31 July 2008

Talking Plants (aka, Seymour Lives)

Recently, in one of my normal moments of non-thinking chattering, I espoused to someone that plants talked to each other. The look I got was incredulous, to say the least, and ended up with them mocking me and me being all "but it's true! I read it somewhere."

That statement is always my downfall. I've always "read it somewhere" and I always can't remember where, because I read like, 10,000 pieces of news a day. The fact that I had also had a bit to drink and had gone off on my rant about quantum theory did nothing to support people's belief in my statement that:

Plants Talk To Each Other.

I dropped the subject sullenly, knowing I couldn't win. And of course now, I have proof....

Plants Talk, Even Eavesdrop

According to Live Science, the parasitic dodder vine taps into the host's communication system by stealing its RNA molecules. This amazing plant also sniffs the air for signs of plant victims...

The sagebrush in the U.S. warns its brethren of attackers (i.e., insects), it will release odors into the air so that other sagebrushers know to kickstart their own defense mechanisms.

And some plants - well, they don't so much talk as be talked through... the mustard plant is used as a telephone by bugs.

No kidding.

I've read of other examples as well.

It's difficult being right so much, truly.

But the truly difficult part is not being able to remember who didn't believe me about the talking plants. Now I can't be all "neh neh neh neh neh neh"

30 July 2008

Chicagoans happier with their city than Parisians, New Yorkers

Like this is news:

"Forget Paris! Chicagoans are much happier with their city."

28 July 2008

Music Of The Millennials

Girl Talk considered anthem music of the Millenials

By Chris Bodenner in the Atlantic Monthly

Many people consider my favorite musician, Gregg Gillis (aka Girl Talk), no musician at all. In fact, certain stuffed shirts want to prosecute him for what he does. That's because Girl Talk creates mash-ups: tracks that blend samples from other artists, usually without permission. Mash-ups began as novelties, and most are just clever combinations of two songs. But on his last album alone, Girl Talk sampled nearly 300 different songs (up to 26/track), spanning hip hop, indie rock, dance pop, and dozens of subgenres. His more creative combinations include: the lyrics of Notorious B.I.G. over Elton John's "Tiny Dancer," rapper Drama over Roy Orbison's "You Got It," hip-hop duo Clipse over Grizzly Bears' indie hit "The Knife." His albums are a seamless string of frenzied dance tracks. At his live shows, the skinny, pasty, ex-engineer flails around with his fans and ultimately leaves in boxers. (For a fuller profile, see this piece I wrote last year.)

Girl Talk just released his newest album, Feed The Animals. In the spirit of open source (and following the lead of Radiohead's Rainbows), he put the album online as a "pay what you can" download. It's not quite the masterpiece of its predecessor, Night Ripper, but pretty damn close. Recently, fans have started to adapt Girl Talk tracks into music videos, splicing together snippets from sampled originals found on YouTube. This one is truly brilliant (the intro blends '60s British prog rock and Dirty South rap, and you can't miss the scenes from "Footloose" at 3:25):

Warning: Not appropriate for youngsters or grandmothers!




("Still Here," featuring 50 Cent, Kenny Loggins, Salt-n-Pepa, Beck, Cat Stevens, etc.)

Girl Talk embodies the Millennial Generation like no other artist. An archaeologist from the future could find no greater musical artifact than Night Ripper or Feed The Animals, which feature music from the 80s (new wave, gangsta rap), 90s (grunge, Dirty South) and 00s (emo, crunk). Much of the fun is recognizing songs you haven't heard since middle school. But his albums aren't just nostalgic soundtracks; their ingenuous genre-blending makes them far greater than the sum of their parts. And Girl Talk would hardly have been possible without the generation-defining Internet. Online file-sharing allowed him to get almost any song for free. Editing software on his laptop (which he uses at live shows) allowed him to splice and dice music without the need for expensive studio equipment. And of course blogs and websites made word-of-mouth and distribution far easier for an amateur with a day job.

Picture of the Week

26 July 2008

Video quote of the Week

An Iraq and... Pakistani Border?


25 July 2008

Can an American be a Citizen of the World?

Last night Barack Obama made a speech in Berlin in which he said that he was:

"A proud citizen of the United States and the fellow citizen of the world."

I have to admit, I cringed. Not because I don't believe that I am a citizen of the United States and of the world - because I absolutely do - but because I don't think that line is going to play so well in many people's heads in the States. I can see the newspapers now: "Barack Obama Citizen of the World!" Headlines that conveniently drop the first part of that sentence to focus on some kind of supposed disloyalty to the American people.

