Pondering....

Berlin Underground

2011-11-08T01:00:00.000-06:00

Lisa was given gift-certificates to Berliner Unterwelten (Berlin Underground) from a colleague several months ago. In mid-October, we were able to finally take Tour 1, of a WWII bunker. Berliner Unterwelten e.V., a non-profit, offers 11 tours throughout Berlin and six of those in English. The tours range from WWII bunkers, Cold War bunkers, Flak towers, pneumatic delivery infrastructures, and subway lines, to subterranean escape routes from East Berlin into West Berlin.

For Tour 1, we headed to the U-Bahn Gesundbrunnen station. This station is the deepest U-Bahn station in Berlin and space was created in several floors above the station for civilian protection in WWII. Thousands of Germans used this station in WWII as Allied bombers bombed overhead. This neighborhood was a manufacturing area and therefore a prime Allied target. Since the tour guide said the bomb shelter structurally was useless against a bomb, it is a miracle that the civilians in this shelter weren't killed.

Evidently, the Nazis knew that this shelter was useless against an air raid, but some shelters were constructed around Berlin solely to prevent panic and to assure the public that a plan had been devised for their protection. We toured many rooms, separated by heavy steel doors, a large bathroom with composting toilets, ventilation equipment, bunk-beds, folding beds, safety equipment such as flashlights and gas masks, and fluorescent paint that pointed civilians in the right direction.

In several of these rooms were artifacts from the war- Nazi and Russian military helmets, gas masks, uniforms for the civilian protection corps, weapons, and posters for identifying enemy aircraft and discouraging loose talk.

In the last part of our tour, we viewed some of the remaining infrastructure for a pneumatic delivery system that was used in Berlin from 1865 to 1976 with 90 stations and 400 kilometers of tubing. They demonstrated how the pneumatic system worked and that documents could be sent anywhere in the city, signed and sent back in only two hours. Evidently, Chancellor of Germany still uses a pneumatic dispatch system for communiques throughout the Bundeskanzleramt.

Pictures were not allowed on this tour, so these have been borrowed from the internet. Lisa and I hope when friends and family come to Berlin that we shall view more of these tours.

For more information on these tours, visit: Berliner Unterwelten

Frohnhausen, Bonn Trip

2011-10-18T09:08:00.011-05:00

About two weeks ago, Lisa and I had the opportunity to visit Lisa's family in western Germany. Lisa grew up, until the age of 8, in Frohnhausen, a village near Frankfurt, and still has relatives that live there. The opportunity to travel came from a conference Lisa attended in Frankfurt. Since Frankfurt is only about an hour away, we both decided to take the trip and for me to meet the family.

Lisa's maternal grandmother, Oma, who I've heard many stories about, as well as aunts and an uncle live near there. Lisa's Onkel Heinz and Tante Marlies provided a wonderful dinner of pork and sauerkraut in their basement.

Oma and Aunt Ulla

Marcel and I

Onkel Heinz and Tante Marlies' lake and cabin. Previously Lisa's grandma and grandpa's....Lisa has many memories of swimming here.

On the way back from Frohnhausen, we were invited to spend time in Bonn with Carolin, Lisa's cousin, and her husband Marcel. They were incredibly kind and gracious, taking us to this French restaurant Ratatouille in Bonn.

Lisa, looking her ever-gorgeous self

While in Bonn, we walked around the city and partially took in the Deutschlandfest. The Deutschlandfest celebrated the day of German unity, where West and East Germany were reunited.

It was a wonderful trip and I'm grateful for this connection to Lisa's childhood. I really liked the family and hope they liked me too. Unfortunately, we didn't plan the trip well and couldn't see Lisa's dad's side of the family in a nearby town to Frohnhausen. I hope to meet them in the next year.

Bonhoeffer- House

2011-09-12T06:21:00.012-05:00

A few weeks ago, Lisa and I had the opportunity to visit the Bonhoeffer-House here in Berlin. This is actually Dietrich Bonhoeffer's parent's retirement house in Berlin, but Dietrich spent a good amount of time writing here and was arrested by the Gestapo here in 1943.

Bonhoeffer was part of the Confessing Church in Germany, which opposed Nazism in Germany and was in direct contrast to the national churches' allegiance to Hitler.

Both Lisa and I had known about Bonhoeffer and I had read his book Life Together, about community, while at Word Made Flesh. We were delighted that, upon making an appointment, we could view the house. We were able to spend 1.5 hours with a volunteer guide as he told us about the history of the house and about Bonhoeffer.

Much of the furniture in the house are reproductions due to renovations and lending the collections to other museums/memorial centers/libraries. However, the bookshelves, writing desk, and piano in his study are original. His manuscript After Ten Years was hidden in these rafters and was not found until after the war.

A historical timeline of the Bonhoeffer-House located in the front lobby:

We truly enjoyed paying respect to such a celebrated theologian, one who wrestled with nonviolence, but came to another conclusion in the midst of the evil of Hitler. We made a small donation at the end and also purchased a few pamphlets.

A nearby old train station, still in use, that Lisa and I imagined that Bonhoeffer would take frequently as he made his way to various Christian fellowships.

Also, Lisa and I happened upon a luxury condo building in west Germany that used to be The Imperial War Court. This is where Bonhoeffer was indicted and from where he was sent to prison. He was arrested and indicted because of a power struggle between the Abwehr (military intelligence) and the SS; his participation in the failed plot against Hitler was not found out until early April 1945.

A picture in the house shows the Flossenbürg concentration camp where Bonhoeffer was taken, tried, and executed in less than 24 hours. He was hanged less than 23 days before the Nazi's surrendered.

Lisa and I hope to visit more memorials for Dietrich Bonhoeffer and read more of his writing. For more information about Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life, here is the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Bonhoeffer

Berlin Life

2011-09-01T09:11:00.013-05:00

I have settled in more to life in Berlin. I love being here. Lisa and I seem to be out-and-about a lot of the time as we enjoy the remaining days of summer.

Some things we've been enjoying recently include:
1) Bicycles: Berlin has been great (or better than my experience in the US) about creating bike lanes, bike paths, bike parking, and bike rentals for its residents. The mayor of Berlin, also, in his welcome letter to new residents encourages people to bike and take public transit. Bike Rental Program through Deutsche Bahn, the transit rail company here in Berlin:

At the Prater Biergarten....along with plenty of space to park bicycles. We come to the Biergarten for Rostbratwurst and of course, Bier.

2) Green Space:
There seems to be a concerted effort to create green space in the midst of city life here in Berlin. It is actually difficult for us to walk more than a few blocks without finding a park...either a playground, park, or sports field. I especially like that there are ping pong tables throughout the city and trampolines and chess tables can be found intermittently.

During our weekly small group, we have often sat by riversides while reading together:

At a park near my school...

There are ping pong tables everywhere around the city and Lisa and I have already purchased paddles and played some games.

Trampolines built into the pavement in a park...

Overlooking the Park:

3) Culture:
Saturdays Lisa and I have visited several museums including the DDR Museum, the Pergamon Museum, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer's house (actually his parents' retirement house but where Bonhoeffer would visit frequently and wrote his incomplete Ethics...more on that visit in a later post).

Pictures from the Pergamon Museum holding The Ishtar Gate, the Pergamon Altar, among other antiquities from Babylon, Greece, Rome, and other ancient civilizations.

4) Church...with a strong sense of history
Lisa and I have recently attended a Lutheran church in the neighborhood. The pastor preaches Jesus, there is liturgy and an observance of the liturgical calendar, and a connection with other believers, past and present; it feels comforting to sing hymns that were written in the 16th, 17th, and 18th century and that Christians have been singing for hundreds of years.

5) We never know what we'll come across walking or biking around the city...

A Short Reflection

2011-08-11T05:57:00.011-05:00

Lisa and I have been able to walk around the neighborhoods of Prenzlauer Berg and Pankow several evenings. I love coming across historic buildings- many of which hold plaques that denote the history of the building or the tragic death in WWII of one of the inhabitants.

This building was most notably used as a dormitory for the SS in WWII and then by the Stasi in East Germany, where suspects were first taken after an arrest. It is currently used as a women's jail.

Other plaques we have seen surrounding our neighborhood denote the passing of Jewish, communist, and (if I remember correctly) Roma peoples killed outright or taken to a death camp by Nazis.

In other news, having finished Rosetta Stone German disk 1 and being without other disks, I am immersing myself in the German language. I will enroll in a local college for more formal and rigorous language study later this month but for the time being, analyzing German t.v. is a popular pastime.

Television in Germany consists entirely of news, documentaries, Schlager music, talent shows and a few American and Indian shows that are dubbed into German. There aren't any shows in English (with or without subtitles), so I am using my Iphone to translate words I see scrolling at the bottom of the t.v. news.

Here are a few:
erschossen- shot/shoot dead
Krawalle- rioting
die Steuern - taxes
verklagen - to sue
schaden- damage
die Hungersnot- famine
das Urteil- verdict
eintauchen- plunge (related to stock market)

Maybe this is in particular a tense news cycle....

Finally, a blog about Berlin I have really enjoyed reading is: Abandoned Berlin.

Lisa and I also hope to visit a couple of these places, including the abandoned amusement park featured in the movie Hanna.

East Germany Museum & A Stroll

2011-07-27T03:23:00.011-05:00

Living in Berlin, Lisa and I thought we'd be crazy not to view the historical and cultural sights of the city. Since a lot of our home improvement projects are finished, last Saturday Lisa and I explored the DDR museum in Mitte, Berlin. The DDR museum is devoted to East Germany history from 1949 till its reunification with West Germany in 1990.

www.ddr-museum.de/en/

The DDR museum reports that it is careful not to glamorize the communist past of the DDR. There were exhibits that demonstrated East Germany's deplorable environmental record, Stasi interrogations, and grocery stores being constantly without important food staples. However, there were also a lot of exhibits showing fair wages for workers, inexpensive housing, and universal education.

This shows what a typical East German apartment might look like (from the DDR museum website):

After our time at the DDR museum, we also walked along museum island (I think it's called, because it is between two tributaries). We purchased two museum passes that enable us to get into 8-10 museums in Berlin.

Pictures taken along our walk:

Neues Museum

Statues of Marx & Engels

Photos Of Labor/Labor Unrest Next To Marx/Engels Statues

Berlin

2011-07-21T08:40:00.012-05:00

Lisa and I arrived in Berlin on June 13th after a wonderful honeymoon in Copenhagen, Denmark.

We quickly found a great balance: setting up the apartment, visiting friends (several of whom traveled from The Netherlands), setting appointments with various government offices for my assimilation into Germany, and relaxing together.

Over the next few weeks and months I plan to document my transition to Berlin, and to include the following topics:

1) German Bureaucracy

The stereotype about Germans being organized and punctual has been true in our experience....which has been wonderful. We have already completed the three steps necessary for my residency/work visa, and my passport was stamped this week with a 3-year work authorization.

2) Learning German

I finished Rosetta Stone disk 1, but am finding real-world spoken German and conversation to be more difficult. I will enroll in late August in a discounted German language and Germany integration course at a local college.

3) Apartment set-up

We have traveled to IKEA probably 4 times since I arrived in Germany. We have spent several Saturdays putting together furniture together (desks, chairs, bookshelf, wardrobe, etc.). We have found that we are a really great team when assembling furniture.

4) Church/community participation

We have attended 2 churches and were unenthusiastic. Germany, like other European states, provides money directly to a (Lutheran) church denomination. If a German taxpayer includes a Protestant denomination in their tax status, church taxes are taken out to support the Lutheran church. People can attend a state-supported church or choose another Protestant church (usually labeled generically as evangelical). The German people take seriously their summer breaks so the next 3 weeks churches near us don't even meet.

5) Mass Transit

What a delight to be able to travel via bus, tram, subway and regional train throughout the city. (East Berlin has trams available, West Berlin does not). I have met Lisa in various parts of Berlin for shopping, meeting friends, and dinner. A standard 2-hour fare throughout most of the city costs 2 Euros 30 cents, however, I can ride for free on weekends with Lisa.

This image file of Berlin transit can be enlarged, I believe. We live close to the Schönhauser Alle station.

6) Applying for a Job
When looking for positions while in the USA, companies usually asked whether or not I already had my work visa. This was a question to filter applicants. Now that I have my residency and work visa, I applied for 3 jobs Thursday. English is only required.

7) German Food
What bad can be said about schnitzel and sausage? More to come...

8) Cultural attractions
Lisa and I had visited several cultural attractions and museums already in Berlin- from Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, the Reichstag, etc. We hope in the next week or so to purchase a 1-year museum pass that will provide admission to most museums in Berlin.

Here is a photo of an art installation from repositioned sections of the old Berlin wall:

One of many stunning views in Berlin with historic architecture, a river running through the city, and sunsets.

Until receiving the work visa, I have stayed home and worked there. I have been responsible for groceries, cleaning, laundry, etc. I have been happy to undertake these tasks and Lisa jokingly says she'd like me to stay at home and not work because life is so much easier now. I am proudly, for now, a househusband, helping things to run smoothly and glad that Lisa is so talented at work and receives a good paycheck.

Georgia On My Mind

2011-03-23T18:37:00.008-05:00

I had the opportunity to travel to Georgia a couple weeks ago to visit my recently retired parents. They moved about six months ago and are loving the warm weather, being with cousins, and the southern cooking. They also love that many people have already signed up to visit them and have poured in from Wisconsin, Illinois, Nebraska, and other places.

This area of Georgia we, as a family, had a chance to travel to every year during the summer and some years for New Years as well. Nanny (mom's mom) and a lot our great aunts and uncles and their kids lived in this area. This was where we fished, put coins on the railroad tracks, caught frogs and lizards, swung from ropes off ledges into a lake, picked up coal and turtle shells while walking the railroad tracks, played Scrabble, ate creamed corn and squash and okra and biscuits and gravy, drank sweet tea, picked wild blackberries along a logging trail, investigated abandoned houses, and listened to the crickets and felt the warm breeze through window screens as we fell asleep.

I always thought that this area was Buchanan, GA about an hour west of Atlanta and 25 minutes east of the Alabama border. I just learned that the area is called Flatwoods, as it isn't Buchanan proper. What is a more perfect rural name than Flatwoods?

Mom and dad are situated on about 10 acres with a house and small workshop that has been converted to a guest house. It is exquisite. They are surrounded by woods and dad recently planted a garden. This all fits them perfectly. Mom and dad also have a pond that they just stocked with fish.

I took some pictures while there, but as usual, wish I took more. So much has changed since my first memories of the area, from the early 80's. Gravel roads have become paved, railroad ties that served as small bridges have become concrete, and houses lived in at the time have been overrun with termites and abandoned.

The pictures below of houses are ascribed to former owners, owners that have passed away.

Aunt Olive's house

An abandoned house along M. Sanders Rd.

The logging trail where we hiked and picked wild blackberries.

Nanny's house

Reported to be a blacksmith shop from yesteryear

Walking along the railroad tracks; overlooking the Tallapoosa River, I believe

The lake behind Aunt Olive's

Some other places mom, dad, and I walked or drove by are: Aunt Marie's house (hardly visible and overgrown by tree saplings), Uncle Stanley and Aunt Ruth's house, Uncle Sephord and Aunt Ruby's house, the old sharecropper house (as the story goes) on land passed down to the Philpot girls, a logging trail that would lead to where Calvin Philpot (granddaddy) had a heart attack and died, the Buchanan Historical Society where Nanny worked, an Indian Trail tree, Piggly Wiggly, Mt. Vernon Baptist Church, and the graves of Nanny, Calvin and many other family members already named above. Mt. Vernon has had a number of different renovations and doesn't 'smell' the way it used to (wood burning, rural smell) but it was still nostalgic to see.

A big thanks to Steve & Carol and Wiley & Beth for their home cooking and hospitality and Kathy & Chuck, Betty Ann & Ray, Mary Allis and others for their warmth and great conversation.

2011-03-06T15:42:00.001-06:00

Shows largest part of our current budget deficit is attributable to Bush tax cuts:

Micro and Macro

2011-02-24T17:30:00.001-06:00

After the Great Recession, I noticed fear(s) on both a country-level and an individual level that were expressed similarly as questions of identity. I've found that during difficult times, there is a natural self-analysis; individuals and countries become introspective. They look back to when times were better, try to guess where the future is headed, and compare themselves with others around them.

