The first day of school in Chenzhou

...and I am not teaching.
There is a national diving competition here in the city and most of the decision makers in the University are more concerned about this than what classes to assign to the English teachers, so Mr. Happy informed us yesterday that we all dismissed for the week, so I have a 10 day vacation!
I had originally intended to go to Hong Kong, but I cannot as my resident permit is not even close to being complete, which means I cannot leave the country and Hong Kong is just governed by China, so it's a no go. Instead, I am seriously considering making the pilgrimage to Beiijing for a few days. It is a whopping 16 hour train ride, but I am ready to see this country! It is a whopping 750rmb for a sleeping coach roundtrip-- $93.75 in US for 32 hours on the train--not a bad price at all. The train leaves from Chenzhou and I will depart either tommorow evening or wednesday morning, depending on if I can get others to go.

Anyhow, it is time to get the day going. I finally discovered that they do sell my cell phone charger here in the city, so I am going to go hunt for it, get a sim card and see what else there is to do.






Here are some picture I have been trying to upload for the last week, but with little success. These are two students who accompanied me to the city the first time I went. They were very honored to be taking their teacher to the city for an adventure unlike any other.










Remember these pictures of me at this weight--I think I have already dropped 10lbs in this humidity!
















This was a great shot. Most of the college girls here arent like they are in America! The idea of Girls Gone Wild in Asia is taking them for a ride on the Ferris Wheel!
These girls, like many other women here, do not know how to swim, have never been on a Ferris Wheel!!! I took them on an old, broken down ferris wheel in the park and the about peed their pants--it was quite amusing.
I offered to also teach them to swim for $50rmb per hour!

Anyway, I am off to the City!












Read more!

Boeing Strike, New Orleans

Although I had an exciting day here in good old China, I must comment on the other major things happening on the homeland this evening.
First of all, reading all of the things going on with New Orleans and the rest of the Mississippi Delta makes me feel ill. It is just terrible that something so tragic had to happen in such a poor area of the world, a place that I have visited several times in my short life and I can certainly imagine the devastaion that is going on in such a volitile area. My thoughts are with those people.
My thoughts are not with the stupidity of other people in the world, namely Mr. George W. Bush. Although I will not take this opportunity to shun him as most others should and need to do, I would like to take the opportunity to point out that this past evening there was a benefit concert for the people of the Mississippi Delta and Kanye West went from his scripted dialougue and began to speak about how the less wealthy people are not taken care of in the same fashion that others are. He also made a direct comment about Bush--and NBC actually censored it from the west coast audience.
PATHETIC.
Let's recall-I live in a communist country. I expect to be censored. But the good ole' USA censored West not because he swore, but because he told his version of the truth, which I think is pretty on the mark. I just hope that the people will take this opportunity to again look at what Bush has done since his tenure of leader of the free world and where we all are in the pot of life. He has done a shit job folks. He blew it with 911, he turned patriotism into nationalism, we have had a terrible recession, the price of gas has doubled before this latest tragedy--at least we caught Nixon before he could do this much damage....

Speaking of damage--Here we are again and these lunkheads at Boeing decide that they are getting paid enough money for a job that if they lost it to the asain market, they would be stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart. Thankfully my mother has always been thankful of her job and not bought into the union bullshit that spews from the Machinist Unions mouths. It just doesn't make much sense to me how these people can strike when the economic conditions are in dire straits, the price of gas is at an all time high, Seattle is the most expensive place to live in the country and these people decide that they need more than what they were already getting--a nice salary, a bonus, more sick time than anyone I know gets, stock, etc. and most of them don't even have a college degree and they are bringing in 50k+. My advice, come spend a week in China you capitalist fuckwads. May the repo man come and get your ATV's, your SUV's and your other things that you won't have because you tried to bluff your boss and he is holding the Ace's. It will be a little pleasant to watch the entire Seattle marketplace sit and watch and wonder what the hell you hicks were thinking when you voted to strike.
Be thankful for what you have--it isnt under water in the Delta. While the rest of the world is watching the tradegy unfold, you decide that your overemployed asses aren't getting enough....
PATHETIC.
***I would like to point out that my mother, who is occasionally irrational, as most mom's are- voted NO on this strike because she is grateful for having the life she has and most of that comes from the hard work that she has put in during her 14 years (or more) with the Boeing Company, so this little rant is in no way reflected upon her, but moreso on those pro-union dipshits that she has had to work with for the last decade plus*** Read more!

Friday, September 02, 2005 9:43pm

I have just come back from a pleasant gathering with some of the students that have arrived for the new term, which begins officially on Monday. However, neither the students nor the teachers have any idea of which classes are going to be taught and who is teaching them. I have had one meeting with the Chair of the English department- a Mr. Happy, (I should explain right away that everyone in the English department and possibly everyone attending University has an American name which they select because their given names are thought to be too difficult for Westerners to understand.) who informed me that he was very happy to have an American here teaching classes and that he would inform me of when I will begin teaching the students.
In meeting them over the last week, I am ready for the challenge and am prepared to deal with what I am up against. Most of these students have the most basic understand of the language and they have decent tone. For the most part, they are progressing like they have read the language from a text book, but have very little experience working directly with the language. I am going to try to make them try to speak it whenever possible if they are really interested in learning the language. Some of them tell me that they would like to be able to become a translator of English in a different country and if that is the case for the most of them, I am going to have a lot of work ahead of me, but I wouldn’t mind it in the least. This evening there was a group of about 6 boys, all of them 20 and very naïve. I am discovering this a lot about the Chinese college kids. They don’t have anything to prove and they seem to just enjoy living out their youth. There is a lot of handholding by the same sexes and I am wondering how to take it. At first it was only the girls that I witnessed doing this. I didn’t think much of it—lets face it, these Chinese women still love Hello Kitty like it is a religion! Then tonight I saw several schoolmates holding each others hands at Paul’s and I am growing a little more suspect. Paul seems like he is certainly gay, but I keep going back to my American stereotypes and laughing at how stupid I am being. Let me note for the record that I don’t care if he is gay or not, but I think it might be possible that these boys that are at his apartment might also be gay as well, but we will see if that is the case in the coming weeks. Again, it doesn’t matter in the least bit, but it is odd enough to mention. I must again mention that the Chinese are also very naïve and would make easy prey to someone who would be considered a professional and a peer mentor to these kids. Time will tell. In the United States, we feel like we are so free and open minded, but we certainly have some social attitudes that are not present in China. This is something that is apparent in everything that is going on as this country attempts to place itself in the middle of western culture. The concept of working in this country would be of particular amusement to any Westerner as an average work week should never go over 32 hours and time spent away from work is used for relaxation and not consumption—one thing that Capitalism will certainly have issues with.
Teaching is certainly within that perspective. The concept of time doesn’t matter as much in China—I keep hearing the same thing from the professionals: Things take time in China, Mr. Tim. They say it to me not in frustration but as a courtesy because they know that they could steal the leisure award from the French without any issue whatsoever. In the United States, students register for classes at the end of the old semester and professors put in their class listings weeks into the previous semester to give everyone enough time to prepare the information. School officially begins on Monday and Mr. Happy doesn’t think we will start on Monday, but I will still be paid my monthly salary, even if I don’t end up teaching for several weeks. I feel like I need to call him and ask him when he thinks I will begin teaching, because I wouldn’t mind going up to Changsha and seeing where Mao is actually from. I have a number of things that I need to check off my must see list!
Now that the students are beginning to trickle in, I am beginning to see what I have actually signed up for and I am excited for the new term to begin and at the same time I am also beginning to get a little stir crazy. There has been a lot of waiting this past week, which has kept me from going into town and getting to know the city a little more. The weather has also turned in the last couple of days and I am a little afraid that the monsoon season might have possibly come already, although from what little I have read on the subject it would seem that it isn’t supposed to start until the end of the month, or Mid-October, which would be great because I want to try to get to either Beijing or to Xi’an, Shaanxi to see the Terracotta Warriors that protected Qin Shi Huang’s tomb during China week, which is where we have a week off.
Beijing is going to have to wait until Spring Break, when we have a longer period of time off to explore. There are just so many things to go and see in Beijing that I want to make sure not to rush it. There is the Forbidden City, The Great Wall, The Summer Palace and the gates leading to the temple of heaven—all things which, like the Chinese, take time.
As I said before, the last week has been one of mostly waiting and wondering just what I have gotten myself into. Yesterday and some of today have been a struggle. I lost power to half of my flat yesterday afternoon as well as knocked out the internet on the computer and broke the chair that was provided to me. It was in pretty sad shape as it was, but my ass gave it the final blow. Typical. Then this afternoon, my ipod decided to take a shit on me and I lost some 2600 songs in one false sweep. This is particularly disheartening because my music is going to be the one lifeline that I had counted on throughout the journey and there is little to no help that I am going to be able to get any of it back—at least until I arrive back into the United States.
But the time and the whining are not worth writing about. However, I must mention that I am getting eaten alive by the mosquitoes, especially in the evening during my sleep. They have a particular longing for my face, specifically my cheeks. It is a little funny, but I am also concerned because of what those little fuckers could be carrying in the blood which they are transporting. Malaria, Leprosy, whatever—the paranoid American traveler doesn’t need anything else to happen to him from traveling around the planet. Disease is the only real concern that I have. I had a full tap water machine delivered to the house today for a deposit of 60rmb, which is about $7.50. The water is 6rmb per 5 gallon, which is about .80cents. The cooler that it comes with has a boiling water and normal water release on it and the boiling water is hot enough to prepare noodles without cooking, so it is quite useful.
I have to rely on the goodness of other people in order to get food at restaurants, order water, get things fixed and haggle with merchants, but if I have to go out by myself, I am fully confident I can manage at least somewhat. I have only gone into town once with a couple of students in tow, but I think tomorrow I am going to head into town by myself and make a go of it. There are two main buses that connect me to the city, the 22 and the 27, which are both 1rmb each way, which is .13cents each way. Not too bad considering it is 30minutes via bus to get downtown.
According to Paul, my neighbor from the Philippines, who has been here for a year, there is a market in Chenzou that I can actually buy meat from. This would be a welcome moment as I already growing a little tired of having to go through the hassle of waiting for people to go with because I can’t read the damn menu. There is no English whatsoever, but people are very willing to assist if they can figure out what you need. When ordering food it is a little difficult because restaurants do not place their menu items together or number them. At times there are pictures which you can point at, but this is fairly rare of an occasion. Most of the locals tend to want to go to the cheap eat places. The food in these places is not bad in particular, but meat dishes are quite skimpy on the meat, even by what I would consider Chinese standards. So I am anxious to go to the shop and buy my own vege’s and do a little stir-fry, just to make sure I still have the skills. Read more!

