D-USA

Religion and Politics

nospam@example.com (D-USA) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 06:33:55 -0700

This post has actually been a very long time in the making. These are thoughts that have been going through my mind over the past year, and I have been trying to figure out a way to best explain them. I feel like I have a hard time really explaining it in person, so I am not sure if it will work any better in writing, but here it goes.

In a nutshell it is becoming more apparent to me that the more I grow in my faith, the less I think religion has a role in politics at all. Or, to be more specific, Christianity has no role in politics. I am in no way an expert in any of the other religion, or for that manner in Christianity, so I will not talk about any of the other religions but curtain my thoughts to the role of my faith in politics.

To me, Christianity is about a relationship between me and God. I talk to God, God talks to me, and in my life I try to do things that are pleasing to God and represent my life as an act of worship. But considering all this, I do not think that passing laws based on the Bible is the right thing to do. Jesus did not die for our sins to institute a worldly set of laws based on biblical values. Instead it seems to me that He stressed a strong separation of the rulers of the world and the ruler of your soul. I'm going to try to explain why I feel this way the best I can, but I won't promise that it makes much sense. And while I do not expect to lead a movement and have tons of people following my way, I just think it might explain why I sometimes vote the "non-biblical" way.

We try to behave "biblical" because we attempt to make our lives pleasing to God. We try to live godly lives, in order to honor our God. But what is the result of forcing actions that we consider to honor our God unto people that do not follow our belief? Will it lead them to have a relationship with God? Will they know Jesus simply by being forced to act according to values that we consider pleasing to Him? Will people know God, simply by acting godly? Shouldn't our focus be on evangelism? To spread the good news of our Savior to others, and to help them have a relationship with Him? But instead of spending our time and effort on helping people actually know God, we spend all this effort on making people simply act like we think God wants them to act.

I also try to consider that when it comes to creating "biblical law" and expecting people to follow that law, the Bible itself is a pretty good example of the futility of that effort. The old testament is full of examples of laws that God send to his people, expecting them to be followed. And the old testament is also full of examples of the people being unable to follow these laws. The very reason we rely on Jesus for our salvation is the fact that we are unable to ever follow the laws that would make us good enough. If God had to send His own son to die for the sins created by our inability to follow His laws, what makes us think that we can do any better by passing these laws of our own? Do we really think that when it comes to forcing people to act more godly, we could actually do any better than God himself?

I honestly don't know if any of this makes much sense, but I have been meaning to share my thoughts.

Independents Not Allowed

nospam@example.com (D-USA) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:03:05 -0700

Today Democrats and Republicans across Oklahoma are turning to the polls to pick the candidates for their respective parties. Democrats pick Democrats, Republicans pick Republicans, and everybody else is well aware that they are not welcome. Oklahoma suffers from the horrible combination of having a closed primary, as well as the most restrictive ballot access laws of the nation.

Members of the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, the Socialist Party, the Constitution Party, and of course the Pirate Party, are unable to show their party affiliation when running for any office in Oklahoma. There might be other third parties present in Oklahoma, but they all share the same fate. I am sure that there are also many true Independents in this great state, and they proudly run for office with the label “Independent” on the ballot to show that they have shed the restraints that come with a party affiliation. But many others are proud members of the third parties that seek to make a difference in Oklahoma. Our labels mark our ideals, our convictions, and our goals. Yet the Elephant and the Donkey show bipartisanship when it comes to keeping competition off the ballot.

In addition to keeping Independents off the ballot, Oklahoma has also made it very clear that we are not welcome during the primary season. This decision is a double edged sword, keeping democracy away from the voters, and taking away the “independent vote” that could decide the election for either party.

