Jim Ellinger's Austin Airwaves TravelBlog

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The Calm After the Storm

2008-09-13T12:56:00.002-05:00

The Calm After the Storm
Austin Airwaves, 1:00pmC, Saturday 9/13/08

By now, those with a serious interest in the Hurricane Ike disaster are most likely tuned into CNN or the other networks. Houston's KHOU-TV is being re-broadcast regionally.

From Austin: Not a drop of rain, barely a breeze. 8 to 10 thousand evacuees in eighteenshelters. No major problems. Hotels full, roads full, but moving. Some gas shortages. Somegas price gouging. EOCs worked well. One of Austin's, and Texas' favorite taxes, the Hotel/Motel Bed Tax, has been canceled for the next ten days.

Compared to Katrina: The lessons of Katrina and Rita, and for that matter FEMA, appearto have been largely resolved. (It's also an election year...) By way of example, at this early hour, with winds just now slowing, multiple 500 vehicle military/civilian convoys are en route, each with a1000 national guard troops. Fleets of buses, ambulances, heavy duty vehicles, gas trucks, even fleets of choppers and C-140 "heavy lift" military aircraft, now heading south. The Hero of Katrina, Lt. General Russel Honore (AKA "the Black John Wayne" and "General Over," for his now famous habit of ending his answers with "over.") He now appears to be shilling for the Red Cross. See Spike Lee's deeply, deeply disturbing movie about the Katrina/FEMA disaster, "When the Levees Broke, Acts One & Two" (HBO) at: http://range.wordpress.com/2006/08/25/when-the-levees-broke-acts-i-and-ii-by-spike-lee-hbo/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/03/arts/television/03leve.html

(NOTE: this film has many ghastly images as in not recommended for kids or sensitive folks orunrepentant, racist Republicans. Or maybe it is...) Many Americans are still very angry abouthow Bush, Brownie, FEMA and the rest of their ilk helped massacre NOLA. I know I am.

From Galveston: How it survived this well is amazing. Several buildings burned to the ground,actually to the water; a few arrests for burglaries, etc. Notably, the memorial to the 1900 Hurricanewhich killed between 8 and 11 thousand (deaths estimates for non-whites were not added untilthe 1970s...) with the Angel of the Ocean, at the east end of Sea Wall Blvd. was completelydestroyed. See: http://www.1900storm.com/

Houston:
Before: With rising panic in their voices, officials were describing what was expectedto be a "tsunami surge" that was going to "race up the Houston Ship Channel," that wouldpose a "great and grave danger..."

After: Such a mess, but really, it's all pretty minor, not making light of the sitch. Thousands ofwindows, roofs, awnings, trees, business signs, dumpsters and boats thrown about and smashed.What will probably become an iconic image of Ike is the Chase Bank Building with most of itseast side windows, and office contents, now smashed to the ground. "It sounded like a million glass bottles breaking at once," said a survivor. Remarkably, still no reports of casualties. Some hospitals taking on water, isolated fires, power lines on the roads, etc.

KPFT/Pacifica: Still dark 1:00pmC A scary report of a chlorine tank leak in Surfside came early. Later report: leak capped.Buffalo Bayou (AKA "bubbling bayou," because of water bubbling up from manholes...) isstill rising, slowly, at this time. Again, no reports of casualties. Nearby Allen Parkway, siteof what is arguably the coolest event that ever happens in Houston, the Houston Art Car Parade, is deep under water. No signs of Art Boats. Yet.

Brennan's Restaurant, the popular, tony downtown Houston place to be seen: destroyed.

Across the Region: 2 million+ w/o power. Power ON in Central Texas. FEMA initially estimates $7.5 billion in damages. As usual, small towns on the Gulf Coast are largely cut off and rescue, reconn and reporting have just now begun. Some gas price gouging. Prices skyrocket at some locations, notably in Florida, to over $5 a gallon. At least 13% of US gas production is now off-line. Ike is STILL Cat One hurricane as it barrels up the TX/LA state line. Next target? Bryron/CollegeStation. Look out you Aggies!

Human Cost: Remarkably, absolutely remarkably, the death count, at 1 ;00pmC is THREE. Again, rescue and reconn, especially on the island and other low lying areas is just now starting.

http://www.stormpulse.com/hurricane-ike-2008 http://www.noaawatch.gov/2008/ike.php http://www.kpft.org/
http://www.khou.com/

"Jim! Amazingly, KHOU-TV is still streaming video live at http://www.khou.com/Very worried for many many Texas friends, in radio and not in radio. I remember well your efforts during katrina...thanks for all you do. Stay safe." debbie s. fresno, ca

http://ktrh.com
Houston "clear channel" AM station http://www.ktrh.com/main.html

Ham Radio Response: Thanks to Allen Sklar, Director of Engineering at Arizona Community Media Foundation in Tempe, AZ for this forward.
vicepres@azcmf.org www.azcmf.org

The ARRL Letter September 12, 2008
Hurricane Ike Eyeing Galveston Island ARRL Audio News <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/>

ATTENTION ALL AMATEURS: With Hurricane Ike fast approaching landfall in the Gulf Coast area, Net operations in the upper portions of 80, 40 and 20 meters have been activated. The ARRL asks Amateur Radio operators tobe considerate of these Nets -- if you are asked to change frequencies because you're on a Net for Hurricane Ike operations, please cooperate. HURRICANE IKE EYEING GALVESTON ISLAND Hurricane Ike -- currently a Category 2 hurricane, but expected to reachCategory 3 status sometime today -- is poised to make landfall near Galveston Island around 3 AM early Saturday, if it keeps on its current track and speed. Hams in Texas and Louisiana have had a bit of abreather since Hurricane Gustav <http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/09/03/10311/?nc=1> came throughtwo weeks ago. ARRL Section leadership in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma,Mississippi and Arkansas reported in ongoing conference calls with ARRL Headquarters that they are ready for Ike. According to ARRL South Texas Section Emergency Coordinator MikeSchwartz, KG5TL, the following counties in South Texas have receivedmandatory evacuation orders: San Patricio, Aransas, Matagorda, Brazoria,Galveston, Chambers, Jefferson, Hardin and Orange. Calhoun, Victoria andJackson have been issued voluntary evacuation orders, while certain ZIPcodes in Harris County -- home of Houston, the country's fourth largestcity -- received mandatory evacuation orders. Schwartz said that Emergency Management Officials in New Braunfels have requested Amateur Radio communications support."People are heading out of town, up Interstate 45, out of Houston, and Interstate 290, to San Antonio," Schwartz said. Austin, the state capital, is in the South Texas Section, and Schwartz said that that city will serve as the State's marshalling center. Schwartz also reported that ARES and RACES groups have been working in tandem "very well" with each other. Amateur Radio operators are providing support to FEMA Region VI during Hurricane Ike, Swan said, "through the establishment of a coordination communications link that state agencies can request FEMA support, as well as to respond to requests from FEMA for information that agencies can use in their response to those impacted by Hurricane Ike." FEMA Region VI covers the states of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Louisiana. "FEMA has been very pleased with the activity and support of Amateur Radio here in the North Texas Section," Swan said.Swan said that the coordination link "will provide the basis for future interfaces with FEMA as the amateur community in Region VI seeks ways to provide support as a part of the National Response Framework,specifically to the Emergency Support Function #2 of that Framework that deals with communications. It will also serve to identify those areas where Amateur Radio can provide a service to FEMA. The role of Amateur Radio is still evolving, but it is clear that the amateur community can assist in providing interoperability between agencies at the local, state and national level." A 2 meter link has been opened to FEMA Regional Headquarters in Denton, just north of Dallas.

And in closing, this from Houston radio's infamous Scooter: "Still here!"

Goodbye to Galveston? Hurricane Ike "Tinas" Texas

2008-09-12T18:17:00.003-05:00

#2 6:00pm Friday, September 12, 2008 Austin

Jim; Thanks for the report. This is the very best news reporting I have seen/read on this issue. Keep me informed, please. Here in Cedarville, CA at 4600 ft elevation Galveston seems worlds away. Stay safe and keep the updates coming!

Dear Campers, Radio Folks, Fam & Friends-
We may be witnessing the destruction of Galveston Island. With the more than 9 hours before official landfall, Ike has now crested Galveston's legendary sea wall. The Jamaica Beach section may fail. Austin shelters are filling up as fast as they are opened. Few problems here. Most common complaint. "Nobody told ME to bring my own bedding!" Houston's Pacifica station KPFT will SIGN OFF at 5:00pmC. They had already reduced power. According to GM Duane Bradley, whom I just got off the phone with, "Nobody's coming in to do their shows...not even the news staff!" They had hoped to keep the station on the air until 8pm to let Ray Hill do his Prison Show, and deliver urgent messages to his thousands of listeners. "It's just not practical," says the practical Bradley. KPFT expects/hopes to sign back on the air tomorrow, mid-day. They will NOT be on-line. Signing off and on is serious business, requires FCC notification, and is always considered "last resort."

This just announced on 90.1FM: "KPFT will suspend broadcast operations at 5pm, Friday September 12 due to the impending hurricane. Original plans to remain on-air until 11pm Friday changed when the station was compelled to switch from its main transmitter to the digital backup unit around midday Friday. In the interest of assuring the safety of our staff and volunteer programmers, some of whom have already been forced to evacuate their homes, it was decided to power the station down before the full storm arrives. We will return to the airwaves when it is both technically possible and safe for staff. The hope is we may be able to do so beginning Saturday morning at 9am. However, this will only be possible if there is power both at the transmitter site and the station, as well as safe road conditions allowing access to the studios."

(5:00:30pm, 90.1FM now silent. Viva Pacifica!)

"Contra Flow" is now part of the local vocabulary. That's when authorities open BOTH sides of the Interstate to northbound tra;00ffic. It's quite impressive to see eight, ten, twelve lanes of traffic, bumper to bumper, all heading, um, to Austin. However, a Houston pal I am on the phone with now, says major Interstate highways, 10 and 45, are not one way yet. Traffic is "not that bad..." This IS Houston, after all. The Rita evacuation of a few years ago is widely considered the worst traffic jam in American history.

Update 5:40pm TX Lt. Guv David Dewhurst is announcing now that they "expect to see Beaumont underwater, Texas City underwater, Galveston underwater, Orange underwater, Port Arthur underwater" tonight. They expect three million+ houses to lose power overnight.

Austin Red Cross is announcing they need 400 more volunteers immediately. Austin Evacuee Count: 4000 and growing quickly. 17 shelters full. Some crowding problems.

Galveston Island radar (live) http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ridge/radar.php?product=N0Z&rid=HGX&loop=no The eye of Ike is 72 miles across! IKE IS BIGGER THAN THE 1900 HURRICANE THAT CAUSED THE DESTRUCTION OF GALVESTON. 20-25 foot surges are expected to "race up the Houston Ship Channel." Only 60% of Galveston residents have left the island. Air rescues continue but will stop shortly. Last call.

http://www.noaawatch.gov/2008/ike.phpBUY GAS NOW. Current prices in Austin running from $3.69 to just under $4.00.

NWS Announcement:
LIFE THREATENING INUNDATION LIKELY! ALL NEIGHBORHOODS...AND POSSIBLY ENTIRE COASTAL COMMUNITIES... WILL BE INUNDATED DURING THE PERIOD OF PEAK STORM TIDE. PERSONS NOT HEEDING EVACUATION ORDERS IN SINGLE FAMILY ONE OR TWO STORY HOMES MAY FACE CERTAIN DEATH. MANY RESIDENCES OF AVERAGE CONSTRUCTION DIRECTLY ON THE COAST WILL BE DESTROYED. WIDESPREAD AND DEVASTATING PERSONAL PROPERTY DAMAGE IS LIKELY ELSEWHERE. VEHICLES LEFT BEHIND WILL LIKELY BE SWEPT AWAY. NUMEROUS ROADS WILL BE SWAMPED...SOME MAY BE WASHED AWAY BY THE WATER. ENTIRE FLOOD PRONE COASTAL COMMUNITIES WILL BE CUTOFF. WATER LEVELS MAY EXCEED 9 FEET FOR MORE THAN A MILE INLAND. COASTAL RESIDENTS IN MULTI-STORY FACILITIES RISK BEING CUTOFF. CONDITIONS WILL BE WORSENED BY BATTERING WAVES CLOSER TO THE COAST. SUCH WAVES WILL EXACERBATE PROPERTY DAMAGE...WITH MASSIVE DESTRUCTION OF HOMES...INCLUDING THOSE OF BLOCK CONSTRUCTION. DAMAGE FROM BEACH EROSION COULD TAKE YEARS TO REPAIR.

http://www.stormpulse.com/hurricane-ike-2008
http://www.kpft.org/http://www.khou.com/

Houston "clear channel" powerhouse KTRH-AM station can be heard regionally at 740AM, especially after sunset.

http://www.ktrh.com/main.html
This humorous response from one of Houston's loopier radio wisecrackers...."There is no way I'm going to fuck with Jim Ellinger. One comment from uppity Staci, and now we are poised to be flattened.I always suspected that Ellinger was a plant, and was deep into the Bilderberger Freemason World Domination Illuminati plot.Apparently, he has been in contact with his secret society pals at the H.A.A.R.P. project, and just because he got a bee in his tinfoil bonnet over a volunteer at KPFT, he has arranged to devastate the entire Gulph [sic] Coast Region.Things are not always as they seem. The GRC Executive Council [no such thing-jim] might want to do some background checks on this Ellinger character.I would suggest contacting somebody else from Austin, who might have more information on Mr Ellinger.My contact in Austin is Alex Jones, he has all the inside information, and I'm sure he's familiar with Ellinger.[got that right! jim]Meanwhile, we are hoping to survive Mr. Ellinger's payback, if that is actually his real name. And I hope he's happy, because there's going to be a lot more than six people slaughtered in his vengeful savagery, and I hope Ms Staci is happy with herself for pissing him off. "
Take a look at some the charectors who are staying put and "hunkering down": http://acksisofevil.org/images/ready.jpg

Austin Airwaves #1
Dear Campers, Radio Folks, Fam & Friends-
Well, it looks like Austin is gonna dodge the bullet, but MAN, Houston, and especially Galveston, are really in for a world of hurt. Read this bulletin from the NWS. Local weathermen are freaking out over this language from the usually staid and conservative NWS. Like NOLA during Katrina, the surges are gonna' be the killers. Latest Ike surge projections: 20-25 feet. Galveston Seawall: 17 feet. Houston is four feet above sea level (but "not in a bowl...") and the Houston Ship Canal comes right up to downtown. Check out NOAA's storm surge animation. There are 5 million+ folks in this area. The entirety of Galveston Island is no longer visible on the last map. Texas City, that's where your gasoline comes from, also looks to be heavily damaged. Hundreds of petrochemical and oil facilities in the area. Ike is TWICE as big as Katrina. Landfall at midnight. Flooding in Galveston's Historic District already starting.http://www.noaawatch.gov/2008/ike.php

BUY GAS NOW.

It should be no surprise that Karen ("WMDB,") and all emergency folks state wide, have been called in. "12 by 12." Austin evac centers beginning to fill up. So far, nine of our 75 evac centers are full. Massive, massive traffic flows. Even NASA moved here!! National "ripple effect" already being felt with both Houston airports, the Ship Canal, NASA, gas and oil refineries and 1000+ oil rigs now all closed. cheers,jimAustin, projected high today...100! (on the "dry" or "sinking" side of hurricane...)

http://www.stormpulse.com/hurricane-ike-2008 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080912/ap_on_re_us/ike

Recent dispatch from Houston pal...Hurricane force winds extend 120 miles from the center and the whole thing is something like 700 miles across - this thing is huge. There's no way that we in Houston will miss it, even if it were to take a turn or two. 5 million people in the Houston area alone, but yes, most of us are staying. We, however, do not live in a bowl.It's crazy to have hundreds of petro-chemical plants and several major oil refineries in the same place as hurricanes - and they're all on the water. Expect environmental devastation and of course billions of dollars in property damage.I live about 70 miles from the Gulf so no worry of storm surge, but we are surrounded by 75 ft trees - I guess they've seen this before but still very scary. I selfishly request people to send strength to the trees.We'll try to report out as long as we can before we lose power. I'd better find that one analog telephone we still have...wendy http://www.kpft.org/http://www.khou.com/

2007-09-10T12:19:00.000-05:00

Our Man in Panama
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/opinion/09briggs.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Reprinted as a Public Service of Austin Airwaves.
A surprisingly frank and candid explanation from someone who was there at the time and

in a position to know many of the facts. Still, this is only a partial expose. Pretty good for

the NYTimes, just two decades late. jre 9/11+6

Op-Ed Contributor
By EVERETT ELLIS BRIGGS
September 9, 2007

THE deposed dictator of Panama, Manuel Antonio Noriega, was to have been released from a federal prison outside Miami today after serving 15 years of a 30-year sentence for narcotics trafficking. Instead, he remains behind bars pending extradition to France, where he is wanted for money laundering. And that’s not Mr. Noriega’s only legal problem: in Panama there is a warrant for his arrest for the 1985 assassination of a political opponent, Hugo Spadafora.

As Mr. Noriega re-emerges from the shadows, it’s worth remembering how badly the United States mishandled the Panamanian misadventure, which led to the loss of hundreds of lives and cost us politically throughout the region. Mr. Noriega’s rise and fall is instructive only insofar as it tells us how the United States should not conduct itself when faced with a thuggish foreign dictator who happens also to have been a longtime intelligence “asset.”

I witnessed the Noriega fiasco firsthand. After years in charge of Panama’s intelligence service, he ascended to power during my term as ambassador to Panama. Later, when I was ambassador to nearby Honduras and then as a member of the National Security Council under President George H. W. Bush, I had bit parts in the unfolding drama.

This is my version of what happened in the years between the time he seized power and his capture in 1989.

In the summer of 1985, during Ronald Reagan’s second term as president, I made a stopover in Mexico City, on my way to Panama, to visit my friend Jack Gavin, the actor turned diplomat who was then the ambassador to Mexico. Ed Meese, the attorney general, happened to be visiting at the same time, and the two of us sat down with the Gavins for supper.

I complained to Mr. Meese about the United States government’s apparent unwillingness to investigate General Noriega’s involvement with the drug trade. Once or twice a month, Panamanians would ask members of my staff, “When are you guys going to do something about Noriega and his drug smuggling?” But whenever I asked my intelligence people or the Drug Enforcement Administration to investigate a particular story, invariably I was told there was nothing to the allegations.

General Noriega’s longtime relationship with our military and civilian intelligence services, and the drug agency’s apparent satisfaction with the crumbs of cooperation it was getting from his Panamanian Defense Forces, were the only ways to explain Washington’s apparent lack of curiosity, I suggested.

Meanwhile, I said, General Noriega was trying to undermine the presidency of Nicolás Ardito Barletta, a respected international banker and former student of George Shultz, then the secretary of state. Having maneuvered himself into command of the country’s military in 1984, General Noriega had originally thrown his weight behind Mr. Barletta, helping him win a seriously flawed “election” that earned Mr. Barletta the nickname “Fraudito” in opposition circles.

But when Mr. Barletta tried to govern honestly — to rein in the bureaucracy, reform the banks and the legal system, and direct government assistance so that it would nourish the economy rather than enrich Panamanian kleptocrats — General Noriega decided he must go. That was a problem, I argued. Panama needed someone like Mr. Barletta in power, particularly with the scheduled turnover of the canal and the treaty-mandated American exit from the isthmus by 2000.

I was delighted when Mr. Meese immediately instructed the two assistants who were with him to open a Justice Department investigation into General Noriega’s possible involvement with drug trafficking. It was Mr. Meese’s decisiveness that gave me comfort when, not long after the dinner, General Noriega finally forced Mr. Barletta to resign in favor of a more pliant successor. At least the attorney general would be keeping an eye on the general.

At first, the Reagan administration seemed focused on the problem. After Mr. Barletta’s September resignation, the United States decided to try to block General Noriega from interfering with Panama’s civilian government. Soon after Mr. Barletta’s departure, John Poindexter, the national security adviser, and Elliott Abrams, the assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs, made a secret stopover at an Air Force base in the former Canal Zone, near Panama City. In a private lounge away from any base activity, the three of us met with General Noriega.

Our underlying message was this: You know the current state of our relations with the Sandinistas in Nicaragua (where the Pentagon was providing support to the contras in their war against the ruling government). If you continue to act as a destabilizing force, you can expect the United States to turn on you as we have turned on them.

General Noriega knew of America’s covert support for the contras, because he had collaborated with us on several occasions. So he had to understand the warning. Unfortunately, in the first in a series of missteps, our message was compromised. Right after the meeting, without my authorization, the local C.I.A. chief in Panama called on General Noriega to find out how the meeting had gone. The general must have taken this visit as an indication that he need not worry, because his old friends in intelligence remained supportive.

Within hours of the Air Force base meeting, I left for Washington, for an interagency review of the Panamanian situation. At Mr. Abrams’s office at the State Department, I quickly learned that Mr. Poindexter’s trip had probably been for naught. His strong message would not be accompanied by any actions. The consensus was that so long as the United States was focused on fighting the Sandinistas and their communist allies in El Salvador and Guatemala, we could not afford to swing at another hornets’ nest.

Neither the Pentagon nor the C.I.A. showed any inclination to break with the general, and said as much. He could cause considerable embarrassment for his longtime patrons. Worse, he could disrupt the day-to-day business of our military stationed in Panama. The general was, as far as I know, on at least a couple of payrolls and was supposedly providing us intelligence, though during my time in Panama I didn’t see that he produced anything of real use.

