Like a Heat Wave, Burnin Through Europe’s Heart

Well.. another successful day without spontaneously combusting. I’m sure you probably heard, here in the Europe, there’s another one of those heatwaves where everything gets messed up and some people even die.

Believe what you want about global warming. But I’m telling you Amsterdam can’t handle this, so something must be up.

If you wander through the usually green and lovely Vondelpark, which is like our Central Park.. it is now one big cloud of dust. It is as if thousands of pigpens have ascended on the park and kicked up as much dirt as possible. After a leisurely jog through there Im sure my face turns a shade of brown.

But nevermind the surface details. This heatwave really slows down the normally bustling pace of life in the netherlands. At work these days, we’re told to go home at four oclock, because the hot weather and lack of air-co is considered dangerous for our health. Whenever I hear this I think of all the little chinese children in factories who make my clothes… they would probably find this policy amusing or simply.. hard to believe.

Fortunately almost no one has airconditioning anyway, and a majority of this city’s citizens ride their bikes as the primary mode of transport. So at the very least, we’re not responding to a temperature crises by putting extreme strain on the power grid ala France or Florida. Oh wait.. we probably are anyway.

Tonight at the vlogger meetup, Gabe B spoke of rain tomorrow night. Rain, I laughed, it will never rain in Amsterdam again… thats so pre-global warming.

While They Point Fingers, People Die

It’s very hard to consider blogging about anything else when every hour that goes by, so many people’s lives are being destroyed. Of course that can be said for everyday that goes by, but the present situation involving Lebanon, Occupied Palestine, and Israel is just dark with seemingly no light at the end of no tunnel.

On hardtalk last night, the only program on BBCWorld that is truely exciting, the chief negotiator for the Palestinian Authority was on. I thought the man was going to break down crying. He threw up his hands and admitted all hell had broken loose. When questioned as to why the PA had lost control, he used an anecdote, saying: “It is as if, I tie your hands, I cut off your legs, I throw you in the water and then ask – why can’t you swim.” Saddest of all, as an old man, he talked about how he has lived most of his life under the occupation and he would most certainly die in it, and that in his life he had never seen it THIS BAD.

A quick look at the latest developments features lots of finger pointing. Lots of people will most certainly buy into it. The equations and connections that they point to: Syria this, Iran that, Lebanon this, Hezbollah that, Israel this, North Korea that…. how the hell did they manage to tie North Korea into it? Seems like anything goes these days. All the evangelical politicians who never have to pull a trigger or even get any blood on their suits, are rushing to attain their beloved armageddon.

Seriously though, the one thing I keep thinking about his how history will view this. Considering the death tolls, the bombings, the missiles, the refugee camps, the starvation and psychological trauma… could you imagine how this compares to other moments in history when large amounts of people were suffering or under attack, and other nations stood by and did nothing? It feels like one of those moments. A Rwanda. A Khmer Rouge. Yes, I don’t mind saying it, a holocaust. No its not the same. Its never the same. It has a different look, a different story, and naturally, it never seems like it is comparable. But in the end, the results are not so different. Large numbers of innocent people are murdered by the use of conventional weapons or driven from there homes en masse, in the name of some political or military objective, while in the wealthier part of the world, we go to work, take a vacation, or if you’re me- ride around in a little red boat all evening.

A Brief BBC Appearance de Moi

Not that I think you should have to hear MORE “me” than you already hear/read/see. But since I still hope to please my mom and make her and dad extra proud, I would just like to announce that I was one of the call-in guests on the BBC worldservice program “World Have Your Say” .. which can be a little crazy as anytime the world has its say… someone inevitably talks over someone. *

I’d like to say it was no big deal and I played it cool, but I was pacing around my room half angry, half nervous, hoping I wouldn’t suddenly contract tourette’s sydrome. (sorry if you’ve got it… ) When my turn came I was determined to leave no spaces in my speech for someone to interrupt. It worked well for about 45 seconds, then – oddly enough – my last words got stepped on by one of the panelists complimenting my statement. Go figure.