C is for Change

I will be talking about this quite a bit--the change that is happening in China as the country becomes more and more interested in the western style of life. Buses like this one are the most common to ride in--ours was a little more high class than this city commuter bus. Bus transport is the slowest mode, but is worth the money. Transport from the University to downtown takes about 30 minutes, but only costs 1rmb, which is about 13 cents. If you were to take a cab to the city, it would take half the time, but more than likely cost around 50 rmb as Xianang U is just outside of the city limits and a toll booth--which is 20 rmb one way and you must pay the cabby's toll back into the city. 50rmb is about $6.25. So obviously, the bus routes are the way to go.


China's development to westernize itself is growing. Newer condos such as these are growing around the city and China playing host to the 2008 Olympics is certainly in part to this occuring. Throughout the city, buses and city streets are lined with the proud advertisement "CHINA 2008" with the Olympic rings. The buildings next to this one were beat up shacks that will be demolished at some point, when the Chinese get around to it.




"Endless Distribution in Transformation"
A sign of westernization--these ads appear all over the city--reminds me of the Apprentice, but after reading a story on CNN about how the market is opening up and the US is trying to design its own trade restrictions against China, I think this is more what this is trying to say.

Here is the article....

BEIJING, China (AP) -- China's government-run media lashed out Wednesday at U.S. efforts to limit imports of low-cost Chinese textiles as negotiators from the two sides met to try to settle the dispute.
"Trade protectionism has incurred huge costs for Chinese textile producers," the government's China Daily newspaper said in its lead editorial.
"Protectionism is a loss-loss deal for both sides in international trade while undermining the global effort to build a free and fair trade order."
Chinese textile exports have soared since a worldwide quota system expired on January 1. Washington has already imposed temporary quotas limiting growth in imports of some Chinese textiles to 7.5 percent a year, but U.S. clothing manufacturers want broader limits.
The chief U.S. negotiator, David Spooner, said earlier that Washington had presented Beijing with a proposal to cover all items now protected by safeguard agreements plus any categories that might be affected in the future by imports from China.
The American limits would last through 2008.
His talks with Chinese Commerce Ministry officials entered a second day Wednesday.
Beijing argues that developed countries like the United States should focus on high-tech, big-money goods like airplanes and not try to stymie Chinese production of low-cost items like socks and underwear.
It also says that limits on Chinese goods would force U.S. consumers to pay more for clothing.
U.S. clothing manufacturers say the flood of cheap Chinese goods since the beginning of this year have forced 19 U.S. plants to close and resulted in 26,000 lost jobs.
But talks have yet to reach the make-or-break stage, said Auggie Tantillo, executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, who was in Beijing on Wednesday.
The aim: "Either get a good agreement or no agreement," he said.
If no agreement is reached, U.S. manufacturers will continue to rely on the safeguard system which allows them to petition the U.S. government on a case-by-case basis for limits if imports are seen to be threatening American industry, he said.
The dispute is politically sensitive at a time of soaring U.S. trade deficits with China, which last year hit $162 billion (130 billion euros) -- an all-time record high with any country.



And finally, the true sign of American Influence, the golden arches. If you enlarge this picture, youll see a nice statue in the front of the store that is of a young American boy with his baseball hat on and his baseball glove. The girls I was travelling with wanted to go in and eat, but I refused although I am sure a big mac attack will occur at some point--more out of the need to have meat that I can somewhat recognize.
There is also a KFC across the street from this MC'd's. And next door-- a pizza buffet.
We opted for a nice noodle shop. One thing I am having to get used to is that there is very little meat in dishes and usually egg in some form. The noodle place had a beef noodle soup with lots of cilantro and little beef shavings and a brown, hard boiled egg in it. It was a little greasy for my liking, but not bad. Read more!

Today was the first full day in Chenzou and I was given the gracious opportunity to travel with two soon to be students of mine into town for some supplies. The journey was very amusing and somewhat long. Chenzou City is about a 30 minute bus ride from where we are located, which is considered the "suburbs".
These are all pictures that were taken during the journey. As you can see, it was a very overcast day here, but still very humid. By the end of the day, my shirt was clinging tightly to me.




This is a very common site in Chenzou and I would imagine other cities in China as well. Men with giant carts loaded down with goods from who knows where. This man had one of the larger carts we saw throughout the day, but it was not uncommon to see bikes loaded with 75 bags of rice weighing at least 50lbs a piece.







I thought this is a funny picture because the billboard looks very much like the one in this photo. This is also driving into Chenzhou.













These are the giant supermarkets that are in the city. There isn't any Wal-Marts here folks, but these are the places to go if you need supplies are not up to the consistant haggling that goes on in the marketplace, which I will show later.









This is the part about China that is the most intruguing. There were several buildings like this one throughout Chenzou that would not seem out of place in any Western City.
Progress is alive and well in the city as the Chinese are becoming more responsive to Western interests in the far east. The modern look to the cities is in no doubt due to the Olympics that will be coming up in 3 years. All over the city, there are signs that proudly read BEIJING 2008!!!
*Interesting little factoid: The China Women's Volleyball team is headquartered in Chenzou. Read more!

China Thoughts

Let me just say first off that I cannot check the site to see if these blogs are actually making it into cyberspace, but I believe that they are. This and the BBC have been the only sights that I have seen blocked. So, please make comments as they are sent to me via email and that lets me know that the site is working. I might look for another blog to post to that I can see as well, but this one has so many functions, its going to be tough to let go.