And the accusations of narcotics trafficking? I do not recall that there was any mention of the Justice Department investigation. I suspect I didn’t bring it up because I didn’t want to. Given the power of those who were opposed to taking action against General Noriega, it would have seemed prudent to keep the investigation out of the discussion.

After the meeting, I returned to my post in Panama. Once there, I tried my best to ostracize General Noriega by keeping visiting dignitaries away from him. I hoped to signal American disapproval, to persuade his military colleagues to ditch him and to inspire the democratic opposition to regroup.

But after only two weeks, Adm. William J. Crowe Jr. undermined my intended message. During a visit to military units in Panama, he arranged to make a courtesy call on General Noriega. I sought to dissuade the admiral, citing the sitdown with Mr. Poindexter. When I suggested his “courtesy” might be misinterpreted, Admiral Crowe waved me away with a curt rejoinder: “Poindexter is only a vice admiral.”

Obviously, my efforts to isolate General Noriega did not prosper — but I did what I could. When Vernon Walters, a high-ranking C.I.A. official, sent the general a very cordial Christmas greeting via the diplomatic pouch, I managed to intercept and destroy the message (without Mr. Walters’s knowledge).

A few months later, in early 1986, my tour in Panama ended. Within a year, General Noriega was in full control of all the levers of power in Panama. The entire government would soon realize what some of us had felt from the beginning: General Noriega was a monster and a crook. He began rounding up and torturing opposition leaders, continued laundering drug money and threatened the prospects for an orderly transfer of the canal.

My day-to-day involvement with the “Noriega problem” ostensibly ended with my 1986 transfer to Honduras, but the feeling of futility persisted over the next couple of years.
Washington, having now decided that some sort of action must be taken against the dictator, pinned all its hopes on a renegade officer in the Panamanian military who was supposed to lead a coup — despite this individual’s clear lack of a following inside the military and among the civilian population.

In any case, our government soon threw away whatever leverage it might have had with General Noriega’s inner circle by announcing that the entire Panamanian leadership was now barred from entering the United States. Whatever slim chance we had of persuading a turncoat was dashed. (Shortly before the 1989 invasion, a group of second-level officers did try to oust General Noriega, but the attempt proved a failure, with the leaders summarily executed.)
The real trouble in the years leading up to the invasion was caused by the Justice Department investigation in which I had placed so much hope. The investigation backfired, wrecking the ability of our government to deal with General Noriega without the use of force or the loss of lives.

In February 1988, the public announcement of General Noriega’s indictments for drug trafficking made normal relations with Panama impossible. Beginning with my conversation with Mr. Meese in Mexico City and throughout the months and years that followed, again and again I was told that General Noriega’s indictment, once reached, would be sealed. By not making the indictment public, we could grab General Noriega the next time he came to the United States to see his Miami dentist or to gamble in Las Vegas, or even if he accepted an invitation to visit the C.I.A. or the Pentagon.

The last time I received this assurance, from someone at the National Security Council, was three days before the news media reported the indictments.

Justice’s failure to control its prosecutors set off the endgame. In the wake of the announcement, the State Department tried to persuade General Noriega to accept a plea and surrender to American justice. Failing that, it proposed, incredibly, that he relinquish power and go into retirement somewhere else, like Venezuela or Spain.

This drama took so long to unfold that, by the end of the year, I was serving under a new president, George H. W. Bush, as the chief Latin American adviser at the National Security Council. During my very brief time there, I learned that two key members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, one a Democrat and the other a Republican, had blocked a proposal to deal with General Noriega by snatching him. The operation wasn’t imminent, but the senators opposed even drawing up a plan for it on the curious grounds that any attempted clandestine operation against General Noriega might cause his death. I urged my immediate boss on the council, Brent Scowcroft, to reconsider the idea, but he told me it had already been vetoed.
By the fall of 1989, General Noriega forced the issue by having his forces begin harassing American civilians and members of the military in Panama. And so our military invaded in December and brought General Noriega, in chains, to trial in this country.

(Rumor has it that when American forces broke into General Noriega’s house in Panama City they found a freezer full of bundles of voodoo candles, each wrapped in a piece of paper with one of his enemies’ names on it, and that one of these candles bore my name. My efforts to retrieve the candle from the C.I.A., however, have been unavailing.)

DESPITE deserving credit for going after General Noriega, the Department of Justice is the chief culprit in this sorry story for allowing the indictments to be publicized. Although that decision led to the prosecution of a wanted felon, the success was accomplished at the cost of heavy collateral damage.

Almost everyone in government, however, shares some of the blame. America’s civilian and military intelligence agencies must be fingered for putting General Noriega on their payrolls, for being unable or unwilling to detect his criminal activities and for their resistance to ditching him once it became obvious that he was out of control.

Those running administration policy toward Latin America, myself included, failed to deal decisively with General Noriega or even to fashion a strategy to deal with him. That interagency meeting should have produced a plan. The Pentagon and the C.I.A. should have been brought to heel. The White House should not have allowed a couple of senators to determine how to handle the problem. And although the narcotics investigation at Justice was crucial, it should have been part of the plan, not independent of other considerations.

Of course, as with the present-day foreign policy issues that plague Washington, it is easy in retrospect to say that everyone should have acted with greater foresight, wisdom and determination.

As for what the United States should do about Mr. Noriega now that he has completed his prison term, my answer would be to pack him off to France, where he has been sentenced to a 10-year prison term. Mr. Noriega still has the potential to disrupt Panama’s highly charged political climate. Allowing the onetime dictator to return home would be one last way for this country to bungle its dealings with him.

Everett Ellis Briggs was the United States ambassador to Panama from 1982 to 1986, the ambassador to Honduras from 1986 to 1989, and a member of the National Security Council staff in 1989.

Also recommended by Austin Airwaves:

The Panama Deception

Academy Award winning 1992 Documentary Film

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs2Mum8J_DM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkW9bhtsGM8&NR=1

Pyatigorsk, Stravapol

2007-08-20T19:22:00.000-05:00

Pyatigorsk, Stravapol; Former Troubled Region…

Now Miniskirt Capital of World?

Pyatigrosk, (Russian: Пятигорск) is the lovely town of 300,000 where I worked as a dairy and ice cream marketing consultant (great gig, yes!) for a while in the Summer of '07.

Pyatigrosk is famous for its mineral waters, and features a group of popular water therapy health resorts, referred to as sanitoriums. The region and healing properties of its mineral waters were known as far back as 18th century under the rule of Peter the Great.

The name Pyatigorsk means "five mountains" in Russian and is so called because of the five peaks of the Caucasian mountain range overlooking the city. The Russian poet Mikhail Lermontov was in a duel at Pyatigorsk in 1841...he lost. There is a museum and a statue devoted to his memory. But that’s pretty much it for local history and culture. There's a giant statue of Lenin on the hill, but, seriously, what's unusual about that?

Mount Elbrus, seemingly snow-covered from base to peak glistens in the brilliant Causus sun, about 100 kilometers away. At 5,633 meters (18,481 ft) it is the tallest mountain in Europe. As part of the Ural mountains it is considered to be the "border" between Europe and Asia. During ancient times, Mount Elbrus was known as Strobilus and it was believed to be the location where Zeus had Prometheus chained to a rock. (Prometheus now lives in Philadelphia..)

Tourists come here not just for the therapy, but also for the marvelously beautiful landscapes – including the immodestly attired students of the various language schools in the city. Big college town, Pyatigorsk, with 40 thousand+ students.

Caviar, just another ag product here, is quite cheap. The 100 gram “tins” sell at the local grocery stores for about $10US. (I visited about a dozen grocery stores on my assignment, checking out the in-store advertising, product placement, competitors, etc.) Before leaving the States, I spot checked the prices at the local liquor/specialty foods store. The same tins run one to two hundred dollars apiece! There is supposed to be a general ban on the “export” of caviar, especially the blacks, savruga and beluga. But, as usual; "a couple of this, a couple of that...", usually make it through US Customs, no problemo. I brought back four tins in an insulated lunch bag sandwiched between two freezer packs. No problem, expect that the knuckleheads at TSA (“Tearing Stuff Apart”) OPENED one of the GLASS tins, and didn’t quite get it completely closed. Stinkers!

“Caviar pirates” are real and are armed and dangerous.

For this assignment, I was advised against bringing a video camera, and flat out told not to even try to enter the border areas of Chechnya and Georgia. “You would not even get close!” a local pal told me. “And what story for being there would you have for the security forces?! It would not be a good thing for you…”

And just a couple of hours south of here, less than three years ago…The Beslan Massacre occurred. The school hostage crisis (also referred to as the Beslan school siege) began when the group of Muslim pro-Chechen armed rebels took more than 1,200 school children and adults hostage on September 1, 2004 at School Number One (SNO) in the town of Beslan, North Ossetia (an “autonomous,” read: “unrecognized,” republic in the Caucasus region of the Russian Federation). On the third day of the standoff, gunfire broke out between the hostage takers and Russian security forces. 344 civilians were killed, including 186 children, and hundreds more were wounded. Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev took responsibility for the hostage taking, which was led by his Ingush deputy Magomet Yevloyev.

Basayev gets my vote for the biggest asshole (so far) in the 21st century.

Last July, Russia's security service announced the death of Shamil Basayev the country's "Terrorist No 1" and the man who was the self-confessed mastermind of the Beslan Massacre. In a victory for President Vladimir “Rootin’ Tootin” Putin ahead of his chairing a G8 summit this weekend in St Petersburg, (AKA Pete’s), Russian television showed pictures of burnt-out cars and a truck in the southern republic of Ingushetia, which neighbours Basayev's native Chechnya. He and 12 other militants were killed in a blast that destroyed the vehicles, apparently caused by an assault early yesterday morning by the security services. His body was reportedly disfigured in the blast but was identified by some of its parts.

Ten years ago, this region was still quite unstable. Even lovely Pyatigorsk had a taste of terrorism. This dispatch from April, 1997: Russian President Boris Yeltsin has summoned Interior Minister Anatoly Kulikov and other Russian security officials to his Black Sea dacha for urgent consultations in response to the worsening security situation in southern Russia. Today, a 15-year-old girl died from injuries sustained when a bomb ripped through a waiting room at the railway station in Pyatigorsk in southern Russia's Stavropol krai yesterday evening. One man was killed instantly, and 11 other people were injured, three of them critically. Kulikov said five Chechen suspects are in detention and that two of them, both women, have admitted responsibility for planting the bomb. The Russian authorities have responded by indefinitely closing all road links between Chechnya and Russia proper. Yesterday's bomb in Pyatisgorsk follows an explosion at the railway station in Armavir in neighboring Krasnodar krai on April 23, in which two people were also killed. The Chechen authorities have strongly denied responsibility for the blasts. They accuse Moscow of orchestrating the bombings in order to undermine peace negotiations and pave the way for a declaration of emergency rule in Chechnya.

Nowadays, lovely Pyatigorsk and its lovely locals, are only anxious to “speak the English” with the handsome, if somewhat mysterious, Americanski.

Considerable source material for this story was found at: http://russiatourism.ru/eng/object.asp@id=216

UPDATE: The Black Sea resort city of Sochi has been chosen as the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics! A very strong indicator of the improving development and stability of the region.

FCC: Four Hours After the Next Disaster

2007-08-18T16:47:00.000-05:00

Four Hours After the Next Disaster
Austin Airwaves at the National Federation of Community

Broadcasters National Conference in New Orleans, LA April, 2007

At NFCBinNOLA in April, there were a couple of workshops dealing with disaster preparedness and contingency plans for community radio stations threatened with or forced off the air by natural or other disasters. Both workshops were excellent and provided a range of useful information and contacts.

In addition to the two workshops, the NFCB wisely booked Mr. Leon Jackler to speak in his capacity as Director of Public Safety, Outreach & Coordination for the new Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau of the FCC. He spoke at the "FCC and Disaster Preparedness" workshop to about 20 folks on April 12th.

Being the only suit and tie in the room full of CR activists, suffering from a cold, and reading from prepared text, Mr. Jackler, might have felt a little uncomfortable. A couple of us, including the NFCB's marvelous Carolyn Caton and myself made a bit of an effort to make him feel welcome.

Among his very first words were, "I'm not with the enforcement division!" This drew a few chuckles, but only a few.

Mr. Jeckler spoke on a range of issues regarding radio/communications pre-, post- and during disasters. Not all the information was specific to NCE stations, but gave a good overview of the Commission's perspective and plans, post-9/11.

When is came time for questions, I asked Mr. Jeckler the following...

"Welcome back to your alma mater New Orleans. Please take one of the reality tours to see the devastation first hand."

"During the height of the Katrina disaster here on the Gulf Coast, when some federal agencies seemed to be creating as many problems as solving [waving my FEMA ballcap...] a number of unlicensed stations went on the air, providing urgent, even life-saving, information. Because of the extent of the disaster, the Commission's Enforcement Division did not, or could not, enforce the taking down of these unlicensed stations. However, around the first of the year, the Enforcement Division did in fact take down a couple of stations here in New Orleans, including Radio Uprising and Radio Harlequin, even though these stations were working to 'stay on the air anyway they could,' and were providing 'incredibly important,' 'key messages to the general public.'" [repeating his own comments to the group.]

"My question sir. As we prepare for the next disaster, has there been any discussion or consideration at the Commission for having, say, a higher level of tolerance for unlicensed stations that are providing emergency information during a disaster, especially when many or most of the licensed stations have been knocked off the air?"

Mr. Jeckler responded, "The Commission does not and will not have varying levels of tolerance for unlicensed stations, and we will continue to take them off the air as we discover them. What I would suggest as the best path to follow is what your group, Austin Airwaves, did for the evacuees in the Houston AstroDome. Petition the FCC for Special Temporary Authorization and we will make every effort to respond in four hours time. The Commission responded to hundreds of such requests during the disaster, but I believe yours was the only one in the country for a entirely new radio station."

"We certainly recognize the value of radio in a disaster," he concluded.

[Dramatic pause]

"I need to remind you sir, that the AstroDome station was kept off the air by local Harris County officials..."

[Another dramatic pause, some grumbling in the room...]

Looking a little flustered, Mr. Jackler responded, "I did hear about that. Nevertheless,
your group followed what the Commission believes to be the best way of dealing with a situation following a major event."

Mr. Leon J. Jackler, Esq.
Director of Public Safety,
Outreach & Coordination
Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
(202) 418-0946
leon.jackler@fcc.gov

Head of Afghanistan's Peace Radio Assassinated

2007-06-09T17:18:00.000-05:00

Rest In Peace, Radio
Caution: Mature Content

Friday 8 June 2007 00:08:27 -0500 From: Jim Ellinger
Subject: Peace Radio's Zakia Zaki Assassinated
Forwarded by Zane Ibrahim of Bush Radio, Cape Town

Rest In Peace, Radio
Reporters Without Borders/Reporters Sans Frontières
Press Release http://www.rsf-persan.org/
6 June 2007 AFGHANISTAN

HIGH PROFILE WOMAN RADIO BOSS MURDERED

Reporters Without Borders today voiced deep shock at the murder overnight of Zakia Zaki, a leading figure among Afghanistan's independent journalists. Two armed men broke into the family home of the head of Radio Sada-e-Sulh (Peace Radio) in Jabalussaraj, in the northern province of Parwan, and gunned her down in front of her two-year-old son, firing seven bullets before fleeing. Zakia Zaki, who was 35, had run the radio since it was founded in 2001 and was also head of a local school. She had received several death threats after openly criticising warlords and the Taliban.

"Whether this savage act was linked to her work as a journalist or her civic responsibilities, it
is vital that those who responsible for this murder should be quickly identified and
punished," the worldwide press freedom organisation said.
"We urge President Hamid Karzai to commit all the necessary resources to ensure a successful outcome to the investigation and to leave no stone unturned." An investigation has been opened but no particular lead was being given priority.
"The head of Sada-e-Sulh had received several threats and her struggle for freedom of
expression and women's liberation were exemplary," the organisation said.
Zakia Zaki liked to refer to Sada-e-Sulh as "a community home for the residents, the only place
where they dare to express themselves freely". It is the only independent radio in Parwan province and broadcasts mainly on issues such as human rights, education and women's rights.
The radio's staff face constant harassment. One of its journalists, Abdul Qudoos, spent a year in prison after his arrest in February 2006 for an alleged murder attempt, on the basis of a false
accusation from a woman deputy Samia Sadat. Zaki was Samia Sadat's main rival at legislative elections and Sadat had tried to get the radio shut down, viewing it as an instrument of propaganda of her political adversaries.

In an interview with a Reporters Without Borders' delegation which visited Afghanistan in 2002, Zaki said she had received death threats from several Mujahideen chiefs. Local leaders of the Jamiat-e-islami had banned her from interviewing women in the street for her broadcasts.

A portrait of the journalist was included in a documentary called "If I Stand Up", co-produced
by UNESCO, on International Women's Day in March 2005 as one of four eminent women journalists in Afghan society. She was a member of the Constituent Assembly in 2003.

6/9/07 UPDATE:

Hello all--I'd like to put out a call for volunteers for a special project. You may have heard about the recent brutal murder of Zakia Zaki, head of the Sada-e-Sulh (Peace) radio station in northern Afghanistan. The life and work of Zakia Zaki is a story that needs to be told, and while her loss is tragic, her dedication and vision as a journalist, feminist and humanist will live on to inspire other community media pioneers. Is there anyone who would be interested in producing a special 29-minute show about Zakia Zaki for Sprouts, Pacifica's weekly show featuring content from across the network? We'd like to feature this as part of our "Heroes in Community Radio" series. A good place to start to learn about Zakia's work is this video documentary produced with the help of the non-governmental organisation AINA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf4j9pQ7L6M

What a wonderful idea Doug! I am passing this back to Zane at Bush Radio (Cape Town) which has an excellent radio drama department. I will be using this tragic story as an example of the tremendous resource, and occasional risk, of community radio in the developing world at this week’s NCRC conference in Vancouver. http://www.citr.ca/conference/

Promos of workshops:
AMARC Please come prepared to discuss the role of AMARC in fostering and strengthening community radio internationally, as well as how CC stations from across North America can become better involved with AMARC. You three may structure this workshop however you like - I suggest touching bases on this when you get to the conference. I suggest you each talk for 20 minutes, which will leave half an hour at the end for a Q&A period.

International Radio Community radio has grown rapidly across many countries. This panel will examine the impact of community radio as a vehicle for social and political change. Speakers include Noah Waxman (Radio Netherlands International); Evan Light (NCRA Board); Jonathon Lawson (Northwest Community Radio Network/Reclaim the Media); and Cristina De Medeiros and Bethany Or (Radio Canada International).

Austin has a fine radio theatre company, the Violet Crown Radio Players http://www.violetcrownradio.com/ .

Please note, immediately following the NCRC I will be heading to the North Caucasus region of the FSU, near the Georgia and Chechnya borders, and may be out of pocket for a while...

Jim Ellinger's Summer 2007 TravelBlog!

2007-06-09T16:35:00.000-05:00

Well, I’m sure as hell not gonna’ spend the entire blisteringly hot summer
in Austin, Texas!

Welcome to Jim Ellinger’s 2007 Summer TravelBlog!

On June 10th, I, along with the World’s Most Dangerous Blonde, leave for Seattle to visit fam & friends, then will drive up to Van-sterdam, uh, Vancouver, BC, home of legendary Co-op Radio, http://www.coopradio.org/ for the big National Community/Campus Radio Conference http://www.citr.ca/conference/. As I now sit on the int’l board of the Canadian NGO AMARC, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters, http://www.amarc.org/ I will be talking up international models of CR…including the recent assassination of the head of Radio Sada-e-Sulh (Peace Radio) in Jabalussaraj, in the northern province of Parwan. Zakia Zaki was gunned her down in front of her two-year-old son, on June 6th (more on that…).

After returning to Seattle, I will fly to MOSCOW! In Moscow I will visit friends, see some sights, and get beaten by a bunch of enormous, drunken naked men with Birch branches (more on that…) Next I will fly do south for four hours to Pyatigorsk near the Chechnya and Georgia borders, in the North Caucasus. I will be there for a couple of weeks, at a resort town near the Black Sea, IN SEASON, for a couple of weeks. Why, you ask? To help promote and develop the Russian Dairy industry, of course! As many of you may have previously read on my TravelBlogs, this is the same American NGO that sent me to Tomsk, Siberia...in freezin’ frigid February!

Upon completing my assignment, I will return to Moscow, and then fly directly to San Francisco…27+ hours in the air! Yow! There I will be reunited with the WMDB, we will see many more fam and friends, and, finally head up to Co-op Camp Sierra! http://www.coopcamp.com/docs.html. Co-op Camp is a wonderful, beautiful place about an hour south of the south entrance of YO!semite NP. (more on that…) It has what is arguably the world’s best swimming hole; The Potholes. (more on that…)

Stay tuned! Jim Ellinger & WMDB Austin 6/10/07

Bush Radio...The Mother Of All Community Radio

2007-05-17T12:53:00.000-05:00

Bush Radio A to Z

Cape Town’s Bush Radio: An

Austin Airwaves Assessment

“Cape Town’s Bush Radio is not just one of the best radio stations in Africa,

it is one of the best radio stations in the world,”
Austin Airwaves’ Jim Ellinger

I was very impressed by my visit to Bush Radio in Cape Town in February 2007. I have visited scores of community media groups around the world (100+ cities in 40+ countries/territories since 9/11), and few compare with the great resource provided by Bush Radio to the Cape Town community.

Programming in three local languages, Xhosa, Afrikaans and English, with half of the programmers women, the station reflects and promotes the best of the city. It also covers the myriad of social and political issues still facing post-apartheid South Africa with newscasts 20+ a day.

