Providing a Voice to All

This video is a sample of clips that my friend and Concordia Journalism colleague, Ryan Mullins has put together for his Project "Providing a Voice through New Media".

Ryan just returned from Ghana where he was establishing this project, which aims to connect under-represented people in rural and urban communities across Ghana through the Internet.

He received a scholarship from the International Development Research Council (IDRC) for this work. For anyone interested in how Communication can play a role in International Development or how Globalization has affected local cultures, this clip and much more of his work should interest you.

I highly recommend his website.

Talking Drum Class, Hohoe

Hilarious quotes on living/travelling in/to the UK from friends...

Well I've made a momentous decision!

This morning I formally cancelled my application for deferral with the LSE and have decided to take up my offer of admission for this October. Very exciting news.

I have talked to a few friends about the move and the quotes they have given me have been so hilarious that I just had to put them up:

Zeke:

"Dude, you're moving to London. It costs like, 3 pounds to take a shi*t in your own home there"

"Whats the big deal dude, just leave some stuff at your aunt's house, sell the car, kiss your girl and go"

(As my mom eloquently put it: spoken like a true Third Culture Kid).

Stephane:


"My advice? Live in a dodgy neighborhood thats still centrally located, get an iron-clad sense of humour for the sharp wit of the Brits, and dull out your gag reflex, if you can, for their, errr...food.."


Jani Helle:

"You do realize that you're moving to a country that has barely even heard of a sport called Ice Hockey, a nation which freaks the hell out over 3 inches of snow?"

Equal Treatment of Women in Mexico -- Mexican Ambassador to Canada

Today's entry (I should more accurately say, this weeks, given the pace that I've been posting lately), is a very important issue that is being spearheaded by my good friend and colleague, Veronica Islas.

Below is the release that she put out:

--------------------------------

Barrio Terrazas was received on 26 February 2009 as Ambassador of Mexico to Canada,

Governor of the state of Chihuahua from 1992 to 1998. Barrio Terrazas and his government proved to be dangerously and unforgivably bigotted and prejudice.

In the past twenty years in Ciudad Juarez, a border town in Mexico, young women from underprivileged backgrounds have been abducted, sexually assaulted, tortured, mutilated and murdered.

To date, over 500 female bodies bearing signs of sexual assault and torture have been found and about 1000 women are still missing.

While he was governor of the state where these murders are happening, Barrio Terrazas said that these killings were a "natural phenomenon, because the victims walked in dark streets and they were dressed provocatively, because they were wearing mini-skirts."
To suggest that the victims were asking for it because they were wearing miniskirts shows the mysoginy that this man really feels. Barrio Terrazas also blocked the creation of an independent commission to study the crimes, one that was recommended by the UN Human Rights Commission.The question is, why? Despite numerous reports, recommendations, reports and evidence presented to Mexican authorities, no one has been brought to justice, whether members of the Mexican government or law enforcement, or even drug cartels in Ciudad Juarez. On the contrary, many people have been threatened and harassed for denouncing the inaction of the authorities and demanding justice, some have already died.

Demonstrations will be held simultaneously in Mexico and Canada to denounce the macho attitude and passivity of the new ambassador and the Mexican government inaction in the situation of feminicide.

For info:
Montreal
Geneviève Lacroix
Committee for Human Rights in Latin America
genevieve@cdhal.org / www.cdhal.org / 514.387.5550

Ottawa
Veronica Islas
veronicalas@gmail.com (613) 263 5603

Our Requests
WE SUPPORT GROUPS FOR WOMEN MEXICAN AND ORGANIZATIONS DEFENSE OF RIGHTS TO SEEK GOUVERNEMENTMEXICAIN:
I. Mr. De Barrio Terrazas withdraw from his duties as Ambassador of Mexico to Canada. II. To respect its commitment to various international treaties signed and ratified, ie the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Inter-American Convention Belem do Para to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women. III. To end the impunity that is crippling the judiciary and security forces and bring the perpetrators to justice.
IV. Also, to protect the lives and integrity of human rights defenders and organizations accompanying the families of victims and the latter.

