On May 16, I wrote about a documentary called, Sun Come up : A Film about Climate Change Refugees. The New York Times also wrote an article about the same documentary. I believe it ties in well with my previous post about Shell and it's atrocious environmental and humanitarian practices.
Millions of people are likely to be displaced by climate change and it's in everyones interest to get our act together quickly.
Sometimes we read in newspaper articles or in certain blogs about the environmental and humanitarian disasters caused by big multinational co-operations as a result of their horrendous practices. Coca Cola, Star Bucks, Exxon-Mobile, Nike and Shell are some of the few such guilty companies! In this post, I would like to concentrate on a court case that was suppose to take place in New York City on the 27th of May, 2009, brought by the indigenous (Ogoni) people of Niger Delta, upon Shell! (Wiwa vs. Royal Dutch Shell)
Shell is a British/Dutch company, which is one of the leading oil and gas producer in the world. They have existed in Niger Delta for decades, extracting oil while causing tremendous damage to the indigenous people, while emitting dangerous amounts of greenhouse gases that add to the current climate crisis.
Shell is involved in a practice called “Gas Flaring”, which is basically burning off gases, that is released through oil extraction activities. These gases are highly toxic and very dangerous. They have been doing this for many years because it’s cheaper and easier. Shell could never get away with such practices here in the US or in Europe, yet they have been doing this at a high cost to the people living in Niger Delta without an ounce of guilt or remorse, while making billions of dollars each year.
Ken Saro-Wiwa was the founding member and the president of “Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People”, a group dedicated to help the indigenous people of Niger Delta to stop the damaging practices of gas flaring by Shell. He was an outspoken environmental activist who tried to negotiate but unfortunately was able to come to an amicable agreement. When the community protested, Shell bribed the military government in Nigeria to suppress the Ogoni people by means of violence. Ultimately Ken Saro-Wiwa was arrested by the military dictatorship and framed. He was quickly tried for crimes he did not commit and hung soon after. This trial was widely condemned by independent observers such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as being a sham and a total injustice of the law. Year’s lager, many damaging information came out that Shell had a big role in the whole process of bribery and witness tampering.
A landmark court case was supposed to take place on May 27th against the infamous gas/oil company however, by vigorous attempts to stop the Ogoni people having their day in court, Shell made sure the court case was delayed at a later date. It seems Shell wants to settle outside the corridors of the court room in order to cover up it’s track of human rights violations and environmental damages that has taken place for many years in Niger Delta.
Below are some web sights where you can take action and read more about the court case against Shell.
This weekend is the Memorial Day weekend, which means, Monday is off for all. No schools, no work and plenty of warm weather ahead of us. Memorial Day weekend, signifies the start of the summer for North Easterners in the US. It is the time to open the outside pool, start the grill and bring out the patio set. It is the time to put the cold, dark and depressing winter behind!
So as New Yorkers, since we cannot do much of that, as we do not have yards or space for a pool, why not experience the city that we live in? How many of you actually did sight seeing while living in a metropolitan city such as Istanbul, London, New York, or Sydney? Our hectic lives doesn’t permit us to take a day off and just do what other tourists do.
Since moving to New York City, my family and I did most of the usual sights that tourist flock to. As nothing is permanent for us, each city I lived in is only a time line.... A memory! Therefore, I made sure we didn't leave without seeing major attractions. The Circle Line, that goes around Manhattan, Bronx Zoo, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty were among the few places that we visited and experienced.
This Memorial Day weekend, my kids wanted to go up to the observatory of the Empire State Building. So what better day then today!
I recommend everybody to experience his or her city one day like a tourist. See all the famous sights, do what tourist do, take your camera for a walk and enjoy your city from a different perspective. Why not?…. Have a lovely Sunday!
* Photos were taken today by me. It was a misty and a hot day, so they are not as bright as I wished.... * We are leaving my beloved city at the end of June, which I will explain in detail at another entry soon.
Those who start wars, never fight them. And those who fight wars, they never like them And those who write laws, they can't recite them And those of us who just fight laws, they live and die by them
Cause they're never gonna tell you why. No. They're only gonna tell ya lies, no. Cause they're never gonna tell you why. No. They're only gonna tell ya lies, no.