Obama's little jaunt around my neck of the woods has caused a striking amount of discussion in Europe. The commentary, I think, has been very interesting.

Columnists ask, "why is it that Europeans like Obama so much?"

Which is, frankly, a VERY good question. Europe, folks, for all their high minded attitudes, is a racist place. In the EuroCup that was just played, organizers had to put up advertisements reminding fans to be respectful of people of different colors - because the fans would throw cups of beer at the black players and call them monkeys. Before every game, they had each team say a short statement about racial solidarity.

In England, there is severe mistreatment of Pakistanians. France? Has a huge problem with a very large African population. And Germany? Well, apparently they've got a Turkish population they can't stand.

And do I even need to mention how the entire continent feels about the Roma population?

So the commentator's questions are more than valid. It's not just that Obama is seen as the opposite of Bush, and that McCain is seen as a Bush extension. So why does Obama have a 85% approval rating in Western Europe, and has just now toppled McCain in the race to win Russian hearts and minds?

Jack Lang, the former Socialist Culture Minister in France, said it was because he represents “the America we love ... the youth and racial mix of an America under transformation and in movement”.

Which, have to give credit to Abe Greenwald of the Times of London for pointing out, if that's the America the French love, then "why are they demographically aging, defined by tribal identity, and violently resistant to reform?


But that very excellent point is besides my point and question.


I had the privilege of watching Obama's Berlin speech with some Moldovan friends, an interesting experience on multiple levels. First of all, it was being dubbed over in Romanian, and so I was very close to strangling the tv announcer for being so screechy. Secondly, they cut off the speech in the very middle.


What the heck was that all about?


But it was really very interesting because it led to a discussion on America - how Europeans look upon it, how we look upon ourselves, how we look upon Europeans, how we look upon others who look upon us, etc. It was a twisted conversation.


My main point, initially, was that the 200,000 people at this rally for Obama in Berlin does not bode well for his candidacy in the States, that his 85% approval rating was probably a bad thing. Dar de ce? Oare Americanii nu doresc sa lucreze cu lumea? Well, yes, Americans kind of want to work with the world....

Or at least about half of us do?

Nu doresc sa fie America de a placut din nou?

Well yes, I think it would be pretty cool if America was liked again.

Atunci de ce?

Why indeed.

Because there's nothing more dangerous than a president who is too close to the Europeans? Because we think Europe is soft, that your people don't have it takes to get the job done, and when push comes to shove we always have to save your continent's...măgar. Because too many European men are pretty boys, and you make our presidents look effeminate, and we can't be having that.

Because we don't care what you think, and the more you push us the more we're going to do the exact opposite of what you say just because you told us to. We're ornery like that.

Nu ne intelegem.

I don't understand it sometimes either. Looks kind of childish when it's all typed out like that, although I gotta agree with the whole Europe's been ... pansy- măgar when it comes to combat. I think it has something to do with us thinking we're god's gift or something (and I say this without a hint of sarcasm or irony).



In Moldova there is still a very strongly held belief that America is the land of opportunity and riches. They understand that there is a severe economic crisis, and yet I've had many people ask if I can bring them over to work.

We've done really well, extraordinarily well, at perpetuating the idea of the American dream.

And that's what it is... it's an idea. And it's one that I was taught and raised on from a very early age.

I was taught, I told my friends, that America is the best country on earth. That we were destined for greatness. That we had the best government, the best country, the smartest people, and some people say that God destined this greatness himself. Manifest Destiny may have started out as just a complete and utter takeover of the central part of North America, and dominion over every native tribe, but it ended up being rationalization for the mission to promote and defend democracy throughout the world.



I never really thought about how odd it was to be raised with the idea that you were a citizen of the greatest country on earth until my friends looked at me all wide-eyed last night. There's been a lot of talk about arrogance and presumption lately, but geez... the idea that America was the best was a part of our daily diet.




But they were also, apparently, a part of the rest of the worlds as well.





Ronald Regan, in his fairwell address to the nation, quoted (not for the first time) early pilgrim John Winthrop to talk about his vision of America as a "Shining City on a Hill." He said:

"I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it and see it still."

Beautiful.

I don't care what Regan's politics or policies were, it feels to me like he saw America like people on the outside see America - a place "stronger than oceans" and "teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace."


And I think it's that very vision that has made people so very upset at us. And also identifies, fairly succinctly, why Barack Obama is so attractive to them.

