Tag Archives: UK

We the Other People

Yes, it's a bear with a bikeOfficially moved in and back with my ADSL connection, hence redecorating and all kinds of changes in the near future. Let me know if the changes are to your approval. While it’s true to a certain extent that I blog for myself, you the readers are what fuels my commitment to blogging every-other-day. Speaking of which, big spike in my blog readership yesterday, surprising numbers coming from the European Union. Thanks to everyone for sticking with the communiqu?. But enough about me.

So as part of being back in my cozy pad in Amsterdam Centrum, the roomates and I tend to cook dinner together. Today’s kitchen conversation was a classic, which I’ve had with various international friends for the past few years: How much they wish non-Americans could vote in the US election. Before you start yelling, stay with me; the US is obviously a very unique country in the world. Nothing to do with the usual bullshit about freedom and democracy, both of which are relative terms and exist all over the world. It has to do with the influence: economic, cultural, political, that the US has over the world. Basically, as I’ve said before on the blog, what happens in the US effects everyone everywhere. It is this reason, as far as I can tell, that so many international folk will sigh as they watch the lame speeches in MSG and demonstrations on the street, and they’ll say “I wish everyone in the world could get to vote for the US president.”

When you think about it, it’s often very frustrating normally for Americans to look at their own government. Here I’m talking about folks who share the frustration, and have no say in the matter. And the opposite cannot be said, it wouldn’t really matter if Americans could vote for the president of Colombia or the Netherlands, because no other nation wields such power over everyone’s future.

Onto other business: My/Our blog generation continues to grow. JZ (he needed a nickname) recently launched “Sunlight Disinfectant”. While I rarely agree with the man about politics, I do agree with his idea to blog and I’ll gladly – sometimes disagreeably – read his writing. This increases the number of bloggers I’ve helped get started to 4 in the last six months. Did anyone notice the term I coined: BLOG GENERATION, you heard it here first from the finger tips of Bicyclemark. It’s “catch-terms” like these that will propel me into a career in academia… yeee haw.

Oh yeah.. I should talk about Agassi next time.

Today’s Music: Bouncing Souls (cause I saw them the other night)

You Feel Sick?

As soon as the reports came out, I decided it was my responsibility as a blogger, a slash-American, and a human on this earth, to analyze the Health and Poverty statistics from the US Census Bureau. For what we should always remember is that what happens in the US has effects the world-over.

So lets take a net-trip together, shall we, to the lovely US Census Bureau. Come’on, it could be fun, besides, they’re celebrating “10 years on the web” which is just a year behind me. While we’re out, it could be wise to stop by the Kaiser Family Foundation which has nothing to do with World War 1, but instead, handles health statistics.

Basically it breaks down like this:

– 45 million people in the US are without health insurance, including yours truely (though I’m in exile) Thats 2 million more people from 2002 to 2003. So that’s 15% of the population. How insane is that? If I, an uninsured blogger, get eastern-feasle disease, I won’t go to hospital until I’m pretty much dead because I can’t afford it. And in the process of dying, I’m sure to cough and sneeze and spread the feasle spores to a couple of thousand people. You follow me here? OK let me stop the rumors right now, I don’t have such a virus… and I confess.. I made it up. But I had a point!

More stats for thought:

-8.4 million children had no insurance in 2003, and those are not short-term situations.

-33% of all Black and Asian Americans are without insurance. Equality here we come!

The rest I leave up to you to read and evaluate. Oh yeah and the worst state-with the highest amount of uninsured- Texas. Nevermind that they’re on the border, they should have had a proper plan, long ago, for those circumstances. This is not my attempt at a campaign message, both of the siamese American political parties have created this situation, along with a public that has been too quiet about it. If any time were ever good for getting mad, now would be good.

If you want more busblog, in between great photo essays, takes a bite into poverty statistics as well. Then there’s buzzmachine’s buzzing.

I’m interested in Dave Chapelle’s plan – “Fake Canadian ID’s for ALL AMERICANS.” There’s a candidate I’d vote for.

Today’s Music: Michael Franti + Spearhead – Everyone Deserves Music (for all the good people demonstratin this week!)