Some of the questions asked:

1) Who am I? Who are we?

After a layoff and during a recession, there is a search for identity. Who am I and what do I bring to the table? In the absence of familiarity (I fulfill a need at my job for which I am paid), there is a subconscious search for: what do I provide that people value?

As an individual, this question is asked specifically: what are my strengths, what are my weaknesses, what are my opportunities?

As a country, I see the questions being asked: Who are we as a people? Are we going in the right direction? Many long for the past, and remember an idealized version of themselves. American Exceptionalism has been touted recently by conservatives; this ideology is an answer to an identity question. While American Exceptionalism doesn't necessarily tout superiority, my sense is that it's recent ideological re-emergence is designed to answer the angst-ridden questions: how am I different than other countries, what are my competitive advantages?

When sports teams lose, they search for their team identity. Countries become nostalgic and think about better times in the past. I've talked with people in former communist countries that longed for a return to communism because of full employment and people in former colonial countries that longed for a return to colonial (British, etc.) rule. Memories can often emphasize only the most positive attributes of the past and the other associative memories, long bread lines and an inability to vote, are forgotten. In the US, I've heard people long for days of old. These issues are mentioned as: the return of manufacturing jobs for high-school graduates, prayer in classrooms, and the workforce comprising one working parent and the other parent staying home with the children.

2) When was I doing well, what were the ingredients that made it a success? When was the US doing well?

As a country, we look back to the post WWII period, or parts of the 90's. Sectors that were doing well then (manufacturing, financial, housing) are not doing well now. So what is missing now?...is it that jobs were outsourced (common complaint), immigration took jobs (common complaint), taxes are too high to foster hiring (common but inaccurate complaint because taxes have gone down steadily since the 40's), technology is making jobs obsolete (most common source of jobs being lost, but Americans theoretically champion 'creative destruction' brought by technological innovation), entrepreneurship isn't being championed, or different environmental standards that allow foreign companies to produce at a lower cost (common complaint).

Besides looking nostalgically at the past, there is a personal inventory that takes place to examine if the ingredients are right for current success. Do I need retraining, do I need to enter a different career field, will I be perceived as being 'hungry' enough for the job to compete with 20 year old's?

3) Where can I cut costs?

Many families that did not experience job losses, still cut costs because of job loss uncertainty. Economists want people to re-balance their debt to income ratios, to spend less and save more, but don't want too many people doing that at the same time. On a macroeconomic level, if everyone starts saving more, then the economy, which is 70% based on US household consumption, will experience a significant drag. Remember after 9/11 that Bush and Giuliani implored people to go out and shop.

State governments, some of which are toying with bankruptcy, are cutting budgets drastically. The federal government can print money so it has not made the hard choices yet.

4) How many people am I competing with?

One of the most coldly calculating questions that people ask is: How many people am I competing with. Large, well-respected corporations often publish that thousands of applications are received for every job posting.

In cities where manufacturing jobs have left, there are even more applications per vacancy. Think Flint, Detroit or Battle Creek, MI. People become discouraged and move from places like Michigan to places like Florida because the odds are just too difficult when competing with hundreds of other people for each job. Workers along the Mexico border worry that the dry-walling, roofing, or contractors they've done in the past may be bid by other entrants into the marketplace.

5) Will someone underbid me?

Business owners I know, even in relatively good markets, think about if someone will underbid them on a job. They do not engage in collusion, but when they hear the bids that are accepted on jobs, they know that the winning firm will not only not make any profit, but may accept a loss in exchange for future business or to keep employees employed.

Both individuals and country's are asking themselves if they can compete against the lower costs/prices of competitors no matter how productive they are. A US worker asks if they can compete with someone from India (is the American __ times as productive to offset what an Indian worker may be paid?); the US asks if it can compete against the lower prices of the yuan/RMB of China. Countries, including the US, are now competing on how much to devalue their currency to encourage export growth. Countries like Vietnam just devalued their currency, to provide a competitive advantage for exports.

Our economy has become so commoditized that businesses and consumers often have this conversation:

Consumer: What is the cost of this?
Business: We're not selling a product; we're selling a service. We provide "this" level of customer service, "this" level of quality.
Consumer: I get that line from every business. They can't compete on price so they demonstrate their value-added services. What is the cost?

6) Where will the jobs be in 40 years?

No one knows. Some economists believe that only high-knowledge, high-skill jobs will survive. Other economists believe these jobs are precisely the jobs that will be usurped by robots/computers/technology. Most industries do more with less than 50 years ago. Fewer employees are needed to accomplish the same jobs. Will this lead to chronic unemployment in the future?

Berlin December 2010

2011-01-31T18:33:00.008-06:00

I have such great memories of being in Berlin in early December. It was a quick trip, financed by frequent flier miles; I had just enough time to propose. Lisa said "of course!".

Our romantic dinner the night of the proposal.

Beautiful in every setting

Give It A Rest Uwe!

2011-01-10T18:23:00.007-06:00

When I was a junior in high school, we had a German exchange student. He was everything you'd think of in a stereotypical German guy- hefty, looks like he's 40 only he's 17, has a 5 o'clock shadow at noon, has graying wavy hair, and I feel like he was wearing lederhosen (but that might just be to show off that he was an exchange student). He came in on the first day of choir, sat down at the piano before the start of class and started playing and singing in this rich baritone voice. He sang operatically and the sound filled the choir room. Students felt as though they were being welcomed into class and ushered into this new choir history. They applauded for him after the bell rang.

Cut to one week later....Uwe (pronounced Uva to lame English speakers), continues to play and sing and serenade the class until one student, sensing the rising sentiment of disgust, yells out: "Give it a rest Uwe!!"

No more playing piano or singing after that. (except in choir and in the multiple solos the choir director gave him).

In honor of Uwe, I looked up hefty guy playing a piano on Google and found this:

I know Uwe would have been much more dignified.

Hit N' Run Evangelism

2010-09-02T19:35:00.002-05:00

I'm trying to decide what I think about Hit N' Run Evangelism.

This is the term I give to Christians witnessing, in a non-personal way, and for which the evangelizers are never seen.

Some examples (I've heard Christians talk about most of these things):

-Christian magazines left at laundromats
-Tracts left here and there and especially on tables at restaurants
-Suggestive movie covers turned around at Blockbuster
-Suggestive books in libraries/bookstores put in other places or dumped in trash cans at the store
-Jesus graffiti. "Jesus Loves You" on overpasses, etc. (This seemed to be more of a phenomenon growing up).

Vienna

2010-07-15T18:45:00.005-05:00

Lisa and I in Vienna. <3 I loved Vienna!!!! What a gorgeous city- both in terms of architecture and green space. The beer, schnitzel, architecture, public transportation, musical heritage and orchestral offerings, and coffee shops were lovely.

And Lisa was as lovely as ever....

Family at Lutsen, MN

2010-07-15T18:30:00.003-05:00

Bradley watching a movie

Sharon and her beautiful smile

Emma

Laura and Lilly

Myles, Nick, Josue, and Lilly

Apologies to other family members; photographer missing key skills.

Lutsen, MN Outdoors

2010-07-15T18:15:00.002-05:00

The first three pictures show our hike up Moose Mountain. You start down towards a creek, then up and up. At the top of the mountain is a chalet and a beautiful view.

The last picture shows the condo where we stayed. I heard that Caribou Highlands, the resort 'village', tries to be really green- composting toilets, saltwater in their pools instead of chlorine. It was a great time in the outdoors and a great time with family.

Doppelganger

2010-06-28T18:02:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I saw my doppelganger at a local Omaha restaurant.

Except that it was a red-haired, 5'4" woman.

But still, her face shape was the same.

What I've Learned (Or Think I've Learned)

2010-06-08T20:30:00.003-05:00

Esquire magazine has a feature entitled "What I've Learned". In a bit of an homage, I offer my own "What I've Learned".

-Corporations are registered in Delaware; Ships are registered in Liberia.... Because the legal 'decks are stacked' in their favor. Class- action lawsuits used to be moved to the Deep South for trials until tort reform.
-The US version of capitalism, casino capitalism (A Yunus term) will go the same way as communism.
-There isn't a liberal mainstream media in the US. If you want liberal media covering the US, watch Aljazeera or a read a European paper about US policy.
-Chances are Indonesia is the most populous country you/I don't know anything about (4th most populous in the world according to Wikipedia).
-Mass murder is still taking place, not only in Darfur but also in The Congo. Estimates range from 3 Million to 5.4 Million dead since 1998 in The Congo alone.
-The US government needs to just tell young people they are 1) going to pay more taxes AND 2) get less. People are broke, government is broke. It is ironic that the West (generally rich) borrowed from the East (generally poor) to fund their consumption- entitlements, electronics, and oil.
-Nothing will improve until the culture improves first.
-Politics needs more technocrats. Just make the trains run on time, automate, promote an even playing field, and do more with less.
-Baseball will go the way of the dodo when Baby Boomers die.
-Clean Drinking Water is the most valuable natural resource, more than gold, more than platinum.
-I see two futures- one with cheap energy where the world is run by robots and there is massive unemployment or one where energy is almost non-existent and everyone is a subsistence farmer. :-)
-The entire system is stacked against the poor; from lending practices, credit access, advertising and marketing, nutritional offerings, war casualties, wage pressures, etc.
-The military and pornography drive the leading edge of many technologies. Makes you wonder whether everyone should be Luddites.
-There is an anti-intellectualism in the US now, symptomatic in Jay Leno's Jaywalking. Don't get me wrong, I laugh, but I also cry on the inside.
-The US exhibits signs of malignant narcissism. *Reference how quickly, when criticizing the US, someone says 1) "We saved your ass in two world wars", 2) America is the best, most selfless nation that has ever been conceived, and 3) if you don't like it, why don't you leave?.
-The world is moving away from monologue to dialogue- in church settings, media, politics, etc.
-In heaven, we will learn more about the "Butterfly effect" and how all our small decisions/sins cause chain events that lead to the huge structures of sin/oppression we live in.
-We (The West) export our sin's consequences and make others pay for it. In economic terms there are externalities in the economic order where we can enjoy our sin and make others suffer the effects (think global warming, sex trafficking, gluttony and starvation).
-"The system", political and economic, is designed not to be consistent, fair, or logical, but to protect industries and interests.
-Christians try to give meaning to otherwise senseless events. i.e. God gave me that parking space, God meant to take him/her early, etc.
-People are scrappy. In the midst of the recession, so many of my friends picked up contract work, part-time work, and temporary work. I'm impressed with their pluck.
-Some of the best parts of life are the smells of flowers like Lilacs, the beauty of flowers like Peonies, and listening to classical and choral music.
-When you lose your grandparents, some of your biggest irrational cheerleaders are gone.
-The Mission makes men cry like women cry at Beaches (hypothetical because I have not seen Beaches nor seen women cry during it; substitute Steel Magnolias, Titanic, etc. where appropriate).

Funniest Thing I've Seen In A Long Time

2010-03-22T10:52:00.002-05:00

Casablanca

2010-02-28T16:51:00.005-06:00

I was privileged to spend an extra day in Casablanca on my last trip. I needed extra pages in my passport and a friend recommended doing this overseas, instead of mailing it to an Embassy in the States. This was perfect, as it allowed me to spend 45 minutes one morning having pages added at the US Consulate and the remainder of the day seeing Casablanca.

The couriers that I met in Casablanca over the course of my nine trips have been superb. Rabii and Yusef were especially kind during this trip. Yusef drove me around Casablanca and we were able to see the Hassan II Mosque, Almohades' cannons and an old fort wall, the seaside, and the old medina.

A public park on the outskirts of Casablanca

In Arabic... I'm told of the dedication of the park by the King.

Hassan II Mosque

Yusef

An old fort wall of the Almohades, the Fifth Moorish Dynasty founded in the 12th Century.

Several views of the sea; both from the mosque and from a beach nearby

A fisherman mending his net.

On my way back from Casablanca I had several harrowing travel experiences including: road construction, wrong terminal, lost passport, exorbitant fees, weather cancellations, rerouting, bus from JFK to LaG, running & sweating, seeing an airline manager, being told I would miss my flight, airlines endorsing their portion of a ticket to another carrier, etc. But several miracles happened and I got home only 2.5 hours after scheduled! So happy.

Sociological Benefits of Church

2010-02-12T14:35:00.000-06:00

I was thinking of the sociological benefits of attending church regularly. With my generation giving up 'institutions', there is possibly something lost by not participating in a community focused on the Divine.

I thought that both secularists and the faithful could find the following beneficial when attending a weekly service; this was a quick list I put together. Please add your own.

-Increased attention span by listening to sermons.
-Gaining an ear for harmonies, listening to different parts sung with hymns.
-A sense of physical touch through shaking hands and passing of the peace.
-A sense of community through communion and call & answer prayers.
-A sense/respect of history seeing the historicity of liturgy.
-Being provided meals and visits after recent births, deaths, and tragedies.
-An easy opportunity to serve (as an usher, band member, choir member, etc) and an opportunity to learn new skills (audio/visual equipment, etc.).
-A set-aside time for silence, reflection, and Seasons.
-A sense of transcendence that makes today's problems less severe.
-Time in the week for remembering those who are less fortunate.
-Reading and meditating on a book that is both 2,000 years old, yet timeless, has changed the world, and which much of our Western Civilization references.
-An emphasis on the soul and the eternal, which also can make today's problems less severe (provides new perspective).
-Transcending our reliance solely on the mind and using our heart and recognizing our affect.
-Church can encourage an opportunity to practice discipline either through regular reading and prayer or letting go of worldly things by fasting and remembering those who do without.
-Potlucks that foster community.
-Practicing the discipline of tithing serves to help the discipline of other good money management skills.
-Connecting personal pain with the pain of others in community....crying together and laughing together.
-Confession in appropriate ways that clears away guilt and helps participant look to the future.
-Congregation testimonies which suggests the Holy not only in history but today. This lends itself to congregants believing less in the 'randomness' of the world and instead in a purposefulness. To Christians, this can mean God's work in history and God's work in the lives of other members makes life seem less 'random'.
-Ritual and Imagery- Through rituals like baptism there is a visual sense of putting off the old life and symbolizing a new birth.

Whisper Man

2010-02-05T04:55:00.003-06:00

In college, you could kind of tell who many of the pre-seminary students were. Not just because of their hairstyles or clothes but because of the way they empathized with you or challenged you.

I had many guy friends who used a different voice when practicing pastoring. They adopted a slightly higher pitch and they softened the volume almost to a whisper. I liken this 'fumbling about' to children practicing being doctors; harmless and getting the kinks out. No pastor who has real-life experience still goes to that voice, surely. While meaning to sound sincere, it often sounded pretentious... like the person was talking to a baby.

"Yeah, I know what you mean"
"Have you considered...."
"The Bible says..."
"It is difficult, I know"

Business majors and Bible majors wore the suits in the college yearbook. That was another way to tell people apart.

Lisa's Visit to Omaha

2010-01-11T09:00:00.002-06:00

After my trip to Berlin to visit Lisa, she came to Omaha for 4 days starting on New Years Eve and leaving January 4th.

