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3rd World Farmer

Give it a try.

Radiohead at MSG (I want IRONY)

I put this on ateaseweb.com and craigslist, hopefully I’ll get some tickets (agh!):

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to ask for tickets to the June 13th or June 14th Radiohead show at Madison Square Garden. I attempted but was unable to purchase tickets during the online release date and cannot afford to buy a pair of tickets as they are being advertised now on Craigslist or Ebay. I suppose there are a fair amount of pleas out there from people so I commiserate that everyone that wants tickets (and probably deserves tickets) has not received them. However, I’ll still share my experience: I currently work at a non-profit in Washington DC, and my girlfriend who I wish to take with me to the concert works as a public school teacher in the Bronx, so paying upwards of $300 plus for each ticket is not feasible. Further, it is also my birthday on the 13th (I will fax you my drivers license or even my birth certificate for verification), and I have never had the pleasure of seeing Radiohead in person. I was scheduled to see them in spring 2001 at Bull Run in Virginia where Radiohead was scheduled to perform for 2 days. However, after Kid Koala finished a set on the first day, an unusual thunderstorm set upon the park and consequently, Radiohead did not perform. Severe inclement weather continued the next day, so both shows ended up cancelled with no Radiohead performance, and they have not returned to the Washington DC area since.

Though I am saddened that a lot of people are selling and buying tickets at extraordinary prices, perhaps depriving a lot of deserving individuals in attendance, I do not blame anyone for their actions (even the ticket brokers) for being swayed by monetary incentives. My budget is limited, but I am willing to pay well over face value for a pair of tickets to either show so a couple of serious Radiohead fans can enjoy the irony of a Street Spirit sing a long, or whatever the night may bring. If you need to reach me, I am available at [email protected]. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Alec

A Weekend (In The Devil Town)

Spent the weekend in New York City (This salsa is made in NEW YORK CITY?!?!). Friday night, reconnected some bases, watched my Wizards fall magnificently to the Lebron James’, and enjoyed a night of rudimentary hedonism. Gavin, you were fucking miserable at beer pong — a little less miserable then me — but that doesn’t excuse you, you’re still a Knicks fan. Lisa also has two hamsters: one with huge balls, and one that looks like Stimpy. The one that looks like Stimpy got stuck in the coach, and we had to cut open the bottom to get him out (does anyone even remember how this occurred? I think it began with the two male hamsters eatting each other out on my lap). I suggested that the darker, bigger balled hamster be named Patrice, after African nationalist Patrice Lumumba. I think this idea fell on deaf ears however. Also, Marika beat up a pinyata and promptly passed out after feeling the soft furniture (one toke over the line).

Saturday was one of the best — a slow day in Central Park, a delicious meal of sushi and tea, and a magnificent movie in the Lower East Side — all in the context of a relaxed, stoned aura. We saw ‘The Devil and Daniel Johnston’, which was god-honestly one of the better movies I’ve ever seen. Some of the better scenes included Dan singing half-heartedly in the middle of a pharmaceutically-repressed depression about his inability to write songs, the members of Sonic Youth searching for Dan in the streets of NYC during a mental collapse, and a live performance of ‘Evil Town’. Plus we saw it in one of the cooler theaters I’ve seen in my life, and I’m glad I saw a section of New York City outside of the Upper West Side (I guess we both forget that I’m a visitor here). This was followed up by a big slice of Hawaiian pizza in a hut blaring techno music, some meaningful conversation, and the realization that sometimes outside of us, the world doesn’t matter. It’s nice to have this going so well when at times, it feels like the world around us is melting.

Anyhow, it looks like I’m moving onwards and upwards. I want to become the prodigal son at the Middle East Thought Factory. I also would like a new apartment and a new batch of friends. If you can supply either, email me immediately.

In conclusion, DC sleeps alone tonight and this place is a prison (these people are not my friends):

I’ll wear my badge:
a vinyl sticker with big block letters
adhered to my chest.
It tells your new friends
“I am a visitor here… I am not permanent.”

I am dividing at an alarming rate.

Victims of Their Own Vote

In an ideal world, economic sanctions against a country culpable of having a malicious leader or government promote internal grassroots change. The short version scenario is those responsible for the existence of sanctions, such as Saddam Hussein during the 1990’s or Hamas currently in Palestine, will be ‘starved’ out of office by being unable to provide basic amenities to its constituency. The idea is that food, medicine, and jobs will be so uncertain that public desperation will facilitate regime change, either peaceful or violent.

However, idealism falls on its heels as the opposite often occurs: the Regime is not seen as the harbinger of poverty, but the victim of it. In the end, extreme poverty fosters a counter-productive extremist reaction in citizens: a disdain for those carrying out sanctions and sympathy for the government, consequently consolidating power instead of destabilizing it.

