Take Your Eye Off NOLA

Among the issues and research I intend to do this season is New Orleans. In the shadow of the invasion of Gaza, my focus on GMO soy, and the mainstream press dedicating most of their vital resources to what they call an innaugeration celebration, it is easy to look away from a place that needs the critical public eye.

Safe House NOLA
Safe House NOLA

What issues concern me for NOLA in 2009? Quality of life. Specifically when it comes to affordable housing, public safety, and justice regardless of income or geographic location.? I wonder how the legal situation has or has not changed for those that I met going into the legal clinic back in 2007? Or what happens if they build this huge Veterans Hospital in an area where many people live in historical homes? Is there money for such a project or will it be downsized or remain incomplete? Of course the list goes on and on: corruption, public health, the environment… oh the environment.? All of these will get my attention and with the help of some of the finest and most critical bloggers (NOLA bloggers!) on the internets, we can help give the nation and people around a the world a reality check, saving many from the star-struck haze the CNN would like us to live in.

Swear in Obama, sing a song, read a poem, take a photo… then could we please get to work? People are dying out there, and together we could have stopped lots of it.

bm292 The Battle for Gaza Gas Reserves

In 1999 the news came out that there were significant natural gas supplies off the coast of Gaza. Negotiation soon took place between the Palestinian Authority, Israel, British Gas, and a Athens based company. The deal they produced would have given the PA 10% of the profits, though it was to be put in a special trust fund that only the Fatah political party could touch. However that deal was never signed, and in 2006 Hamas was the big winner in legislative elections, and they immediately declared the deal unfair and demanded it be renegotiated. The other parties would not renegotiate.

Meanwhile at the same time, Israel’s gas reserves off their coast are set to run out in only a few years. And a recent import deal they made with an Egyptian gas company, was declared illegal by an Egyptian court and that important source had been shut down.
Now we are over 20 days into an Israeli military operation which has been explained as an effort to hunt down Hamas who are a danger to the security of Israel. Hardly anywhere in the mainstream media is there mention of the very big issue of gas resources and the supply situation Israel finds itself in.Continue reading “bm292 The Battle for Gaza Gas Reserves”

Cuban Medical Talk

My friend Chris Lydon posted an excellent Radio Open Source recently, as he is making his way around Cuba. As opposed to the highly revered personalities and voices he usually offers us, this time Chris runs into three American medical students who have been studying medicine in Cuba for the last 4 years.

The three ladies have great stories of how they came to study in Cuba and even better tales of how things work or don’t work in their day to day lives. They not only talk about what is unique and effective about Cuban style medicine, they also talk about how they will bring it home to the United States, to communities in need.
There’s much more in this interview then these few lines can properly capture. Do what you do best: listen for yourself.

bmtv96 25C3 Talk Highlights

Just a collection of odd moments from my 25C3 talk. Don’t expect to learn too much, this is more the moments that I laughed at myself, which I thought to share with you.

Note: Full credit to the 25C3 video team who put out this video and I then chopped it up into this. Thanks my friends.

Video of my Talk on GMO Soy

Greetings friends. I’ve been busy trying to formulate a slightly new direction for the podcast. The goal is to be more investigative and less interview-centric.? We’ll see if I really manage to make that distinction.? But you know, new year demands some changes for all of us I think.

For your viewing pleasure, perhaps, I offer you video of my GMO soy talk at the 25C3. It is choc-full of jokes that no one laughs at, technical mishaps, and me waving my arms around like a madman.? You can see it on archive on their flashplayer or just scroll down on that site and click on the mp4.? I don’t want to direct link to the file or everyone’s portable player will have a very large file for downloading. If 45 minutes is too long for you, I will release an 8 minute highlight reel as a video entry this week.

bm291 Climate Change and The Age of Stupid

He has traveled around the world showing the Al Gore film and speaking about climate change. But Stuart Scott isn’t satisfied with the results and he’s got a new task in his climate change education mission. After a disappointing conference in Poland, Stuart explains how the governments of the world are still thinking small, and how -in the tradition of An Inconvenient Truth-, this next film will mobilize people.

The Film: The Age of Stupid