I just booked a flight to Frankfurt, arriving at 7am on Sunday morning. I have never needed to get out of an area than this moment. It difficult to come to terms with how badly this deal has worked out, how political jobs can be at times. Everyone makes mistakes, but this time, no mistakes were made and I feel like I am imprisioned. I have decided to run off to Germany as the wedding is a month away and there is little chance that I will be working until after the wedding.
The time here has been dark, even though the sun shines brighter here than anywhere I have been since Thailand.
...More later.
Read more!
22 May 2008
21 May 2008
I heard from an old friend today from China whose family lives in Sichuan province, where the recent earthquake hit. One of her Uncles (I am not sure if this is a real Uncle as the Chinese commonly refer to male friends of the family as uncle) two sons were both killed in earthquake and only one of the bodies has been recovered.
Things like this should not happen on such a tragic scale anywhere in the world, but it will continue to occur in China as they march at alarming rates toward industrialization. Here's why: The Chinese are going through their own modern day renessiance. building at alarming rates with no attention to structural intregrety or safety--all of these things will come later in the modernization of China, when the stuff that they built to get through the building process collapses and they realize that building need to be made safer.
This is the thing that saddens me so much about the Chinese system of government. Throughout China, a quake of that size would cause the same amount of problems throughout the country because everything is designed in the same manner, quickly. The government has spent billions on the upcoming Olympic games, in order to show the world that China has come into the new age of technology. This instance of a natural tragedy shows that while the major cities like Beijing and Shanghai might be modern, but the majority of the country lives in constant danger and poverty.
I think that we also have blood on our hands. What is still happening with Hurricane Katrina here in the Gulf region is just sickening, but we are faced with the same problems that China is. Here we are, the richest country in the world (and the most in debt) and our advanced systems of government, which allow for corporate oil tycoon failures to be president, this government can not come together and make good decisions about the people of New Orleans and its surrounding areas. New Orleans is now the most dangerous part of the country, surpassing Detroit.
This is what makes tragic events like this so sad: Our governments, no matter what focus they claim to have, either as a democracy or a communist society, our governments continue to painfully ignore the really pressing issues of our times. I am so sorry for my former students loss. We as a society have got to begin to change the way that capitalism is in the drivers seat of our lives. Read more!
Things like this should not happen on such a tragic scale anywhere in the world, but it will continue to occur in China as they march at alarming rates toward industrialization. Here's why: The Chinese are going through their own modern day renessiance. building at alarming rates with no attention to structural intregrety or safety--all of these things will come later in the modernization of China, when the stuff that they built to get through the building process collapses and they realize that building need to be made safer.
This is the thing that saddens me so much about the Chinese system of government. Throughout China, a quake of that size would cause the same amount of problems throughout the country because everything is designed in the same manner, quickly. The government has spent billions on the upcoming Olympic games, in order to show the world that China has come into the new age of technology. This instance of a natural tragedy shows that while the major cities like Beijing and Shanghai might be modern, but the majority of the country lives in constant danger and poverty.
I think that we also have blood on our hands. What is still happening with Hurricane Katrina here in the Gulf region is just sickening, but we are faced with the same problems that China is. Here we are, the richest country in the world (and the most in debt) and our advanced systems of government, which allow for corporate oil tycoon failures to be president, this government can not come together and make good decisions about the people of New Orleans and its surrounding areas. New Orleans is now the most dangerous part of the country, surpassing Detroit.
This is what makes tragic events like this so sad: Our governments, no matter what focus they claim to have, either as a democracy or a communist society, our governments continue to painfully ignore the really pressing issues of our times. I am so sorry for my former students loss. We as a society have got to begin to change the way that capitalism is in the drivers seat of our lives. Read more!
19 May 2008
stuck in Mobile, with those german blues?
I have been trying to for the last couple of weeks to write about what is happening here in Mobile, but it has been difficult to express my feelings without fear of recourse.
I was actually questioned about my blogs, like the HR department of this company forgot that there is the first amendment in the country, which allows me to speak whatever is on my mind as long as I am not slandering anyone. So, if you are reading this blog, please remember that it is my right as a citizen of the United States of America to be able to freely express my speech and it is protected by the laws under which we all operate in this country.
I quit my job in Seattle to pursue an opportunity here that seemed to be the perfect fit. It is now painfully apparent that this is not the correct fit and that my intuition, which is rarely incorrect, was in fact, incorrect.
