Went to the Budapest 350 climate event on Saturday, which essentially turned into a kind of poolside rave. My friend and photo critic M liked this shot best, so that's the one you get. Someone was complaining about the event not being well-organized, as demonstrated by a chaotic beer line; given the local pro-bike, anti-car movement, what surprised me most was that the turnout wasn't larger. No big deal, though, as it's fair to say a good time was had by all.

The one thing which did disappoint me was that the bicycle rickshaw companies were totally absent to pedal people out of the park. They would've done some good business, but instead there were a line of taxis... urggggh! Gotta learn to think ahead, people.

350 or bust

Last week there was light snowfall in the Buda hills. Yes, that's right. Snow in Hungary on 15 October. JC in Prague also posted a snow sighting that day, to which someone commented, 'I miss Prague!' Sorry honey, but i think that's the wrong response. It should NOT be snowing - should not be cold enough for snow - at this time of year in the middle of Europe (or New England!). Also last week, a study was released showing that global warming-induced glacial melts in the Swiss Alps are releasing toxic compounds into the environment which had been bound into the ice for decades: organic pollutants like DDT and and dioxin - for which there is no 'safe' minimum concentration - which floated upward from the agrarian lowlands, expecting to be enshrined in ice forever. Other studies have shown that this same phenomenon has been occurring in Antarctica, where trace amounts of these chemicals have been found in penguins. Elsewhere, i've read that Switzerland's borders with Italy have been redrawn to accommodate the appearance of solid land where there once was thick glacial cover. 'Great that Berlusconi's kingdom is shrinking!' Ok, sure, but again, wrong response.

This is a photo i took 2 years ago while flying over that border area. Surprised by the scant snowpack, i'd had no idea that the situation was as bad as it actually turns out to be: not in terms of political dimensions but rather, environmental ones. A recent report by al-Jazeera (embedded below) discusses the impact of receding glaciers in Peru, a situation which is even more stark due to the lack of pervasive surface water that characterize Italy's Lake Region (if you aren't familiar with this area, just do a search for George Clooney, who has a lovely house on Lago di Como).




Too much doom and gloom? i totally agree. That's why i'll be going to this event in Budapest on the 24th: to hear some great music, maybe cop a little film cameo, and be part of the paradigm shift in parka preparedness (the 'Stewardship Revolution' for those who prefer more swanky event marketing slogans). We may be too late to reverse climate change, but at least we can weather the change in weather with some respectable GMT+2 late-night aquatic enervation. According to 350.org, 170 countries will be holding some sort of event to register (our) (collective) desire for meaningful action at the pending COP 15 (please oh please let it not be another episode of the Obama Multimedia Love Boat).

As one of the great environmental thinkers of our time, David Suzuki, famously said, “We're in a giant car heading towards a brick wall and everyone's arguing over where they're going to sit.” Obviously, people who ride bikes don't have that problem, so wherever on Earth you find yourself this weekend, try to do something as if the lives of penguins depend on it... or the lives of glaciers, if species extinction doesn't make your heart bleed... or just your own little 'i prefer four seaons' life, if, like me, you don't want to be burning gas or coal to prevent hyperthermia in October.

As i've written elsewhere on this site, Budapest has a substantial cycling movement and most of the folks i know outside of work are focused on climate issues. Here's a link i received this week about a newly designed Hungarian hybrid, the Antro Solo. Republishing the photo here, to get your attention. It almost makes me want to have a car... deep down, i recognize that is still not the optimal way to go.

Ten reasons why Obama should return the Nobel, posited by none other than The Black Commentator. Several of my non-black friends in the US have expressed consternation over all the criticism there of Obama (i'm assuming mostly from the Glenn Beck squads), but as the ever-insightful RM says, "we have to support Obama unconditionally, otherwise people will think we're racists, too." Since i live on the other side of the Atlantic, i can get away with being blasphemous so long as whatever i say doesn't deride Roma.

Der Spiegel has just published the winning images in their microscopic photo competition. The pictures are amazing! Dealing with light waves at such high magnification levels is clearly an art in itself; these photographers have achieved some remarkable effects. i especially liked #12, which captures the movement of soap on a slide. Bill Bigg, my old plant physiology prof at Humboldt State, defined 'detergent' as anything able to break the surface tension of water and i think this photograph basically proves him correct. Enjoy the pics - #4 fish ovaries also fascinating.

