The very thought of you

So, I'm hanging out again downtown. They put up a big outdoors ice arena out here. They have a local festival in every town for Christmas. I'm telling you, these people will/can celebrate everything. It is really great, but me and some friends were discussing how the merchants that always pop up in these functions survive. They are here for the strawberry festival, the christmas ones, the cowboy festival, there are seriously, festivals every month. They occur in different towns at different points, but chances are, if you want to celebrate something, you can find a town that is doing it here. One thing that surprises me about people, is how little they know about german politics. Ok, it sounds boring, but you could probably name 5 fictional presidents sooner than you could name one prime minister or chancellor (Ok, I stole that line from America-the Book). Seriously, it is in the news. In mid September, the german Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, lost a vote of confidence. This made for an early election process. So, for the first time in German's history, a major party nominated a female candidate for chancellor. Then she won (with a slim 1% margin despite her initial momentum) Her campaign to end some of the bogus red tape and federal regulations are important to promoting the German economy. She was a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) while the other major party the Social Democratic Party (SDP). After the election, the CDU and the SDP were almost evenly matched, and there was not clear winner. Eventually, Schroder said he would support Angela Merkel (the new Chancellor) but the parties have to work together even more than before. I really need to find out more about the policies here, but perhaps we can learn from foreign governments.

Are we good people, bad people, I guess it doens't matter people

So, here we go again, traveling down the void to who knows where. I often contemplate what it means to be a human. What is really the meaning of life? It sounds cheesy, because really, it is a cheesy question. But, still, many have wondered what we are on this earth to do. You know what? We aren't here to do anything. At some point, in the long history of this planet, chemicals started replicating. The details are too fuzzy to really know exactly how, but somehow organisms started growing, mutating, and evolving into more and more complex organisms capable of living longer and reproducing better than the previous ones. They started reacting to stimuli such as light and dark, heat and cold, and they developed simple abilities to detect things about their environment. These abilities developed in complexity along with the complexity of the organism, and over time they developed hearts, eyes, skeletons, and a host of other important systems in order to survive. The dinosaurs were decimated in a terrible period of history and eventually, many speculate, they were the ancestors of modern birds. But, apes and chimps gave way to smarter beings who could use tools, and communicate. As our evolutionary grandfathers learned how to record symbols and build shelters they started having more time to do things not directly related to roaming the land and killing animals for food. They developed agriculture and farms! Eventually, being able to survive in one place, living on food grown and hunted, they had more time. We developed forms of leadership, written language, and the first people to realize they were unique among the other animals. It was intellect that set us apart then, and continues to set us apart now. People were able to look at the world around them and wonder about it. Religion soon followed, explaining the stars, and more importantly giving a system for control and a method for explaining the unexplainable. Government, the press, automobiles, and the internet all came from time not taken hunting, setting up shelter, and moving to a new area. Today we still retain many parts of our history that have little meaning for us, we have an appendix, we still use religion to explain why we are here and what we are doing. But it isnt needed. Why are we here? My answer is there is no reason that we exist at this place and this time. But we are here, and we should do something, something great. As a human, my reason for living is so that my grandchildren will live better than I do. I want their grandchildren to explore space, to see things that no caveman could see or understand. As humans, we need to build great inventions, learn how to use the environment around us, and learn. Learning isn't enough, we need to teach.

What is the meaning of life? The meaning of life is to continue life, and make it better for the future. Our children deserver better than what we have.

Did she tell you was it worth it? Baby, I dont want to know

So, this is a short post, because I dont have a lot of time to write. I'm still in Germany, loving it here, and tomorrow I depart for my first trip out of Germany since France. I'm going to Zurich, Switzerland! I dont know what to do, except see some mueumes and whatnot. Apperently there is a Hooters there, but it is super expensive, so we will see if that pans out. Anyhow, the schedule for the next few days is Lichtenstein, Zurich, and Austria. In the news I was reading about the newest iPod and Apple gear. I dont appriciate the way that microsoft treats its customers like criminals. I dont like to enter a 20 digit code and register on the phone or online to use a computer. I think it is criminal that they lock people into their stuff with proprietary music, video and document formats. Anyhow... I dont like the tracking and the bit about them being a convicted monopoly makes me not like them. I chose apple as my computer on a chance that it would work good. It does great! So, I', sticking with them. No viruses, a clean interface that doesnt need massive hardware to run. It works for me.

