health – Page 13 – Citizen Reporter

Real Terror

I was going to tell you about the beautiful mornings Amsterdam has been greeting me with, of late. But I can’t.. because these words echo in my head:

" I woke up on that morning with my dead son in my arms... 

and I couldn't even look at him as my eyes were so swollen, 

I had to force them open with my fingers."

–

It’s been 20 years. Dec. 2nd, 1984… they call it “the worst industrial accident in the world’s history.” I call it – a crime against humanity. And 20 years later, neither Union Carbide or its owner Dow Chemical, have stepped forward to take responsibility for the fact that 27 tons of some of the deadliest chemicals imaginable leaked out and poisoned 100,000 people. 3,000 died in one night. And the survivors not only had to bear the pain and trauma, they were also left with horrendous cancers and mutations that continue to blow my mind.

So I ask myself, was I ever taught about Union Carbide in school? In those pathetic high school courses they called Western Civilization or US History 1 and 2? Nothing. Somehow the fact that Dow and Carbide are American companies doesn’t count. Somehow the fact that the tens of thousands who died weren’t American, or European, makes it unimportant. The fucking world stops every 9/11, but you don’t hear shit on 12/2, unless you check out public or alternative news sources.

Of course, the CEO and other officials of Union Carbide have been called to face charges of manslaughter, negligence, and you name it, in the highest Indian Court. But they refuse to come to court, or set foot in the country where their factory was the source of so much death. They have been declared fugitives by the Indian government, but the US State Department has refused to hand them over.

If I’m the Indian government, I know when a crime has been committed against my country. Some call it terrorism. And according to recent history, they should send their army into the US and drag these untouchables back to India, into court, to face the charges for one of the worst crimes in the history of the world. – Come to think of it, according to the Bush doctrine, they can bomb the shit out of the US and “smoke out” the bastards.

OH… and of course DOW has made their statements, in that ooooh so corporate-robotic way. They threw some money at the problem and well, it’s a wonder they can sleep at night.

Today’s Sounds: Dead Prez – Lets get free

And I feel fine

What will the end of the world look like? I mean.. the initial day, if you look at the sky, what color and things will you see?

What I love about this city is that there is always at least one day in the week where I wake up, look outside, see giant baseballs of hale, black angry clouds, and a junky flying away on a broom, and I think: Yeah… could be today. And then I go grab a bowl of Fruit and Fiber and a banana. Cause shit, I want to start off end of the world day with a healthy breakfast.

As I was cooking my specialty last night, in honor of Jamie’s last night, we were talking about forms of government. The Netherlands is a type of constitutional monarchy, like the UK, and so the Royals handle most of the symbolic handshakes and ribbon cutting. Plus they keep the tabloids in business. On the other hand, I’m a fan of the republic system, as in Portugal, where the president is mostly symbolic and runs around like he’s everyone’s dad. Thus leaving the PM to be the national asshole; yelling in Parliament (toiletpaper… toiletpaper in our time!) and on executive decisions. We both agreed that the US system, despite being a type if republic, is a drag. The pres has to make all the photo ops and empty speeches, while presumably also handling the bill signing and vetoing, etc. In the end, spending more time on one or the other, how can he/she be good at either one? They can’t. It would nicer, at the very least, if the VP handled the executive tasks, while the pres ran around kissing babies and foreign leaders. Considering the current duo in the white house, this might -unfortunately- already be the case.

Anyhoo… there goes Jamie, off to NYC via Munich, and I didn’t even get a photo of us together. Oooh photos, have I mentioned how much I love Flickr? Mostly thanks to Jill/txt I’m spending alot of time fiddling with FLickr, and I recommend it to all of you. (how bout that photobox in my left tab, nice eh?)

Today’s Sounds: Howard Stern on WJFK (DC)

Under the Influence

Can’t blog straight tonight. Tiring but pleasant weekend with the visiting Philladelphians. Tonight was coffeeshop night, and now we’re strewn about the room like dirty laundry, pondering the universe. I can hear them staring and giggling at the National Geographic channel, and I’ve been writing the same paragraph for the last 1/2 hour.