The station has a strong radio theater/drama department kept active with passion and enthusiasm by large number of volunteers. It is radio theatre that first brought “the theatre of the mind” to millions of radio listeners. And while it is just a memory to much of the modern world, it is alive and well at Bush Radio.

(My last assignment in southern Africa was to teach radio theatre in Chimoio, Mozambique, with great success.)

If A is for Africa, then Z is for Zane!

Zane Ibrahim, the Main Mentor of Bush Radio, has seemingly ascended to a lofty position somewhere between cook and bottle washer, beloved grandfather, philosopher...and troublemaker. His occasional visits to the station mean that everyone gets a ribbing, shares a story and a laugh…but nothing gets done until he leaves. With the day-to-day operation of the station well in hand by the great staff, Zane focuses his considerable energy and worldwide connections on keeping the station well funded and highly regarded.

I am proud to add my name to the list of friends and supporters of Bush Radio.

Their internship program for radio practitioners is highly recommended. Plus, the fact that Cape Town is one of the most beautiful big cities in the world doesn't hurt either!

FCC: Four Hours After the Next Disaster

2007-05-02T13:17:00.000-05:00

Four Hours After the Next Disaster

Austin Airwaves, back in New Orleans, 18 months post-Katrina, at the National Federation of Community Radio Broadcasters national conference. Jim Ellinger had just one question for the FCC...

At the NFCBinNOLA in April, there were a couple of workshops dealing with disaster preparedness and contingency plans for CR stations threatened with or forced off the air by natural or other disasters. Both workshops were excellent and provided a range of useful information and contacts. Good work by the NFCB.

In addition to the two workshops, the NFCB wisely booked Mr. Leon Jackler to speak in his capacity as Director of Public Safety, Outreach & Coordination for the new Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau of the FCC. He spoke at the "FCC and Disaster Preparedness" workshop on April 12th.

Being the only suit and tie in the room full of CR activists, suffering from a cold, and reading from prepared text, Mr. Jackler, might have felt a little uncomfortable. A couple of us, including the NFCB's marvelous Carolyn Caton and myself made a bit of an effort to make him feel welcome.

Among his very first words were, "I'm not with the enforcement division!" That drew a few chuckles...but only a few.

Mr. Jackler spoke on a range of issues regarding radio/ communications, pre-, post- and during "major events;" disasters. Not all the information was specific to NCE stations, but gave a good overview of the Commission's perspective and plans, post-9/11.

When is came time for questions, I asked Mr. Jackler the following...
"Welcome back to your alma mater New Orleans! Please take one of the reality tours to see the devastation first hand."

"During the height of the Katrina disaster here on the Gulf Coast, when some federal agencies seemed to be creating as many problems as solving [waving my FEMA ballcap...], a number of unlicensed stations went on the air, providing urgent, even life-saving, information. Because of the extent of the disaster, the Commission's Enforcement Division did not, or could not,
enforce the taking down of these unlicensed stations. However, around the first of the year, the Enforcement Division did in fact take down a couple of stations here in New Orleans, notably Radio Uprising and Radio Harlequin, even though these stations were working to 'stay on the air anyway they could,' and were providing 'incredibly important,' 'key messages to the general public.'" [repeating his own comments to the group.]

"My question sir. As we prepare for the next disaster, has there been any discussion or consideration at the Commission for having, say, a higher level of tolerance for unlicensed stations that are providing emergency information during a disaster, especially when many or most of the licensed stations have been knocked off the air? Thank you."

Mr. Jackler responded,

"The Commission does not and will not have varying levels of tolerance for unlicensed stations, and we will continue to take them off the air as we discover them. What I would suggest as the best path to follow is what your group, Austin Airwaves, did for the evacuees in the Houston AstroDome. Petition the FCC for Special Temporary Authorization and we will make every effort to respond in four hours time. The Commission responded to hundreds of such requests during the disaster, but I believe yours was the only one in the country for a entirely new radio station."

"We certainly recognize the value of radio in a disaster," he concluded.

[Dramatic pause]

"I need to remind you sir, that KAMP, the AstroDome LPFM station, was kept off the air by local Harris County officials..."

FEMA Rejection Form:
http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2005/09/43075.php

[Another dramatic pause]

Looking a little flustered, Mr. Jackler responded, "I did hear about that. Nevertheless, your group followed what the Commission believes to be the best way of dealing with a situation following a major event."

jim ellinger
Austin Airwaves 5/2/07

His contact info:
Mr. Leon J. Jackler, Esq.
Director of Public Safety,
Outreach & Coordination
Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
(202) 418-0946
leon.jackler@fcc.gov

NOTES: I submitted this blog to Mr. Jackler as a courtesy and to confirm his comments, which I have PARAPHRASED. However, I did not hear back from him. I also confirmed the content with other radio folks who were in attendance.

Legendary NOLA CR WWOZ: http://www.wwoz.org/listen.php

NOLA NPR affiliate: http://www.wwno.org/

This looks great, Jim! Yes, "Radio Uprising" and "Radio Harlequin" are correct. I just want to say thanks for your support and advocacy in this matter. You remember our name when others have long forgotten! I have a great deal of respect for the work that you do. Truly, Mikkel Allen, NOLA

In today's Democracy Now!, Jeremy Scahill's report on the exclusion of poor blacks from the rebuilding of New Orleans underscores the need for the support of a new struggling LPFM in the Algiers area of NOLA. http://jacob.wordpress.com/2005/09/13/algiers-radio/

Q: What's Bush's position on Roe v. Wade?

A: He really doesn't care how people leave New Orleans.

New Orlean's IndyMedia:

http://neworleans.indymedia.org/news/2005/09/4547.php

"And your town Jim, Austin, Texas, has opened its heart to us here in Algiers and New Orleans. Thanks for the work with the station. Thanks for all you have done. Thank you!"
Malik Raheem, former Black Panther and longtime housing activist in
Algiers, (across the river from NO) speaking on WBAI/Pacifica Radio in New York City 12:30am 9/14/05

Texas Weeklies' coverage of the battle for KAMP Radio:
Austin Chronicle
http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2005-09-30/pols_feature4.html
San Antonio Current
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15212305&BRD=2318&amp;PAG=461&dept_id=484045&rfi=8
Houston Press
http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/2005-09-15/news/news.html

Partial List of news stories covering the blocking of KAMP Radio going on the air by Republican operatives in Harris County (Houston), during the height of the Katrina/FEMA Disasters:

http://www.houston.indymedia.org/news/2005/09/43349.php
http://www.reason.com/hitandrun/2005/09/radio_comes_to.shtml
http://www.billboardradiomonitor.com/radiomonitor/news/business/top_news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001096280
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0537,ferguson,67701,2.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/national/08houston.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1126206930-3khUyITTyAgRN8w+6GN1gw
http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/09/2046217
http:///?www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-radio8sep08,1,2504520.story?coll=la-news-a_section
http://www.wired.com/news/hurricane/0,2904,68806,00.html?tw=rss.TOP
http://www.prometheusradio.org http://www.kpft.org http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/07/1415231
http://houston.indymedia.org/
http://jacob.wordpress.com/2005/09/08/do-you-wish-you-could-contact-the-people-blocking-the-lpfm-radio-station
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-TBYX1126212496014.html
http://www.rwonline.com/dailynews/one.php?id=7721
http://flickr.com/photos/ioerror/sets/905698/
http://jacob.wordpress.com/2005/09/07/radio-station-has-been-blocked/
http://www.reason.com/hitandrun/2005/09/radio_free_bure.shtml#010879

NEW PP: Wrapped in Same Old B[S]

2007-05-01T11:14:00.000-05:00

Article from the Sunday NYTimes Travel Section, with [my comments]

The New Passport: Stars and Stripes, Wrapped in the Same Old BS

The New Passport: Stars and Stripes, Wrapped in the Same Old Blue
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
Published: April 29, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/weekinreview/29macfa.html?_r=1&ref=travel&oref=slogin

SYMBOLS: The theme of the new United States passport is “American Icon.”

Flip through the new passport on the U.S. Department of State Web site (travel.state.gov) See also: Security & Privacy of New E-Passport: http://travel.state.gov/passport/eppt/eppt_2502.html Animation of each page layout: http://travel.state.gov/passport/eppt/epptnew_2807.html

WHEN I went to collect my newly minted American passport, [says the NYT's Neil MacFarquhar-har] I discovered that it came with a radically altered design that included sheaves of wheat, the rather large head of a bald eagle plus the flag wrapped around my picture. And that was just one page!
But the design overhaul wasn’t much noticed by people emerging from what they called the purgatory-length waits to obtain their new passports. [I have now been waiting 9 weeks... jim 5/1/07]

“Don’t you want to kill this guy right now?” Sharon Marks exclaimed to a fellow sufferer outside the Passport Agency in San Francisco. “What are you talking about, design? It’s such a tangled mess in there that we haven’t even looked at the thing.”
When Americans do open their new passports, they’ll see a document strikingly different from the old booklet. By July, all applicants will get the new design, with the State Department expecting to issue a record 17 million passports this year, up from last year’s record of 12 million.
The new passport, in the works for about six years, incorporates the first complete redesign since 1993. Given new international standards for post-9/11 high-tech security features, which transform the document into an “E-passport,” the State Department decided it was time for something completely different.

The new passport comes with its own name: “American Icon.” It’s hard to think of one that was left out. [Neil! How 'bout Three Mile Island, SF's Castro District, the Bridge in Selma, Alabama, the Gulf Coast/NOLA post-Katrina, the LA Uprising, the Dallas Schoolbook Depository, the WTC crater, Virginia Tech and Columbine, etc. etc.?]
The inside cover sports an engraving of the battle scene that inspired “The Star Spangled Banner.” A couple of lines of the anthem, starting with, “O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave,” are scrawled in what the State Department says is Francis Scott Key’s own cursive!

The short, 28-page version of the passport comes with 13 inspirational quotes, including six from United States presidents and one from a Mohawk Thanksgiving speech. The pages, done in a pink-grey-blue palate, are rife with portraits of Americana ranging from a clipper ship to Mount Rushmore to a long-horn cattle drive.
Certain riffs are not obvious at first glance. The passport opens on Chesapeake Bay, while the last page shows Diamond Head in Honolulu. (Guess? “From sea to shining sea.”)

“We thought it really, truly reflects the breadth of America as well as the history,” said Ann Barrett, deputy assistant secretary of state for passport services. “We tried to be inclusive of all Americans.” ["Really, truly"? Oh, bullshit...]

The outside cover remains the standard gold seal on midnight blue, with the addition of a small gold emblem on the front, a circle surrounded by two parallel bars, which is the international symbol that the passport contains a computer chip; in this case, bearing a digital image and biographical information about the holder. (The chip, buried in the back page somewhere above the moon, has been the source of some controversy out of fear of electronic theft, although State Department officials say it is locked.) [I am guessing it can be unlocked, or at least made "inop," with a hammer. Social Engineers, please report!]

The new passport was developed by a six-member committee from the State Department and the Government Printing Office, with then-Secretary of State Colin Powell approving the final icon theme. [Words fail me...] Others themes considered included American documents, the Wright brothers and space exploration. (The latter called for black pages, [NOTE: This NOT a reference to the sexual proclivities of any former Republican Congressmen...] deemed rather impractical for reading visas.)
“We think it is a beautiful document as well as the most secure,” Ms. Barrett said. “It’s a work of art.” [Your a real piece of work too, Ms. Barrett!]

Professional designers shown the passport to critique mentioned art as well. “It is like being given a coloring book that your brother already colored in,” said Michael Bierut, of the design firm Pentagram in New York City. A passport, not unlike a scrapbook, gets its allure from gradually accruing exotic stamps, with the blank pages holding the promise of future adventure, he and other designers said. But they find that the new jumble of pictures detracts from that.

“There is also something a little coercive about a functional object serving as a civics lesson, even a fairly low-grade civics lesson,” Mr. Bierut said. New passport bearers in San Francisco seemed divided. “It’s very patriotic,” said Cynthia Yacur of Folsom, Calif., relieved to receive one just days before leaving for Greece. “Co-oool pictures!! An eagle! A bison! Ni-iiice!! Every page is different! I like it!!!”

Another Californian, Candace Serona, was less convinced.
“It seems to represent an idealized version of a country that is far from ideal right now,” she said, adding that the most positive thing was that at least the images embedded over her photograph hid some wrinkles.

Perhaps the ultimate judges will be border guards. [Oh! Great!]

Rick Davis, a retired NBC News correspondent, said he recently handed his over at Syria’s Damascus International Airport. The officer fingered it at length, gaping at the many pictures.

Finally he said haltingly, “You are a diplomat?” [Yeah, I'ma' frgn diplomat...no bribe for you, schmuck.]

Beirut Quiet but Tense

2006-12-01T14:05:00.000-06:00

Bon Jour from Beirut!


The city is undergoing an extraordinary building


boom, with skyscrapers going up all along the beach


front. There are still many destroyed buildings


from "the crisis years" from 1975-1990, during


which time much of the central city was completely


destroyed by warring, heavily armed, factions.





Following the assassination of the Industry


Minister a couple of months ago, the city has


been expecting trouble.

[See his image and bullet-riddle car in photo above]

There have been a couple of enormous demonstrations, hundreds
of thousands of peole, but virtually no violence. This is a city that


has seen 15 years of civil war, massive car bombs


to assassinate gov't officials, while taking out


many innocent civilians, interferemce/domination


by Syria, not to mention, being the target of


many thousands of IDF airforce soirtees in the


south. Thousands of landmines remain.

Attached image: Victims of cluster bomb explosions in Lebanon.

http://action.atfl.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=6966&track=signclusterbombpetition_18480661




The streets, at least the parts we have seen so far,


are crawling with soliders, armored personnel carriers,


sand-bagged gun positions, road barriers, and, Jeez!,


real live tanks with the those super-duper machine

guns that can cut down an entire building in a coupla'


minutes. Extra barbed wired is piled alongside bldgs.







Yet, the soldiers are fairly friendly, "Bon Jour!"
They are impressed with the WMDB's blonde tresses, and
as usual, are bored silly. The soldiers around the campus


of the American Univerisity must feel lucky guarding


the lovely co-eds in the their skintight apparel.


We plan on going clubbing tonight with our

man in Beirut, "Solid" Jackson, but he has not


answered his mobile in several hours...following


his interview with a Hezbollah rep for a radio

story.





We assume he is just running late, but we shall see...





Bye from Beirut,


jim & the WMDB

Back from the West Bank

2006-12-01T14:03:00.000-06:00

Hey Ya'll!







Another absolutely jam-packed day of traveling!















We woke up in a youth hostel overlooking the amazing















Dead Sea. You really can't sink! Quite a weird















experience. Makes ya' appreciate clean water.















Took a bus to the Old City of Jerusalem and took















in the Wailing Wall, the Souks, Temple Mount,















lotsa' of churches, bus stations and security















check points. Lots of locals and all the IDF kiddies

are openly armed.















Then we took an "Arab" bus (apartheid applies to















mass transit here) to Ramallah, on the other side















of the infamous Wall, which is both impressive,















and oppressive. Spent some time drinking















Turkish coffee and talking politics with a















manager of a Catholic grade/high school. Gave him














a big bag of toys for the honor students. His














brother lives in J-lem and can visit him, but as















a Palestinian he cannot cross into Disneyland.







This is one of the very few places we visited that beinga

foreigner is a handy thing...helps to breeze thru' the countless

checkpoints at malls, bus stations, banks, tourist sites, etc.












Tonight we head for the Disneyland/Jordanian border,





but have no idea if it will be open. We will wait if not...

We managed to get the cute Disneyland immigration
grlz to not stamp on our PPs, but on the disposable Tourist
Entry form instead. Any indication that we have been here
will mean we will not be able to complete the next leg of our
trip to Beirut. We will either have to mail, or hide, any paper,
ticket stubs, trinkets with Hebrew on them.



We were not able to visit the Gaza Strip. It's "closed."





Tel Aviv is a very cosmo town, with nice beaches, chic


cafes, cute lesbian couples strolling hand in hand, plenty


of clubs, and millions of young kids oogling each other.


The polar cultural opposite to Old Jerusalem.










"Next year...Jerusalem!


jim and the WMDB

Truckin' Through Jordan

2006-12-01T14:01:00.000-06:00

Camels in the
Red Sands in the
Wadi Rum Desert

Just to let you all know that we are STILL
in friendly Jordan! We traveled back to
civilization yesterday, via camel, after spending
the night in a Bedouin goat hide tent in the
middle of the Wadi Rum desert, beneath a billion
stars. Red sand! White sand! Green sand! While
we were truly on the edges of the civilized world,
I did note that our Bedouin hosts would slip away
and gather in one corner of the tent, away from the
guests. What were they doing? Hash? Nope! A sweet
spot were their cell phones could still get reception.

The Bedouins, already very impressed with the
WMDB's golden tresses and powerful demeaner,
were stunned, flat out, jaw-dropping, stunned, when
she began to pet the head of the "crazy" camel she
had just ridden back to civilization. The camel slowly,
slowly, slowly, lowered it's long neck and head down
to the ground. Not unlike a crane slowly loosing its
hydraulics. It seemed to have a smile on its face.

AMARC Radio Update: I was elected to the Int'l
Board! Remarkably, my work at the Houston Astrodome,
post-Katrina, continues to pay off! Wish I could get that
sort of credit for koop radio!!

AMARC10 almost certainly be held in South America.

We head to "Disneyland" and the Pal Territories
tomorrow. Border crossing is expected to be long
and, uh, "interesting." Surf the Dead Sea!

Worry not! More great travelblogs and photos to follow!

jim & the WMDB
Amman Airwaves
just past the big rock that looks like a chicken
from one direction and an elephant from another...

Beirut Tense

2006-12-01T13:50:00.000-06:00

This just in from Beirut:

Greetings from tense Beirut on the eve of the first















mass demonstration to bring down the Lebanese







government since the assassination of the Christian,







anti-Syrian Industry Minister.















More than a million Muslim, Hezbollah, and







pro-Syrian demonstrators will attempt to bring















the city to a halt tomorrow at dawn. Their stated goal







is to bring down the current gov't because they feel















it is not legitimate. The details of how the Lebenase















gov't's power and positions are divided up between















the various factions are wa-aaay too complicated to















go into here.

































Already the streets are filling with young kids,















bedrolls under arms, heading to and fro, a few















carloads of kids, waving Hezbollah flags are















driving around honking their horns.































But they are avoiding the heavily militarized















areas around downtown and the gov't offices.































"Security Forces Tighten Grip on Beirut" is















the banner headline of today's Daily Star, the















English daily here. The President has vowed to















stay in town to "prevent civil war."































Remember, this is Beirut, a city that suffered















15 long years of "crisis."































Folks are clearly worried. Soldiers are much less















friendly today, than previously. They are less















likely to respond with a "Bon Jour" than a wave















of the rifle to move your ass along.































The PM has ordered the Lebanese Army to remain















"nuetral" in keeping order tomorrow. Everyone















is worried about a repeat of the crisis years...

or indeed, another civil war will break out.

Tonight Beirut is a city full of worried

and anxious people...

Well, perhaps not everyone! In a "It could only

happen in Beirut" scenario, the 8th Annual Beirut

Marathon, yes Marathon!, is also scheduled for

tomorrow morningas well. The organizers had to clear
the event with all the various factions. Note that it is scheduled
to take place on a day in which the city is crawling with armored
personnel carriers, tanks, thousands of soldiers and police, a
million screaming Hezbollah supporters.

They have repeatedly said the demonstrations will

be peaceful. There's not much else thay can say.

Meanwhile, high overhead, IDF state of the art satellite

surveillance takes it all in.

YET -- It's Christmas shopping season here in the

Christian section of the city, with nice Christmas

lights and decos going up everywhere. You can

buy a Christmas tree!

And the clubs, the legendary nightclubs of the

"Paris of the Middle East" are still packed

with gorgeous young folks. We are going to a

private party at "The Basement" tonight.

Let's hope the both the demos and the marathon,
uhm, both run smoothly tomorrow.

jim & the WMDB

Beirut

Amman Airwaves: The Hotel Bombings

2006-11-06T11:35:00.000-06:00

November, 2005 Amman Hotel Bombings
Source: Wikipedia (reprinted without permission)

Targets: Three hotels
Date: 9 November 2005 began 20:50 (UTC+2)
Attack Type: Suicide bombings
Fatalities: 60, plus 3 suicide bombers
Injuries: 115
Perpetrators: Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi; Abu Khabib,
Abu Muaz, Abu Omaira and Om Omaira

The 2005 Amman bombings were a series of coordinated bomb attacks on three hotels in Amman, Jordan on November 9, 2005. Al-Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attacks which killed 60 people and injured 115 others. The explosions, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, the Radisson SAS Hotel, and the Days Inn, started at around 20:50 local time (18:50 UTC) at the Grand Hyatt.

The three hotels are often frequented by Western military contractors and diplomats. The bomb at the Radisson SAS exploded in the Philadelphia Ballroom, where a wedding hosting almost 300 guests was taking place. In addition to killing a total of 38 people, the explosion destroyed the ballroom, blew out the large windows bordering the street, and knocked down ceiling panels. The hotel lobby was also affected: ceiling panels and light fixtures collapsed, furniture was destroyed, and the hotel's glass doors were shattered. Cleanup and rebuilding commenced shortly afterwards.

The bomb that exploded in the lobby or lobby bar of the Grand Hyatt Amman was equally devastating. It destroyed the hotel's entrance and brought down pillars and ceiling tiles, along with badly damaging the reception and bar areas. Hyatt began cleanup shortly after the attacks and reopened their hotel on November 19.

Volgograd...The World's Longest City!