The situation now leaves me in quite the peril as I wait to see what the final soloution is to this problem which has occurred. My destiny for right now is out of my hands as I await to hear word from my company about just how they plan to proceed with my employment.
Let me state in all of this vagueness that I did not do anything wrong or out of term, but the contract from which we had working with this other company has been called into question, which leaves me in the middle of a political situation which I have not experienced.
The main issue is what should happen, what is just and what is realisitic in a situation like this? It has come to pass that my services are not needed, which would be acceptable if I had taken this position in Seattle. However, I moved across the country, almost as far as you could move in the United States, only to find that two weeks after working hard that a mistake had been made, but not my mistake.
This situation begins to tear at the very fabric of what I think is wrong with people and with this country. We, as a society have got to stop thinking about what is the minimum we can do and instead think about what is just in any given situation. This scenerio right now is particularly difficult as my wedding is in five short weeks and it seems that I am without a position to help pay for this wedding. I have not been released from my work as my employer wants to keep me working as he sees the value of service that I bring, but nothing has come of it yet. I am now very concerned about the future and am forced to begin making decisions which I didn't wish to have to make.
The questions from which I am faced to consider are endless. There are three possible scenerios here, all of which I am apprehensive to consider. Most of my concern lies directly with the costs associated with moving and setting up a house at this point. The most viable option at this point is to move to Germany, get married, process Lili's visa and see where we are at that time. The problem with that is what to do with my things, such as my car, my new townhouse and all of my furnishings? I can't really just leave them here. What about my car? Shipping it to Germany isn't the most realistic possibility right now. I owe more on it than its worth, which is typically for an amazing amount of people in this country.
All it really takes is one minor shuffle in our lives that we aren't prepared for and you realize that all you have worked for can be gone in an instant.
This is all I have to say about this for right now. I will know more in the coming days as I continue to try to drive this problem to a resolve.
Read more!
I was actually questioned about my blogs, like the HR department of this company forgot that there is the first amendment in the country, which allows me to speak whatever is on my mind as long as I am not slandering anyone. So, if you are reading this blog, please remember that it is my right as a citizen of the United States of America to be able to freely express my speech and it is protected by the laws under which we all operate in this country.
I quit my job in Seattle to pursue an opportunity here that seemed to be the perfect fit. It is now painfully apparent that this is not the correct fit and that my intuition, which is rarely incorrect, was in fact, incorrect.
The situation now leaves me in quite the peril as I wait to see what the final soloution is to this problem which has occurred. My destiny for right now is out of my hands as I await to hear word from my company about just how they plan to proceed with my employment.
Let me state in all of this vagueness that I did not do anything wrong or out of term, but the contract from which we had working with this other company has been called into question, which leaves me in the middle of a political situation which I have not experienced.
The main issue is what should happen, what is just and what is realisitic in a situation like this? It has come to pass that my services are not needed, which would be acceptable if I had taken this position in Seattle. However, I moved across the country, almost as far as you could move in the United States, only to find that two weeks after working hard that a mistake had been made, but not my mistake.
This situation begins to tear at the very fabric of what I think is wrong with people and with this country. We, as a society have got to stop thinking about what is the minimum we can do and instead think about what is just in any given situation. This scenerio right now is particularly difficult as my wedding is in five short weeks and it seems that I am without a position to help pay for this wedding. I have not been released from my work as my employer wants to keep me working as he sees the value of service that I bring, but nothing has come of it yet. I am now very concerned about the future and am forced to begin making decisions which I didn't wish to have to make.
The questions from which I am faced to consider are endless. There are three possible scenerios here, all of which I am apprehensive to consider. Most of my concern lies directly with the costs associated with moving and setting up a house at this point. The most viable option at this point is to move to Germany, get married, process Lili's visa and see where we are at that time. The problem with that is what to do with my things, such as my car, my new townhouse and all of my furnishings? I can't really just leave them here. What about my car? Shipping it to Germany isn't the most realistic possibility right now. I owe more on it than its worth, which is typically for an amazing amount of people in this country.
All it really takes is one minor shuffle in our lives that we aren't prepared for and you realize that all you have worked for can be gone in an instant.
This is all I have to say about this for right now. I will know more in the coming days as I continue to try to drive this problem to a resolve.
Read more!
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