What a perfect time together! We had such a great mix of activities:

-Delicious Indian food with good friends on New Years Eve- Thanks Daphne, Caleb, John, and Ann Marie!
-Smoking the water pipe, called a hookah, that is popular in Muslim countries. We used a fruit flavored tobacco and shared one hose.
-Das Boot with friends :-) Just kidding. 'Das Boot' is translated as 'The Boat', but we actually drank a few glass 'boots' of German beer shared by many friends at Huber Haus. Lisa was gracious in her assessment of Huber Haus, an Omaha bar, saying that it was imitation German but they did play the right music.
-Watching Holiday Inn with Bing Crosby, Fred Estaire, and Marjorie Reynolds. Classic movie minus two fast-forwarded scenes.
-The Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo .....walking around the rainforest and under the waterfalls, seeing the aquarium and watching the fish, sharks, and stingrays swim above us, seeing the iridescent jellyfish which affirms in both of us a sense of God's majesty, and watching a seahorse that looks like a plant.
-Having lunch at M's Pub, the best restaurant in Omaha.
-Stokes, the restaurant, and Fat Tire.
-WMF office introductions and tour, meeting the folks and community of WMF.
-Tea Smith with Jara and Kenley.
-Wine with Calvin and Liz and lots of laughter.
-Sushi downtown at Blue.
-Wine and cocktails at Urban Wine Company.
-Church Sunday morning at Rockbrook.
-Sgt. Peffers Friday's Chicken Florentine Soup offering. Best soup in Omaha.
-Visiting the Western Heritage Museum in Omaha (a converted grand train station) and walking among the old trains downstairs and imagining ourselves in that place and time. We got to read and see the history of Omaha and some of their special exhibits.

It was such a beautiful time and we now embark on the LDR (long distance relationship). Wise friends have told us that old fashioned letter writing is a good way to get to know one another, so we will do more of that. We also certainly miss being together.

Lisa and I

2009-12-21T13:11:00.000-06:00

Xanadu

2009-12-19T11:54:00.003-06:00

One positive from the earlier flight (reference Royal Air Maroc: Airplane Restrooms) was that I saw how the flight attendants "fix" the bathroom lock from the outside to make it look occupied for take-off and landing.

Now I can repeat said 'fix' and....make one restroom my own personal restroom for a flight. Like Jerry remarks about George's personal workplace restroom in Seinfeld...'Xanadu'!

---------------------------

Also, I had no idea....but when flying from Canada, US Customs gets done BEFORE the flight! There is an American Section at the Montreal airport!! Like Guantanamo in Cuba,...okay...bad example. You experienced travelers probably knew this already, but I found this to be delightful....to go through security and customs in Montreal and arrive at Gate C, Terminal 1 in Chicago instead of at Terminal 5, Gate M and take a train over.

Airplane Restrooms

2009-12-18T17:58:00.001-06:00

When I boarded the Royal Air Maroc flight from Casablanca to Montreal, I had already unleashed a horde of obscenities after spending 5 grueling hours with them the day before.

When I checked in, I asked for an exit row, because of my height. The ticket agent gladly obliged, ripping up my old ticket, and telling me I was in an exit row on an aisle.

When I arrived on the plane, my seat instead was against the exit row, with a barely reclining chair, a safety vest beneath the seat in front of me, and a restroom directly to my right. Add crying babies, no movies, a call button being pressed over and over again unanswered by the crew, and a flummoxed attendant who mentions that only one ear bud is SUPPOSED to work for the in-flight music. Thankfully, the music available is not appealing, so I don’t feel like I’m missing out too much.

Back to the restroom….

I was faced with several people who are unfamiliar with ‘locking’ the bathroom door, the door remaining ‘unoccupied’ to outside observers and therefore being opened mid-business. Each time, I was the face the user saw when the door opened…instead of the person actually opening the door.

So many people were confused at how to open the restroom door that I was asked repeatedly during the flight to help people open the door. Mid-flight I took out a hand towel, meticulously placed it folded over my forearm, took out the life-savers from my backpack and started assisting passengers in their restroom experience. Thankfully, Royal Air Maroc already provides some of the amenities expected from a high-class restroom: tissues and fine-smelling lotion. A few guesses as to nationality: ‘Bonjour’, ‘Allo’, etc. to make the experience ‘warm and inviting’ and I am the proud owner of 15 Moroccan Dinars.

Berlin

2009-12-16T10:08:00.007-06:00

I returned Sunday late, from a week in Berlin. I flew to Berlin to meet a lady. :-)

In January, my good friend Liz introduced me to Lisa via e-mail. She mentioned, in her e-mail, a few facts about each of us and why she thought we would enjoy each other's company. Liz met Lisa at the Missionary of Charity homes in Kolkata when they both were volunteering.

Since January, Lisa and I have been e-mailing, video Skyping, and sending notes and letters to each other. We wanted to see 'where' this could go.

During the week, we saw Checkpoint Charlie, a museum dedicated to freedom and the escape attempts from East Berlin, the Reichstag, the Berlin Wall, rode a Ferris wheel, and took a bus tour of Berlin. We also cooked dinners for each other, and attended 3 outdoor Christmas markets drinking gluhwein.

Like usual, I was not very good about carrying my camera everywhere. However, from these pictures, you can see how beautiful the architecture is in Berlin. Berlin is a an international city with a famous arts scene.

Things went extremely well during the week. And I look forward to wherever this new relationship takes us. :-)

For a picture of Lisa, see my FB profile pic.

East Berlin's TV Tower

Train Station at Alexanderplatz

Spiral ramp looking down from the top of the Reichstag

An inside look at Alexanderplatz Station

2009-11-30T08:28:00.000-06:00

A Fun, Temporary Job

2009-11-23T09:26:00.004-06:00

Starting October 16th, I started working as a contracted courier carrying manufacturing parts, made in Lincoln, to factories in Europe and North Africa.

Trips: 6
2-Casablanca, Morroco
1-Tangier, Morroco
1-Porto, Portugal
1-Paris, France
1-Tunis, Tunisia

Countries Visited: 4
'New' Countries Visited: 3
Languages Spoken Within These Cities: French, Arabic, and Portuguese.
Words Spoken By Me In These Languages: oui, bonjour, merci, merci beaucoup, si vous plait, bon, bom dia, and obrigado.
Travel Time: Equivalent of 15 days
Total Time Spent On-The-Ground (Excluding Airport Customs & Checking-In): 60 hours mostly overnight
City Views: 1 Tour of Tangier
Movies Watched on Planes: Terminator (Huge Disappointment), Star Trek (Good), Coco Before Chanel (Pretty Good), Hurt Locker (Excellent but didn't get to finish), State of Play (I really liked), Julie and Julia (Good), Ugly Truth (Ugly Truth is Not Good), Great Buck Howard (Good), Hangover (Really Funny), and Taking of Pelham 123 (So-So).
Frequent Flier Miles Gained: American-2,420 but haggling over another 6,000, United -19,132, and Delta-17,667. I am missing some other mileage, but every leg is through a different carrier so tough to keep track AND hold them accountable.
Other Carriers Flown: Royal Air Maroc, TunisAir, SAS

Younger Siblings

2009-11-15T19:06:00.000-06:00

In my family, some of the younger ones would just lick the salt off chips and put them back into the bag. And I, on more than one occasion, put a soggy chip into my mouth.

My New Grey Suit

2009-11-09T14:45:00.001-06:00

Moral Sentiments and Material Interests

2009-11-09T14:25:00.002-06:00

"The behavioral sciences have traditionally offered two contrasting explanations of cooperation. One, favored by sociologists and anthropologists, considers the willingness to subordinate self-interest to the needs of the social group to be part of human nature. Another, favored by economists and biologists, treats cooperation as the result of the interaction of selfish agents maximizing their long-term individual material interests. Moral Sentiments and Material Interests argues that a significant fraction of people fit neither of these stereotypes. Rather, they are conditional cooperators and altruistic punishers. We show that a high level of cooperation can be attained when social groups have a sufficient fraction of such types, which we call strong reciprocators, and we draw implications of this phenomenon for political philosophy and social policy."

Page xi.

Talk about a page-turner!!!! I'm on page 85 and this book is extremely fascinating! The book is a 'reader', with each chapter written by different authors exploring the results of their research; research that may supplant classical economic theory by taking into account real human behavior both observed in the field and in experiments. Some chapters include: The Natural History of Human Food Sharing and Cooperation, The Economics of Strong Reciprocity, The Evolution of Altruistic Punishment, and Policies That Crowd out Reciprocity and Collective Action.

This book was referenced in a previous blog post because of a magazine article that referenced and quoted the book and I was so intrigued I had to purchase it; I have not been disappointed.

Second Day; Overheard at Village Inn

2009-11-02T07:17:00.002-06:00

Waitress (Shouting from across the restaurant): Hey 'Matt', you want to be a server today?

Matt: Why, you one short today?

Waitress: Yeah, 'Julie' tore a ligament in her uterus and won't be here.

Overheard At Village Inn

2009-11-01T07:16:00.003-06:00

Waitress: How is the Hollandaise sauce this morning?

Patron: It is a little watery, but the flavor is good.

Waitress: Maybe it is because they don't know how to make it.

Are You Allowed To Put GPS Tracking Devices...

2009-11-01T06:30:00.001-06:00

In your airline bags so that when they misplace/lose the bag, you can tell them exactly where it is?

Don't Try This At Home

2009-10-30T19:34:00.003-05:00

Some of my large candles burned in a really weird way and I tried to fix them by relighting them and holding them sideways to burn some of the excess and smooth out the edges. I also cut some of the spilled-over portions away with a knife.

I held the coffee colored candle burning over the toilet and now my toilet just looks like someone had the squirts. The bowl is filled with the brown wax splatter, from the water and wax splashing back onto the sides of the bowl. Whoops.

Jara's Wedding

2009-10-27T10:07:00.003-05:00

Tangier, Morocco

2009-10-27T10:02:00.002-05:00

Reflections From Morocco Trip

2009-10-21T12:54:00.002-05:00

-On the flight into Madrid, a guy behind me SHOUTED: "Of all the things to do today, don't fly!" but no one paid much attention.
-A couple rows behind me, there was another guy that snored like he was sipping cola out of a straw. I could almost hear the drool being sucked back into his mouth.
-I sat next to a heavy-set woman visiting her family in Greece (she's probably 50) and our elbows 'spooned' on the armrest. She had fabric on but it felt just like her elbow was nestled into my elbow resting there. You know that feeling of the mix of skin and hair. That felt weird.
-A woman pauses in mid-conversation with another woman, and kicks her legs up with her 2 inch heels and pantsuit pants up the wall ramp and holds it there for a second to stretch. Then she repeats with the other leg. Her legs were almost above her head. She did this right after we turned the corner because right before there were 12 customs agents/police officers on the ramp.

Reflections From Portugal Trip

2009-10-20T09:25:00.002-05:00

-No Profiling (I saw a pilot and a grandma getting frisked).
-Best Meal Had On An Airplane (Involved two German sausage meals)
-First Class From Chicago to Omaha
-German spoken at Heathrow more than English
-Mistaken for being German
-So Happy With Melatonin
-Smiled A LOT when people would erupt into laughter watching The Hangover on their personal video screens in the cabin. Ended up watching it again myself and laughed out loud.
-Listened to classical music and read a good book
-Want to finish Hurt Locker and Appaloosa next journey
-4 Free English papers available through Lufthansa...even the Sunday paper with the insert magazines.
-Got to practice my Portuguese in Portugal. Only remembered two phrases...Darn.
-Saw, after several delays getting into Porto, passengers receiving food vouchers for airport restaurants and one passenger ripping up the voucher in front of the gate agent and giving it back to her. Then him yelling at her. And everyone else yelling at her. And remembering a sign for TAP passengers that read: Do not abuse airline personnel; they are only trying to serve you. Any abuse will be taken seriously. Or something to that effect.

My New Temporary Life As A Courier

2009-10-19T14:22:00.003-05:00

A picture from Porto, Portugal, a VERY short visit as a courier.

Today I leave for Morocco and will be back on Thursday. I hope to keep doing this for the next few weeks/months depending on the needs of the companies. This could be a quick way to add countries to the passport. :-)

Another Prophecy Comes True

2009-10-07T17:54:00.003-05:00

Airline Asks Passengers to Empty Bladders Before Boarding Flights Japan's All Nippon Airways is Trying to Reduce Weight on Environmentally-Friendly Flights

From ABC News:
ANA's latest effort is part of a month-long trial called "e-flight." The "e" stands for ecology and the airline is trying to make flying as environmentally friendly as possible. Instead of plastic cups, the airline will use cups derived from plant materials. Paper napkins will come from non-wood products. Passengers will learn more about the environment during the in-flight entertainment.

But the environmental push starts long before then.

While at the gate, ANA staff will introduce the flight as an e-flight and request that passengers lighten their baggage and to go to the restroom before boarding, according to ANA spokesman Justin C. Massey.

"I think it's bit redundant to ask people to relieve themselves," said Rick Seaney, CEO of airfare site FareCompare.com and an ABCNews.com columnist. "Most people, including my family, do it anyway because they hate the cleanliness of the lavatory."

The e-flight is being tested on domestic flights between Tokyo's Haneda International Airport, Okinawa's Naha Airport and Chitose Airport and on one international route between Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Singapore's Changi Airport.

The test period is from Oct. 1 through Oct. 31 and the airline said it will review whether it wants to continue the program.

Refer back to Post from February 19, 2009:

Inspiration

2009-10-05T15:59:00.004-05:00

Jared Landreth has always wanted to mentor and inspire his friends. Years ago, he thought about famous characters of literature, history, and stage and screen that 'resembled' his friends. He wanted to talk to us about the potential that he saw in us and the particular 'honor' that each of us could nourish.

For Silas, Jared saw Aragorn. For me, he saw Atticus Finch. What a great character with which to be compared. In fact, coincidentally, it was/is the only movie I own.

Church Stories

2009-09-30T10:46:00.002-05:00

-At my church in Illinois, a Christian comedian performed one evening and near the end, gave an invitation....you know the invitation I'm talking about. Somehow I was confused. I was sitting in the balcony, I stood up, and started walking downstairs only to mentally realize the substance of the invitation. I quickly replayed the comedian's message to see if a 're-dedication' would be appropriate and concluded no. I deviated from the group walking downstairs and pretended I was lost for about 3 minutes before going to my dad's office (he was a Pastor at the church). I met back up with family member's at the end and recounted the embarrassing story.

-My cousin Steven and I were sugar fiends in late elementary/early junior high. We had a whole tour around the church. First, we would sneak down to the pantry and take taste tests between sugar, equal, and sweet-n-low packets. We also ate cookies (mostly oatmeal...a real treat was the rare chocolate chip), drank tang up in the nursery, then to the choir room for the hard candies, and then across the street to Burger King (skipping church) to get free refills on Coke. No wonder he was a bit 'jumpy' those years.

-After 1980, 'Jim' was rarely seen at church without a Big Gulp in his hands. When the Super Big Gulp and then the Double Gulp came out, he upsized. 'Jim' was not self-aware...even taking the first chunk out of my sister Catherine's birthday cake. Our family used to spend Sunday afternoons at church because of the 45 minute drive into the city and needing to be at both Sunday morning and Sunday evening services. Because of this, Catherine's birthday cake was put into a fridge upstairs to be celebrated later. When it was taken out, there was a large section missing. 'Jim' later confessed.

Inspired by True Events

2009-09-24T12:42:00.004-05:00

In the movies, often mentioned with romantic flair, is when a man holds his girlfriend's hair back when she is sick and vomiting. This is how she 'knows' he is the One. It is similar to the television/movie scenario: "all I need is a gazuntite or a bless you" and I know he is sensitive and will be there for me.

Cut to marriage. One sister and her husband. She gets sick last night.

He does the following (Inspired by true events):

1) Pretends he's not nearby when she calls from the adjoining bathroom for him to get her something.
2) Says 'get out of our bed and sleep with our son' who is also sick.
3) Says '95% of not feeling well is in the mind.'
4) Says 'it must have been something that all of you ate' (3 people are ill)...even though they all ate different things yesterday.

My sister says she should have known because when they were dating, he came over with chicken soup, dropped the soup on the front step & rang the doorbell, and high-tailed it out of there.

He must have a Pentecostal view of sickness and not allowing it a 'foothold' in. When I mentioned, to be empathetic, that my niece had been fussy all day and this is probably the reason she was fussy with him...replied "We don't say fussy, we say particular." Huh?

He really is a good husband and father, just a little wacky.

The Best Week Ever For Videos Posted on Facebook

2009-09-18T22:13:00.002-05:00

Most of the Family...

2009-09-15T17:44:00.002-05:00

Taken at Ashley's wedding last year (our niece). Richie is missing from the picture.

I Like Watching People Laugh on YouTube

2009-09-12T18:27:00.000-05:00

More Business Ideas...

