bm106 WTO Force Feeds Europe

With the recent announcement by the World Trade Organization which finds the Europe Union at fault for stopping Genetically Modified Food from entering its markets, what will happen now? Who benefits if things continue this way and who is at risk? Where do national laws and policies fit in against the backdrop of WTO conclusions?

AudioCommunique #106 (mp3)

Discussed:

The forthcoming ruling on GMOs
The reasons for the EU strategy
Governments and Biotech of US, Canada, and Argentina rejoice
Consumer opinions within the EU
Growth and Demand of Organic
Guardian Article
Quotes from notable people
Future for GMO’s and governmental shift to the right.
Brief comment on the Ports Issue

Music:

G.Love – Milk and Cereal
Ben Folds 5 – Prison Food
Merle Haggard – Farmers Daughter
Dead Kennedys – Soup is Good Food
Feist – Let it Die

Philippine Landslides

As I write this the deathtoll is quite uncertain. BBC says 90 confirmed dead but that it may get as high as 1,000. An entire town swallowed up by a landslide.

I was browsing around the blogosphere for Philippine blogs and first hand testimony from the area, but oddly enough I couldn’t find much. The Asiapundit’s blog provided a good gateway to find Torn and Frayed in Manila. In a recent post addressing natural disasters and how the nation handles them, Torn and Frayed writes:

Where the Philippines and many other countries perform badly is in taking precautions before emergencies occur. Why are families living on Mayon in the first place? Or Guinsaugon? Presumably we will find out some of the answers to the Leyte tragedy in the next few days. Since the area had experienced more rainfall than for at any other time in the last 30 years —(read on)

My only other comment on this tragedy, for now, is that while watching the BBC news coverage I saw the US aircraft carrier and the Marines that were dispatched to help in the relief effort. All I kept thinking was — this is what the military should be used for, this is the kind of military initiative I support.

Dump the Jesus of Italian Politics

We all have our wishes for the world in 2006. Many of them won’t come true, especially that one about world peace, I’m betting. But one wish I have, and I don’t think it’s unreasonable, is that the self-proclaimed Jesus Christ of Italian politics would be voted out or just have mercy on his citizens, we europeans, and the rest of the world, and simply resign.

To begin with I’m inclined to ask an Italian or any close observer of the show down there, how could a prime minister this inept maintain one of the longest running governments in the history of the country? But then that question seems silly cause, well, they re-elected GW over in the new world.

Come April, it is time to vote this oligarch, who owns most of the countries television channels, newspapers, and publishers, not to mention AC Milan, OUT! And why not have Romano Prodi, world reknown and respected leader, with his fantastic coalition of left and progressive parties that includes my favorite named party – La Margherita (Mayor of Rome’s crazy party), take back the country. And then finally it might be time for Berlusconi to face up to his financial failures, dirty secrets, and corporate crimes.

It’s one of my simple wishes for 2-0-0-6.

bm105 Health vs Jobs in Western India

In the town of Alang, in the state of Gujarat, India, the ship breaking industry once accounted for half of all the world’s ships that are broken down. It was also once a clean and beautiful beach. Neither is exactly true anymore, and the case of the Clemenceau may become the watershed moment in the history of Alang. Blogger and author Dilip D’Souza of the blog Death Ends Fun talks about his visit to the town and his analysis of what is going on and what the future holds for the workers, the community, and their environment.

AudioCommunique #105 (mp3)

Music:

Dropkick Murphys – Boys on the Docks
Coralie Clement – Indecise
Phil Ochs – Pleasures of the Harbor
Bright Eyes – Ship in a bottle

Bloggers Go Dutch

Despite the fact that its Saturday night and we all know people don’t read as many blogs on the weekend since you’re not pretending to do work at work, as you normally are; I wanted to report about the big to-do here in Amsterdam.

Tomorrow we talk philippinesA group of prominent US bloggers are in town on a Holland Tourism sanctioned trip, a few of which I read, a few of which I’ve heard of, and some of whom I may never read. And so when the democrats abroad organized a little seminar/informal chat this afternoon, naturally I turned up. Primarily because I wanted to meet she behind Majikthise in person, as I’ve sporadically read that blog for the past few years. I was also curious about the other guests some of which were very familiar names, if I started to name them now your eyes would start to burn and your mouse hand would cramp up.

Anyway not that you need to know the entire content of the discussion, but it was mostly about US politics and the democratic party versus the republican party. Or wait.. maybe it was the liberal versus the conservative blogosphere? Who knows… I normally get bored with all those bloggers who everyone refers to as the best. Plus I despise both the republican and the democratic party in general, my apologies to the 10% of democrats in congress that actually have a spine and some progressive ideas in their aging brains. I guess for that reason alone it was good for me to listen and not just dismiss everything as I normally do if left to my own devices. And in the end, people like Ezra Klein and Amanda of Pandagon had plenty of interesting things to say and defended their viewpoints well.

Mañana I’m leading a few bloggers around the Jordaan and Prinseneiland, it’s the bicyclemark reality tour… some of you may have taken it before. History as I remember it.

A Day With an Amsterdam Cop

Generally speaking, simply based on some odd experiences, I don’t trust police in Amsterdam. That’s a big generalization, I know. But it’s truth. Maybe it’s because my paperwork isn’t exactly in order, or maybe it’s because I run lots of red lights on my bike, but I generally keep a look out at all times for police, so that I can ride away and not towards them.

Then today I somehow spent the afternoon with a real Amsterdam police officer.

I was helping escort some new fishtank students, who were having a guided tour of their very special neighborhood – Bickerseiland. And this area happens to be his beat. Naturally I was initially suspicious, with his shaved head, tall stature, and beard – I thought he would be a bland, everything-by-the-book kind of guy. But I walked on, and very soon, we got to talking.
He seemed pleased to interact with me in Dutch, and to find that I’ve been living here for several years. Then he pointed proudly towards an old warehouse that had clearly been converted into some sort of theater. “This is where we rehearse, my theater group.” I was so caught off guard I asked him to repeat himself — your what? – “My theater group,” he said, like it was perfectly logical. “We’re there several nights of week, and our play just opened, it’s about the relationship between Dutch police and Moroccan Youth. “

I kept looking back and forth, from this mild mannered police officer and his intimidating leather police jacket, to the modest theater and the world of art that it might contain. My assumptions about Dutch police were smashed in those few minutes.

He seemed excited to tell about it… “That’s why I have this beard! I play an Imam.“ I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. He noticed and smiled back, “On opening night there was a school group with some Moroccan teens, afterwards one came up to me and told me my character was exactly like his father.. even my clothes!”

From there we wandered throught the island and he told amazing stories. Stopping often to pet a local dog or knock on random doors to introduce local artists, politicians, shipbuilders, and the guy who runs the petting zoo. The quintessential neighborhood police officer, everybody knows his name and waves hello. Occasionally he asked about me, and how I had come to live in Amsterdam. I seemed to listen with one ear and scan the sounds of the street with the other, I kept thinking – this guy is good at what he does.

The afternoon ended with us going to a local pub, where he drank a few coffees while showing me photos on his mobile phone, “this is me dressed as a woman in the last play I did…. oh you should have seen the look on the shopkeeper’s face when I walked into her shop in full uniform asking for women’s shoes.”

After lots more stories about the neighborhood and the police department in general, he gave me his card, and urged me to come see the play. I told him about the podcast, and he agreed to be interviewed on a future show about his play and the issues it addresses.

I left the café with a whole different view of Dutch cops. Suddenly they’re human to me. Still, on the way home, I took only sidestreets… no sense in getting pulled over to ruin the moment.