The Year was 2000

I sit in south jersey next to a warm fire place.  I sometimes forget that it is a fake fireplace and the fire turns on with the flick of a switch.

On television I’m watching Public Broadcasting, and to my great surprise, the documentary film about Ralph Nader’s life is on.  “Unreasonable Man” is an amazing film to watch, because the man himself is amazing and every bit of his life is inspiring and the definition of courage.  I love that the title of this film is “An Unreasonable Man”.  I hope that one day I too can be an Unreasonable Man in this tradition.

I had never seen videos, photos, and audio from the  60’s and 70’s… as Ralph took on the giant corporations and disfunctional government and became a force to be reckoned with, a force that reports directly to and represents, regular people.

My work revolves around questions of quality of life, the quality of life that humans could live versus the quality of life they are being denied, everyday, everywhere.  Nader has worked his whole life effecting change in this very area.  He made change when people thought it impossible, and he fought battles even when people lost the will to support him.. when people decided to settle for less than justice.. less than true democracy.

Some of the images on the screen as I type these words, are of the super-rallies back in 2000.  I remember the one I attended so vividly; Madison Square Garden.  I remember the Garden filled to the brim and the music and the speeches and the long list of inspiring people who took the stage that night.  I found some old photos of those days in my closet here in New Jersey.  I even found the old Nader/LaDuke poster from the 2000 election.

As I so often say, it is films such as this one that should be shown in high schools throughout not only the US but the world.  Because when people want to understand what it means to be a citizen. Or what it means to care about your community and your neighbors… they can just look at the shining example of Ralph Nader… a true fighter and for this podcasting journalist, a hero.

Memories and Photos

As part of coming home to New Jersey for the holidays, I spend lots of time going through old photos.  Scanning most of them and putting them up my flickr site. 

In these photos I see faces and I see places that are sometimes overwhelming.. times when I was so happy, or unhappy as the case may be. People who meant alot to me, some of whom have disappeared from my life.  I also spend time reading old letters.  Letters from friends to me when I was living in France.  Letters from myself that I never sent.  Love letters that almost seem silly or naive all these years later.

It makes me appreciate what an amazing life I’ve lived up to now and all that I’ve done and admittedly, frequently take for granted or forget.  That is one reason I blog and I post so much of my life online.  I don’t want to forget and I have a hard time remembering all these adventures and all these people.. they seem to spill out of my memory and get lost in boxes and envelopes.

Naturally when I’m done looking at these photos and reading these words, I’ll put them away again, and get back to my life and my work that are so interesting and important to me.  In the mean time… here are just a few places and faces that I’ve been remembering.

bmtv67 From the Streets of DC

This is a walking vlog entry that I recorded last week in Washington, DC. No very citizen-reporter-esque point to it, beyond sharing some thoughts and images.

Click To Play

Bicyclemark on Off The Hook

Click here to listen to me as part of the latest episode of Off The Hook which normally airs on WBAI 99.5 in New York (or the internet).  I’ve been listening to Off the Hook for more than 10 years, no matter what country I’m in or what is going on, I always have OTH on my mp3 player.  Thankfully in the last year I finally met some of the boys from 2600 and last night I went up to the studios in lower manhattan and sat in as one of the many guests.  It was a pleasure to see the studio and put a face to so many of those names at the station.

I digress, follow the link, and give it a listen. Its not earth shattering, but I had a fantastic time.

Happy Birthday Beeb

The BBC turns 75 today.

Why is that important?

Because in this world where everything can be privatized and no matter where you go there are commercials in your face trying to convince you to buy something, there is an alternative way to have a news channel. It is called public service, and back in 1922 some smart people in the United Kingdom realized why this would be valuable.

And while I know lots of Brits who will complain about the BBC.  I also know that those same Brits don’t want to lose their public service broadcaster.  They don’t want their news laced with wall-to-wall advertizing.  The BBC remains a model for what mainstream media COULD be like in the world, if certain world leaders and citizens were brave enough and resourceful enough to start their own BBC’s, instead of holding telethons or hoping that some mega-media corporation will be interested in reporting the news.

Happy birthday BBC. You may be mainstream, but you serve the world… and I salute you for it!

bm240 John Aravosis on Advocacy and Creating Change

Should journalists and activists who seek change in the world inform the public and expect action? Or should they be launching campaigns complete with talking points and strategy? This podcast features a special extended interview with my friend John Aravosis of Americablog.com and it focuses on how you can change a country and at what cost such change can occur.

We Discuss:

  • Informing the public versus manipulating the public
  • The tactics of US conservatives
  • The lack of tactics from US liberals
  • Global Warming
  • Human Rights in China
  • Playing on emotion
  • Passing laws versus changing culture
  • Holidays and Consumerism