2006-11-06T09:31:00.000-06:00

Somewhere Over the North Atlantic
Today’s Doonesbury cartoon features an Enron exec calling his wife on plane phone, “Good News Honey!” he says, “I just left US airspace!”

And so did I.

So far so good, but gawd almighty, I have so far to go. This trip won’t be quite as long as my first trip to Russia. Last year I visited Tomsk, one of the closed cities of the Cold War. Tomsk is located deep in the Siberian planes...no less than five time zones east of Moscow. Literally on the opposite side of the planet from Hyde Park.

Let Sleeping Astronauts Lay...
The gal sitting to me is an honest to goodness astronaut! Johnson Space Center, NASA, zero G training. She’s 32, with a PhD from UT, lives in Houston, and is on her way to Space City outside Moscow. It’s her first trip to Russia. She’s reading “Carrying the Flame” by I forget which astronaut. The introduction is by Charles Lindbergh. Now, Colonel Lindbergh, pilot of the “The Spirit of St. Louis,” took off for his historic flight to Europe from Robertson Air Base in St. Louis. My middle name is Robertson (not “radio,” as some seem to think) and it was my great great uncles who, as part of the Robertson Airmail Company, backed up Chuck in his successful attempt to cross the Atlantic...and to collect the $25,000 prize. Anyway the pretty young astronaut doesn’t seem particularly impressed. Her NASA ID reads “Astronaut” and she has a red American passport. She sleeps soundly for like, six hours, and wakes up only when we land.

SHOE!
At my Going Away Party, I took an informal, unscientific poll, asking the following question: “Will my SHOES be given any special inspection or attention?” A little more than half the folks said yes. So far customs and security have been a walk through. We’ll see on the return trip in a coupla’ weeks.

Two Cheeseheads and a Texan...
The flights to Moscow are always full and this flight is no different. So far, I have met one fellow, Damon, a retiree from Wisconsin who is on his 52nd trip to Russia and East Europe! He’s an ACDI/VOCA volunteer, staying at the same hotel, the AeroStar, as me. This is great. We will share the driver and it just means a lot less concern about being having to be constantly “on guard.” Damon, a spry 71 year old, taught me a great trick to get through the lengthy Immigration lines. The “Russian Citizens” line is always much shorter than the foreign nationals line. When there is no longer a line in the Russia booth, jump over to there, THEN, jump the line to the “Red (Diplomatic) Passport” booth. Worked like charm! Instead of standing in line for nearly an hour, we breezed through in a coupla’ minutes.

The two Cheeseheads, Wisconsin dairy farmers both, and I are deposited in the good ol’ Hotel AeroStar. Still suffering from this nagging head cold and a little lag, I took a hot bath, (the bath water a lovely minty green color...) and three naps. Then a nice dinner, and some serious discussion on storing bull semen, neutral sex cows (“Martins”), manure dispersal rate permits (go for the Federal permit), etc. You learn a lot on these trips.

And of course there was a little good natured ribbing about braggart Texans, including the classic joke: A Texas rancher and a Wisconsin dairy farmer were talking, bragging, about their land. The Texan, sticking his chest out says, “My spread’s so big it takes me all day just to drive around it in my truck!” To which the dairy farmer, with a pull on his overalls, dryly replies, “Yessir, I used to have a truck like that!”

BTW, the other volunteer is from a small farming community north of Oshkosh. His name is Bruce and it’s his first time overseas. He’s wearing his highschool gym sweat shirt. He was sure glad to hook up with some other ‘mericans. (Me too. Traveling with a coupla’ other folks almost always makes things easier. But if you want adventure, head off by yourself.) Anyway, Bruce is wearing one of those “WWJD” bracelets, which I’ve come to learn means: “I Don’t Tip.”

The AeroStar is a bustling place. Lots of foreigners and business-types. Last time I was there, I guy hit me up for $600,000 to build a complete state of the art digital editing studio. I told him I didn’t have that much cash on me....

The National Iranian Karate Team, and, uh, Me
While there, the lobby is suddenly full of athletes, coaches and guys who yell in cell phones. The athletes, all young, fierce looking Arab men, are the Iranian National Karate Team! I decide against bringing up Bush’s “axis of evil” comment when I found myself, alone, with four of these slabs of muscle in an elevator car. I’m in the back of the car. My floor comes up. The door opens. None of them move. I have no idea if they had pegged me as an ‘merican, (or, to be fair, if they care...) There is one of those moments; were you begin accessing risk, contemplating danger , looking for paths of escape. I say “excusa” and this one slab of muscle, pivots, doorlike, and lets me exit. I take another mint green bath.

ON BOARD THE MOCKBA-VOLGOGRAD EXPRESS:
Clearly the travel arrangements for my return trip here to Russia are a big improvement over my first trip. Last February, after enduring the ten hours flight between JFK and Moscow, I had just a few hours until I had to fly on to Tomsk...five more time zones due east into the great frozen expanse that is Siberia. The flight was delayed, of course, barely escaping before a “typhoon” (blizzard) engulfed the city. By time I landed in the swirling snow of the Tomsk airport, I was wasted.

As I write this, I am comfortably, warmly, ensconced in my own private berth. Lap top on my lap, legs up, with pillows and sheets tucked appropriately. The lap top serves as a substitute for my big ol’ geriatric house cat “Lucky” Lucy. Both are warm on your lap and make pleasant sounds. However the laptop doesn’t shed and has spell check. Sorry Lucy. The Russian train cars are quite nice, certainly not as sterile as the Swiss or German trains, more on par with, say, the Italian coaches. I am snacking on dried fruits, nuts and meats. Very comfy. I don’t know how much this train trip and private berth cost (ignorance is luxury!) but it’s worth every Ruble. I was able to get some nice video shots through the window, with the billions of birch trees whizzing by, with a schmaltzy sound track provided by the on-board radio speaker system. If you can imagine the Doodle Town Pipers, in Russian, that’s it.

And in the morning I will arrive in Volgograd where I will spend the next two and a half weeks consulting with a local grocery chain/warehouse/ distribution company.

World’s Longest City
Volgograd bills itself as “The World’s Longest City,” an incredible 90 kilometers long, but only 12 clicks wide, running along the dry side of the Volga River. It is also known as “The Port of Five Seas”: Those seas are: the Black, the Caspian, the Azov, the Baltic and the White.

BIG Mother!
Giant stature of Mother Russia, more than 86 meters to the tip of her sword. Visible for many, many miles. The book, and now Hollywood movie, “Enemy at the Gate” was based here in Volgrograd. The Nazi advance east was finally stalled here. The cost: 1.5 million Nazis dead, 1 million Russians dead, the entire city leveled to the ground. The famous T34 Russian tanks were made here. There are 16 of the tank’s turrets mounted as memorials around the city.

Russian Test Pattern
Unlike Moscow, there is virtually nothing in English in Volgograd, not radio, not print, not even many ads for western products, and not a single English language TV station on the nine channel cable line up in the Hotel Bank.

Jim’s Volgograd Client
SupermarKIT. “KIT” means “whale” in Russian. The company “Service Product” has two retail stores, with another to open, hopefully, while I’m here. Plus a warehouse/distribution system, not to mention a night club with bowling, billiards, disco, liquor, etc.

Texac! It's Like A Whole 'Nother Country!

2006-11-05T22:44:00.000-06:00

For Valentine’s Day in Volgograd, the place to be is... Club Texac (Texas) !

The Strangers (or maybe the St. Rangers, I’m not sure...) a local combo were holding forth for the weekly “Country/Western” Night. Plus, for the holiday, there were silly contests between sets. The St. Rangers delivered reasonable sets of all your favorite Texas and C/W standards by James Brown, Dire Straits, Little Richard, Elvis, Credence and the Eagles.

“Best band in Volgograd!” says Katya, a stunning young blue eyed, shag blonde beauty. She works in the PR Department of a local grocery chain, that is my client. She is also is a former DJ for ”Echo of Moscow” Radio. She speaks excellent English and has invited me out for the evening. She’s friends with the band and their wives. She also sings “a little jazz” herself, she tells me.

We talk about music. She has been to Oregon and California, but “not to the South, Texas.” I tell her how difficult it is for musicians to make a living in Austin. Similarly, in Volgograd, bands often play just for “karasi,” literally “fish.” She seems familiar with the word for a person who doesn’t have a regular job, goes to lots of events for the free food and liquor, maybe a marginal musician or artist-type. The term is “slicker.”

Now, I have been to scores of “theme” bars in my travels,. Some work, some don’t, some work despite themselves. But this is a bar where the “theme” is a bit too far removed. Nobody here has even ever been to Texas. The idea for the bar came when a friend, visiting the Lone Star State sent some postcards home.

Literally, from the moment you push through the swinging bar doors, which are located knee high like a garden gate, you know that this is a close-but-no-cigar kinda’ place. Besides the fact many of the decorations are merely “American” icons; Harley, Elvis, Marilyn, Chicago Bulls, Marlboro, Coke, Wrangler...there are even displays from New York and London!

I realize now that your definition of “west” is based on just how far “east” you are...

The Texas flag hangs prominently on the landing...backwards. One nice touch, however, was a handpainted mural on the wall by the restrooms. It featured a drunken cowboy asleep against a cactus, “xxx” bottle still in hand. Kinda’ made me miss it when the Texas Legislature is in Austin.

The dance floor fills with scores of beautiful young girls, most dressed in attire that one would associate with the oldest profession back in the States. Everyone sings along to the lyrics, in English. I have always been amazed at how much American music has traveled the world making friends. The kids here, most of whom speak little or no English, can sing all the lyrics to “Californication,” “Hotel California” and “Heartbreak Hotel” and scores more songs...even the band!

Another of the young beauty, wearing a skin-tight Union Jack (“very Western”) sequin tank top, approaches me and asks in passable English, if this is “country music.” I respond, “It’s not even close, but then again we are not even close to Texas!” She smiles sweetly, but I’m sure doesn’t understand.

When Katya asks where else I have been in Russia, I say “just Tomsk, and of course, Moscow. Everything in Russia goes through Moscow, right?” With 11 million “official” Muscovites and another 4 million that the can’t seem to keep track off; Moscow is to New York, what Texas is to, say, the original 13 colonies. “Moscow is like a country,” observes Katya.

"So's Texas!" I respond.

Natalya, the club manager, is friendly and makes time for a “real Texan.” I shudder slightly at the reference, and begin my usual, “well, actually, I’m from Austin, and that’s not exactly the same as being from Texas...” spiel, but stop. It’s not gonna’ be worth the translation.

No one here recognizes the name “Willie,” let alone “Stevie Ray,” much less “Bob.” And a “Texas Playboy,” well, I didn’t even try. My toasts, (ya’ gotta’ be able to toast here...) includes “Don’t Mess With Texas!” and “The Armadillo Will Rise Again!” are well-received. But no one asks what an armadillo is. As the night wears on a creepy “Bizarro Texas” feeling tries to push in to my beer sodden consciousness. “It seems like a Texas bar, nyet...”

I present the manager with a bag full of cheesy Texas promotional items, including a “I went to Texas, and all I got was this coffee mug” coffee mug, that I never thought could be considered valuable. Plus, various Austin pens, magnets, keyrings, buttons, etc. and one of those big orange UT basketball pennants. (I found a box of 200 of them years ago and have been giving them out on overseas trips ever since.) The pennant seems to be considered a true Texas relic, like a recently unearthed artifact from the Alamo. It is immediately and prominently displayed right by the entrance. Just as quickly, my bar tab for the evening is halved. So instead of paying, say, about 16 bucks for two dinners, maybe a dozen beers, and, uh, I seem to have forgotten how many shots of tequila, I paid maybe eight dollars. I added a 50% tip. By the way, another thing that keeps Club Texac from being a real Texas bar, there are no tip jars!

So remember friends, treat Texac like a friend. Nobody understands her like we do.

jim ellinger Volgograd is for Valetines

"Face Control" in Moscow...

2006-11-05T22:36:00.000-06:00

Moscow

Face Control
Some sort of doorman lingo, looking at people’s faces trying to decide whether, or not, to let them in the club...? Often seen in nightclub adverts.

Russian Banya
The traditional Russian banya is __________ there used to be entire districts of banyas, but now few remain. A R ussian sauna, I am told, involves more ____than therapy, but than it may be therapuetic.
The banya is like many public baths, etc, around the world, men and women separate behind oppositie doors. The place is all tiles and pipes and ____________. The men are weaaring these silly looking felt hats. And can’t figure out why they have them. Some men have bows of oak or birch leaves.
Men of all ages are standing around _____when a bousterous fellow, come out from the ________ and calls out in a military-like order, “Okay! Okay! Time to go in! Let’s go! Let’s Go! Everybody in!” Or that’s what it sounds like. All of us, maybe 30 men, file into the sauna room.
Now I have been to quite a few spas and saunas, and I had some idea what to expect.
My pals Ilyad and Sergei tell me “just be quiet...”
After climbing up a stairway to a wooden slat platform, the bigmouth, opens a furnace door and throws in a ladle of water, Sssssst! The humidity and heat rise. It’s the hottest I can ever remember feeling. Hotter than the Texas sun. Hotter than the African sun.
I crouch down to try and stay in the low, cooler air, in the back by the small intake air window. Men are self-flaggelating themselves and each other with the leaf covered birch and oak branches, which have been softened somewhat by soaking in pans of water. The heat combined with the extreme humidity is barely tolerable. I have to concentrate not to panic. No one else is bursting into flames, but I feel I may at any moment.
Then the boiler master comes back to where I am, shouting all the time, slams the little window shut and begins swirling a towel over hishead. “Ooof!” some of the men say, as the hottest temperatures are forced down from the ceiling.
I’ve never been hotter in my life. I can’t take it anymore. I have to get out of here.
Don’t panic. I stand up from my crouched position, and WHAM, the blast of superheated air is upon me. Too hot! Too hot! I make my way past all the sweaty n men,
One step, then another, don’t panic. I reach the stareway, and put my hand on the railing, ow!, five steps down to the door, four, three, keep moving, two, one...
I swing open the heavy wooden door, step through and close it behind me, gasping for air. It ____
There is an elevated pool with a ladder, “the cold plunge.” I carefully climb up, over in drop into the water. It is absolutely frigid. I expect ice to form on the top. I cannot stand it for a minute and climb out
This routine continues for several hours, the cooling off/warming up periods spent hanging out with the guys eating dried fish, _______ and drinking, not water, but beer. Lotsa’ and lotsa’ beer.
On my final trip in to the sauna room, I agree to take a beaten. The guy hits me with the wet oak leaves, which stings. Surprisingly, what hurts more is when they guy fans me with the leaf bow. The increased air concentrating on a small portion of my skin is too much to bear and I yell, “hoo! shit! damn! fuck!” Okay that’s enough, the guy relents. I bail for the cold plunge.

Down by "Phone Law"
In ‘merica, there are two types of law, civil and criminal. In Russia there is a third kind: Phone Law. While not an official form of law, it nevertheless carries condsiderable weight. As I understand it, phone law occurs when a business gets the call from a mafia boss,
or enforcer, “laying down the law.” Corruption, intimidation, pay me if you want this, pay me if you don’t want this to happen...
My client says they “resist” these extorsions, that they “don’t cooperate” with the mafia, but, if they have truck, and you must have the truck, then you must pay....

Top Ten Reasons NOT To Visit Moscow

#10 To let your hair bleach out in the sunny tropic breeze,
#9 To cut back on your drinking,
#8 To drink freshly ground and brewed coffee,
#7 To tune in to the nearly one dozen cable TV channels, a couple in English,
#6 To pay $5 for a 30 milileter Coke at the Hotel Lobby Bar,
#5 To walk around bare footed,
#4 To walk around bare headed,
#3 To discuss the situation in Chechnya,
#2 To contribute to the population boom,

and the #1 Reason NOT To Visit Moscow
To listen to Russian sports fans cheer on their teams’ triumphs in Salt Lake City.

Petra, Jordan

2006-11-05T19:36:00.000-06:00

Historic Petra,

Dazzling Sights for a Small Audience

By MICHAEL JANOFSKY September 10, 2006 [Reprinted without permission]

No matter what you know of Petra — the Jordanian historical site famous for its deep pink rock facades and (to some movie fans) as the setting for the final scene in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” — nothing quite prepares you for the experience of seeing it in person.

There is no other way to say it: Petra is dazzling!

“This makes Machu Picchu look like a pile of stones,” my wife, Joan, said to me as we spent nearly seven hours this past March walking among vast rock formations and the facades, carved exquisitely into canyon walls, that have survived centuries of earthquakes and neglect.

What was more amazing, perhaps, is that we practically had the place to ourselves.

Even before the recent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and fears of more violence in the Middle East, Jordan wasn’t exactly attracting tourists in record numbers — despite an aggressive marketing campaign its government has aimed at Canada and the United States in recent years.
While airports in Amman (three hours away by car) and Aqaba (one hour) make Petra reasonably accessible to visitors, the persistent unrest in the Middle East has discouraged more travelers from visiting, although there have been few disturbances in Jordan. During out visit in March, we stayed at a thoroughly modern Movenpick Hotel in the town of Wadi Musa, just steps from the entry gate to Petra, but the hotel appeared half empty, and another new Movenpick several miles away remained closed.

“We have been a victim of misperceptions,” said Malia Asfour, director of the Jordanian Tourism Board North America. “People think the Middle East is all bad news, and the violence, Islamic fundamentalism, Osama bin Laden don’t help. But a shift is happening.”

Certainly, Petra alone is worth a visit.

Hidden away in the mountains of southern Jordan, between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, Petra is a former trading city sitting among vast rock formations.

Its builders were the Nabataeans, a Semitic tribe who recognized Petra’s strategic location along early trade routes between the Middle East and northern Africa. As architects, artisans and tradesmen, they lived in the valley from about the seventh century B.C. through the early years of the second century A.D. and prospered until trade routes changed, the Romans took over and the city’s importance slowly faded along with its vitality.

Over the centuries, Petra was known only to occasional plunderers and the Bedouins who remained in the area. It was altogether unknown to Westerners until 1812, when a Swiss explorer, masquerading as an Arab in Egypt, heard tales of an ancient city in the mountains 250 miles to the east and coaxed a guide to take him there.

Petra is now a United Nations World Heritage Site, a status that helps preserve its main attractions and protect areas that have suffered erosion. The daily entry fee is 21 dinars, about $30 at 1.43 dinars to $1, and the basic tour is a 7.5-mile round trip on foot that takes the better part of a day. But à la carte options abound, starting the moment you pass through the entry gates.
We arrived just after 8 a.m., and Ali, our guide, suggested that we rent horses to carry us along the rough stone path leading toward a narrow, half-mile passageway known as the Siq. The stones, laid by the Nabataeans, are manageable with comfortable shoes, but who could resist the friendly Bedouins swarming to rent us their steeds? We paid the equivalent of about $8 each.
Horses are prohibited from entering the Siq, so we walked the next half-mile, marveling at the towering canyon walls that finally give way to a plaza and the most famous of Petra’s remarkable facades, The Treasury, known locally as Al Khazneh.

Carved into the canyon wall in the first century B.C., the Treasury stands 130 feet high and suggests Hellenistic and Middle Eastern influences. Its sharp details have been preserved from wind and rain by the facade’s indentation in the rock wall. Especially impressive are the intricate figures and patterns carved between columns and inside pediments.

The Treasury has no real interior space, just a large room with recessed areas on the side. Experts are divided on what it was actually used for. Some say it was a place of worship, while others say a tomb. Its name derives from an apparently apocryphal story about a pharoah’s need to hide his riches in an urn at its top. But no treasure was ever found.

We spent an hour in the plaza, staring at it from all angles while Ali waited in nearby shade, sipping tea. Whatever the view, we found it hard to imagine how its makers achieved such exacting detail.

From the Treasury, we walked through what was once the center of Petra, past ancient temples, a marketplace and a spacious Greek-style amphitheater.
Interspersed through the rock formations that rise in the distance are remnants of tombs, which look like open-mouthed caves. The ancients used them for burial. Ali told us that archaeologists have identified more than 800 tombs.

Resuming our walk toward Petra’s other famous facade, Ad Deir, known as the Monastery, we confronted a major decision: The Monastery sits atop a plateau, accessible only by climbing a winding trail of narrow steps. Guidebooks number them at 800; Ali said there were 1,200. In either case, we could walk or hire mules. [recommended, jim] I looked at Joan and instantly knew the answer. “Best $20 we ever spent,” she said after we reached the top.

The Monastery is less ornate than the Treasury but much larger, looming over a smaller plaza than the Treasury’s to give it a more imposing look. Experts are uncertain of its original use.

Within 90 minutes or so, we were back at the Treasury, which now appeared softer in the late afternoon light. Again, we were transfixed, and pulled ourselves away only after Ali reminded us that someone was waiting at the gate to take us to our crossing point back to Israel. Sadly, we left, with no expectation that anything else on our trip could match the magic of the last eight hours.

Royal Jordanian Airlines offers daily service to Amman from New York, Chicago and Detroit. Most European carriers have daily connections. Petra can also be reached from Israel, by crossing into Jordan by car or foot on the Allenby Bridge east of Jerusalem and driving south or by crossing from Eilat to the port city of Aqaba and driving north.

"So, um, I can pay that fine...now?"

2006-11-05T13:37:00.000-06:00

“Why Yes! You Can Pay That ‘Fine’ Now...”

So there we are...

flying along on some paved road, about 50 klicks from the now-closed Zimbabwe frontier, with these incredible straight-up-out-of-the-ground-to-1000+-meters-high-in-the-sky mountains looming on the horizon. We’re heading back from a lovely lunch of goat meat and Amstels at some fat Brits’ farm/restaurant.