Because the idea of America has been tainted for some - and maybe it's not that people take pleasure in cutting down the big guy on the block - maybe it's that we're a disappointment. It hurts to have something you believe in taken away, and people all over the world absolutely believe in the idea of America. And when something you believe in gets taken away, people can react quite violently.


The people of Europe wouldn't have come out in throngs to see Gordon Brown, or Sarkozy, or any other world leader I can think of.... although you could probably gather a few thousand in protest against a few. But people came out to see Obama - people care about some candidate for office in a country not their own - because of America. He makes them believe that America can be that the Shining City on the Hill again. He represents, in all his "unlikely" story, the best possibilities of America, the promises of America.


Manifested.


To quote the movie that comes out today, they really Want to Believe.


In our idea. In the American idea.





So can an American be a Citizen of the World?

To a certain extent, how can we not be? And I'm not talking, farms in the midwest causing the foodcrisis kinda way....



It's our principles and ideals that are consistently looked to, the world over.

We have been the instigators of international laws and organizations.

We are the motivators - in form and function - of the change we did not seek.



Doesn't the question become then: do Americans have what it take to be true American citizens? and do we even know what that dream means anymore?



Government in Moldova passes Anti-Corruption Law. Entire Country Collectively Laughs.

"A new law regarding the prevention and combating of corruption in the Republic of Moldova stipulates that civil servants who commit acts of corruption will be fired regardless of the magnitude of the action and the right to hold public offices with be withheld for five years."

But seriously, the depth of corruption in Moldova has got me thinking... how did corruption lessen in the states (when and where it has lessened?)

Mostly, hasn't it been because someone has been embarassed? Some tv channel has done an expose that manages to capture money changing hands, or tracks bank accounts or something, and there's a "big public outcry," and someone gets fired?

Many of the comments in the article that talks about this law are from Moldovans who say that corruption is everywhere, and to a certain extent that's true... but it is said that the bribes given to public officials here are equal to 2/3rds of the annual budget. That's a little extreme.

Press isn't as free in this country as it is in many western countries... maybe corruption flourishes because there's no one to call them on their behavior publically.

Quote of the Day

"Well let me be absolutely clear. Israel is a strong friend of Israels"

Barack Obama

24 July 2008


New Zealand Judge forces parents to rename their daughter

Talulah, 9 year old New Zealand girl, is about to undergo a court-ordered name change.

You see, her full name is Talulah Does The Hula From Hawaii.

Seriously.

Other names that parents have been forced to change? Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, and Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit.

But others were allowed, including Number 16 Bus Shelter and Violence.

Hey I've considered naming a girl child "Fury." (should I ever have a girl child, mind you). What? I can hear you judging from here- back off, it's a pretty word!

Today, all my troubles are gone

Yesterday, I was complaining that I couldn't work on google docs offline.

Today, they have created a google gadget to allow you to... (gasp!) work on docs offline.

Mind readers, I swear.

A 800 issue person

Samuel L. Popkin, author of "The Reasoning Voter," suggests that Americans' awareness of issues has been growing for decades, but argues that voters use shortcuts to make judgments about the candidates, relying on things like endorsements, the advice of friends, and the candidate's party.


Amy Gershkoff, who wrote her Princeton dissertation on issues and voting behavior, says that
"many Americans vote because of one or two or three issues...they might care a whole lot about health care or prayer in schools and not at all about foreign policy, and maybe that leaves them sounding dumb when they're asked about Iraq. But they know enough about the issues they care about, and that's what they vote on."

For a girl who spends days researching all the judges on the ballot, forgive me, but this really pisses me off. I was asked by a poll once if I would vote for a candidate who would do away with freedom of choice rights if he or she agreed with the majority of my other positions. My answer, while it made me cringe, was yes. I brought this subject up later, for better or worse, at a bar. My more hardcore friends were... disappointed, to say the least. Allowing for any alteration in Roe v Wade is akin to blasphemy among many of the more lib crowd.

But how can anybody vote on one issue? Everything in politics is connected, and I'd rather give up a right to save 50 others, or eat a tax to save education, knowing that, in the long run, it would save the entire country money because we'd have a more educated base that would be able to support themselves. But maybe this is a generational thing, I don't know.

It pays to be a sports fan....

NYTimes: As both campaigns look toward their conventions in late August and early September, observers have noted more than once that Obama's speech happens to be scheduled for Aug. 28, the 45th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. McCain's speech, on the other hand, will fall on Sept. 4, the opening night of the NFL season, which features a game between the Washington Redskins and the Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

23 July 2008

A Millenial Xer

I've been thinking about generations lately.

