Citizen Reporter

Back Like Old Times

“So who’s still around?” Brooke asked me, fresh off the plane from Berlin. Who is still around. Tricky question in most beloved European cities these days. I tried to name names, stumbling when I’d realize she never knew this person or that person. Sometimes I’d name someone I knew from 4 years ago, other times I’d mention someone I’d only met in the last year… in both cases it reminded me of how tricky time is, resulting in this pseudo-expat-amsterdamer-alzheimers. Where you forget the year, mix up the name, or just go blank.

Still having one of the allstars of my Amsterdam past back in town after a year in Berlin is a great thing. She looks at the city with great excitement, with a certain giddyness that in the daily routine, I sometimes forget. It is, as they say, a breath of fresh air.

Funny thing, as I look up at my first two paragraphs, I think I’ve said similar before when someone returns. It is the way, after all, around these parts. People come and go. They often come back, though it’s not the same. Sometimes they fall right back into things, sometimes they cherish the little things more than the last time. However you go about it, it is a tradition.

Oh.. and as a bonus today, a captivating video of my first mate and I navigating the ruthless sea.

Crisis at the Server

Hello dear readers. As a result of a massive computer problem at the bicyclemark.org secret server location somewhere in the northwest of the United States, the entire blog has been taken back in time by one week. Fear not, I have backups – sort of. So all the posts of the past week will be put back up and hopefully I didn’t lose too much.

Thanks for all the emails and messages saying “hey its broken”. The people in charge are recovering and fixing what they can. Regular posting will resume this evening, complete with a new videoblog and other shtuff.

**update** painstakingly posted this past weeks posts back up, luckily I had the text opened from before the collapse of the server. Oh misery.

bm129 Playing Politics with Immigration in the Netherlands

Anyone who remembers the murder of the film director Theo Van Gogh is likely to remember the person who wrote the film that he would later be murdered over. Somali born asylum seeker and member of Dutch parliament Ayaan Hirsi Ali has won international admiration as well as cirticism over the past few years, as an outspoken critic of Islam. Now a new chapter in her political career, the attempted deportation and the political and perhaps social fallout that follows. Famed videoblogger Marc the Mindcaster returns to the program to explain it to we the non-Dutch who are trying to make sense of it all.

AudioCommunique #129 (mp3)

Useful Links:

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is all over YouTube, go watch
The NYTimes article about the recent events

Music:

K’Naan – Hoobaale
Neil Young – We Need a Leader

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podcast made possible by you the listener and also Springheeljack.net

Seeking the Truth about Charles Taylor

Tonight I was hoping to get the “ok” from Pauline in Ivory Coast to do the podcast that focuses on Charles Taylor, which we’ve been discussing in sporatic email. Anyone who either reads the Known Universe or heard my program about the conflict in Ivory Coast remembers Pauline, the roving reporter transplanted from Amsterdam to Abidjan. Last I spoke with her she had just returned from a visit to Dakar, Senegal. Talk about adventure!

You may recall my post about a month ago bringing up the topic of Charles Taylor and pondering whether or not he is a sociopath, and generally discussing his alleged crimes. Pauline read it, and offered another point of view on the whole thing. She’d just returned from Liberia, and mentioned how in reality, many people there still support their former president and despite all the things he stands accused of, think his actions were justified. I was a bit surprised to hear it, although I think it’s a normal response in many cases that the abused still love the abuser.

But I leave the details and the closer analysis to the podcast, as soon as I reconnect with her. In the mean time I’m sorting through more details of his life, things I hadn’t considered before. Here are some eye-opening highlights:

– Taylor actually broke out of a Massachesetts prison back in in 1984! Where he was being held for embezzling almost 1 million dollars from a Liberia related institution. When I say broke out, I mean hollywood style, complete with rope of bed sheets, sawing through bars, and a getaway car. Talk about good training for later becoming president.

– In 1997, after leading one faction of a civil war in Liberia, elections were held and he ran for president. One of his campaign slogans was, “He killed my Ma, he killed my Pa, but I will vote for him.” – He went on to win by a landslide.

– Pat Robertson, famous televangelist who occasionally urges his viewers to assasinate world leaders, struck a deal with Taylor back in 1994. The deal gave Robertson the right to the diamond rich mines of Liberia, which were transported via airplane through his Operation Blessing relief organization. Robertson told his viewers that those flights were actually flying relief supplies to the victims of the genocide in Rwanda.

All this being said. I’ve never been to Liberia. I’ve never walked a day in the shoes of a Liberian, and certainly will never fully understand how all that trauma from so much war and manipulation can effect you. All the more reason I look forward to hearing from Pauline, who fortunately for all of us, has been looking into these questions, and trying to gather more information and testimony from people who lived it and continue to live in the new Liberia, post-Charles Taylor.

Monday Top 4 from my Feedreader

Rainy days ahead in Amsterdam. The Red August has been properly covered so hopefully nor rain nor empty beer bottles will find their way into the boat. But nevermind that… there’s a whole world going on out there.

Instead of starting a conversation about the very peculiar situation with just who is leading the Polish government now, I instead refer you to the Beatroot and all his hard work. If there were a poll (pun intended) about what EU country was the wackiest, Poland would have to be a strong contender for 1st place, things never seem to go as planned over there.

In keeping with the recommended reading rundown for today, I threw my hat into the discussion on Majikthise, where L is talking about Roman Polanski and whether people should support the work of someone who’s done something morally questionable. This theme has been discussed on this blog before, but she’s got a big comment debate raging over there. I used “if Hitler had been a great painter” as a hypothetical example… go read or participate if you’re curious.

And in staying with the world of art meets politics, the talented Tim of Radio Clash dedicated a show to Joe Strummer… and myself! Talk about unworthy, it was very cool to see my name in that context – go listen. Thanks Tim!

bm128 Politicizing the FDA, Holding the US Back

It was designed to be an independent agency of the US government, to maintain standards in the areas of food, drugs, and cosmetics. But in the past few years the FDA has been hesitant to make decisions, especially when it comes to anything related to sex. Why is this happening? Who is benefiting and creating this behavior? And what about cases like the Plan B emergency contraceptive and the Cervical Cancer Vaccine Gardasil, how are they affected? My guest, a veteran of the pharmaceutical industry and blogger, Ed Vawter, joins me to discuss this and more.

AudioCommunique #128 (mp3)

Useful Links:

Formerly of the FDA, Susan F. Wood in the Washington Post.
Pharmaceutical Engineering Blog on the Politicizing of the FDA
The official FDA’s q & a on Plan B

Music:

Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – Biomusicology
Mighty Mighty Bosstones – Another Drinking Song (Remedy)
K’Naan – Strugglin’

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podcast made possible by you the listener and also Springheeljack.net