The French government, under the guidance of its new president, passed a bill to require the use of DNA testing in certain immigration cases. Is this the will of the French people and what are the implications if more of these types of policies are put into effect?
My guests:
John Mason, Prof. of Political Science at William Paterson University (NJ)
Jessica Reed, blogger; OpenDemocracy.net
We discuss:
– The state of the state
– Who supports Sarkozy?
– His policies and his background
– Where the French public falls in all this
– Eastern Europe
– Africa and former colonies
– Labor and birth rates
– How do fight back against xenophobia
This was done on the fly as many people gave me dirty looks during a recent work-related morning at the European Parliament. Blogging and podcasting have taken me many places and brought me many benefits, but it is funny to consider this is the second time this year and I’m sitting in one of the chambers of the parliament as part of a blog related project. Oh and since I was feeling the pressure to turn off the camera, my point never really got off the ground. Alas… here’s the vlog anyway.
Click To Play
Greetings once again from Brussels, city of long work hours and dreary office work.
Today’s item that has me pretty disappointed involves the Dutch government and the iron fisted oligarch that runs Russia. They’ve struck a deal so that the Dutch gas company now controls a higher percent in the Russian state controlled Gaz-Prom.
Some might say its just business as usual, but after all the outcries about how the junta oppresses people in Burma or how Mugabe is starving his own people, it still bothers me that so-called human rights respecting governments make deals and allow their companies to make deals with known war criminals and political assassins. Not that Mugabe or the Junta deserve a free pass.. its the consistency when it comes to respecting human rights, that I’m calling for.
Later this week I shall have a return guest to talk about another political figure in Russia, the very interesting Gary Kasparov. So keep an eye out for that show, as Kasparov seems much more complex than I had originally thought.
Upon arrival in Brussels today I was pleased to receive an email from the Pakistani blog community I had written to, requesting their participation in an upcoming podcast about what people are writing about during this “state of emergency.”
Throughout the long train ride today, it seemed like every podcast I listen to was covering the situation. I heard that same Musharraf speech about not letting the country commit suicide, over and over. Many of the public radio podcasts included callers in the US, most of Pakistani descent, calling to express their disapproval of the situation or in some cases, approval for the Pakistani presidents strong arm tactics.
As I walked into Blueberry Girl’s apartment here in Brussels, I heard that an old classmate of ours has been assigned to the German embassy in Islamabad. Seems like everything is turning up Pakistan for me this week. And rightfully so when so many lives hang in the balance.
I’m curious to hear the thoughts of the people on the blog community. Skimming the site, it is obviously still very new and just like in the US and communities like livejournal, people seem pretty self absorbed with work problems and personal reflection. Despite that fact, I’m looking forward to hearing from people running the site about their experience launching this community and how it relates to how Pakistani society, especially on the internet, is reacting to what is happening in their country.
Putting a show together lately has been a very frustrating struggle. In this edition I look at the recent developments related to the death penalty in the United States. My sources include the American Bar Association, the Christian Science Monitor and SCOTUS blog.
No notes as I would hope you would listen, something very significant is indeed taking place regarding the use of the death penalty throughout the US.
A vlog entry from Berlin talking about travel and transport alternatives within Europe and the culture of NOT flying short distances. Also I mention EWG again, an excellent source to help us all navigate through life. Click To Play