Yawn, Plane Turns Around

Dear US and UK, please keep your terrorism paranoia to yourselves. We have quite enough of our own here in the Nertherlands.

Like a media sucker, I’m watching the news reports from the BBC. Amazing that they have news reports even though the have no information. They even tell the viewer they have no information. They then proceed to show you video footage of airplanes behind a fence and they invite experts to talk about how they don’t know anything either. Go to commercial, back to our wall street analyst in New York.

They arrested a bunch of people. I can already tell you why. The reason is: if you turn around a plane and scramble f16’s to guide it back to Amsterdam, then someone’s at least gotta get arrested. It’s the least they can do.

One of the girls on the plane was describing what she noticed on the flight, she said

“we were in the air, and some people noticed that a group of south asians were not paying attention to the flight attendants guidelines.”

If being uninterested and ignoring the flight attentant with the useless seatbelt overview is terrorism, than I’ve been terrorizing the skies since I was 12 years old.

bm149 Australian Immigration Struggle

Throughout the past 5 years you may have seen the occasional story about immigration and Australia. As the government plays the law and order card, how do Australians, many once immigrants themselves, see their governments policies? Warwick of Nimbin Radio joins me from New South Whales, Australia, to share what has happened and what may happen when it comes to Australia’s attitudes and policies towards immigration.

Related: Roger Maynard’s Article in the Guardian

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!