I just read a post by Philip Van Hoof discussing his decision to not travel to the US. Having read many of his other politically-oriented post, I’d say we have quite similar political views. I take issue however with this last post however; not because of the political views expressed but rather the action (or lack thereof) taken.

First a little background. I left the US in 1999 largely due to my discontent with the American system. Bill Clinton was President at the time. I lived in Berlin, Germany until very recently and also spent quite a bit off time in the Sweden. Ironically, I moved back to the US at a time when the worst President in history is in office. The system and the President have only gotten worse. So why am I back. Basically just to get my education.

Actually, what I wanted to mention was the experiences that my wife, Annika, had when she told friends she was applying for a greencard to the US. Most of her friends responded with open disapproval. They couldn’t realise why someone like Annika would want to go to a place so backwards and with such a militant regime in power. Most all of the people who responded like that had never been to the US. Those who had been to the US where much more understanding of her decision.

A nice parallel when I hear people take this line is to ask them if they’d go to Italy (this was when Belesconi was in power). Most would answer positively and many admit that they had just recently been there. When you ask these same people if they thought Belesconi was more or less as bad as Bush, they’d mostly agree. There seems to be a double standard. Also with this logic the UK should be a no-go zone as well.

Another thing is that the US has a very large progressive community. Bush does not have the support of the majority of Americans. Nor does he or his regime give even a small picture of the US. It’s the diversity in the US that I longed for when in Europe. I believe you are only doing yourself a disservice when you cut yourself off from a full understanding of the US. For all its fucked-upness, I most admit it’s a very stimulating place.

To close I’ll quote, as well as I can remember, what an Iraqi who had asylum in Sweden said to me when I apologized to him for my countries bombing of his country. He said to me, “You know, it’s not about what those in power do. It’s us the people like you and me talking now. You have nothing to apologize for.” I still felt like I needed to apologize but what he said is exactly right. We can’t let the politics, no matter how fucked up, or lines drawn in sand separate what should rightfully be united: People. Polorization plays right into the hand of the neo-cons.

That said, if you want to refuse to come into the because of the finger-printing eye-scanning mumbo jumbo, I’m all with you.

I mentioned a few posts back that RyanAir also thinks the security measures at airports are a farce. Well, it also seems like they have a sense of humor about it. The following image can be found through this link.

The caption is “NEW AIRPORT SECURITY PROCEDURES, PUT FUN BACK INT0 FLYING”

UPDATE: Just noticed this was on Boing Boing.

Yesterday, Josh left after a short visit here in San Diego. He came over from Atlanta to do some interviews for design jobs. This was the first time we had seen each other for a couple years and also his first time on the west coast.

He arrived late on Tuesday after driving down from Redwood City, where he was visiting another friend, and interviewing for a job in LA. First thing we did was get a Little Caesar’s $5 cheese pizza and go to the park to eat and chat. The next day we went to Ocean Beach where we had to wait about 2 hours for the marine layer to break-up during which time we strolled along the main drag and eventually onto the longest pier on the west coast. Once the sky was clear, we discovered that the water in the Pacific is freakin’ cold this time of year. After forcing ourselves to get in, we quickly turned back. We had to be satisfied with just sunning ourselves on the beach.

For lunch we went to the best and one of the cheapest mexican places in town, Pokéz. This place is awesome for anyone but it gets plus points from vegetarians and vegans for thier great tofu and veggie options. I got a Chimichanga and josh got a Tofu Burrito. We ended up splitting them. After that we visited Waid and soon thereafter went to bed.

The next day Josh had an interview at a really snazzy design firm in Santa Monica so we got on the road at 7am so there would be no chance of him being late for his 12pm interview. While Josh was in the interview, I walked around The shopping area and ended up spending most of my time at Barnes and Nobles reading up about universities, majors and other school related stuff. Once we met up we headed to Venice Beach which turned out to be really cool. They have a very interesting bunch of street performers there. Unfortunately, when we where leaving Josh backed into a sign. But he has insurance for the rental car so it should be no problem; just a couple small scratches.

On Friday we were both a bit tired so we just hung out and surfed the net for half the day. For lunch we went to Pokéz again. It’s that good. We eventually decided to go see the Padres since we had nothing better to do. We walked to the park which takes about an hour from South Park. on the way Josh a six pack of beer that he wanted to take into the ball park. A couple weeks the folks at the gate had said nothing when I brought in a can of Root Beer so I though it’d be ok. Well, after buying our tickets, we went to the security checkpoint were the lady found the 6-pack and refused to allow the beer in. Josh was upset and said something like, “I just paid 30 fuckin’ dollars!” I took the beer and told here we’d drink a couple then come in. Of course, my intention was to go try our luck at another entrance. Well, the guy at securty checkpoint #2 was an old, probably, retired guy. He acting like he was checking the bag and let Josh through. We chuckled a little once we were through. We then chuckled alot when we found out that the free hand-out that night was a cup. So now, Josh had his beer and a cup to drink it with.

Surprisingly, Josh really liked the experience of the game. Our seats were in the upper deck on the right side. On that side you get a great view of downtown. To get Josh to go to the game I had to really stress that going to see baseball doesn’t have to be about the game. After the game he agreed. Actually we rarely watched the game. Just to the right of us there was a group of kids who were acting up. The two idiots of the group provided everyone with some laughs. For over half the game they had been play fighting and smoking. While “fighting” the two guys got entagled and ended up falling 2 rows into some empty seats. The guy that was sitting in front of them, who was already annoyed, just flipped out and started screaming. Once the guy as finished and turned back around the kids, along with most everyone else, all laughed under there breath. The two idiots decided to smoke another pair of cigarettes. The screaming man got out of his seat to look for security. At this point the group decided to leave the area and that was the end of that.

Other Josh’s obsessing over a small scratch on his rental car, I thought the visit went quite well. Now I’m here all alone again. But only 2 days till I restart my studies after 9 year break.

Last week I found myself in the middle of a car chase. That’s right, a real helicopters-overhead, cops-in-hot-persuit car chase. I’ve even got proof.

While looking for a link to an article about the car chase, I happened upon an article with a small video. If you view the video, I’m the guy on the scooter passing the stolen car in the first seconds. I’m on my lime green Vespa with a white helmet.

While filling my Vespa up at the 7-Eleven on Fern st., I saw 2 police cars race by. Once I was finished getting gas, I got on my scooter and headed north on 30th. Just before reaching Switzer Canyon I noticed a dark grey car coming over the hill. The first strange thing I noticed was that the tires were shredded. There was a young guy driving. He looked completely relaxed; even had his arm resting out the window. He was travelling about 20-30 mph. When I was able to see over the car I noticed a line of about 15 cop cars following neatly behind; in not-so-hot pursuit.

By the time I realized that I could possibly be in some kind of danger, I had already passed the car. I pulled over till the cops passed and contimued on. A few meters ahead I saw another cop rolling in what seemed to be a spike strip. That would have sucked to have gone over that thing on my scooter.

Read the article for the details. And more photos.

All I could do was laugh at the situation. I’m fairly new to California and I get in a car chase just like on TV! How weird is that. First thing I did was go tell Waid. He later said he saw me on the news, which I’m assuming was the footage in the article.

Well, at least it wasn’t a tank.