2009-09-10T16:45:00.000-05:00

Just so you don't think I 'rigged' an earlier post, writing in hindsight of good business ideas I've had, only after they came to fruition: I want to share some good future business ideas. Each business idea below meets a need or fills a niche.

1) New Jukeboxes. Context: Matt Neher and I were at Crescent Moon when someone played Little Mermaid on the jukebox. This killed the mood at the bar and I overheard other groups of guys cussing about the music. SO...I propose jukeboxes where if people can put in $1 to play a song, $3 can be used to 'kill' a song and put in another one.

2) Man Stationary. Context: Over the years writing lots of letters to friends and supporters, I have been extremely disappointed in stationary. Stationary is usually made for women, is bright pink, has butterflies, etc. I wanted 'manly' stationary, if there is such a thing. I wanted stationary in browns and tans, with dark blue complements. I think having nice stationary that is marketed specifically to men would be a big seller and I'm personally prepared to drop a lot of cash. I could see this being valuable for any guy in missions, in churches, or even in business. Instead of pure cream colored stationary, a bit of dark color is mixed in, and guys can feel good about sending notes again.

3) Accounting Program. Context: When working for a bank and also when working for WMF, finding potential accounting errors was extremely time-consuming. BankOne had a whole team of people looking through Excel spreadsheets trying to find numbers when I was there. In accounting, often there isn't one transaction that is wrong, but two or three transactions that leads the 'batch' or reconciliation to be in error (Let's say the batch is in error by $24.14). There is a program that can be written (after talking with a computer science friend and an engineer friend), that gives the possible combination of 2 or 3 numbers that add or subtract to $24.14. It could also rank the possibilities by their probability based on the task (two positive numbers might be more common in a batch). +12.12 on 1/01 and +12.02 on 1/29 might be tied with +8.64 on 1/3 and +15.50 on 1/15 for highest probable errors, but other probabilities would show as well. This would work best with small bodies of numbers (weekly or monthly reconciliations).

The program could also perform a second, but different task, which is to find a number in a certain range. Quickbooks is good for finding numbers above or below another amount, but not good at finding a number within a range. These two sorting mechanisms could significantly decrease the amount of time that bookkeepers and/or accountants to find an error in a batch.

4) Pitch a new 'Judge' show on T.V. Context: I know that the market is saturated with judge shows on t.v. right now (8-10 in my market), so how does another one fill a niche? So many of these shows are dominated by women suing men who have taken advantage of them. The kind-hearted woman pays for everything for the man because they are supposedly in a relationship. The man dumps her/cheats on her/leaves her and the woman sues for rent, phone,etc. The judge usually tells the woman that these were gifts and that she can't sue just because the man was a whore-bag. So, I propose that a judge show be created where ONLY women sue ONLY men and the judge is a comedian but also performs a bit of a social service. Someone like Steve Harvey. The show will feature large segments of Steve Harvey berating the man but also telling the women to be smarter and this is generally how men are, so be careful.

5) Tear-Off Calendar. Context: When George Bush was in office and United States standing in the world was at an all-time low, I started a project of a 'tear-off calendar' where every day shows a different invasion, coup, etc. that the United States has performed in its history against another country/people group. Generally, these actions by the U.S. would fall under the following criteria: 1) that it was unprovoked, or 2) that it was in some way horrific; that it violated the Geneva Convention, the national sovereignty of another country, or demonstrated a severe barbarism. I didn't find any difficulties coming up with entries, but with the election of Obama I thought the calendar sales might not nearly do as well, especially in the States. However, they still might do well if translated into Urdu, Farsi, etc.. An example: May 20, 1961 US provides rifles for conspirators who assassinate the Dominican Republic dictator after he fell out of favor with the US.

6) Brake Toggle Lights. Context: I almost hit another car when I saw their brake lights but I didn't know how quickly they were slowing down. Brake lights just tell whether or not the brake has been applied. In the last couple of years, some buses have started to incorporate a different kind of brake light that seems to show how hard the brake pedal is being pressed and therefore how quickly the bus is slowing down. I would love to see these more sophisticated brake lights on all cars.

Recent Embarrassing Stories

2009-09-05T08:34:00.002-05:00

-A few days ago, while taking off my outer fleece around dinner time, I asked myself why my left breast was so big. I reached under my shirt to find 2 dryer sheets that had been there all day. My breast was significantly padded but I didn't notice because of the fleece.

-Also a few days ago, I shut my car door after getting in and caught my hair in the door. Sure, I was bent towards the door looking at something around my feet, but who has ever heard of slamming the door on your hair? I had to open the door slightly and pull the 6 hairs out of the opening.

-I also redeemed some AMEX points for silverware and didn't realize that a 5 piece set was actually 5 pieces of silverware and not 5 place settings of silverware.

Economics Jokes

2009-09-04T12:44:00.006-05:00

Everything here found on Econosseur

Peter Orazem
"The economy is so bad these days that I miss the old days of $4 per gallon gas prices. It was so nice when you could fill up your car and double its value."

Best Financial Jokes from Nationalpost.com and 'cherry-picked' for the blog listed above, by its authors: Richard W. Evans, Assistant Professor of Economics at Brigham Young University, Jason DeBacker a Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Georgia, and Guest Contributor Scott Condie, Assistant Professor of Economics at Brigham Young University:

-The problem with investment bank balance sheets is that on the left side nothing is right and on the right side nothing is left.

-How do you find a good small-cap fund manager? Find a good large-cap fund manager, and wait.

"I have a 10-year-old at home, and she is always saying, 'That's not fair.' When she says that, I say, 'Honey, you're cute; that's not fair. Your family is pretty well off; that's not fair. You were born in America; that's not fair. Honey, you had better pray to God that things don't start getting fair for you.'"

(P.J. O'Rourke, Political satirist, in "The Problem is Politics", Cato's Letter: A Quarterly Message on Liberty, The Cato Institute, Spring 2008, Vol. 6, No. 2, p. 5)

Capitalist Hell vs. Communist Hell
A man dies and goes to hell. There he discovers that he has a choice: he can go to capitalist hell or to communist hell. Naturally, he wants to compare the two, so he goes over to capitalist hell. There outside the door is the devil, who looks a bit like Ronald Reagan. "What's it like in there?" asks the visitor. "Well," the devil replies, "in capitalist hell, they flay you alive, then they boil you in oil and then they cut you up into small pieces with sharp knives."

"That's terrible!" he gasps. "I'm going to check out communist hell!" He goes over to communist hell, where he discovers a huge queue of people waiting to get in. He waits in line. Eventually he gets to the front and there at the door to communist hell is a little old man who looks a bit like Karl Marx. "I'm still in the free world, Karl," he says, "and before I come in, I want to know what it's like in there."

"In communist hell," says Marx impatiently, "they flay you alive, then they boil you in oil, and then they cut you up into small pieces with sharp knives."

"But... but that's the same as capitalist hell!" protests the visitor, "Why such a long queue?"

"Well," sighs Marx, "Sometimes we're out of oil, sometimes we don't have knives, sometimes no hot water."

(Taken from the website of Jeffrey Parker at Reed College)

On the One Hand... The Economist's Joke Book, by Jeff Thredgold. You can purchase the book from his website.
Three economists went out hunting and came across a large deer. The first economist fired but missed by a yard to the left. The second economist fired, but also missed by a yard to right. The third economist didn't fire, but shouted in triumph, "We got it! We got it!"

Recycling

2009-09-01T21:51:00.002-05:00

I went to a local drop-off for recycling tonight and it was a complete mess! There were boxes and bags full of recyclables that weren't sorted but thrown on the ground and lots of trash as well.

A lady who was sorting her own recycling, started sorting the mess around her and placing the bottles, cans, etc. in their proper compartments. I started helping and another lady came by and started helping as well. We three cleaned up so that all the recyclables were put in the right places and the first lady took the trash back to her own house in a garbage bag.

At first, I felt terrible about humanity and its carelessness, but my feelings turned around by these people helping out, taking 30 minutes after work to make sure recycling is taking place properly.

Memo to Cheney:

2009-08-30T21:12:00.002-05:00

You're not Vice-President anymore, so shut the @##$ up!

Your Predictions:

2009-08-28T13:23:00.003-05:00

Make Your Predictions For Upcoming Events:

1) At the end of the year the Dow will be:

a) at or above 11,500
b) below 6,599
c) between 6,600 and 9,499
d) between 9,500 and 11,499

2) The US will invade/attack what country by the end of Obama's presidency (Pakistan is excluded because it has already been attacked recently):

a) Syria
b) Iran
c) North Korea
d) Sudan
e) Other; please write in.
f) You're so naive, they will attack all of them; we just won't see it in the news.

3) The public option for health care will go forward and be signed into law in the US:

a) Yes
b) No

4) There will be another senator/congressman/pastor caught cheating on his wife by Dec. 31st, 2009.

a) True
b) False

5) We are already on our way out of the recession and will see unemployment (a lagging indicator) start to rebound in:

a) 3rd Q. 2009
b) 4th Q. 2009
c) 1st Q. 2010
d) 2nd Q. 2010
e) 3rd Q. 2010
f) longer than one year from now
g) we will see a 'W' shaped recession instead of a V and employment will suffer for a long time.

6) An invention or research will be found that significantly increases the ability for the world to extract oil, natural gas, etc. or limits demands through efficiencies thereby making supplies last significantly longer.

a) Yes
b) No

7) The Cubs will win the pennant in:

a) in 3 years or less
b) between 4 and 7 years
c) between 7 and 15 years
d) longer than 15 years
e) never (or at least not in my lifetime)

8) Worms, Malware, Trojan Horses, Bots, or other software hacks in a coordinated attack will cripple internet worldwide for more than 4 hours by 2014.

a) Yes
b) No

9) Life expectancy for women born in 2009 will be greater than 100.

a) Yes
b) No

10) The Biblical age limit of 120 years for humanity can be/will be circumvented in the next 50 years:

a) Yes
b) No

11) The next war involving more than 2 nation-states will 'start' (first attack originating) on what continent:

a) North America
b) South America
c) Africa
d) Europe
e) Australia
f) Asia
g) Antarctica

13) The H1N1 virus will:

a) mutate into a more deadly form and kill hundreds of thousands worldwide
b) will continue to spread/be transmitted rapidly but will only critically threaten those already with health problems
c) the health reaction towards quarantining & not congregating together will outpace transmission but will threaten basic services.
d) the media has centered on H1N1 as a scare tactic and H1N1 will not infect or kill more patients worldwide than other types of the flu.

14) Declassified documents released in the next 30 years will reveal:

a) Kennedy's real assassins
b) Measures the US government used on its own people, including testing biological and chemical agents on citizens.
c) Vladimir Putin was a robot
d) As bad as the US was, Russia was still worse
e) All of the above

15) The strongest country (militarily, politically and economically) in 2030 will be:

a) The US
b) China
c) India
d) Brazil
e) The EU
f) There will be more differentiation so that one country may be more dominant politically, another militarily, etc. Write in which country will be most powerful in the 3 areas.

16) A serious archeological discovery will take place, much like the Dead Sea Scrolls, in our lifetime that further corroborates either the Hebrew Scriptures or the New Testament:

a) Yes
b) No

17) Within 50 years people will watch color holograms in place of television:

a) Yes
b) No

18) Mars will be colonized in 75 years:

a) Yes
b) No

19) There will be instant software translation services (used as an in-ear device) that will make learning a language obsolete within 50 years.

a) Yes
b) No

20) People will undergo questionable surgeries to replace somewhat functioning limbs for bionic limbs within 50 years.

a) Yes
b) No

Prevenient Grace

2009-08-23T15:31:00.006-05:00

One of the subjects that keeps coming to me this year is the grace imparted to every human that is separate or could be separate from the grace imparted to Christians.

I'm no theologian, but during my attendance in many different church services in the States and abroad, I have continually been struck by the continuity and similarity of the following messages:

1) God always initiates. Not only did God initiate God's relationship with humanity in terms of both creation and in terms of Jesus becoming human, but especially towards pulling on individual hearts in the present time towards God's self.

2) God's imprint is in and on everyone because everyone has been created in God's image. Scripture is especially clear in this regard when Jesus refers to serving the poor as directly serving Christ himself. This is not referring specifically to serving 'poor Christians' but serving humanity which is poor.

3) C.S. Lewis talks about the moral code put in each person (conscience) that is a foretaste of the proper relationship between God and humanity.

4) Any time that humans respond to God, this response is directly related to God's "wooing" God's creation towards God's presence and love. Most of the time, this response is emotionally felt as being overwhelmed by God's love and falling into the arms of forgiveness and peace.

5) God is relentless in wooing people towards God's self. In Methodist circles, this is often referred to allegorically as 'the hounds of heaven' continually pressing people to abandon themselves and give everything to Christ.

6) I've heard several times from Christians that the Creation story suggests that God continually breathes the breath of life into humanity... that the world would stop functioning unless God recreates breathing life into Adam and Eve every second of every day by breathing every breath of humanity. Humanity is under constant life-support from God so we always know how much of life is a gift.

Humanity's response to God's love is where denominations deviate. Some denominations believe that God's love is so powerful that it is impossible not to choose to accept God's loving grace if 'chosen' but being chosen suggests a different kind of grace. Other denominations believe that free will is paramount and that it is possible to escape from God's caress.

These points, along with other conversations I've had, have made me wonder more about the presence of the Holy Spirit in each person. If God is continually pursuing individual humans towards God's self, is this best represented by an 'outside force' involved in a 'grace' hit & run that happens over and over and over again or could it suggest the possibility of the Holy Spirit in every person whether or not that person has accepted Jesus? Especially since God's imprint is already in everyone throughout Christian orthodoxy.

I know that accepted orthodoxy does not hold the view that the Holy Spirit is present in each person and Scripture does not support it, so I'm willing to drop the theory. However, if the caveat is introduced that people cannot fully know God without accepting Jesus, then can the Holy Spirit be part of every person but that it is through the acceptance of Christ that the Holy Spirit inside is listened to and responded to in obedience with more frequency? That would reduce the ability of Christians to draw such a strong division between 'believers' and 'unbelievers' especially since so often our lives don't look all that different from non-Christians.

The people I've known that I would say have the closest relationship with Jesus (which is my context) have been palpably infatuated in a good way with God's love for humanity. They were comfortable in their own skin, were convinced of God's love for the world and for themselves, and accepted grace from God and others with no conditions. Everything boiled down to love.

Quirky

2009-08-17T20:36:00.005-05:00

This video is a re-enactment of an encounter I had with the farmer's wife up in northern MN after we ate rhubarb pie.

Futurist/Good Business Ideas

2009-08-15T22:06:00.015-05:00

Over the years, I've had a few good ideas, ideas ahead of their time...which I mentioned to close friends.

1) Green Exercise Machines at Health Clubs

Several years ago, I asked why fitness clubs don't harness the energy of its members... particularly with exercise bikes and treadmills. I even asked Dr. Mike Mullens, an engineering professor at UCF about this wastefulness. I am encouraged that some gyms have just started to incorporate this technology. The picture below shows a battery being charged at a micro-gym but I recently read of a larger gym employing this technology. In terms of power generation, I believe that these batteries can only power a small amount of the power needs of a gym...enough for lighting the building. The ideal exercise remains walking or biking to work and for your shopping.

2) Servers Using PDAs for Orders

Many years ago, when PDA's first came out, I wondered about all of the possibilities for PDA's and thought that taking orders in restaurants by servers was extremely inefficient. I thought that wireless PDA's could send orders back to the kitchen immediately and also minimize errors that come from trying to read illegible handwriting.

Servers using PDA's have started in some locations.

This is an example of software that can be used with the PDA.

3) 'Treat Receipts' by Starbucks

Years ago when I was working for a fast food restaurant, the manager mentioned having really great traffic for lunch but that company-wide they wanted to see more dinner traffic. I proposed the idea that customers could buy breakfast or lunch and if they brought back their receipt, would receive a discount for the dinner meal. The manager told me this was a great idea and other staff told me to be careful because he would probably introduce this idea to his bosses and not give me credit. To my knowledge, he never followed up on my suggestion.