There's public and private reasons for this pondering.

The public reason is that it's an election time, and I'm feeling all tingly (to use a hot buzzword).

There's a lot of discussion about generations in this election - which candidate is in what generation, what that means, etc.

It's interesting to me that McCain is from "the Silent Generation." Time Magazine coined the phrase in 1951, and called them a generation that is "grave and fatalistic, conventional, possessing confused morals, expecting disappointment but desiring faith." William Manchester, my all-time favorite narrative historian, called in his obituary by the New York Times a "biographer who used his novelist's eye to fashion meticulously researched portraits of power," commented that the members of this generation were "withdrawn, cautious, unimaginative, indifferent, unadventurous and silent."

They are also called the "Seeker" Generation. I wonder, what exactly were they seeking?


Now we skip a few generations...

the Baby Boomers: the generation being called the most self-absorbed and acerbic in American history, but hey, cred for the whole Civil Rights thing;

The Jones Generation: coined the term "i'm jonesin'", these are the children, technically a part of the Baby Boomers, but who missed the social revolution and jumped straight into that 70s groove.

The Disco Gen: Also technically Baby Boomers, but sadly, the children of platform shoes and highwaisted jeans. Those poor poor children.

Until we come to Generation X.... also called the Lost Generation...

There's 30-some million of them. I want to say I'm not part of it because, hey, who is not embarassed by grunge? But the truth is I'm a little bit of X, and a little bit of Y. More on that later.

Xers are the first generation that probably won't do as well as their parent's financially, and are way more likely to need (and receive) help from their parents or grandparents, a big, big descent from the American dream...

While their parents practiced free love, they've inherited AIDS; Their parents led the Civil Rights movement while they watched the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

They're fiercely independent, people say, because they had to be. They are the first latchkey kids, and the first products of broken marriages.

They're considered cyncical and lazy... but they're a generation that had to put up with the rapid de-industrialization of America, the out-sourcing of previously safe jobs, and also were the creators of the tech industry.

They're a group kind of hard to define, but Meridith Bagby (all around interesting person) says this about their (her) politics: "We are after what produces the greatest good for the most people, not doctrne, rhetoric, dogma... we seek the avenue that produces the greatest results...we want a government that W-O-R-K-S--that... protects the environment, fosters business, secures our future by deficit control, makes our streets safe, and stays out of our way as much as possible while doing it."

"Our political-speak is about action, restructuring, saving money. It is not about ideology. It is about practicality."


She calls her generation "the Rising Generation," and says that self-reliance is second nature to them.



Based upon my experience working with many in this Rising Generation, they're also destructive. They hate "the system" and are distrustful of it, are disdainful of labels and corporatism, and think that government has allied itself with those interests.



I've been thinking about this because I was recently reminded that the people I surround myself with aren't necessarily run-of-the mill politicos. And I'm not talking about Moldovans. Or Peace Corps members, necessarily... who seem so far to be pretty on top of it. Because of my friends and the places that I've worked I am steeped in politics (politics in Chicago is not a spectator sport, after all) and I sometimes forget that old stereotypes are still the most prevelant....


That many people still think that republicans are the spend less, fiscally thrifty, anti-big government party. That democrats are all tax!tax!tax! and support the welfare queen! and would swell the deficit to 10 trillion if given the opportunity.


These are things that I heard so often when I was a kid I kind of believed it. Republican? party for economic conservatives. Democrat? party for bleeding heart liberals.


But the Wheel of Time turns, and just as both parties have had to reinvent themselves dozens of times before, so too has this happened now.

The democrats, crushed during most of the Clinton and Bush years, made almost irrelevant on the national stage, have reinvented themselves. Granted, this was out of necessity, but nevertheless, the change is there.

And the change was driven by Xers. The credit must be given.


David Callahan, creator of the think tank Demos, thinks that members of Gen X are likely to hold different opinions on specific political issues, but what binds them together is a political orientation that is distinct from boomer politics.

"My generation has more of an interest in rethinking ideas - figuring out whether the big liberal ideas of the twentieth century are in fact appropriate for the 21st."

Because more than likely they're not. Fiscal responsiblity? Necessary. Free trade? Necessary. These are ideas that old school democrats didn't find ... necessary.

The X-er economic philosophy was described by Ted Halstead in The Atlantic Monthly as "balanced-budget populism," combining "fiscal responsibility with a concern for income inequality."

