Citizen Reporter

Not Quite Part of the Union

Since yesterday was not-one-immigrant day in the US, today might be a good time to talk about something related here on the communique.

As many of you may remember fondly, it was only 2 years ago yesterday that Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, became new members of big blue. Yes, those were exciting times that resulted in a Union of 460 millon people and an economic powerhouse of sorts. Maybe more important, for us regular people, was that being a citizen of the EU meant that you now had certain universal rights in all member states: to work, live, travel, do all kinds of activities – anywhere within the 25 member states. As a person who’s entire adult life has been shaped by these rights, I was naturally very pleased that more people would be able to experience what I have experienced as a Portuguese/European citizen.

Unfortunately, as is the case with so many politicized issues, certain countries (Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Netherlands, UK, France, etc.) fairly quietly put an asterix onto the addition of the new EU states. This extra clause involved limiting or flat out preventing new EU citizens from places like Poland or Slovakia, from exercising their right to free movement and seeking employment within their national borders. Complete with extensions for these provisions, some of which expired this year, as in the case of the UK. Others which carry on and have been open-ended extended, as in the shameful case of the Netherlands.

In other words they may say the new Eastern European Nations are part of the EU. They may even show up to ceremonies, shake hands, and pose for photos with officials from that member state. But they don’t actually respect or honor the rights that membership entitles all citizens, including their own. So next time anyone starts talking highly of the big EU countries, or the Netherlands, make sure you remind them of the xenophobic, underhanded, and perhaps even racist policy of the sitting government that for some mysterious reason – people still haven’t forced to resign.

bm125 Hackers, Freedom, and Tim from the Chaos Computer Club

In the public perception battle between hackers and the media, it is the hackers that have long been painted as criminals and dangers to society. However I now know of at least one area of the world where this is not the case, and the hacker community has remained creative, vibrant, and growing. Tim Pritlove of the world famous CCC was in Amsterdam this weekend, and this podcast features an interview with him on the topics of hacking, freedom, the CCC, and the future of the world in relation to access to technology.

AudioCommunique #125 (mp3)

Useful Links:

Chaos Computer CLub
Chaos Radio International
Tim’s Own Podcast with Me conducted on the Boat last friday.

Music:

Gogol Bordello – Lets Get Radical
Anti-Flag – Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL)
Neil Young – The Restless Consumer

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

bmtv6 Video Proof of QD’06

I’m not putting it into the main feed this time, but for those wanting something for sunday evening/monday morn, here’s a vlog about Queen’s day. Starring lots of famous Amsterdam and Netherlands characters from my life who will not be named in this post. Cept the mindcaster… of course I’ll use his name, my co-pilot on board the red august.

All in all, the red august braved the Amsterdam waters despite bumper to bumper bigass boats with DJ’s and people shakin their booties on board. It was certainly not the August’s first queens day, as I was a guest on board back in 2003. Still, this time I was captain and owner of the vessel, it was a big responsibility, but I survived and enjoyed taking the friends around town in style.

For full coverage of Queen’s day from the view of expats and nonexpats, consult BlondeButBright, Todd over at Waking up in Amsterdam, Gabe Mac of Xolo.tv, and of course the Mindcaster himself. Just to name a few.

Make Boat not War

Pffft…. after an entire day navigating the waters of Amsterdam on the craziest day of the year — queen’s day — there’s no way I’m going to try and write big stuff. I’d rather say, here look at these photos, and then talk to you all tomorrow.

She said, I just got back from Colombo

One of today’s graduates gave me a warm greeting today during the ceremony. I noticed her Eastern European skin looking quite tan, and I asked where she’d been. “Sri Lanka,” she said, “not a very good time over there right now.”

At that moment I thought back to the last few years and what has taken place in Sri Lanka, a place I’ve long paid attention to. I thought about the disastrous and destructive civil war that tore the country apart for so long. Then in 2002 there came the peace agreement between the Tamil Tigers and the government. My feeling and my hope was that people were tired of war, and that even the soldiers themselves, on both sides, were ready to seek some other (any other!) means of resolving their conflict.
But it has been a shakey cease-fire, with occasional incidents on both sides. And as she spoke she mentioned the recent escallation of violence and how everyone where she was outside Colombo was talking about it and getting crazy-concerned. It was also interesting to hear the contrast, while a fragile peace agreement is on the brink of falling apart, she was looking for peace and quiet at a Sri Lankan resort… very odd.

Hey and while I’m talking Asia, GOOD NEWS, the Nepalese parliament has re-convened for the first time in 4 years! This sounds like a good step.

Is it that amazing?

With another graduation for international masters fish about to take place tomorrow, as I sat in the fishtank today there were a few old familiar faces from last year, wandering around. They typically go home to finish their masters thesis, or they go off to Uganda to observe Ugandan underwater basketweaving and by the time I see them again they are expert basket weavers and ready to graduate.

One particular familiar face came up to me in the fishtank and greeted me with the warmest of smiles and kisses. She came back to Amsterdam just for the weekend, to graduate. After that, she told me, maybe it’s back to Uganda or Uzbekistan, or Ulan Bantuur. (refusing to spell check tonight) After I grilled her about what life plans she has, she turned the heat onto me. It went something like this:

“So you’re here, you’re doing well! I mean, it can’t be that bad to be living in Amsterdam after all?”

Me: Yeah. No big deal really, semesters melt into semesters, it hasn’t really been that long.
Her:

“No it’s great, you’re still here, it’s amazing.”

Me: Is it? I don’t know. But I did get a boat last week. So life is good.

That’s my snippet for today. Tomorrow we can delve into the anniversary of Chernobyl, the future of Thailand, and maybe a little on how I don’t care if Al Gore re-invents himself, again.

Oh, and a vlog about riding in a Duck is now available on my video blog.