The current situation in Palestine reflects this reality. Hamas has existed as a militant Islamic organization since 1987 and recently won democratic elections in Palestine. The accepted but ill-perceived position in the West, perpetuated by pro-Israeli Think Tanks such as the Washington Institute (for evidence, read this report following the Palestinian elections), is that a terrorist organization was elected for being terrorist. In reality, Hamas was elected in a primarily two-party state (Fatah being the other legitimate party), not for it’s positions towards Israel, but for not being corrupt and hopefully being able to provide basic services Fatah failed to provide.

The situation has escalated since money from the United States, European Union, and the UN have dwindled to pay for government salaries and food and medical supplies. The New York Times covers the despair in Gaza in

Already, says Al Shifa’s general director, Dr. Ibrahim al-Habbash, the hospital can no longer provide chemotherapy for many forms of cancer, has only a few days’ supply of important surgical drugs like atropine, adrenaline, heparin and lidocaine, and has used up its strategic three-month cache normally kept for a health crisis.

…”We’ve suffered in the past, of course, but in the last month, the problems have really increased,” Dr. Habbash said. “There are shortages of medications and disposables in all departments, we’re trying to limit the operating list and people are suffering, even dying, because of these shortages.”

But his anger is a sign of the mounting frustration over the gaps in health care here, which are a result of a double crisis: the budget deficit in the Palestinian Authority — which has worsened significantly since Israel stopped transferring tax collections, and the United States and the European Union cut off aid after the Hamas government took over — and the inability to get goods into Gaza through the main crossing point at Karni, which the Israelis keep closing whenever there is a security alert.

But the victims of the sanctions that have denied them even the most simple health care do not reflect their anger at Hamas or the extremism that may be part author of these problems:

“I borrow from friends and have no more credit at the grocery store,” Mr. Siam said. “Unfortunately, the whole world has chosen to punish us for our vote for Hamas. And I also blame everyone who calls himself a Muslim and who does not help us.”

…In the dialysis ward of Shifa Hospital, Ahmed Shabat, 51, sits in fraying clothes. He must come every other day. “This is my work,” he says, then shows the swollen veins on his arms caused by a lack of mineral supplements normally provided. “What is the relationship between humanitarian and political aims here?” he asked. “The United States is the mother of democracy. What is political about salaries to teachers and nurses? Please,” he said, “please don’t mix humanitarian help with politics. Please separate the two.”

Further, by starving the constituency, sanctions against the Palestinian government have aggravated tensions between Fatah and Hamas.

“The fighting was the latest sign that the two sides could be sliding toward large-scale clashes. Each group has been training its gunmen for possible confrontation, and Hamas recently outbid Fatah in buying a black market shipment of 100,000 bullets.

… Hamas and the moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, of Fatah, have been wrangling over power, particularly over control of the security forces, and the friction has been compounded by a growing financial crisis – a result of Western economic sanctions against the Hamas-led government.”

While in the comforts of the West, it may be easy for one to denounce Islam, terrorism, and a broad section of the world as perpetuating violence and extremism, the results of such saber rattling have facilitated the demise of the moderate voice in the Middle East. Emboldening those in power and demoralizing the constituency, economic sanctions in Palestine have facilitated conflict and destabilization in a region that the West cannot allow to descend further into anarchy and tyranny.

RUSSIAN BEAR CRUSH FREE SPEECH!

The Jamestown Foundation, one of the leading anti-terrorism and all together best organizations regarding the movement of former Soviet republics, held a conference in Washington DC a few weeks ago. So what happens?

RUSSIAN BEAR GET ANGRY! That’s right, a few days after the event, the Deputy Foreign Minister sent a formal diplomatic protest to the US Ambassador:

WASHINGTON, DC (4/29/06)–On April 14th, The Jamestown Foundation held a half-day conference entitled “Sadullaev’s Caucasian Front: Prospects for the Next Nalchik” at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Subsequent reports by state-run Russian media falsely alleged that the conference and its participants promoted terrorist attacks in the Russian Federation. Those false allegations later sparked a diplomatic protest by Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Kislyak to U.S. Ambassador William Burns in Moscow.

The Jamestown Foundation today released a brief summary of the conference proceedings in order to further refute mischaracterizations by Russian officials and state-owned media. The summary also provides policy-makers and the public with information concerning the growing separatist insurgency in the North Caucasus and its implications for both regional and international security. Copies of the summary are available in PDF format by clicking here.

It’s bad enough that Russia is slipping away from democracy, but to try to inhibit free speech on others soil in an attempt to stop what it views as anti-Russian free discourse is draconian.