Citizen Reporter

bm115 A Visit to Venezuela, the Observations of Steve Shalom

It becomes hard to tell what is really happening in Venezuela with all the conflicting reports coming from the United States government, US media, the international press, and the country itself. How you view the situation seems to hinge on whether you are pro-Chavez or anti-Chavez. While I was in New Jersey in December, my former professor and good friend Steve Shalom informed me that he was going to be part of a group from my alma mater, paying a special visit to Venezuela this month. He recently returned and in the podcast I bring you his observations; the good, the bad, and the still-too-early-to-tell.

Music –
Various songs from Luis Silva
Los Amigos Invisibles – Esto es lo que hay
Un Solo Pueblo – Venezuela

Also: Panel Discussion on US Drug Policy and Latin America at NYU coming up. Anyone interested and in the area, read about it over at the LatinAmericanist blog.

As discussed in the show, here is the photo from the cover of the NY Times, I labelled it.

Peace At Hand in Spain

Rafa Díez Usabiaga

Remember that name, because he could and should be the Gerry Adams of the ETA Basque Paramilitary/Seperatist group. When you hear the name Gerry Adams, you should think: IRA, Sinn Fein, politician, peace negociations, unity, diffusion of tensions…. any one or all of those. My hope is very soon, when you hear the name Rafa Díez Usabiaga, you will think, ETA, Batasuna, trade unions, politician, peace negociation, etc… you get the idea?

But notice I said COULD and SHOULD… this because it is still unclear if it WILL happen. I remember only a few years ago under the conservative spanish government of Aznar, their specialty was refusing to negociate, using hardline tactics, and generally making the situation worse rather than better. Now there is Zapatero and his center-left government who have not made huge strides in the first part of their term when it comes to solving the bitter conflict with ETA. Until now.

My hope is that Zapatero will avoid any tough-guy antics that politicians always choose to adopt since appearing weak is such a taboo. I hope they will engage in conversation, negociation, and basically – communication with ETA, as the group has openly come out and said there will be a cease fire and they want to talk. I always compare it to the IRA and the UK, mostly because I see what has become of that conflict as a very positive example of how conflicts can be solved or AT LEAST, transferred into the political realm and out of the violence realm.

The ball is in his court now, the government of Spain will now show its true colors, and I hope they are open minded and communicative colors. If it works, it qualifies as another sign that there are far better ways to handle conflicts then bombing, invading, or outlawing, which seems like such a popular idea in this era.

New Jerseans Abroad

B has been in Amsterdam this week, visiting from Paris. He’s been living in Paris for something like 5 years now, along with his fiancé. B and I go way back to the days where we studied together in Aix-en-Provence, down in the sleepy south of France, 2000. As cosmic forces would have it, we are both from New Jersey, and for the last 6 years we’ve managed to meet up fairly often in either the US or Europe. I must say it is extremely comforting to hang with an old friend and someone who can relate on so many levels as an expat from new jersey with an additional european nationality, living in a third country. Sounds a bit like jupiter aligning with the pluto or whatever your favorite unlikely scenario.

We’ve spent a good amount of time comparing life and work in the Netherlands versus France. Naturally we’ve touched upon the demonstrations in the streets of France and the CPE law which effects the employment of young people. B expressed mixed feelings about the demonstrations, especially considering their timing – only after the law was passed did people take to the streets. He remembered reading extensively about the proposed legislation back in November during the street battles in the Parisien suburbs. Somehow at that time the type of collective action we see now did not occur. A bit late, is what B seemed to be saying.

Practically speaking, whether you live in France or Bolivia or wherever, it is indeed frustrating when people only get concerned about laws after they are passed. Even if there is a good amount of information available and decent warning from all the different types of media available these days, many seem only capable of ignoring it and then later when it’s much more difficult to change something, they get angry. It is, in basic terms, a bad habit. But a typical one of the type of democracies many of us live in.

bmtv3 A Lisbon “Bica” View

Videoblog about the view out the window while I was in Lisbon. I try to explain some factoids and generally show you what a magical place it is. This is the last of my March 06 vlogs about Portugal, thanks for all the fantastic feedback.

Watch the Video

Colonialism in North America

As I tend to stay up most of the night working on all kinds of blog reading, article seeking, audio collecting, and video editing – sometimes my eyes play tricks on me. Sometimes I think I see things wrong or I must be way too sleepy. That’s the feeling I had when I saw the headline yesterday that citizens of the US island of Puerto Rico were denied the right to vote in presidential elections.

photo by flickr member lynnifer

Puerto Rico, the commonwealth of the United States for almost 100 years. Who’s people are citizens of the United States. People who were drafted to fight in all the wars the country has waged since the 1st world war. Good enough to die for the country, but not qualified to vote for the so-called democratically elected leader of the free world. Doesn’t seem so free if you’re sitting in Puerto Rico. Probably seems ironic if you’re walking the streets of Baghdad peering around every corner to avoid being shot or blown up, and you’ve got an American flag sewn onto your arm, and you salute sir-yes-sir to some commanding officer from a state that can actually vote. Maybe when the Iraqi army is ready they can go liberate Puerto Rico. Until recently, the military used to test weapons of mass destruction in Puerto Rico. Good enough to test bombs, fight in the wars, pay some taxes, and salute the flag… but still not good enough to vote for president.

Freedom is clearly on the march. Colonialism is thriving too.

bm114 Freud, Luntz, and the longterm effects of political manipulation

There’s lots of talk about how the Bush Admin’s policies are a distaster, and how the approval ratings are at an alltime low, and it is almost assumed that there is light at the end of the tunnel in the form of a u-turn in policy and representation.
But is that really true? Do these policies and worldviews stop with the downfall of one person or one administration? I rehash Freud’s views on people’s irrationality and place them alongside the theories of Bush’s prized pollster Frank Luntz, who crafted the lexicon for making people believe in the invasion of Iraq and the government plan.

AudioCommunique #114 (mp3)

Music:

REM – World Leader Pretend
Immortal Technique – Industrial Revolution
Phil Ochs – The War is Over
The Slackers – Power
Vashti Bunyan – Here Before

Much of the audio courtesy of ABC radio national.