politics – Page 6 – Citizen Reporter

Dangerous Bananas

My buddy Lucas was telling me that he digs the site, but that I move from topic to topic too quickly for him.? Usually I listen to comments like that, say thanks, and then go back to doing my own thing, my way. But Lucas is a good man, who may be on to something.? Perhaps another step in my evolution as a citizen reporter will be to keep the focus on one topic, or at least a small amount of topics for an extended period.? Examples for this year, GMO agriculture, environmental crimes in Europe and North America, and perhaps the one I will start rolling out this week: Bananas.? (although I still maintain that its my site and a big world and I do what I want!)

You heard right on that last part: Bananas. Naners. Beloved fruit of millions if not billions of people, but lesser known for being one of the leading causes of suffering and political chaos in the 20th century.? And of course they’re not finished yet.

Lets set the stage for this issue, because its far bigger than our friend the banana. Its aboutContinue reading “Dangerous Bananas”

Before Rove, Atwater

There was a statement that caught my attention as I rode through museumplein in the middle of the night recently, listening to the latest edition of On the Media.? They were talking about the late republican strategist Lee Atwater, who Ive always remembered as the guy who trained George HW Bush in 88 to stand up straight to look tough in debates, and use divisive attack ads to destroy his opponent.? The item was about his legacy, and it was interesting to hear a specialist on his life and work talk about how he had been friends with Karl Rove and championed the playing upon people’s fears in a political campaign.

At one point they mention that many people saw what came after Atwater as a marketing of a candidate using sophisticated polling and focus groups. Something that would later be championed by the Clinton campaigns and set the pace for the next decade.? But they added that this most recent election, might have signified a return to a more grassroots direct-to-the people style politics.

All this reminded me of Century of the Self, Adam Curtis’s excellent documentary, which now more than ever deserves to be watched.? One can only hope an update will come soon.

Work on the Candidate

Many of you know I’ve lived outside the United States since late 2001.? If I were trying to seem poetic or sentimental I would mention that it was 2 months after 9/11.? Or I would bring up the extreme difficulty and hostility I experienced trying to do research as a freelance journalist into the disappearing immigrants of Arab descent.? But thats not really it either, the reasons I left are more complex and less dramatic.

Still throughout the last 7 years I’ve often wondered if a change of president would make it more appealing to live once again in the US.? But I can also tell you that one thing I’ve figured out for myself is that the president is not what is wrong with the United States.? No the problems go beyond the white house and beyond politics.? So a change of president does not equal a change in culture… things don’t happen that quickly or easily.

Speaking with one of my most valued friends back in NJ today, he said to me “Obama mania is sweeping the nation man… its going to be great.”? To which I responded “Just because there is Obama mania does not mean things will be great.” Which is the response I feel I need to give more and more these days.

Like his profile? Sure why not. Plenty to like about that life and family history.? Like his speaking style? Most of the time, although if we’re honest with ourselves we know that 75% of the time he’s not really saying anything, just using the talking points and the slogans like advisors tell him to.? Like his politics? Im not sure about that anymore either. From Free Trade, to Middle East policies, to Criminal Justice, Barak Obama says less and less that I can actually agree with or that differs with the same old populist politics of the last decades.

Obama mania is sweeping the nation.? It starts to sound like any one progressively minded should lay down their arms and embrace the man in the name of getting him elected.? Yet I propose.. hell.. I demand something else.? I demand that you hammer this candidate with questions. That you scrutinize his proposed policies, his staff choices, his voting record, and the details of the lofty promises or the shady relationships with questionable forces. Don’t jump on the bandwagon, stand up and ask your candidate to explain himself.? Run him through the ringer, before its too late, and we end up with a man that owes favors to the same old powerful interests and politics we never actually wanted.

Followup On Money

Next week I will move beyond the US elections, but so long as the big media does such a poor job of looking behind the show, I feel the need to bring forward whatever information I feel is of importance.

Some months back my internet colleague Chris Weagel recommended a media source to me, by the name of consortium news. I’ve subscribed to that site, and have indeed found useful information that is not available in the mainstream.

The latest eye-opening article went over Hillary Clinton’s income, on the heels of her 5 million dollar loan to her own campaign. Some people may not be surprised or remotely uncomfortable about the numbers, but I want to lay it out anyway.

According to author and journalist Nat Parry, Hillary’s income breaks down like this:

Senate salary of $169,300 a year.

From her memoir Living History, 9.9 million$

$10.2 million for giving 57 speeches in 2006

And then there is husband Bill’s money coming from such places as:

$20 million via business relationship with Yucaipa Cos., the investment firm of his longtime supporter, billionaire Ron Burkle, which has connections to the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. – according to the Wall St. Journal

Helped Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra in securing a lucrative uranium deal with the repressive government of Kazakhstan in 2005, shortly before Giustra made an unreported $31.3 million donation to Clinton’s foundation. – according to the New York Times.

This is just a taste, read the full post for details as well as links to the sources.

Seeing these numbers just makes me do a double-take, as sometimes I forget how very wealthy politicans in the United States can be; especially if they’ve lived in the white house.

Dutch Parties Shrinking

I’m fascinated by associations, groups, unions, fanclubs… well maybe not fanclubs. But if there is a group of people dedicated to something, and they have meetings and membership cards, I’m interested in learning about them. And it is even more compelling if they’ve been around for awhile.

Here in the Netherlands, for example, It seems there has been a tradition of people being not only supporters of a political party, but actually card carrying members. I realize this happens in many countries, but it is not often that I hear the numbers or that someone comes forward and says “Oh Im a card carrying member of the Sloth Party.”

Today I read about how membership numbers for political parties in the Netherlands is shrinking. A very interesting, though not at all surprising, development. As with every passing election voters grow tired of one party and turn to another, and then grow tired of that one and turn to yet another, or they go back to the previous one maybe. And despite all their voting efforts, these parties continue to disappoint and generally do things that people don’t agree with.. even their own party members. So why continue to be a member of a party that never seems to represent you and they said they would.

The numbers in the Netherlands are as follows:

Christian Democrats (party of the prime minister) – 69.200 members
Labor Party – 59.327
Socialist PArty – 50.238
Liberal PArty – 36.832
United Christians – 27.683
Green Left – 21.901
Animal Party (yes!) – 6972

Note that I skipped a few parties because I don’t feel like describing them, though they would be located at the bottom of the list. Furthermore the populist-far-right Freedom Party has no membership, yet you can bet plenty of people vote for them they would just prefer not to have any evidence linking their vote back to themselves.

In the end I think the way people think of elections has changed. Instead of wanting to be a member of a party, and going to meetings and trying to influence party policies, it starts to resemble a menu in a restaurant… you choose what looks like it would be good. And if you dont like it, you spit it out, or choose something else next time. Unfortunately there is no equivalent, besides leaving the country, of “going to another restaurant cause this one is bad”. Then again like so many citizens, you could go on a hunger strike.

bm234 Kasparov and The Other Russia

Gary Kasparov is known for being a chess master. Now he is challenging the president of Russia for control of the country, calling it a battle to bring democracy back to the nation. With the help of my guest, Olaf Koens, in Moscow, we look at the details of Kasparov that you may have not known, and beyond that.. the parties that are challenging the Putin backed campaign in the next Russian election. We Discuss:

– Who is Kasparov?
– His contreversial chess moves
– His politics
– Other parties aligned or not aligned with him
– The threshold
– The crazy writer
– The Putin candidates
– The communist party
– The likely outcome
– Apathy in Russia, Apathy in Europe