It's time.......time to go home Don't take our boys away Don't take our girls away Don't take our boys away Don't take our girls away
Those who build walls are pretending That forever they can defend them Those who dam streams can build fountains Those of us who just let them run free They can move mountains
Cause they're never gonna tell you why. No. They're only gonna tell ya lies, no. Cause they're never gonna tell you why. No. They're only gonna tell ya lies, no.
Don't take our boys away Don't take our girls away Don't take our boys away Don't take our girls away Don't take our boys away
Its time Its time How many people were they running from? How many people never saw it coming? How many people never heard the warning? How many people never stayed at home? How many people never heard the call? How many people never saw it all? How many people did they spend it on? How many people got to sing the song? How many people never heard the cry? How many people got pushed aside? How many people never saw the doves fly? How many people never said goodbye? How many people never saw it fallin'? How many people 'til we end it all? How many people never saw the wrong end? How many people did we drop the bomb on?
Don't take our boys away Don't take our girls away Don't take our boys away Don't take our girls away Don't take our boys away It's time to go home!
Those of you, who may still think Obama is a liberal or is for (some kind of) “change” from the previous administration, then think again! He has made a few cosmetic changes here and there but the fact remains; torture at Gitmo still continues at a brutal rate and depressingly, it doesn’t look like the hideous prison camp will be shut down in the near future like Obama promised.
In the above (10 minute) video, Jeremy Scahill talks to Amy Goodman of Democracy now, (May 19th) about the thug squad still brutalizing prisoners under the Obama administration. He is an award winning investigative journalist who wrote the New York Times bestseller Blackwater; The rise of the world's most powerful mercenary army. This time, he is investigating the allegations and the criminal charges by the Spanish courts of torture that has taken place in Guantanamo Bay during the Bush Administration. Scahill's description of the way prisoners are currently being tortured, is pretty explicit and hard to hear. So a little warning to those who may have weak hearts....
Many skeptics who did not think Obama was any different then Bush, is sadly proven correct. It seems the foreign policy of United States has nothing to with presidents that are elected. They come and go; their name changes, their color changes, even their gender may change but the fundamental Imperialistic attitude remains exactly the same.
I will conclude my post by Jeremy Scahill's words: "I think one of the reasons why the Democratic leadership is not pushing for a special independent prosecutor in this case is because, if you actually examine the record, you will find that the Democrats funded these programs (as well as the Republicans), supported these programs, and refused to speak up when it actually mattered. That’s the pattern we saw through out the eight years of the Bush administration. Now that the Democrats are in power, what you see is Obama upholding the consistent one-party system in this country when it comes to foreign policy."
Have you ever heard of Carteret Island, located in South Pacific, only 50 miles off the coast of Papua New Guinea? Well neither have I, up until few days ago, when I stumbled upon a documentary called “Sun Come Up”. It is coming to selective cities in the US, for screening in June. So keep your eyes and ears open.
Let me give you a little synopsis of the documentary, which is quite interesting, yet sad. “Sun come up” is a documentary that follows the lives of world’s first climate change refugees. Inhabitance of this tiny island is only 3,000. It is definitely a remote island, yet centuries old rich tradition, filled with music, dance and storytelling encompasses the islanders everyday life. However, modern day crisis has changed their lives completely. Climate change is destroying their livelihood; high tides have destroyed their crops, vegetation and plant life at an alarming rate.
For years, islanders fought to contain the ocean but have been unsuccessful in keeping the salt water away. They have no choice left but to leave their beloved homeland which has kept them in peace and happiness for centuries. Their main concern is to lose their culture, language and tradition.
You might wonder where will they relocate? Well, they are planning to relocate to a near by Island called Bougainville. However, there has been 10-year-old civil war going on with Papua New Guinea, which devastated the islands peaceful coexistence. This unrest is due to the outrage of the locals who were fed up with the Australian based copper mining company destroying their land, rivers and the general habitat.
The villagers of Bougainville are traumatized by 10-year-old crisis, which the Australian mining company has wittingly caused. You can imagine the situation the Carteret Islanders are finding themselves in. They are leaving behind a peaceful existence on a remote island and will try to adjust to a much more aggressive and violent environment.
This documentary is about the human face of climate change and a people faced with the loss of land. A must see documentary! I believe it raises questions of global responsibility, the effects of climate change and how to be responsible citizen in a world of diminishing natural resources….
I have recently watched a 3-part documentary that I would like to share with you. It’s called The Power of Nightmares, directed by Adam Curtis (2005), which he wrote produced and narrated for the BBC.
