bicyclemark

One Executive Voice in the Wilderness

Just arrived from France and I had a chance to read lots of newspapers on the way. ..

Finally, someone besides a blogger said it. Not just someone, an airline exec, namely the CEO of Ryanair, has threatened to sue British Aviation if they don’t stop with the excessively useless restrictions.

Obviously I’ve expressed my feelings on this issue enough in the past, but I’m a radical, so you should expect nothing less. This, on the other hand, is a very mainstream guy who’s airline I don’t even care for very much. But to read his quotes that say things like “Toiletries are not going to destroy the world” .. can’t remember where I read that one. But at the end of that particular article, he also says the classic line which I think holds alot of value: “The best way to make a statement against terrorism, is to go about your life and do things as you would normally”. It may sound lame to some, but I very much believe in that statement.

So Michael O’Leary, I don’t know much about you, but in a world full of alarmists and yes-men, here’s to you!

Met the Kids

Anytime I make a trip to Paris, it has become a priority of mine to visit with Madame L and the French man in their secluded hideout out amongst the badgers and the cornfields. So of course today I made my way out of Paris and over to the homestead for lunch. As an added bonus on this particular trip, I met many of the daughters I had long heard so much about. And of course they were as great as I suspected, but thats not what this post is about.

As we sat back laughing about old songs from yeast radio and the crap you find on youtube, Madame and I returned to a familiar theme… life in the US. We spoke about friends and family and what situations they are in; as in housepayments, mortgages, insurance payments, loans, credit card debt, etc etc. All these things may be part of your normal day dear reader, but what we were discussing is how we don’t have these things. Beyond that, how when some friends talk to us, they say “you’ll so lucky, you get to live in europe and you don’t have to deal with this.” This statement, of course, has many holes. Not the least of which is that you can actually have lots of these things in Europe just as you do anywhere else. However, the idea that we are somehow lucky for having chosen to live where we live, that’s the strange thing.

We both agreed it is not a matter of luck. It is choice. And despite whatever drawbacks; like living far from loved ones or not making your whopping salary, you too can make the choice and be that person who lives in Europe. Or Kuala Lampur. Or wherever.

No where is it written that all humans must go forth and take out loans and get themselves lots of car payments and other assorted longterm financial requirements. Yet strangely enough, it is people like Madame L and I who are often referred to as the strange ones, or the lucky ones, because we don’t have any of that.

strange world. but hey.. nous aurons toujours paris.

bmtv17 The Cemetery in my Father’s Town

Being as I’m in rainy Paris all weekend and I’d like to spend some time outside or at least in some café somewhere without my laptop. I’ve pre-prepared a vlog which is actually from my time in Portugal only a few weeks ago. This one is low on explanation, but basically whenever I meet my parents in Portugal, we go to the cemetery to visit my grandparents (father’s side). The interesting is always going from grave to grave with my father, and him telling each person’s story and where they immigrated to and how he remembers them from when he was a child.

If you’ve never been to a Portuguese cemetery, I think they are amazing. Hence the Antony and the Johnson’s song which seemed fitting.

Watch the Video

Il Pleut Chats et Chiens

I rode the Thalys train from Amsterdam to PAris today… WITH a bottle of WATER.

Nobody cared.

Know why?

Cause it’s water.

———-

Seriously friends, greetings from the city of lights. I’m here all weekend visiting the John of the Americablog. I should also mention I’m not his only visitor this weekend as a podcasting-blogging-software developer by the name of Kyle is sitting just across from me.

As I rode the train over, I was loving the magic of high speed european train travel. So smooth. So quiet. Warm yet not too warm. Quiet yet not too quiet. And best of all: no one cares to see your ID nor do they give you a second look for carrying liquids. Or should we call them, tools for potential terror attacks!

As you know from reading this blog, I have little regard for high security. I scoff at metal detectors, manuel searches, and pre-travel interview screening. I’m the guy you shake your fist at and proclaim “if we did it your way, the terrorists would destroy the world.”

All that aside. I recommend people stop getting on planes if they can avoid it. See what the other options are. Check if there’s a train, bus, or even a boat. It could be a wonderful relief from all the ignorant paranoid stupidty taking place at airports and on planes these days. Plus you can bring your gels, creams, foams, and water liquid compounds you want. Live FREE, Don’t Fly!

Law & Order in the Whitehouse – Criminal Intent

The discussion surrounding what or who has caused the United States to head in the direction it is going, is neverending and often yields little agreement. Someone always starts by saying W. Bush is the problem and once he’s replaced with a democrat things will improve. Others argue that it isn’t one person, but in fact a whole group of people running the country, who’s values and worldviews are steering it in such a way. Then of course there are those who say its the regular people who actually like what is going on and applaud all the government’s decisions over the past 6 years.

Those are only a few of the arguements I most frequently hear in the comments of this blog and elsewhere. And while I sometimes feel there is an excessive focus on Bush and his cronies, when I read about some of the administration’s actions and attempts at changing national and international law, it becomes very clear that no matter who’s fault it is, the current government in the whitehouse stands head and shoulders above any previous administration when it comes to criminal intent and attempting to ignore or abuse law.

The latest action that prompts this post was last week’s revealing that the Bush administration is trying to amend the war crimes act in order to “prevent prosecutions of US personnel for humiliating and degrading treatment of detainees in the war on terror. “ A familiar theme from the past years, the idea that US military and other secret personel who are involved in torture, they should be given a free pass and a garuntee that they will never be held accountable for having committed what is a crime according to the war crimes act of the US, not to mention international law.

I’m sure it sounds like old news. No big deal, some will say. Amazing how if they just keep doing it, changing laws or kidnapping and torturing will both become common practices that cause every newsreader in America to yawn and turn the page.

Just in case you’re somehow still unconvinced that the government and the military should have the protected right to not be subject to the war crimes act, maybe you’d like to read the Amnesty Report.

And whatever you believe to be the cause of the terrible state of affairs in the US, surely the current squatters in the white house have some significant role in it all.

Dr. B On the Move

A little over 2 years ago… I send an email to a then little known but highly contreversial blogger by the name BitchPhD. At the time I was compelled by her stories and opinions which included family stories as well as commentary on current events with a particular focus on feminism and reproductive rights. I emailed Dr.B to say hello and also to help with a technical issue since I was, at that time, a masters student with plenty of time on my hands here in Amsterdam.
From there I remember Dr. B responding in a very positive way and from there we exchanged lots of emails and frequently caught up with each other via IM. Yet another one of these instant friendships that I’m sure many of us have experienced since the dawn of blogging.

I mention this because I hadn’t thought about it in awhile until I was riding through Portugal reading my favorite newspaper – O Público. Their magazine pullout section had a special article on feminism and blogging. Many of the blogs were in Portuguese, which of course didn’t surprise me. But to my surprise, right there on the first page of the article in big letters, a link and a description of BitchPhD’s blog. Instant smile on my face to see the good doctor getting recognized, even in Portugal.

So of course yesterday I emailed her to let her know and catch up a bit. She was happy to hear the news and I passed along the bibliographic info. We talked a bit of her upcoming adventures that I had read about on the blog. That brought back memories of when we first became friends long ago when her blog and my blog were still young. Speaking of age, here’s one of my most favorite of her posts from this summer, entitled: 40 is the New Fuck You .