Jimspeak

An Ex-Official Offers Glimpse of Iranian Views of U.S. - New York Times

I know, I'm lame for posting links but not writing anything, but so it goes for now. This is a good article that highlights, a bit, the thinking in of the people in Iran; an important factor (you would think) to consider when engaged in diplomacy

My iPod keeps freezing up and acting wacky. Yesterday I thought I'd lost all my music, which would have been disatrous, as most of the tunes I have came from my brother's computer, which is somewhere....not here.

It's a beautiful and hot day here in Portland. A great day to sit in a coffee shop and drink a hot coffee? Perhaps not, but that's what I am doing. Organizing, prioritizing, being productive. More or less

Yesterday afternoon I spent almost 2 hours in Pioneer Square arguing with a young lass over politics. It was awesome! She was with some group whose ideals are...I'm not sure. All I am really sure of is that they love technology and think it is the cure for all the world's ills, saviour for this world of ours which is going to shite, and that all deserts should be developed and that it is our RIGHT to completely over-run the world with our species (overpopulation is a myth, you see. As long as we know the secrets of the universe then we are fine. Makes sense, right? I have no idea what that line of thought was supposed to mean). Crazy talk. It was a fun debate, despite the fact that many rebuttals to my comments involved skewing the subject over to another barely related topic. I may be getting a call later in the month to resume the discussion. I need to study up some more. Fun times; I was in the mood for a good debate. All other passers-by either continued on their way or paused for no more than a few minutes. I was in it for the long haul. Good times. Who won? Hehe. No one. I did hop around a few times. That was fun. One time in particular was when these 2 girls told me that it made perfect sense to build a pipeline from Canada to Mexico to bring them fresh water (greening up the deserts of the SW along the way), as that water is going to waste right now because all it does it go into the ocean! Imagine! The nerve of our species wasting water! Also, they said southern California makes perfect sense, and I was told that there IS no shortage of water in the world, especially not anywhere in the US. Amazing. I asked this girl if she'd ever lived in the SW, in or near desert country. Her response? "No. I wouldn't want to". Um....

Friends are good. Money magazine (of all sources) reported back on studies showing that money does not in fact breed happiness (...) but that friends are a huge source of that feeling. Yupper. So get away from the tv, go hang out. In fact, have a pot luck dinner! I've been to more pot lucks since moving out here than I've probably been to in life previously. They are a great way to dispense the effort and costs of a nice dinner and it's a great communal thing. Last night we hung out on the second floor deck of some friends' place and had mole, margaritas and enjoyed the perfect night weather. Great time.

Back to work

Irving Welsh is down at Powell's tonight. Shall I venture over there (which also means an additional book or 3 will accompany me on my bike ride home) after practice (to which I must rush momentarily) or would I be better served in heading to the local pub with my team for a frosty beverage and interpersonal communication/contact? Hm. Woe is me! The decisions I need to make in life!

Talk this past week has revolved in elliptical manner around my having to work greater than my previously apportioned hours in order to make impending dead lines. Shall I respond: a lack of planning on your part does not make an emergency for me? No, that would be silly. The gentleman with whom I am working might giggle a little, but then again he might not. And as he's larger than I am, perhaps it's in my best interests to leave the smart-ass under lock and key. For now

Perhaps I'll work more. My plan is to shift work from another project onto someone else, which I seem to be accomplishing, mainly due to the vague deadline sometime next year for that project as opposed to the mid-Sept and mid-Nov deadlines I am now facing. Curses! I suppose this had to happen at some point, eh? At least I've learned to not get worked up, and as of yet am not feeling the pressure looming over me.

This weekend needs to be a time to recharge, re-evaluate (yet again), make lists, do some reading and learning, perhaps a little sleeping.....boodie.

That will have to wait. It's not the weekend yet. It's time for me to go and ply the dirty waters of the Mighty Willamette with my team.

Peace

I have been reminded, once again, that I have been remiss in my blogging duties. As such, I will force my enfeebled mind to jot out something relevant to life these days.