I do not have a lot of time in which to write this, as I am supposed to be meeting a student to go into town and get supplies with. We were supposed to have breakfast, but it is now 10:15am and I have a feeling that breakfast is done with.

The last 72 hours have been quite amazing for me. I am not sure why, but I didn't really think any of this was going to happen for the entire time I was making it happen. It didnt become a reality for me until I landed in Tokyo Narita airport (which, by the way, is 1 hour train ride away from Tokyo, so I didnt even get the chance to see the city). It was at this point, after a quick 10 hour flight, that I realized that the journey was underway. The flight from Seattle to Tokyo was nothing short of good--except my goddamn ipod refused to work (I have since figured out what the issue was and am in the process of getting it back online). I did watch something in the realm of four films and had a couple of good bloody marys.

More on that later--as I really must get going. This is the main quarter of the University at Dusk. If you click on the image, it will enlarge it.
The University is on the outskirts of Chenzou City, which I have not really seen much of, but will today.









This is the medical science building, which is to the right of the other building in the picture above. As you can see, this University is fairly modern and was just built in the last couple of years.








This was just taken this morning from the back of my apartment at about 6am. In the cloud lines is a mountain that I will be investigating in the near future.


Anyway, that is all for now. I need to get out into the city as I am sure Susan is wondering what the hell I am doing.

Hope your all well. Read more!

China has arrived, now I am just waiting for the jetlag..

Well, I am very happy to report that it would seem that I can actually access my blog. I am writing this short note to say that I have arrived in Chenzou and I am currently writing to you from my flat here on the campus. It is much, much nicer than I had expected! The living room and the bedroom are near perfect, but the bathroom needs a good cleaning (please hold your laughs) and the kitchen is beyond my realm of filth.
Now, I am going to test to see if this actually posts.
Cross yer fingers. Read more!

5 Daze 2 China

The days are flying by so fast at this point, its hard to pause for a few moments and write about what is going on.
Yesterday the final piece of the essential puzzle was put into place for going to China. I received the Visa back from the San Francisco Consulate of the People's Republic of China with my Z visa included in the passport. I was granted one single entry and a friendly reminder that I need to go to the securities office within 30 days to get my residental working visa.
It is somewhat shocking to stare at this piece of paper that ended up costing $150us to allow me into the country. It took a lot of little steps to get through in order to get the Visa going to get to this point where I am today.
Where am I today?
I am laying on the bed that has already been sold, my room a complicated mess of various items that I have yet to decide where they need to go, what needs to be done with them. The house could be declared a disaster area with all of the various items laying about. This is truly the liquadation of my life. I am learning more and more that these possesions that we buy, so much of it we don't really use and hardly any of it really retains it true value.

I have discovered that this blog might not actually work in China, sadly enough. We will have to see if it is blocked by the great firewall of China--there seems to be varying opinions about how the firewall is actually blocks the information from going through. From what I have gathered, Chinese citizens have less access than expats, so I might be safe, but it might be difficult to access at first.

Some people have asked me why China? The answer is quite simple and might even seem slightly scapegoatish. Politics really have an effect on me personally. Things have really changed in this country over the last decade and I don't feel that I am getting the fruits of my labour in the U.S. I think that our government is the most dishonest it's been since the Nixon administration and George W. probably even outweighs Nixon in that catagory. How this country does not directly blame an oil tycoon for causing the worlds oil problems is beyond comparision to me. At least the Chinese are honest about what they are doing--they let their people know that they intend to be intrusive. Where the United States is losing their ground in innovation, the Chinese are picking up the slack and becoming a powerhouse in the world market. I am interested to go to a country and experience their customs and culture and attempt to compare it to ours in a fair and just setting.

What is Americana? This is something that I have been thinking about for several months. There are going to be things that I am going to miss, but not much that I cannot live without.
Anway, enough for now.
Its time to get this day rolling.
Lot of shit to do today. Read more!

Beer Bust

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) -- Hundreds of looters battled police all weekend at the site of a beer train wreck in violence that left one woman dead, South African police said on Monday as they kept a heavy guard on the remaining alcohol.
The train carrying 180,000 crates of beer from South African Breweries derailed on Friday night near Waterval Boven, 200 kilometers (124 miles) east of Johannesburg, Superintendent Izak van Zyl said.
By Saturday morning, police were battling up to 200 people from the nearby township trying to make off with crates of beer.
"It was a lot of trouble from one train crash," Van Zyl said. "They were firing rubber bullets into the crowd. The issue was the beer."
A 19-year-old woman in the crowd was killed when she fell under the wheels of a truck, he said.
Police handed the site over to railway security staff but were back again on Sunday morning, firing more rubber bullets as looters converged on the train. Officers raided nearby houses, recovered three out of 500 missing cases and arrested six people.
Van Zyl said 20 officers would remain at the site until the overturned wagons and surviving beer crates could be recovered, an operation that could take up to a week. Read more!

I am trying, however I can, to be productive, get things that I need to get done and blog as much as I can so as to document all of this that is happening at the speed of sound. This has been a very overwhelming, but pivitol set of moments as I say goodbye to a chunk of life that has been bittersweet at times.
Seattle is a changed city and I did not enjoy my time nearly as much as I had previously. This is mostly due to how much the city has changed in the time that I have been gone. The main problem that I see are the growing pains it always has have not been resolved, but the housing prices are up and wages are the same they have always been--not competitive. Sure, some are doing well and some aren't, its the nature of capitalism, but this place in particular is seething with uncertainty.
I would love to write more, but... its time to go show off my Volvo wagon. Read more!

Missing Dave with the eyes on China

It seems almost official.
I recieved the document last night that clears me by the Chinese government to teach English Culture and Literature for a University. I am out of my skin with anticipation, such an amazing opportunity to actually DO something with my life, although it just feels like the next progressive move.
I leave in about a week! Next Sunday I will departing for lands not known here.
If you can think of anything you want that I have, email me about it. I don't plan on coming back for a long time.......... Read more!

There will be more than this...

Below you will find a broad sampling of the Coldplay show last night. I am going to crop up some of the 45 images I took at some point today and make the presentation a little more savory.
The show itself stopped at nothing sort of amazing--the British just know how to both make music and performance come together in a tight little package.
Think Radiohead and U2 with simple lyrics and you have a coldplay show. As you can see, the visuals were just amazing.
More on all of this later. For right now, its time to enjoy another day off....

This is the great Chris Martin standing directly behind our seats as he sings the finale to all the fans!!! Oh yeah, right behind us.

My Visa for China was also approved last night.
My last two weeks in the US are here. Read more!

COLDPLAY WHITE RIVER, TUESDAY

Read more!

DMB SAN FRAN

Is this Jon-Jon, from Beta Theta Pizzie?































Read more!

SBC Park Sat Nizzight!!!

Well, I dont especially have a ton of time to write about everything that has happened in the last 72 hours, but needless to say it was a great time. Dave Matthews Band put on an electifying performance at sbc park in San Franciso. The weekend was just awesome -- totally what I needed.
A special shout goes to Jacobe for making the adventure worth while. Jacobe is a true friend to stay with for a couple of days. I arrived at his place in the early am--he lets me sleep on his freshly fahbreezed bed while he goes off and works. Later on in the evening, after going to Fishermans Wharf while he slaves away at a pizza job-- I arrive at his pizza job and he pours me about 5 beers (not just your Republican loving busch or bud, this was the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale baybee!!! What what?
To "top it off" he also made me one of the Kick ass pies-- you should check them out http://www.extremepizza.com Yeah!
Okay, so anyway, Ill give much more in the coming days. Enjoy the pics. These were all taken from the shizzle, my nizzle. Read more!

The times are a changin...

10:30am
Six hours from departing for San Fransisco, where I will see DMB for the 1st time in about a year!!! Very excited about getting out of town and heading down to San Fran to take in the city as I have never really done before. The last time was with Megan and Fargo, probably some 5 years ago, heading down for my 27th or 28th birthday.
This weekend is going to be choas, pure and simple. I am staying with the great Jacobe, one of the few people that I still talk to each week from Pullman. He is having to work most of the weekend, but I sure I will get some time in to see him. It is always good to see old friends, even if it is just for a little while.
I arrive at 8am tommorow, bright and early.
Then its off to the consulate... (yes, the proverbial ball is still in play)
Dave on Saturday night and, might I add, quite possibly tommorow night as well. We shall see about that!
Pics will finally be on again as I plan to take many on my trip. Then hopefully I will come back and I will have some good news about the China experience.
Well see about that one.