CANADIAN GOVERNMENT:
I. Accordance with international obligations contracted by the Canadian government to exercise its duty of care towards the situation of human rights in Mexico, a partner.
II. Review carefully the case of Mr. Francisco Javier Barrio Terrazas to declare persona non grata, because his lack of respect unequivocally meet the women murdered and missing is a complete Canadian values and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms of Canada, which provides protection to all persons, regardless of sex.
III. Provide support to the Mexican government to implement the reforms necessary to reform and restructure the Mexican justice system.
IV. Finally, we ask the Canadian government to respect its tradition of human rights and invite the Mexican government to handle cases of victims and to stop the impunity in Ciudad Juarez, as well as ensuring the protection of women victims violence throughout Mexico.

To Canadians:
I. We ask to join us, feminist organizations, organizations of human rights in Canada and Mexico and to the families of victims to show solidarity with them. II. We invite organizations and individual Canadians to join us to demonstrate and support our requests.
------------------------

A small demonstration occurred last Friday, April 3rd here in Ottawa in front of the Mexican Embassy.

Before zipping down to Montreal I attended and snapped some photos of the event:

Reflections on my Trip to NYC...

So I recently, spontaneously, and last-minutey, went down to NYC this past weekend for a mini-highschool re-union.

I'll touch on a few personal thoughts before getting into what I thought of NYC:

Highschool dynamics

The night before I left I found myself, gnawing at the knot of excitement in the pit of my stomach, wondering how it would be with a group of us back together again. In the 6 years since I graduated I have only seen a couple of friends here and there. I was wondering if we would return to the same idiosyncratic and insecure relationships that dog all highschools, or if our new found maturation due to university degrees and life experience and now being at the baby steps of our careers, would make things really different.

What I found was that everyone was more mature and therefore was able to get along better. But at the same time, in some ways everyone returned to the roles they had in highschool as well.

Anyways, it was absolutely fantastic seeing everyone, and when I head to London either next year or the year after, I look forward to being able to see even more old friends then.



Observations of NYC

1) NYC is its own world. You really feel it when you are there. You could easily spend your entire life living there, without ever leaving the vast expanse of urban jungle that is the city.

2) Artistic. NYC is so artistic, in fact, I have to say that it REALLY reminds me of Montreal in the variety of styles that you see on the streets, the variety of bars that one can go to, the existence of parties all over the city at any hour, on any day of the week and the possibility of seeing the most random thing on any occasion (ie. someone walking down the sidewalk in their underwear in the middle of the day).

Of course, its all of that in Montreal X 50 and you get something closer to NY. But the similarites are really there.

3) Nice. People are very nice contrary to the bad rap that New Yorkers seem to get. I found everyone really friendly and nice and even somewhat helpful.

4) Wealth and inequality. New York is THE place to be for the elite and those aspiring to be the elite in the US. And you can feel it. The first night I was there I went to a bar/lounge which charged around 12 dollars per drink. You can find these places in Montreal and other big cities, the difference is that there, the clientele will be young professionals, and the average age probably be closer to 30. This place didnt have a person over 24 I don't think. The majority of them were students who were all still in school. I felt like I was in an alternate reality of some kind.

At the same time, you also have Harlem and Queens and other unbelievably impoverished areas right in the same city. I realized that I've gotten used to the quiet equality of Canada (don't get me wrong we still have our areas, but we have to be honest and compare ourselves to the big picture) and I'd somehow forgotten that the horrific inequality that exists in Latin American and parts of Asia, is also a reality in the US and other parts of the so-called "Western" world.

5) Guns for money. I saw flyers on 8th Ave. advertising, Guns for Money. You Bring your working guns in, we give you $200 bucks, no questions asked. When I saw this sign it hit me "yea man, you're now in the US".

I meant to take a picture of it but unfortunately didnt see them again. But apparently this "initiative" has been quite effective at getting guns off the streets.

6) Overwhelming hyperconsumerism. There are stores, stores, and more stores EVERYWHERE. The US as a country must have more entrepreneurs per capita than anyone else. And people, buy, buy, buy, and buy. And we're in a recession? The neverending and unrelenting flow of shoppers and stores was pretty exhausting.

