Dear Visitors…. obviously you can see some site problems. I’ve just upgraded the software and of course… problems have emerged. They will be fixed in a few hours.. please don’t email me about them.. I already know. But first.. ultimate frisbee awaits!
Fujimori, Better Late than Never
For those keeping score in the mass murdering dictators held accountable before human rights tribunals game, a big move came this weekend as ex Peruvian president Fujimori was extradited from Chilé.
This could mean that finally some truth will come out about just what took place during his presidency, as he will no doubt have to answer for the systematic murders of his opponents. Not yet clear when and how this tribunal will work, but after many years of thinking he would get away without a real investigation or trial, suddenly a sign that there might be some justice served in Peru.
My preferred source to follow this and other Latin America stories: The LAtin Americanist of course.
bm225 What Really Happens to Our Food Aid?
When you hear the words food aid you no doubt imagine a wealthy country sending bags of food to parts of the world where people are starving. Yet in the case of the US, the reality is quite different. In fact, there is many ways that your food does not go from here to there. Even more alarming, could the US food aid program be hurting hungry people more than helping them?
“Who Does US Food Aid Benefit” is a recent article for In These Times, written by my first guest Megan Tady.
We then hear from Jordan Dey, director of US Relations for the World Food Program
Topics Covered:
– Different types of food aid
– Agri-business money making
– Genetically Modified Food
– Buying Local and Local Farmers
– Free Trade Agreements
– The farm bill
– Underlying Economic and Political goals
– Needs to address the present hunger crises around the world
+much more
My Tirol Interest
Thinking up podcast journeys for late October and November. One of them involves finally going to Romania to pursue the Rosia Montana gold mine story. But a new topic that occupies my mind is all about the region known as Tirol or South Tirol or the Italian Province of Bolzano-Bozen.
My dearest Krizushka, herself a Tirolian from the Austrian part, has often told me of the magic and wonder of her home region. But lately as I read through the history of South Tirol and the 3 languages (Italian, German, Ladin!) and the temoltuous history of wars and partition.. I want to know more. Better yet… I want to see it with my own eyes.
Thus far, as I understand it, Tirol is a region that has belonged to many different kingdoms at different periods in history. Located in what is, on the map, northeast Italy and southern Austria, it went from being part of Austria-Hungary to being carved up with a large chunk becoming Italian. LAter on during the Mussolini days, he apparently carried out a big campaign to Italianize the place, shipping southern Italians to live and work there, and changing the names of everything from German to Italian. And somewhere in there are the Ladin speaking people, also being culturally pushed aside.
The history itself is much more complex than can be described in a blog post, but the present is something that also interests me. 3 languages, a haunting past, and the struggle to bring the region forward and be “prosperous”. I’ve read about language-quotas for government jobs. Census where you have to say what language you belong to. And brave activists fighting to unite people who’ve so often been divided.
More on this soon, and if I can swing it, a journey to south Tirol in the coming months!
A Minnesota Confrontation
I’m a longtime subscriber to Minnesota Stories, one of those special video blogs out there that puts out regular and diverse content. Often I don’t have much to say about it, as it can be artistic, funny, or just food for thought.
But today I had to mention and recommend recent post featuring a confrontation with US Senator Norm Coleman, in front of his house. This particular video is an interesting look into a few minutes of the kind of confrontation that you don’t often get to experience: a group of people standing in front of a government official’s house debating issues with him and expressing their disapproval for his actions.
Among the other interesting aspects, is to see in that brief and tense moment, how people phrase their arguements; what words they choose to express themselves to the senator. At the same time, it seems as though his security stands back allowing people to stand directly in front of Norm and say what they want to say.
His reactions and statements are nothing special, the products of a trained and seasoned political figure. But that people are determined enough to go to his house, and that he is open enough to come outside and try to have a dialogue with them… it is an interesting example of a civic confrontation and debate, and how that can be amplified via a videoblog.
Instant Debate – Mention Islam to Europeans
It is certainly no new discovery, but as you can see from my vlog entry about the far-right demonstration in Brussels, a sure way to get people commenting and yelling (well not really yelling) at you is to defend people’s right to be muslim. So while I’ve lots of other issues I’d like to bring up, I’ll first come back to this one. And I should mention I do appreciate all comments and I especially appreciate criticism and debate that is carried out in such a way that is not insulting or name calling, but rather about saying I disagree, and here is why. So thanks to all of you who continue to do that.
There were a great deal of comments, including some heartfelt ones from a good friend in Chicago who is originally from Lebanon. (hi dear!) The underlying theme was that I shouldn’t be so in favor of welcoming all things islam into the social and political stage in Europe because, as many people insisted, it is a religion that seeks the joining of church and state, that excludes women, that refuses democratic principles etc, etc.
Now I must state here, because going any further, I don’t claim to know the muslim faith. I’ve never read the Koran or lived in a country where it was the dominant religion. So I don’t honestly know how it all works and what the ultimate goals are, etc. Some of you say you do, and that is good, I’m a big believer in learning, researching for yourself and understanding. All I do is study history, closely observe the present, and learn from my interraction with those in my daily life who I know are of the muslim faith, most of whom I have a great deal of admiration and respect for as kind and honest humans trying to live their lives.
>Here comes something I rarely reveal on the blog, overall, religions and their power over people, scare me. All of them. Places of worship, religious leaders, the artifacts and traditions in general.. I don’t much care for them. HOWEVER. I realize that lots of people do. I see the importance they have in people’s lives, the positive aspects, and I try to respect that. I have a curiosity and a desire to learn from the past, including time honored traditions… because maybe many of them have something to teach us. There are plenty of traditions that I don’t like, and even some I would consider flat out wrong, where humans are tortured or killed for example… I try to draw a line there. You might draw the line somewhere else altogether… fine.
But here’s my little conclusion for today. Generally speaking, the greater the amount of poverty, desperation, and lack of education, the higher the level of religiousity and especially of the irrational fundamentalist kind. In many countries in Europe we see empty churches and few people willing to go to war on the whims of the pope or if someone insults the Catholic or Protestant faith. But a few hundred years ago, those two religions wielded tremendous power and did terrible things in the name of their god. So when people start touting all the dangers and problems of the growth of another religion in Europe, I don’t see it that way. Rather than talking about stopping or in some way stemming the growth or influence of islam in Europe, why not look at the conditions people live in, especially in terms of economics and social mobility. Are people from certain countries really seen as equals and able to have the same access to power and wealth as the “native” population? Are we doing all we can to provide a solid education and social services to people regardless of what neighborhood they live in or their class? I say, learn from history, address these issues, and no matter what your background or your religion, Europe will have a bright future, with civil and healthy disagreement and debate.