The last post was and still is of concern, but again somethings happened today that make me, for whatever reason, want to continue down this pathway to see what is at the end of it. My father is right, if I don't see this one to it's conclusion, I will always wonder to myself, what if I.....
So, for now, I bid you fair adue. Read more!

Dust in the wind...

good afternoon.
After much deliberation, I am now leaning toward cancellation of my proposed tour of duty in China. After a long a bitter, misunderstanding with the parental units, I no longer feel secure about travelling half way across the globe to a distictly foreign country. There are many reasons for this new change of agenda, but most of it comes from the fact that I do not have the funds to go on my own terms, do not have a savings and limited support from my family.
With all of these things at issue and the fact that the letter of invitation has not arrived today and I need to deliver that piece of paper to the consulate, I am leaning toward cancellation of the entire affair.
I think I am going to plan to leave in a year, compile my savings, try to pay off as many bills as possible and go on my own terms. I no longer feel especially confident that everything that needs to happen in the process is going to happen and if it all did, I dont think I have enough in savings to make it happen.
I am not willing to give everything up to go somewhere that I am not going to have the little bit of support that I have here. If it isnt here, I can manage. If it isn't there, I am fucked.

This process will continue, I will keep attempting to go until something happens, but if all the ducks are lined up and it comes down to just my decision, I am now leaning toward staying here, doing whatever it takes to survive.

Sad.

However, I am leaving for San Fran this weekend, which is going to be a much needed bit of time off. Maybe my thoughts will clear and the sunshine prospect of getting out will shine again, but it seems that the battle is losing its shine. Read more!

So much text,so little time.

Monday morning, summer 2005.
Woke up this morning feeling nice and refreshed, ready for the day--a little too early. Today's business was seemingly important, trying to mask my identity at work, trying to get everything set for this weekend as well as move a little more forward with the China deal. I am now just awaiting the official invite from the University that will allow me entry into the country. I need the official invitation from the University, which is authorized by the local government, which will then allow for me to apply for the Visa to the school, which I need to get from the Chinese consulate in San Francisco.
Confusing, I know, but all the wheels appear to be in motion. Imagine how crazy that it is going to be for the handful of you that actually read this blog to know that it could very well soon be written from China. I can't tell you in words how much I need for all this to happen. I feel as though I am withering away here in Seattle, always looking for the next best thing in a long line of possibilities. Going to China is going to allow me the peace of mind to be okay with where I am in life and accept that where I am-- this is a needed thing for me because I need to get moving on with my writing career more than I can describe--but it doesnt happen here because I am too busy trying to make enough money just to survive.
I have many things to say about this journey that I have taken over the last several years, but I am holding it in until I get to the next plateau and can reflect on the experiences I have had.
I think from time to time we all think we have had it rough in our definations of the reality in which we exist and I don't want my reflections to appear as selfish as I think that they might if I were to check in with them now.
I do know that in order for myself to be in this place that I am right now is not good for me as I am checking out of so many things because I just want to move to this next stage, but its probably for the best when it all comes down to it.
Its a wierd kind of thing, what I have been going through lately, mostly because I have begun to value my time with myself so much that after being at the office all day with people I dont really have anything in common with, I mostly just want to sit and veg or do a little writing--its a strange beast inside of me right now, but one that I think makes the most sense.
My writing is at the strongest level it has been in years and this is due in part to this blog. The fact that I think about it several times a day and want to just write here for the sake of me writing is a good sign that my education certainly paid off in huge ways.
There is something about the written word, misspellings and metaphor that make it the sweetest art of all, but it is such a shame that more people do not take the art of the written word more seriously. Instead we sit back and scan things, looking, looking, looking, but for what?
My guess is that we are looking for that little tidbit of magic that we get when we read--truly read things. The moment where our minds begin to create context around what someone else has put together -- but when we are a culture of scanners, what do we really learn? What do we really create?

As of late, I have had so many different stories running round my brain that I hope to share some of these with you in the near future. I hope to share stories of China, of communism with all of you. I guess we will see in the coming days if that dream might become a reality..... Read more!

Sunday-day

Woke up this morning not feeling like I had slept much at all.
Lately I have been having a better time in dreamland than in reality and it is because my life is so choatic right now that it seems hard to pin anything down emotionally and so my brain works twice as hard as night when the rest of my body is asleep.
But anyway--
I am still waiting to see if the thing with China is going to become a reality or not, but at this point, it does seem that although it could happen, I don't think it will. I will know for sure by the time I go to San Franciso, which is next weekend. If I have the paperwork in hand, ready to go and apply for the visa, then I will do it. If I do not have the paperwork ready to go, then I will have to abort the mission due to time constraints because I will not be able to afford the ticket.
So it goes.
At this point it could really go either way, but for right now there are so many unanswered issues that it is difficult to see which way is going to work for the best. I know that if this does not work, I am not on the right path.
Then again, I cant feel too bad-- next week its DMB TIME !!!!

















Three shows in the span of one week. Saturday night in San Fran, then two in the Gorge. Depending on the China situation, I might be selling my gorge tickets, but we'll see. I still dont have a solid taker for the other tickets, but I will have to start working on that!!!

Ayway, its my day off and I need to get some exercise and some other things taken care of. Much more to write, but so little time to do it in.

Hope all is well Read more!

The week ends, the week begins....

Its some 95 degrees outside and the Hogg is sitting inside, working a job that he doesnt like, but he is so broke that he has to struggle through it in order to get to the next step..... Which is still China, it would appear. Although I am getting a little concerned that all of the ducks are not in a row and that I should try to just get something here that I enjoy instead of going halfway around the world, but if it becomes a reality, then I am just going to have to go.
It's just that simple.
This job makes all of it so easy to make the decision to actually go. Seattle is just not where I want to be at this point in my life. It is great right now, with all of the nice weather and warm sun--but the fact of the matter is that there are not the kind of jobs that I want here and I dont see much change coming that is going to make a difference.
Sad to say, but I would eather live in China for a year and come out and see what my opportunities are going to be with everything. I get this feeling that everything will be okay if I can just get the right visas, get cleared with my physical. Everything seems to happen for a purpose-- and this job really seems to have happened so that I figure out sooner than later that this is not where I need to be-- I got bigger things to do.

Anyway, I have to go back to the man, who by the way, wanted me to take 13 minutes off my timecard because I needed to take a private call that was important. Ummm, yeah.....
More tonight.... Read more!

100 POSTS

On April 27th, I discovered blogging. Now, Aug 2, I write my 100th post. About 123 days later, I type my 100th entry into this journal and i feel quite content at what this has produced thus far. Not perfection by any means, but enough information for me to feel like I have attempted to keep somewhat up on journaling the online experiement.
I feel so rushed, rushed to go to work, to come home, to do chores, to sleep. Nothing seems to really get accomplished, just more chores to do--more places to run to in my slight time off....

To think that in some moments from now, in just a matter of weeks, I could be typing this blog from the other side of the walls of communism-- a type of government that I have always supported if only greed could be eliminated from the equation.

China will be the utmost experiment of living in a non ideal situation for the betterment of society. The need for travel far outweighs the need to continue in the capitalist community known as America.

Anyway, the Historian is playing at it is getting engaging--when this book gets good--its hard to pay attention to writing when such addictive prose is being whispered in your ear.

Hope your all well. Read more!

The Link for daily use...

When your day is just getting you down....

http://music.channel.aol.com/videos/live_concerts/dave_matthews_band Read more!

If I could dig a whole to China...