Read about something similar at Starbucks from a recent Business Week article:

From Business Week, August 17, 2009. Howard Schultz v. Howard Schultz, By Susan Berfield. pg. 32 "And Gillett's store sales data helped Schultz see an important difference between the morning (when coffee is a necessity) and the afternoon (when it is an indulgence). "We never had that level of segmentation before," Schultz says. "It's a new tool in terms of being able to move the business in different ways." The numbers prompted Starbucks to offer any grande cold drink for $2 after 2 p.m. to customers who had already made a purchase that day: The company calls it the treat receipt."

4) Archived Video & Lecture Notes Changing Education

Years ago in college, I had a Technology-In-Education class that, as a side-note, was worthless because they were teaching out-dated technologies: Lotus in black screen and WordPerfect. Anyway, I asked the college professor what was to keep technology from laying off scores of professors in the future. With streaming video and now archival video and lecture notes, why would a student want to take a class from a good but not great professor? With streaming and archival video, students now have the possibility of seeing the best professors teaching courses at MIT, Harvard, Princeton. She was MAD!! But the question about a revolution in education remains and was recently mentioned in a Fast Company magazine article entitled Who Needs Harvard? September 2009. In the article, writer Robyn Twomey quotes Jim Groom an instructional technologist at University of Mary Washington who has coined the phrase 'edupunk' who embodies the DIY education. Twomey writes that since colleges are SO expensive and borderline unaffordable, many 'edupunks' have decided to learn on their own with free content online.

When I went online to search for subject materials, I was inundated with videos from prominent professors and speakers, lecture notes, exams, etc. Just going to MIT's site, I found 70 courses in economics; many of which held:

Lecture notes
Projects and examples
Projects (no examples)
Online textbooks
Assignments and solutions
Exams and solutions
Multimedia content
Assignments (no solutions)
Exams (no solutions)

As an example, I found this Newton and The Enlightenment lecture by Courtenay Raia from UCLA. It is a little hard to hear so turn your volume up all the way.

I watched an incredible video last year on the creation of mini-markets (matching buyers/sellers, donors/receivers) related to organ transplants. The speaker is a specialist who creates mini-markets whenever/wherever these markets are failing.

What is missing is an accreditation process that measures actual mastery of subjects for the self-learner (edupunk). Bob Mendenhall, president of the online Western Governors University and mentioned in the article, has forged a new path where students do not have credit hours or receive grades. Instead they receive assessments based on competencies and are then awarded a degree. Some students already working in their chosen fields have signed up and have finished their bachelor's degree in six months.

5) Using Phone Cameras When Shopping
My dad has been doing the family grocery shopping for years but several times has been told by mom that he bought the wrong thing. I thought that dad, whenever he was in doubt about a particular product, should take a picture of the item while in the store and send the picture to mom and she could text back whether this was the right product or not. I have not seen this practiced yet.

6) Comparison Shopping
I mentioned comparing prices online before sites like Pricegrabber, Nextag, Bizrate came about. I don't have the coding skills to put this into practice, but was shocked when I heard recently about a PDA attachment that supposedly has a barcoding wand that you can take to the supermarket. So, say you are at Kroger's, you can 'scan' the 2 liter of Coca-Cola and it will pull the prices from all the other supermarkets within a 5-mile radius for Coca-Cola. Whether Kroger would allow you to bring this into the store is another thing; for places like Home Depot, Best Buy, etc. this could be devastating. Whoever doesn't have the lowest price loses the sale and price pressures intensify. There could either be no profit or collusion among stores for setting prices.

7) Appliances Networked
I mentioned that appliances in people's houses should be connected to the internet so that they would both a) identify any problems they have and report them to the manufacturer, and b) be on file with the house records itself to prevent fraud when selling homes. This idea hit me when I had had enough of seeing vague descriptions in home sale advertisements: nearly-new water heater or barely used washer and dryer. I've read recently that several companies like Toshiba and Hitachi are actively engaged in producing home appliances with these networked capabilities.

Economics

2009-08-14T09:33:00.004-05:00

In a recent post, I provided a link to Ode Magazine and an article by Jeremy Mercer entitled 'The Altruism in Economics'
http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/63/altruism-vs-economics/3 that challenges the foundation of classical economic theory. Much research has been done in cross-disciplinary pursuits in the last 30 years that seriously challenges the presumption that people make rational choices and that they always operate out of self-interest. In this article, Mercer makes the claim that our focus on self-interest in economic theory 'crowds out' altruism. Since altruism and cooperation are not rational in classical economic theory, material incentives are usually proposed when moral incentives would work better. A system that incorporates cooperation, altruism, and a conception of fairness would make people more altruistic.

Particularly interesting is his citation of the book, Moral Sentiments and Material Interests: The Foundations of Cooperation in Economic Life (Economic Learning and Social Evolution). In this collection of essays, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Herbert Gintis proposes what Mercer calls 'a more nuanced economic theory' based on strong reciprocity. Mercer writes: "Under this model, on meeting a stranger, the initial gesture should be conciliatory (a smile or a handshake are human demonstrations of goodwill). But from that point on, one should act as the stranger acts: hostile if hostile, cooperative if cooperative. In short, do unto others as they do unto you." For a Christian, this is not ideal since our mandate is 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you' but this is still better than neo-classical economics in which people act out of self-interest ALL the time. As the author writes: “Altruism isn’t irrational because if it were, the only rational people would be sociopaths.” A new economic theory must also incorporate the need for humans to perceive that things are 'fair'. Mercer cites many experiments done over the last 30 years that demonstrate, across cultures, the need for humans to act fairly.

I have included one book review from Amazon that is a mini-lesson in this new economic theory and I hope to purchase the book soon.

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fairness and Sociability, May 8, 2006
By E. N. Anderson (Riverside, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Moral Sentiments and Material Interests: The Foundations of Cooperation in Economic Life (Economic Learning and Social Evolution) (Hardcover)
For several years now, a group of social scientists has been studying the human tendency to be socially fair rather than narrowly selfish. The editors of this volume--Herbert Gintis, Samuel Bowles, Robert Boyd, and Ernst Fehr--are among the stalwarts; others are found among the authors of the book's chapters.
The core of this long-running effort is Fehr's experiments with the ultimatum game, in which two people must share a sum of money (say, $10); Person A gets to propose a split, Person B can only accept or decline. Economists and politicians would expect every game to wind up with a $9.99/$0.01 split (or actually a 9-1 split, since bills are used), but in fact typical splits are more like 5-5 or 6-4, and in one place (Lamalera, Indonesia) people actually split something like 4-6, few A's ever claiming even half the money. This long-running set of experiments around the world adds to a vast, rapidly accumulating set of data showing that people are sociable, not "rational" in the folk-economic sense (i.e., dedicated solely to narrow material self-interest). The present book discusses the implications for economics and politics. If people are naturally concerned with fairness, narrowly economistic policies can be counterproductive; we all know cases of "crowding out," in which a material incentive actually makes people act worse, by crowding out moral incentives. If you reward people for being good, they will think it's all a cynical game, and will act worse. Punitive legislation to make people do what they do anyway (for moral reasons) is also counterproductive. Imagine what these realizations would do to American social policy.
The problem with this book is that it is too optimistic and upbeat. The downside of human sociability is confined to one page, late in the book (p. 388), where racism, honor killing, and the like get a quick mention. Alas, the morning radio brings a stream of accounts not only of such things but also of religious butchery all over the world--Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and even Buddhists (theoretically prohibited from killing but busily genocidal). This brings us back to Adam Smith's suggestion that greed may not be lovable but may be better than the noble, virtuous alternatives. I hope Gintis et al work on how to decouple fairness and interpersonal concern from the desire to exterminate everybody who is not in one's immediate social set. Until this is done, the hope purveyed in this work will remain thin.
The authors note that humans seem genetically programmed to have at least some sense of fairness and of self-sacrifice for the common good, but they wisely refrain from trying to unpack "hereditary" and "environmental" or "cultural" aspects. Heredity makes us do this, and learn it easily, and heredity gives us the ability to learn and develop cultures. No way to unpack. Still, more needs to be done on just how flexible these inborn moralities are. The range from Lamalera to certain parts of South America is pretty great. So is the range of murderousness in religious and ethnic settings. We need to know how to modify human behavior in these regards, and how much we can hope for.
That being said, this book is the best yet in the long list of books that devastate the selfish-individualist model of human behavior. People desperately want to be sociable, and be good members of their society. This may lead them to fairness and generosity, or to body-piercing, or to suicide bombing. This book offers hope for building new societies through use of innate human decency. At this point in time, any book seriously offering such hope is desirable.

A Few Random Events:

2009-08-10T14:06:00.002-05:00

-Brage & Brian's Bathtastic Party Sat. Eve: Friends and neighbors came over to view the DIY television show Brage & Brian taped last year and to see the bathroom in person.
-House-cleaning for Brage & Brian's to rent their home to a professional golfer this week for a LOT of money.
-Hopefully a video re-enactment soon of some social faux-paus at the Quaker house in northern MN.
-Even though I've read several Wes Jackson books, the PhD. scientist in northern MN who is acquainted with Wes, mentioned that Wes is not trying to cross-breed traditional grains with alternative grasses and such but only to increase yields on grasses, sunflowers, etc. (crops that don't require tilling) and to have these replace our traditional food sources. So in the future, we would eat sunflower bread instead of wheat bread or something like that.
-Conversations with family members, Liz, and Phileena at different times regarding the presence of the Holy Spirit in people, prevenient grace, and human depravity. All super interesting conversations and I hope to write some thoughts for a few blog and encourage others to post.
-I stretched this morning and stuck my left hand into a twirling ceiling fan, but only some missing skin.
-Drinking too much in front of my parents at the Bathtastic Party. Embarrassing other stories followed.
-Being given a bottle of 12 yr. Balvenie Scotch as a present from one of Brage's neighbors.
-Talking with Micah in Canada on the phone.
-Blowing a tire on the way back to Omaha but seeing God's provision throughout and possibly 2 angels.
-Sleeping in my own bed in Omaha, viewing my mail and magazines, and getting settled in again.
-Starting the job application process. Please pray for me.
-Starting to reconnect with good friends.

A Few Farming Points I Didn't Know:

2009-08-03T13:21:00.003-05:00

Many, many bees die from constipation because they will not 'soil' their own hive if they can help it. When they can't help it, bees have diarrhea and there are few things that stink as much as a bee hive full of bee diarrhea. Also, when bees are alarmed, they send out a scent that smells like bananas...so if you smell that...RUN.

'Sticking'- is when you open a chicken's beak and stick a knife in there, immediately scrambling it's brain,so that it doesn't 'feel' its imminent death from breaking or cutting it's neck. I've heard it is considered the most humane way to kill a chicken. There will still be reflex actions from the chicken, moving its wings and feet for a couple minutes. Also, chickens don't have a lot of blood but it is best to hang the chicken upside down to drain. As with most animals, the younger hens (1-3 years) are the tenderest for eating.

My time at the farm came to an end on Friday; I was sent off with some horseradish, mustard greens, summer sausage, BBQ beef sticks, rhubarb, eggs, carrot cake, and some honey.

This weekend was spent with Caleb & Daphne in Minneapolis and we had SO much fun!!! I just arrived at Brage and Brian's and have vacay this next week as several other family members come. Lots of Scrabble will be enjoyed!

Content and Grateful

2009-07-30T13:09:00.003-05:00

Several things have made me content and grateful recently:

1) A few nights ago, reading a good book called "Gilead" while classical music played on the radio and the host dad prepared dinner.
2) Riding in a truck with the windows down as the sun was setting, setting aglow a nearby wheat field.
3) Having a wonderful dream where I directed an imaginary orchestra and choir as classical music poured out; new & beautiful words were created in that symphony.
4) Seeing clouds in a diagonal pattern that looked to me exactly like a surfing wave with certain clouds pouring over others.
5) Having a couple of dreams of reconciliation with some distant family members and friends.
6) Seeing the sun poke through a sky almost totally filled with clouds.
7) Seeing the circle of life here at the farm in northern MN.

Random Conversations

2009-07-27T12:04:00.002-05:00

A few days ago, talking with Farmer 'John' and fellow volunteer 'Jane':

Me: I'm a pacifist and your a pacifist, but how do you feel about me punching one of your chickens in the face, when she tries to bite me and makes me bleed again?

John: Uhhh....I don't think it will work.

Me: Oh yeah, I'd probably just get bit again. They're quick.

John: But your question does bring up a really deep philosophical discussion about whether pacifism extends to animals.

-----------------------

Jane: These eggs at the bottom of the refrigerator are two months old! I'm still going to eat them.

Me: You're on strong antibiotics from your cold; there's no risk...you're invincible and could eat anything. If you get sick, I'll know not to eat them. If you don't get sick, I'm still not eating two month old eggs.

Jane: You know that most of the eggs you buy at the grocery store are at least that old, don't you?

Me: No.

Random Events

2009-07-26T14:34:00.004-05:00

I'm out in the garden using this hat every day.

Yesterday, we checked on the bee hives.... Evidently bees are more agreeable when nectar is readily available & being produced (summer) so we only needed netted-hats and the smoker. Smoke 'calms' or 'frightens' the bees and is used before and immediately after opening the hives. We opened up 5 hives and checked each one methodically for chalk broods, for mites, honey production, queens, etc.

This is a re-enactment of the 'two-finger test' which is how my host farmer demonstrated how to tell whether a hen can lay eggs. He caught a hen, turned her upside down, and stuck two fingers in her. That particular hen could lay eggs because three fingers fit.

In other news, the farmer and I drove to a nearby dairy for non-homogenized milk yesterday. This is milk that you take home, let rest in room temperature for a couple hours to separate the milk from the cream and then spoon out the cream at the top.

Also, hay is any type of grass, alfalfa, etc. that is cut & dried for animal feed. I didn't know that until yesterday.

Outside of farm news...I thought this article: http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/63/altruism-vs-economics/3
was particularly interesting. I may post some more thoughts about the 'market' in the future and how psychologists and economists studying human behavior are radically changing economic theory away from 'perfectly rational participants' and away from 'greed and/or self-interest as the necessary main ingredient for a well-functioning market'.

Tree Identification

2009-07-23T14:28:00.002-05:00

The last few days have been quite fun:

Tuesday- we (the organic farm family) drove to Lake Itasca for tree identifications and measurements. There are many plots set up in Lake Itasca that have been measured every 7 to 10 years since the 60's for biodiversity. Stakes are set at particular GPS points with three lines going out from the stake. One line is placed directly north and the other two lines move in quadrants clockwise so that we are researching two circles around the stakes. The volunteer researchers are interested in everything within a particular radius from the stakes.

Within the first line (and first radius), two researchers confer about all the small plant matter within..including 'litter'-fallen leaves, twigs, etc.. The second line is for researchers identifying trees. The day consisted of going to many different plots in Lake Itasca and shouting out things like: "1-live, 2-red pine, 3-dbh: 50.6, 4-ring 4".

1-We differentiated between live and dead trees.
2-Researchers originally started calling out trees in English but in the middle of the day switched to Latin. So red pine would be pinus resinosa I believe. It made it difficult to switch gears half-way but still fun. I got to identify several different types of trees- red maple, red pine, black ash, paper birch, etc.
3-DBH refers to the measurement of the tree. centimeters times 3.14 (pi).
4-We had 5 rings from the stake and needed to shout out 'where the tree was' in relation to the stake.

Each researcher was given chalk to mark the trees measured and a tape measure. Later the data will be compiled. Lake Itasca is a particularly interesting research location for at least two reasons: 1) plants were selected and planted similarly in many locations but plants have become very 'micro-localized' with species dying and other ones taking their place. Researchers love knowing why certain plants have come in to these plots and others didn't survive...and 2) DNR in MN has done localized burns to prevent larger forest fires and to encourage biodiversity. The mixture of plots with and without burns can help researchers better understand what happens after a controlled burn.

Wednesday-the dad went again for identifications, but I stayed behind to look after the farm. What was particularly fun was the 3 minute tutorial he gave about driving the tractor...then me driving it along paved county roads and then 'raking' hay in the afternoon with the tractor.