Busy; that says most of it. This past weekend I was up in Victoria, British Columbia for some dragon boat racing. It was awesome! A neat (and little strange) little town that was invaded by over 100 teams competing for....little medals apparently. We didn't take one home (I wrestled some dude for his on the ferry back to the States, but since his arms were the size of me, he simply laughed and tossed me into a life boat), but we did place something like 27th overall (second in our division). Not too shabby at all. It was a lot of fun. Racers are all pretty friendly, and most people are out to have a good time before, after and during the races. It was a long weekend tho. A 4.5 hour drive to a 90 minutes ferry ride. I made the drive back in 4 hours, but I still didn't get home until after 3am, which was rough in and of itself, and more so if you consider the 2 days in the sun, the lack of sleep the night before, a post-race Guinness and overall fatigue. I didn't actually get into bed until 430, asleep around 5, and I made it about an hour before the cat started harassing me. Around 630 he was booted from the room. The pounce onto my nose did him in. I made it to work and got a bunch done but was home by 330pm and ended up finding a 2-hour nap. Right now I'm in a coffee shop drinking coffee and interneting. I shouldn'ta bragged about free wireless access at home, because it moved out a week ago. Blast!

Right now I'm debating what classes to take this fall. I'm signed up for an urban planning class, and I think I just decided to forego Accounting 3 until winter so that I can take spanish this fall and not die from exertion and overwroughtness.

Not too much else noteworthy is transpiring. My brain is weak right now and I need to sleep. but it is not yet time

A night of beer and SCTV (and Strange Brew, if there is time) was planned, tho a night has not been picked. Scrabble and lunch will happen this week. Some friends are jamming open mic night Wednesday, potluck maybe Friday (and/or happy hour), practice twice or 3 times and a grocery trip must happen.

All in all, FSM help me and grant me the strength to carry on with purpose and meaning.

If only today were Friday....next weekend is going to be a weekend of relaxation. In theory. Practice may not realize this, but that has yet to be determined

Word

I don't feel like typing out the entire article, and I don't feel like looking for it on the web (couldn't post it anyway, as I'm sure you need to be a subscriber or something). But, the NYT had an article entitled: "US Says It Is Prepared For Transition in Cuba"

Lots of plans are in place to assist the transition from Castro to democracy. The US has, and I am sure continues to support and fund pro-democracy in Cuba groups. The State Department 2 weeks ago accounced that $80 million over 2 years will be provided to help with a post-Castro transition. Isn't that nice?

Yet later in the article, was this passage:

The Bush administration said it viewed attempts by Venezuela or other countries to influence the transition in Cuba as unwarranted intervention. "The President is worried about people in the neighborhood who seek to destabilize neighbors using economic of other means," Mr. Snow said.

Um, we are in the neighborhood and have tried to destabilize neighbors and other countries (USSR) using economic means (embargo). And, is it feasible that we might use a New Cuba to ward off and perhaps, destabilize, threats in other neighbors (Venezuela?).

Someone should give copies of this stuff to our "leaders" and then highlight, physically point out, and explain in small words the ridiculous hypocrisy in their words and actions. Unbelievable.

Castro handover tests Cuban succession plan - Yahoo! News

A passage:

The United States has a detailed plan for how to help Cuba move toward democracy and a free-market economy post-Castro.

But U.S. officials were not surprised a transition was developing as the Cuba government planned, rather than according to the American playbook.

"It's no surprise that we remain standing by," said a senior State Department official, who asked not to be named because his comments went beyond the U.S. public response to Castro's surgery.

Hm, maybe they are not playing by our playbook because they are not a part of the US!! (Yet)

I would like to know why the US govt has plans for another country's development (one that we are not at war with). Do we have plans to "help" Mexico or England or Russia? Why do we already have a plan in place to meddle in Cuba? Ah yes....Miami.....(political power?).

Does this not seem idiotic? What if we found out that Chavez has a plan to "help" the US become all that it can be once Dubya's reign is over? Would we accept that? Of course not! Double standard, hypocrisy...gotta love it.

However, I think my favorite quote came at the end of the above article:

"We can't activate our plan while a dictator is imposing a dictatorship on the Cuban people. You cannot impose democracy," he added.

Really? How many countries are we trying to force into a democracy right now? How many times did we attempt (fail) to impose democracies all over Latin America (Cuba included)?

Ludicrous.

Here is Mt Hood as seen from the bridge over the river upon which I was standing when I pressed the button on the camera that took this picture which is now on my computer and in your face. Pretty, ain't it?