Rhythms East-West

Some random Mickey Hart interview i heard eons ago came to mind while watching this lively montage. Mickey talks about breath as the source of all rhythm, evolving palaeontologically into The Beat as we commonly think of it, or maybe just take for granted dancing around till sunrise in an ecstasy-propagated workout. It punches out the frequency of our hearts, our brain waives :-), REM flutter and just about everything else indicative of life. Even in dormancy there is a pulse, however faint.

The soundtrack for Akachi's short film is provided by the Brasilian-based ensemble, Barbatuques, who are also dedicated to exploring this rhythm-body-sound relationship. STOMP without all the toys. Their own website has some nice visual interpretations of their musical journey, definitely worth having a look at if you're in a free-thinking, relaxed mood and need something non-specified to focus on (that is not an oxymoron, contrary to how it reads). In all likelihood, Too Far West Is East was probably made with other objectives in mind, but it's a beautiful rendition of how rhythmically we humans behave, across vastly different cultural parameters and regardless of the material objects which partly define or direct our movements.

Too far west is east from Takayuki Akachi on Vimeo.

Nobel Appease Prize

The Obama love fest marches on. How utterly bizarre that he has received this honor immediately after declining to meet with another Nobel Laureate... hard not to notice that among all the commentaries and congratulations, the Dalai Lama's reaction is conspicuously absent. Is the Nobel Committee trying to subvert Obama's stated intention to intensify military action in Afghanistan by handing him a check that reads 'Man of Peace', or do they just want their own private audience with the guy? Historically, the prize has been awarded to individuals who've taken real, substantive personal risks in the interests of justice, peace and planet, or embraced platforms crucial for moving in that direction (think of Al Gore and the IPCC); i may be missing something in his background, but it doesn't seem to me that Obama qualifies under either of these criteria.

Last weekend i met a Danish woman who asked if i was happy about Obama becoming president, flashing me that semi-glazed over, starry-eyed look that i've come to recognize as the spell of saviordom. People so desperately want to believe that Obama is "the answer", the man who will make all things bad in the world go away or transform into bite-sized bits of goodness. It feels too cynical to dispel anyone's optimism; yet, from another perspective, one could argue that encouraging the worship of a well-marketed elected official reflects an even deeper level of psychic despair. Thus far, Obama has not managed to deliver much more than drone attacks on impoverished villages, appeasement towards zionist extremists and guaranteed, unrestrained profits to big pharmaceutical companies. My conversation with the woman from Denmark demonstrated yet again the extent to which Europeans still want to believe that the US can set things right in the world, and how willing we all are to ignore what we don't want to see in order to keep whatever dream we harbor alive - be it a savior nation or a savior from Chicago.

There are those who have argued that the Nobel Peace Prize lost all credibility back in 1973, when it was awarded to Henry Kissinger - in the same year that he orchestrated the overthrow of Allende, condemning the Chilean people to over a decade of inexcusable repression. i am not going to shame myself by challenging that position, since i think the Norwegians would have better served the interests of peace by arresting Kissinger the minute he stepped off the plane. Perhaps my reaction to Obama winning is just a matter of selective or short-term memory, of not wanting to accept that something i'd like to believe has substantive meaning has actually been devoid of it for at least several decades. i suppose i should be thankful that if persona marketability was their main criteria, at least the Committee didn't select Angelina Jolie.

At this time, one hopes that the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize recipient will take a moment to reflect on the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. when he accepted his award in 1964.

I am mindful that debilitating and grinding poverty afflicts my people and chains them to the lowest rung of the economic ladder.

Therefore, I must ask why this prize is awarded to a movement which is beleaguered and committed to unrelenting struggle; to a movement which has not won the very peace and brotherhood which is the essence of the Nobel Prize.

After contemplation, I conclude that this award which I receive on behalf of that movement is profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time -- the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression.

Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts.

This morning i received an email from moveon.org which claimed that the primary reason Obama won the award is his push for nuclear disarmament. On this, i would refer you to Thomas Pickering's recent commentary in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists: "...the Obama administration will at least continue to look seriously at the possibility of missile defense, focusing less on a frenetic commitment to early deployment and more on bringing it to its full technical capability." Their clock is still set at 5 minutes to midnight, so while the potential to move away from nuclear war may be greater than it was a year ago, our experts at the Bulletin have yet to lower the threat level.