7) People say its expensive but.... I actually didn't find it that bad. In the stores alcohol is about the same price or even less than in Montreal when you factor in the tax. There are soo many places to eat that, if you stay away from the expensive ones, you can actually find food relatively cheaply. It all depends on the lifestyle you are used to and where you go in the city. Having said that, the cost of housing is absolutely ridiculous.

Overall
It was a very cool city. I could see myself spending 5 happy years of my life there easily, although I do think that I wouldnt be able to last more than that.

Whoopi Goldberg Spotting

While sitting in the car with Zeke and his parents in the East Village of Manhatten, Whoopi Goldberg stepped out of her apartment and walked right in front of our car to cross the street. She waved at us when Zeke's dad tapped on the glass.

She looked EXACTLY like she did on tv. And sort of looked like she was just trying to get from Point A to point B without being spotted, dressed in a hooded grey sweatshirt with the hood up.

Interesting Links of the Day...

I've come across a couple of interesting links lately that I feel obligated to share with everyone.

1) First, hat tip to my friend Alex Guertin for this very cool, photo travel essay from Chernobyl.

For those of you that don't remember Chernobyl was the location of the worst nuclear disaster in human history (so far).


I have to admit that many of the photos actually give me a feeling of nostalgia for the life that I had in Eastern Europe.

2) Secondly, I'll give a shout out to my friend, Mark Kersten, for his terrific work in his blog: kerstenskolumn.wordpress.com. His latest post on "The Responsibility to Protect" , (R2P) the philosophical pondering of when does the international community have an obligation to intervene, and when does it not, is worth reading.

Kersten is currently working as Compliance and Information Coordinator for the Green Party of Canada and will be heading to the London School of Economics and Political Science next year for a Masters in IR. (If my deferral fails to go through, we may end up there together).

A new post is currently in the works (currently rolling around in the mush between my ears), I've been meaning to post on R2P for a while now, and perhaps Mark has forced my hand. I'll keep you all updated.

China's Policy on Tibet and the Dalai Lama

There may be people who disagree with this post, but the timeliness of this issue, to me, morally impells me to comment on it.

Above: Nepalese police officers snatch a Tibetan flag from a Tibetan protester demonstrating in front of the U.N. office in Katmandu, Nepal, March 17, 2008. Police used bamboo batons to disperse about 100 Tibetan protesters and Buddhist monks in Katmandu, Monday, arresting around 30 in the latest crackdown on pro-Tibet demonstrations in neighboring Nepal.
(Binod Joshi/AP Photo) Note: I was unable to find any photos from Lhasa itself.

It was March 16 of last year that, Tibetan protests broke out in the capital of Lhasa leading to Chinese troops marching on the capital and resulting in close to 150 deaths.

This year, the anniversary of the uprising passed with eery quietness, as paramilitary and plainclothes police blanketed the Tibetan capital with patrols and checkpoints.

It was also in March, 50 years ago, that an uprising against Chinese rule led to the Dalai Lama's flight into exile in India, bringing with him tens of thousands of his followers.

The general story, we know: the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) government and the Government of Tibet in Exile still disagree over when Tibet became a part of China, and whether the incorporation Tibet into China is legitimate according to international law.

I'm not too knowledgeable on the rationale China had for invading Tibet in 1950, immediately following the ascension of the Chinese Communist Party in the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

But I do believe that China's policy on the Dalai Lama shows remarkable short-sightedness for a government that has thus far shown itself to be highly effective at long term economic planning.

The reason China refuses to accept Tibetan independence is obvious.

While much of the Western world, when they think of China imagine a homogenous “workers” mass of people, composing a highly unified state, the reality is that the PRC is a very diverse country. As early as 1949, there were fifty-six registered and officially recognized nationalities (other than Han Chinese) in China. (see: Norbu, Dawa, “China’s Policy Towards its Minority Nationalities in the Nineties”. China Report. 1991. )

That’s not to say that Chinese policies haven’t attempted to dilute various identities underneath the majority-Han identity, in most countries the majority culture dominates, and in China this is no different.

