Seeing Green

Since king what’s his face of Saudi Arabia just died, Portuguese artsy-fartsy television aired a documentary about the history of Saudi Arabia, and my initial reaction is …goddam! How is it that Americans (including myself) are put through school without ever hearing about this nation that is so completely attached to and influencial on the US!

Saudis Everywhere Among the crazy things I learned from this documentary, the first Saudi king, back in the early 1900’s, actually struck a deal with one of the most extreme and powerful group of nomads ever, who believed in the strict enforcement of what they called the Mulsim religion. But here’s the catch — after the king and the nomads gained control of the entire state, with the blessing of the religious authorities, the King turned on the nomads and slaughtered many of them. Those who survived swore revenge and have periodically carried out attacks (bombs, etc) against the Saudi state well over the last 50 years. And they want to talk about Alqeada, try looking into a lil history and it becomes clear that everything we’re seeing is a repeat of the last 100 years.

The other thing I noted was the presence and the manipulation of the US government on the Saudi Kings. They’ve kept em rich, drunk, and armed since the nation was first founded. and those kings have, in turn, subjugated the entire country, squandered national wealth, and helped to create many generations of terrorists. And man is it alarming to see the amount of times the different american presidents have betrayed the Saudi government when it comes to Palestine! Talk about two currupt kingdoms in bed together… this documentary was an eye opener to a situation we already knew was bullshit.

Mostly unrelated – I think it’s a conspiracy that all the headlines about this plane crash read “Airbus Crash” instead of the flight number or the name of the airline! Seriously. think about it. Ok now stop and go watch TV.

ps — happy birthday busblog.

Still Watching Horror

I would love to try and yell about John Bolton becoming nominated undemocratically as UN embassador to the US, but why bother, it goes with the overarching theme in washington. Who needs accountability and qualifications, we got the good ol’ boys.

So lots of exposure to Portuguese news on television actually means lots and lots of international news. Maybe more than in Holland, and thats usually a pretty good amount. And I have to repeat the frustration and rediculousness of the situation in DARFUR. Sudan in general; is on the verge of civil war, genocide… let’s just say MASS DEATH, that could be stopped and we are all sitting around watching. Yes, even first world me sitting in a McDonalds parking lot on my powerbook using their expensive wi-fi.

But its not enough to say something should be done. I’d like to suggest and discuss what action would be best to take. Ill get more into it in the coming days. But to begin with, I send in the blue helmets – on a peacekeeping mandate. None of this crazy shoot first ask questions later strategy, but heavily equipped and supported military personel accompanied by NGO workers. Just go in and stand between the parties in conflict. Despite the risks, despite the unclear situation, despite all of that — put trained and professional international forces on the ground, to show beyond a shadow of a doubt, that what happens in Sudan DOES matter and we CAN act when the situation calls for it.

Now what I havent thought out yet, and Ill work on, is what do to from there.

North of Lisbon

Nothing of world-wide substance has been discussed in the last week here at the communique. It’s no excuse, but thats what vacation adventure often brings. Tonight I sit in Caldas da Rainha, using dial-up; which is terrible, but slightly less terrible if you’re on a powerbook listening to the Sloeries, as I am. This city is one hour north of Lisbon, and it’s where moma and papa hang their hats every summer. Today I discovered the upstairs neighbors are Portuguese from Switzerland, and across the hall, from Canada. Very cool, to be surrounded by OUR PEOPLE.

Taking a bus, since the train is still diesel and slow, north of lisbon lets me see alot of the changes in both the urban and provincial landscape. As I listened to the few podcasts I could salvage from my random wifi adventures, I watched the landscape and all the surprising developments, two of which I’ll share with you:

1 – On the way out of Lisbon, even though it might have been there for years, I re-noticed a golf course in the middle of the city. My verdict: What a terribly stupid thing to have. In a city that lacks a field for children to play soccer or ULTIMATE FRISBEE, you have an enormous piece of green reserved for fat white men and the occasional token black guy. I spit in your general direction golfcourse, and the hypocracy you represent. Take those gates down and let everyone in, then I might like you.

2 – Wind Power is everywhere! All those familiar rolling green hills, now yellow from the drought, are now dotted with packs of wind generators! I for one, love this! Generators are beautiful to look at, they are so quiet and peaceful, they remind me of birds flapping their wings. There are lots of punits who argue theyre a waste of money and generate nothing, but as a portuguese ctitizen, I’m impressed and pleased. Especially when compared to the idea of running around trying to figure out where to hide nuclear waste.

those are my reviews for today, we shall tackle world events in depth, this week, I swear. I’m also headed to Porto.. home of port wine, insane soccer fans, and a shiney new metro I want to ride.

Podcaster Mugged

This is no joke. My ears are burning from the headlock the guy put me in. My ankle is sore from the other guy who kicked me from behind. It was completely surreal. 3 guys who I thought were just out on the town, on there way to a club or something. I was almost clear of them, and the thought hadn’t crossed my mind – Im stupid.

Don’t worry… I may look skinny and fragile.. but when push comes to shove.. Im in great shape and I’m an ex martial arts instructor… which sort of came in handy tonight. So there not a horrible ending to this one, but its all true:

First off Lisbon can be a safe city. I’m not going to become one of those conservative “cities are evil” type people. But at night there are lots of people with money going clubbing, and lots of desperate and angry people preying upon them. So I had no business trying to PODCAST a soundseeing tour through the old neighborhood with my iriver in my chest pocket and my headset mic clearly on my ear. Sure enough, I had actually walked by them earlier, a group of three guys circled back as I walked, one grabbed for head and tried to kick me, both moves caught me by surprise but I caught early and threw him back. Unfortunately at the same time, his friend kicks me in my other leg and I immediately rush to get them all on one side of me to prevent more hits from behind.

I headn’t realized at that moment they had caught my recorder which had popped out of my pocket in the struggle. In my hand was still my camera and in my pockets my money. As a sort of reflex, I prepared myself for the next rush of punches and whatever, I think I half noticed some regular people standing around doing nothing. Thats how the world is, countries are destroyed, and people stand by. People are hurt, and no one does anything — but I knew all about that.

Ow my ankle is throbbing… thats annoying.. anyway to finish the story.. they suddenly decided to run.. and I realized they had my iriver.. and I love podcasting and I wasn’t willing to let this go. I could tell they hadn’t planned this, they way one guy in the group didn’t act at all, almost surprised his friends decided to attack someone. I knew the way they would run, towards the metro, but it was far away, and I knew I could find help on the way, so I tailed them, about one block behind them.

they ducked behind some parked cars, and I spotted a group of street sweepers having a cigarette, the police were too far down the street to go there now. I didn’t want to lose these guys, so I approached the streetworkers and said “gentlemen, I was just mugged, I know the police are down the street, but the muggers are just down the street… if we approach them, I think they will panic and dump what they stole.” Some of the guys tried to look away like I was a begger. Hell I felt like a begger, but this was a call to action. And two of the old men felt that sense of “community acvitism” they followed just behind me as I walked closer to the muggers. The guys noticed me, and started running the other way… I shouted into the night air “Here I am…. I want my shit back.. !” Might sound stupid, but its all that came to mind. And wouldnt you know it, while rushing off, one of them slid my mp3 recorder onto the sidewalk. It was a little scratched up, but in tact. My headset was broken in half, but thats ok.. its worth 5 euros.

The city workers seemed satisfied. Told me to be careful and go home. My ankle is throbbing, I feel less in love with my old city, but mostly — Im disappointed in myself for not using the common sense I’m usually so proud of. (ie- – dont wander around at night recording a podcast like the world is my oyster)