Hard to Blog

Well the situation has worsened. Besides being uncertain about how to spell w-o-r-s-e-n-e-d I am, apparently, not allowed in my current poor-excuse for an apartment, to get a phoneline! Yes.. the hypocracy and stupidity of Amsterdam and Amsterdam landlords. The moron in charge of my apartment, who’s not supposed to know I live there (apparently), is hoping the city government won’t know her last tennant died. I not only suspect that she killed him, I suspect my landlady is a nutcase and she’s depriving me of my human right to have a phone and hence – internet. UNACCEPTABLE. I have prepared a strategy, but my liberation day won’t come until September. For now, its back to computer labs, where I have managed to find wi-fi.

I have ten minutes to continue this blog, as far as Portugal goes, hats off to the Greeks.. they were just better. Portugal’s selfishness made me quite sad.. they are pampered individualists… I liked the Greek team’s German infuenced precision and collectivity.

Sadly, my neighbor in the Hague – Slobodan, the future of his trial at the ICC is in jeopardy because of his health. Sad news. Especially since I think its cute how long he’s kept this trial going. Who knew he’d be such a good lawyer.

Go learn about WIKI’s, Will is talking about them and they are super useful. Computer labs closing. Woa is me and me new netless life. I’m going to – gasp – read a book tonight.

Today’s Music: Elvis Costello – When I was Cruel

MY Broken Internet Heart

Well, the inevitable happenned.. though I wasn’t expecting it. My neighbor with the speedy Wi-Fi signal that I was tapping into.. he up and moved out this morning! Took his whole family with him. (which makes sense) I was crushed. At first I thought ” He must be doing spring cleaning in the summer.” Or ” Maybe he just unplugged the net while he moves boxes around.” Alas, it is not just an exercise in boxing, he’s gone. And using my keen detective skills I can see that my Wi-Fi is also. So, farewell Sitecom (XS4All) we had some good times together. Now a larger crisis looms, I have no net and no phoneline. Phase one – phoneline begins wednesday.. until then, I’m down with the masses in a *gasp* computer lab. Which means I can’t laugh at the screen (or talk to it) and I have to remember all my passwords.

In my last post I believe I denounced Jarvis for being too damn conservative. Which I still maintain that he is. But, as Tony Pierce so quickly made me realize, it is not cause for me to take him off my blog roll or stop reading him. I had almost become one of those who only listens to opinions he likes. Which would make me fit in well in the Whitehouse.

So look, I’m gonna come right out and say it, Saddam Hussein put on a decent defence and I don’t think he’s far from the truth on some points. Among them:

  • Refusal to recognize all illegitimate court – If you think about it, the country was taken by force, so who’s more legal – a dictator or an occupier?

  • The trial is a show for Bush’s re-election – It is indeed odd the timing of this trial

    • I also thought Tarik Aziz was mounting an interesting defence with the whole “you cannot convict me for crimes which were committed by a government” thing. Actually Aziz is wrong on that one though, they can and will.

    Overall the case is obviously a circus, a shadow of trial that really should have taken place in the Hague. All this serves to further undermine the International Criminal Court. But I’ll stay tuned anyway.

    Oh yeah, and Fuck Thomas L. Friedman and his moustache. Barbara Ehrinreich is thankfully writing in his place for a month or so.

    Today’s Music: REM – Reveal

    On to the Final

    This is not a blog about sports. Its about things I observe and world events. But tonight its sports.. at least briefly. I’ve just returned from “Sport-Club Os Lusitanos” where an enclave of about 100 Portuguese people took over the street, spilling out of the club that as I walked in, reeked of celebration and yes-sweat. Both of those the bi-products of a 2-1 victory of over non other than the country where I now live – Netherlands.

    I loved the energy at the club and on the street, especially in comparison to the utter sadness and silence from most of Amsterdam, where Dutch fans seemed either shocked or just wanting to forget. To their credit, they were quite civil. People on the street noticed my shirt, some smirked, most shouted “Portugal!” and waved as if to say – “yeah you’re ok.” Either that or… “If I could Id knock you off that bike right now.”

    Anyway.. in the final Im predicting Czech-Portugal… and as much as I love the Czechs… I want Portugal to win that one… what a sweet story that would be.

    Back real life, keeping in mind that football is a fantasy and our lives don’t actually improve if our favorite team wins. Transparency International has released their annual survey on corruption and corrupt nations. I’ve been reading the stats… overall corruption in political parties is the biggest frustration for citizens worldwide. YET- In the United States, people surveyed didn’t believe their parties were corrupt!? The Republican and Democratic parties aren’t corrupt? Imagine that. I also noted the high concern for corruption in utility companies, especially in the developing world. If you consider most of the countries have their utilities controlled by foreign multinationals, that may be a clue as to who brings corruption.

    I may soon take Jeff Jarvis’s Buzz Machine off my primary blogroll. I grow tired of reading him daily.. especially when he spends his time badmouthing leftists and denouncing Michael Moore as the devil. I can understand being critical.. I’m in favor of that. But Jarvis is getting to damn conservative… I could stand to read that maybe only once a week instead of daily.