I have become a flickr user, and I do believe they’re a better photoblog than buzznet. (No offense buzz, you’ll always be my first) But considering the space limitations, I’ll be using them both for blog purposes.

Speaking of photoblogs, the Torontonienne’s is a fine one and always being updated. Where she and I have always debated the idea of her keeping a blog, she seems to have naturally fallen into the photoblogging habit.

Sunday’s are tough blog reading days… as are weekends in general since you all seem to be out and away from computers on weekends. (you’re so healthy)I have not yet thought up my weekend program to boost “ratings”, but some bloggers have started special editions: TheStateImIn has Drunk Saturday Nights, while Tony Pierce is doing Sex Saturdays, both of which I’m enjoying. I’m going to keep a look out for more of this series.

UPDATE ON PAUL RUBENS: After mentioning Peewee Yesterday, I just saw BEing Daddy’s mention that two new movies of his are coming out. That’s right, PAGING DOCTOR HERMAN< YOU HAVE A TELEPHONECALL AT THE FRONT DESK.

Today’s Sounds: Neutral Milk Hotel – Communist’s Daughter

Blogstars

As I mentioned last week, sometimes bloggers go silent or missing. Often times they are amongst my favorites. This morning I found myself reading about the disastrous situation in Iraq and scrolling through my bloglines, I wondered how Chris Missick is doing. Since announcing he’d be moving to a new camp, A Line in the Sand has been silent for some weeks now, nothing but those comments from people who are constantly talking about “praying for him.” What an odd link, I often think, between being a soldier and praying alot. Would some supreme being really support the idea of its creations destroying each other? Doubtful. But that’s not my point, the point is, I miss his writing and I do worry about him.

Then there are the other reasons people also disappear – health. Sure enough, I mention his great post yesterday, and now TPB, Esq. is going on the DL (disabled list) to have some exploratory surgery on his back. He doesn’t trust doctors. I wouldn’t trust anyone who says they’re going to use a knife to explore parts of my body. TPB was one of the first blogs I ever really got into. I remember the post that converted me, he went to some blog convention and wrote about it with a gonzo-journalist style that reminded me of Hunter S. – Ho-Hum. Anyway, there goes another blogger than I’m worried about and will be missed until he makes a triumphant return.

It must seem odd, for some, to hear (or believe) that while I ride my bike through rainy Amsterdam streets, I actually think of or worry about other bloggers – who I’ve never met in person. But I guess it’s not for everyone to understand, unless you’ve lived it – like so many of us in the sphere.

Putting the finishing touches on my course outline for a Weblogging related course I’m pitching to the U of Amsterdam, and I added Salam Pax’s book/blog to the reading list. I had almost forgotten he had made his blog posts into a book entitled: “Salam Pax: The Clandestine Diary of an Ordinary Iraqi.” The amazon review calls him the Anne Frank of this century. At first my reaction is — slow down there buddy. But then again, maybe it is something like that. Still, Where is Raed? is one of those blogs which I wish didn’t have to die. I’m almost bitter at Salam, because he did his thing, got famous and then went on to do other things with his life. (bigger and better perhaps) The Torontonienne says maybe that’s how it works, at some point you don’t blog anymore, you start doing other things related to your experience; teaching, writing, crusading. Perhaps she is right, only time will tell.

Today’s Sounds: Jon Stewart on Crossfire (Its fun to replay)

Brain is Fogged Up

You ever wake up and feel unfunny? No? Well that’s what happened to me this morning. I have this cloud over me, an unfunny cloud. The only human who had to actually deal with that today was allstar- guestblogger the Torontonienne, who’s post I enjoyed and admittedly read over and over. Something about having a guest on my blog, it’s exciting, like having a guest at my place, only minus the Mat?. Or maybe I have some kind of fetish for Canadian theme towns? Whatever it is, I can promise you it’s not the last you see of that lovely Urban Planologist on this here blog.

