Recently in Global Citizen Category

I have not written since my grandfather died.  I have not let sadness overtake me either.  I've wallowed in nothingness, occupying myself mostly with movies and online television shows.  Writing it out, now, I realize that nothingness is worse than sadness.  It certainly is no way to honor a life that was so full.

I've long imagined writing something brilliant about my grandfather, or my whole family, for that matter.  As my grandfather's health deteriorated, I also imagined having something profound to say after his death.  Writing that out feels macabre and self-indulgent.  Weeks have passed and the words haven't come.

It's good to see some activists making the connection between foreign policy and migration, and acting on it.  The Stop Deportation Network in the United Kingdom is working to stop the first mass deportation flight to Baghdad: (sombrero tip to Earwicga via Ten Percent)

The Stop Deportation network and the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees, along with other groups and organisations, are demanding that the first mass deportation flight to southern Iraq, expected to leave on Wednesday, is cancelled and the detainees threatened with forcible removal are released immediately. Over the last week, detainees in various immigration detention centres have been given 'removal directions' clearly stating they will be removed to Iraq, rather than the Kurdistan Regional Government-controlled region, which was stated in previous removals.

UPDATE II: An advertising blog, Agency Spy, got a hold of this post.  I also found the website of the guy that made the ad.
 
CORRECTION:  In an email to Tony Herrera, the President of the advertising agency which represents Corona, wrote the following:

Tony--

Thank you for reaching out to us and bringing this ad and the Citizen Orange discussion to our attention. Prompted by your note, we looked into the origin of this ad as it wasn't created by the agency and it appears to be a spec piece done without client input or approval by an aspiring art director.

We're not sure how it made its way onto the blog you forwarded, or others for that matter, but wanted to let you know. We'll also make sure this is clarified on Citizen Orange and the other blogs that posted the ad.

Again, appreciate you bringing this to our attention.

Kind regards,

Peter Krivkovich
President / CEO
Cramer-Krasselt
www.c-k.com

Peter Krivkovich - Email (8 October 2009)

Also see the comment that was left by Kristin Fletcher, another representative of Cramer-Krasselt, below.  My original post was written as follows:

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It's always fun to see faulty nativist logic twisted on itself.  Laura Martinez at Mi Blog es Tu Blog found this priceless piece of advertising (sombrero tip to The Mex Files):

Drink us and we'll hire more Mexicans in Mexico.

Corona Advertisement - Mi Blog Es Tu Blog
(28 September 2009)

UPDATE I: See conversation between myself and RickB of Ten Percent in the comments of this post for added context.

Kyle has graciously lent me the Citizen Orange platform again after a hiatus of several months.  Going forward, I will most likely be spending more time here and at the Sanctuary (more to come soon on recent events in the social change-o-sphere, such as it is). 

This by way of pointing out that an uncouth pseudonymous libertarian blogger has again accurately deciphered the most recent chapter of the U.S. imperial adventure--Vietnam Part VIII: Afghanistan.  Now that the last U.S. troops have finally exited Iraq, all four million Iraqi refugees have happily returned to their ancestral lands, and Iraqi citizens have breathed a collective sigh of relief to live in the peaceful, fully sovereign, beacon of democracy they now inhabit, President Obama has turned a stern eye to the Enemies of Freedom currently plaguing the good people of Afghanistan. 

Or at least that's the version of events Tom Friedman subscribed to until recently.

La Oreja de Van Gogh is a Spanish band that makes catchy pop music. I haven't heard them since lead singer Amaia Montero went solo in 2007, but I'm going to have to track down their latest album now to see what it sounds like.

The video above is a very literal interpretation of the lyrics to "Un Mundo Mejor." Following is the more upbeat "20 de Enero" which will forever remind me of Buenos Aires circa 2003. (Not because Argentina was overrun by space aliens that year, but because that's where I was living when the album was popular.)

Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio's book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats has been out since 2005, but I didn't see it until today. It has been bouncing around Facebook lately, and it turns out it was featured on Time's website in a three-part series at some point. (Parts I, II, and III)

The concept is simple: families from around the world are photographed with all the food they eat in a normal week, and the cost of the food is calculated and included in the caption.

The high:

The Melander family of Bargteheide (Germany)
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07

The low:

The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp (Chad)
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23

I can't imagine leaving the only home I've ever known to some strange and foreign land that I've never been to. That's why when I started following blogs about husbands and wives with kids having to move to another country for legal reasons made me think if I could do the same. I have a lot of respect and admiration for them because they are making a tremendous sacrifice leaving their homes for their loved ones. So here's a few of the blog I've been following. Give'em a read when you have the chance.   

The BBC and the International Herald Tribune are reporting on a horrific practice in Southeast Asia.  Migrants from poorer countries regularly pay people to smuggle them into Thailand in hopes of scratching out a better life for themselves and their families.  One way they get their is by trusting their lives to rickety boats.  According to the BBC, the Thai navy is rounding these boat people up, binding their hands, and pulling them back out to sea with meager supplies.  They are essentially sending them back out to sea to die.

An article in the Washington Times pointed me towards a recent report by the International Organization for Migration, which is describing a global slowdown in remittances.

The flow of remittances to developing nations - currently about $283 billion, according to the World Bank - could decline by up to 9 percent because of the global slowdown, he said.

India was the top recipient of remittances last year, amounting to $27 billion, or about 3 percent of its gross domestic product.

Remittances received by China reached $25.7 billion; the Philippines, $17.2 billion; and Bangladesh, $6.6 billion; according to the IOM's "World Migration 2008" report.

Mexico got $25.7 billion in 2007, it said.

John Zaracostas - Washington Times (8 December 2008)

Remittances are the life blood of many people living in the majority world. This economic slowdown and the fall of remittances could be disastrous for many migrant sending nations.

This week's entry for Music on Monday is Thievery Corporation's new album Radio Retaliation.

It's in-your-face majority world political trip-hop/dub, featuring artists like Seu Jorge and Femi Kuti. Don't let the message distract you from the music, though--both are great. From the group's website:

"Radio Retaliation is definitely a more overt political statement," says Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation. "There's no excuse for not speaking out at this point, with the suspension of habeas corpus, outsourced torture, illegal wars of aggression, fuel, food, and economic crises. It's hard to close your eyes and sleep while the world is burning around you. If you are an artist, this is the most essential time to speak up." So that's exactly what they do with their new album.

Recording in their Washington DC based studio, Rob Garza and Eric Hilton, better known as the international DJ and production duo Thievery Corporation, have managed to blossom in the heart of a city they often refer to as "Babylon;" a poignant reference to the traditional Rastafarian distaste and distrust of a corrupt and unjust modern system. Although the city is best known as the seat of an aggressive American Empire, paradoxically Washington DC has long been the home of a music subculture legendary for fierce independence, a staunch do-it-yourself work ethic, and conscientious social activism exemplified by genre-defining pioneers like godfather of go-go Chuck Brown and indie punk rockers Bad Brains, Minor Threat and Fugazi.

Likewise, although some may lazily pin Thievery Corporation as the soundtrack to their cocktail infused late night soiree, the duo have always drawn deep from the well of independent and confrontational music subculture their home town is known for, to produce an ever expanding globally conscious catalogue of music that is difficult to classify.