Tim Høiland » Al Jazeera

Weekend Video: Net Losses

tjh — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 12:00:18 +0000

Normally, the videos I post for your weekend enjoyment are short, maybe 3 or 4 minutes. They're often music videos or teasers for films. This time I want to share a longer video. It's a fascinating 45-minute look at how the English Premier League is changing, from recreation for working class families to the big business it is today. That change means people like me are able to watch, which is great, but as the show reveals, these changes have their drawbacks too. Soccer fans will appreciate this.

Protests stop a mine in El Salvador, for now

tjh — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 10:00:29 +0000

Here's another quick update from El Salvador regarding a highly contested mine and what life is like for anti-mining activists. The story of one of the murdered activists mentioned in this clip, Marcelo Rivera, was included in Jamie Moffett's documentary Return to El Salvador. See my interview from last summer with Jamie here. This video clip is three minutes.

Singing with murderers in Argentina

tjh — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 12:00:53 +0000

Yesterday I stumbled upon a video segment from Artscape, an Al Jazeera English television show dedicated to "[giving] expression to the creative forces behind many of the world's headline stories." This particular segment focused on a hellish prison in Argentina, where the country's worst criminals are being rehabilitated through music. Apparently, recidivism rates are being drastically reduced as these men are discovering life beyond the cycles of violence that have defined their lives. I like this quote from Juan Pablo, the psychologist who leads the choir:

If you want to get rid of crime, you can’t just make the criminal disappear. You have to give him another chance. I feel responsible. You can’t just moan about crime and do nothing.

The segment is below. It's 25 minutes long and worth every minute.

Anti-mining demonstrations on the Peru-Bolivia border

tjh — Mon, 30 May 2011 15:12:56 +0000

On this blog I focus much of my attention on the indigenous opposition to an illegal gold mine operated by a Canadian company near my old hometown in Guatemala. I want people to care enough to pay attention, because ignoring situations of injustice never helps the victims -- it always helps the oppressor. Put another way, silence does not equal neutrality.

Today I was sent a link by someone perhaps a bit like me, a North American who grew up in Peru and now sees his old hometown on the news as his childhood neighbors have taken to the streets in a desperate effort to save their dignity and prevent irreversible damage to their land and local economy. As you'll see in the video below, these protests aren't convenient for anyone, and certainly not for the protesters. But consider the reasons why these indigenous farmers would go to such lengths to make their voices heard. It's not because they're bored or looking for a "cause."

Al Jazeera coverage of mining in Guatemala

tjh — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:31:42 +0000

I was excited to discover today that Al Jazeera has begun to report on the mining situation in the area where I grew up in Guatemala. This video news story is brief, but it's about the stuff I have been researching and documenting over the past couple of years. It's great to see increased attention not just on the Marlin Mine, but on the destructive side-effects of metals mining in general.

I hope this is just the beginning of mainstream international coverage. And may creative, compassionate people find more just and equitable ways to do 'development' wherever the local indigenous populations are at risk.