In the news you should read about the Miers nomination for Supreme Court and about the Plame case. Miers is unfit to be a justice, and doubly unfit because of her pick. She was nominated because she was a close friend and lawyer of Mr. Bush. We saw what happened when he picked a friend for the head of FEMA... Good ol Mr. Brown failed and later resigned. The other thing is the Plame case, where from all looks of it, when Valarie Plame's husband wrote that Iraq was not buying uranium from africa, Karl Rove revealed to some journalists that his wife was a secret CIA agent in retaliation. That is the short of it. Then there is the bit with Delay. He is being accused of getting money the wrong way, and of abusing his power to get vacations paid for by lobbists. Yea... Things are not going well for the party in charge. It was bound to happen. This is why the government was set up to have three parts, to prevent abuse of power. Checks and Balances, its what it's all about baby.

We love you; We hate you; We want you; We need you

So, Mr Roberts becomes the 17th Chief Justice for the United States. We can only hope that his vague responses to the Senate dont mean that the courts go crazy. I've been talking a lot with a guy named Dave about the government. Most people dont even know the three branches of our government, something so fundamental that is boggles the mind that they can vote (the ones that at least vote, that is...). The three branches of government are the Judicial, the Legislative, and the Executive branches. The Legislative is to make laws, the Executive is to carry them out and the Judicial is to judge the constitutionality of the laws. Within these three branches, our founders have purposely made it a balance of power so that no one section is too powerful. This is called the separation of powers. Thus, in order to select a new judge for the supreme court, the president recommends a person. That person is to go before the senate and they will chose whether they are fit for the Court. If they agree (by a majority), that person is elected to the Supreme Court until that person decided to retire. It is a lifetime appointment. This is how it works, but everything is wrong today with it. This is because of political parties. There are two big parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. Currently, the republicans control two branches of government, the Executive and Legislative. This mean that they can basically load the judicial with people of a similar mind. The trick is, once a person is in the supreme court, they are supposed to be free from political pressures; therefore able to make decisions that are just and good for the country.
I am seeing something different happen than the founders had imagined. I see all branches of government being under one ideology. I see the government being lead by people who have no fiscal responsibility, grandiose ideals, and little care about the poor and underprivileged. But, I believe that this isn't just the President, but a more large-scale taking over of America. The media is too weak to do real investigative journalism (look at what is going on with the lack of Iraq weapons, the Plame case involving Rove...) and thousands of people repeating republican talking points. If you tell a lie often enough, people will believe it. In Russia there was a term for people like this, they were called aparachiks; a person that is just one of the numerous puppets of an ideology. If one gets taken down there are people to fill their place. I think that the Republican party has the starts of this. I am just afraid of any one party ruling the United States. It destroys what our founders intended, and it destroys the ablility to think, speak, and act freely.

Our motto is "America, land of the free." I want it to be that ideal.

You dont want to leave, but you dont want to stay for anymore

So, the thing about god. Tonight I was having a conversation with my freind about god. Well, we were talking about a paradox , the paradox is basically, you offered a million dollars to intend to drink poison that will kill you. But can one intend to drink the deadly toxin, if the intention is the only thing needed to get the reward? He said that he would do it, just to give the money to his family. But then he took it back and said that he couldn't, because he will go to hell for suicide. I asked if he would go to hell if he was sent into battle, into a situation that would surely kill him. He said that dying for a cause was for the greater good, and he wouldn't go to hell for that. But the question became apparent, what is the fine line between dying to help others, and killing yourself for other causes? If I am causing my family problems and I kill myself, is it for the greater good? It is illogical to go to hell for killing yourself out of depression, but not for killing yourself willingly for a reason.

