A Newark Renaissance for Who?

Part of living abroad for years and years is to not think about the past too much. Of course you have your good memories, but in general I think the focus is on today and tomorrow, because if you think too much about yesterday you start thinking of people and places from the past.. which slows you down.. messes with your head.

Naturally there are pictures and stories that can send you into a time warp. I’ve got lots of them, for example: if you mention the city of Newark, New Jersey.

As soon as you mention it my mind starts to wander. I go back in time, to the city of my birth. The city my family immigrated to, and the city that provided the backdrop for huge chunks of my childhood. The city where still today, much of my family can still be found working, day in and day out.

When I saw the village voice’s close-up series did one on Newark recently, I had another one of those moments. Renaissance they say. Renaissance for who, I ask? Rents that go for 1000 dollars a month and higher? Sweep out the poor and working class people who don’t spend big bucks at your luxery arena or performing arts center? I know i talk excessively about gentrification and the ever-increasing gap between rich and poor, but the more I hear these terms the more I have to denounce them.

The ironbound, the Portuguese neighborhood I grew up around, never needed fancy chain stores, expensive sports venues, or wealthy refugee’s from Manhattan to make it a unique and loved place. All it needed was caring people who arrived from all over the world to carve out their corner, no matter how small. Hell they even managed despite one of the most corrupt city governments in the world! Renaissance? Save that crap for the guys who yell huuzzah wielding bows and arrows, who come around once a year.

And if you can get your hands on it, here’s an excellent documentary on Newark’s Corruption which I saw in Amsterdam recently.

bm98 GI Jane off to Afghanistan

Jane is an American soldier who was supposed to be a civilian by now. Instead, with questionable body armor, little notice, and being legally blind, she’s being shipped to Northern Afghanistan. Hear the excellent and eye-opening conversation I had with her recently from her base in the US. Special thanks to Madame L for putting me in touch with her.

AudioCommunique #98(mp3)

Discussed:
Portuguese Geriatric Presidental Elections
New Canadian Government
Insane Dutch Minister of Immigration and How Im prepared to go to jail
Interview with GI Jane (vital listening!)
More audio of GI Jane on Madame L’s podcast

Music:

Nas – Revolutionary Warfare
Dixie Chicks (stop laughing) – Travelling Soldier
Clash – English Civil War

Saunas Might Liberate Us

My arms and legs are like dead weight, but I want to type out this story before anything else. The point is not only to share a story with you, but to put it into a larger social context in different cultures and perhaps generate some thoughts.

I have often heard about the sauna’s in different parts of Europe. Sweden, Hungary, and of course – here in the Netherlands; I had heard many first hand testimonies of the benefits and joy that come with sitting in a hot box sweating away the impurities and then plunging yourself in cold water. Naked of course. But thats a minor point… isn’t it?

So on this german weekend ski-extravaganza, we managed to pop into a sauna, my first sauna ever. I was looking forward to finally experiencing this phenomenon, not to mention get really clean after dragging myself face-first through the snow all day long. As we each paid our 10 or so euros, we were handed a bag with a terrycloth robe and two towels. I felt like I was joining a cult…. the cult of clean.

Skipping past all the boring details… there I am, along with one or two of my male travel companions, with a towel wrapped around my waste, having just done the intial rinse shower. We walk into the special sauna area, and one of the female travel companions greets us as we walk in, I hear her voice, but I’m distracted by the fact that naked women and men are walking past me and taking showers. I could almost feel her half laughing at me, as I looked over and noticed I was the only one with a towel still on. So I got with the program and got rid of the towel. Wanting not to seem like I didn’t know what to do, I asked where one should start while randomly putting myself under the VERY cold shower. She gestured towards the pine door, where others of my naked bretheren were ocassionally walking in and out. I followed their lead and found myself standing at the door facing all these other people in deep thought and sweat… perhaps inappropriately, I greeted the room with a “hello….. this is my first sauna.” The only laughter came from two friends who were already seated sweating it out. I took my place next to what I think may have been a beautiful and curvatious blonde; I don’t actually know if she was cause I didn’t have the nerve to look.

While sitting there.. dripping with sweat and wondering where I should rest my hands (folded? at my sides? on my head?) my mind started to wander. In the US people would freak at this concept. Not everyone.. but the conservative loud ones.. they’d put a stop to this at once. They would seperate men and women, and probably require bathingsuits. And what of my beloved Portugal? They would have a huge problem because men would harass the women like there was no tomorrow. Could southern Europe handle this type of place? My intial thought was — only in this part of the world. (though I know in either case there are saunas of some type)

But it’s really a wonderful achievement for a society. A true indicator of openness and understanding of ourselves, our bodies, our sexuality, and to a large extent, how its simply not a big deal when you put it in that context. That being said, how long will it take for the rest of the world to get to this point… and wouldn’t it be great if it did?