We’re heading back to town when two of Chimoio’s Finest flag us over for... speeding. Which we certainly were in the spunky little 2001 Ford Ranger. It’s double-cabbed and roll-barred with a Detroit Six Pack under the hood, 4x4’d with five forward and three reverse, six cup holders, but only a single disk CD player. Apparently these Rangers are the vehicle of choice for most of the NGOs operating here. Except, of course, the tall and tony Land Rovers, with snorkels and power whip antennas driven by the Blue Hats. I can’t bad mouth the UN folks here though, they put Radio Communtaria Gesom, the local community radio station, my client, on the air, with a promise of ten more stations nationwide. Go Big Blue!

My traveling companion, also tall and tony, is from DC and goes by the name “Charity.” This is her first ACDI assignment, but she has traveled extensively and describes herself as “fearless.” She speaks fluent Spanish, and therefore passable Portuguese.

The policeman, in a tattered white uniform shirt and frayed hat, informs me that I was speeding and would have to be “fined.” This did not need translating. He motions me to the other side of the road where his partner’s car was parked on the shoulder. He points to his radar gun, which looks more like an orange juice can spray painted black with a piece of wire shoved in the back. But sure enough, the little red LED is blinking “64.” It was a 30 zone. That would KPH, on the left side of the road, of course.

He wants to see my drivers license. “I don’t have it,” I cheerily respond “No?! Well, let me see your passport!” “I don’t have that either,” I tell him with a smile. “But, but, uh, well, where are they...?!” he sputters. “There at my hotel.” This apparently befuddles them both. After much back and forth, we’re informed that the “fine” will be “un mill Meticais.” Charity, apparently a stickler for details, begins to argue with the poor public servant, “Do you mean one THOUSAND Meticais or one MILLION?” The difference would be a $4 dollar, uh, fine, or a $40 one. I discretely pull out the ol’ money clip and start flipping through currencies. Rubles, nyet, Ukrainian Greivnas, no way! Let’s see, Moz Mets...a million?

Now, I have been on the ground here the Land of mOZ for a week, and had not yet been able to spend $50, despite considerable effort! My single Big Ben has changed into a fan of two point five million Meticais. (Which were, BTW, the most tattered currency I had ever seen. Worse than the Nicaraguan Hat Dollars of the Sandinista era, if you can imagine...)

Why, I would be GLAD to pay a $40 speeding ticket! Definitely cheaper than Houston! Friendlier cops too! Charity asks for a receipt. This seems to spook them, and I further compound it by offering him two crisp twenties, folded and cup-handed below the waist; the way I was always told to pay a, um, fine. His eyes widen and he breaks a sweat. His partner has already bailed and is looking down that long African road for the next speeder, when he sees another police vehicle approaching, fast. Unlike the rusting tin bucket with no back seat that these two officers were assigned, this police vehicle is another shiny Ford 4x4 Ranger (with the spiffy Sports Package, no less.) The policeman looks nervously as the police vehicle looms towards us, turns to me and says, “Go! You now go!”

And go now we do...with my two twenties still folded neatly in my sweaty palm.

jim
just past the speed trap, maybe 40 klicks southwest of the Zim/Moz frontier
(now closed except for cattle rustlers...)

Security Concerns in Amman

2006-11-05T13:07:00.000-06:00

I am often asked by friends, "aren't you worried about visiting all these hot spots...?" I usually respond with the same answer... "the most dangerous portion of international travel is the drive to the airport." Especially when it is the Bush Int'l Airport in Houston!

Security Update from AMARC

I am sure some of you are concerned about the security situation in Jordan following the lone gunman’s attack on a visit tourist in Amman on September 4th. While no one can provide any 100% security guarantees, as a host organization hosting so many of our friends from around the world, I would like to reassure everyone that we are confident about the security situation for the upcoming Amarc9 conference. Please read the statement below of the Jordanian minister of tourism. The statement as well as a lot of other information about Jordan is available on the web site www.visitjordan.com .
and are pleased with the level of cooperation and preparation that the various Jordanian governmental- and especially- security agencies are doing to ensure the safety of tourists and visitors. We can safely say that while the region is still in turmoil because of events in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq, that Jordan remains as a safe and secure country.
Safety in hotels has been effective ever since the tragic events of last year. The metal detectors that have been placed in major hotels (which includes the hotel that Amarc9 will take place in) has provided a strong sense of security. In addition to the technical protection visible police and local security companies are available in many locations. Our hotel has a private guard but during the conference will be supported by uniformed policemen the entire time of the conference. The uniformed police will be present at all official locations outside the hotel in which the AMARC9 participants will visit. In some cases we will also have uniformed police accompany the group on their various visits.
I reassure all that we will have a safe and secure conference as well. It will be an enriching event that will encourage many of you to come again to Jordan and the region.

JORDAN
A Jordanian gunman fired a dozen shots at a group of Western tourists visiting an ancient Roman amphitheater in central Amman Sept. 4, killing one British man, and wounding six other foreigners and a tourist police officer who was accompanying them. Despite being wounded, the officer subdued the gunman. The attacker was from the same region as the late leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, but authorities announced that he acted alone and had no connection with a terrorist group.

Gunman Kills British Man and Wounds 6 in Jordan
By SUHA MAAYEH September 5, 2006
AMMAN, Jordan, Sept. 4 — A gunman opened fire on tourists visiting a popular site in downtown Amman on Monday afternoon, killing a British man and wounding six other people, Jordanian officials said.

[photo deleted]
Jordanian policemen secure the area around the Roman amphitheater in the center of Amman, Jordan, where tourists were attacked today by a gunman.
Hospital officials identified the dead man as Christopher Stoke, 53. Wounded in the shooting were two British women, an Australian woman, a woman from New Zealand, a Dutchman and a sergeant with the Jordanian Tourist Police, Jordanian officials said.

Jordan’s official news agency, Petra, identified the gunman as Nabeel Ahmad Issa Jaoura, 38, from Yajouz, near the Islamist stronghold of Zarqa. Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit said security officials were interrogating Mr. Jaoura and investigating whether he was acting alone or was part of a terrorist cell.
Officials said the shootings would be considered a terrorist act unless the gunman was found to be mentally unstable. It was the most serious attack of its kind since suicide bombers attacked three Amman hotels last November, killing 63 people. Nasser Joudeh, a government spokesman, said the police would be stepping up already tight security in the Jordanian capital and elsewhere.
“This is a cowardly, terrorist attack, which we regret took place on Jordanian soil,” Interior Minister Eid al-Fayez told reporters.
Witnesses said the shooting began shortly after midday when Mr. Jaoura, cleanshaven and dressed in jeans, opened fire on the group of tourists as they walked in the ancient Roman amphitheater in Amman, a popular tourist destination. He fired at least 15 bullets into the crowd, shouting “Allah-u akbar,” or “God is great.”
The wounded were taken to Al Bashir and the Prince Hamza hospitals, about one mile away. The two British women underwent surgery and were in intensive care Monday evening in critical but stable condition. Hospital officials said the 32-year-old Dutchman was recovering from a bullet wound in his abdomen, while the Australian woman had been treated for a bullet in her thigh. The tourist police sergeant, Awni Falah Ayed, was treated for bullet wounds in the chest and thigh. The condition of the New Zealand woman was not known.
Jordan says it has thwarted numerous plots against Jordanian landmarks and government buildings as well as against Western tourists. Last November, Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia took responsibility for the attacks on the three Amman hotels, the deadliest terrorist act in the country’s history.

Excellent blog on the day-to-day turmoil from occupied Palestine.
Caution: this gal can be graphic in her song and dance.
http://americaninpalestine.blogspot.com/

Amman Airwaves #2

2006-10-30T23:10:00.000-06:00

Jim Ellinger
points the way
to...
AMARC9, in
Amman, Jordan!

The North American Delegation
(partial list)

One of the reasons I am excited about this AMARC conference is the great North American Delegation that will be in attendance this year. These are some of the finest, hardest-working, dedicated practioners of community radio on this, or any other, continent!

Meet the North American AMARC delegates!
We've got a very interesting and diverse group coming to represent North
America. Here are our amazing delegates in no particular order:

Andrew Stelzer and Jackson Allers will represent Free Speech Radio News, the only daily half-hour progressive radio newscast in the US. Andrew has taught numerous training workshops in places like Bolivia, Mexico, and post-Katrina New Orleans. Jackson served as the Chief of Radio for the United Nations mission in Kosovo, and in July and August of this year he reported extensively on the Israeli military offensive in Lebanon. He is based in Beirut.

Norman Stockwell, representing WORT-FM, has worked with community radioaround the world, and has worked on solidarity projects in El Salvador, Mexico, Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia, and China (among others).

Pete Tridish, co-founder of Prometheus Radio Project, has worked for years to improve community radio in the US, battling the FCC and building countless low-power FM stations. Pete has lead radio trainings in numerous countries, including Guatemala, Venezuela, Nepal and Tanzania!

Ahlam Mutahseb is an associate professor of media and communication studies at California State University, San Bernadino. Ahlam also works with Alternate Focus TV, which attempts to provide a more balanced narrative of the Middle East.

Debbi Winsten has 17 years experience empowering citizen voices in the United States, Asia and Africa. She collaborates with diverse cultures on community radio and outreach using participatory, literacy optional tools or sustainable development. Debbi helped Liberians mobilize 25 community radio stations before the 2005 elections, and recently established local broadcasts in Cameroon's North West Province.

Laura Newman is a graduate student at the University of Ohio-Athens, currently studying communication for development practice and theory, with a focus on community media (specifically radio). She has volunteered at WORT-FM and WOUB, and will travel to South Africa this summer to research the effects of radio there.

Sheila Katzman works with the Women's International News Gathering Service (WINGS), [recently uncerimoniously dumped from KOOP Radio jre] and FemVue Radio. The former produces radio programs by and about women around the world, and the latter works as a Peace radio consultancy, training community broadcasters in Africa. Programs run>internationally, and deal with countless women and gender issues (including human rights, and sexual reproductive health), political and>social issues, and efforts to improve access to community radio.

Eduardo DeLanderos-Tierre works with KBOO in Portland, Oregon, broadcasting bilingually to the surrounding community. He has corresponded and worked with radio activists across the world, and hosts a weekly, art-focused show.

Elizabeth DiNovella has volunteered with WORT-FM in Wisconsin for the past 10 years, and works as the Culture Editor for the Progressive Magazine. She also produces Progressive Radio, which airs on 30 stations weekly.

Mansoor Sabbagh is a cofounder and codirector of Global Voices for Justice. The organization produces and broadcasts radio programs for community and public radio across the US, shedding light on important social, political, cultural, historical, and educational issues.

Kristin Shamas is a doctoral student at the University of Oklahoma. She also works extensively with OURMedia, an emerging global network attempting to facilitate a dialogue between academics, activists, practitioners and policy experts around citizens' media initiatives.

Dov Hirsch will represent KGNU, a pioneer in community radio, broadcasting out of Boulder, Colorado. In his capacity as an Adult Mentor in the Youth Radio Program, Dov trains local adolescents and teens in all aspects of radio journalism, from writing to audio editing, to field recording. Mr. Hirsch has a Masters degree in Media Studies, conducting research on how democracy occurs through media.

Former Chief of UnitedNations Peacekeeping Radio in sub-sahara Africa and Chief of Public Information for the UN Peace Mission in Sierra Leone. Prior to that, I was a producer/host at WBAI/Pacifica Radio.

Frieda Werden is the co-founder and current producer of the syndicated program WINGS: Women's International News Gathering Service, which has been an AMARC member since 1986 and showcases productions by women from many countries. She also works as Spoken Word Coordinator for CJSF-FM, the campus-community radio station at Simon Fraser University. Originally from the US, she immigrated to Canada in 2002. She serves as Vice President of AMARC from North America. At age 59, she has been active in community radio for 33 years.

Kate Coyer is a long-time radio producer and media activist. She recently completed her PhD and is currently a post doctoral research fellow with the Project for Global Communication Study at the Annenberg School, University of Pennsylvania where she is looking at community broadcasting in Central and Eastern Europe. She also volunteers with Prometheus to help people make their own radio programs and build their own community radio stations.

Danila Apasov works with the Prometheus Radio Project, and is taking care of logistics for the conference. She is very busy.

And last but not least, Jim Ellinger is widely known for his years of community media work, including most recently "What It Feels Like to Be Run Over By the FEMA PR Machine;" the battle to provide radio services to the thousands of Katrina evacuees in the Houston Astrodome. He has previously served as PR Director of Austin Community Television, Communications Director of the Austin Music Network, Membership/PR Director of Wheatsville Food Co-op, Founder of KOOP Radio, [even tho' they now deny it! jre] Producer/Host of "Austin Airwaves" and radio columnist for the Austin Chronicle.

Since 9/11, [and since being screwed over by koop jre] Ellinger has focused his efforts outside of North America. He has visited more than 75 cities in 25 countries on various media gigs. He has produced radio theatre in Mozambique for the benefit on non-literate farmers, done radio surveys in the jungle of the Darien Gap of Panama and froze his butt off in Siberia helping a local radio/TV group. He assisted Petri and Co. in putting an LPFM on the air on the roof of the Yak & Yeti Hotel in Katmandu for AMARC8. This will be Ellinger's 8th AMARC conference, making him arguably the longest-running AMARC member.

Following AMARC, Ellinger and his partner "The World's Most Dangerous Blonde," will be traveling through much of the Middle East, looking for co-ops, no doubt...

Amman Airwaves #1...

2006-10-30T04:54:00.000-06:00

Hello Again Friends!
Welcome to Jim Ellinger and the
"World's Most Dangerous Blonde"
2006 TravelBlog!

Amman Airwaves and
The Middle East!

راديوي لأجل شعوب, لأج (Radio for People, Not for Profit)

Most of you fall into the general categories of:
Family and friends from Austin, Houston, the Bay area
and California, Columbia and St Louis, Missouri,
Radio folks and community/indy media practitioners,
PCVs, NGO workers, ex-pats and internationalistas...
with a few good Campers, co-opers and bamboo nuts
thrown in for good measure!

About 2/3rds of you all have been on our previous travelblog
lists, including most recently PanaRadio; my radio adventures
with Betina from Argentina in the wilds of Panama, and,
"What It Feels Like to be Run Over by the FEMA PR
Machine," the battle to provide radio services to thousands
of Katrina evacuees in the Houston Astrodome, and,
"Escape from America," our annual Run for the Border
on 9/11.

This travelblog looks to be just as, oooh, interesting...

Our friend Artie will be passing along our blogs, photos and
reports, posting them here, and sending you the link.
If we have the wrong Eddress, or are sending you more than one
copy, or you want to receive emails at a different Eddress, or you
simply do not wish to receive our postings, kindly let Artie know
and he will take care of you. Thanks Artie!

Caution! Pottymouth Ahead!
If you don't want to read the F Word, or the MF word, or hear
the current administration described in graphically unflattering
terms, or if you are a bit squeamish about detailed descriptions
of the real world outside North America...then this might not
be the blog for you!

Some past travelblogs have included:
the fine art of la mordida/baksheesh, 79 kilos of coke, lonely
phonecalls from the jungle, being bitten, elephant dung, scary
toxic stuff, 17 below zero weather reports, street hustlers/cons,
unfriendly cops, friendly cops, overly-friendly cops, stuff
blowing up, roads that just suddenly end, putting up radio
stations, MF FEMA officials...and of course, border crossings...

There will be some serious border crossing and traveling going
on this trip, possibly including any of the following:

Crossing the Green Line seperating Greek from Turkish Cyprus,
Israeli/Palestinian checkpoints crossing the infamous Wall,
Getting into "still hip after all those bombs," Beirut and
Lebanon, via Scary Syria,
Traveling up through Asian Turkey to EU wannabe Turkey,
ending up in no-Instanbul-shit.
Maybe a daytrip to Iraq?
Plus Petra and all the historic sites in Amman and Jordan!

http://amarc9.amarc.org/
http://www.ammannet.net/
http://jim.ellinger.org/

Stay tuned!
jim ellinger and the WMDB

PanaRadio #11 LET GO!!!

2006-10-25T08:03:00.000-05:00

OH BOY! FIREWORKS!!! or
“Let go! LET GO!!

LET GO BEFORE IT EXPLODES!!!

Fun with large, homemade fireworks in the middle of the Pan-American Pothole.

‘Nother Damn Disclaimer:
No one was hurt during this episode. Well, okay, not permanently or seriously. (But my ears are still ringing hours later.) This story is not a call to action to purchase, even at rock bottom bargain prices, possess, or use fireworks, legal or not. Remember: Fireworks don’t kill people, they make them hard of hearing.
Now, if you are among the large number of family and friends on this PanaRadio list who have been to our wonderful home in often wonderful Austin, Texas for our many parties, know that frequently fireworks are a part of the party.

And if you have been to any of our parties, you know Rule #1 regarding fireworks. Say it to yourself first. Right! “Nothing makes any noise.” Fireworks are strictly illegal to possess within the Austin City Limits (the municipality, not the best music program on PBS.) A $210 fine, I believe, and for good reason. I recall a nice cedar-shaked condo somewhere in town burned to the ground a coupla’ years back ‘cause of a single, solitary errant bottle rocket.

Noisy fireworks also tend to spook the neighbors’ dog causing it to take a dump on the divan, scare the WWII vet up the street, and prompt calls to 911. Fireworks that make no noise, done in the proximity of your house for a few minutes amidst a party, are usually tolerated. We’re talking sparklers, morning glories, fountains and Roman Catholic Candles. Another reason to invite the neighbors to your parties.

But tonight, here at the fabulous Felicidad, the most structurally solid hotel in the entire city, with cold and cold running water, no bed bugs, honest maids, excellent Panamanian coffee, and no TVs, credit cards or phones, fireworks there are going to be...

There is a big music event in the hotel courtyard tonight, which is quite out of the ordinary for a Wednesday night in dusty Meteti. Nenito Vargas and the Plumas Negras, a great band, is headlining. Cover is two dollars. Two! Plus you have to rent your own beer, chair, and table.

Earlier in the day, the crews were setting up the stage, PA, stacks of plastic chairs, beer booth, etc. Kinda’ reminded me of home.

There is a guy shooting off these rockets that I had seen, and heard, around the area before. They are clearly homemade. They stand about four feet tall, with a stick made out of reed, or some pretty strong but light-weight stick. The head of the rocket is all cardboard, kraft paper and white cotton string. Now I have seen these things take off, reach maybe 200 feet in about seconds and explode with three loud reports. You can hear them for miles, even inside buildings with the AC on. So these guys are shooting these things off, and I ask, "Hey!, where can I get some fun?"

They point to right across the street to a local construction materials store. I race across the Pan-American Pothole and come back grinning with a dozen.

The rockets, bundled together in a dozen are a buck each, but I end up being charged $14. Gringo prices you understand. Again, we are so from “not here,” we stand out a mile away. Betina from Argentina is dressing very modestly today, an actual blouse, and a bra. Everybody, I mean everybody, in town knows us. There are maybe 10-12 outsiders here.

I ask Betina from Argentina to take my picture holding the rockets. I go out into the middle of the road, now crowded with double parked trucks, taxis, and an honest to goodness tour bus! and prepare to set off the first rocket. “Hold it ABOVE where you light it,” offers a local. Oh. I light the rocket, and with an impressive WHOOSH!! it races skyward with a trail of golden sparks and that sweet smell of black powder. (I love the smell of gunpowder in the morning. It smells like…victory.) After it has climbed a good coupla’ hundred feet it explodes, once! twice!!, three times!!! “Yee HAW!” I say in exuberant English, “Gimme’ 'nother!”

I ask if any of the other folks want to try one out. No takers. I tell Betina from Argentina that she should try it once, just for the experience. “Okay, uh, no. No…” I ask a local resident, who responds dryly, “Get away from me…”

But Alan, a biologist from Colorado, who is here working to develop an eco-tourism circuit in the Darien, says he’ll try one.

I explain that it’s pretty simple, just hold the stick above where you light it, balancing the stick straight up on the ground, and the rocket will take off by itself. No muss, no fuss.

I mean, what could happen?

(Funny, I can hear some of my friends saying “Oh Christ!” right now…and I am having trouble just hearing the click of the keyboard.)

Alan's wife looks on with a good wife worried look.

He lights the short fuse. The rocket begins to burn. A tail of sparks is bouncing off the ground. He doesn’t let go. “Let go!” I yell. Still he holds it.

“ALAN!! Let Go!!!” Finally, “LET GO!!!”

He tosses the rocket down a few feet from his feet, and it EXPLODES in a cloud of smoke, dust and gravel. LOUD! The crowd of girls standing by the phone booth scream and scatter. The doormen jump out into the middle of the road. A taxi screeches to a dusty halt. (No wait, that happens here all the time…) The crowd is yelling, laughing hysterically, falling all over themselves.

At least I SEE them doing that. Yes, they all appear to be laughing and yelling. But I don’t actually hear them. What I hear, and feel, is a painful, piercing ringing in my ears. “Jesus Fucking Christ!” I hear from inside my skull.

“That was FUCKING LOUD!"

Everybody is saying “What? Yeah! What? It WAS loud! Yeah, that WAS loud!"

"What?!”

Four hours later, now back in my room in the Fabulous Falicidad, my left ear still hurts. Alan has sustained a small second degree burn on the tip of his thumb. Later I ask him.

“Alan, why didn’t you let go?”

“I thought it would take off on its own.”

“It would if you let go.”

“I guess I misunderstood you instructions, you said, ‘just hold it upright and it would take off.’”

“Yes, that’s what I said.”

“Well, I thought it going to take off by itself.”