This conversation is just another reminder of the many reasons that the paradoxes and problems that exist with choosing to believe in some of this stuff. Look at some of the more common ones: Why is eating pork is wrong? Who made god? Why is it shameful in islam for women to show off their bodies? How can man have free will, when god is omnipotent? If we have free will, we can change our lives, change our destiny. But if god is omnipotent, he knows all of everyones history. He knows when we will be born, when we will die, if we will go to heaven or hell. The paradox is if he already know everything, how can we truly be free?

It makes me even madder when I read article after article lending any credit to "Intelligent Design." I don't know how anyone can try and introduce pseudo-religious elements to a science class. It is hard enough for teachers to instruct students on real theories and laws. If a parent believes that Intelligent Design is vastly superior to the theory of evolution, they are welcome to point out the shortcomings and show their kids that they were "designed" and that is a much more rock solid scientific reason to explain humanity.

Sometimes it is good to vent to no one at all...

She knows just what it takes to make a boy blush

Wow, its another new blog within a week or so, imagine that. Anyhow, Frankfurt is on my mind tonight. Frankfurt rocks, its that simple. It is known to some people as the financial capitol of Europe, and to that end, I can see it being true. First off, there is this gigantic airport and bahnhof (a train station) and right outside of it, literally across the street is a red light district. Me and some friends were walking to the Turm Palast (a movie theatre that plays movies in english) for the first time and we wound up walking thru this... infamous region. It had lots of adds advertising all kinds of pleasures but judging from the seedy people around the place, I think that "the scurvy" waits for anyone tasting from that forbidden apple. We even saw what appeared to be a woman sitting down on a cardboard box on the sidewalk. She had her pants down around her ankles. For some reason, she must have realized that it was cold out and she decided to stand up, and pull her pants up... What a weird place. We went to a really good chinese place called "China Box," but the food there ended up really giving one of my other friends bowel problems later. I thought it was good. :-) We found a cool comic book shop that had all these kung-fu movies and japanese horror movies to check out, but the steep 30 Euro prices prevented me from getting any of them.
The next day we came back to Frankfurt, to visit the Zoo. But, of course we got lost trying to drive there. As we were walking around, my friend got hit by the food from the day before! It was so funny because he ran to the nearest restaurant, and said "BATHROOM!" in a frenzied way. Neither of us know what happened, but, it was like *SNAP* and he had to go in a bad way. There ended up being no toilet paper and then he clogged up the toilet. Then he threw away his boxers because it was... anyways. I think it is safe to say we can never come back to that very hip and cool restaurant.
In the near future I want to go back to Frankfurt to visit the radio tower, with a restaurant on top of it. That would be a sweet view of the city. Then I want to go to the Zoo. Then to this club/lounge called "Club Einhundarteins (101)" It is a chilled out place on the 101st floor of the japanese center that is open only one day a month, from 9pm till morning. Damn, I needed this three day vacation.

