Smoke Signal from Bangkok

Just a quick note that I’ve arrived in Bangkok and I’m well; settling in.  (so don’t worry mom) Also for the duration of this trip, my twitter updates will be available under the heading “field updates” on the far right hand menu under the feeds.  Here there will be little comments and observations that I post to my twitter during the journey.  Mostly info that I wouldn’t normally post in the blog about, but that might interesting or useful for you/me.

Real reflections, issues, and other self published media coming up.  Now I must go and find food with the word for vegetarian written  on my hand.

bm263 CityHarvest, Urban Farming in Bits and Pieces

Paula and Martin run a unique Urban Farm in Victoria, B.C., Canada. They don’t just manage one plot of land, their farm is scattered throughout various areas and its getting more and more popular.  In this interview Paula explains how it got started, their specific method of farming, and the growing popularity in their community and beyond.

Cityharvest

Spin Farming

Music:

Roots -Rising Down

Mercedes Sosa – Es Sud America Mi Voz

Note: Im posting this podcast just as I leave for the airport en route to Thailand, so any errors or further details, will have to wait.

Remembering The Journey from Europe

With only 48 hours remaining before I take my first ever trip to South East Asia, I have a recommendation for all of you.

My dear friend and podcasting colleague Richard was travelling around Equador, Peru and Colombia during most of this month. During that journey he visited family who had been displaced, like so many Jews trying to get out of Europe in the run up to World War II.  This part of his family would eventually settle in Colombia.

In his most recent video entry you can watch an interview with his relative, as she describes that boat journey from Europe and where and why they ended up in Curacao and eventually Colombia.  Its a very amazing ordeal, especially the part about how no country would allow them entry, and they just sailed on and on hoping for a safe port.

Watch the film, it is well worth your time.

Farming On Either Side of Pond

The theme this season on the blog continues to be food; the cost, growing, and politics of food.  Recently, while preparing for my journey to Thailand (next week), I’ve noticed 2 big changes coming to the agricultural policies of both the US government and the European Union.  Which could spell a change in how our food is raised and from who and how we get that food.

On the US side there’s the Farm Bill, which was vetoed by GWBush but that veto was overturned by congress. An imperfect text which, as EWG analyists explain it:

throws a couple of small bones to a few grassroots causes but mainly ensures that the big dogs will continue to run agriculture – courtesy of the U.S. Treasury.

The only potentially positive development with this farm bill is that meat will have to be labelled for orgin in the US. Otherwise as indicated by the quote above, the bill will continue to pour money on big agribusinesses who, unfortunately, also play a roll in the nation’s obescity epidemic (through pushing big products like high fructose corn syrup).

Meanwhile in the EU, new policies are being rolled out in relation to farming.  Among their decisions, they’ve increased the size of what kind of farm qualifies as small and therefore deserving of EU funds to protect and preserve such farms.  They also reduced the amount of subsidies to be paid to large farms.

For all the buzz about food prices, it is of interest to see what these two governments decide when it comes to agriculture. Especially in a situation where so many farmers on both sides are paid to NOT farm, despite a global food shortage.

Militant Relief Force

Plotting my upcoming journey, Im looking at a map of Thailand, seeking the cities or towns that I will want to visit in my short time there.  Among other places, the Burmese border has my interest.  The internets tell me that I could normally take a day trip from one of these border locations, into Burma for a quick look around.  As a person who is critical of the government there, and concerned for the state of its people, naturally I’m interested.

Meanwhile I’m listening to radio netherlands’ The State We’re In, and my friend Jonathan is talking about Burma and the aftermath of the terrible Cyclone Nargis. The theory they’re discussing, as millions of people have been affected by the aftermath of the storm, is that it is the responsibility of UN members to provide aid to victims.  Furthermore, according to his guest – Jan Egeland (former relief coordinator of the UN) the Burmese junta does not have the right to block aid or decide if people can be helped or not.

On the one hand Im thinking about how it may not be possible to get into Burma with all this going on. And more importantly, on the other hand, I’m listening to Egeland and I’m thinking about the fact that there are governments who actively block their people from getting essential help after a disaster. Like when the US rejected doctors from Cuba and food from the EU, after hurricane Katrina.  Or when China says no to foreign aid workers on their soil (but yes accepts money and other donations).  Yet on the same hand we live in an era where military forces are used to change governments and bring what is referred to as freedom and democracy by force. It is seen by many as a legitimate way to do things.

Imagine they felt the same way about aid?  Wouldn’t it be something to behold, a NATO force that feels so strongly about feeding starving victims of a hurricane or US marines pulling out buried people after an earthquake. And even if a government told them no, imagine they would still arrive, in an organized and determined fashion, in numbers and efficiency that the government could do very little to stop.  Militant relief, there’s a doctrine for a future president or prime minister.

bmtv84 The Use of Facebook

Occasionally I like to share some useful knowledge I believe I have on how to use the internet in a way that allows you to get information and some degree of satisfication. This vlog entry is about the social networking site facebook; specifically – how to cut right through the crap, once and for all, and make use of the very handy and sometimes rewarding tools the system has (buried) for you.