Korean-American Slapstick

Any day now an academic gold nugget is going to fly out of my brain relating to blogs, personal publishing, and power-relations. That nugget will lead me on my renewed quest for PhD, and any egghead that stands in my way will feel the wrath of my passive-aggressive internet hatred. Now I just need a supervisor and a university, any takers out there, please comment below. My primary desire is to stay in fair Amsterdam, but if you’re persuasive.. I am not averse to being persueded. Also I don’t have much in terms of morals, so if you’d like to tempt me with material things, I’m listening.

One skill I know I have, and would venture to say many out there have is diplomacy. Defined by that midget webster’s dictionary:

Main Entry: di?plo?ma?cy

Pronunciation: d&-‘plO-m&-sE

Function: noun

1 : the art and practice of conducting negotiations between nations

2 : skill in handling affairs without arousing hostility : TACT

I’m referring specifically to definition two when I point out two comedians that have absolutely no diplomacy skills and somehow that is their job: GW Bush and Kim Jong-Il. This morning’s FT described a little catfight of words these two have been having:

-W Bush: “He’s a tyrant!” (referring to the N. Korean Leader)

-Jong-Il: “He’s a imbecile,an idiot and a man-killer.” (Referring to Bush)

-Bush once said he “loathed” Jong-Il.

-Jong-Il responded recently that Bush is “a political imbecile bereft of even elementary morality as a human being and a bad guy.”

These are world leaders? Neither elected, it’s worth noting. And furthermore both heirs to their fathers’ political dynasties. No wonder they have such a special way to speak to each other. But nevermind all that, it should be a basic job requirement: Don’t be an insulting bastard towards other leaders. Clearly they both absolutely suck at being diplomats, but maaaan are they entertaining.

Tom Tomorrow’s guestblogger type-person – Bob Harris- testifies to exactly one of the side-effects of having such unqualified leaders. Apparently Bob is in Olympiakos land and he’s been watching undercover as a New Zealander. I love a country who’s team colors are all-black. They even call the rugby team the “all-blacks.” But I digress, Bob had heard lots of boo’s for the US and blogs about the negative receptions US folk are getting in Athens and the possible reasons behind it.

Today’s Music: Frou Frou – Details

Puerto Rican Style

I grew up in New Jersey, and I was a teenager in the days of all the TEAM USA Basketball hype. Perhaps some of you remember, it was when the US decided to send their professional NBA types, instead of those college guys who I guess were losing all the time to teams like Yugoslavia or something. I wasn’t excited at the idea, nor am I a big sports fan, but it was interesting back then… Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan representin the US, it was as it was called – a dream team. I guess.

But man oh man. Seems that since winning every match in Atlanta 96 and then again in Sidney 2000, the dream is dead. I watched this lame-ass effort last night, and I laughed my ass off, when I wasn’t being offended at the level of play by the Americans. Puerto Rica was superior in every way. And from what I hear, this US team lost their qualifier to Italy as well. How lame. And on the other hand, hooray for the rest of the world, no more one-country domination of that sport.

Recall elections seem to be the trend in the world this year. Chavez won his yesterday, and will therefore continue being president of Venezuela for the remainder of his term. I love populism and mass hysteria as much as the next guy, but I find it very annoying that officials are now elected for a fixed-year term, yet suddenly you can demand a recall election to get him/her out early. Sounds like politics is starting to resemble a trip to the local department store; you buy something, but then you don’t like it when you get home, and you return it. Bad metaphor? Well my point was to stress why so-called liberal-democracies are full of non-democratic quirks.

Being that I am such a fan of blogs from around the world, I noticed Jill’s post today about Chinese blogs. Which led me to an ex-pat in Asia’s blog that I’m now beginning to read. (And I’m glad its written in English, I’ve got no Chinese characters on my windowsxp setup) Its an especially good for its blogroll, including all kinds from Hong Kong as well as “plain old China.”