Pommel Horse

2009-07-18T08:10:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was spent driving from northern MN to Omaha for a good friend's wedding this weekend. It was not the most pleasant experience...

I had a bad head cold, my back hurt from farm work, and I thought I broke my hand in the night. I also carried two egg-laying hens for Silas and Kimberly.

To back up...I thought I broke my hand because starting around 1:30AM I woke up with my hand HURTING like h@ll!!. I woke up dazed, and pictured myself on a pommel horse, only to take painkilers and fall back asleep for a few hours.

I take painkillers for the ride but still feel the throbbing pain of my hand/wrist during the drive, peak over into the back seat to check on the hens in the back seat. They pop up their heads and occassionaly cluck. They are 'nestled' into a sewn towel because the farmer says they relax when in a tight & dark space. I have a pillow sheltering the sun, above the towel and balancing on the back seat.

I arrived first at Silas and Kimberly's and two of their children came running to see the hens I've brought. Silas opens the towel slowly to take them out and says 'I don't think these hens are alive.' He feels one that has already gone rigamortis and the other one he hits gently on the head to try to 'wake up' from its eternal slumber. I have just driven almost 9 hours with hens shitting and pissing in my back seat to deliver dead hens to good friends.

I had offered these hens to Silas and Kimberly thinking they might want to have fresh eggs in the mornings and they even had an Omaha government worker come out to inspect their yard and certify that it was suitable for hens.

Thankfully the kids seem nonplussed, don't cry or scream. I had asked the farmer specifically if the hens would survive an 8.5 hour drive and he assured me yes.
Thankfully Silas grew up in Kenya and knows how to pluck & cook the dead hens for a future family dinner. Sorry Silas and Kimberly.

While I was there, I asked Silas about my hand and if someone can break their hand while sleeping. Silas said 'for anyone else I'd say no, but I've seen you thrash around pretty good in the night-time.' I knew I tossed and turned, but this was a revelation.

I had dinner with Paul and Ana from Romania last night at the Brazenhead and then slept at Jared & Julie's. As always they were super gracious and kind. When I woke up after a good night's sleep, my head cold had significantly improved and my hand had stopped hurting! This morning it was breakfast with Chris Harrell, in from Romania for his brother's wedding.

Tomorrow is the wedding and then I'll head back to the farm.

In Min-a-sota

2009-07-08T15:16:00.007-05:00

Working on a real farm is HARD! I have been here for about a week and 10 hour days are common.

I am enjoying working very much however and learning a lot. So far this week, I've:

-fed chickens and collected eggs from the chicken coop
-seen how eggs are cleaned and 'candled' in a home operation
-cut, washed, and bagged numerous vegetables for the CSA (community supported agriculture) that is delivered twice a week
-fed cows salt (more on this later)
-set up trellises for pea plants
-picked potato bugs
-tilled the land with both wheel tillers and automated tillers
-mowed
-weeded & fed drip irrigation lines for several rows of plants
-planted from seedlings numerous vegetables
-used a scythe to cut down daisies which are poisonous to cows and thistle whose bristles don't hurt after being cut and which the cows will then eat.
-filled several compost bins with weeds and shrubs

The quaker family i'm staying with have been great. They live a real lifestyle of simplicity and make most of the food they eat. So far i've seen homemade: jams & preserves, mayonnaise, ketchup, pickles, and bread. They rarely buy from the supermarket. We had worship in sunday morning in the typical unprogrammed quaker style...silence.

Some pictures of the 154 acre farm:

A rooster like this climbs up a picnic table every morning around 5 to announce the new day. It is two-toned and severely aggravating. I tried convincing the owner that this should be the next choice for the proverbial Sunday dinner but he had another old hen and rooster in mind. I may learn how to kill & pluck a chicken later tonight.

Evidently, the cows hadn't been fed salt in quite awhile, so yesterday when I brought the bag to the field, they could smell the minerals and started fighting for access to the salt while I was there. I was stepped on (WHICH HURTS) and horned (but not bad). I quickly stepped out of the way for the cows to fight amongst themselves and establish dominance and I could re-enter later.

These are two pictures of the 'upper field' with many of the vegetables. On the 'lower field' are mostly potatoes. Also there are many fields for pasture land.

I took a picture of a few of the hens where I collect eggs.

Left Idaho

2009-06-28T20:59:00.002-05:00

I had a wonderful 3 weeks in North Idaho and have started to make the way to Solway, MN. I write from a Super 8 smoking room in Jamestown, ND.

While I was in Idaho, I was able to help the family with many projects and learn new skills. The family was great...kind, hospitable, and great conversationalists. The parents are a bit anarchistic and rebellious, having spent their formative years in the 60's, but they have a son that is polite and responsible. They joked that this was a purposeful component of their parenting style. We had dinner together every night and the conversation would revolve around books, philosophy, politics, technology (the parents don't think computers have added much value to life), organics, etc.

I weeded, pruned, watered, raked, transplanted plants, hauled and placed woodchips, and organically fertilized vegetables. The mom is the primary caretaker of the gardens (both the greenhouse plants and the outside garden). All kinds of vegetables, fruits, and flowers were cultivated.

I also helped around their homestead and at their welding shop (they make mounts for solar panels).

Learned:

-How to varnish (Evidently, I am an excellent varnisher and could consider a new career in varnishing).
-That crushed dead fish (fish emulsion) make excellent organic fertilizer. However, gates must be kept on the garden because other varmints smell the fish and come.
-How to use bolts and a strap to carry items using a forklift.
-Comfort in a canoe, while shooting bullfrogs.
-Plucking the wilting flowers off some plants allows the plants to put out more flowers and continually bloom through the summer.
-A Japanese woman who previously volunteered there misunderstood the directions for trimming the raspberry plants by cutting every single leaf off the plants. However, the plants will put out their best crop ever this year so the couple is thinking the Japanese woman may have secretly known what she was doing.

I saw on their homestead 3 moose, 1 muskrat, many turtles, frogs, and ducks, mole hills that popped up every other day, bumblebees and other bees, and heard the howling of a coyote.

Cochabamba, Bolivia Jungle

2009-06-26T11:46:00.002-05:00

Courtesy of Katie DiSalvo

Day Trip To Spokane and Frog Hunting

2009-06-17T13:51:00.004-05:00

Last Friday I took a day trip to Spokane to cross another state off my list...Washington. The Spokane river, with its quick rapids, runs right through the city and is surrounded by parks, which makes it quite beautiful, peaceful, and green. They also have beautiful old bridges that you can cross and stop along the way to admire creation.

One of the voluntary tasks I've taken up in Idaho has been to hunt bullfrogs at the family's pond. They are an invasive species to the area and are said to eat small fish, other frogs, and even baby ducks! They are HUGE! And they make sounds throughout the day and night that I first mistook for donkeys. I asked the family..."Do you have donkeys in your backyard?" "No...those are bullfrogs", they replied. The sound can be heard both in the house and in what my host family calls 'the gypsy wagon' sometimes waking me up in the middle of the night.

I will try to post a picture of one of the frogs I killed using a BB gun. They seem to be armor plated since after that first 'kill' I've shot many more and they haven't died. When the dad and I went out on the canoe on Tuesday we shot 4 more that never reappeared. When the son went shooting Wednesday, we found 4 BB holes in one frog and it was still crawling around. I had to shoot it point blank to get it to die....its 5th shot!!

From Idaho

2009-06-07T17:54:00.005-05:00

I forgot that the family sent a few pictures before I came.

Here is the outside and inside of the truck where I'm living. And it does have electricity, I just didn't know it.

Radio Con't...And Arriving Safe In Idaho

2009-06-05T18:50:00.007-05:00

4 Radio Stories then a Description of My Living Situation in Idaho

1) While I was driving, I felt for a few minutes like I was in LOST...There was a repeating AM signal: F-PCom Alpha, Broke-Nition Green.

2) There were also cow auctions being advertised and ALL the nearby families that were selling their cows...I was mesmerized. The Petersen family, 115 black & baldys, heifers, 6 and a half to 7, grass fed, no hormones. The Fowler family, 95 reds, steers, 1050 to 1200, no hormones. The Nymans, 55 blacks, calves, 4 to 5, weaned.

3) Also, a Hospital Report listing all the people in the county that were at the hospital.

4) Finally, there was a bluesy jazz song...sung by a woman about her how her butt is too big for her denim jeans. Something to the effect of...My butt's too big for these pants. My zipper cries out. There's no such thing as a butt too big. There's no two butt's about it.

In Idaho, I am living in a converted old truck bed that made me think immediately of "Into the Wild". It has water from a foot pump, no electricity, and I have an outhouse immediately behind the 'shack'. I can use the family's house whenever I need for showers or to help prepare/eat meals. The structure is made from wood and is quite beautiful, compact, and cozy.

The family is great so far. I did some transplanting of some plants today and weeding. I will come to the coffee shop or the library once a day for internet. My first 'weird' experience was while getting settled in....a moose appeared less than 5 feet from me. Unfortunately, I think I left my camera battery & charger in a wall socket in a hotel, so no pictures for awhile. However, the family says that moose reappears frequently, so by the time I leave I hope to send a picture of the truck & the moose.

To leave you with some sense of time lag, here is the picture of me holding lit dynamite in Potosi, Bolivia.

In Montana

2009-06-04T21:16:00.003-05:00

At first, I let my sense of direction carry me out west...following generally the need to go north and west. Big mistake....I bought a map in South Dakota that helped me get onto the Interstate I couldn't find.

In my journey I've seen...snow covered mountains, gorgeous scenery like the Black Hills. The whole journey has been beautiful...SD, WY, and MT have to be some of the most beautiful in the Union. I especially liked South Dakota, the first part of Wyoming, and now the mountains of MT. I was disappointed to frequently see what looked like fertilizer run-off into nearby streams or collecting in beds at the beginning of my journey in Montana.

I also saw a 44 wheeler semi, which I didn't even know existed.

There have been signs for: Deadwood, Yellowstone, Sundance, Wounded Knee, and Custer's last battlefield.

Radio: In part of Wyoming, there were 5 AM stations, 3 of which played Rush Limbaugh and 2 of which were Christian. In part of Montana, there was only 1 FM station which played country.

Traveling Ironies

2009-06-01T17:54:00.002-05:00

I made it safely to Miami about two hours ago and have an overnight before flying out tomorrow morning at 6:50AM heading for Omaha.

A few of the ironies:

While I was supposed to have an innocuous 30 minute flight yesterday from Cochabamba to El Alto and looked forward to spending about 20 hours with the WMF crew, Aerosur changed my flight time to two hours earlier than posted. I arrived at the airport at 1:00PM for my 3:00PM flight but Aerosur said I missed my flight and they didn't have any other flights later that day. All of the other airlines said the same thing...they didn't have El Alto flights or were booked solid for later that day. Since my flight out of El Alto was 6AM this morning, the WMF crew helped me problem solve what my options were. I was left with buying a bus ticket from Cochabamba to El Alto yesterday.

1) The 8 hour bus ride cost me 30 bolivianos. (Equivalent..$4 dollars). The taxi ride with Wes and Heather to their home, once I got into El Alto = 45 bolivianos (Equivalent...$6+ dollars)

2) The bus company I took is known for trafficking women. On the bus, they showed the Christian movie Fireproof about a husband struggling with pornography and endangering his marriage.

3) When I went back to my host family's house to call Wes & Andy, I looked online for my Aerosur & American flights...Aerosur had been delayed to 1:40PM and I could have been let on the flight when I arrived at 1:00PM.... (If the desk agents knew the flight was being delayed). At the point I double-checked, it was too late.

The 8 hour trip was profitable though so I'm trying to take it in stride.

The New Clothing Label

2009-05-30T09:42:00.000-05:00

Instead of the generic and wildly unhelpful: ¨Made In Indonesia¨ or ¨Assembled in the USA¨, let´s propose a first step towards pricing externalities into the system by having more complete labels.

A shirt could have the following new label:

-100% Organic Cotton (No chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, or genetically modified seeds were used) farmed near Baton Rouge, Louisiana using annual crop rotation.
-Picked by machine using biofuel from switchgrass, also farmed on-site.
-Cotton shipped to a Carenco, Louisiana textile factory by rail.
-Patterned and sewn by workers paid a living wage. Only natural plant dyes were used.
-Buy Local: Recommended Retailers in Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, and Texas.

Potosi

2009-05-26T15:23:00.006-05:00

I marked the travel itinerary to Potosi in blue.

The trip to Potosi over the weekend was great... filled with lots of Potosi´s 400 year-old architecture and history, great conversations with Wes and Heather, and a trip into one of it´s silver mines. We visited lots of churches, an ancient convent for Clarissans turned into a musuem, a museum about the mining and processing of silver and silver coins, and we also looked out from a bell tower while a guide told us about various locations throughout the city.

I wanted to highlight the silver mine. The mine itself was SCARY. We were led by a guide into the mine that was cool at first and then warmed as we went in with the strong smell of sulfer. (Hot AND the smell of sulfer...isn´t that what hell is described as?). We were led by a former miner, who 8 years ago discovered a piece of high-grade silver so that he was able to leave mining and become a tour operator. (There are both commission-based miners and miners paid hourly on contract). We walked for some time, eventually climbing down 3 ´floors´ of ladders. While in the mine, two things struck me: 1) How easy it is to buy/hold/use dynamite in Potosi. The guide took the $2 stick of dynamite we bought earlier, mixing the ingredients necessary for an explosion, lit it and we quickly walked for 3 minutes around a bend to hear the explosion. We also held lit dynamite outside the mine when we used the second stick of dynamite and both saw and heard its destruction. 2) Miners make offerings to a ´devíl´ inside the mine. This devil is presented with alcohol, cigarillos, and coca to protect the miners from harm and to grant wishes. To the miners, God is the God of the Outside/Cultivated Earth & Sky, but the devil is the god of the Inside/Tunneled Earth*. They suffered so many tragedies in the mines that there is a perverse logic that they depend on this personified evil. There is a confusion of good and evil in their lives, like the admiration that abused peoples sometimes have for their abusers.

The god of the Europeans made them suffer....what if the god of one people is the devil of anothers? The way of salvation described by the Europeans led to damnation in the mines for Bolivians. How interesting then that so many Bolivians adopted the religion of these Europeans? And that some Catholicism here is a mix of indigenous religious beliefs (Pachamama, Mother Earth) and Catholicism.

+The interesting take on God and the devil is not the only interesting theology of the Bolivians. Many Bolivians believe that God dies each year on Good Friday and therefore cannot see any of the bad things that people do until Easter. Therefore, Good Friday and Saturday are days of license...to drink and visit ladies who prostitute because God is dead. Carnival represents the time each year when the devil dies...unfortunately I don´t believe this also coincides with a period of self-reflection and piety.

*Legend has it that the indigenous of Bolivia knew about Potosí´s silver before the Spanish came, but were told in a ´vision´ not to touch the silver because it was meant for people from a far-away land. Certainly this was not a vision from God....can the devils of power and wealth get together to conspire against a whole people to send them a vision and enslave them for centuries?

Headed to Potosi

2009-05-22T15:30:00.002-05:00

My journey to Potosi, Bolivia begins later today via a 12 hour bus ride from Cochabamba. Potosi, a mining town, was one of the world´s largest cities in the 1600´s and was exploited mercilously by the Spanish who wanted its silver. Legend has it that the amount of silver stolen from Bolivia and shipped to Spain could make a bridge that crosses the Atlantic Ocean.

While silver and other minerals continue to be mined there under horrible working conditions, the town is said to have a ghost-like appearance...both because of the abandoned and deteriorating buildings and because of the regular appearance of ´fantasmas´ or ghosts. Isn´t it always in the places where the most horrific and violent acts take place, that ghosts appear?

Spain´s legacy in Potosi consists of the environmental disasters caused by heavy metals mining, slavery, conscription, and the ´genocide´of Indians (through brutal and lethal working conditions that included direct exposure to mercury)...so much so that Spain had to send African slaves to Potosi every year to keep up the mining and processing of the silver.