What Curtis argues is that, the American neo-conservatives and the Islamic fundamentalist are a dark mirror copy of each other; namely ideologues on both sides who believe that liberal values are at the core of all the ills in their societies. He shows in painstaking detail, how the neocons deliberately fabricated evidence of the Soviet threat in order to subjugate the masses into submission during the 70’s and how they used the same tactics during the Bush era after 9/11. At the same time, the documentary traces radical Islam back to the 1940’s and its evolution to our current times. Together these two groups create today’s nightmare!
The most interesting element to the film is that, Curtis examines how the governments around the world exploit this nightmare like vision for their own benefit: The myth of hidden underground terrorist organizations that threaten the public at large, the dream of a better world that only politicians can offer and the promise to protect “us” from scary groups that threaten our “democracy”.
The power of nightmares was shown on BBC a few years ago. The British public had the privilege to watch this detailed documentary that analyzed the whole ideology of “war on terror”. Many nations future have been shaped and destroyed as a result of this mythical war. It is important to understand history within the right contex. The sad truth is, such documentaries can never be seen on CNN, MSNBC or Fox because they are too embedded with Washington.
You do not need to believe or except everything Curtis argues. Nevertheless, watch it, talk about it and discuss it with your friends and family…. There were parts which I felt the documentary didn't delve deep enough on certain issues, however, over all I thought it was thought provoking and educational.
It is sadly official. Afghanistan is Obama’s war. During his campaign, Obama promised to reorient from Iraq to Afghanistan and it seems he kept his promise.
After 9/11 the US government assumed the responsibility of changing and determining the faith of many nations around the world. Obama is steadfast in following in the footsteps of the Bush Administration by not only withdrawing out of Iraq immediately but also by expending the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan. How long can the people in the US and in other parts of the world go on like this? Isn’t the pain and suffering of everyone on all sides enough?
To top it all of, I have read yet another sad news about the possible use of white phosphorus on the civilians in Afghan villages via air strikes. How can the US government expect the people on the ground to support the US troops, while their children and families are burnt, killed and inquired? Aren’t indiscriminate killings the behavior of the Taliban? The exact “evil” Bush/Obama administrations were and are fighting to eradicate!
Quite honestly I am confused…. I want to believe in the good of the people, I want to believe in the good of nations around the world… But how can I when I read such horrendous news about innocent children being burnt to the ground.
I am a mother and my heart bleeds to see such images of children in so much suffrage. Think for a moment if it was your child? Your neighbor’s child? Or your child’s child? How angry and disappointed would you be with the people who are supposedly trying to save you from the evil of Taliban but are behaving exactly the same way as them? Think how desperate and angry you would feel….
I plead with Obama and ask him to withdraw out of Iraq and Afghanistan immediately. I ask him to see the human suffering on the ground. I ask him to feel the pain of his fellow wo(men) and children…
Ok! Finally I am back. Oh what a great week I had. Full of excitement and discovery, It is time for some recovery.
I did all those wonderful things that one does with her aunt, But it is time to reflect and think back. Catch up with the world around me, Which swallow up and surround me.
Time to end this silly little poem, Which tastes a bit like a hard loam!
I have a visitor from Turkey staying with me for a few days. We are doing all those wonderful things that tourists do, like visiting Museums, going out to interesting restaurants and just simply having fun together. I do not have much time following the news lately. I will be back to my routine soon.....
Blogging is so much part of my life that I miss it after a few days.
Funny how small things in life become so important.....
I am a Turkish woman living in the US, who is a vigorous follower of World Politics. I try to dig underneath the obvious junk news and comments flowing from co-operate media. The brainwashing is intense and scary, so I decided to fight back in my own way through my blog.
I MUST ADD! I love Scuba Diving... Something about the sound of my breathing and no other sound is amazing to me. I find the under-world quite mystical in an indescribable way.
When my hectic life permits me, I love to sit at a cafe with a glass of red and discuss world politics. After having lived in Turkey, Sweden, Austria, Canada, United Kingdom and now USA, I don't believe in dogmatic value systems that humans find comfort in. I reject: religion, patriotism, nationalism, arrogant feelings of superiority over other ethnic groups, cooperate media, corrupt politicians who cheat, lie, flip-flop and will do anything to get elected and stay elected (which seems to be %95). Most of all, I have very little tolerance for sheep like people who follow orders!