The Conversation's Killed

Ok, it been a few days since my last post, but I'm trying damnit. :) I saw that the first spam has been posted into my blog recently. Imagine that, little ol' me getting my first blog spam. I feel so grown up now. Anyways, moving on the news. Anyone who reads knows that a hurricane by the name of Katrina blew up part of Louisiana. So, now oil prices are going to be higher. And FEMA the national body for disasters is all fucked up. It turns out that the head of that agency used to (for like 18 years) be in charge of dog shows. It just makes me angry. The nation is so preoccupied with terrorism that we lose track of recovery. We are spending millions every day in Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, and hosts of other nations, while we cant even protect and provide basic needs to our own country in the face of a natural disaster. If a terrorist brings a car, laden with explosives and radioactive waste or uranium (a dirty bomb) and blows up a large part of New York... what would we do? Obviously a military response against somebody (probably Iran), and clean up the area right? But the current circumstances prove that we can not effectively handle a disaster like that. I am a very safety minded person. Where I work, I am always preparing for bad things happening. What I would like for the government to do is admit that we can not beat terrorism. Once you understand that terrorism is something that IS going to happen, you can start preparing for mitigating the effects of it. Put an office in every town that has a large amount of food and water supplies, body bags, lighting, emergency radios (both FRS and Ham Radio), and plans to shelter people. With planing like this in every city, when something bad happens (natural or other), nearby cities can readily assist the affected. With this current one, the major problem is housing 400,000 people. What they did with the astrodome was a novel ideal, I'd not have thought of that. But, we need comprehensive plans, available to the public. With so much to rant on... I should do it more often.
Do you ever worry about this country? I do. all the time. I read it all, all the news and it makes me so angry. But, I've written my senators and representatives about some issues dear to me. But none of the letters back to me have had meaning. Every one of them has written back, which I appreciate. But the "We thank you for your comments, ." letters tell me they arent listening. So, I read the news, and get mad. But I dont speak out publicly. I dont vent on the republicans around me. I feel that they should make up their own mind about the world. So, I vote (which again has no impact considering I am from Wyoming), and I read. But, am I contributing to the problem by staying quiet and allowing others to blindly follow what they hear from Rush, Bill, and Fox? How do you fight words with more words?. Protests do very little. Action seem the only option, but.... what kind of action? Black Panthers or Dr. King? The other question is.... would action even matter with the media being directed by the conservatives, executive and legislative branches of the government being dominated by republicans, and the judicial branch, filled with conservatives? Are we going to a new dark age of reason?

Instead of keep on pretending

So, Yesterday was St. Patrick's day. It was cool. I found out that here in Germany, they dont celebrate it! But there are 2 Irish Pubs in downtown, and they were going to do it! So, I went down there with a friend, intent on getting a hat. If you drank 10 Guinesses, you got this big ass green hat. So, we were determined to get one. But, it didnt work out. The bar was SOOOOO packed, that it took 20 minutes to get a drink, so we took turns, but then they ran out of hats, so... damn. We ended up drinking 3 each and then we took a walk with Klimov's girlfriend and her friend. But it was russian all the way. I hate talking in russian, because I know I make mistakes and I dont like to do that. Plus, when I am trying to explain something in detail, I am at a loss for words or grammar. Plus, I'm no linguist (*cough cough*) so german keeps slipping into what I am saying. At least they dont seem to notice it. I'm listening to HIM right now. There is a very good line that he keeps singing over and over. "Please dont let it, please dont let it go. Cause if you wont let it, I wont let it go" Well. Peace out to all my homies. I'm off to visit a club called "The Big Apple."

The Poetic Justice of Cause and Effect

Do you ever do something that has the totally opposite effect than you wanted? Today I did. I've been gone for the least few weeks doing hard work, 12-15 hours shifts and no days off. It sucked. But we came back (with a cold, and sore throat...) and we were all good. Anyhow CeBIT is a big technology conference, held once a year. This year it was in Hannover. Klimov complained to our techer that we didnt get any rest from our last thing, so she suggested that we go to CeBIT as a field trip because they have a lot of russian firms we could use for language training. Alas, the trip was over 400KM away, and we didnt think that this was actually much longer and harder to do than actually working all day. All told, I would normally be off work at 5:00, but today, I spent all day in a car, and 2 hours at CeBIT. If I had only but known. ..... Retrospect.

Disappearing for several weeks is hard on relations with people you care about. Not talking about what happens is difficult. But all this will pass with time.