“Yes if you just let go…”

“Well, I…”

I kept the last three rockets for tomorrow. They’re right here next to my bed.

I mean...what could happen?

jim
Meteti, Panama 4/23/05

Texas Weeklies Praise KAMP Radio Efforts

2006-10-24T20:02:00.000-05:00

[3 great stories from The Austin Chronicle (7/29/05), The Houston Press (7/15/05) and The San Antonio Current (9/15/05)]

Katrina Aftermath Radio: A Brief, Dysfunctional Life
By Wells Dunbar The Austin Chronicle

Jim Ellinger (in cap, holding bottle) stands in front of a giant message board in the Astrodome, showing the critical need for communications among Katrina evacuees, a need that Ellinger and others had hoped to meet with an ill-fated low-power radio station. (Photos courtesy of Houston Independent Media Center)

"The first radio license I got from the FCC, for KOOP radio, took 11 years," said Austin Airwaves activist (and former Austin Chronicle writer) Jim Ellinger, whose interest in community media extends back to KOOP's founding. "The next three licenses took two hours over the Labor Day weekend." The atypical speed with which the feds moved on those three was in response to the proposal of a low-power FM radio station for the benefit of Hurricane Katrina evacuees in the Houston Astrodome, a short-term station with which Ellinger and Houston activists sought to disseminate "rudimentary, life-saving information." Thanks to professional legal assistance, the FCC moved quickly in granting the licenses for radio broadcast inside the Astrodome. "The FCC doesn't do anything in two hours," Ellinger said. "It's unheard of."

Too bad the licenses were never put to use.

Things seemed to be going smoothly at first. Due to a call for LPFM transmission at Cindy Sheehan's Camp Casey – which was ultimately decided against because of licensing problems – all the equipment Ellinger needed was already assembled. Sony promised thousands of personal radios, while the Pacifica Radio network program Democracy Now! made possibly the biggest dollar-store purchase in it's history, buying thousands of the tiny receivers. It wasn't long, however, before "political hacks from Harris County" began to interfere. Despite FCC approval and support from the governor's office and members of the Houston City Council, county officials made it their mission to tune out the LPFM station, Ellinger said.

Not that there wasn't a need for greater communication. Once thousands of evacuees began flooding into the Astrodome, it became apparent information was as valuable as shelter. Allies from Houston Pacifica station KPFT-FM and the Houston Independent Media Center, in interviewing evacuees, discovered that basic services and benefits were a mystery to most. "They don't know how to get a new Social Security card," said Ellinger. "'What do I do if I have a warrant in Louisiana? Can my kids get into school without shots or IDs? Can I drive my car without a license?'" FEMA and the Joint Information Center, a multi-agency task force overseeing evacuee services, communicated with the dome's new residents via the arena's PA system and a newsletter.

"That worked for some things," said Ellinger, "but it wouldn't work if, say, you had to have a five-minute interview with the head of the school district."
Out of talks between Ellinger and media activists like Houston Independent Media Center's Tish Stringer and KPFT's Renee Feltz, came the proposal of an LPFM Astrodome broadcast. He appointed himself "guy-on-the-ground" to run day-to-day operations and made his nonprofit group, Austin Airwaves, Inc., the station applicant.

The subsequent wrangling with the newly minted masters of disaster overseeing Astrodome services would've been a hilarious window into bungling bureaucracy, if not for the troubles that could've been prevented. Pandemic confusion over the availability of FEMA debit cards, which nearly resulted in a riot, is the sort of sad instance Ellinger hoped the broadcast could avert. However, claiming public safety concerns, Harris Co. officials said radio would do more harm than good.

"'You have 25,000 radios to give these people? … You have to have one for everybody, otherwise they'll steal them from each other,'" Ellinger recalled the fortuitously named Rita Obey, a "midlevel Harris Co. PR flak," saying. "They're virtually worthless," Ellinger said. "The batteries are worth more."
"We had 27,000 residents," Obey told the Chronicle. "He called me and said he could get 10,000 radios. We can't do that; how could we determine who would get the radios and who wouldn't?" Obey admitted she "didn't see the practicality" for LPFM but nonetheless took the request "up through unified command." Ellinger said Obey, an African-American, then "brought up the gangsta rap thing": fear that the ghetto braggadocio of urban laureates would agitate evacuees into an animalistic frenzy of violence. "It was very difficult not to react to that… There's some pretty strong racist overtones there," Ellinger said. Obey denies confronting Ellinger with the spectre of 50 Cent. "No. I did ask him if they would be able to access other stations," trying to ascertain the viability of Ellinger's project, she said. Despite FCC licensing, the station application was ultimately rejected Sept. 7 by the Joint Information Center. Ellinger returned the next day to reapply, flanked by two attorneys from the ACLU, requesting "one table, and a wire," Despite his pared-down request, four hours later, the application was again denied sans explanation. As Ellinger left Houston defeated, however, the FCC issued a new, fourth license to Houston IMC to broadcast out of the press section of the Astrodome parking lot. The parking lot, apparently, is under the more sympathetic jurisdiction of the city, while Harris Co. controls the buildings. "This is so petty, it's unbelievable. But they couldn't block us from the parking lot," said Ellinger, who by that time was back in Austin.
Katrina Aftermath Media Project radio, KAMP 95.3 (official call sign KH5X-IM), began its mighty six-watt broadcast Sept. 13, from a shiny, half-size Airstream trailer filled with Houston IMC's audio gear. The bare-bones studio – a miniature tower, LPFM transmitter, mixer, microphones, and not much more – provided information to evacuees, and let them tell their own stories. "Real quickly," said Ellinger of the human drama on display, "it gets kinda heavy." Or rather, it did: On the 17th, JIC asked that all those stationed in the parking area where KH5X-IM sat (mainly other media vans) move to a different lot. With the Astrodome's population steadily dwindling, the station decided to clear out a couple days early, rather than break down, move, and set up again to serve far fewer evacuees. Ellinger was clearly upset that a bureaucratic crapshoot kept 95.3 off the air when it could have been of most assistance.

"I did not have Republican credentials," Ellinger said of his brush with the Harris Co. arm of Bush's security corps. "The very idea of allowing these scruffy poor people from Louisiana to speak to themselves, for themselves, unabated and uncensored, was not a part of the FEMA PR plan."

Blocked Signals
City, County officials silence a proposed radio station inside Dome
By Todd Spivak The Houston Press

Jim Ellinger, head of Austin Airwaves Inc., distributes free transistor radios outside the Astrodome.

James Ellinger scuttles to a parked van, lifts another heavy cardboard box nearly half his size and hauls it through the Astrodome parking lot. The 52-year-old Austin native takes temporary refuge from the heat under a tree and pauses to draw a breath.

Re-energized, he snaps to his feet and takes on the role of mad carnival barker.
"Free radios! Get your free radios!" he shouts in a radio voice. "Come on, people! What about 'free' and 'radio' don't you understand? We got 10,000 radios here to give away! Get your free radio! Come get your free radio!"

A throng of people quickly encircle him to snatch their very own shiny piece of cheap plastic on this Friday afternoon. Some are willing to hang around and listen. Between barks, Ellinger launches into a harried, convoluted assault on the Harris County Republican Party. He rages on in rapid-fire staccato, saying something about the Federal Communications Commission, an information blackout and evil Republican power brokers. Audience members mostly look on in perplexed fashion, thank him for the gift and shove off.
A typical hippie Austinite blathering on, you might think. Except Ellinger actually has a story to tell.

Ellinger is a veteran of noncommercial television and radio stations. His résumé includes a short stint in 2003 with Houston MediaSource, the local public-access station now embroiled in controversy. But he's best known as founder of Austin Airwaves Inc., which he says began as a newspaper column then morphed into a radio and TV show, and three years ago was incorporated as a nonprofit community radio group.

Over Labor Day weekend, Ellinger's Austin Airwaves led an effort to build a temporary 30-watt radio station inside the Astrodome that would broadcast to the thousands of people holed up there and inside the adjacent Reliant Center. The benefits of such a venture, he says, are obvious. Since the Eighth Wonder of the World was resurrected as a homeless shelter, emergency officials have largely disseminated information to evacuees through use of cluttered, makeshift bulletin boards and a paging system that draws complaints as often being unintelligible.

A radio station, as Ellinger and community-radio activists at the Houston Independent Media Center imagined it, would help reunite family members and link evacuees to jobs, schools and health care. It would be a place to announce urgent information and clear up some of the misinformation that has added to people's frustrations.

For instance, last Thursday thousands of evacuees from across the city descended on Reliant Center to obtain FEMA-issued debit cards. But the cards were not distributed until the next day. Then, a day after that, the debit card program was discontinued altogether. In a frenzied atmosphere where new decisions and protocols are announced daily, a live radio broadcast could prove essential.

"It's a tool that for some reason they haven't thought of," Ellinger says. "It's not rocket science; it's a tiny radio box and a bunch of tiny radios."

And he nearly pulled it off.

The FCC took less than 24 hours to approve Ellinger's application to install three low-power FM radio transmitters inside the Dome and Reliant Center. This is extraordinary, since the FCC often takes as long as three years to grant such a license, according to Hannah Sassaman, an organizer for Philadelphia-based Prometheus Radio Project, which helped facilitate the effort.

"It's extremely unusual under normal circumstances, but this is an emergency situation," Sassaman explains. "Communication is something that the displaced residents are asking for almost as much as food and water."

But city and county officials overseeing the emergency management command system nixed the effort late last Wednesday afternoon. That decision was made by Robert Royall Jr., assistant fire commissioner for Harris County, according to Gloria Roemer, a spokeswoman for Harris County Judge Robert Eckels.

Roemer, who declined to arrange an interview with Royall, insists there's no need for a radio station inside the Dome because "there's been no problems getting information to evacuees." She says that Ellinger made unreasonable demands that included a large office, several computers and printers, Internet access, phone lines and unlimited access to the Dome.

"If we gave one radio station access, we'd have to give them all access," Roemer reasons.

Ellinger denies having made those requests. He says he needs only a "small quiet space" to set up a 40-watt transmitter, a plug-in cassette, a microphone, headphones and an antenna, all of which he would provide. Roemer faults Ellinger for not getting the county's thumbs-up before approaching the FCC and says it's important that people know who's in charge at the Dome.

"The FCC does not influence the operations of our emergency management system," she says. Ellinger "put all the wheels in motion with no approval from us. Now he's going bonkers over this. He started a national campaign to bad-mouth us."

What she means by this comment is unclear, since the effort to bring radio into the Astrodome has received scant attention, apart from tiny mentions in the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and a handful of blogs.

And it seems that Ellinger isn't quite the lone ranger that Roemer describes.
Asked about launching a radio station in the Dome, Houston mayoral spokesman Frank Michel says, "We would support that; getting better communication out to these people is very important."

The effort even received the written endorsement of at least one elected official. Councilwoman Ada Edwards wrote that she is "in full support of the efforts of Mr. Ellinger in setting up a radio service for the victims of Hurricane Katrina" and hopes "that this service will be able to be extended to other areas where the residents of New Orleans have found shelter."

According to Sassaman, technology activists are now working to complete another engineering study that would enable them to broadcast from outside the Dome. They would again have to win FCC approval before moving forward.

"We're not dead yet," she says.

But Ellinger is less hopeful. As he sees it, bureaucratic bungling will continue to keep people in the Dome from receiving crucial information.
Just before he learned that he would have to scrap his plans, Ellinger says, a Harris County official told him that he also would have to provide the 10,000 transistor radios for evacuees. As a result, the only people to benefit from Ellinger's efforts are those who got the little radios he passed out on Friday.
They, and the lucky owner of the dollar store where Ellinger bought them.

Radio Free Astrodome
By Elaine Wool The San Antonio Current

Prometheus Radio Project and Houston's KPFT/Pacifica Radio believe that Low Power FM is just the tool for a community in need.

Prometheus Radio, the low-power FM advocacy organization named for the Greek Titan who gave fire to man in defiance of Olympian bureaucracy, has found a human face that could broaden support for and understanding of of indy media and micro radio. LPFM service was introduced five years ago, and while the FCC has issued more than 600 licenses to non-governmental and community organizations, it remains largely under the radar and on the fringes.

But the FCC, Zeus' present-day stand-in, understands its potential for humankind. On September 10, the FCC approved a frequency for the Houston Astrodome's media parking lot, where Prometheus and Houston's Pacifica Radio station, KPFT, plan to operate a radio station until all evacuees in the dome are relocated. The 6-watt KAMP 95.3, for Katrina Aftermath Media Project, can broadcast news and public-information programming in a 1-2-mile radius, with an emphasis on helping evacuees find missing family members.

A temporary Low Power FM radio station, KAMP 95.3, is broadcasting news and public information to the dwindling number of Katrina evacuees still living in the Houston Astrodome. (Photo by Indymedia.org)
The temporary station is operating out of a rented Airstream trailer using equipment donated by the Houston Indy Media project and KPFT. An all-volunteer staff mans the facility around the clock, and dome residents can pick up the frequency on radios that Prometheus volunteers distributed last week. Community-media activists from around the state have been involved in the project, including Austin KO.OP radio founder Jim Ellinger and former KO.OP engineer Jerry Chamkis. KPFT News Director Renée Feltz said that volunteers in Houston and Dallas are recording public-service announcements with evacuees in their cities that can be broadcast through and exchanged with KAMP.

Feltz says that KAMP can provide crucial information to evacuees, including how to navigate bureaucratic hurdles, rumor control, and a sense of connection with their uprooted former lives. "Almost everyone you ask says they want to hear about what's going on back home," said Feltz in interviews at KPFT's offices September 10 and by phone September 12. KAMP also will offer some musical programming "if people want us to," Feltz added.

Strangely enough, fears about music programming may be one reason that Houston officials blocked Prometheus' first requests to operate inside the dome despite the FCC's quick action and the reported support of Governor Rick Perry's office. Feltz said JIC Public Information Officer Rita Obey told her that the JIC, which turned down Prometheus twice, was concerned about "incendiary gangster rap," but Obey said in a telephone interview that she does not remember that conversation.

JIC Incident Commander R.W. Royal Jr, who authorized the denials, could not be reached for comment. Feltz said neither Royal nor any other JIC staff met with Prometheus to discuss their plans in detail. "I think the communication was so poor that they never understood what programming we sought to provide," said Feltz.

While KAMP's primary goal is to provide public-service information to the evacuees, radio is a powerful venue for survivors to tell their stories. KPFT has aired firsthand accounts since evacuees first began arriving in Texas, some of which starkly contrast with official reports. Feltz recalled an interview she recorded with a group of children who had been without food or clean water for seven days after the hurricane hit. "That was a really different story than what we were hearing from Mayor Nagin, who said, We have all the resources we need, people are getting rescued, it's just a matter of agreeing to leave," said Feltz. She added that KPFT has received significant listener response to their coverage. "I can say that every time I get on the radio to do an update, the survivors call, especially if we're talking about New Orleans."

But even as KPFT's Katrina audience is growing, the population that can participate in and benefit from KAMP is dwindling. The delay caused by the JIC's denial drained some of the enthusiasm of the media volunteers and donors who jumped on board the project as soon as it was announced, and every day there are fewer evacuees left in the dome. On September 7, the day Royal denied Prometheus' request, volunteer Jacob Appelbaum posted his frustration on the Houston Indy Media website. "I told [the evacuees] that I was with a group helping to bring emergency radio information to them. Broadcast from right inside the dome. Those people were overjoyed to hear that they would get a radio station ... It breaks my heart."

"Just like everyone else in the city, people were asking, What can I do" said Feltz. "Here we had an opportunity to reach out with people that wanted to do something with media." Prometheus had a tentative agreement with Sony to distribute 10,000 walkman radios, but when the JIC rejected the original applications, volunteers distributed between 700 and 1,000 inexpensive receivers instead. Some frustrated volunteers wanted to set up a pirate station, but Prometheus has a working relationship with the FCC that has brought significant gains for LPFM. "We felt like we had this relatively positive working relationship with the FCC and we didn't want to step on anyone's toes for the next time around," said Feltz.

By Monday, September 12, when KAMP was setting up in preparation for going live Tuesday morning, the dome's population had shrunk to 1,400 residents from a high of 17,500 on September 4, the day the FCC approved Prometheus' original application. Feltz said that the station will likely operate for about a week because Houston officials plan to relocate all evacuees from the Reliant Park complex, which includes the Astrodome, by September 18. KAMP may go off the air at that point, but Feltz said the activists have discussed transferring the license to one of the area groups that is working closely with the relocated evacuees, such as Shape Community Center or the Shrine of the Black Madonna. Any such transfer would have to be approved by the FCC.
In the meantime, KAMP will be broadcasting at 95.3 to any listeners in the Astrodome area and uploading missing-persons PSAs to the Houston Indy Media website (houston.indymedia.org) or a linked site. "This is an opportunity to see micro radio as a tool relevant to people's lives," said Feltz. "This isn't a radio station that's being set up to prove a point, or for people that already have access to the internet. It's something that could provide an essential service."

PanaRadio #9 Jungle Heat and Dreams of Snow...

2006-10-24T19:03:00.000-05:00

My great radio partner, Betina from Argentina and I decide to tag along with one of the local Padres as he makes his parish rounds. You have to tag along a lot down here: buses, trucks, taxis, 4x4s, 4x8s, patrol boats, logging trucks, even stolen logging trucks carrying, uh, stolen trees.

This is the first time we have headed south deeper into the depths of the Darien Gap. We are still well outside the lawless frontier area, and even still north of Yaviza, the fabled "end of the road.' As I have said earlier, this section of the Pan-American Pothole is for shit. But, surprise! It gets worse. Parts of the road no longer have potholes...because parts of the road are no longer there. Just gone. Space. Absence of matter. We assume the Padre knows the road well.
We arrive in a small village. A place with about a dozen houses, one rickety store, one partially constructed Catholic church, a dozen outhouses, chicken coops, pig pens and horse stalls. The local cowboys, and these guys were definitely born to ride, are practicing their ridin' and ropin' on about a dozen yearling calves. Pretty easy pickings as the young steer is kicked out of a chute and the cowboy, looking as much like the Marlboro Man (pre-emphysema) as he can, races after the little heifer, lassos him, and then brakes hard before crashing into the far fence. All in all, pretty good, clean wholesome fun. Well, unless you're the cow. One poor little fella, so scared I thought his big brown cow eyes were going to pop out of his head, actually broke through one of the loose boards of the crude fence making the arena. Making a break for it, the little doggie races for his life across the church lawn...right towards me! I flail my arms to try and get him to turn back. No way. In hot pursuit are three of the local gauchos, bearing down on me at full throttle. Now, just what is the maximum speed of a horse? 20 mph? 25? I decided it was time to get some religion, and dive into the church. The Three Amigos roar by like the Bronx InterBorough Express.

A while later, I wander around the back of the church to see how Betina is doing with our radio surveys. As part of our assignment, we had developed a comprehensive survey of radio listenership in the Darien. "Do you listen to the radio? AM, FM or both? What stations?" The survey, the first of its kind, has been providing some useful information for our radio client, Voz Sin Fronteras.

However, as I walk up, I see that she is slumped in a plastic chair, looking flushed, surrounded by a gaggle of local women, who are making a fuss over her.
"Hola Betina. Que paso, chica?"
"Um, I think I passed out. I guess I did..."
"Damn girl, you okay?"

Taking her wrist I tell her that her pulse is weak. [Like I could tell the difference between a weak pulse and a Ford Ranger going through the side of a building...]
"What happened? Did you fall over, like a board, or collapse like a sack of potatoes?"
"Uh, I don't know..."
"Did you wake up on the ground?"
"Oh, uh, yeah I guess so...," she says a little embarrassed.

Now I know this is a good thing. If you are embarrassed, your ego is still intact, and you are probably not in shock or in too serious shape. I know this because I live with the WMDB. [You're not supposed to be laughing at this.]

Stop laughing.

Well, Betina is a real trooper. Like she had a choice. It's several hours in the Padre's pick up, and two more Catholic Masses, before I can get her back to her air-conditioned room at La Falicidad, our home for the length of the radio assignment.

I reward myself with not one, but two, Orange Crushes. You can get Crushed down here for just two bits, and like the locals, I can now down an entire bottle in about ten seconds flat. I've seen guys drink a bottle before the gal behind the counter can make change.

So like a good ACDI/VOCA consultant, I decide I better call it in. I hoof it down the Inter-American Pothole a ways to the local Cable & Wireless phone booth (owned by the British telecom giant) and to my surprise find that it works. Up the Queen! After a number of attempts to provide my damn PEEN Number, as prompted by the ‘bush-two-for-Anglish’ recording, I am connected with the country office of A/V in Panama City. But of course, it's after hours, and, surprisingly, no answering machine.

After a little back and forth, I decide to call the A/V Emergency Hotline number in our nation's capital, Bethesda, Maryland. The phone is answered before the second ring by an efficient sounding woman by the name of Faith. Perfect! Cuz' I NEED a little Faith right about now! I explain that this is more of a courtesy call than an emergency one, just to put the word up the line. No reason to call the parents of Betina in Argentina. No MedicVac, por favor. I explain that we will take tomorrow off, see if this backwater 'burg has a doctor, and no big deal...just a courtesy call.

I end the call with a little Texas Friendly banter, "By the way, Faith, where did you say you were speaking from? Bethesda? What's the weather like there? Is it Spring there yet?

"Oh no, we still have a little snow on the ground..."

"BASTARD!"

"I beg your pardon?!" stammers Faith.

[Did I say that out loud...?!]

"NO, uh, sorry, um, really, but you said...snow."

"It's pretty hot down there, huh?"