Then I think an Israeli guy mistakenly accused me of spreading misinformation. Which would be exciting but I wasn’t the guy he meant to accuse. Ah well.

–READ The TEXT, and from there you can hear the recording (I’m around minute 18.30).-

Lastly tonight, and actually something I mentioned on the programme, I’ve been reading up about the history and present situation of the UN peacekeeping operation UNIFIL in southern Lebanon. I had not realized that these 2,000 troops have been there, along the blue line, since the late 70’s. Troops from France, Ireland, Norway, Ghana, India, Nepal, Italy (and more) are part of the mission. The mission, by the way, was to ensure that Israel fully withdrew from the region and enable Lebanon to regain control of the territory. Neither really ever TRUELY occurred. The saddest part, reading all this, is that all the parties involved have repeatedly disrespected the peacekeepers by crossing the line or firing at each other over that line. (over 200 killed) I have to say, I’m not that surprised that Hezbollah disrespects the authority of the UN – they’re not known for embracing international law or peace. But it’s a bit odd that Israel, a signatory of the UN charter, has disrespected, overtaken, and even shot in the direction of this UN mandated peacekeeping force.

In conclusion, and what I didn’t get to finish saying on the BBC, is that this mission must be seriously re-enforced with troops from all continents… especially North America and Europe, to ensure that they are taken seriously, and that neither side dare to cross a well trained, well equipped, and very high profile mission. (see Kosovo, Bosnia, and to a lesser extent – East Timor, for references)

(*Special thanks to Matt for suggesting me for the programme!)

bm142 Discussing Lebanon with a Lebanese Friend

When seeking info about Lebanon, in order to transcend the media filters in North America and around the world that give us their government(s) approved, we must speak directly with people whos lives are connected to what happens there. In this program I speak with my friend Ramzi, who has lived in Amsterdam for the past few years. Together we discuss the different sides in the conflict, and where things might go from here.

Robert Fisk Audio

Democracy Now’s Coverage from Friday

 

Dilip in Mumbai

I meant to post this last night, so I’m just going to stick last nights date on here. As most of my attention has been focused on Lebanon over the past 3 days, I had originally meant to talk about what took place in Mumbai. But instead of telling you the obvious stuff, like how sad it was that so many people died… I would rather direct you to an article. But this isn’t the typical blogger lazy-link-to-an-article post, the article I recommend is from a blogger who has appeared on my podcast and you can find in my blogroll: “Death Ends Fun”.
Although it might sound a little odd, I have to say the descriptions put forth my Dilip regarding his first hand observations of the aftermath on those trains, as people struggled to help each other and to save whomever they could, it was oddly beautiful. I’m sure it wasn’t his intention and few people would ever call such an occasion beautiful, but the underlying spirit of his words really captured this very caring and determined energy of the people of Mumbai.

So I recommend you read the article, and I leave you with one good selection from it:

The lot of us, dripping water on the hospital’s
spotless floors, stride up to the blood bank. There’s
time to get their names: Binaifer the woman, Shoukat
the driver, Tabrez, Maaz, Anil and Nawaz. We have,
ladies and gentlemen, sound the trumpets, a Hindu, a
Christian, four Muslims, a Parsee and an agnostic
(me). All here to give blood for faceless fellow
humans. (Not my blood, after all, because I donated
just two months ago.) It really shouldn’t, but this
touches me somewhere deep, something fierce.

bmtv13 Unarmed Response

I’m not going to stop talking about this until some good news finally comes from that area. As you know, a few days ago Israel bombed Lebanon. They also imposed a sea and air blockade on the country. It was in response to the kidnapping of soldiers. Which was a response to something else.. and on and on. (like I said yesterday)

Here’s my RESPONSE.. and it doesn’t require any bombs or guns. Take notes governments around the world, I am unarmed and willing to negociate.

Watch the Video