Good Morning.
Well, I have been holding back about writing about my latest possibility because it has not been made official as of yet, but it would seem that we are getting closer and closer to the moment where it is going to become official.
I am attempting to go to China to teach English.
I have been in correspondence with a University in the Hunan province for the last 10 days about coming over and teaching English for them on a one year contact. The process has been somewhat tedious in the sense that there is a language barrier at a time where we are trying to negotiate the terms of the contract.
It does appear that I have been officially offered the position as of this morning, but there has not been any official documentation rendered as of yet, but I am now satisfied with what I see that the rest of the negotiation process is going to be operating smoothly.

Here are the details, for those of you that are detail oriented.
Xiangnan University is searching for 4 English Teachers to start teaching from Sept 1, 2005.

Job description:
Courses to teach: oral English, writing, British&American literature, British & American general survey etc.
Contract period: Sept 1st,2005—July 30th, 2006 and renewable based on mutual interests.
16 class hours per week(45 minutes per class hour), if extra class hours are needed, you will be paid at 50RMB yuan per class hour

Benefits:
Monthly salary(RMB):3500,(negotiable if you are better qualified)
Travel allowance: (RMB):2200 on completion of the contract
Free furnished housing (private), facilitated with air conditioner, internet access, TV, DVD player, refrigerator, water heater, phone, and cooking utensils, everyday furniture
Monthly telephone allowance(RMB): 100
Free round trip airfare(currently outside China) or one way trip airfare(currently in China)
Safe insurance

Successful candidates should have
At least a Bachelor’s Degree in any majors of linguistics, literature and education;
Qualification of one of the followings: TESOL, TEFL, ESL;
Minimum two years of working experiences in teaching;
Native English speaker proficiency.

About Xiangnan University:

Located in Chenzhou, Hunan province, Xiangnan University is a public unversity specializing in teachers training and medical science. It consists of 18 departments which offer over degrees in 46 majors covering fields such as art, science, medicine, economics, management, law and so on. It has an enrollment of 15000 full time students. The university has a teaching faculty of 1470 with library book collection of 650,000 volumes.

About Chenzhou city:

Chenzhou, located in the south of Hunan, near to Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, is one of the top tourist cities of China, and is known as the south gate of Hunan and the “Backyard Garden� of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. It has a total population of 4.56million and convenient transportions such as the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway, National Highway 106 and 107. With over 2000 year’s history, Chenzhou is rich in natural resources. It enjoys such reputations as “Hometown of Nonferrous Metals�, “World Museum of Nonferrous Metals�,“Silver City in China�, “Major Forest Region in Southern China� and “Energy Base for Hunan�. Chenzhou is an ecological kingdom, with abundant tourist resources. Chenzhou is a fast developing tourist city, also a charming and open city.

It almost sounds too good to actually be true, but the more and more the discussions move forward, the more I am seeing that this is a reality. The only difference that I can see from the contract this morning and this is that they reimburse for the airticket 90 days before you are set to arrive home. This makes sense, but I am not certain I can actually afford to do this. Other than that, it would appear that we are getting to the point where this is about to become a reality....

More details later- I actually have to work today so that I can go and get me shots on Wednesday. It's a mad, mad world. Read more!

A note on the pictures:
If you click on them, they will size to your computer screen.
If you click on the icon on the lower right hand corner of the image after it has been resized to fit your screen, it will then be displayed close to actual size....

One of the better family pictures taken in recent times (sans Sarah). Pa has a slight smile (hes tryin) but this might have just been him picking at his dressing on his recent mouth surgery and not actually smiling--although all were in good spirits.











This is a shot of Dad's impression of a House of Commons speech by a Tory.



A little change of pace.
These are pictures taken last weekend when some of the New York side of the Hoch squad rolled into town. My mother looks really good in this here shot-she had a pint of beer which really brings out her complexion.
This is also a classic Steve Hogg look. This is his conversation/lecture look where he is making a particular point about something which he believes strongly in. I have seen this look many times in my life.




Another shot where my mother looks great--they are having a great time with each other.
Of course, I was leaned on to select the place to eat so I went with the old favorite, the 74th Street Ale House. Good beer, mellow atmosphere, steller healthy food.
Although I do think that their menu has gotten a lot simpler than it used to be in previous times. They do not have any fryers, which I think is a good thing, but a little mashed potatoes wouldn't hurt the establishment. If I were to design a pub, I would do it in the same fashion that this guy manages his, except I would work a little harder to diversify the menu just a little bit.
I would also move around the beer a little more than he tends to. In the old days, this place used to be a roving array of various taps including the best beer in the world, the Tetley's.

Time to go for now.

Cheers!! Read more!

The Bite of Seattle...

Okay, so I know that some people are going to get pissed off at me about this shot, but man, when the opportunity presents itself, you just have to put it on the web.

First off, that poor poor thong. Ladies, please think about the right times to wear a thong. I know that Chingy likes his bitches to always wear them and Cisco too, but for the rest of us, please try to contain yourselves.

Secondly, this was taken at the Bite of Seattle. Man, I think I got something stuck in my teeth, but I can't seem to find the floss.....

Okay, I'm Done. (Be sure to click on the pic for a special treat!)

We also got to see this lil hottie perform while Flossy was showing us her buffet. She was pretty talented for the first couple of songs, then became a little dull, but fun to watch.

Do you remember the days when the Fat yet kinda buff Elvis lookalike days were not here? I think its coming back again unless you don't ever want to have a job that asks in the interview "So, how often is your parole officer going to have to stop by?"

It is a harsh tone, but seriously dude, chicks might dig it now, but when your 40 and you just cant get that El Camino off the blocks in yer ma's driveway, what the hell ya gonna do?

Oh, youre going to watch bands and fuckin rock out duder! God Bless Amorika!

But wait... Theres more-- not only do you get the chance to look like a character that was cool in the late 90's-- you also get to rock out with the SCREAM FACE of the late 90's!!!!

"High School was so fuckin AWESOME!!!"

Gotta love the free festivals!

Read more!

Ahhh yes, summer is here and in Seattle, that means FUTBOL!
This is a shot from the Seattle Sounders and Sunderland sucky match. This will be the only picture that I post of this match because it was the worst FUTBOL game I have ever watched. Sunderland is in the premiere league this year and they handled Seattle with ease.
The worst part is that Sunderland had no intention of really scoring during the entire game--they just seemed to be running drills against the JV team.
The other bad part was the lack of planning on behalf of Qwest Field-- they only opened one side of the stadium, which made the game so much lamer because there were not 4,000 per side, but 8,000 on one side. (Sad part was it was the sounders biggest attendance ever!!!)
Sounder fans were like band geeks in high school--but with BOOZE!!!
Not to mention the $7.50 Red Hook Pounders!!!

Go Capitalism! Read more!

It is always so difficult to come up with a title sometimes. Today I was tempted to write "Blah", but I didn't feel that it really brought out truly how I felt. I have been very productive today--it is only 130 in the afternoon and I have already been to the market, worked on cleaning up the car.. which reminds me...
I needed to grab the sun visor before I forgot it once again. Mission accomplished.
Anyway, I am about to go to the bite of Seattle with a friend from work and I will be taking summer the wonder retriever, so pictures are sure to take place.
The last week has been a whirlwind for me--trying to enjoy the job so that I do not burn out as fast as I have the potential to, meeting new people and trying to find time to apply for jobs, write the great American novel that I feel is inside me somewheres... and planning events.

I have a slight headache and need some advil--and its time to head out.
I'll be writing more much later. Read more!

Office Space in reality

Ahhh, week 4 of another version of Office Space.
The funniest part about working in technology is that the people you work with actually quote the movie, but what they don't realize is that the film is more about them....

So, uh, yeah, its time to get back to work.
Figures that I would be in hell when the weather begins to get this nice.
The saga that is Tim Hogg. Read more!

Ahhh, the scenes of summer. This was actually taken a couple of weeks ago during the July 4th weekend of celebration and such.
It was nice to get out into some sunny weather and enjoy the warm heat on my skin, which soon enough turned into some nasty sunburn, but all in all, the effect was still glorious.