Also want to tag on a quote from someone at Israel Radio, just to illustrate how convoluted perspectives on the Nobel Prize - or perhaps peace, itself - can become. "Almost nine months of pregnancy at the White House has not given birth to one peace or any [significant] progress under the inspiration of American president.... Whoever had hope that President Obama would lead a military operation against Tehran, today those hopes have evaporated. A Noble Peace Prize laureate doesn't rush into to any war." Does that need deconstruction?? According to the Secret Service, death threats to Obama are up 400% since his inauguration. The racist anti-sanity birthers [sic] are taunting him left and right, but who would be surprised if the first tangible attack came from an agent of zionism? Yet that surely won't happen in Oslo, so we can all start stocking up on popcorn and rhetoric, in preparation for another monumental speech and a blogophere frenzy to prove it so.

Shut up or shut up!

Adding to the overload of frenetic footwork around the UN's recent report on Israeli war crimes during its invasion of the Gaza Strip last year, Israel has now told the Palestinian Authority that it will not open up the radio spectrum needed by a second West Bank telecommunications company - unless the PA agrees to stop pursuing action on the Goldstone Commission's findings. Talk about an ironic approach to communication: keep your mouths shut about our crimes or we'll do whatever we can to prevent you from talking with each other. Shameless (albeit hardly shocking) blackmail. Getting a dependable phone signal in the West Bank is already problematic in many places, e.g. East Jerusalem. Nobody should be subjected to this in the 21st century, yet it seems there are no limits to Israel's ability to make an outrageously repressive situation worse.

If Israel and the US are the model democracies [sic] other Middle Eastern countries are supposed to hold candles to, it seems we should finally accept the reality that democracy has taken on an altogether new meaning - new model - than what myself and most others i know have always understood it to be. Zionist democracy is Orwell's big black boot with Bill O'Reilly's face on the sole screaming 'Shut up! Shut up!' just before it grinds our molars into our throats. There is no freedom of choice, freedom of movement, freedom of thought... Democracy appears to be the new name for oligarchy. This makes me feel nostalgic for the past, as in let's bring back the tsar.

Yesterday i spoke with a Palestinian merchant about importing organic, fair trade olive oil. He was naturally quite interested, but couldn't fathom Israel allowing anything to be exported out of the West Bank. He's right, it's next to impossible. Can anyone out there tell me the point of strangulating someone who's already being forced to play dead??

Short on time but intent on regularity :-) Sibel Edmonds is without doubt the most important and least well-known government whistleblower in the US, yet anyone interested in 9/11 investigation issues or how Turkish and Israeli espionage has infiltrated the US government needs to hear what she's got to say. If you're reading this blog, that probably includes you. Best place to plug into this is Brad Friedman's blog, which today reports that an FBI counter-terrorism executive is now calling for a special prosecutor to investigate the information provided by Sibel in her recent legal depositions related to an Ohio election case. You can also listen to an interview with John Cole of the FBI here. Fascinating stuff and if a public investigation were to take place, an entire compost heap of worms would break open and leave a mess far bigger than the State of Ohio and the WTC complex, combined. More astonishing and disturbing than anything Thomas Clancey will ever write.

Small Steps

Coming back to Earth after a long trip on the Depression Express, i'm reminded of the first time i rode a bicycle and braved the neighborhood hill, only to reach the bottom in such ecstatic glee that i hadn't though ahead about what would happen when i got there and needed to make an abrupt turn. Consequently, i crashed into a fire hydrant and walked the bike home with blood spilling down my leg (my first and still visible bodily scar). When my father saw me in the driveway he actually had the gall to laugh; though i'm sure i've never recovered from his total lack of empathy, he was right about needing to get back on the bike as soon as i'd bandaged myself up. Feeling overwhelmed by the plethora and speed of changes in the world - positive as well as degenerative - or perhaps better stated, not being sure of where to start in communicating the variety of stuff flashing around my synapses, i'm just getting back on the bike here and taking a small step in order to get my blog breathing again.

Last winter, i stated volunteering with the Alliance for International Women's Rights, helping a young Afghan lawyer develop projects (and write grant proposals to fund them) in the areas of legal aid and female lawyers' education. Her organization is called Justice For All, and i cannot even begin to measure the extent of bravery she and her colleagues have conjured up to deal with the complexities and sexism that characterize the legal system and culture in Afghanistan at this point in time. Under Karzai's presidency, the country has gone back to implementing a mixture of secular civil codes 'normalized' with Shari'a law , and international legal conventions, which in some cases cannot be normalized with the Islamic codes. It's such a complicated mess and there is so much transitional chaos that, according to the woman I work with, many practicing lawyers lack effective knowledge of current statutes, especially regarding the rights of women and children. So JFA is organizing to fill in some of these voids (the role of US-AID remains unclear, but they are certainly pumping money into their concept of how the legal system should operate). To describe fighting for women's rights as an uphill battle would be a severe understatement, contrary to the Bushes' et al. repeated assessments that huge strides have been made. Small steps, yes, of course. Monumental leaps? Not while the country remains under foreign occupation, that much is clear.