Bruised but Not Broken

Limited typing ability as my wrists are thoroughly bruised. As are my knees, elbows, chest, and basically everything that can be bruised when you repeatedly tumble down steep and not so steep hills with a snowboard attached to your feet for a weekend.


After a painful day one that saw me hitting amazing speeds for a good 5 seconds before hitting the snow face first and then again hitting amazing speeds while being further thrown down the hill like a ragdoll, I was ready to call it quits. And then today, with initial pain and neverending mistakes haunting me, I took a long break for some German Hot Coco and other treats. And after pondering how disgusting German fast food is, not to mention the funky smell of cigarettes and Dutch ski tourists that smacks you in the face when you walk in the semi-lodge-shack, I got back on my favorite hill and started figuring things out.

Suddenly I had the occasional zen moments, not amazing stuff, but I learned how to manage the board and keep myself from being once again painfully thown on my ass. And then with some kind coaching and encouraging friends, I snowboarded my way through the rest of the day, and most amazingly – I was smiling.

Before getting back to world affairs and international issues this week, we’re certainly going to discuss my experience at a wonderful german sauna and all the social issues that it brought up. (or stripped way, would be a more appropriate phrase)

bm97 Oh Canadian Elections

Canada’s biggest elections in a decade are days away. Many predict the conservatives will take control and push a very American-Republican type agenda. Others say it’s too close to call. I’m joined on this program by one of Toronto’s most beloved bloggers the Accordion Guy – Joey Devilla, and then from Victoria, British Columbia, blogger and journalist Sean Holman of PublicEyeOnline.

AudioCommunique #97(mp3)

Discussed:

Who’s predicted to win
Will and Can Conservatives reverse policies on the environment, gay marriage, foreign policy, etc.
What about the small parties?
The local picture in Toronto and Vancouver specifically.
And much more.

Canadian Music:
Stars – Romantic Comedy (Heart)
Metric – Poster of a Girl (Live it Out)
Rush – Tom Sawyer (Exit Stage Left) (yes Im serious)

I’m off to Germany for the weekend to ski for the first time in my life.

Fine I’ll Talk About The Pretend War

I’m just gonna list a bunch of points tonight, because I’m generally annoyed with the story that everyone seems to just buy into about some guy named Bin Laden and his request for a truce. I hate talking about what every other Tom, Dick, and Harriet is blogging about, but tonight I’ve got to be a lemming:

1. There is no war on terrorism. Call it what it is, another farce like the cold war where people are manipulated by fear and believe that they will be destroyed, and then send troops to various countries to kill other people and in the process also get killed, or otherwise torture and be subject to mental anguish that will plague society for generations.

2. Just like numerous political and business leaders make big money on this farce that destroys lives and countries, so too do these groups of what are known as “terrorists”. It’s a symbiotic relationship as pointed out in the most important documentary you can ever watch – muslim fundamentalists are dependant on the same factors as neo-conservative militants: manipulation through fear and religion, deamonizing a certain group in global society, acquiring financial and other assests through activities related to using violence or waging war, etc.

3. Just because someone claims they did something, doesn’t mean they did it. Whether you’re talking about fucking the prom queen or destroying the trade center, it does not prove you did it, just because you appear in a video tape saying so. There must be a proper investigation based on evidence, proof, FACT. (in either of those two examples)

4. Pictures, especially video, do not always tell the truth. You can certainly create whatever character, look, voice, etc. that you wish fairly easily with all the resouces available to the average crazy or non crazy person. If someone tells you Al Jazeera has a tape from AlQaeda and the CIA confirms it… why do you believe it? Has the CIA never lied? Could Al Jazeera be wrong? Or is it the fact that yahoo news, CNN, and Scott McClellen (a man who should be on suicide watch considering all the guilt he lives with)… is it because these entities report about it? Or maybe because Tony Pierce reports it… cause everything on his blog is true. Right? When did the world get so dam easily convinced about things that they no longer require REAL TANGIBLE proof for crimes and other deeds?

5. The “war on terrorism” is the ultimate gift from the gods for countless politicians of many parties, worldwide. They make entire careers and fortunes off of it. It doesn’t matter if tomorrow every rebel fighter in Iraq or Afghanistan suddenly came out of hiding naked with their hands over their heads — they will not give up this war business, cause it’s far too profitable to give up.

Now seems like a good time to watch Wag the Dog again. “He just ended our war!” – What, how can he end our war, its not his war to end? ” We he did it, I saw it on television, so it’s over.”