It's been a nice, relaxing weekend and dare I say, the weather in Seattle has managed to show a little sunshine. Alas, I am stuck inside as I have a shit ton of work to get done this weekend and not much money to go out and reek havok upon the city. Worka has been durka durka, but I am slowly digging myself out of the hole that is Hogg. I am confident that sometime in the next three months, I will be able to sit back and not owe basically everyone I know. :)

In other news that is annoying, NIN tickets went on sale yesterday, but I am still paying off my Two weeks of Dave Matthews shill, so I had to take a pass on Mr. Reznor for now. I will, however, still be going to this show as it is the first good band that has decided to come to Seattle on a Friday night in ages. I think the last good one was Radiohead at the White River two years ago... So thanks Trent, ya fuckin cock!!

....More later..... Read more!

Chicken In.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, working 40 hours a week, communting 7 hours a week and sleeping about 40 hours a week doesn't leave too much time for anything. Sorry that this blog has managed to take some time to get onto, I have had consistant thoughts about writing, but virtually no spare time to really get it done.
The job, well, I think Cingular is one of those companies that manages to find blogs where people talk shit about them and they seem like the top that would like more than anything to use it against the person, so I'll refrain from discussion. The job is fine for the most part, but the things that I do not like, I will say that it seems to make the most amount of sense to just focus on the positive parts and refrain from the rest.

I am starting to get busy with the 826 program stuff--we have a reading on Monday night at Elliot Bay for a writer that is supposed to be the hot bred topic of fiction right now-- but then again I was reading Vanity Fair www.vanityfair.com last night and they have an interview with Cormac McCarthy who has his first novel out in a decade or so. Interesting guy because he is slightly reclusive and fairly outspoke about how dull people really are-- which is what I have noticed.

Anyway, enough of the bullshit and back to my favorite topic--- politics.. So, lets see how the media, the "liberal media" can manage to drop the Rove issue and move onto something else. They almost have to do it (move on) because it doesnt matter what happens, Bush is not going to fire him because he can't survive without Rove. If he was smart, he would fire him and put him on personal retainer. The press would find out and have a field day with it, but Bush doesn't really give a shit, he knows he has the country by the balls and we as pathetic patriots won't get involved in the ongoing fiasco. The Bush administraion is starting to make the Nixon administration look like the Carter administration!
Let's recall what has happened in the last 5 years
911 (Yes, I think Bush is slightly at fault)
Afganistan (Osama bin Laden in the hills orf Tora Bora with a respirator)
Invasion of Iraq (WMD...no Saddamn is an "evil Doer" ok, but what about the rest of the shitbags in the world)
Pissing off South Korea
Pulling out of Kyoto
Oil Drilling in Alaska
The Downing Street Memo
Karl Rove ratting out a CIA agent because her husband made comments about the "war" in Iraq.

Oh, and the stock market--that is one that I just keep forgetting!!!
HAHAHAHA

Okay, back to work. Just thought I woud drop a line--more this weekend, I promise! Read more!

Live 8

Here is the link to all the performers-- Watch it, support it, make love to it.

http://www.sonician.com/live8/list.html

Thanks Pat. Read more!

Ahhh yes, the War of the Worlds.

After months of speculation, War of the Worlds finally emerged from the rumor mill. Speilburg, god bless his soul said in just about every interview I saw that he had been waiting to make this movie his whole life. Well, Mr. Spielburg, I think you probably should have waited a lot longer. This film does not deliver on any level what should be intended from the masterpiece.
First off, I am convinced Speilburg has a man crush on Mr. Scientology.

Secondly, the film needs to be about the human condition and the violence of the apocolypse, not about a man and his dysfunctional family--we got the opportunity to invest in a family that doesn't care about itself, so why do we need to? The film spends too much time attempting to invest itself in the faith and values tour and not enough time in focusing on what the movie is about--that we are being invaded by aliens and the race is being lost-humanity is over as we know it and we spend too much time in the family structure watching a group of characters that are bitchy and not fun to keep an eye on.

The eye candy factor is good, but there is no stroy line--not why they are here, not what all the bloody veins mean for the area, nothing. The story focuses more on the family than on the conflict, which might work if this was the War of the Roses....

The film itself isnt anything stunningly amazing either--there is no need to see this in the theatres--the good eye candy scenes are in the preview reels--trust me--dont waste the 9.00 to see it--go see Layer Cake instead. Read more!

London Calling

Another moment in history that has a direct corrolation to who we elected to be our leader. The British tip their hat to you, George W. Bush. For those of you out there who do not blame our actions in the Middle East, I must ask, when are you going to come to your senses?

Yes, the true blame is on these terrorists, but in reality, we give them the fuel for their fires. This is done in several levels, most of which come directly in our involvement in affairs that we have no business really being involved in. The billions that we spend in the name of freedom is never going to be able to stop these bombings from happening. THERE IS NO STOPPING THIS UNLESS WE STOP GLOBALISM.

Think of it in this rationale: Family and honor are a big thing in the middle eastern culture. There is also an eradication of the middle class, so there is either the super wealthy or there are the poor. The poor are an easy target to bring into the terrorist network because they have no options and they know it. It's not like how it is in here in the United States where we are marketed to think that everyone can have the American Dream--these people know they are fucked-period. So, Johhny Jihad comes along and offers you a free ticket into the arms of Allah via a small bomb that will take your life out of this miserable existance. And--if you act now, Johhny Jihad will also include at no extra charge, $50,000 cash to you family so that they might have opportunities for that dream of being able to eat every day. All you have to do is strap this device to your arse.
Where do I sign up?

So, how do we fix this? Well, I can tell you that it is not going to be repaired by introducing them to the George W. Bush faith and impearlism plan. I am not saying the answer is going to be an easy one, but I can tell you that encouraging war and fighting fire with nuclear fire is not the way to do it and the global polls show this.

The other issue overall is what this is doing to the decline of the USA on the world marketplace. The thing about politics is that people don't really care if you are the world leader as long as you are at the table and it seems you are paying attention to the needs of the global community. The problem now is that being on the American side is beginning to get costly for people and we as a nation are not putting on the dog and pony show we once were. The other issue is that America is quickly becoming broke, but the media is not paying attention to that-- we dont want to alarm the people, after all....

Don't believe me? Consider this: Think about how much money we have spent since 911-from the rebuilding efforts to the War in Iraq to the loss in the market, to the cessation of the social programs--all of indicators are there, but we refuse to allow for an open debate of this. The republicans sit behind their shield of faith and values and the democrats are immediatly discounted at the table from these people. It just isnt right and the rest of the world watches with their heads shaking. We are more concerned with what Paris Hilton is up to then what our president is trying to do to fix the mess that he has gotten us in.

It's not complicated. Everyone knew we were going to invade Iraq and 911 gave him the key to the city to invade. Bush needs to be brought up on war crimes when he leaves office-- he keeps shaking the hornets nest and the rest of the world gets stung. It isn't going to be too long before the finger gets pointed directly at W. and he is not going to have a copy of "my pet goat" to hide behind....

this country saddens me this day. Read more!

Our Pathetic Nation....

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (AP) -- James Henry Smith was a zealous Pittsburgh Steelers fan in life, and even death could not keep him from his favorite spot: in a recliner, in front of a TV showing his beloved team in action.
Smith, 55, of Pittsburgh, died of prostate cancer Thursday. Because his death wasn't unexpected, his family was able to plan for an unusual viewing Tuesday night.
The Samuel E. Coston Funeral Home erected a small stage in a viewing room, and arranged furniture on it much as it was in Smith's home on game day Sundays.
Smith's body was on the recliner, his feet crossed and a remote in his hand. He wore black and gold silk pajamas, slippers and a robe. A pack of cigarettes and a beer were at his side, while a high-definition TV played a continuous loop of Steelers highlights.
"I couldn't stop crying after looking at the Steeler blanket in his lap," said his sister, MaryAnn Nails, 58. "He loved football and nobody did (anything) until the game went off. It was just like he was at home."
Longtime friend Mary Jones called the viewing "a celebration."
"I saw it and I couldn't even cry," she said. "People will see him the way he was."
Smith's burial plans were more traditional -- he'll be laid to rest in a casket Read more!

One more moment please...

I got back late late late last night and worked today-- have some things to do around the house, so this will be a short one. Lot on my mind that I want to get written down, but need to get the house in order before the weekend hits.
Heres a little something I wrote at work during lunch today--nothing prolfic...