Snow! That wonderful crunching sound when your foot breaks through the layer on top, the little white tornadoes whipping around the corners of buildings, mighty tree limbs hanging down with the weight of...snow!!

Sorry Faith...I owe ya' a cold one.

jim Meteti, the Darien Gap

PanaRadio #8 Bloody Night at the Big Cock House

2006-10-24T16:16:00.000-05:00

April 5, 2005 La Palma The Darien Gap remote Panama
Bloody Night at the Big Cock House

We have made friends with a RTVE Canale Once film crew from Panama City, who are shooting news and documentary footage here in The Darien. A jovial mob of six folks traveling together almost gypsy-style in a van, packed to the gunwales with luggage, tripods, boxes of tapes and two battered but functioning Sony Beta cams. I had forgotten how damn heavy those things are.

My radio partner, Betina from Argentina, had been spotted by the four guys in their TV van earlier in the week and we ended up having dinner. The guys couldn't believe their luck to find such an Argentinean/Italian beauty who dresses so, uh, modern, in such a remote place. They are nice to me too! Dinner and beers were on them. Since then we have crossed paths a number of times. Remember, Meteti is very small, everybody knows everybody, and the very few outsiders stand out. We are always made to feel welcome, ("Buenas!") because the locales are grateful for any help they can get here. This is as close to the end of the road as most folks ever get. No touristas aqui!

I learned today that there are at least 800 Columbian refugees in the Darien. They are referred to as "Temporarily Displaced Persons." They cannot work, at least not legally, and there are damn few jobs in the Darien. "Como como?" I ask. The UN High Commission on Refugees feeds them, I am surprised to hear. Blue Hats, here? in the Darien? We shall see. Many folks in Panama look down on Columbians and blame them for a lot of crime and other problems. There is no crime in Meteti, I am told.

It's the weekend and as Meteti is not known as a big party town, we eagerly accept an offer to join the film crew on a trip to La Palma. It turns out to be quite an adventure.

We all cram into the van and head...in the wrong direction. I am very comfortable in going along for the ride, so I say nothing, until we turn into the well-fortified local army/police station. "What are we doing here?" I ask. "How else were you expecting to get to La Palma? Besides we're staying at La Policia's White House! But the girls have to sleep in the jail!" I suspect my leg is being yanked, being the only yanqui here, but this is the real plan. The women do seem put out about the prospect of spending the night, even as honored guests, in the local pokey.

We present ourselves at the front desk. The place is bustling with young soldiers doing soldier-like stuff. Lotsa' sideway glances to our beautiful, friendly chicas. We are led to El Jefe's office, and lo and behold! It’s Major Machete! The Major has that "you should be doing exactly as I should not have to even tell to you," look down pat. But he is also a pretty personable fellow and we hit it off. I love shooting the shit with cops. One thing leads to another, and I end up agreeing to be the official photographer for some Police/Community event in Santa Fe next week. "Jim Ellinger, Official Police Photographer," should look good on the resume. I suspect that will be a good story too, and I will certainly have plenty of photos! Having gotten the ‘pat on the back and the walk all the way to the van’ by the Major, I am officially "a friendly."

We double back and head to the end of another crappy road until we reach a rickety dock. Think Mexican bus stop...on a river. We unload our gear into the steel river boat, The Arruaca, Police Unit #436. The launch is bare bones; no seats, luggage stacked at your feet, all weapons pointed to the deck.

Life vests are optional, but I put mine on. Job One, ya' know. (Job Two: Don't Come Back Without the Damn Story...) We roar past everything in sight and head out from the dense mangroves of the Magnilla River into the bay of the Pacific Ocean. The usual half hour ride takes just under 15 minutes with these hotdogs.

While a part of the mainland, La Palma is very island-like: It is virtually impossible to get there except by boat. Most of the residents are poor and black. The shacks lean over the ocean, where the night before's trash is swept. Everybody knows everybody else. Dogs sleep in the middle of the only street. It's the weekend so there are a number of events in town. Atlas Beer has brought in some pretty girls, and pretty boys, to shill their swill. But the big event is at the Big Cock House.

Serious Disclaimer:
If the sight of poor animals being tortured to death, just for a few drunken laughs, bragging rights and maybe chicken feed, offends you, DO NOT read any further.

Needless to say, my presence at this, perfectly legal, public, commercially-sponsored, event is not an endorsement of animal cruelty, specifically cock fighting. It is a nasty, ugly, vicious form of entertainment. Not entirely unlike the Congressional Redistricting battle in the Texas Legislature last year.

The enormous bouncer gives us the nod, and we climb up to the top tier of a crudely-constructed arena. No one seems to give a shit about being filmed. The seats around the arena are filled by guys and a few women, mostly drunk, all very loud, and SCREAMING at their bird to KILL THAT SUMBITCH!! The two roosters, with tiny razors strapped to their legs eye each other warily and circle each other like seasoned boxers. With a flurry of feathers, they attack each other to the delight of the crowd. It lasts quite a while, and several times when I thought it was over, with the winning bird walking back and forth over the prone carcass of his opponent, the other bird would leap to its feet and fight on a while longer.

Toward the end it gets even harder to watch. Finally, the clock and some obscure rules I don't know end the fight. It's pretty gruesome.

The loser, near death, ripped to pieces with feathers and flesh hanging off his carcass, is carried away by his despondent owner. The winner, somewhat better, but still bleeding badly, seems hysterical with pride. A cock on the walk. The winner's owner is trailed by his supporters, no doubt hoping to get a free beer from his winnings, which I wager were about $50. Lining the walls of the bar are the next fights' contenders...or next night's dinner. They are colorful, good looking birds seemingly enjoying their high regard.

We eat chicken and rice for dinner. Cost: two bucks. We end up all sleeping in the Casa Blanca, a huge, vacant mansion on the end of a torn up runway behind the police station. The mattresses are hard but the air conditioning is a luxury.

jim Casa Blanca La Palma

PanaRadio #6 79 Kilos of Blow...

2006-10-24T15:54:00.000-05:00

March 21, 2005 PanaRadio Numbero Seis
Only Users Lose Drugs! 79 keys of Pure Columbian Coke!!!

Location: I had to agree to not to disclose the location. Surprise.
Circumstances: Big ass bust, local cops wanna' make damn sure they get some credit this time.
How Jim fits in: I can just hear you saying...
"How in the flippin' flyin' fuck did Jim come across 79 kilos of coke?!"

Well I had to agree to not tell. I wasn't even supposed to be in the room, you understand.

So...

Here goes... ;)

But first...

Big Legal Fucking Disclaimer...

The attached photo does not constitute an endorsement of the international drug industry, specifically, but not limited to, the Cali, Medellin and/or any other Columbian drug cartels. Nor does in constitute a call to action to inhale, ingest or imbibe any product, legal or not. Don't do illegal drugs.
Stay out of the drawer!

Earlier in the day we had been at the Big Cock House, but that's another, beery, bleery, bloody, story. We are so-ooo obviously from "not here" with our cameras, women and clean clothes. Yet another local slides up next to me and says...something? My Spanish still sucks. I blow him off and keep on truckin'. He puts his hand on my shoulder and pulls up his shirt a little. A .38 revolver. Lovely. He pulls his shirt up a little further and I see his badge. Oh, well, that makes it all better, si?

"Uh guys! I think this nice man wants to talk to YOU..."

Just a matter of the local authorities trying to get some positive press for their diligent on-going efforts to keep low cost, high quality drugs off the campuses of America. We are directed to the local cop shop where El Jefé explains that there was a big, BEEG, drug bust here, at this place, the other night, and would we be interested in shooting some footage? "Si, Senor!" I give him his very own Austin Airwaves refer mag.

We're at this place and Betina from Argentina takes me aside and says that Panama City film crew we have been hanging with, has asked that we stay put and not go upstairs. Like I'm gonna' miss this photo op?! No friggin' way! We wait a moment and follow at a discreet distance and slip in the door. The tension is already high enough that nobody says anything. Betina from Argentina gives the boys a nervous smile. "We're cool," I whisper. The tripod is popped open, the Betacam white-balanced, and from behind a curtained corner in this filthy storage room, the two narcocops struggle to pull out four sugar sacks, each packed with paper and plastic-wrapped kilo bricks of first degree felony fun.

Jesus!

Have you ever seen 79 kilo bricks of pure cocaine? Well, of course not!(Well, if you have, sure as shit don't tell me!) I know I've never seen so much coca, or any amount of drogas, in my life.

Let's see, 79 kilos equals roughly 175 pounds, with 16 ounces per pound...how many grams in an ounce? I have no idea what even a gram of blow costs nowadays. Damn, why didn't I bring a copy of High Times? Plus this shit is puro! Am I looking at a million bucks here? The room is crowded with stacks of broken rifles, old police and military gear, canabalized radios, and other cop clutter. The note on the door reads, "No Admittance, Authorized Personnel Only!" which provides about as much security as the lock on the creaky wooden door, which I note is partially taped in place.

I shoot two pictures, one of which is attached. The film footage is to be shown on national Panamanian TV next week, so don't tell anybody you saw it here first.

Stay tuned, jim
right fucking here...

PanaRadio #5 Major Machete and the Ambush That Never Was...

2006-10-24T15:30:00.000-05:00

Major Machete and the Ambush That Never Was…

The new Arch Bishop of The Darien, His Eminence Pedro Hernandez is scheduled to arrive to take up residence here in Meteti. You gotta’ wonder who he cheesed off in Vat City to pull this gig… This is a very big deal for sleepy little Meteti, which, like most of Latin America, is nearly 90% Catholic. The Big C.

And of course, my client Voz Sin Fronteras is Catholic Radio. 20% of the air time is religious or church business. The other 80% of the programming is great.

The Arch B will be hosting Mass in the station’s outdoor basketball court, now swept clean by scores of Good Catholics, and decorated with laurels, palm fronds and colorful welcome signs. A thousand plus folks are expected maňana! The entire population of Meteti is only maybe 1500 folks, not including about 800 Columbia refugees that they keep hidden away somewhere...

But first we have to go get His Eminence. Or, more accurately, be a part of the welcoming committee and traveling entourage. We pile into the VSF Toyota pickup truck. The station’s Program Director, known affectionately by her friends as Tweety Bird, is behind the wheel talking excitedly into the 2 meter Motorola squawkie-talkie.

The wide space in the road known as Agua Frio Uno is only maybe twenty-five clicks away, but the road is just awful, maybe the second worst I have ever seen in my travels. (The worst would likely be in the middle section of mine-strewn Mozambique, which literally was washed into the Indian Ocean in a devastating flood in 2000.) This is part of the fabled Trans-American Highway, known here as the Inter-Americana.

Even the potholes have potholes.

We arrive at said wide space to find a hundred or so children, priests, nuns, truck drivers, rosary-twiddling grannies, and some of Panama’s finest defenders of “Dios y Nacion.” Panama does not actually have an army. Panama was literally created, literally, by the USofA (sugg’d read: “The Path Between the Seas,” an excellent history of the building of the Panama Canal.) So the Police outside Panama City do double duty. I’ll refer to them as MPs from here on. They dress and look and act like soldiers. I have a generally positive feeling about them, but I have only been on the ground a few days.

There’s a couple of MPs on Suzuki dirt bikes, real hot-doggers, straddling their Vietnam-era M16s across the gas tanks. There is the official “Policia Nacional” transport bus. You can just make out the words “Muncie Indiana School District” on the side. Hoosier Pride!!

Eventually his Eminence’s Entourage arrives, a caravan of about a dozen cars, pickups and minivans. Out pops the Big B, all of five feet two inches, and he wades into the excited crowd, shaking hands, patting kids’ heads, and waving his hand over plastic gallon jugs of water. None are turned into wine as far as I can see.

I am in full photog mode, having agreed to provide plenty of pix to the station. I take pics of the nuns, the kids, these guys shooting off big, loud homemade rockets, the Welcome to Darien signs, the flags, and, discreetly the MP. While most of the contingent of a dozen or so MPs have side arms or M16s, one fellow, clearly el jefé, stripes on the sleeve, has a pretty good armory strapped his torso. I don’t know if the six extra ammo pouches contain extra rounds or Chicklets, but what catches my eye is the three foot long machete strapped to his back! This guy is pretty serious looking, six foot plus, even his face is muscular. He da’ man, no doubt about it. I dub him Major Machete.

So we’re bouncing along the “Highway” racing to get his Eminence’s ass to Meteti. Leading the Entourage is the ‘Someday I'm-a Gonna’ Be Da’ Pope Mobile’, then Major Machete and his serious soldiers, then us. Every few minutes, the Big B’s truck pulls over as he is greeted by little villages of the Embarra. The Embarra, one of the seven remaining original peoples of the Isthmus are largely Catholic and have turned out in throngs. The road is lined with hand made signs and laurels of colored balloons and palm fronds. It’s always fun to witness the most exciting event in a kid’s life. Good Catholics!

The Embarra kids, with beaded necklaces, brilliant skirts and enormous smiles, are just gorgeous. Right outta’ a travel brochure. More hand shaking, head patting and water waving.

So on we go; the closer we get to Meteti the worse the road. We slow to stop again. More kids?

No.

JESUS CHRIST!!

The road, the entire width of the highway, is blocked by an enormous gas tanker truck!

!INFLAMABLE! !NO FUMAR DE MENOS 50 METERS!!! is crudely stenciled on the side of the tank. The damn N is printed backwards.

The entire entourage slows to a stop. I look around. While of most of the roadside land along the road has been re-deforested, slashed, burned and cleared for farming, this particular stretch has a steep hill on either side, thick with jungle. I catch the eye of the MP standing in the back of Major Machete’s truck clutching the roll bar with one arm, his rifle with the other. He’s doing the 360 scan thing too. I look around and say to the folks in the truck, in English, “You know, this would be a great place for an ambush…”

“Como? George Bush!?”

With a flick of his arm the MP in the back of the truck flips out the metal stock of his M16. All the truck doors open and legs stick out.

Time starts to slow down a little.

I hate it when that happens.

I unbuckle my seat belt and unlock the door. There’s this lo-ooong pause. I don’t see anything in the dense jungle foliage…like you could see a meter off the road anyway.

Suddenly Major Machete leaps from the truck, looking seven feet tall now with the machete sticking above the back of his head, and strides towards the cab of the still motionless tanker truck. From the backseat of the truck, the only plain clothed MP struggles to get out. He had been the one standing behind the Bishop most of the time, doing the Secret Service thing. This fellow, who surely never met a plate of chicken enchiladas he didn’t like, was obviously caught unawares, and struggled to pull his pants up while at the same time shoving an unholstered pistol in the crack of his ample ass. He tries to catch up with Major Machete who was now making meter long strides toward the truck. The two motorcycles MPs roar up in a flanking action. I’ll bet these guys all played football in Cop College.

Nobody else in our truck seems aware of what is going on. Nothing IS actually going on. But, here we sit on this road, surrounded by jungle, maybe just a hundred clicks north of Yaviza…the literal end of the road. After Yaviza there are no roads, and even less law. What the Darien Gap does have a surplus of is narco-traffickers, out-of-work kidnappers, the world’s deadliest snake, an even deadlier frog, malaria, yellow fever, the damn dengue, and five types of wild cats. Oh yeah, and they also got FARC.

Stay or go? I decide to sit, though not too tight.

I don’t know what Major Machete said to the truck driver, or even if he had to say anything at all. But in just a moment, the driver found it and ground it into first reverse, and with an enormous plume of blue gray diesel smoke, the tanker lurched backward into a small roadside mercado. The tanker plows into a stack of blue “Pide Pepsi” plastic containers full of glass bottles waiting to be returned, shattering them all.

Off we go!

Welcome to Meteti Arch Bishop Hernandez!!

jim ellinger maybe 20 minutes from that wide space up the road
Go Hoosiers!!!

PanaRadio #4 Bitten on Neck by Ocelot!

2006-10-24T15:15:00.000-05:00

Greeting from tiny, steamy, remote Meteti, Panama!

While hanging out with Betina from Argentina, outside Senor Mohhamed Ali's mercado in Meteti, I was attacked and bitten on the neck and ear by an ocelot! As the attached photo shows, no blood got on my stylish KPFT-Pacifica Radio T-shirt. (Support Pacifica Radio in Houston!!) The cat, an orphan rescured from poachers, seems happy enough hanging with regular house cats in the store. The Pan-American Super Duper Highway, a dust cloud of a continuous pothole crosses in front of the store, here in the second to last stop before the end of the road, Yaviza. No road, or gringos, after that. I did find the two gringamericano Peace Corp Volunteers (PCVs) here, living in 'relative' comfort just past the last police checkpoint in a 60 dollar a month pink house.

Radio Voz Sin Fronteras is very nice, 12 years old, and listened to by everyone here. It helps that it is pretty much the only station you can easily get!Manana we drive or boat, not sure, to a place called Aqua Frio Numero Uno...not to be confused with Aqua Frio Numero Dos. A coupla' new local friends are a little concerned for our safety, especially the young PCVers, just outside town. They are only protected, I believe, by a beagle-mix puppy and their good kharma.

The internet, like continuous power, is not a sure thing here, and probably non-existent in the next place. I'm fine. Shit, I'm cool! jim ellinger

9/11+5 "What Do You Know That The Rest of Us Don't?"

2006-09-09T14:47:00.000-05:00

9/11/05 heading south very fast...
9/11+5
Escape From America...
Run for the Border

It's partly a joke, partly a political statement, partly our ongoing desire to be outta' here...

One right-winger blogger flamed on me..."You fuckin' lloyd doggett lovin' austin liberal! You would turn your back on your own country, which has given you all these freedoms, at the time it needs you most?! You would turn tail and run away?!"

That almost was worth the effort right there! "Doing my part to piss off the Religious Right," as the bumper sticker sez. I DO think there is a chance that "sumptin's gonna' happen" on 9/11...just probably not IN America.

Press Release:

8 Hours to Escape America!

Join Jim Ellinger and “The World’s Most Dangerous Blonde” for their annual “Run For The Border” on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Ellinger and crew will leave Austin, Texas on Sunday, September 10th and travel to an undesignated country south of the continental US in a rehearsal of a prepared evacuation of the country following another terrorist attack and/or natural disaster in the States. Their goal is to be prepared to leave the US on eight hours notice. They will have prepared maps, rendezvous points, vehicles, border crossings, etc. They will take with them equipment and provisions including medical supplies and gear, radio/ communications and surveillance gear, maps and listings of local services and resources, food/water/chocolate, alternative/supplemental power sources, tools, etc.

According to the Washington Post, 30% of Americans do not know what year the 9/11 attacks occurred. The November, 2004 edition of Texas Monthly featured a report, “Attack Here,” that stated “most security experts agree the Houston Ship Channel is one of America’s top targets.” The August, 2006 issue of Harper’s “Imagine There's No Oil, Scenes from a Liberal Apocalypse” reports on the growth of the so-called Peak Oil Movement.

In Richard A. Clarke’s “Ten Years Later,” cover story in the January/ February, 2005 The Atlantic Monthly, he theorizes on al-Qaeda’s possible future terrorist attacks on the US infrastructure. These include attacks against the internet, subways, chemical plants, shipping containers, civilian aircraft, etc. In his description of “attacks on shopping centers and malls,” Clarke makes mention of a conceivable scenario that would include “attacks aimed at New Year’s Eve festivities on Sixth Street in Austin…”

Ellinger is widely known for his community media work, including most recently “What It Feels Like to Be Run Over By the FEMA PR Machine;” the battle to provide radio services to the thousands of Katrina evacuees in the Houston Astrodome. He has previously served as Reporter/News Anchor for KOPN's "NewsWave," PR Director of Austin Community Television, Communications Director of the Austin Music Network, Membership/PR Director of Wheatsville Food Co-op, Founder of KOOP Radio, Producer/Host of “Austin Airwaves” and radio columnist for the Austin Chronicle.

Since 9/11, Ellinger has focused most of his radio activity on third world and developing nations including Mozambique, the former Soviet Union, Nepal, New Orleans’ 9th Ward, and most recently the Darien Gap of Panama. He will serve as a North American Delegate to the AMARC9 international radio conference in Amman, Jordan this November.

The World’s Most Dangerous Blonde is widely considered the top EMT/Paramedic in Texas. This year they will be joined by The Blade.

September is both National Passport Month and National Preparedness Month.

Follow Ellinger’s escapades at http://www.radio4houston.com/ and
http://acksisofevil.org/innerside.html, and blogs at http://austinairwaves.blogspot.com/
Ellinger’s website http://jim.ellinger.org/ lists many of his past travel adventures.

