Grass is Greener

At the fishtank today, I sat down to lunch with mrs toronto’s greatest chef in exile. The man himself was doing his thing in the kitchen. He feeds the fish all summer long. But the conversation at lunch today was one that I immediately thought to bring on the communique.

Frisbeee

At one point we were discussing how many Dutch people complain about how everything is “boring” here. Trams run on time, pay checks are decent, things generally work… which apparently gets annoying. You’ll often hear them plotting to move to Spain or Italy, where they believe the laid back pace is the perfect way to life.
On the other hand, I mentioned, many if not most people in Portugal get utterly fed up with buses not showing up on time, crap salaries, and generally how things don’t work. They talk of moving to richer countries, like the UK or France.

Grass is greener on the other side? I don’t think so… I think some people just don’t appreciate how good they’ve got it while the rest of the world dreams of having such a situation.

Hmm.. no linkage today…. thats rare.

Warm in Here

Sometimes people discover things or make good points by accident. Like the guy who invented post-it notes (i think). This is almost how I feel about the w-bush criticism of the kyoto protocol. When he says it’s not good enough, though he’s reasons are those of a spoiled child, he circles around a point that I actually agree with. Thats right.. the sky is falling, I almost agree with the moron-in-chief.

Sign it bitchNow now, don’t worry, I can explain. I’ve conducted extensive lazy internet research in between reading the onion and great blogs like the known universe, and in my research I noted that Kyoto is full of loop holes for polluters to keep polluting by trading their “emissions credits” or whatever. I also noted that the targeted amount of pollution reduction is peanuts, almost-nothing, nada, niks, rien de rien. Nevermind how it will allow lots of terrible polluters considered non-industrialized to destroy their corner of the planet.

That being said, I want it signed. Im with the environmentalists outside the G8. hell, Im an activist myself. But like with so many things, I know we’re capable of much better. We HAVE TO come up with more and better agreements after the Kyoto thing finally goes through. When you think about it, Kyoto was drafted over 8 years ago… we should already be working on the next steps for cleaning up this terrible mess.

Now I realize I started this post by agreeing a lil’ with one of the most ignorant world leaders in history. What can I say, I’m an odd one.

In order to get the bad taste out of your mouth, go read BitchPhD visiting Chucky Cheese.

750th Bday

Kaliningrad Celebratin750 is a hell of an anniversary. Thats my thought for today.
I’ve not been to Kaliningrad – yet. But I will, this I promise. I’ll find an affordable ride across Germany, then Poland, and poof, I’ll be in this tiny Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea. And it will be lovely. I’ll take photos for you guys, cause I’d never travel without you.

For now, it’s best to go forth and study how the germans and the prussians were all involved in this wacky place. I wonder if I need a Visa to go there…

bicyclemark48_050702

Minority Reports: Society’s fetish with categories, and breaking news from sweden.

AudioCommunique #48(mp3)
27min+, 64kbps, 12.5Mb+

    Live8 – Are these concerts really making a difference at all?
    Categories, the world’s obession
    Looking at all these developments, new directories, categories, everyone must fit into a box.
    Im listed under Dutch and Travel. Does that really define me?
    This is why on my weblog, I mess with categories.
    When I talk about forms in the US, with the race category, people in the NL get really curious, because its so strange for them.
    My mom used to tell me — write OTHER: Portuguese… and I did.
    Its a sick obsession, in some places it has encouraged conflict
    I blame the categories.
    Special Filesharing Report from Sweden: Martin G under his desk.
    PirateBay.og
    Tinkoff Radio and MiniPaul are two Ive been listening to.

Generation Debt

One of the reasons I left the united states had to do with debt. No – I didn’t owe any. No I wasn’t in trouble with the mob (hell, I was their favorite reporter). But the mere fact that I didn’t have any type of debt made me an exception – a weirdo. Everyone around me, neighbors, friends, strangers – all had debt.

The kind I knew about was the credit card kind. Tons of friends had it, I almost felt left out. At university there were always tables set up offerring students crack in exchange for a new mastercard with a picture of a forest on it. I was tempted by the forest. I had friends who just needed a new tshirt, so they filled out the paperwork. But for some odd reason, I never accumilated debt.

To me it was inevitable. If I stayed around, in this environment, where debt was a way of life, I would ultimately get some. Which some people would tell me, would be a good thing. – I admit, I’m no economist – but I still didn’t want any, and I worried at how normal it was.

So bam — I moved to Europa. Portugal first, where most transactions were paid through my bankcard (debit). If I didnt have the money, I wouldn’t buy it. No choice in the matter really. Then here in Amsterdam, again – the beautiful bank card. Admitedly, I’ve tried to get a credit card here, but aparently my laughable salary isn’t enough to have the right to get one. Makes me laugh at those college years, where all I needed was a pulse.

But I’m known to be crazy. Where are you all in relation to debt? Me, Im 25 and I feel lucky, I still have none. Course some things don’t change, like so many – I barely get by.