It has been awhile since I really wrote anything worth any interest to anyone but myself, I decided to start bringing my laptop with me to the job that I am currently working at. It beats going out and stuffing my face with take out food.
There is a revelation that I have been going through as of late and that is that eating food out is dumb. Figure it this way:
Lunch out min. $6.00 per day. 6x5=$30.00 $30.00 A WEEK X 4 $120 A MONTH.
$120 X 12= One plane ticket to Rio De Janerio with expenses.
So, when I go to Rio in the new year, it will be due to my decision to stop eating out everyday.
Not too mention how unhealthy it is.

So there you have it-- the word on wisdom... Read more!

I know...

Shortly after making the decision to split this blog into different layers, I seem to have run out of time to make the different blogs make a difference. I am still going to try to keep them seperated, but I will not add anything to the other blogs before this one is updated with blog entries at least tree times a week. That shouldn't be too difficult once I get the schedule down a little better.
I started work this week with another company. The job gets me up around 6am, so I generally have to take a little nap upon arrival back at the hacienda at 5ish or I can't function. This would be a little better if I happened to go to bed before 2!!!

Anyway, I need to shove off-- i have places to be today and they are far away...
Hope all is well, more on that when I git back.
Happy 4th--hopefully I will have some cool firework pics-- theres a setting on my camera! Read more!

Hanford Probe

Since I havent had the time to compile the information.....


Hanford probe urged in Congress
By Shannon Dininny
The Associated Press

YAKIMA — In the latest embarrassing setback to the federal government's largest construction project, a congressional subcommittee is calling for an investigation into a multibillion-dollar waste-treatment plant at south-central Washington's Hanford nuclear reservation.
Paul Anderson, a spokesman for the General Accounting Office, confirmed yesterday that the Republican chairman, Rep. David Hobson of Ohio, and ranking Democrat, Rep. Peter Visclosky of Indiana, on the House appropriations subcommittee on energy and water requested an audit of the project in a letter dated June 24.
Meanwhile, U.S. Department of Energy officials said yesterday they have halted construction on parts of the plant most affected by concerns about seismic instability, in light of a review released earlier this year.
There are legal, enforceable milestones that require that the plant be built by 2009, and "we are prepared to enforce those milestones unless the Department of Energy submits a change request that clearly justifies the need for any delays," Gov. Christine Gregoire said in a statement.
The plant is being built to treat millions of gallons of radioactive waste left from Cold War-era nuclear-weapons production.
Anderson declined to release additional details or the letter.
However, the review is likely to focus on the exploding cost of the project — a point that has been a continuing source of alarm for the Energy Department, which manages cleanup at the highly contaminated Hanford site.
The cost of construction was estimated at $4.35 billion before the contract was awarded in 2000. Already, the cost has grown more than 30 percent — to $5.8 billion.
Earlier this year, the Energy Department began to study the plant's design and cost estimate after a scientific review said that the force of the ground movements at the plant site during a severe earthquake would be 38 percent greater than previously estimated.
In 2002, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board raised concerns that the Energy Department had failed to adequately investigate the impact a severe earthquake might have on the plant. The Energy Department had gathered seismic data from the entire 586-square-mile Hanford reservation to determine the impact such a quake might have, but it did not conduct a seismic investigation of the plant site itself.

The agency has notified Congress that the project's cost is expected to grow by at least an additional 10 percent, said Bruce Carnes, associate deputy secretary. But the Energy Department will not speculate on a final cost estimate or the schedule before a new review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is completed, he said.
For 40 years, the Hanford reservation made plutonium for the nation's nuclear-weapons arsenal. Today, work there centers on a $50 billion to $60 billion cleanup, to be finished by 2035.
The waste-treatment plant will use a process called vitrification to turn the waste into glass logs for permanent disposal. Read more!

Hanford Exposure

The question upon most everyones mind always seems to ring the same-- Why would you want to go to such a place?
My answer is simple enough.
I think that it is important to understand however difficult it might be, that there are a lot of things that this country has done and will do to keep itself on top of the capitalist food chain. We managed to get to the top very quickly as far as world history goes and most of that is directly due to our mass collection of weapons of mass destruction, which most of the plutonium was manufactured right here in Washington State at the Hanford plant.
I am not going to get into specifics with this article as my feeling is that as a writer my job is to get you interested in what all of this means and you can seek out the information.
Ill finish this in a sec.... Read more!

Hanford Exposure..

Sorry I havent posted in a few days, been out at Hanford reservation taking a tour of the first place to manufacture plutonium, which was used on Japan in the second world war. What I didn't know is that Hanford continued to manufacture plutonium until the mid 1980's!!! The United States has 10x the amount of nuclear weapons that the entire world has combined, which means that we more than likely have between 50-80x that as well.
SCARY.
So, I think my focus will be on that for the next couple of entries.
Ill write more tommorow--we are finishing our nuclear weekend with Silkwood. Read more!

Hanford Exposure

Sorry I have not written in a while--been out at the tri-cities touring the hanford facility--the place where they manufactured the weapons grade plutonium for the first atomic bomb that was dropped on Japan.
So I have been a bit busy, collecting my thoughts. We are watching silkwood tonight--people in the tri-cities seem to be in denial about what happened at these plants over the years. Let me just say that it is one of the more frightening experiences I have had in quite some time. Not by what I saw, but what I didn't see.
More tommorow I promise. Read more!

Solstice

I feel as times like life is just passing me by and I am just sitting here touring the life of Tim Hogg. Here we are the first day of summer, my father's birthday and the day just seemed to cruise right by me once again. It seems like just yesterday I was going to college for the first time, falling into a hole and breaking my ankle, hearing one of my ex-girlfriends got married or graduating college. Life is particular that way.

The summer equinox always seems to bring a change in tides for me-soon the weather here in Seattle will start to get worlds nicer, people will be out in the open wanting to do more things, life will sprout once again. I must admit that I have been feeling slightly down lately because I still can't seem to control how fast these days seem to move forward. I spend most of my time wanting to just catch a moment and relax, but then I find that I have spent too much time relaxing and another day has found itself in the past.

As Eddie Vedder once said, Lifetimes are catchin up to me.

I don't especially have a lot more to add, mostly because it is late and I feel that I should try my best to get some sleep in. Happy Birthday to my Dad, who turned 51 or something like that today. My sister Sarah is currently in route to Britian, where she will be for the next 6 weeks, hopefully discovering more about herself and the world than what she has come into thus far. She has a ton of potential. Read more!

The Split

I have been feeling that there is too much content that is going through this one page of my blog, so I have decided that in order to keep everything to where it doesn't seem to overwhelming, I am going to split this blog into different catagories. This page is going to be mainly for incessent ramblings which do not fit into the other schemes of what I am attempting to do. So, if you are looking for cheeky pictures of people and other oddities that come along, this is your place.

Politik is going to be for ---you guessed it, my general agnst and anger about this foolish system of lies and capitalism that America has become. In this site, I am also going to include some stories from media sources that I feel are not covering the real story.

There is going to be another page dedicated to reviews of films and music that is going to focus on those subjects specifically. (A side note, I just went and saw Layer Cake today and it was fucking great. However it is bloody midnight and I am going to bed, but will write something in the new blog tommorow about it.)

Finally, there is going to be another page which will list all the things that I am currently workshipping and would like to eventually publish or print for money that will go directly to paying off my student loans. There is currently one story up there, but it will soon be followed by another that is going to be about the trip to Hanford that I am about to embark on. I think you will want to stay tuned for that one-- I will be one of the first non-employees to tour the site since 911 and will be covering it just for you, the reader. (Unless I can get someone else to pay me for it.)

Thanks for check, checking it out. The links for all the sites will be listed to the right of the page, below the google search engine.

Ciao Read more!

How The Media Sucks Part 1

I think that I am going to take a little from the friedman book and start to put up stories which I find where I can comment on what the reporter and the newspaper did incorrectly in certain stories. I can then allow you to comment upon these comments.