I started reading Eduardo Galeano´s book: Open Veins of Latin America several years ago when I was in Argentina. This book introduced me to Potosi and the exploitation of colonial powers past and present in South America. I didn´t get to finish it, but want to find it again when I return to the US. It has recently gained popularity/notariety because this is the book that Chavez handed to Obama. I would highly recommend that Obama reads it.

Ambition...

2009-05-17T17:25:00.002-05:00

In the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits), I found this quite applaud-able:

In the additional 5 Simple Vows of the Jesuits, they affirm not to ambition any offices outside of their Society, nor within their Society, AND a commitment to report any Jesuit who 'does so ambition'.

"Under these vows, no Jesuit may "campaign" or even offer his name for appointment or election to any office, and if chosen for one must remind the appointing authority (even the Pope) of these Vows-" Wikipedia

Evidently 'ambition' is not in the Jesuits 'strengths-finders' book.

They also agree not to water-down the Society's Observance of Poverty, which has always been a temptation to any simple-living/poverty-committed community.

My Walk To/From School (In Pictures)

2009-05-17T16:39:00.010-05:00

I liked this wall painting with the dolphins and the power of the 0cean. Bolivia has a fascination with everything related to the ocean. Bolivia even celebrates "El Dia Del Mar" every March 22nd and their loss of ocean access to Chile. Like every other country surrounding Bolivia, Chile tricked/bribed/ass-kicked Bolivia into being half the size it used to be. (I think Brasil may have received the most territory from Bolivia). This time, Chile took advantage of the Bolivians during Carnival and their possibly drunk state to claim even more ocean-front property....(their whole country is ocean-front property).

Cochabamba has some unusual trucks and cars on the road, a lot of them being old Volkswagens or Toyotas from Europe, where the dash is on the right side of the car (usually covered with a quilt), and unusable.

I like this old door...there are several more that are similar, but this is my favorite.

A view of the mountains which blanket Cochabamba, particularly to the North. On my way to school, I can look to the left almost my entire journey for views like this one.

There is a welding shop near my house where this 'robot' protects the shop. He is always holding the knife and sometimes a mace. There are other things written on his shoulder pads, but I never stay long enough to read & translate.

Many of the gas stations in Cochabamba have been closed and many of them look like they've been burned out. Which is interesting, because most of the time, there are lines of cars waiting to fill-up at gas stations. I asked my family if there were any riots in Cochabamba that may have led to these closings, but they said no. (Bolivia is known for its protests). It seems that in Bolivia's move to natural gas, and now that most of its' cars run on natural gas, the unleaded stations did not switch over and just closed.

Maryknoll Conferences

2009-05-13T13:21:00.007-05:00

One of the best parts of studying here at the Maryknoll Institute is the conferences they host every Wednesday.

Conference topics include: The Church in Latin America (I missed this conference which focused primarily on the Jesuits), Mining in South America, Non-Violent Communication, Water in Latin America, The Dignity of Work, Hope & Disenchantment in South America, and Coca and the Drug Wars.

Last weeks' topic was 'Coca and the Drug Wars' to coincide with our trip to the Chapare Region. During our trip, we were able to visit both a coca farm (part of the shift in drug policy here in Bolivia that allows for a negotiated reduction of coca where one cato, 1/6 of a hectare, is allowed for each family in certain regions) and also UMOPAR, which is the Bolivian anti-narcotics eradication unit largely funded by the US.

Some interesting points from both the conference on coca and the trip:
-Coca is used for many purposes; including chewing, drinking in tea, for ancient Andean rituals, for other ceremonial rituals, for medicinal purposes including fighting off altitude sickness, providing needed energy, keeping awake, etc.
-Coca is similar in nature to caffeine.
-The Supply-Side Drug War, which has for 20+ years focused on eliminating coca growth and focused in practice targeted small farmers has been a failure in all the typical measurements: purity of the drug has remained high, availability has remained high, growth of coca has grown worldwide, and the price has been stable.
-Both Colombia and Peru grow far more coca than Bolivia.
-The Catholic Church first tried coca eradication.
-Colombia's Drug Czar said that drug control policies do more harm than the drugs themselves.
-The RAND Corporation has written that drug education and prevention programs are 23 times more effective than interdiction.
-The Leahy Amendment (1997) prohibits the funding of security forces in another country if that force has demonstrated human rights abuses. This law has not been effectively enforced.
-Current interdiction programs in Colombia include spraying Round-Up from planes.
-Even though the DEA was kicked out of Bolivia, the Narcotics Division of the US Consulate remains in Bolivia and has 3 times as many people working for the Narcotics Division than the DEA.
-Many things in Bolivia are run by unions....and coca production is the same. Most of the coca production from Bolivia comes out of the Six Federations: six unions that have agreed upon who grows coca, where coca is grown, how it is sold & transported so that the coca cannot be used for cocaine.
-Bolivians have one of the lowest rates of cocaine use in the world. Something like .04%.
-Most of the coca that is not used domestically is exported and used for cocaine in Argentina and Brazil.
-Many Bolivians feel that the US government has not been interested as much in the drug war as in the partnership between the US military and the Bolivian military which remains as strong as any US partnership in Bolivia.
-Law 1008 was an anti-drug piece of legislation written in the US for Bolivia which Bolivia, under strong pressure from the US, adopted before Evo came to power.
-Any laxity in US law regarding coca stems from the influence of Coca Cola, which still uses coca alkaloids in producing its Coke products.
-When Evo Morales was still at 12% or something in the early stages of the presidential elections, the US pronounced that if Evo was elected, all US funding for Bolivia would end. This made Evo jump sharply and immediately up in the polls. Evo, of course, won the most recent presidential election and is also the head of the Six Federations. Being head of both might be considered a conflict of interest but it was the only way to get a sharply reduced production of coca.

The Conference was given by the head of the Andean Information Network, Kathryn Lebedur.

*I am not endorsing the legalization of drugs, but a focus more on the demand-side of drug use and a limit to the heavy-handedness of the US in foreign policy.

College is the Time for Crazy Stories

2009-05-08T07:26:00.004-05:00

Stories that involve road trips, crazy professors, pranks, and small rebellions.

1) I had a crazy lady English professor who was always really disoriented, as if she was thinking big thoughts and had trouble concentrating for the lowly job of teaching intro students. There was a story that quickly circulated when 1 or 2 years before, she had been engrossed in a book at home, forgot the time and rushed late to class. She untied her trench coat to reveal her blouse to her students. She quickly re-tied the trench coat and explained she must have forgotten to put other clothes on in her rush to class.

2) Some of my friends really wanted to hear this band playing in Chicago (we were in school in Kentucky), so we left school and 5 of us packed in...sometime in late November for the experience. We grabbed dinner in Chicago (they were serving wine in the lobby to say 'sorry' for the wait). We then 'snuck' into this club because we were all under age. The college I attended had a no-drinking policy....the first offense got you kicked out of college. At the club, I was good and didn't drink (but there were other drinks that looked like OJ that my friends were drinking). The music was good but not spectacular...funny that my friend from high school was in the band playing bass.

We left the club to drive back to school and everyone was extremely tired. The driver was falling asleep at the wheel. She turned the music on as loud as it could go, she kept the windows open to let the freezing cold air into the car. None of it was working. She said someone else had to drive or we were all going to die. I said, 'fine by me'. I was so tired at that point, I also didn't care one way or the other. One of the other ladies said she would drive but didn't know how to drive a standard. The original driver helped put the car in 5th gear and the friend drove the car like an automatic for the remaining time.

3. Pranks are a rule in college....whole classrooms being set up at the bottom of the swimming pool complete with desks in nice rows. Cows in bell towers, waking up a friend who is sleeping in class and telling them the professor has just asked them to pray, alarm clocks and watches being set at the wrong time to have students wake up early and go to an empty class, rappelling into dorm windows, leaving friends stranded at stores without rides back to school on purpose, all sorts of nasty and therefore necessarily un-said pranks that involve feces, plastering and painting over a dorm room door so that no door is visible, pranks in chapel that involve silverware falling out of hymn books all at the same time, etc.

Traveling Through Singapore

2009-05-06T12:28:00.003-05:00

I saw a sign in the airport that something to this effect:

If you are here to work illegally or came for work legally but extended your stay illegally, you will be caned no less than 6 times. These canings will hurt severely and will leave a mark for life.

Bolivia

2009-05-02T08:37:00.005-05:00

After being here in Bolivia for two months, I wanted to share my initial thoughts about culture in Cochabamba. However, I don't know if these initial impressions are specific mainly to my family and small experiences or are truly cultural (either to Cochabamba or to Bolivia).

1) Bolivians seem to place a HUGE value on land ownership and where people are born. De donde eres?...or "From where are you" is one of the first questions asked in conversation, even among Bolivians. In my first week at school, I was told from what Bolivian province every professor was born. For those folks born in Cochabamba, they are forever called a Cochabambino/a...from Potosi, a Potosino/a.

2) Bolivians, or at least Cochabambinos, place a HUGE value on keeping their cars clean. I have seldom seen a dirty car here in Cochabamba and my host family seems to wash their cars once or twice a week. Everywhere there is a running stream, 4-7 guys place themselves there to wash cars and cars line up for this inexpensive service. (Also, there are an extraordinary number of homes, fences, etc. that have been repainted since I've been here...I wonder if that is part of the overall cleanliness theme).

3) Bolivians, or at least Cochabambinos seem extraordinarily polite. When getting into a bus or taxi trufi, people often say "Buenos Dias" or another greeting. When getting off the bus or taxi trufi, they often thank the driver.

4) Bolivians, or at least Cochabambinos seem to have great manners. They never slurp their soup or their pasta. In general, they are very quiet eaters. I also have never seen them spit, put their fingers in their ears, or pick their nose in public. (I have seen many people urinate in public...but that is a necessity).

5) Cochabambinos catch up on their sleep on the weekends. Parties, even in people's homes and on weekdays, can go till 2 or 3 in the morning. There was a party at my host family's house this Thursday where 'dinner' was served at midnight...a 4 course meal starting at midnight! Saturday and Sunday is for sleeping in and catching up on all the rest missed earlier in the week.

How To Start Your Own Country

2009-04-28T14:36:00.002-05:00

Copied from WikiHow
http://www.wikihow.com/Start-Your-Own-Country

How to Start Your Own Country

Anyone can start their own country! That doesn't mean that people will recognize it, but hey, they generally won't stop you from trying--as long as they don't see it as a threat. So if you'd like to do your own thing in your own country, here's how to establish a micronation.

1. Find territory for your micronation. Most micronationalists use their houses, land no one wants, or land on other planets. Some micronations exist on land unclaimed by other countries because of a loophole in a treaty. The Republic of Indian Stream, for example, was on land between the U.S. and Canada but is not under the jurisdiction of either because of ambiguous terms in the Treaty of Paris.[1] If you can't find land, though, make some! One millionaire activist piled sand onto a reef located in the Pacific Ocean south of Fiji and created an artificial island to start the Republic of Minerva.[2] But if you're not rich enough to make land, then just make it up--some of the more lighthearted micronations claim land on imaginary continents or planets.

2. Declare your independence. If you have land, a declaration of independence will serve to claim that territory. Keep in mind, however, that actually sending your declaration of independence to gain recognition can lead to legal or military action if anyone disputes that claim. For example, when The Republic of Minerva issued a declaration of independence in letters to neighboring countries, the neighbors were very perturbed, and one of the countries decided to send their people to the island to take down the Minervan flag.[2] Besides, you can still function like an independent nation without actually declaring independence, like Taiwan does![3]

3. Set up a government and constitution. This is a good time to consider why you're starting a country, and how you would like it to turn out. Here are some examples:
* Recreating the past - e.g. Nova Roma, dedicated "to the restoration of classical Roman religion, culture and virtues".[4]

4. Acquire citizens. You can have only yourself, if you want, or anyone who wants to join. Setting up a website, however, will help publicize your micronation to potential citizens around the world. You must also decide what you require of your citizens. Do they have to pass a test? Abide by certain laws? And what will they have to identify themselves as citizens of your country - A passport? Driver's license? Badge?

5. Decide on symbols for your country. You should have a flag, a coat of arms, and any other way to represent yourself. Once you have symbols chosen, you can issue stamps, medals, and currency, if you'd like. Some micronations go as far as inventing their own culture and language. Of course, you might be content to create your own letterhead. After all, it's your country!

* If you want to stand a chance of being recognized, your country should have territory, a government, a permanent population, and be able to host diplomatic relations (the Montevideo Convention's requirements for statehood).
* Study existing and well-established micronations. What has led to their success? What can you learn from them?
* If your intent is to have a functional and independent country, you will ultimately need some sort of basic infrastructure (e.g, roads, school, buildings, hospital, fire station).
* If you act too serious, existing governments might see you as a secession movement instead of a country for fun.

1. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Indian_Stream
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Minerva
3. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_China
4. ↑ http://www.novaroma.org/
5. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerican_Empire
6. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_and_Lesbian_Kingdom_of_the_Coral_Sea_Islands

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Being Tall

2009-04-26T14:16:00.010-05:00

There are many virtues of being tall....people can find me in crowds and I can find them, tall women are happy to date someone taller, and a history professor told me: ´all our great Presidents were tall´.

There are a few drawbacks (small inconveniences)...about which I´m not complaining, but instead thought I might document (possibly in a series of photo essays).

1) Travel
Overseas buses, poda podas, cars, planes, and airport lounges primarily.
2) Mirrors
The height of mirrors in homes.
3) Kitchens
Mostly chopping blocks, islands, etc. for preparing meals.
4) Shelving
The bottom shelf in supermarkets or kitchens.
5) Blackboards and markerboards
I seem to only be able to write comfortably in the top 1/3 of these boards.
6) Beds
I don´t mind my feet hanging off the end at all. It is only when a short bed has both a headrest and a footrest that I am in trouble...having to sleep in the fetal position.
7) Clothes Shopping
Most of the time I need to order long pants from catalog.

One of the problems with most mirrors is that they are hung low for tall people. Therefore, the angle at which we see ourselves does not allow us to see our faces but a bit farther down.

Mirrors: For me, a lot of the time, I see my stomach.

Travel: At an airport ´lounge´ in Delhi...trying to sleep in chairs that had armrests between the chairs.

Quotes

2009-04-26T14:09:00.003-05:00

¨Wealth takes away the sharp edges of our moral sensitivities and allows a comfortable confusion about sin and virtue. The difference between rich and poor is not that the rich sin more than the poor, but that the rich find it easier to call sin a virtue...That apathy leads to the atrophy of the moral sense.¨ Henri Nouwen, Gracias, p. 159-160

¨Have daylight mercy on my midnight soul.¨ Frederick Buechner, Godric, p. 140

The intersection between 3 things

2009-04-22T11:00:00.002-05:00

My personality is such that I feel things first, then build a contruct of thinking that fits onto that scaffolding. But I've read research that suggests most people are like that, so I don't feel as bad.

I have (seems like) always had an interest in 3 ideas and the possible intersection between them:

1) Being a follower of Christ
2) Existentialism
3) Anarchism

These ideas spring from a gut feeling, that all of these have elements that are right or true, can be followed, or explain the world better than other ideas.

However, none of these three ideas play particularly well with each other and especially in the Christian circles I've participated don't allow for Existentialism and Anarchism.

Is there a possibility that one can be an existentialist, an anarchist, and a Christian?

I can explain, maybe, in a future post the appeal these have on me or my interpretation of anarchy or existentialism that might assuage some of the more 'concerned' feelings about this post.

If you know any good books about the last two in particular, please recommend them.

You know you're an Anderson, when...

2009-04-18T14:32:00.000-05:00

In honor of, 'you know you're a redneck when'. (Warning: not all points on this list will be funny).