Re-Sources:

The Atlantic Monthly http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200501/clarke

Harper’s http://www.harpers.org/MostRecentCover.html

Texas Monthly http://www.texasmonthly.com/preview/2004-11-01/feature5

Stratfor Daily Terrorism Brief 09.01.2005 Strategic Forecasting, Inc. (Stratfor) Austin, TX http://www.stratfor.com/ analysis@stratfor.com

Planeta Borderlands
http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/border/borderlands.html

Escape From America Magazine real estate/travel magazine (no connection)
http://www.escapeartist.com/

September is National Passport Month
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/passport/

September is National Preparedness Month
http://www.ready.gov/america/npm/index.htm

National Preparedness Month 2006 Coalition Member Tool Kit: https://neimangroup.sharedwork.com/sr/QPjhkbVJkTNV2V31UPwZSbw5WP1ZyMwAjMx0Ta
AMARC http://wiki.amarc.org/index2.php?topic=amarc9_home&style=amarc9&site=amarc9&lang=EN

Learning from Katrina: Value of Contingency Plans

2006-09-09T14:42:00.000-05:00

Eight Hours to Escape America 9/11/+5
Learning from Katrina: The Value of Contingency Plans

The order to evacuate New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina stormed through the Gulf of Mexico on Aug. 28 sent more than a million people rushing to find safety. The mass evacuation choked the interstate system and other roads for miles upon miles -- although many people, no doubt, waited to flee the oncoming disaster while they frantically searched for family members. With communications knocked out by the hurricane, however, thousands of people still remain clueless as to the whereabouts and well-being of family, friends and employees. The point is that this chaos followed some warning, albeit short, that danger was imminent. Should a disaster on a similar scale happen with no warning whatsoever, even worse bedlam would erupt.
In order to successfully cope with a natural disaster on the scale of Hurricane Katrina -- or with a major terrorist attack such as the detonation of a dirty bomb in a large city -- it is vital to have business and personal contingency plans in place. Such plans will mitigate much of the confusion and panic that make dealing with a calamity difficult for companies and individuals. Corporate contingency plans should focus on re-establishing contact with employees and assessing the impact to business operations brought on by the event. Personal contingency plans should focus on establishing contact with and accounting for family members.
Perhaps the most value derived from having a personal contingency plan is a reduction in the amount of stress that would result from not being able to immediately contact a loved one. Knowing that everyone is following the plan -- and that contact eventually be established -- frees each person to concentrate on the more pressing issue of evacuation.
Corporate contingency plans should establish a centralized operations center with reliable communications. This center would serve as a single point for integrating information and keeping track of the status of employees and business operations. Executives and employees should know to establish contact with the operations center as soon as possible after the event. Provisions should be made for retrieving vital electronic data, which, incidentally, should have been backed up regularly before the event to prevent a total loss. In case of a disaster on a huge scale, an alternate location for the operations center should be established. All employees should be familiar with the contingency plan and know when to initiate it.
Personal protection details for executives should have plans that allow for multiple scenarios and include alternate transportation and safe havens. Other people can at least make personal plans tailored to their particular situation.
Eight Hours to Escape America, Page Four of Five
Those responsible for the security of executives and other VIPs should develop contingency plans for the home office and for areas where the executive is traveling. The plan should be flexible, and account for multiple scenarios with alternate evacuation plans. In some cases, such as when no transportation is available, it could be best to simply stay put and ride out the crisis. Even that possibility should be anticipated.
Those responsible for VIPs also must have personal family contingency plans in place. It is their job to care for their charge, and they will be unable to ignore that responsibility to care for family members. Knowing that a spouse and other loved ones are executing the contingency plan, will allow the security professional to focus on the job at hand.
Even the best contingency plan can be compromised by the reactions of and protective measures taken by authorities in an emergency situation -- such as road or bridge closures, or a shutdown of air travel. It therefore is vital to have several alternate plans ready for use.
Planners should assume that communications will be interrupted, or not available when putting their contingency together. In addition, similar considerations should be given to the potential lack of public transportation and electricity. If ground transportation is available, a nearby "safe haven" location outside the city should be pre-arranged, and equipped for a lengthy stay.
Contingency plans for the traveling executive should be coordinated with the home office, so that the home base has an idea of the status of its people. Even if movement and communication are not possible, having a plan that has been coordinated with the home office will be better than reacting to events as they happen.
Family contingency plans should provide for a rally point, as well as an alternative rally point should the first one be unavailable. Family members also should know whom to call when disaster strikes. In order to ensure that important personal and family documents and information are not lost, a "fly away" kit should be prepared well in advance of any disaster. This kit should contain important papers, titles to vehicles, deeds, licenses, birth certificates, passports and credit card information. Food, extra clothing and medicine can also be included. All family members should know to follow the plan if contact cannot be immediately established with the others. For a personal contingency plan, situational awareness is essential -- as that makes it possible to determine the best way to deal with or to escape an emergency situation.

8 Hours to Escape America!! 9/11+5

2006-09-09T14:22:00.000-05:00

For Immediate Release: Contact: Jim Ellinger
September 9, 2006 (512) 796-4332

8 Hours to Escape America!

Join Jim Ellinger and “The World’s Most Dangerous Blonde” for their annual “Run For The Border” on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Ellinger and crew will leave Austin, Texas on Sunday, September 10th and travel to an undesignated country south of the continental US in a rehearsal of a prepared evacuation of the country following another terrorist attack and/or natural disaster in the States. Their goal is to be prepared to leave the US on eight hours notice. They will have prepared maps, rendezvous points, vehicles, border crossings, etc. They will take with them equipment and provisions including medical supplies and gear, radio/communications and surveillance gear, maps and listings of local services and resources, food/water/chocolate, alternative/supplemental power sources, tools, etc.

According to the Washington Post, 30% of Americans do not know what year the 9/11 attacks occurred. The November, 2004 edition of Texas Monthly featured a report, “Attack Here,” that stated “most security experts agree the Houston Ship Channel is one of America’s top targets.” The August, 2006 issue of Harper’s “Imagine There's No Oil, Scenes from a Liberal Apocalypse” reports on the growth of the so-called Peak Oil Movement.

In Richard A. Clarke’s “Ten Years Later,” cover story in the January/February, 2005 The Atlantic Monthly, he theorizes on al-Qaeda’s possible future terrorist attacks on the US infrastructure. These include attacks against the internet, subways, chemical plants, shipping containers, civilian aircraft, etc. In his description of “attacks on shopping centers and malls,” Clarke makes mention of a conceivable scenario that would include “attacks aimed at New Year’s Eve festivities on Sixth Street in Austin…”

Ellinger is widely known for his community media work, including most recently “What It Feels Like to Be Run Over By the FEMA PR Machine;” the battle to provide radio services to the thousands of Katrina evacuees in the Houston Astrodome. He has previously served as PR Director of Austin Community Television, Communications Director of the Austin Music Network, Membership/PR Director of Wheatsville Food Co-op, Founder of KOOP Radio, Producer/Host of “Austin Airwaves” and radio columnist for the Austin Chronicle.

Since 9/11, Ellinger has focused most of his radio activity on third world and developing nations including Mozambique, the former Soviet Union, Nepal, New Orleans’ 9th Ward, and most recently the Darien Gap of Panama. He will serve as a North American Delegate to the AMARC9 international radio conference in Amman, Jordan this November.

The World’s Most Dangerous Blonde is widely considered the top EMT/Paramedic in Texas. Ellinger and the WMDB will be joined by The Blade.

September is both National Passport Month and National Preparedness Month.

Follow Ellinger’s escapades at www.radio4houston.com and
http://acksisofevil.org/innerside.html, and blogs at http://austinairwaves.blogspot.com/
Ellinger’s website http://jim.ellinger.org/ lists many of his past travel adventures.

On air interviews are available for scheduling now. Non-commercial, community-based media outlets will be given priority. Contact Jim Ellinger at Austin Airwaves, Inc. at (512) 796-4332 or jimedia@grandecom.net. Call or email for exact schedule.

Re-Sources:

The Atlantic Monthly http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200501/clarke

Harper’s http://www.harpers.org/MostRecentCover.html

Texas Monthly http://www.texasmonthly.com/preview/2004-11-01/feature5

Stratfor Daily Terrorism Brief 09.01.2005 Strategic Forecasting, Inc. (Stratfor) Austin, TX www.stratfor.com analysis@stratfor.com

Planeta Borderlands
HTTP://WWW.PLANETA.COM/ECOTRAVEL/BORDER/BORDERLANDS.HTML

Escape From America Magazine real estate/travel magazine (same name, no connection)
HTTP://WWW.ESCAPEARTIST.COM/

September is National Passport Month
HTTP://WWW.LONELYPLANET.COM/PASSPORT/

September is National Preparedness Month
HTTP://WWW.READY.GOV/AMERICA/NPM/INDEX.HTM

National Preparedness Month 2006 Coalition Member Tool Kit: https://neimangroup.sharedwork.com/sr/QPjhkbVJkTNV2V31UPwZSbw5WP1ZyMwAjMx0Ta

AMARC http://wiki.amarc.org/index2.php?topic=amarc9_home&style=amarc9&site=amarc9&lang=EN

Harris County Officials Block Efforts to Provide Free Radio Services to Evacuees

"And your town Jim, Austin Texas, has opened its heart to us here in Algiers and New Orleans. Thanks for the work with the station. Thanks for all you have done. Thank you!"
Malik Raheem, longtime Algiers housing activist speaking on WBAI- FM/Pacifica Radio in New York City 12:30am 9/14/05

[A 40w transmitter, antenna rig and related gear made its way from Austin to Algiers last week. The station went on the air yesterday. Folks from Free Radio Santa Cruz, Free Radio Berkeley, Portland IndyMedia and others deserve credit for their efforts as well. -jre]

“Evacuees” Please...
I wasn't gonna’ bother weighing in on this again, but here I go. The term "evacuees" is NOT "ridiculous," friend. And in speaking to several hundred of them in and around the Astrodome, while giving out our little FM radios, this seemed to be the most common self-reference. "Internal refugees?" Gimme' a break! Actually the second most common answer to describe these poor folks was "pissed off." Or to put it another way, I asked a young lady with three kids in tow what she preferred to be called, and she said, "You can call me Leticia, Sugar. Whadda' ya'll wanna' be called...?" jre Mon, 12 Sep 2005

Partial list of stories on Evacuee Radio Project at Houston Astrodome:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/national/08houston.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1126206930-3khUyITTyAgRN8w+6GN1gw
http://?www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-radio8sep08,1,2504520.story?coll=la-news-a_section
http://www.wired.com/news/hurricane/0,2904,68806,00.html?tw=rss.TOP
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0537,ferguson,67701,2.html
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/07/1415231
http://www.houston.indymedia.org/news/2005/09/43349.php
http://www.reason.com/hitandrun/2005/09/radio_comes_to.shtml
http://www.billboardradiomonitor.com/radiomonitor/news/business/top_news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001096280
http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/09/2046217
http://www.prometheusradio.org
http://www.kpft.org
http://jacob.wordpress.com/2005/09/08/do-you-wish-you-could-contact-the-people-blocking-the-lpfm-radio-station
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-TBYX1126212496014.html
http://www.rwonline.com/dailynews/one.php?id=7721
http://flickr.com/photos/ioerror/sets/905698/
http://jacob.wordpress.com/2005/09/07/radio-station-has-been-blocked/
http://www.reason.com/hitandrun/2005/09/radio_free_bure.shtml#010879

FEMA Rejection Form: http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2005/09/43075.php
jim ellinger 9/14/05

NPR Story

2005-09-14T11:18:00.000-05:00

Listen to the NPR story about KAMP, the low power FM station serving the evacuees at the Astrodome.

Algiers Thanks Austin

2005-09-14T01:29:00.000-05:00

"And your town Jim, Austin, Texas, has opened its heart to us here in Algiers and New Orleans. Thanks for the work with the station. Thanks for all you have done. Thank you!"

-- Malik Raheem, longtime housing activist in Algiers, LA (across the river from NO) speaking on WBAI/Pacifica Radio in New York City 12:30am 9/14/05

[A 40w box, antenna rig and related gear made its way from Austin to Algiers last week. The station went on the air yesterday. Folks from Free Radio Santa Cruz and Portland IndyMedia acted as the "Guys on the Ground."]

Stories on Evacuee Radio Project at Houston Astrodome are available at:
Houston Independent Media Center
Reason.com
Radio Monitor
The Village Voice
The New York Times
Slashdot
L.A. Times
Wired
Prometheus Radio
KPFT
Democracy Now
njtelecomupdate.com
rwonline.com

And, the ever popular FEMA Rejection Form

Radio Lessons Learned

2005-08-21T21:29:00.000-05:00

Greetings from Camp Casey II ! Things are going VERY WELL here under the bigtop tent, with the stageful of great musicians, catering, and a coupla' thousand peaceniks!

I will give you an brief overview of the situation on the ground here in Crawford, and an final update on our attempt to put Crawford Peace Radio on the air here.

The media presence dropped off considerably after Cindy left on Thursday. The local network stories I have seen continue to be skewed towards "that crazy lady doesn't speak for me..." I made a point of telling the cameraman and hairdo from Austin's Fox7 News, "Fox News was recklessly irresponsible in their coverage of the Iraq War..." The hairdo pretended not to hear me, but the camera man smirked as if to say, "That's news?!?"

A total of 26 friends and family donated about $750, ranging from $20 to $100. Another $300 was pledged when we stopped gathering funds. The money was all spent, within 24 hours, on 100' of coax cable and a 40 watt xmitter from FRB.

We will continue to gather up audio gear and other related equipment so that "next time" we will be ready. Thom Irwin, a wise fellow of the Pacifica-stripe from LA weighed in with:

"Not a criticism but just a thought. I am forwarding from Obvious Man (the caped Semi-Hero from the Non Sequiter comic strip). Your situation will repeat itself in other venues. We should be prepared with rigs pre-packaged to be shipped to the site as needed. Perhaps they should have separate field/studio with a microwave or other link to a remote xmitter and antenna package so that things are not TOO obvious and have better service life expectations."

Excellent advice O' Obvious Man! We still plan on pre-fabbing a radio tower out of Moso bamboo. The Austin and national Bamboo Festivals are in the coming weeks.

HOWEVER...What is significant is that the good folks of the Crawford Peace House and Camp Caseys ultimately did NOT want a "pirate" radio station in their midst, despite their repeated requests for "an lpfm station." Even as late as this weekend, someone was putting up requests for "lpfm engineers" on the CPH listserve. We responded, "We're already here!"

ULTIMATELY...the taint of illegality kept us from completing the project. The fact that the FCC would almost certainly never would have gotten around to enforcing their broadcast regulation in a cow pasture in rural McClennan County, Texas, is beside the point. No apparent consensus was forthcoming from those on the ground, the local organizers. We have absolutely no criticism to offer these fine folks. They are doing a remarkable job.

One of our main contacts with the CPH and CC organizers said that if "we just showed up and did it, it would probably be okay." But we were not prepared, in oh so many ways, to sit on a cow pasture with no power, internet connection, building, etc. AC or DC? And what of elevation? We certainly hope none of the two dozen fam and friends are disappointed in us for not completing our effort. More good will come from this in the future.

Meanwhile, Crawford is now the "Live Music Capital of McClennan County" baby! Steve Earle, Marcia Ball, Joan Baez and a steady stream of others now crossing the stage. Austinite Guy Forsyth, with his tremendous new song "Long, Long Time..." from "Love Songs...For and Against" is becoming something of an anti-war anthem.

(PLUG: Music Directors/Programmers! http://www.guyforsyth.com/)

Police presence continues to be minimal and Texas friendly. Two quick cop stories: McClennan County Sheriff Larry Lynch, a fellow with his hands full no doubt, did have to lay down the law a bit with the peace folks, giving specific instructions that there is to be "No liquor (McC is a "dry" county...), no marijuana and no naked girls." Seriously. The good folks at the CPH dutifully posted the new rules on the pecan tree in the front yard. Can't report seeing any naked girls first hand, or for that matter, any beer or doobies. But it's getting to be a pretty big peace party here. And a certain Mr. Scooter, a, uh, malcontent of the KPFT Houston/Pacifica Family, partner of Wendy, former T staffer and fellow malcontent ;) reports being ARRESTED in Crawford for some undesignated "radio crime":

"Busted in Crawford, Texas is almost, too weird for radio -- except the tape was running -- and it's not what you think. Check this twisted story out from radio4all.net or Free Radio Santa Cruz. or, the inner side. I'll be working this for awhile,, it is too funny and bizarre to be a radio play or goof.... please stay tuned for the real thing,, I'll see yall on the actuality. nice to be home being arrested sucks. You are helpless and bored and, have no idea how long you are down for..

"Pacing the cage reminds me what it would be like if we were free speech and the opportunity to express this wonderfully bizarre experience.

"Oh Yeah. I forgot...See you on the radio -- soon."
- -scooter
FreeRadio Santa Cruz

However, I have not been able to find out any more about his bust. Any info would be 'preciated. Glad to hear you are out of the pokey Scooter!!

And LANCE ARMSTRONG! What the HELL is the matter with you boy?! Why in the hell did you choose THIS weekend to ride bikes with Shrub? The only photo shown on the local 'casts was a slightly blurry telephoto shot, no video, of Lance and the Shrub. Shame on you Lance, shame on you. (Overreaction mental image: thousands of yellow "LiveSTRONG" bracelets going up in sooty yellow black smoke...)

Also sorry we were not able to help out more with the folks from the Brad Show, who hopefully will still be able to report live from Crawford. Next time FLY to Texas from Eugene!! (http://bradblog.com/BradShow/)

Them Boy Scouts got it right: "Be Prepared." I have to end somewhere, and so I shall. The final call to action remains the same, with a rejoiner.

>>>COME TO CRAWFORD NOW<<<

Crawford Peace Radio Increasingly Unlikely

2005-08-19T23:11:00.000-05:00

I guess I better say this out loud...

The temporary radio station we had hoped to provide at the request of the good folks in Crawford is, IMHO, not likely to happen, at least not this weekend. Just too many people (up to 10K now considered possible), not enough time, (tomorrow morning), way too hot (100+), etc, etc.

We still lack a secure location, (a local folks political decision, we feel), a "tower" (the pickup truck to carry the bamboo poles can't make it), power source, (AC or DC?) all the audio equipment, a limiter, plus basic signage to tell people where to tune in, etc. etc.

At this late hour, 9pm Central, I will still entertain ways to pull this off, and will still be heading to Crawford in the morning with whatever equipment we have in hand, but it seems unlikely we will be on
the air tomorrow.

Prove me wrong, people.

Plus...
Hot heads and hot temps are a dangerous mix...
A CAUTIONARY NOTE:

In addition to the inhospitable Texas weather, there is an increasing likelihood of other unpleasantness in our Central Texas atmosphere. So far, hecklers have been few, ill-informed and merely impolite. "Abortion is murder! Homosexuality is a sin!" The potential for far more, uh, boisterous, confrontations from the thousands of soldiers and their supporters from the nation's largest military installation, Fort Hood, just
15 minutes up the McClellan County road is a distinct possibility. The following should give good example of the fanning of flames...

Bush Launches "Operation Cindy Sheehan"
by Ahmed Amr

Once again, Karl Rove has let the dogs out. A vicious campaign to maul Citizen Sheehan is in play. Instead of answering her questions -- the right wing media hacks are focusing on her motives, her mental health, her ideology and her family. These are standard and classic Rovian tactics used to smear administration critics. The predictable pundits at FOX have taken the lead by portraying Sheehan as a treasonous "crackpot" who is exploiting the death of her son to gain fame and fortune and advance the extremist political agenda of leftist "anti-American" groups. Hate radio stations across the nations are assailing Cindy's integrity and questioning her patriotism. The objective of this smear campaign is to draw fire away from Bush. Instead of focusing on the argument between Sheehan and the president -- we now have a contest between Sheehan's supporters and her detractors. What started out as a search for the truth is being reduced to an ideological spat between the left and the right. The success of the White House plan of attack is by no means certain. Unlike the small band of neo-cons that infest the administration, most Americans are not glued to any ideology. They tend to navigate the political landscape using nothing more than their common sense. Millions of honorable conservatives want answers to Cindy's questions. As for the phantom "extreme left" in America -- it only exists in the imagination of the extreme right, which unfortunately has a very real constituency . . .

(full article at http://dissidentvoice.org/Aug05/Amr0819.htm)

Crawford Peace Camp Grows....

2005-08-19T18:12:00.000-05:00

Camp Casey and Crawford Peace House organizers say they are preparing for "between one and ten thousand folks" to descend on the area this weekend. Martin Sheen and Joan Baez "and everybody else" are expected to show.

We could still use a CD player, cassette player/recorders, an audio mixing board, an MP3 recorder, mikes and headphones, TENTS, and a coupla' hundred more dollars. We are planning on constructing a 40 foot bamboo radio tower.

PanaRadio #1

2005-03-12T14:00:00.000-06:00

Hola! Hello! Welcome to PanaRadio! Jim Ellinger’s 2005 TraveLog!

You’ve made it to this list because you have expressed interest in my work or travels. This list consists of mostly of family and friends from Austin, Texas, folks interested/involved in radio, co-ops, bamboo, int'l travel, humanitarian & development aid, etc. I will be sending stories from the region, oh, say, every few days. At least that’s the plan. As a courtesy to my dial up friends, I will not send too many JPEG images per email. I plan on posting pictures, intel reports, maps and stories on my travel website jim.ellinger.org. Thanks to Silona, Hunter and "The World’s Most Dangerous Blonde" for their assistance.

If, perchance, you do not want to be on this list, please just respond to this Eddress and “The World’s Most Dangerous Blonde” will drop you.

Possible subjects will include:
The Embara, Wounann and Kuna communities (3 of the 7 remaining tribes of the 150 there when Columbus...)
Radio as a tool of basic communication and survival (programming in three indigenous languages)
Will the Pan-American Highway ever really be completed?
How hard can it be to finish a lousy 52 miles of road? How much harm could it possibly cause?
Security. Traveling near the most dangerous area in the Americas; without KR&E, without malaria pills,
without “The World’s Most Dangerous Blonde” at my side. I have been getting some excellent intel on the
geo-pol sitch' in the region.
Traffic. You don't like the way we drive here?! Get off the sidewalk!!
Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). What’s in store for the poor…

Plus! More bird species than all of the US and Canada combined, bamboo, primates, exotic animal species galore, the world’s deadliest snake and even deadlier frog, snorkeling, volcano climbing, island hopping, shopping, and more! Oh, and the Panama Canal! And has anybody seen that rascal Panama Red?

Thanks for your interest and I hope you enjoy the journey as much as me! Stay tuned!

jim ellinger
Austin Texas
Saturday, March 12, 2005