We frequently have races where only one party is running multiple candidates for one open position. Independent voters, and voters of the opposing “major” party have to sit on their hands while a minority of voters decide who will represent us when it comes running this state or this country. We have no input on this decision, standing by as “they” declare who they have picked for us. Why do the major parties think it would be so dangerous to let independents vote in their primaries, or to let members of the “other” party vote in their primary. Closed primaries only reinforce the mindset of partisanship by forcing a mindset of “If I can’t vote for a Democrat/Republican, then I will vote for nobody!” Is it so unlikely that a Republican/Democrat might say: “I like Candidate X from the other party, I will vote for him/her in their primary so that I can vote for him/her in November.” Are the major parties so paranoid of each other that they only see manipulation instead of bipartisanship if primary elections were opened up to everybody regardless of political affiliation? Keep the current “you can only vote for one party” regulation, but open up the option of picking a primary in which to vote.

By keeping independents out of the primaries, the major parties also rob themselves of the much desired Independent Vote. Instead of letting your base alone pick your candidate, and then trying to win the independent vote after the fact, why not let the Independents pick the candidate most likely to win the Independent vote? What good does it do if the Republican that the Republicans like the best wins the primary, only to loose to the leftover Democrat who appeals to more Independents? (This scenario applies to both parties) If the Independents vote in a primary, and make a difference in the outcome, then that support will follow the winner all the way to the November elections. If a candidate wins his parties nomination with the independent vote, then he will have the backing of those independents during the general elections.

Instead both the Republican Party of Oklahoma and the Democratic Party of Oklahoma have made it very clear that they do not care about the Independent voters of Oklahoma, except of course when our few percentage points make the difference between wining and loosing in November.

Mrs. D-USA is scared of the Sea

nospam@example.com (D-USA) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:51:18 -0700

This little clip reminds me of swimming in the Adria in Italy. Mrs. D-USA is not a big fan of the Sealife, always on the lookout for craps, jelly-fish, and little parasites that could float in through her ear and drill into her brain.

Droids and Ghost Drivers

nospam@example.com (D-USA) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:55:09 -0700

Earlier this year we upgraded our phones and got our first "official" Verizon phones since Alltel was purchased by the V. Being the Technology loving geek, and opponent of anti-freedom corporations, I was happy to purchase me one of them fancy Droids. I really like this phone, it feels like a solid piece of equipment (fancy talk for it's heavy as a brick), and it has some really nice features. One of the most fun features of the phone is the fact that I can listen to the radio on it. This feature is made even nicer by the fact that the radio in my car has been on the fritz for quite a while. It doesn't do FM or AM, but connects to the webcast of the station. Which means that I can listen to any station that actually features a webcast. Any station, anywhere.

So naturally I am now driving around in my non-radio-entertained car, while listening to German radio stations on my phone. My #1 station is Antenne Bayern, one of the local stations from where I grew up. Most of the songs that are popular there are the same as here in Oklahoma, but I do enjoy the local flavor of having British and German songs in the mix. I also really like the German morning shows and the afternoon program. The only problem is my work hours, and the fact that Germany is 7 hours ahead of the local time. So when I drive to work at 7 pm and listen to the radio, it is 2 am in Germany and the middle-of-the-night program is not the most entertaining. For the ride home at 8 am I listen to the 3pm afternoon show, and for the rare ride to work at midnight I actually get the true Morning show. Another fun feature is the local news, the local weather, and the local traffic report. It is important to know that there is a stalled vehicle on the side of the road of the A9 by Schwabach Sued while driving down I-35.

Another interesting phenomenon I was reminded off while listening to the radio, both here and while in Germany, is the "Geisterfahrer" or "Ghost Driver". In Germany you frequently hear the broadcast interrupted with the urgent news that somebody on the Autobahn is driving the in the wrong direction. I don't know if that particular phenomenon is really that much more common in Germany than in the US, or if it just doesn't get as much attention over here. But as soon as there is any info on the Ghost Driver the local radio stations will stop whatever they are doing, ala the "BEEEEP BEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP" of severe weather warnings in Oklahoma, and let everyone know what is going on. The people driving on the Autobahn will then slow down, rank up single file in the right hand lane, and try to give the Ghost Driver a free lane to be along his merry way. Germany does not have open medians like we do here in Oklahoma, even though most Oklahoma Interstates are getting the cable barriers installed. So it is not really a case of people skipping over the median and then driving the wrong way, they have to go down the off-ramp to make it on the Autobahn in the first place. Also, I have no idea how they came up with the name "Ghost Driver".

