Archive for the ‘Germany’ Category

Going Home

Tomorrow morning, I leave for the States.  This is, I think, my last visit to Germany for this project.

The time has been well spent.  Project is going OK, and I’ve had a chance to post more, and work on the blog some.  New header, new icons, revised “About” & “Policy” entries, and a few more tweaks such as a different tagline every day.  It think I’m done, but who knows – I might see something that I might like to add.  If anyone has a suggestion or comment on the layout & features on this site, please do so.

I have enjoyed the past 6 months for the most part, but as Dorothy said, “There’s no place like home.”

Reflections

This past week, besides writing the previous post, has been spent reflecting upon times past.  Not only on my own life, but that of the country that I have been staying in for the most part of 6 months.

I have been all over Germany.  Berlin, Munich, Bremen, the Black Forest, Hannover, Stuttgart, and Baden Baden are just a few of the cities that were on the itinerary.  Traveling by train and watching the scenery go by makes it hard to think that this country and mine were at war 60 plus years ago.

I look up and can’t imagine the streams of bombers headed to the cities that I have visited, looking to level anything and everything useful to a madman’s dream.  Looking over the countryside, half imagining soldiers in desperate struggles to live just one more hour while trying to defend the land or take it from their respective enemies.  Different languages being spoken, but everyone looking the same.  What a difficult, confusing, bloody time that must have been.

And yet we must understand that this is the nature of humans.  The quest for power by whatever motivations and means is among us during these “civilized” times.  Political aspirations, religious fervor, corporate ambitions, and sheer megalomania are just an overview of the reasons that people seek to control others.

It doesn’t matter how far we’ve come from the dark ages of history, man’s base desires are still there.  Power and control are lurking in the background.  While most of us desire nothing more that to be left alone to live our lives in peace, there are those few who want more.  More money, bigger houses, power over people’s lives, and they are completely amoral in their methods to achieve their desires.

For example:  I look at the Global Warming Climate Change debates between the different factions, and I have to ask myself – If this is truly a scientific fact that has gone through the scientific method, then why is there such an uproar?  The truth of the matter is that a consensus never overcomes the facts of the matter.  Consensus means that there are facts in evidence, but the entire premise and conclusion can be called into question because there is a thing called compromise.  And compromise with the scientific method is ultimately flawed.

So what is the reason?  My belief is power.

There is now a huge industry behind this debate, selling anything from light bulbs to solar panels to windmills.  There is a huge “carbon credit trading” industry as well as massive studies to track minute changes in the health of the world.

Mind you, not all of this is bad.  It’s just the agenda that is behind it.

We now have the politicians of that most corrupt body called the United Nations deeming that all countries must kowtow to their studies and findings, flawed as they may be.  The media reports every little storm as being evidence of the coming decimation of the world because it raises the ratings points.  The leaders of countries are promising to divert resources to this “problem” even though it would damage the economy of their respective countries because they perceive that is what will heal this planet (and get them elected).

And you know that somewhere, someone is going to get hosed.

But Global Warming Climate Change isn’t the only game in town.  Let’s look at the corporate world.

Where has it been so painfully evident that someone can drive a company into the ground, and yet walk away with millions of dollars in compensation?  We’ve seen companies like Enron, Bears & Sterns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mack, Lehman Brothers, and Washington Mutual tank and yet the executives are royally compensated while the employees and shareholders get royally screwed.  They get these fantastically outrageous sums because they meet their yearly goals which may not be in the company’s interests.  It used to be that as the company’s fortunes went up and down, so did the bonuses of the executives.  No longer, and people wonder where the loyalty to American companies went.

That is because the focus went from “we’re in this together” to “how much can I get for me?”  Everyone was going to get more than their fair share because they deserved it (whether they did or not doesn’t matter).  Greed, not teamwork, became the modus operandi.

I can go on and on about the corruption of the Media, the Islamic terrorist insanity, public educational brainwashing, political power plays, and man’s inhumanity to man.  The truth of the matter is that we, as a species, haven’t changed all that much.  True, we eat better, dress nicer, have better sanitation, and technology beyond belief.  But when it comes right down to it, we are just savages that are pretending to be civilized.

And perhaps that is the greatest self-delusion in history…

Traveling

Headed to Hannover and Bremen this week, so I do not know if I’ll be able to visit anyone’s blogs much less access my own. We’ll see what happens.

Hope everyone has a good week

Back to Germany, Let the Selling Begin, Etc…

Tomorrow, it’s back to Germany.  Not looking forward to it this time – just too many things going on here.

I’ve seen confirmation from an article that I saw a couple of weeks ago that Chrysler is putting the Viper sports car up for sale.  It is a low production car, but just doesn’t fit the business model.  I have rumors of a couple of other “negotiations” in progress to sell off other parts of the business, but who knows what is going to happen.  I’ve also heard that any further cuts will most likely damage the business – our morale is really, really low right now.