"With this pragmatic approach comes a certain impatience with the "romanticism" of boomer lefties. X-er progressives are far less inspired by the idea of "saving the world" than fixing the local school system or creating a green transit alternative that can be replicated across communities, as long as it's a specific problem with a concrete solution.... We're not trying to change things. We're trying to fix things," Anne McCord proudly told Time in 1990. "We are the generation that is going to renovate America. We are going to be its carpenters and janitors."

"It's a roll-up-your-sleeves, nuts-and-bolts politics, built on collaboration" says Batista Schlesinger. "Before I had a political ideology, I had a process." These process-oriented values are reflected in adjectives -- collaborative, open, transparent, bottom-up, fair -- rather than big vision statements or policy slogans like Limited Government or Global Peace. The netroots' "user-generated politics" is a natural extension of these values. "What they stand for is different from traditional liberalism. And the influx of the Millenials, who are now aligning themselves with Democratic politicians and policies, is a direct result of that shift," says Armstrong.

Me? I just want the education system fixed. And a viable train system. And better jobs. And I really don't care who comes up with the solutions.

And oh, am I ever so disdainful of the romanticism and idealism of the liberal boomers.


From the way Barack Obama speaks, it's like he's quoting from the Gen X playbook... "I'm a Democrat. I'm considered a progressive Democrat. But if a Republican or a conservative or a libertarian or a free-marketer has a better idea, I am happy to steal ideas from anybody, and in that sense I'm agnostic".


Oh but wait. Obama has denounced the Baby Boomers, and aligned himself with the Millenials. And some people are calling him the first Millenial President(ial Candidate), despite the fact that he can't be a Millenial, and he's probably technically not even an Xer... more likely he's a Joneser. Tee hee.

Which brings us nicely to: Generation Y

According to some, the kids in this group (some 70 million of them!!) have a rendezvous with destiny, and they might even be "the Next Great Generation."

One in three is not Caucasian. One in four live(d) in a single-parent household. Three in four have working mothers. While boomers were still mastering Microsoft Windows 98, their kids were instant messaging on their cell phones. They have a (apparently sometimes overdeveloped) sense of self-worth, and they get upset if they're not allowed to wear their flip-flops to work.

Boy do I sympathize with that one.

They were raised by parents who loved them, coddled them, and told them they could do anything. And apparently the kids believed.

Instead of rebelling against labels like the Gen Xers did, Millenials revel in things like MacBooks, Mudd Jeans, and the new Ipod. And Iphone. Le Sigh.

"Unlike the young baby boomers, millennials want to strengthen the political system, not tear it down." A 2006 survey by Frank N. Magid Associates indicated that millennials are more likely than older generations to believe that politicians care what people think and are more concerned with the good of the country than of their political party.


"Millennials' political style is also similar to the GI generation's. They aren't confrontational or combative, the way boomers (whose generational mantra was "Don't trust anyone over 30") have been. Nor does the millennials' rhetoric reflect the cynicism and alienation of Generation X, whose philosophy is, "Life sucks, and then you die." Instead, their political style reflects their generation's constant interaction with hundreds, if not thousands, of "friends" on MySpace or Facebook, about any and all subjects, increasingly including politics. The millennials have learned to be concerned for the welfare of everyone in the group and to try to find consensus, "win-win" solutions to any problem. The result is a collegial approach that attracts millennials to candidates who seek to unify the country and heal the nation's divisions."


Or something like that. They do like brands, and they do genuinely believe that things can change for the better. And they have yet to be disappointed. Which is probably why the Obama campaign has bypassed the Gen Xers, and gone straight for the Gen Y's, now sometimes known in some circles as Generation Obama.



The Newsweek Article by Andrew Romano (or blog report) that talks about Barack being a millenial talks about how Millenials, like no other generation before, have been shaped to be goal-oriented, self-improving resume builders. He quotes David Brooks essay "The Organization Kid," saying that the Millenials, counter to the Gen Xers, are not "trying to buck the system, they're trying to climb it, and they are streamlined for ascent."

They are the kids who were ran around from piano lesson to soccor to violin to play practice, who had every minute of every afternoon planned out, and who were taught how to work the system to their benefit.

As many bloggers have lamented, and Ryan Lizza pointed out in the New Yorker (but most people missed in the Hubbub over the cover, "perhaps the greatest misconception about Barack Obama is that he is some sort of anti-establishment revolutionary. Rather, every stage of his political career has been marked by an eagerness to accommodate himself to existing institutions rather than tear them down or replace them."