Today’s Music: Franz Ferdinand (everyones listening to it I guess)

Air Might Be Conditioned

Dripping… dripping sweat.. what a brilliant idea to make Lisbon bus-stops out of 100% clear glass. You’re waiting for the bus because it provides cooler scenery than the metro, and just via the act of waiting, you sweat profusely. Its hot.. dam hot… Africa hot.. “Tarzan couldn’t take this heat.” Several buses pull up at once, unfortunately most are the 1970 MAN model and rattle and cough as they wait for people to hop on. Like a gift from the heavens, one of the more modern Mercedes manufactured buses pulls up with the beautiful “Ar Condicionado” sign in the window. Get on that bus and the jokes on you.. in this case.. me. Sweating even more than before and forced to inhale the stink of my fellow passengers and the hot air pumping through the alleged air conditioning system. This is when Lisbon is just plain funny. Though at the moment, I had trouble laughing.

Relying mainly on British and French international TV news, I’ve been studying the situation in Darfur, Sudan carefully. Even careful study doesn’t make it any easier to understand. I keep asking myself how I want it handled, nevermind what the international community wants.

Basically I am in favor of intervention by a UN peace keeping force, led by the African Union. If this is not possible, I would accept it being led by France, since they are already present next door, in Chad. This force would act as a shield… an armed human shield with a mandate to do what is necessary to stop mass murder and genocide by either rebels or government forces. By force, I mean actual troops, and not the bombing or cruise missiling of Khartoum, which I would label the “Iraq method.”

Now the trouble with this case, is that both the Sudanese government and people seem dangerously opposed to any outsiders intervening, especially what they call the “west” . It seems possible that they would declare an all out war on any UN force that went in there… which would be terrible for both sides. And so I’m left asking myself once again, how would I handle this situation better? One thing for sure, something must be well thought out and done.

Obviously I’m ready to stop this vacation mode and get back to worrying about the world and Amsterdam life.

Today’s Music: Nina Simone – The Best of (found it in the apartment)

Presenting Big Daddy J

Good people of the blogosphere, first time visitors, loyalists, friends, Romans.. I give you the guest blogger for the next two weeks: My brother (I mean that both literally and in the “ma brotha” sort of way as well)- Big Daddy J

What can I say about this individual, besides coming from a fabulous family, he’s a professional in the Social Work field within the education system in the city of our birth(s). He’s skilled in the realm of computer games, a connoisseur of adult-swim cartoons, and a bit of a legend in the central Jersey bowling world. He’s tri-lingual and bi-pedal (two-leg walker). He and his wife recently had a son, my nephew, who’s now over two months old. The rest, well, is up to him to share. I simply wanted to properly introduce this guestblogger who will begin blogging on Wednesday. (commence standing-at-your-computer ovation)

If you check my site-stats, you’ll find my blog has gotten big in China. I’m very excited about that, I recently sent my personal envoy “Ed” to Beijing. I don’t suppose he’s spreading the word about blogging, but apparently –as Leonard and the Asia Times have been talking about – blogging in general is growing in China. While I’ve yet to experience it for myself, I think regardless of the thousands of “web police” the Chinese government has, webloggers will find a way. Much like an old dam trying to hold back a swelling river, they will eventually prove too many for the “censors.” The same happened with capitalism and globalization; despite the rhetoric of the governing party, they have allowed an incredible amount of “capitalism” into China, and seemingly – will continue to do so. I’m not saying its a good thing, just inevitable. And hey, I appreciate all those Chinese readers out there — welcome! Feel free to comment and join the often-heated debates.

The UNDP’s (United Nations development Program) 2004 Human development Report came out and according to the report, in terms of quality of life… Or as they put it

“A composite index measuring average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development?a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living.”

The Netherlands is number 5 on that list! Just a little reminder of why I chose to move here. I wasn’t so shocked to see Norway as number 1, followed by Sweden, Australia, and Canada – also places I’d consider moving too. The US was 8th, Uk 12th, and just to give you an idea Sierra Leone and Niger were at the bottom. No offense to them. I should add, I would enjoy visiting those countries. I recommend browsing around the report because it’s loaded with good info.

I added Chris Missick to the unfed blogroll, at last. He’s the soldier in Iraq that I’ve previously mentioned, and I enjoy the conversations we have via blog and email. I even noticed – i think – that he refers to me in a recent post! I think I’ll return the compliment with a trackback.

So for now I take my leave, off to Portugal for a much anticipated vacation. Look for me in Lisbon if you’re in the neighborhood. Stay tuned for more fun this week with me and my guestblogger.

Today’s Music: Prince- Rainbow Children (very gospel)