Politics and the media haven’t changed a whole lot from the last 6 or 7 posts.  If anything, it’s gotten worse.  The bias of the media is really showing, and it is disgusting.  But then again, I wasn’t holding my breath that it would magically get better, either.

But then again, maybe this is all a dream.  I need to click my heels together three times and hope that the past few months were like a previous season of Dallas was a fantasy.  Oh wait…that’s been done before…nuts!

Mass Transit

One of the "solutions" that I have heard thrown around to combat the high cost of transportation is either building or improving an existing mass transit system.  This all sounds well and good, but there are a few caveats.

From the technological standpoint, there are several mass transit systems already in existence that prove that this is technically feasible.  I have ridden on trains in Japan, New York, and currently in Germany.  One thing they all share is a huge infrastructure.  Let’s take Germany since my memories of the other two are somewhat dated.

The mass transit system in Germany consists of buses and trains.  Buses are local, usually traveling through various neighborhoods along main streets, and will deliver passengers to the local train station.  The local train is the U-Bahn, similar to the subway or El systems in New York and Chicago.  Longer range trains are the S-Bahn, and are usually in the larger cities like Stuttgart, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, and so on.  The next step up are the Regional Bahn & Intercity trains, which travel between towns and cities with the Intercity trains usually traveling only between major cities.  The fastest of these are the Intercity Express (ICE) trains which can reach speeds of up to 300 kph (186 mph).

Traveling from my hotel to work usually takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on when I can catch the connecting trains.  My journey begins by walking to and taking a bus from my hotel in Stuttgart to the train station.  From the train station, I take a train to the main station, and there catch a connecting train to Ludwigsburg.  There is a 10 minute walk from the station to the plant.  The trains and buses are not always on time – they can be late or early.  But if I were to drive, the times would be slightly shorter – the traffic here is pretty bad.

So in this case, mass transit works, providing you are willing to walk and give up the flexibility of a personal vehicle.  So this is the first caveat.

How many of the readers out there use public transportation on a regular basis?  How about once in your life?  I’m willing to bet (and I’m not a gambler) that most of you have not.  And one of the reasons that you don’t is convenience.

I will admit that it is extremely convenient of having a vehicle to run those little errands and trips to the store.  Driving to the supermarket and loading up the trunk with bags of groceries is extremely appealing and time efficient.  And many of us just cannot bear the thought of being inconvenienced.

The second caveat is cost.  Quite frankly, it is a real steal for me to use the system.  For the average citizen, it is personally expensive.  Why?  Because this system is subsidized through the government.  Yes, in addition to the costs of the tickets one must purchase, the German citizen pays their taxes to subsidize the mass transit system whether they use it or not.  [And by the way, they pay around 50% of their gross income through sales taxes (19%), income taxes, tariffs, and so on to support transportation, health care, and so on.]

And so would be the case for any large-scale system in the United States.  If I remember correctly, to drive a car across the bridges in Manhattan, there is a fee which goes to help fund the mass transit system (and also used to encourage the use of the system).  There will be subsidies to support the system.  Why?  Refer to the first caveat listed above – there must be participation to offset the cost, and the preference is to use individual methods of transportation (cars).  The less participation, the greater the subsidy.

Which brings us to the third caveat – Government.  I’ve stated this before in posts and comments – when has government done anything on time and on budget.  Answer – never!

I know for a fact that Detroit was offered $100 Million by the Federal Government to help implement a mass transit system – specifically, light rail.  The Detroit government officials stalled, bickered, and tried to get their buddies in on this apparent windfall for so long the Federal Government withdrew the funds.  I also look at other large scale projects such as the disastrous Big Dig in Boston, and I know that government is not equipped in any way, shape, or form to handle a project like this.  Perhaps in the past this was not the case, but present day?  Pfffft!!

The last would be our attitudes.  We are too wedded to our cars – this is a characteristic of our culture.  The car represents freedom in our psyche – what teenager doesn’t lust for his driver’s license (and what parent doesn’t dread it)?  There would need to be a massive shift in attitudes before the majority of the population would switch from the liberty that a personal vehicle represents to the restrictive schedule that would be a transit system.

And attitudes are probably the most difficult things to change.

Where’s the Energy?

During this past week, President Bush lifted the Executive ban on offshore drilling.  The response of the market was to start easing back the price of a barrel of oil.  That’s the good news.

The bad news is that it will be some time before that oil hits the market.  Once the speculators figure this out and the Middle East has its next crisis, the price will go back up.

So what is the answer?  Well, according to our favorite Global Warming cheerleader, we would all start driving electric cars powered by renewable, non-carbon emitting power generators.  That’s right, Algore wants us to change everything in ten years from the current carbon power generation (coal, natural gas) to depend exclusively on green energy sources such as solar, wind, and geothermal.  To quote the article:

His path to a decarbonized electrical supply doesn’t surprise: more investment in solar and wind, keeping nuclear in the mix, maximizing energy efficiency and implanting carbon capture and storage for existing fossil fuel plants, plus a shift to electric cars. But Gore’s message was subtly different this time. The man who has in the past called climate change a “moral and spiritual challenge” sounded more pragmatic notes. While sounding the alarm on melting Arctic ice and strange weather, Gore also emphasized the financial toll that high gasoline prices were taking on average Americans, and the security threat posed by our increased dependence on foreign oil.

