History is the Witness

It’s interesting, comparing the present to the past. And I’d add, it is not done often enough.

Let us start in the present, shall we; as the AP reports on the Saddam Hussein trial:

a defiant Saddam admitted in court that he had ordered the trial of the Shiites who were eventually executed, but he insisted that doing so was legal because they were suspected in an assassination attempt against him,

I’ve heard of such a crime, it’s referred to as treason in many countries. Matter of fact, I remember this, where was it again…. oh yes in the United States, 1951, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, here I’ll quote from Wikipedia:

The Rosenbergs were convicted on March 29, 1951, and sentenced to death under section 2 of the Espionage Act….The couple were executed in the electric chair on June 19, 1953. Reports of the execution state that Julius died after the first application of electricity, but Ethel did not succumb immediately, and was subjected to two more electrical charges before being pronounced dead.

Espionage. Treason. Whether its 2 people or 40 people, in the US or in Iraq, Saddam or Eisenhower, 1953 or 1988.. he’s not the first and certainly not the last. The main difference lies in who has the power, and presently he has lost his, while the US gets to re-write history. It comes back to the old saying – History is written by the victors. Something like that.

For this reason I don’t really care for the Saddam trial and I remain a firm admirer of Ramsey Clark, who has repeatedly defended the most infamous leaders on trial. Nothing good can come of it. A trial based on an illegal war cannot, in my eyes, lead to a fair and legitimate verdict. The world could have thought up a better way, this is a pretty amateur effort.

One last thing, which I’m also reminded of when reading about how Saddam justifies his terrible actions while president of Iraq. Sometime soon, they will try to execute Jose Padilla, whom they arrested in 2002 and still haven’t charged with anything. What will the crime be? A familiar one – treason.

bm108 Costa Rica, the Latin American Exception

While much of Latin America has clearly turned to the political left in the last few years, Costa Rica continues to be a nation that does things their own way. With all the hype surrounding hi-tech industry and eco-tourism, what’s in store for Costa Rica following these elections? Taylor Kirk of the LatinAmericanist blog joins me to talk about one of her favorite places.

AudioCommunique #108 (mp3)

Music:

El Guato – Linda Costa Rica
(Cant remember the artist) -Como Se Baila la Cumbia
Maria Esther Zamora, Polito Gonzalez, Jorge Lobos, Cuti Asse, Roberto Lindl – Chipi Chipi


Also: My condolences to the Accordion Guy, Joey Devilla, his father passed away over the weekend.

In the Streets of Bangkok

Now that late night TV no longer features the giant slalom, snowboarding downhill, curling, or any other winter olympics for that matter, I take in an extra dosage (to add to my already busting at the seems media diet) of BBC world in the evening. Last night I was quite taken by the images out of Thailand, of people in the streets of Bangkok, demanding that the prime minister step down.

It is a beautiful thing when people get together in the thousands in front of important buildings and collectively, peacefully, make their presence felt and demand action from representatives that no longer represent them. It reminds me of the Ukraine only a few years ago. Or when they chased the representatives out of parliament in Georgia not to long ago. Or what I think SHOULD have taken place in Baghdad without bombs and guns; people linked arm and arm marching in overwhelming numbers, despite the dangers.

I’m still researching to see if it’s a potential show topic and who the guest would be, but thus far, it is clear that multimillionaire prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra could certainly be involved in some very corrupt and illegal policy decisions that favor his own telecom companies. In some ways he reminds me of a certain Italian leader. But nevermind that, my eyes are fixed on Bangkok, in hopes that the corruption will be investigated and exposed, and a more competant and capable representative will be elected to take his place.

Depressed A Nice Girl

I think things were going well, til I started talking instead of drinking and then I swear I saw tears well up in her eyes…..

One thing you need to know, in case you didn’t already, about the difficulties of expat life, is to have visitors that you really enjoy, and that almost completely and un-noticably remove you from your daily life, routine, and people. Does that sound confusing? Stay with me.

You move to a different country where you don’t have family and you probably don’t have many friends. But you network, you get around, get involved, and over time, you find your buddy, or your preferred activity, and before you know it – you’ve got a life. Hopefully an interesting one. All the while, naturally you keep in contact with your old friends scatterred about the world, writing neverending lines of emails and frequent skype calls. You even hope those friends would visit, because it would be fun to have them here, to see and live in your world for a bit.

That’s where it gets complicated… in my twisted and very experienced opinion. They make that journey, and you clear your calender or conveniently forget previous engagements (as I have). Upon arrival you’re there, at the airport, trainstation, hotel – and you start leading them around, pointing to things, and buying them rounds. You think yourself lucky, to have your friend with you for awhile, and you do more partying then you otherwise would have all year. But it’s no problem. In fact, it’s fun, it’s easy, and you lose track of time, year, and tasks to be done.

So when a night like this comes round, when all the great visitors have left or will leave within hours and you’ve said your goodbyes. Sometimes… I’d say often times.. you find yourself sitting at a café after midnight, just you and your lovely companion for the evening, you start reminiscing. Then story telling. Then you don’t even have to say anything cause your lack of energy and temporary time-space insanity is understood. And somehow you may have depressed her, cause she understands the catch22 of life abroad:


When you get the visitors that you truely enjoy for days on end, it is very strange to say goodbye and return to life as usual, like nothings changed.

Photo by Tony, who’s jetlagged in LA right now.

bm107 John Aravosis of Americablog on Ports and the World Bank

Washington DC based writer, political consultant, and blogger @ Americablog.com, John Aravosis has been in Amsterdam for the past few days. During a recent walk back from the Albert Cuyp market we recorded this talk about the Port Sale issue, the fatal errors of the Bush administration, multinational corporations and the World Bank. Talk about hot button issues – olé!

AudioCommunique #107 (mp3)

Discussed:

Listen to the podcast you lazy shownotes reader.

Music:

Madeleine Peyroux – J’ai Deux Amours
Paco Ibañez – Como Tu

Vacations Scare off Readers

…. that’s the crux of one of the conversations we the bloggers have been having over the past few days. John says whenever he goes on trip somewhere, the less people read or comment. Tony has observed similar. Is it a coincidence? Maybe people don’t like to hear about nice places and how good life can sometimes seem when you leave your reality for a while and go live in another reality. Maybe some people don’t like reading my blog because I live in a picturesque place all year round? Nevermind this meta-talk, let’s move on to a recommendation.

I’ve been very actively seeking blogs from countries that I feel are under-represented in western media. Earlier this week I mentioned one from the Philippines, today I want to sing the praises of a blog from Liberia entitled “Liberia Stories.” I’m growing increasingly fond of this modest blog which is a wealth of snapshots and daily life snippets from Monrovia. While you may go through your average day never thinking about what’s happening in Liberia, it is still a special place, like many special places in the world, that deserve the quality of life, respect, and attention that we give to any other country. Gone are the days of being “too far” from a country to not be able to find out what’s happening there – search for it – it’s somewhere on the internet, for you to increase your knowledge and awareness of the world you live in.

Go forth… explore technorati…