Dont believe in everything you know

So, the foreign policies between the US and Russia are always odd. Back in the old days of the cold war, things were simple and frightening. The US and the Soviet Union wanted to show each other that they had the bigger dog. We'd build a new ICBM (Intercontinental ballistic missile) and they would build one with a more deadly payload. They launched a dog into space, we landed on the moon (actually they had a very advanced space program and had more firsts than we had). But, at least then they were a simple enemy, and we could predict (to a degree) how they would react. But, then Gorbachev broke the soviet union and weakened the communist party. Yeltsin came along and his country was a mess. As the Soviet Union, it was bad, Stalin was killing thousands and people were distrustful of anyone but their closest friends. Yeltsin inherited this country but it had lost what controlled it. The Communist Party was effective, if not brutal. The economy in Russia under Yeltsin was horrible. Mafia was everywhere, corruption was (still is) rampant. And the money that Russia received from the US and IMF (International Monetary Fund) was not being used effectively. But despite all of this, Boris Yeltsin and Clinton had a strong relationship. Clinton was doing everything he could to keep the fragile democracy in Russia afloat. Together they did a good job, and despite difficulties with NATO, Iran Arms Deals, and Bosnia.... things could have gone much different. I hope with Putin, his sucessor, things continue to promote democracy. Democracy should be encouraged, but no forced.

Like violence, it's drastic

So, here I am. I missed the bus by about 15 seconds, really. I saw the bus driving off when I was 20 meters away. That sucked. I had wanted to buy a bowl and get my internet details taken care of, and afterwards, go downtown and have a cup of German coffee. Alas, no coffee in a cafe today. There is a formal party that I am going to, so I had to get a bow tie and dress shirt today. I don't normally go to these types of parties (mainly because they rarely happen...) but I am going tonight. I hope they make some good food, I spent a good 30 Euros on it. Last night I was so tired. Do you ever get so tired that sleep is the only thing occupying your mind, but you refuse? I just stayed up playing my DS, even though I didn't want to, even though I was in bed, tired. I can not explain it. It makes no sense, but some days, I think I have insomnia. It would almost be a blessing to have insomnia; think of all the work you could get done! But being in a half sleep state all day long would have it's cons.
In other news I want a new car. I want something that will get good gas mileage and last me 10 years. It also has to look cool. Classic looks, maybe. I saw the Chrysler 300. Damn that is a cool car and it is powerful, but the mileage is poor, 25 MPG. I like Volkswagen, and I have been looking at the new Honda Civics. Or the Ford Focus, but it looks funny and the mileage isnt enough to compensate. Any ideals on what to get? I know that Alice just got a car, and she got a really good deal on it too. I gotta say, no matter what car I get, it WILL have a nice sound system. It will play MP3's and maybe hook up to my iPod. I know that BMW does that.... Hmmm?

And It's Been a While... Since I could

So, after a very long stop, I am back. I have internet access here at the library and I am finally here in Germay after finishing school. So far it is really fun. I went to a russian club here in Germany. It was so wierd having to talk in russian, and falling back to german if I couldnt get my point across. The club was insane, and they sell vodka there not only by the shot (like everyone else), but also by the bottle! Kinda says something about drinking habits there, huh? So, Fasching (German Marti Gras) is over. When I was there earlier, I was talking to these two german women who were asking for a picture. I answer back in german that it was no problem. The looked at me (and probably my haircut) and asked if I was America. I said I was, and then they both laughed. They turned out to be Americans from Illinos that were just visiting! Funny stuff. My goal here is to visit most of the cites, at least a new city every month. Hopefully, I'll get to go to Spain on our next 4 day trip. Paris, and most importantly, I am going to visit Ireland! Can you imagine seeing those rolling hills of green, and the kilts, and of course, a true irish pub. Oddly, there is an irish pub here that is friendly to Americans. Also a mexican place (MMMmmmm!)

Do androids dream of electronic sheep?

So, I haven't updated my blog in a while. I recently drove/flew/drove again to casper. There was a simple problem with my ticket, I got it for the wrong month. Long story short, I threw ~700$ out the window and took drastic measures to get here to Casper before I go to germany for a long time. I got lucky, and now I am here in bitter cold, much changed, Casper Wyoming. It is great because I have got to see some really close friends whom I've missed.