So Al want us to go green at what cost?  While I admire the thought of getting away from foreign energy supplies, the economics of this is tremendous.  Let’s just think of this for a few minutes…

One of the reasons that we use the energy supplies that we have is that they are economical.  Yes, $4.25 is a lot to pay for a gallon of gasoline, but what is the alternative? 

• Riding a bike may not be possible for many people because they live too far from their employment, and PETA will object to riding a horse (not to mention the streetsweepers union). 
• Electric cars are not economical nor environmentally friendly at this point in time, and there would need to be a severe upgrading of the power generation and distribution needed to support millions of electric cars plugging in for a recharge.  Can you say brownout?
• Wind turbines have their own problems besides not turning all the time.  There are reports of noise being generated by the turbines that will annoy nearby residents (and might just induce low frequency stress in structures).
• Solar only works during the day, so what’s going to power and charge the cars during the night?
• At one time, steam cars were driven, but they used various sources of fuel (coal, wood, alcohol) which may not be environmentally friendly in either carbon emissions or from their source.
• Alcohol is not economically feasible at this time without massive subsidies.  This means that your tax dollars are used to produce this fuel.  The same can be said of other bio-fuels at this time.
• There hasn’t been a new nuclear plant (or refinery) built in the past 20-30 years due to massive costs and mind-boggling environmental regulations.
• Mass transit public transportation in this country is a joke.  Plans to implement light rail systems died on the vine as political wrangling and mismanagement ate up the funds (at least here in Detroit).

Many pundits and detractors flame the energy companies for not developing new sources of non-carbon energy.  There is a very simple reason for that – there isn’t a profit to be made from those sources (yet) unless they charge tremendous amounts for it, and the majority of consumers will not pay extra for it.  Until there is a substantial business case for developing and using an alternative to carbon-based fuels besides the controversial Global Warming argument, it’s not going to happen. 

That is, unless Maxine Waters convinces the government to nationalize the energy industry…

Frankly, I’m not counting government to do anything for us.  Just look at the political idiocy going on over what to do about the price of gas, and you’ll understand how moronic & how out of touch with their constituents our elected Congresscritters really are.  For instance:

President Bush dropped the executive ban on offshore oil and natural gas exploration last week, and House GOP leader John Boehner plans to lead a congressional delegation to Colorado and Alaska to highlight America’s abundant energy resources this week. Polls show more than two-thirds of the public support increased domestic energy exploration and production. Guess who stands in the way.

Congress has its own ban on offshore energy exploration, and the Democrats who run Congress have shown no sign that they are willing to follow Bush’s example. They have preferred to make excuses–about why the price of oil is rising, who is to blame for its rise, and why increasing domestic supply won’t do anything to ameliorate the problem.

The rest of the article is damning for the Democrats.

I’m traveling back to Germany for another three-week stint on Monday.  I wonder if I’ll see Obama’s plane flying back as I’m flying over…

Going Home!

After 4 trips of 3 weeks each, I’m headed home for an extended period of time.  This time, I’m home for 6 weeks.

That’s the good news…

The bad news is that there are a few more trips that are scheduled, and I’ll need to get a visa.  Guess it’s nice to be wanted…

* Sigh *

But it will be nice to spend time at home, eat familiar food, have the critters around.  And I’m due for a vacation.

D-Day + 64 Years

It’s a little interesting to be in Germany on June 6.  Nothing on the tube either by the BBC or German stations – but then again, I’m not surprised.

There are many posts from the Blogroll that remember this day on which the Normandy Invasions began.  Thousands died in the invasion, and thousands died in the days afterward in the successful effort to crush Nazi Germany and liberate Europe.

A few of the Bloggers with tributes:

• Mike’s America
• Sparks from the Anvil
• Conservatism with Heart

Back to Germany & Sick

There’s nothing worse than being sick except for being sick and in another country…

Coming home week before last and mid-Atlantic, I felt a little ill. Thought it was just some turbulence and change in air pressure. Nope – that was the beginning of a full-fledged sinus infection. I spent last week pumped full of antibiotics and sleeping whenever possible. Of course, a little bit of work in there with expense reports and preparing for this trip took up the rest of the time. Thus, no posting.

Felt much better just in time to fly back to Germany. Of course, I probably wasn’t 100%, but then I felt better than before. Setup for a relapse… Nuts…

Fortunately, Germany is on holiday tomorrow, and no one will be in the office on Friday. So maybe I’ll have a chance to comment on the latest saga with Obama’s quest for the Presidency and read what everyone else has written. But you know, I really wanted to visit Paris this weekend…

Made It!

Made it home yesterday afternoon (local time).

The cats and wife did remember what I looked like.

Now to wade through everything that’s piled up over the past three weeks…