Cute nephew alert! Credit my brother, Mr Foggy Recollection, for this photo, and credit both he and his wife for making one beautiful great pumpkin. After seeing this photo, I take comfort in the fact that I have purchased a round trip ticket to Jersey, with a 2 day stop in Lisbon of course! As if family and friends weren’t enough, there are great posts like Jamie’s latest on cranberries, or TPB at the meadowlands tattoo Convention, both of those make me miss my wacky garden state.

I swung by the Crazy Dr. M boat last night to polish off a bottle while discussing the finer points of computers, musicals, relationships (gasp), and blogging. Actually I become obsessed with the stack of voting guidebooks he had from his homestate of California, county, and city (San Diego, why not give it all away). I was shocked and impressed by the amount of information they load you up with as an absentee voter. Nevermind listing the candidates in nice neat lists, they have an mammoth list of propositions and then one whopper of a referendum on requiring small and medium businesses to provide health insurance to employees. BUT WAIT, don’t fall asleep yet – there’s more. They also list the pros and cons, drafted by legal experts, and then below- a list of who supports the yes or no vote. For example, on proposition 69 which seeks to limit the amount of clowns allowed in a clown car, Homey the Clown, president of the Ex-Con Clown Association of America, would be listed being against. While John M. Safety, president of the save drivers club, would be listed as for. Ok I confess, that example is real, California is a weird state. Point is, I thought it was an interesting way to approach the vote. I think other states might be quite different.

Crazy Dr. M showed me his sealed ballot, and he confessed to not having voted for Leonard Peltier and the Peace and Freedom party. I disagree with his decision, Peltier is one of my most favorite political prisoners of all time, and gets my vote for pres this year. He was nominated from prison, and I should also point out – has been recognized as a Political Prisoner by the UNHCR, Amnesty, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, and the European Parliament, to name a few. If anyone knows about what is a political prisoner, and then being president, surely Mandela does. Oh man, now I’m remembering that Chapelle Show skit- Mandela Bootcamp.

Today’s Sounds: Magnetic Fields (It’s all her fault!)

State He’s In

The basic elements of a good breakfast in my world: Special K, Organic Soymilk, and banana. This morning I added one extremely unhealthy ingredient: the Vice Presidential debates. It sounds more like a “who loves to bomb and kill people more” competition. I can barely tell who the “liberal” is. To his credit Edwards sounds human, versus MechaGodzilla.

Last night I chatted with the Brian, the man behind The State I’m In, and man was it entertaining. Highlights are posted on his bloggy. Turns out he’s a huge MST3K fan and he’s good with his mutants. We both agree that the best name for the future baseball team should be: The DC Comics.(credit Ron and Fez callers for that one)

Before I make my official Peace Prize selection-prediction, I wanted to announce a new blog exercise: This ol’Park. A little background: Being as though I’m the part-time work king, I have Friday off. I use my free time to explore Amsterdam, and the internet (more often). Therefore every Friday until it gets too dam cold, I shall visit and review a different Amsterdam park, complete with photo. It shall begin Friday and I encourage questions in the comment section. oh and one more announcement, I shall be featuring a guestblog or an interview (depending on which she grants me) with THE Torontonienne as she’s back from the beer gardens tomorrow.

Now to thin the herd, the bicyclemark Peace Prize finalists are:

3. President Obesanjo of Nigeria, for appearing in most peace negotiation photos of any world leader last year.

2. President-Select Karzai of Afghanistan, for visiting many shithole towns and evading death, so far.

1. Bono, no the singer. Although Sonny might posthumously deserve something.

I hope they don’t go and just give it to an organization, that’s such a cop-out. Good luck to all finalists this Friday, and good luck trying to claim a prize from me, punks.

Someone made a video version of Tony Pierce’s How-to-Vote blogpost, dam the blogosphere is fun. And for all the historians out there, recording history as it happens: I’m looking like a strong write-in candidate in New Jersey. If I win, it will be a very Lenin-like return to the states for me, out of exile. Somebody find his old armored train and convert it to a plane for me.

Today’s Sound: Waking up to the Veep Debate on CSPAN.org