But the point is this: if they give Tibet independence, many of the other regionally concentrated minorities groups might attempt to gain independence as well. (Particularly the Uyghur ethnic group in the North Western corner of the country).

The Uyghurs (see Uyghur girl above) are Turkic speaking peoples of Islamic faith who live primarily in the Xinjian Autonomous Region in the PRC.

From this perspective, China’s refusal to accept Tibetan independence for fear of losing the territory of the nation-state makes sense.

But their policy of vilifying the Dalai Lama doesn’t.

The Dalai Lama gave a speech on March 10, in Dharamsala (where he is exiled in northern India), in order to “pay tribute to all those who died, were torture and suffered for the cause of Tibet”. While his speech included the usual offers of friendship and conciliation to China with which he usually balances with criticism of its rule, it was unusually angry and pessimistic in tone.

According to the Economist, the speech “reads like the exasperated outpouring of a man despairing of the compromise he himself continues to promote”.

The unusually harsh words reflect his frustration at China’s continued dismissal of Tibetan yearnings for independence, and the bleak outlook for political progress in the region, but also the reality of the situation on the ground in Tibet.

Human Rights Watch last week reported that there were thousands of arbitrary arrests during last year’s unrest and that hundreds of detainees continue to remain unaccounted for.

This month, as I wrote above, anticipating protests during the anniversary season, the Chinese government deployed a massive security presence, foreigners have been excluded from the region, and mobile-telephone networks and websites in Lhasa have become inaccessible.

Yet these precautions show that the Chinese government is fully aware of the extent of Tibetan unhappiness with its rule.

It continues to blame this on the influence of the Dalai Lama itself. It likes to argue that before the Chinese takeover in 1950, Tibet was merely a feudal serfdom. On March 28, the Chinese government in Tibet celebrate “Emancipation from Serfdom day”.

But the Dalai Lama has democratised his government in exile, and unlike many of his followers both in Tibet and in the exiled population, he accepts Chinese rule. Not only does he argue for a “middle way” of genuine autonomy within China, he is also unwavering in his opposition to violence.

In fact, what violent acts that did occur in last years uprising in Lhasa, reflected the frustrations of a new generation of followers who have grown weary of the Dalai Lama’s insistence on non-violence.

So what should this tell us? Would things be better without the Dalai Lama’s influence?

What does China hope?

It seems as though China’s hope is that when the Dalai Lama, who is 73 years-old, eventually passes away, Tibetans will lose both their international figurehead and their internal unity.

My guess is, China hopes to subsequently instill their own, pro-China spiritual leader to replace the Dalai Lama once the current one is gone.

But right now the Dalai Lama is the only one holding things together. He, and not the Chinese government, is the only one capable of keeping the new generation of separatists in check.

If the uprisings last year are any indication, and indeed if history (see: the collapse of Yugoslavia) is any indication, if China waits that long, it may be losing its best and last hope of reconciliation with the Tibetan people that it claims are its own.

ImprovEverywhere...

I have sent a few emails about this already but it is just too cool to keep away from the blogosphere.

Alot of people have already heard of these guys but in case you haven't: ImprovEverywhere is a group and a phenomenon it is spreading like wildfire across North America.

They do organized spontaneous things in public places. According to their website http://improveverywhere.com/, they "have completed 80 missions of joy and chaos, involving thousands of undercover agents, since they have started." The group is based in New York City but there are a bunch of chapters springing up in other cities.

Last weekend ImprovEverywhere in Ottawa carried out a Guerilla Freeze (which is in my opinion one of the coolest acts):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD84neqYfSE (Note: This clip is the one from NYC, Grand Central Station)

But they also do spontaneous musicals:

http://improveverywhere.com/2008/03/09/food-court-musical/

Anyways, I just think it is really cool what these people are doing. I'm going to be participating in next months activity here in Ottawa, whatever it may be. If you want to brighten your day, maybe you can join one, (or dareisay start your own) in your locations.