding larger problems later.? This means podcasting and vlogging are delayed and ye olde powerbook overheats and shuts down periodically.

But using my old computer also led me to go looking around for other podcasts from various sources, including that old American standby – National Public Radio.? To my surprise, one program I had once heard about but didn’t realize was a podcast is called Story Corps.? You may recall hearing about Story Corps, these audio recording booths deployed around the US where people could make appointments to come in and interview whomever they wanted: teachers, parents, siblings, neighbors, etc.

In each Story Corps podcast episode you get to hear one of these interviews, and thus far the result is inspiring and powerful.? I recently listened to a daughter interviewing her father about having served in the Vietnam war, and what is was like when he returned. Previously I’d heard an elderly couple, where the wife interviewed the husband about how he first met her and what his life was like at that time and what he was thinking.

Besides reporting and investigating, story telling is by far my most favorite use for podcasting. I think there is so much to learn and experience through anyone and everyone’s story, and hearing someone close to that person conduct that interview adds yet another layer to it.

Therefore while my computer is in the shop, I recommend you listen to Story Corps.

Health Consumers of Europa

Currently flipping through the European Health Consumer Index for 2008, which seems to rate nations (in Europe) based on how well the health system treats patients and how empowered patients are. Though as I flip through it, they frequently point out they are not trying to claim to know which is the BEST system in Europe, while still referring to the Netherlands as their winner for 2008.

Their biggest criteria seems to revolve around patients’ rights and subtopics like E-patient files, which indeed there is a pamphlet in my mailbox this week that seeks to explain how that new system works here in the Netherlands.? They also get into what countries are good with introducing new medicines, or which have long waiting lists, or infant mortality, etc etc.? Also following the Netherlands in the top three are Denmark and Austria. You may recall France being often heralded as one of the best health systems in the world, according to this survey, they rank 10th in Europe.. with ,interestingly enough, Estonia right behind them. What keeps France in 10th place? They say the medical system has been too slow in adopting new web based information sharing systems for patient files, and there is some reference to a very authorotarian ASK YOUR DOCTOR tradition that holds patients back.

Such studies are interesting, but as I’ve mentioned before on this bog, in my experience the Netherlands is not big on proactive medicine. Doctors number one reaction to anything is to send you home. That may be appropriate alot of the time, but it leaves me wondering how often patients with something important are turned away… that doesn’t sound very patients’ rights to me. But yes indeed, they’ve got this new e-patient file system and the hospitals seem well organized and nice, and as some of my favorite medical student friends remind me “the next generation of medical professionals in the netherlands are going to rock.” Still, does all this qualify as the best in Europe? I think I’ll keep reading and see if I learn anything more.