Angela Over There, Russia in Here

I’m standing across the street from the EU parliament looking through my packet of information for this conference and suddenly there’s a big to-do across the street. Several of the charming conference organizer ladies start looking towards the main doors in excitement. And there… walking out the door and kissing some people goodbye is the German Prime Minister. Exciting? Well… No. Amusing? Perhaps.

You’d think being here wandering the halls of the European Union, I would be thinking about the big questions like.. what is going to happen with this new treaty business, or what the hell is going on with corrupt Romania and Bulgaria.. but my mind is elsewhere.

This because as I walk around, my headphones are on, and I’m listening to a very inspiring and exciting podcast. The type of podcast I too would like to do more of.. emulate in many ways.. On The Media’s Brooke Gladstone reporting from Russia.

You really have to listen to this one… to hear the old people and young people talking to Brooke. They refer to how things used to be and how things are, debate if theyre living in a police state or if it is just a phase. They argue about what freedom they have or what freedom they lack. Even the great Garry Kasparov is in there… and I must say, his words struck a chord with me.

At some point a man who identifies himself as a communist who has no desire to return to the past starts to talk about how the west wrongly pushes their values on Russia. He goes on and on about the terrible things Western nations have done in Iraq and all the unnecessary death. He is angry, yet calm; with a very interesting and wise outlook on his country and the world outside. As I rounded the corner towards the Parliament cafeteria, I turned off my mp3 player, and looked at the over 200 young journalists in ahead of me… but my mind was still on Russia.. and the great statements in that podcast.

Brooke.. you are my new heroine.

Working on a Tsunami Followup

Part of reporting and researching the under reported and the issues that involve humans struggling to survive means looking back at events that have led to struggles still taking place today. Which is why recently I’ve been scouring the internets for people reporting about or working in some way with Tsunami recovery.

It has been almost three years since close to 230,000 people throughout south asia were killed in that terrible disaster. Entire communities were erased, families seperated or forever scarred, and industries crippled.

Initially the internet had several beakons for communicating what was happenning and appealing to the world for help. I remember linking to a Tsunami Blog back in 2004. But unfortunately, as is the case with many good intentioned blogs, many of these sites have been abandoned or retired. Leaving, what I believe to be, a gap of information; a lack of reporting about communities that are still struggling and could benefit from assistance or even just attention from the outside world.

In an attempt to produce a podcast on this issue, I’ve launched a few signal flares to bloggers and organizations that were working back then and may still be working on this issue. My hope is that they share my desire to bring the story back into the internet conversation… back into our hearts and minds. Because if something useful is to be done, we must first be informed.

Iraqi Labor

The media conversation about the goings-on in Iraq doesn’t get much beyond the religious divisions and political executions. When it does, it certainly doesn’t make the front pages.

Over the weekend my Radio Labor Start Podcast feed included a recent episode of building bridges, the labor radio program from WBAI in NYC and an old favorite of mine. I expected the usual discussion of labor organizing in the US. But this episode featured a labor leader from Iraq.

Complete with translator, the IRaqi talked about the struggle of organized labor since the early 20th century in Iraq. Beyond that, he spoke about how the current government is passing laws that allow labor organizers to be arrested, tortured, and killed. While workers for sectors like oil and power, struggle to organize themselves and demand a living wage.

While we’ve long read about how terrible this current Iraqi government is, I hadn’t heard about it’s despicable labor policies. It is as if part of bringing “freedom” to Iraq involves making sure the labor movement is destroyed.

Highly recommended listening.

Freevlog on Sunday

Middle of the night and I’m still editing some video which actually shouldn’t take this much editing. Many of you may be curious about video on the internet; maybe you’re considering starting your own video blog but don’t know quite how to handle things like editing video.

One major influence that helped me understand some aspects of that process: my friends at Freevlog.org. While many of you are certainly aware of fv, I figure it can’t hurt to point you to them, as it is always a good time to start vlogging. Recently I popped over to Freevlog to see what theyve been up to and watch the updated tutorials to check what new methods Ryanne is using. Sure enough I saw the settings for widescreen that she likes and for you viewing pleasure (or horror), I’m going to adopt the widescreen look. (I’ll leave an ipod version in the feed I suppose)

Below is my test run with widescreen, it has little to do with activism and everything to do with how I spent my sunday, as the crew prepares for our big ultimate frisbee tournament here in Amsterdam.

Click To Play

Nader and the Soltice

It is the day after the longest day of the year… which means here in Amsterdam, it will probably be dark only for 3 or 4 hours tonight. And in celebration, Im off to meet a boatload of strangers from hospitalityclub.org, for some kind of pagan party. You might all remember my dear friend lil Robin, whom I wouldn’t have met in New Orleans without the services of hospitality club.

In the meantime, you listening recommendation for this weekend is none other than Ralph Nader during his recent interview on Radio Open Source. Many comment leavers on that site complained that NAder didn’t talk enough about the 2000 election.. very eager to keep blaming him for the fact that the 2 party system is a farce. BUT NEVERMIND ALL THAT.

If you listen to this show you will enjoy it, so long as you’re interested in family, tradition, culture, and history. He tells great stories of how his mother raised him and while you might accuse him of boasting… I too will sit around and boast about how my mom and dad raised me for probably the rest of my life.. so I can relate.

Plus the most important thing he stresses several times: the fact that we live in an era where we have the technology and the means to record, document, and preserve the traditions of our families… and we should be doing so. I’m a firm advocate of that, and it is wonderful to hear how Ralph is doing it.

bm210 The Costs of Missile Defense

They call it a missile defense system and tell the public it will protect them from attacks by rogue nations. Yet after hundreds of billions of dollars in military contracts, a plethora of failed tests, and a long list of international disagreements, missile defense is still being developed without much public discussion.

My guests today, Victoria Samson, of the Center for Defense Information, and Jane Vaynman of the blog Armscontrolwonk.com , help to lay out the issue of the anti missile system and to remind us of the details that many governments would like for us to ignore.

We Discuss:
– What is Missile Defense
– How is it funded
– When did it begin, how
– Where is it in the world, for who
– Who are the perceived threats
– Tests and failures
– The politics and political game revolving around the system
– The Russian point of view
– A new Cold War or just a bad time for relations with Russia
– Who Benefits?
– Where and who can we look to for info and help