Packing.. packing.. and watching.
Vladimir Putin.
Democracy shmerocracy, as time goes on, he reminds me of all the former Russian presidents/dictators going all the way back to Stalin and maybe that Tsar guy who had poor health.
I say this as I watch each report come in about his government’s latest move, public or secretive, to consolidate power, own lots of resources, and get rid of opposition.
Latest one is this 20bn dollar seizure of Shell and their gas projects in places like Siberia. Not that I love shell or gas for that matter, but it continues to seem suspicious that the state gas company buys up more and more and then seems to use this power to influence other countries that need this gas… for example.. the EU.
After the radiation poisoning of this agent guy and the murder of that wonderful journalist, both of which I obviously can’t confirm that government was involved in or at least had some knowledge about… these also seem to be odd occurances.
What did Bush say some 6 years ago about Putin during a state visit… he looked into his soul. We probably should have known then… if Bush looks in your soul and see’s good… well.. that IS probably a sign.
Whatever the case, my concern is with people… Russians, Europeans… Humans. Unfortunately we need these things like gas and oil, and the question is how will all of us be manipulated based on the whims of a leader that has proven, over his very long reign, that he will use all manner of force and persuation.. to get what he wants. Whatever that is.
Thankfully some bloggers are keeping watch…. here’s one I was flipping through today… Im going to keep reading and see if I can’t learn some things and understand better what is happening.
I’ve been a blogger for over 5 years. So you figure lots of things happen to me, my life, my general mood, and the obstacles I face, that don’t always come accross in text. (maybe audio.. and probably video!)
Despite the fact that I tell stories and give my personal opinions. I don’t always write “Im sad” and that sort of thing, both, because I don’t think it is important, and because I think there are bigger fish for me to fry on this site. (thats actually the same reason, i love how i can write in circles) But here’s a rare revelation… I’ve been on a down cycle lately.
That’s a wishy washy way to say I lost my inspiration.. my will to fight and write and plan and plot and whatever it is that I do as a fledgling personal media un-pire. There was sickness. There was aging. There was job loss. And somewhere in there all manner of emotional bad stuff. All of which made me question every single act of my daily life and my lofty goals.
I can tell you this now because I’m starting to return to what I think is.. good form. It will be a long road.. but step one begins Thursday:
In order to get my groove back, I will return (for a visit) to my roots.. my ancestry.. my other country and a large chunk of my family and friends: Portugal. Most importantly I will spend days with 2 people who together made an enormous difference and influence on my life and personality.. my grandparents.
You may have seen the videos in the past. I’ve been working on a modest audio and video archive of them and their stories.. to keep for future generations and for my own personal enjoyment. And yes… to share, sometimes, with the internets. So stay tuned, thursday I make that oh-so-familiar trip to Lisbon, and for two important weeks, I’ll be travelling on that road… towards getting my groove back. (no matter how corny and cliché it sounds).
The first installment of a series that i intend to further develop in the coming months, focusing on the pharmaceutical industry, especially their products; prescription drugs. In this series you will hear from researchers, doctors, lobbyists, consumers, and various other kinds of people involved in this complex world of making medication, forming policies about them, buying them, and prescribing them.
This first podcast, a longer one than usual, features two interviews with professionals in the research field:
My first guest, a returning voice on the Communique, he is Ed Vawter, PHD; he has worked for some of the biggest names in the business, as well as a consultant. I ask Ed about the current picture in the United States when it comes to the big drug producers, and we also get into Canada, Europe, Japan, even a bit of India.
My second guest, Jack Z, a longtime contributor to the blog, old friend of mine, and bio-chemist for a small company in the NY/NJ area. He and I will discuss what works well about the drug industry and what needs improvement. You also get to hear his experience working for a smaller company within the industry that includes so many big fish.
Hello Im 27.
I didn’t think it was a big deal. And then… my friend Fleur called.
You may remember her as Dolphin Girl, as Ive admirably referred to her work with marine life in the Azores.
Well she first called me to dinner, my last meal as a 26 year old, she called it. And that alone left me happy as larry, whomever he is, and then, along with another old friend from way back in my Amsterdam life, these two wonderful ladies took my out to a most unlikely place. And proceeded to make a birthday celebration out of it.
I was shocked. Im still surprised. I cherish my beatiful, pocket-sized gifts. Moreover, I cherish the friends that make up my family here in my most favorite city on earth. After dancing til 2h30.. I decided it was time to come home as I was still able to walk and unlock my bike. I gave them all the biggest hugs and whispered endless praise into Fleur’s ears.. which she shrugged off like it was nothing.
This beautiful nothing made my 27th birthday.. and the day is barely 3 hours old.
Dank jullie wel! Fleur, Barbara, and the boys that would later join us. I don’t normally use the blog for name dropping, but you filled me with joy… and liquor, i think.
In all my sickness, I was somehow at some pub tonight celebrating an old friends birthday. And perhaps because Im dillusional, this brave soul listened to me go on and on about the power of personal publishing (blogs in on their forms) and the people who read them.. the comments especially, how good they can be.
Well.. as soon as I arrive home, ready to pass out… the evidence is here waiting for me. So without further adue… this post is from the comments, from you out there, on the topic of what was the constitution meant to do and what has been done with it. Even some discussion about an old white dead guy I like very much by the name of Madison.
Some might say — “oooh politics” but I ask that you get beyond that cop-out. This is about lives.. people’s lives and what they can do with them.. what they are allowed to do with them. (among other things) Here we go, picking and choosing paragraphs:
The problem with ALL democracies is parties. The only thing a party does is work to arrange the advancement of that parties agenda irrespective of the number of people in that party. Since the constitution was written before parties, it is defensless against them. They are like a filter that everthing must pass through before it gets to the system, thus rendering the system ineffective. –RogueGenius
…I’m more tempted to understand the constitution’s main intent is to protect the people from the government and to ensure the right to private propoerty. The success of that is a whole other bag but these were men whose freshest memory of government gone wrong was persecution from the King of England. On the surface this leads people to believe that their main intent was to create a government that would prevent any one man from having that sort of power……
Man…the more I read Madison, the more I realize how much they already knew and how little we learned from them. They had the flux-capaciter and we let Biff build his hotel anyways. – van stratt (with the bonus BTF reference!)
The Constitution is far more about sausage-making government and is covered with correction fluid from all the parts we have had to edit out of the Founder’s vision, like the fractional representation of people owned as property and the lifetime appointment of senators. Still lots of room for improvement there IMHO. — Nick
Thank ye friends, those who comment on other stuff, or even rarely. You remind me of why the two way street of blogging is important.