What Date Is It???

nospam@example.com (D-USA) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 21:04:28 -0700

What a crazy month it's been. Germany had a great run during the World Cup, and the team that I was telling everybody would do badly ("Our Captain is out, every 1st string player is injured!!!!!") just clicked and is playing for 3rd place on Saturday. Our flower bed is doing very well, and except for the sunflowers that are looking like death it is a colorful playground for the butterflies. It also seems like everybody on my Blogroll suddenly sprung to life, so I can no longer blame my lack of writing on the fact that everybody else is taking the last 6 months off as well.

In case anybody is watching the news, we are not floating away at this point. The area around our house has not really flooded yet, and our particular house is sitting on a slight elevation and all the roads are draining downhill from us. The backyard is however growing some tall grass, since I am still waiting on a dry day to mow it. We'll see what this weekend brings.

World Cup

nospam@example.com (D-USA) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 22:14:02 -0700

I also just realized that I did not create a new banner for the World Cup 2010. So I will just put up the old Euro 2008 banner in support of the German team until tomorrow.

Working The Yard

nospam@example.com (D-USA) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:17:31 -0700

Who would have thought that buying a house would make my project-list explode. One of the many projects that were also very high on Mrs. D-USA's list of priorities are the flower beds. We got the small bed between the Garage and the walkway to the front door done in March. That bed was not very big and all I really had to do was lay down some landscaping fabric, plant some flowers, and cover with mulch.

Just look at these nice flowing curves!

The second bed turned out to be a bit more work. The builders planted a small bed in front of the porch. It was a simple rectangle that was about a foot wide and as long as the front porch. Our first step was to figure out a new layout for the bed and take up the grass. We ended up going with some nice soft curves and extended the bed all the way around the front patio. We actually dug up the bed before going on vacation, so by the time we got back it was covered in weeds. After spending all weekend pulling the weeds and trying to improve the soil we finally put down landscaping fabric and started to plant the first flowers. We got about halfway done by the time it got dark on Sunday, and figured that we would just finish up Monday morning.

Grow my little pretties, grow!!!

Of course we didn't expect the great Oklahoma flood the following morning, so after waiting another day for the ground to dry up a little bit we finally finished the bed on Tuesday. Turns out that Oklahoma clay-soil is a little easier to work with when it's mud instead of hard clay. We got the last flowers planted, border put in the ground, and covered the whole thing in mulch. Now we just have to wait and see how the flowers will do.

Driving Around In My Automobile

nospam@example.com (D-USA) — Thu, 13 May 2010 06:20:44 -0700

Spending over a week driving around in Germany really made me think about how hard it might be for non-Germans to get around here. I am driving on my Oklahoma license over here, and I never had any formal German-driver training, but I at least had the benefit of being exposed to German traffic rules and signs as a child. In grade-school we all had to go to the police station and participate in driver-training for your bicycle. That included learning all the traffic signs, traffic rules, driving around in a simulated little town while obeying all the rules, and taking a little test for your "bicycle-drivers-license". I also lived with the same traffic rules while driving my bicycle through Schwabach until I moved back to the USA. I figured that this would be a good time to talk about the differences and problems between American and German traffic rules.

Traffic Signs

What does this mean??!?

The first thing one will notice while driving in Germany for the first time is that you will be quickly introduced to many new and exciting traffic signs. Many of which don't really give any hint as to what they are trying to tell you. Many colors and geometric shapes will be found on poles around the country, and unless you have memorized their meaning you'll be in trouble. Another interesting difference, especially in smaller towns, is that you will often find traffic signs attached to traffic lights. After the busy times for traffic are over, these traffic lights simply turn off and the signs take over.

No Traffic Signs

In addition to knowing what all these signs mean, you also need to know what it means when there are no signs to be found. Many smaller intersections in neighborhoods do not have any markings regarding right-of-way. In those unmarked intersection the rule is simply that whoever is on the right, has the right-of-way. So everybody drives slowly through the intersection and pays attention to the street on their right. If it is clear, you go. You don't have to watch your left, because that side has to yield to you. Sounds weird, but works very well.