I'd fall down just to give you a thrill

So, today I did something I haven't done in over two years. That's right folks, I bought a comb. It cost me $1.89 and is fairly simple. But, my hair is growing out a bit. I'm preparing for exodus. I'm gonna have a beard! Well, probably not... Exodus is a two week stint that I get to become a civilian. Oh joy (*stipmy voice*). Seriously, if you aren't in the military, it is hard to understand it. People here actively seek civilian girlfriends (while the females seem to seek marines.... odd?). But there are so many bizarre things that defy common sense. For example, if you are a civilian, you can plan things far in advance, like planning a wedding a year in advance. It makes sense, the more time you have, the easier it is to make things work. But in the military everything is fluid. We could get deployed!?! The commander could get pissed off and pull everyone's pass. My friend had been planning his wedding for 5 months, he had the date, the girl, the place, everything... except his plane ticket and permission to GET MARRIED! He purchased the plane ticket anyways, to ease the nerves of his to-be wife (they are touchy like that I guess). But he failed a test, and if you fail a test you automatically have your passes revoked and can't miss school at all. So, his marriage was dependent on him passing that test two days before he was supposed to get married! He did it, barely, but it illustrates the point, of how fickle planning is in the army. And for some reason, having a civilian girlfriend brings a little more reality and clarity to someone who deals with this stuff day in and day out. That has to be it...

All I know is I can't wait to taste the old life again, just a taste, I know it isn't for me yet. Maybe in three years or so. Till then, I wear my army greens and live how I have to. (I still like the military, but the grass is always greener, right?)

All the boys think she's a spy, She's got Betty Davis eyes

So, it has been a nice break from class these last four and a half days, but all good things must come to an end. I mostly slept and talked to friends and read about some world events. I was stupid at walmart. I went to walmart to get some wrapping paper and scissors, but I wandered into the electronics department on accident. Once I realized I was in it, I quickly tried to make my way out before I did something stupid. I failed, and ended up walking out with the new Gameboy DS. It has 2 screen, and the bottom one is a touch screen (ooooohhhh touch!). There is a microphone and wireless networking for 16 people built in. As a bonus, all my old games work on it too. W00t! So, this thing has been out for less than a week, but wouldn't you know it; Curious people are already figuring out how it works, and decoding the wireless signal. There is the hope that you can make a bridge over the internet to play these games with others. There is a built in chat program in all the game boy units, which now is able to be sniffed. I love to see people learning by doing difficult things with no real application, like those who put linux on an iPod or make the gameboy advance play oldschool NES ROMs.

In other news, there is a major boiling point going on in the Ukraine. There are 2 people: Viktor Yanukovych and former Prime Minister and opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko. What basicaly happened is there was an election in the Ukraine but no one canidate got the required 50% of the vote needed to win. So, they had a runoff election. According to the exit polls, Yashchenko (the pro-western good guy) was winning with a good percentage. But, in the areas where Yanukovych (the pro-russia guy) was dominant, there were odd irregularities, such as far more people voting than there were registered voters... When it was all tallied up Yashchenko had 46.69% of the vote and the pro russia guy had 49.42%. International observers have called this a rigged election. The EU, and the US have both stated the same. Russia is saying that they stand with the official results (funny that....). I see this as a major even in the world. If this election which is widely believed to be illegitimate, stands it could signal to other countries near Russia (known as the CIS ) that democracy will just not work. Already Vladimir Putin (the president of Russia) has called for the end of elected governors, to be replaced with appointed ones (presumably loyal to him). Democracy has not been a tradition to the countries of the former Soviet Union. They have, and still do, value strong, unflinching, absolute leadership. Maybe that is just the way things are, and democracy really isn't workable there. I dont know and no one has the answer. But I hope that they can be democratic. I think it is the right way to do things, the best way. But... I know it isn't the only way.