Typhoon Nesat (Pedring) Hits Manila

Typhoon Nesat (locally called "Pedring") is hitting Manila...right...now! Yup, at this very second.

Having been through hurricanes, IMHO this clip gives the real sense-experience much more than the typical "reporter on the jetty" videos. Sorry, btw, for the brief Slinky (???) commercial. 

Bainimarama and the UN's Figuring on Fiji

When Ban Ki Moon addressed the Pacific Islands Forum this week in New Zealand,  he became the first Secretary General of the UN to do so. Highlights include a spirited discussion of Fiji's place in the family of Pacific nations. (Hint: Fiji's getting a time-out.)

Also discussed -- The use of Fiji's troops in UN peacekeeping actions such as in Iraq. They were banned in 2009 due to "military strongman Frank Bainimarama" and his glacial movements toward democratic elections in that country. Since then, however...hmmm. Something's changed. Ban Ki Moon says Fiji's time-out may be close to an end.

Why was Fiji blackballed in the first place, when it's the government the UN has argument with?  Here's another hint, this time from The Age:

"When Britain granted Fiji independence in 1970, the Fiji army had only about 200 active troops.

Since then, more than 20,000 Fijians have been deployed in UN peacekeeping operations, building a robust military culture in the nation of fewer than 950,000 people.

Fiji has been under military rule since Bainimarama, the country's armed forces chief, seized power in a 2006 coup, its fourth since 1987.

His government had promised elections earlier this year, but Bainimarama said in Saturday's speech that they will not be held until 2014."

So the equation has been (up to now) figured this way: >troops used by UN = >troops in Fiji = >Bainimarama.

Apparently the equation is faulty.

Mining in Bougainville: The Taste of Mud

Here's a little taste of what's to come on this blog re: mining in Bougainville. Hint: It involves guns, helicopters, blockades, civil uprisings and well, lots of mud.

"To Bougainville" Becomes a New Verb

From: The Bougainville Crisis: A South Pacific Crofters' War

by Alastair McIntosh

Published in Radical Scotland, 44, Apr/May 1990.

"Potential and actual Bougainville-like situations abound throughout Melanesia...to the extent that a new verb, 'to bougainville' is gaining currency in situations where local people have found environmental, social or economic aspects of a development to be unacceptable and have taken direct action to block operations.

For instance, in 1987 after 20 years of land disputes and rainforest devastation, villagers exercising civil disobedience forced a Unilever subsidiary,  Levers Pacific Timbers, out of the Solomon Islands. But none better illustrates the consequence of ecocide than the Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL) mine at Panguna.

The trouble dates back to 1963 when the parent company, Conzinc Rio-Tinto Australia (CRA), was granted a prospecting licence by the Australian colonial government to develop what Sir Val Duncan, chairman of Rio Tinto-Zinc, was to describe in 1969 as "the jewel in our crown".

Local people objected to the presence of geologists in their area, there having been no consultation with the elderly women who held land on behalf of the matrilineal clans.  Harvard University anthropologist, Prof.  Douglas Oliver, advised BCL they were dealing with a primitive and superstitious people, "who would probably get used to the company's presence".

Read the entire article on AlastairMcIntosh's site.

First Contact: New Guinea Highlanders Meet Europeans

Note: The video footage was deleted at source, again. Sorry! The conflict over copyright seems to continue, which is not surprising I guess given the age of the film (from the 1920's and 1930's) and also the many nations' jurisdiction (New Guinea, Australia, etc.) that might have a say in it. 

Below is the caption for the footage:

I posted this footage for the first time back in January. Since then the link has been discontinued due to conflict over the copyright.  Here it is again, with what seems to be (I hope, I hope) is a clear copy.

What I said in January: "Missionaries get credit and blame for colonization, but economic interests usually move the whole thing forward.  Check out this footage from the 1930's of Aussies brought to the highlands of New Guinea by the Gold Rush.  I found the Native's recounting their first sighting of white men -- as well as the memories of the white men on first encountering the Highlanders -- especially interesting.  

Of course, it wasn't only mineral resources the Europeans came for.  Since they'd arrived in the lowlands centuries ago, planters were king. If one was in possession of enough land, planted correctly, retaining enough cheap labor to bring it through the growing season to market, you stood to make a few coins."

What I say now: Who hasn't encountered this kind of breakdown between peoples? Add guns and fear and that's where the heartache starts.

Ban Ki Moon to Visit Solomon Islands

The United Nations Secretary General will tour the Solomon Islands this September.  His visit will be part of a larger trip schedule to Australia and New Zealand, where he will be attending The Pacific Islands Forum.  Ban Ki Moon will be the first UN Secretary General to have attended this meeting.  Radio Australia News has the story.

Moving Verse Novel Series to New Blog

Hi All,

Sensing a conflict between the Oceania posts and my (now transferred) verse novel articles, I've opened a new blog: The Novel in Verse.

Please cast your eyes there for upcoming articles, reviews and tutorials on Verse Novels and all things narrative. Please stay here at Oceans and Islands for more Oceania. 

Thanks! Have a good one.

Holly