Many streets also have no markings for speed limits, but have a preset speed limit based on type of street. City streets are always 50 kph unless marked otherwise, county-type roads 80 kph unless marked otherwise, and so forth. Unless you are familiar with the speed limits you will be lost, but an acceptable solution is to simply keep up with the traffic around you. Be warned that Germans do love to speed.

Autobahn

After driving from Schwabach to Karlsruhe in my grandparents little car going 100 mph, I think it is a testament to German traffic laws and German drivers that the Autobahn works as well as it does. Large sections of the Autobahn have no speed limits, and compared to the Interstates there are really no more accidents here. The Autobahn has only 3 consistent rules:

1. Keep on the right: Unless you are passing, you need to be on the right-most lane that you can be in. In 3 lane sections that usually means that semi-trucks (which have a lower speed limit) usually sit in the right lane, the middle lane is the "driving" lane, and the left lane is being used for passing.

2. Pass on the left: No passing anybody on the right side. Together with the "keep right" laws this means that most of the time the traffic moves pretty smoothly, getting faster as you move towards the inner lanes.

3. Keep Distance: These are some of the most enforced laws on the Autobahn. Keep away from the car in front of you. If you are driving 100+ mph, you better keep enough distance between you and the other car to be able to stop.

These 3 rules, and a higher quality of construction of the Autobahn compared to the Interstate, keep driving at high speeds very safe and comfortable. I can say without lying that going 100 here really doesn't feel much different than going 70 in Oklahoma.

The 4th rule, which is not really a written rule, is simply this: Watch your rear-view mirrors. Just because you think you are hauling at 100 mph, that does not mean that 10 seconds later there won't be a car behind you going 150 mph, and you better move over to the right and let them pass.

The last thing that comes to mind is that drivers in Germany seem less aggressive. You will hear more on their horn, but it is often a quick "please pay attention" instead of the long "WTF are you doing!!!!!" that I hear in the US.

Blisters on my Feet

nospam@example.com (D-USA) — Sun, 09 May 2010 13:30:21 -0700

I haven't written as much as I would have liked this week, but to be honest there has not been that much super-eventful to write about. I have spend this week mostly walking around my old stomping grounds, visiting places where I grew up.

During my last vacation here I had almost every day planned out in advance, "Today we will go here, tomorrow there, Wednesday this, etc". This time I have been playing it by ear, just waking up in the morning and deciding what the day feels like. So instead of a daily "this is what I did" I'll just post a summary of some of the places I have visited this week.

Mittelhembach

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My grandparents village, a collection of maybe 30-40 houses surrounded by forests and fields. My grandparents are currently on vacation in Italy, so I have free reign over their apartment and this is where I have established "home base" for the first few weeks of vacation. My bedroom opens to the forests east of the village and I get to wake up to the smell of nature and sounds of birds singing. The village itself is very quiet and very peaceful, a great place to relax. It also means I can use my grandparents kitchen for breakfast and dinner, so instead of having to pay to eat out twice a day I just bought some cheap groceries and cook at home.

Schwabach

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Here is what I truly consider my "hometown". First settled around 2500 years ago, and first called Schwabach around 1500 years ago. I went to High School here and eventually got mowed up to the "Realschule". Schwabach is where I spend most of this week, just walking around my old neighborhoods, eating lunch on the market place, drinking beer in the park. Schwabach has some interesting historical impacts:

The Schwabacher Schrift was a font developed in the town and was widely used by to print the Gutenberg Luther-Bibles in the middle ages. This Bible lead to the development of a common German language and the Schwabach Font became very well known.

The Schwabach Articles were written by Martin Luther in Schwabach in 1529, and were used as the basis for the Augsburg Confession, leading to full blown reformation in Germany. The Schwabach Articles, and the later writings based on it, forever changed the political and religious landscape in Germany and Europe. Of special note is that the articles were written while he stayed in the Inn "Zum Goldenen Stern (at the golden star)", where I was a dishwasher and did a very short internship to decide if I wanted to apprentice as chef. I don't know about anybody else, but I think that is kind of cool.

