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.
A Good Snapshot of Mortgage Crimes
The latest edition of the This American Life podcast has one of the best portraits and break-downs of the so-called subprime mortgage crisis. I say it is one of the best because, as TAL is good at doing, it puts the very human face on both who lends this money and who is the recepient of these loans.
There is nothing more disturbing and real then hearing the voices and feeling the emotion (or lack there of) when a mortgage broker explains that their office has 12 million accounts and therefore a piece of 12 million homes, 12 million lives. Or when a father talks about how he expected to be able to pay the loan back in a few months and years later, found himself taking money out of what had long been preserved as his son’s college fund… that man breaks down crying.. and again there is nothing more real to me. It is especially important to have such a program out there available for us to hear, when so often the commercial media outlets just play the numbers game or give it new titles like “the credit crunch” and shy away from the cold hard facts that lives have been destroyed, and that someone benefited from all this or even that banks allowed this to go on despite all the known consequences.
I highly recommend listening to this edition, entitled “A Pile of Money”. ( I even enjoy the fact that Ira Glass can barely speak throughout, a refreshing change of pace.)
bm262 Urban Farming in Philadelphia
While many focus on the global food price and the fate of food exports, in many places around the world, groups of people are growing and selling food locally. Mill Creek urban farm in Philadelphia is one of these places. My guests, farm founders Jade and Johanna explain how Mill Creek works, and how they relate to their community, the city, and even the global picture.
They also recommended the following article about small farmers and their role in feeding the world.
We Discuss:
- – The activities of the farm
- – Relations with the community
- – Funding of the project
- – Reflection on the global food crisis
- – Changes in demand and interest in Urban Farming over the past years
- – Access to green spaces in cities
- – Gentrification and the survival of the urban farm
- – Other forms of Urban agriculture
Music:
Pinback – Blue Harvest
The Roots – Criminal (feat. Truck North & Saigon)
Iraqi Orfans
The crew at AliveinBaghdad put out a recent video entry about a Baghdad school and daycare for orphans. It is a very interesting and inspiring story. As usual AiB does what the mainstream is not willing to do, without trying to tug at your heartstrings or sensationalize the story, simply showing you what regular people can and ARE doing to make a better future.
Watch the video.
Breaking Away Bolivia
Santa Cruz has 1.5 million people, the largest city in Bolivia. It also has the most money in Bolivia, 30% of the country’s GDP. Where does that money come from? -Natural resources;natural gas.
When Evo was elected president, he had promised to do something about the plundering and exploitation of natural resources by international corportations, which had long taken the resources and made little to no investment in Bolivia to improve quality of life. His strategy has been to push for the nationalization of these resources, which – although popular amongst many social movements – has triggered a very strong and angry reaction from the upper class and business leaders who did manage to benefit in the old system.
Now Santa Cruz has held a referendum, and whether it is legitimate or not, the results show strong signs that the province wants full autonomy. This means the wealth it produces will be kept from the central government, kept from the rest of Bolivia to help pay for the running of the country.
It is a typical conflict of the last 50 years, whether you’re in Bolivia, Central Africa, or right here on the continent of Europe. The have’s want nothing to do with the have not’s, and they will go to great lengths to keep from losing anything to them.
Among the historical comparisons that come to mind, I think of the province of Katanga in Congo, which broke away from Congo at a most critical moment in the nation’s founding. Shored up by Belgian mining companies and the Belgian military, the government of the province would later get custody of legendary political leader and prime minister Patrice Lumumba, who they would torture, murder, and then see to it that each piece of his body would be chopped up and disolved in sulfuric acid, to ensure that no one could ever identify his body.
No comparison, different situation, certainly. But it reminds me of how far these kinds struggles for control of wealth can and do go.
bm261 The Undereported Story of the Soy Industry
Soy is often looked at as the alternative bean, beloved ingredient for vegetarians and concerned citizens worldwide. Yet what do we know about the soy industry? How is soy being produced, by who, for who, and to what effect? My guest, Nina Holland of the Corporate European Observatory, sat down with me to explain how it all works, and what we should know about our soy.
Discussed:
Soy as food/feed/fuel
Genetically Modified Soy
Who Owns the Farms
Situations in different parts of South America
Comparison to Europe
GM Soy Lobby in the EU
Labeling
So-called responsible soy
Independent farmers
Solutions/Advice for People
Links:
- ASeed.net
- corporateeurope.org
- The Report on Responsible Soy put out, co-authored by Nina
Music:
- Vinicious Cantuaria – Corre Campo
- Tom Brosseau – In My Time of Dyin