My first victim:

Man fatally shot at federal courthouse in Seattle
By Sara Jean Green
Seattle Times staff reporter

Now, when you read this article, look at how much attention is put on the actual building and the infastructure of the building and not what happened on the scene, what witnesses saw (there is some mention of this, but not nearly enough), etc. Instead, the reporter uses old information on the building. Why? The person that had the grenade more than likely did not attack the building because he didn't like how it was designed....



ELAINE THOMPSON / AP
A Seattle police officer holds a rifle as he runs toward the Federal Courthouse in downtown Seattle today after a man carrying what appeared to be a hand grenade was shot to death in the lobby of the building after he walked inside and made threats, police said.



BETTY UDESEN / THE SEATTLE TIMES, 2004
The new courthouse is on a full city block at Seventh Avenue and Stewart Street in downtown Seattle.

ELAINE THOMPSON / AP
A member of the Seattle Police Department bomb squad, dressed in protective clothing, walks toward the Federal Courthouse in downtown Seattle today.
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Detailed layout of the courthouse
AP video: Man killed at courthouse
A man who walked into the federal courthouse in downtown Seattle today carrying a hand grenade was shot and killed, police said.
Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said the man walked into the building armed with a hand grenade. After a 20-minute standoff, Seattle police officers fired several rounds.
The man was shot twice, once in the chin with an M-16 and once in the chest with a shotgun. He collapsed still clutching the grenade, that was later determined to be inactive.
The Seattle Police Department's bomb squad examined the man's backpack before medics were allowed in to treat him.
He was then pronounced dead at the scene, said police spokesman Rich Pruitt.
Police said he walked into the building shortly before noon. The man, dressed in camouflage gear, also wore a backpack attached to his chest, but the chief said it did not appear the backpack held any explosives.
The man did not go through any security checkpoint and was just inside the building lobby.
He was shot by Seattle police. His identity was not immediately known. Two courthouse employees who saw the man said he appeared to be white with blond hair.
Employees were evacuated from the building under escort.
A federal employee said two loud shots were heard, then the man was seen crumpled on the lobby floor. At 12:30 p.m., he was still lying there with what appeared to be a yellow backpack. No one was near the man.

During the stand-off, the man stood at the west side of the lobby, while police with rifles were at a distance near the building's elevators.
The FBI is in the process of obtaining a search warrant for the man's studio apartment, but its location wasn't immediately released.
Court Administrator Bruce Rifkin said that, following protocol, the building was evacuated from the ground floor up to floor five or six. He was unaware of any controversial hearings or trials scheduled for today.
The $171 million federal courthouse at Seventh Avenue and Stewart Street opened in August.
The building houses U.S. Marshals Service, judges, support staff and court clerks, as well as the U.S. Attorney's Office, bankruptcy courts, and probation and pretrial services.
The courthouse was hailed as a huge improvement over the old building, located on Fifth Avenue downtown. In the old building, for example, judges, defendants and jurors walked many of the same hallways and used the same elevators. The trial of terrorist Ahmed Ressam was moved to a newer federal courthouse in Los Angeles, in part because of security concerns.
The building, which began construction after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing but before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was designed to give the feel of open public access while still providing tight security.
"It isn't easy to make a building feel welcoming and at the same time have security," Court Administrator Rifkin said last summer, on a tour of the new building.
The planners handled it this way:
Visitors may walk into the lobby area a short distance without going through security screening. "The public can come in and enjoy it without having to go through the drill," Judge Carolyn Dimmick said on the same tour.
But in order to get to the courtrooms, the clerk's office, or anywhere else in the building, a visitor must go through a walk-through metal detector, which takes up the right side of the lobby. The court security officers who run the metal detectors are armed. Many of them are retired law-enforcement officers, Rifkin said.
The rest of the large entranceway features what court workers refer to as a moat — a wide, shallow reflecting pool that essentially blocks access to the main part of the building and directs visitors towards the metal detectors. There is an infrared security curtain around the moat, which presumably would set off an alarm if it was breached. It is unclear what might physically prevent a determined intruder from running through the water other than the quick action of the security guards.
In addition, the building's floor-to-ceiling windows have special glass that protects against bombs. The building is set back from the street, artistically, with a large plaza on one side, a block-long staircase on another, and concrete barriers. These features help prevent someone from driving up to the building with a truck bomb. Parking is not allowed along the adjacent streets.
In the fall of 2001, after the anthrax scare, building designers also added a special ventilation system for the mailroom. Read more!

The world is flattening people

After being some 100 or so pages in Thomas Friedman's latest book, "The World Is Flat", I have come to the conclusion of several things. Most importantly, the book makes me wonder why in the hell someone like Friedman would write such a basic book on globalization. It is written in the same kind of format that a book like Globalization for Dummies is written, except without the yellow marketing behind it. (Friedman's book also comes with a shit load of exclamation points as well)
What seems to be missing from the piece is what the hell does all of the discussion mean? Why is it that Friedman and other Americans that like to chime in about how globalization works don't seem to want to think about all the people out there who are not connect and for that fact, don't want to be. The digitial divide as it is called, is still climbing higher and higher.
digital divide is the term commonly used when describing the people that have it vs. the people that do not get it. While all the white people in suburbia are happily connected to the internet, there is still a majority of people that have not the slightest clue how the whole thing works on any level.

It seemed to me that the only thing so far that got flat was Friedman's thought process of who technology is not getting to the people that need it the most. Instead of information being exchanged between people, we are developing a culture of litigation and marketing, too serious downfalls of community. In order for people to be able to work together to debate issues of their own seperate communities, we as a collective need to sort through them in this way. The internet could be used to assist with things like this, but the capitalist side has allowed thins like spam and fraud to gain so much power and momentum for the web that the people that could use it the most, writers, workers are totally disinfrancised from the concept because of the overwhelming control shady business has.
"It's not their fault, they are just attempting to make whatever they can in a free market economy..."
When is our society, even a slight percentage going to begin to look at these issues and begin to debate them? The other book I am reading, John Adams, lived at a point where a simillar discussion took place, right before the US began the War for the freedoms which we don't even understand anymore. Back then, there was respect and debate at the same time--not this mudslinging media circus we have today. Our technology is clouding people's judgements of the way that things are.
Do I keep getting off topic? Well, it doesn't matter anyway, no one but me reads these long ass synopsis of our current climate-mostly because I seriously thing that people are no longer really interested in a discourse about where we are going as a country, they just wanna get rid of all them people that do not agree with the statement, "On Earth as it is in Texas."

Well, Texas is not even close to a global economy and the reality is that the old west mentality, the eye for an eye crap is not going to work against terrorists or people that are connected to them. This homeland security twaddle is just that--another line drawn in the sand that the binLaden's of the world are just laughing at. Why bomb us again when we are spending so much money on nothing that it will virtually bancrupt us anyway.

But that doesn't matter either!

So confusing and so philisophical, it is hard to think about because we don't even know who is right-the scary part is that we are going to find out years from now who was really right and because of technology, my blog might make much longer than I ever do (ya never know) and 100 years from now, when historians are showing that it was because we didn't pay attention to history and we once again allowed the religious zealots to run the country, you'll see this and find time to crack a smile.



Read more!

Happy Father's Day....
I wish I had more time to write today, but I needed to get the place ready to start showing. My roommate Scott, moved out this weekend. He is getting married in the next couple of weeks and moved into another place while they were looking for a house to buy. I have come to the conclusion that I am quite content being a renter that is in control of the property that he lives in. It is a different kind of control that you have when you own the place, but you don't have control over who lives next to you, or what happens to the neighbourhood that you live in. Strange things to think about, but I am in the position right now where there are some pretty annoying mexicans that live next door to me. They have lived there since the 1st and already their parking space is full of broken down cars that the guy sits outside of his house and fixes all day long listening to spanish pop music.
I don't mind it half as much as I would if I were the property owner. I am just concerned that people are going to come and see the house, see the group of Corona guzzlers outside the house and just drive on by....
Which effects my ability to rent the place. It has a slight tinge of racism to it, but these guys really seem to fit that stereotype to the fullest.
Such as life.

Anyway, I am needing to get into the shower and go and hang out with my pops on his day. Read more!