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

El Sicko

Well I can’t ignore all the mainstream subjects… I have to write something about Sicko, Michael Moore’s new film. (which you can watch, in two parts, here)

I’m sure you’ve heard something about it. And Im also sure you can go anywhere in the blogosphere and people will be talking about it. Even YouTube have opened a channel in cooperation with Mike, so people can record their own health insurance horror stories.

Despite the mainstreamness, and perhaps the excessive buzz, I cannot remain silent about how important this film is. Simple… but important.

Of course plenty will echo this feeling. But I’d like to add that this film is more than important for the USA, this film is important for Europe. Why? Because Europe is forgetting what a good health system is. Or perhaps to put it another way, I see that much of Europe takes their universal and quality healthcare for granted. Worse than that, the health insurance lobby is growing in Brussels, and its seeping into many countries where people have some of the highest standards of health and human services. Seeping in and selling this idea that health should be privatized.. for everyone’s benefit.

Even though we can find plenty of evidence worldwide about how dangerous this can be, I don’t hear many voices reminding the governments about this. At least not the most powerful voices. Sure France is still holding tough, and England still has the NHS, but there is growing pressure in Europe, and private health insurance companies are popping up and expanding right under our noses.

So yes.. Sicko is a very powerful and important question to the USA. Not just why can’t they have a good health system, but also what is happening with values in America that people don’t care enough to have such a system. BUT this film should also be seen by Europeans who should ask themselves what is changing in their values.. and what direction they are heading when it comes to who runs and who can access the health system.

On the Western Side of Africa

Highly recommended reading from two of my favorite people reporting from the continent of Africa.

First: My friend Pauline, one of my favorite journalists in the world, has been reporting from Sierra Leone. From the poverty of Freetown to how people view the Special UN court, she communicates some amazing experiences from a place that never gets big media attention. I could recommend a post, but the truth is you should read all her work, especially the recent stuff. (her photo included below)

And then we have Josh of In an African Minute. I’m used to hearing Josh report from Uganda over the past year, but lately his blogging comes from Cameroon. Although he has been mostly posting on the run, I still find it interesting to see my friend on his journey, so perhaps you will too.

As a bonus, they will both be featured on the podcast in the coming week.

Darfur Awareness Followup

Staying with the issue of Darfur, on the heels of yesterday’s podcast, I noticed an interesting study on public opinion of the Darfur situation in the US, published on the PEW center’s site. (love PEW center because I have the patience and the time to read through their numbers and reports)

My attention was particularly sparked by the survey of how the public feels the media is covering the crisis in Darfur as compared to Iraq or Iran. As you can see in this image, not only do 49% feel it receives too little coverage, but if you look at the “don’t know” category.. 14% don’t know. Which makes me wonder if they really don’t know anything on the topic, which is still very possible considering the lack of coverage, or if they simply don’t care.. which is unfortunately also possible.

One statistic that represents exactly why I do the work that I do on this blog: 75% of those who had heard a lot about the situation believed that the US had a responsibility to take action to stop the genocide. The less that people had heard about Darfur the more they didn’t want the US to do anything.

Might sound simple enough, but for me it reminds me of an important relationship – the more you hear about a topic, learn about it, talk about it, argue about it; the greater the chance you will get involved and be concerned.

bm209 Olympic Boycotts and China’s Role in Darfur

Using a wide range of strategies, human rights activists around the world are calling on China to stop funding the genocide in Darfur. Their most important tool- the Olympic Games in 2008. While some experts and activists call for a boycott in the tradition of boycotting olympics to make a political statement, others are proposing different strategies.

My Guest is Jonathan Zimmerman, Director of the History of Education Program, Steinhardt School of Education, NYU.
(you can read some of his op-eds on China and Darfur, here and here)

We Discuss:
-China’s role in Darfur
-Resources and the need for resources
-Historical olympic boycotts
-Leading public figures who won’t take a stand against China
-Beyond Boycott

In the second part of the program you hear excerpts from a press conference launching the Olympic Dream for Darfur campaign. Audio includes Mia Farrow, Eric Reeves and Jill Savitt