You know you're an Anderson, when...
1) You ride in a 15 passenger van affectionately called the Silver Bullet.
2) You come home from school and there are 3 police cars in the driveway.
3) The family picture shows people of every color, size, and shape.
4) Somebody always wants to borrow money.
5) You have to learn restraint techniques to help your siblings calm down.
6) A big family can't all have one team to root for.
7) You know that the oldest child always gets their own room and gets to sit in the front passenger seat in the car.
8) You bring completed booklets of A&P grocery green stamps to redeem them for lamps and other household furniture at the A&P redemption center.
9) Government cheese and peanut butter first go to a Christian camp that cares for inner-city children, but when there is too much, the family gets the leftovers.
10) Almost no new clothes, all hand-me-downs.
11) You can't pick a good, real Christmas tree if you tried.
12) Bible stories are read before being sent to school each morning.
13) You sat down together to watch the Waltons or Little House on the Prairie each Thursday evening with a Tupperware bowl for popcorn.
14) Music is a big part of the family atmosphere; we sing hymns together at family gatherings.
15) 11 ways to split $0, is still $0.
16) You see your dad cry when he has to set a necessary boundary for the kids.
17) The family sits down together every night for dinner and holds hands for prayer.
18) New furniture, paint, and carpeting wasn't purchased for the house until almost all of the kids had left.
19) You were raised on the Gaithers, Psalty, Sandi Patti, Larnelle Harris, Ravi Zacharias, Vernon McGee, etc.
20) Some sister has already borrowed your sweater, coat, or scarf.
21) Depending on which table you sit at for Thanksgiving, you can hear conversations about God, politics, the environment, the economy, family history, family troubles, sex, poop, memories, embarrassments, etc.
22) There is so much crazy sh&t in the family, that news that one of your brothers was shot in the head (he was grazed and is fine) doesn't even show up in conversation for almost a week.
23) When one of the children start dating, mom's first question, affectionately asked, is: what color are they?
24) You see God's provision....small miracles like the new $20 bill found under a doormat, enabling the family to buy groceries until the next payday.
25) Dad has repaired so many family autos, that if he checks the car bills from the last 15 years has certainly sent two of the owner's children to college.

Here in El Alto, Bolivia

2009-04-14T16:06:00.002-05:00

The follow-up post to Biomimicry will have to wait.

I am here in El Alto, Bolivia about to catch a flight back to Cochabamba. I came to El Alto on Good Friday to celebrate Easter with my Word Made Flesh Bolivia friends and also many of my WMF Peru friends who also came to Bolivia to celebrate together.

This has been a fantastic time, filled with the gracious hospitality of WMF Bolivia, lots of laughter, worship, and celebration. Our community worshipped together, received messages of Scripture, and several devotions between Good Friday and Easter. Being the world travelers they are, some left Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday for Argentina, Peru, and Santa Cruz, Bolivia. I am enjoying my last little bit of time with the Bolivia community and will return to my Spanish studies shortly.

Biomimicry

2009-04-06T16:33:00.000-05:00

My Biomimicry paraphrase: Everything that humans can do, nature already does it better. Or for a person of faith...everything that humans can do, God already does it better through nature.

In the book, Biomimicry, Janine Benyus does a better job of explaining:

¨Biomimicry comes from the Greek ´bios´ which means life and ´mimesis´ or imitation.¨ It is founded on the following 3 principles:

¨1. Nature as model. Biomimicry is a new science that studies nature´s models and then imitates or takes inspiration from these designs and processes to solve human problem, e.g. a solar cell inspired by a leaf.

2. Nature as measure. Biomimicry uses an ecological standard to judge the ¨rightness¨of our innovations....Nature has learned: What works. What is appropriate. What lasts.

3. Nature as mentor. Biomimicry is a new way of viewing and valuing nature. It introduces an era based not on what we can extract from the natural world, but on what we can learn from it.¨

Hopefully in the next post, I will illustrate a number of different designs in nature that demonstrate the elegance, complexity & simplicity combined, and efficiency in God´s creation both in the individual and in ecosystems.

The Garden My Host Dad in Bolivia is Cultivating

2009-04-05T08:22:00.005-05:00

I´m a Jerk, Part 2

2009-03-29T14:46:00.003-05:00

The folks who read this blog probably already know that I hate the co-opting of Christianity with other things...like politics, sports, etc.

At Asbury College, a Christian liberal arts college in Kentucky, the following verse was adopted (from biblegateway.com):

Isaiah 40:31 (New International Version)

31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

This was particularly ´comforting´ for the sports teams and they used this ´promise´ in Scripture for their games. But I don´t think God cares about sports, so I started circulating the following Biblical retort (from biblegateway.com):

Obadiah 1:4 (New International Version)

4 Though you soar like the eagle
and make your nest among the stars,
from there I will bring you down,"
declares the LORD.

Physics

2009-03-28T09:40:00.002-05:00

This is a symbolic recreation of the time I spun a nickel on a table and it never fell. It stood up on end just like the start.

My Trip to Copacabana

2009-03-28T08:43:00.004-05:00

Views From La Isla Del Sol

Incan Ruins

Robots and the Coming Revolution

2009-03-22T09:55:00.019-05:00

I just finished a book, entitled ¨Wired for War¨ by P.W. Singer, that focuses on the use of robots in warfare. There has been an exponential rise in the use of robots in peaceful applications and in warfare and the author suggests that humanity is woefully behind debating the ethical ´behavior´and use of robots. Even science fiction is having trouble keeping up with the new realities humanity is seeing in the fields of nanotechnology, robotics, etc.

If human society finds enough resources to sustain itself (averts large-scale environmental tragedy and scarcity), then I think the following robotic vision is probable.

I have culled a few definitions, a few statistics, a few philosophical and legal questions arising from their use, and finally a few prescriptions from the author regarding robots. Buy the book.

Definitions:

A robot is a man-made device with three key components: ¨sensors¨that monitor the environment and detect changes in it,¨processors¨or ¨artificial intelligence¨ that decides how to respond, and ¨effectors¨ that act upon the environment in a manner that reflects the decisions, creating some sort of a change in the world around the robot. p.67

Artificial Intelligence is the ability of a machine to ´perceive something complex and make appropriate decisions.´ -Singer quoting Sebastian Thrun, Director of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at Standford. p. 77

Statistics and Interesting Facts:

-By 2007, more than 3 million Roomba robot vacuum cleaners had been sold.
-There are robot companions for the elderly in Japan, robot lawn mowers, and robot butlers. If you can imagine a robot filling a particular need, it probably is in development somewhere.
-Most of the video games characters you are playing against have AI. Most crowd scenes in Hollywood movies are now created with AI.
-Most of the currently funded robotic research comes from military budgets; therefore, the greatest technological advances in robotics have come in the realm of weaponized machines or machines that help humans keep from, recover from, being wounded in battle.
-There are robot planes, robot submarines, robot helicopters, robotic guns, robotic minesweepers and explosive ordinance robots. Most of these (some just prototypes)already autonomously perform better than their human counterparts. They can fly, shoot, etc. with more precision, more accuracy, with better timing, with better maneuverability, with better safety than if operated by humans. Currently, the military has a strong preference for keeping humans ´in the loop´....meaning giving the orders to shoot. However, there are autonomous weaponized machines that have acted without human intervention based on their own protocol.
-By 2008, there were 5,331 drone planes in the US military, double the amount of manned planes. p.37
-There is widespread speculation within the Air Force that there will be no need for human fighter pilots in future conflicts.
-93 percent of the bombs dropped in the 1991 Gulf War were ¨dumb¨, 70 percent of bombs dropped in the 2003 air campaign were precision smart bombs. p.61
-In 2006, the Defense Department budget required that the Pentagon show a ´preference for joint unmanned systems in acquisition programs´...including a requirement that if any manned system is presented, a certification must also be presented that an unmanned system is incapable of meeting program requirements. p.65There are plans for unmanned supply trucks, unmanned Humvees, and submarines with skeleton crews. In other words, all military spending has to show a preference for unmanned systems.
-¨In 1993, (Vernor) Vinge authored a seminal essay¨ entitled ´The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era¨ where he projected that within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly thereafter, the human era will end. p. 103. Think Terminator.
-Roboticists and Science Fiction writers refer to Singularity...which for robotics and strong AI is the exact time in which machines become self aware and therefore start to perform in ways outside of their programmed ´nature´. At that point uncertainty will prevail. Since the ¨intelligence¨ of machines is rising at an exponential rate and often that intelligence is adaptive, many scientists in the field predict that in less than 30 years time a machine becomes self-aware.
-Many military strategists believe that in the future there will be some combination of human and robot interaction at all levels of combat (observation, planning, actual combat in the future). Under development at DARPA is ¨Pete¨ which is an electronic assistant for commanders. Pete would work with commanders to formulate military responses. Under the military´s decision making framework of the OODA loop, Pete might perform as much as 90 percent of the Observe (gathering data), 70 percent of the Orient (making sense of data), 30 percent of the Decide, and 50 percent of the Action. p.359
-The following protocol is an example of how a robot might be programmed to act without needing human intervention: Is the target a weapon confirmed to be used by the enemy¿ Identification confirmed. Is the target located in an authorized free-fire zone¿ Location confirmed. Are there any civilians within a ____ meter radius¿ No civilians detected. Are there any friendly units within a ____ meter radius¿ No friendlies detected. Weapon release authorized. No human command authority required. p.401. There are also suggestions that a proportional response to the threat be programmed into the weaponized machine.
-It isn´t just the US military who is interested in this technology, but most other governments, some paramilitary groups, and even non-profits. A lot of these robots can be purchased at trade shows.
-The International Red Cross has a division that inspects weapons so they do not violate the Laws Of Armed Conflict (LOAC). Each nation is supposed to have its weapons inspected before they are used in combat. No nation has ever subjected its weaponized robots to these inspections.
-The city of Los Angeles is planning to fly drones over high crime neighborhoods, so these applications transcend military operations and extend to all sorts of privacy issues.

Interesting Philosophical and Legal Questions:

1) If a weaponized drone is being flown over Iraq or Afghanistan by a US operator living there (since most drones are being flown from the Southwest USA), can an Iraqi or Afghani legally target that combatant on US soil¿
2) If a drone was flown by a non-military operator (which has happened frequently, not just by firms like Blackwater, but also by design companies like Northrop Grumman), can that operator be prosecuted if they acted inappropriately¿ Would that operator be prosecuted in civilian or military courts¿
3) If a non-military combatant (drone operator) were captured, what would his/her status be legally to the enemy¿ If the US has claimed that it is fighting largely enemy combatants (not state soldiers), outside the protections of the Geneva Convention, does not Iraq and Afghanistan have the same legal standing to ´hold´or ´torture´ any US paramilitary contractor and/or military contract firm¿
4) If a computer scientist were to code a weaponized machine that is used properly but malfunctions causing civilian or friendly deaths, should the computer scientist be prosecuted¿
5) If a commander uses the weaponized machine outside of the scope of its design which causes civilian or friendly deaths, should the commander be prosecuted¿
6) Can proportionality be programmed into a weaponized machine so that if under threat from a child with an AK-47, that the weaponized robot does not bomb the whole village¿
7) What are the legal rights of a robot and specifically a robot in warfare¿ For instance, the US currently considers it self-defense when a pilot is targeted by radar and has the right to fire first to prevent its own destruction. The US also considers the same rights for its drones...that an unmanned drone has the right to fire if first targeted by radar. What other legal ´protections´ should be provided for robots¿
8) What ¨laws¨ should be programmed into robots¿ Should robots be confined to respond only defensively or are some offensive capabilities allowed¿
9) What is the new definition of war¿ In the past, war was defined when at least two parties fought both parties were susceptible to physical harm. Already, some Iraqi and Afghani fighters consider the US cowardly for fighting with machines and fighting from afar, and US soldiers consider it cowardly that fighters would shield themselves with women and children. If one or both sides cannot personally come to physical harm, what is the new word that defines this conflict¿

Authors Prescriptions:

1) Yes, an Iraqi or Afghani can legally target a US combatant on US soil.
2) Yes, that US combatant, even though non military, should be able to be prosecuted if they acted inappropriately. Therefore, it is extremely important that these roles be taken out of the hand of private military contractors or design firms.
3) Yes, if a non-military combatant (drone operator) were captured, Iraq or Afghanistan, if going by the same rules as the US, would classify these people as enemy combatants that fall outside of the protections of the Geneva Convention.
4) Yes, if a computer scientist were to code a weaponized machine that is used properly but malfunctions causing civilian or friendly deaths, that computer scientist should be prosecuted.
5) Yes, if a commander uses the weaponized machine outside of the scope of its design which causes civilian or friendly deaths, the commander be prosecuted.
8) The ¨laws¨ programmed into robots should be the same for every country. These ¨laws¨ should be agreed upon by the international community.

The First Thing I Did In Bolivia

2009-03-16T11:15:00.002-05:00

was buy water. You know... me...experienced traveler, make sure to have necessities. Clean drinking water and a clean bottle are priority #1.

I buy agua con gas, NOT agua sin gas. I take the water bottle home, open the bottle and hear it open like a soda bottle. I just bought carbonated water.

I try to brush my teeth with the carbonated water, but there isn´t enough room in my mouth for the amount of foam that is being created. The interaction of toothpaste and carbonated water is like a science experiment. I am leaking, spitting, and foaming.

I look like I need an injection at the hospital because of all the foaming.

My Time In Bolivia

2009-03-16T11:03:00.003-05:00

I have had a wonderful two first weeks here in Cochabamba. I settled in with my host family two Monday´s ago and started studying Spanish the next day.

I attend 3.5 hours of classes each day and then, if I am good, study/practice for another hour each day. I live about 6 blocks from the school and walk there everyday.

My host family is incredible. I live with a mom, dad, two daughters, and a grandma that comes over for all the meals. It seems everyone is a professional in this family (two attorneys, one pilot, and one in medical school).

At the Institute, there are students from the US, Canada, Korea, Ireland, Switzerland, Japan, and others as well. There are additional seminars offered each week in addition to the classroom sessions as some social/athletic events. I plan on playing volleyball with them every week.

About 10 of us traveled to Copacabana over the weekend as part of the cultural learning experience for the school. We stayed near Lake Titicaca, the highest lake in the world. This trip was quite enjoyable and we took several hikes (as the lake is surrounded by hills/mountains. Hopefully, pictures will be forthcoming.

My Spanish is coming slowly, but I am enjoying this time nonetheless.

T.V. Show

2009-03-11T11:58:00.002-05:00

A few years ago, I found myself watching ´10 things I Hate About You´ which was a reality show that took married couples and asked them individually to name the 10 things they ´secretly´ hated about each other. Then the film crew would film them during next two weeks and count how many times both spouses did those things.

I am ashamed to say that I watched this show a few times. Horrible, horrible, horrible.

Anyway, one of the husbands mentioned that he thought his wife loved the dog more than him. He complained that the dog slept with them in bed every night and if he could just have one night in bed without the dog, he could recover from his severe allergies.

To which the wife replied: ¨Why should the dog move, he doesn´t have allergies¿¨
She followed the dog to the sofa downstairs and slept with the dog that night.

Any bets on whether this couple is still together¿

Part 2

2009-03-09T12:32:00.002-05:00

Today I described someone as ´easy´ ...as in easy to get along with. What I said, in fact, was that they were ´easy´...as in promiscuous.

Translation Difficulties

2009-03-07T07:56:00.002-06:00

3/5

Over dinner, we were talking about how much people in Cochabamba like to eat and why I wasn´t eating more. (We had been told to eat a bit less at least at first, because the altitude slows digestion). In reply, instead of asking whether my stomach was fat, I asked whether my stomach was beautiful. Yes, they said, and my face. So polite.

3/6

Using a mixture of English, hand gestures, and Spanish with a friend, I asked where was a mutual friend. She replied that he was with my pregnant mother in Chile. Ouch.

Post-analysis: I think that instead of asking where he was, I asked where he was from. And even though he has lived in Cochabamba all his life, his mom was pregnant with him in Chile.

Immigration & Customs

2009-03-06T12:08:00.000-06:00

After a trip from El Salvador, I was confronted at immigration:

Immigration: Who do you know that lives at 323 Summertree Drive in Duluth, Georgia¿
Me: I don´t know anyone that lives there.

Immigration: Who do you know in Georgia¿
Me: My grandmother, who passed away, used to live there. And I have some distant family members there: some great aunts, uncles, and second cousins.

Immigration: When did you last visit Georgia¿
Me: It was years ago. We used to vacation there a couple weeks every summer.
Why are you asking me these things¿

Immigration: The computer told me to ask.