Auf Wiedersehen, Deutschland!
I just got back from two and a half weeks in Germany, so I've got a fresh bunch of ideas that I'll be posting here in the next week or two. Most of them are centered around critiques of Germany, airlines, and the 2006 World Cup.
I contracted a cold on Monday or Tuesday and it unfortunately peaked on Wednesday, when I had 10 hours of flights ahead of me. During the descent into New York JFK airport, my sinuses were clogged and my ears wouldn't pop. The pressure in my head was agonizing. It felt like someone was stabbing pencils into my forehead, but from the inside.
For those who don't know, humans have four sets of sinuses. There is a good diagram of them on this page. I guess with the nasal congestion from my cold the whole pressure adjustment thing wasn't working out. On the ground, my ears still hadn't popped and I couldn't hear too well. On the second flight to Minneapolis, the ascent was relieving because the pressure in my head was still set for 20,000 feet. The descent was, again, an agonizing experience.
A day later and my ears still haven't cleared up. Hopefully things will clear out as my cold subsides and my sinuses clear up. Anyway, that is my story of travel hell.
So I come back from Germany to find that I have fewer rights than when I left. President Dickslap is furious that the media reported a story that the government has been searching a bank transactions database for clues to "fight terrorism." This issue is another gateway into the government invading the personal lives of its citizens. The definition of who is a terrorist is not something you look up in the dictionary, it is an arbitrary term that the government itself can define. Even more, the definition can change and it can be set after the fact. So, for example, you've been transferring money to a European account to pay for your secret rendezvous with Laura Bush and the President finds out through his terrorism searches after the fact, all he has to do is label you a terrorist and throw you in jail.
Our Bill of Rights exists to protect our rights from infringment by the goverment. The second amendment doesn't guarantee our right to carry a gun to defend against someone coming into our yard, it protects our right to bear arms to defend against the goverment. That might sound drastic, but there are plenty of examples in history where governments have used military force against their own citizens. That is supposedly one of the reasons we invaded Iraq, because Saddam Hussein gassed his own people back in 1987 when Reagan was president.
I call issues like this "gateway" issues because they offer a gateway into bigger, more invasive things. Ever since 9/11 the President has used gateway issues and fear to control people. He justifies violating human rights conventions, false wars, phone tapping, tax cuts, just about anything in the name of the war on terror. It is not that we need to back down and be soft on handling our problems, but the President and the Republicans have gone too far. The use of gateway issues to scare people into compliance is just a step away from fascism. If you've ever wondered how a government like Hitler's Third Reich can get away with something so crass and evil, here's your answer. It didn't happen over night. It started with small issues that seemed harmless to the public at large.
And what about those "fiscal conservatives" who are silent now about the huge money being spent on Iraq? Where are the advocates of tax cuts in the name of getting the government off our backs when it comes to phone tapping and bank transaction monitoring? The government is more of a problem in your life now than it was on September 10, 2001 even though your taxes are lower.
I shouldn't be so negative so close to the 4th of July. I've just gotten back from singing the national anthem at the top of my lungs in three German stadiums. Germany was great, but as with any trip abroad I always come back appreciating home more. I feel that being critical is the most patriotic thing one can do. It proves that you want to make things better.
Really, what set me off was a silly test I found on the blog of a dysfunctional chick I dated late last year. Shamefully, I read her blog once in a while because I find it interesting when I'm bored. I took the test and scored 34%. How ridiculous. Anyone who scores more than 50% on that thing has got to be a moron. I'll say it again, what makes America great is its diversity. Someone who scores 1% on that stupid test is just as American as someone who scores 100%.
I contracted a cold on Monday or Tuesday and it unfortunately peaked on Wednesday, when I had 10 hours of flights ahead of me. During the descent into New York JFK airport, my sinuses were clogged and my ears wouldn't pop. The pressure in my head was agonizing. It felt like someone was stabbing pencils into my forehead, but from the inside.
For those who don't know, humans have four sets of sinuses. There is a good diagram of them on this page. I guess with the nasal congestion from my cold the whole pressure adjustment thing wasn't working out. On the ground, my ears still hadn't popped and I couldn't hear too well. On the second flight to Minneapolis, the ascent was relieving because the pressure in my head was still set for 20,000 feet. The descent was, again, an agonizing experience.
A day later and my ears still haven't cleared up. Hopefully things will clear out as my cold subsides and my sinuses clear up. Anyway, that is my story of travel hell.
So I come back from Germany to find that I have fewer rights than when I left. President Dickslap is furious that the media reported a story that the government has been searching a bank transactions database for clues to "fight terrorism." This issue is another gateway into the government invading the personal lives of its citizens. The definition of who is a terrorist is not something you look up in the dictionary, it is an arbitrary term that the government itself can define. Even more, the definition can change and it can be set after the fact. So, for example, you've been transferring money to a European account to pay for your secret rendezvous with Laura Bush and the President finds out through his terrorism searches after the fact, all he has to do is label you a terrorist and throw you in jail.
Our Bill of Rights exists to protect our rights from infringment by the goverment. The second amendment doesn't guarantee our right to carry a gun to defend against someone coming into our yard, it protects our right to bear arms to defend against the goverment. That might sound drastic, but there are plenty of examples in history where governments have used military force against their own citizens. That is supposedly one of the reasons we invaded Iraq, because Saddam Hussein gassed his own people back in 1987 when Reagan was president.
I call issues like this "gateway" issues because they offer a gateway into bigger, more invasive things. Ever since 9/11 the President has used gateway issues and fear to control people. He justifies violating human rights conventions, false wars, phone tapping, tax cuts, just about anything in the name of the war on terror. It is not that we need to back down and be soft on handling our problems, but the President and the Republicans have gone too far. The use of gateway issues to scare people into compliance is just a step away from fascism. If you've ever wondered how a government like Hitler's Third Reich can get away with something so crass and evil, here's your answer. It didn't happen over night. It started with small issues that seemed harmless to the public at large.
And what about those "fiscal conservatives" who are silent now about the huge money being spent on Iraq? Where are the advocates of tax cuts in the name of getting the government off our backs when it comes to phone tapping and bank transaction monitoring? The government is more of a problem in your life now than it was on September 10, 2001 even though your taxes are lower.
I shouldn't be so negative so close to the 4th of July. I've just gotten back from singing the national anthem at the top of my lungs in three German stadiums. Germany was great, but as with any trip abroad I always come back appreciating home more. I feel that being critical is the most patriotic thing one can do. It proves that you want to make things better.
Really, what set me off was a silly test I found on the blog of a dysfunctional chick I dated late last year. Shamefully, I read her blog once in a while because I find it interesting when I'm bored. I took the test and scored 34%. How ridiculous. Anyone who scores more than 50% on that thing has got to be a moron. I'll say it again, what makes America great is its diversity. Someone who scores 1% on that stupid test is just as American as someone who scores 100%.
posted by Andy at
2:33 PM
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