Podcasting since 2004; Conversations, conflicts, adventures and monologues from around the world.
Packing my bags and leaving for the US and A in a few hours. Therefore, Im reusing and revisiting a show from 2005. A topic that I wish to see in every school and in every history book. Enjoy and I’ll speak to you from New Jersey.
You can search for the entire documentary on archive.org, search for the name Century of the Self.
Thats all, time to travel.
The by-line of the article reads as follows:
In an effort to close a chapter in America’s history of race hate, Washington is bringing elderly Klansmen to justice for killings carried out up to 60 years ago
Well now thats just a bit misleading and well… wishful thinking. The part about closing the chapter on race hate I mean, and the Klan.
Nope… that book isn’t even close to closed. Yet the Guardian isn’t alone when it talks about the civil rights struggle and racial violence in the US in the past test. You hear it all the time; I wonder how teachers are teaching the children in elementary schools?
See the KKK isn’t past tense. It is alive. Not only that, I learned recently that membership is at its highest levels since the 70’s! Yes… we’re talking about a membership boom in an era where some people would like us to believe racism and violent groups like the KKK are all done.
What causes a boom? Well we can deduce that one. The two very popular issues that drive today’s bigots to violence and organized oppression against specific groups: xenophobia and homophobia. By focusing on those two issues, as the Klan has apparently, they can count on all the immigrant haters and the gay marriage oppenents… ready to dawn the sheets and burn some crosses.. or whatever their modern day methods are. (buy a congressperson and rig a local ballot?)
Oh and one final note to all my blue state-northeast friends. If you’re like me you’ve often had the illusion that our states are much more open minded and forward thinking. Well, for the record, the active and growing KKK chapters are located in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. So much for what I thought was my forward thinking state-of-birth.
WEll, there’s a new cabinet running the Netherlands now, and as per tradition, they’re already arguing about bullshit.
See, the coalition government has two ministers from the Labour Party who are muslim. Or perhaps more importantly in this case, one who is Turkish and one who is Moroccan, both – mind you – Dutch of course. So they have dual nationalities. As do countless others, not to mention probably millions in Europe, myself included.
Yet the parliament, which Im convinced is made up of some of the most racist, ignorant, hateful neanderthals the country has to offer.. have kicked up a big fuss about the ministers and their dual nationality. I believe the quote was “They have questionable loyalties” And they’re (on the right) talking about changing laws or god-knows-what in order to force people to have only one nationality.
Yes they continue to try to put more nails into the coffin of what was once a very progressive and exciting country. With each year they dig up yet another hatemongering distraction of an issue that targets we “the foreigners”.
But the jokes on them; all those reactionary dinosaurs in parliament. I’m younger then you are. And so are my immigrant bretheren. And we will live on long after you’ve decomposed, and we will keep our two passports, and we’ll speak whatever languages we like on these streets, and you’ll just have to roll around in your grave and try and get used to it.
To their credit, I believe one of the “accused” ministers said something to the effect of “Some of the worst crimes in the history of this country were commited by Nazi collaborators who only had ONE nationality.”
Dam right. I’m an Amsterdamer and this city is my home and you’ll have to pry my two passports from my COLD DEAD HAND.
The European Union has a parliament which has two homes, Brussels and Strasbourg. When weighing all the resources required and practical costs for maintaining this tradition, many have called into question why there isn’t one European Parliament. My guest today is Anders Ekberg, a key player in the OneSeat.eu campaign and part of the Liberal Party of Sweden, he explains the history of the campaign and we discuss the details.
We Discuss:
– How the Parliament juggles the two places
– The history of the situation
– Luxembourg, the third seat.
– Who pays for what
– The process
– France
– What to do with Strasbourg
– The campaign and its future
When you hear the word Kibbutz, perhaps you’re like me and you invision a collective of people working on a farm. Perhaps somewhere someone told us a story or we saw a picture of what a kibbutz looked like, long ago. But what about today’s Kibbutz, as times change, and people start to use the term privatized? With the help of a few guests and different experiences, we explore this very complex topic.
Guests:
Jason Weill, in Seattle
Hanna Braun, via email from England
Hezi, at Kibbutz Givat Brenner
Topics:
– The inspiration and original purpose of the Kubbutz movement
– The way of life, past and present
– Money, housing, family, and work
– the politics of a kibbutz
– relations with the government and outsiders
– the privatization and sustainability
– factories and new businesses
– changes and the future
– arms caches and membership
– plenty more, dont just read notes, listen to the show
Last week, as I was doing the usual middle-of-the-night TV news network watching, the story of the train bombing aboard the Pakistan-India Friendship Express came up. Initially they called it a fire, and the details were few. I sat here, uneasy, as Im sure many observers did… that this was more than a fire and worst of all.. this was an attempt to break the peace process between the two countries.
It almost seemed typical. In my minds eye I could see India blaming Pakistan, and vice-versa.. then the train would be cancelled forever as would other travel links… and then it would be back to testing missiles and living on the brink of human annihaliation. As the next few details appeared on the television, I was already low on hope.
In fact that is NOT what happened. At least it doesn’t seem so, one week later. The Pakistani dictator-turned-president condemned the thing and vowed to keep working for peace. The Indian Prime Minister said the same. People mourned the tragedy, but in the news articles and editorials that I read, they didn’t call for blood. Which is some small way, seems encouraging.
Normally in the world, history repeats iself. Over and over. No lessons are learned, or at least, not enough lessons are learned by the people making decisions that can end or enhance human lives. Yet every now and then, I think we’re seeing an adjustment, a change. And in this case, I wonder if it isn’t a true change for the better… for peace between two longtime enemies.