Keeping Promises in OZ

Depending on where you live in the world or what media you consult in your daily life, you may not often hear about things happening in Australia.? You might hear the occasional story from a friend who travelled there or perhaps its the summertime wild fires that manage to make the oldstream media reports around dinner time.

One ongoing saga over the past decade, that involves so much human suffering and not much international media attention, is the detainment of asylum seekers in Australia.? Long before there was the torture prison at guantanamo, or extraordinairy rendition made the news, the Australian government was carrying out a policy of imprisoning anyone seeking refuge from war, political oppression, or any such cause that would force someone to flee their country.? These people, of all ages (that is: including children) were kept in prisons located on small pacific islands, which is how the program came to be named “The Pacific Solution.”

Started in the 1990’s under a labor government and then carried out in a big way by the Liberal government that allied itself so closely with the Bush administration, these imprisonments led to hunger strikes and demonstrations, as well as condemnation by international human rights organizations.? Yet still one would have been hard pressed to find much space dedicated to the issue in many of the world’s most popular news outlets. Even more rare was hearing any criticism or pressure from world leaders for the Australian government to change its policy.

And so it has taken many years and much suffering, as well as the election of a new prime minister, but finally this policy is changing.? Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s government has announced that they will stop imprisoning asylum seekers and end the Pacific Solution.? A look at the details reveals that children will no longer be detained, and in some “more extreme cases” people might be detained but their cases will be reviewed every three months. It may be too early to celebrate, but this announcement already seems encouraging…? full credit not to the Australian government for finally doing something to end the suffering, but to all those who sacrificed their own well being in an effort to make this change come true.

Not Just Comments

This site… or blog if you prefer to call it.. is fast approaching its 7th year in existence.? The podcast, soon to be on its 5th year. And even years before any of this, I edited my own little website on a long forgotten service called geocities, where I would write news commentary. And the one constant throughout all of this, besides my concern for the world and the fact that many of you were reading along even back then, has been a place for comments.

Comments on the internet, especially on published work (personal or otherwise), have long been the source of a lot of promises, praise, and condemnation.? The idea that anyone can write what they think, be it an angry gut reaction or a well thought out respectful criticism, or of course the occasional praise… it can all be a part of what you see on the site and what the content producer has put out there.? Its arguably the key ingredient of what makes a blog special. Arguably the future of this internet we’re all a part of.? Despite many sites out there deciding against comments or having to turn them off eventually do to some extreme or minor problem that could relate to harassment, what some people call hate speech, or just general irritance…. still a huge amount of sites, this one included, have managed to chug on.. comments and all.? Moreover I often think that my comments section is a good place, a mostly open and welcoming space where you can add to, comment on, or argue with something I’ve said or done.? Some just use it to say hello or make me laugh… sometimes a very uplifting occurrence.? Sometimes though, I’m bothered by a comment, by disrespect, or even by something I said without thinking something through.? Still.. the comments section rolls on.

This was the topic on the most recent episode of On the Media (3rd segment in the show), questioning what good comments have done news sites and blogs, versus what difficulties they may have brought. As usual I could have though of some better voices to have included in this segment. Especially net natives and freedom fighters like my friend Tony Pierce of the LA Times and the Busblog, who could have told them the beauty and occasional horror of the comments section. I would have also told them to talk to my dear Bitch Phd, another seasoned veteran who has (what I would call) a very special relationship with a VERY active comments section.

I digress, I do recommend the latest edition of OTM specifically for the focus on comments.? Even beloved/behated NPR voice Ira Glass tells of his experience.

Maybe you have your own take on news sites or blogs and how they manage comments.? Or perhaps, about the comments on my site.? If so, you know what to do…

bmtv88 Your Lawn, Our Ocean

This video entry is to explain some recent goings-on as well as tell about a good friend who gave up growing a green lawn in suburbia. Around the same time he was telling me this, I had also visited the Jersey shore where there were reports of an dangerous explosion in the Jelly Fish population. The causes? Nitrogen from all the fertilizers people use on their lawns that washes into the ocean. Another cause, warm water from the Oyster Bay nuclear power plant nearby.

My focus here is more on the fertilizer and energy wasted on lawn care versus the price we pay collectively for the damage done to the environment.? This situation was very well illustrated by a recent edition of On Point from NPR.? Wherever you live, I encourage you to stop watering the lawn, stop fertilizing, take a stand in your everyday life and change this rediculous and dangerous suburban tradition.

Shifting Focus to Soy

Jetlagged and back in Amsterdam, I wanted to announce an issue that will be one of my primary focuses for the rest of the year. After a very good experience speaking about urban farming at the Last Hope Conference, where I received alot of enthusiastic and warm responses, I’m now looking to tackle something more difficult, that I feel warrants my attention as well as yours.

That topic is the soy industry.? You’ll recall the podcast a few months ago on Responsible Soy, which not only opened my eyes to alot of facts that I had not previously considered but gave me alot of leads as to who to talk to and what rocks to look under.? And when we’re talking about the soy industry, there are plenty of creatures players hiding under the preverbial rock.

From organizations to corporations, from trade unions to government agencies, from activists to scientists, I intend to look at how soy is grown, processed,? and ultimately distributed in your part of the world. Because this industry is much larger than I ever imagined and engaging in practices that have gone without sufficient criticism or scrutiny.

Besides podcasts, I hope to present this issue and my investigation at my most favorite annual gathering in December, the Chaos Communication Congress (25th edition this year).

Why make such an announcement? Because this site is not only dedicated to reporting and commentary, it is also a place where I can present ideas like a drawing board. Only this is a drawing board that is open to you the readers and listeners, where you can know and observe how these ideas develope and (should I be so lucky) you can also suggest tactics or ask questions that will become part of the process.

RAN Video Recommendation

Still in mid conference mode. The Last Hope is going very smoothly and filled with good friends and new faces.? In the meantime I have a recommendation for you:

I’ve spoken in the past about RyanisHungry, Ryanne and Jay’s project dedicated to caputuring aspects of the “green movement” in a video blog. Well they’ve released another classic video, this time the focus is on the work of the Rainforest Action Network. Not only is the organization itself very interesting and doing important work, but the video itself is very produced… hence this recommendation.

Im Speaking on Urban Farming

Greetings from Philadelphia.? A note to all blog readers, podcast listeners, vlog watchers, and friends:

This Friday. July 18th, at 16h00 at the Hotel Pennsylvania, right across from Penn Station in New York City, I’ll be giving a talk as part of the Last Hope conference.? At the last hackers on planet earth conference I’ll be speaking about all that Ive learned regarding urban farming and activities relating to food that groups of people are engaging in throughout North America and other parts of the world.

The conference is sure to be a giant circus of activities you can’t see anywhere else and that you would expect from some of the most creative minds on earth. I’ll be there Friday and Saturday checking out some of the talks on issues of Electronic Voting, privacy, tricking people into meditating, and the big corporate sing along.

This note is a reminder that if you’re going to be in the NYC area you can still come and join the fun, tickets are available for all three days. More info, including the full schedule and a little blurb describing my talk are on the website.? MAybe I’ll see you there?

Now back to Philly festivities.