Nuernberg

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Nuernberg. If Schwabach was my hometown, then going to Nuernberg would be the equivalent of "going to the City" for Oklahomans. It might be one of the most famous cities in Germany, and at the same time one of the most infamous. It was the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, and each new emperor had to hold his first court there. The first railroad of Germany originated in Nuernberg. The Nazi Party also held their National Conventions here, and the Nuernberg Laws were the basis for striping the Jews of their rights in Nazi-Germany. The allied forces literally bombed the hell out of Nuernberg during WW2, due to its symbolic status to the Nazis. The Nuernberg Trials signaled the end of the Nazi reign. The city has healed well form its scars after WW2, rebuilding much of the historic downtown. I think the city did a very good job with moving past it's historic connection to the Nazis, while acknowledging it's part in Germany's dark history. The old parade grounds are now part of a park, and the old Nazi headquarters is now a "documentations center" regarding the rise and fall of the Nazi Party. The Germanic Museum features the "Pavilion of Human Rights", and every few years the city awards a price to a person that made a significant contribution in the area of human rights. We used to sneak to Nuernberg on the train and go to Oktoberfest, the Train Museum, and the Christmas Market.

That pretty much concludes the little virtual tour of my old hometown and stomping grounds. I'm still working on getting some video clips put on YouTube, but pictures can be found on Flickr via the link on top or to the right. Tomorrow will be one more trip to Nuernberg, and then I visit my brother in Karlsruhe before moving on to Italy. My GPS has been giving me fits, so I'm still trying to get it working again to see if I can do some stuff with it. Despite the rain I enjoyed this last week, and I'm looking forward to the rest of this vacation.

What a Wild and Crazy Ride

nospam@example.com (D-USA) — Thu, 06 May 2010 03:43:24 -0700

Day 3 of my vacation is underway, and I am watching the rain covered forest outside the window. This seems like a great time to give a detailed account of the crazy trip across the ocean. The plan was to leave Oklahoma City at 1130 Monday morning, and arrive in Nuernberg at 1045 local time. But reality has a way to mess with your best plans.

Oklahoma City to Minneapolis - St. Paul

I arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. Got checked in, picked up (almost) all my boarding passes, and started the waiting game. I spend some more time with Mrs. D-USA since we will be apart for 2 weeks, and waited on my mom who was coming up to visit and wish me a good trip. We finally parted our ways, and off through security I go. No problems with security, my big bag of electronics did not arouse any suspicion, and I make it to my gate. 10 minutes into my trip, and everything is going great!

Then we started to wait on our plane, great. In the end I leave the airport with only a 45 minute delay. The trip itself was fairly uneventful, no turbulence, and a smooth landing. I try to plan ahead for delays and leave myself plenty of time to connect. I was scheduled for a two hour layover, so even with the late start in Oklahoma City I still had an hour to make it to the other side of the airport. Enough time to grab a quick snack, visit the Larry Craig Bathroom, and make it to my gate.

Minneapolis - St. Paul to Amsterdam

Now it was time to sit at the gate and wait for our on-time departure......

About 45 minutes before we were supposed to leave there was the first announcement: "We are waiting on a plane, we don't know where it is." Hurray for Delta \o/. But I guess it is better to loose a plane when there are no people on it.

With about 30 minutes to go we have the second announcement: "The plane is here. Now we are waiting on a crew to fly the plane." Great.

With about 15 minutes to go before our "scheduled" departure, we are finally allowed to board the plane. I get in line, make it through the gate, and while I walk towards the jetway I get to watch Security Theater in action. Being a member of the Pirate Party I have long held the belief that Security Theater is a waste of time and money, and watching this show was no different. The "random" secondary screening had pulled 3 people aside so far, all very middle eastern looking. I am sure there was no profiling there *rolling my eyes*. As I walk past the security guys and towards the plane somebody started to yell: "You.....hey you, stop......YOU IN THE ORANGE!!!". Well crap, I was wearing an orange shirt. I don't know if I was chosen randomly, because of my disapproving look towards "security theater", or because of my awesome beard (which after a survey of friends and family qualifies as a "terrorist beard" by a tally of 4 to 2).