    Today’s Music: Bill Frisell – The Intercontinentals (loving it)

    Wacky Tall

    Lots of unexpected things in my daily life and in the world. Starting with the small stuff, while giving two lovely ladies a tour of the Pijp, we ran into a open garden day where you could visit people’s gardens and they give explanations. The house we visited belonged to a British gentleman and he had great stories of how bad that neighborhood was in the 70’s. Prior to that garden visit, we had amused while running into this man and his wacky bike. I fought the urge to ask if I could try. I did manage to understand how you get on, first one foot on the back peg.. then you climb higher.

    Speaking of climbing higher. I really didn’t think it would happen, but Portuguese Prime Minister Dur?o Barroso is the next president of the European Commission. Very odd. I dislike the man and his right-of-center privatization policies in Portugal. Now he’ll take his act to Brussels. This could be considered a liberation day in Portugal, ding dong the dork is gone. (what.. it’s catchy!)They had better have elections now! First off an elected official should never leave his post to take another job, that’s an insult to his electorate.. didn’t he take some vow to fulfill his duties? And if you do leave your post for another job, there shouldn’t be some “appointing” of another Prime Minister.. that sound more like a monarchy to me.

    Big woop.. today was the so called “handover”… foreign troops still run the place. American firms still control most of the jobs. Violence is still plentiful. And the new government was appointed, not elected. But what really gets me is not the handover so much as the hypocracy that Iraq deserved to be liberated, yet Sudan’s genocide and years of carnage don’t warrant the same action.

    Today’s Music: Alkaline Trio – Good Mourning

    Midsummer Spending

    Well it happenned. I didn’t want it to happen… but a few hours ago… it became reality that the Netherlands will face Portugal in the next round of the Euro. I can still hear the beep-beeping outside. I’ve talked enought about football lately, so Ill stop there.

    So Michael Moore’s new film is out in the states. I looked it up, won’t arrive in here until late July. Stupid American-European distribution gap…. why was the Matrix able to come out on the same day world wide? At any rate, I’m enjoying the initial reactions from people, my good buddy in Queens told me that opening night people were clapping throughout the film (which could make one go crazy I suspect). He also said that at the end the audience gave it a standing ovation. Interesting. Still, I must acknowledge the backlash against this film and Moore in general. It’s hard to tell if its growing or not, but I see it often in the blogosphere.

    I noticed the insane shopping list from the US Senate for military spending. Majikthise highlights the:



    *$25 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan

    *$70 billion for planes, ships and weapons, “surpassing even the buildup of the 1980s”

    *3.5% military pay raise along with increases in other benefits

    *$10.2 billion for planned missile defense program, for which operational tests must begin in 2005

    *Go-ahead for further research on 2 new nuclear weapons: a low-yield “mini-nuke” and a high-yield “bunker buster”



    Any nation/group/individual that researches new nuclear weapons is insane. As usual I’m ashamed to be associated with such a government. Nevermind the overwhelming number of neglected children, elderly, and adults all over the US versus the money spent on “star wars”.. thats sort of a tradition. But seeking to produce the most destructive weapons the earth has ever seen, thats just baffling.

    Today’s Music: Noir Desir – Des Visages des Figures

    Stormy Interviews

    This week I somehow got involved in someone at the Amsterdam City Government’s research project on international people living here. Apparently I qualify.. even though so often in this city I’m a clandestine apartment renter. It was a long interview, mostly because I talk too dam much.. and the guy just sent me a transcript of it which I might post on here next time. Basically the questions concerned how I ended up here, what the city means to me, troubles I have, and things I wish would be different. My favorite part was when he hands me paper and asks me to draw a map of Amsterdam. He may have underestimated my keen mapping abilities.. because I needed way more than one sheet.. and he got tedious details I’m sure he didn’t want. He may have enjoyed my responses, especially about what I love about the city. Of course I answered the bikes. But more specifically I talked about certain bikes.. the kinds with a box in front and two little tottlers peeking out at you. Or a bike with a basket and a dog inside looking horrified.. these are things I love. Add that to the pile of other things Ive already said about the dam in other posts. Somehow, I think I made a good contribution to this city and maybe they’ll learn from my wisdom.

    The Voice published the annual “Queer Issue” this week. I’ve not yet gone completely through it, but the article on the Brief History of Christopher Street looks great. I’ve decided to have a greater knowledge of NYC and greenwich village, I will read “Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the making of the Male Gay World 1890-1940” by George Chauncey.

    Last night after attending a Broken Social Scene concert for Dutch public radio, (show is available online)I came home and caught a special on Ingrid Bettancourt the well-known Colombian politician, mainly from her daughter’s testimony. I can’t believe she’s still in captivity in Colombia. She was kidnapped by the FARC in 2002. It was a super-interesting documentary, I was capitivated by the old footage of Ingrid campaigning in Bogota. Apparently she is still alive because there have been video messages. As much as I dislike the Colombian government, I find the FARC is also quite ignorant and completely lost. There’s a movie somewhere called “The Kidnapping of Ingrid Bettancourt” but I couldn’t find it on the web.

    Today’s Music: Neutral Milk Hotel