A few months ago, another AIWR volunteer sent the rest of us a letter following her departure from Afghanistan and has given me permission to publish it here. Rethink Afghanistan is definitely work checking out to understanding why the US/NATO needs to leave ASAP, yet first-hand accounts like the one below are also important for getting a bit of an insider's view into what the lives of Afghani women entail in this period of so-called 'liberation'. Read and be deeply moved, or more empathic, or just a bit less cynical. The war is not helping these women, but war never does - we knew that much already, or at least we should have.

Since I left Afghanistan in December, I've been reflecting almost every
moment on my life there and on the lives of the women who crossed my paths
and touched my hearts. With all of the media coverage giving such an
ill-informed image of Afghans, I often find myself wanting to reach out to
my Canadian friends, colleagues, and family, to tell them my stories. To
tell them the stories of Afghanistan.

But what are the stories of Afghanistan?

When I ask myself that question, I stop and, becoming intensely overwhelmed,
my thoughts wander to something else.

Why is it so hard to talk about Afghanistan, to share what I saw, to help
you feel what I felt? My instinct, which, bordering on maternal and
therefore strange because I am not a mother, is to share a tale of beauty. I
want to protect the stories of my friends, my sisters, by not sharing them.
I want, instead, to tell a tale of the splendor of a mid-summer morning in
Kabul - golden strands of sun gently tickling dusty roofs and small, cracked
feet; globe sized roses in red, peach and pink; the smell of fresh bread
luring me into bakers' glass houses; the haunting call to prayer. The land
of majestic, proud mountains; a land of glittering gems.

Afghanistan is a land of barren, aching beauty. Afghans are the offspring of
this beauty, a proud and dignified people. Their land is a treasure chest;
their women the treasure. They are a treasure, precisely because they are
alive. Alive, but their lives are a battlefield, and their hearts are
broken. Yet they triumph. Their spirits soar to the peaks and back again.

Afghan women suffer in a sea of beauty. Their land has become a chest with
no treasure: The lakes, the rivers no longer flow. The night extinguishes
the light into darkness. The snow and cold pierce those old, tired bones.
The day starts before dawn, with the chill of eight little pairs of hands
fighting over one pair of stiff plastic shoes. The propane has flown away
and the mouths are so hungry. A cold sip of tea, a half morsel of dry
bread. The path is steep and icy; a treacherous journey down. The horns and
pollution meld into one below. The cars drive by, twelve feet hanging out of
each trunk, bodies getting in, out, crushed and squeezed, breath held in,
the words of Allah exhaled through the front dash. A flowing sea in a dusty
land; everyone going somewhere, nowhere, everywhere.

She reaches the university; standing at the base of the mountain. It is the
future's foundation, built on cracks. Cold, dark hallways, urine and
something else trickles out from under the door, no water again today. The
last door on the right. Forty six students; six chairs, two without seats,
one backless. Reaching into her pocket, there is no chalk. Crumpled class
notes, stained with the legacy, the trauma of history. Textbooks? Not today.
Not yesterday. Perhaps tomorrow. Ninety two eyes, expectant, patient,
angry, hollow. The lesson begins, then ends. Then another; another still.

Weary, it is time. It's been on her mind like a hot shower since dawn. The
second floor. Above the cold, empty library. There is a warm, bright,
welcoming space. A chair. A smiling face. Paper. A connection to the outside
world. There is more than this. Out there, somewhere. Someone. Dry, aching
fingers, fumbling over the keyboard. Password? Username? Memory. Memory.
Memory. Computers. So difficult to operate. It is ringing.

Red or green? The green button.

She presses. Green. Lifeline. A warm, caring voice. English. The world.

Just for her.

by Sky McLaughlin, 2009
English Language Program Director, Higher Education Project, Afghanistan

As an addendum, AIWR is always looking for more supporters and volunteers - if you are female and skypable and want to connect with women in Afghanistan or other Central Asian countries, check the link above and contact them. From my own experience, i can certainly recommend both the organization and the personal value of bouncing through satellite signals to help give women the skills and confidence they want to reach out to the world and make their own dreams of freedom, personal development and real national security become a reality.