My secondary screening only reinforced my belief that the "new and improved post 9/11-shoe bomber-underwear bomber-tactics" are a bunch of crap. I receive a pat-down, because flying on an airplane qualifies as probable cause that a crime is being committed. And to top it off the pat-down only covered my arms and my side, nobody checked my legs or my crotch. No offense, but if we are using the underwear bomber as an excuse to treat everyone like a criminal, then maybe you should check the area where bombs are hiding. I'm not advocating that the TSO should grab my junk, but it is very clear that this screening would not catch anything. My carry-on bag is being searched as well, and the TSO quickly discovers my hidden bottle of liquid that I forgot about. They look at the bottle, stick it back in my barely searched bag, and send me on my way. So the result of my screening is this: Nobody checked my crotch, so the condoms filled with deadly explosives in my waistband are save, and they allowed my bottle of acid onto the plane with me. After "increased security" I would have had the exact same ingredients as the underwear bomber on the plane with me. But everybody else is watching the TSA search the "foreign looking people", so they feel safe because the Government is doing something.

After being harassed for my own protection, I make it on the plane and take my seat. 15 minutes after our scheduled departure, but still on the ground at the gate, we get the next announcement: "This is the pilot speaking. The volcano in Iceland has become active again and the airspace above Ireland and England has been shut down. We need to file a new flight plan that bypasses the affected area and get it approved. I am sorry for the delay." Time to get comfortable.

Getting comfortable on the plane while I wait, if anybody knows what this triangle means please let me know.

In the end we finally take off with only a 1 hour delay, and we are on our way to Amsterdam. I am able to get some good sleep on the plane and by the time I wake up we are flying over France, about 30-45 minutes away from Amsterdam. The detour in the sky added an extra hour to our flight, and we arrive in Amsterdam with a 2 hour delay. I had a 3 hour scheduled layover, so I hightail it through passport control, security (where I am searched again), and run across Amsterdam airport to try to get my boarding pass. KLM tells me that according to Delta I am supposed to be on the afternoon flight instead of the morning flight. I present my luggage tag as proof that I am supposed to be on the early flight, if my luggage is on the early flight it would seem that I am supposed to fly with my luggage. By the time they allow me to get a boarding pass for the early flight it is to late, and I get to watch my plane push away form the gate.

Another passenger on the same flights as me received 50 euros and meal vouchers since we now have a 7 hour layover to sit through. But since I am not officially delayed "because Delta had you on the late flight anyway" I don't get anything. Thanks Delta \o/.

If I am stuck in Amsterdam for 7 hours anyway, I sure as heck was not going to spend it at the airport in

Going for a walk in Amsterdam

an uncomfortable plastic chair eating over-priced airport food. So I put my carry-on pack in a locker, and hop onto the train to downtown Amsterdam. I spend about 3 hours walking around the city center. The red-light district is very well advertised, but I decided to just walk without much of a plan and head towards the Anne Frank House. Without a map I didn't quite make it there, but I got to watch a great city along the way. I wouldn't be surprised if walking down the street could result in a positive drug screen, but I am sure I had a 500% increase in my lifetime exposure to cannabis. And that is without ever stepping into a coffee shop. In the end the 10 euro a person is a great price to spend in order to get out of the airport if anybody has 3 hours or more to spend at the airport. I would count on a 1 hour travel time both ways between Airport-Downtown. I head back to the airport, go through security again without being pulled aside \o/, and head towards my gate.

Amsterdam-Nuernberg

Our plane, dirty and without any fuel.....

At the gate we sit and look at our plane. 10 minutes after boarding was supposed to start we get another announcement: "We are waiting on the people to clean the plane."

10 minutes later we board, take our seats, and get the next announcement: "We are waiting on fuel".

After a 1 hour delay we are finally on our way home and I get to Nuernberg "only" 8.5 hours too late. My uncle has already been here twice since he came to pick me up from the earlier flight before I could reach my brother to relay the new plans to him. The volcano is still causing problems, so we will see if it quits in time to go home.