Snap.


As a side note though, I always wondered why people were surprised when he compromised. Not that I wasn't upset at some of his compromises, but please... he never made any secret of his republican poker playing ways. That was part of his charm.



So who am I? Born in 1980, half of the studies say I'm an Xer, half that I'm a Millenial. I'm a cusper. Wikipedia calls me the MTV Generation, neither here nor there. Not that I ever really watched MTV. And I definitely have a longer attention span than 6 seconds.


According to a completely tech-biased survey, I am soooo a Millenial. I've always been a computer geek. And, I sure do love my Macbook. And my ipod. I think I would die without internet and I wore flipflops to my college graduation. I have been on friendster, myspace and facebook, but have recently repudiated all but facebook. Oh, and also, I started saving for retirement at the age of 24 because I refuse to have financial problems if I can in any way avoid it, and want to find anyway possible to shorten my workday because seriously? I work incredibly fast, and it's not fair to keep me at the office just to keep me there. Apparently, these are all signals of a Millenial. And I don't believe that all companies are evil. See google, mission statement. Just, you know, most companies. But not the workers. It's complicated.


And I don't have any problem working for "the man." See Rian: Americorps, Peace Corps, future hopeful government employee.

Notice the word hope.


But, I'm a pragmatist. I worked within the Chicago political sphere, so come on, I recognize that sometimes things work in a nice and democratic way, but mostly they don't. I just want things to start working, and half the time you gotta put a lot of pressure to make that happen. I know that the solutions proposed in the past by both parties are non-starters, and that 9/10ths of the time problems can only be fixed by people themselves.


So I don't know. I went into this thinking I was obviously a Gen Y, but now I'm not entirely sure. Obviously I have aspects of both. I do see seeds of the conflicts I've had with co-workers within these generational differences though, me leaning towards Yness, them being more X-ey, which is interesting.



I'm not sure if anyone else can understand my reasonings for writing this... but politics and history have movements and players and when I get a thought in my head and it becomes a thing, my need to research and read about it endlessly is pretty profound. I enjoy the fact that I play a part, however ultra-minutely, in history, and I kind of get off on the fact that the generation I seem to be most aligned with is being touted as the next Greatest Generation.

Even if what that actually means is a generation who has to deal with hardship, responsibility and sacrifice.

Not to reference a wildly cheesy pop-culture movie from the Millenial Generation or anything, but I say Bring It On.


QUOTES OF THE DAY

Open quoteWall Street got drunk.Close quote

  • President GEORGE W. BUSH,
  • describing the nation's troubled economy at a GOP fundraiser after requesting that all cameras be turned off

21 July 2008

The good news and the bad news....

First, the good...

Moldova: agrarians started grain harvesting

The agrarians in all Moldova regions started grain harvesting campaign. The northern regions started campaign later than others, because grains ripen there 10-12 days longer than in the southern regions. Currently, the capacity of 1-grade grains totals 30 c/ha.

In some areas of the northern regions the agrarians harvest even 42-48 c/ha of grains.

According to Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry of Moldova, such favorable conditions for grains ripening and harvesting happens once in decade.

The agrarians of Moldova harvested almost half of the yield of the main food crop – wheat, sown at the area of 387.000 ha this year.

The harvesting campaign is successfully being held in four regions, and half of the areas has been already harvested, reported Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry of Moldova on June 18.

The average crop capacity of wheat totals 36 c/ha.

As a reminder, in 1989 Moldavian agrarians received a record yield – 44 c/ha of milling grains.


So, a bang up year for the agrarian sector of Moldova, eh?

Unfortunately,


Moldova's salary arrears down by 35 million lei
Jul. 18, 2008 / [4947]

Chisinau, 18 July /MOLDPRES/ - Overall salary arrears stood at 80 million lei (5.1 million euros) in June 2008, and decreased by 34.7 million lei against January 2007 and by 9.9 million lei as compared with the arrears registered in December 2007, according to data by the Moldovan Economics and Trade Ministry.

The biggest salary arrears are registered in agriculture - 44.5 million lei, industry - 23.6 million lei, including the processing industry - 18.9 million lei.

At the same time, 12.4 million lei are arrears of state-owned enterprises, 50.6 million lei of private enterprises and 17 million lei of public/private enterprises.

The issue of salary arrears is discussed monthly at the meetings of the National Commission for joint consultations and negotiations, which are attended by leaders of the enterprises with the biggest salary arrears.

Currently, the state Labour Inspection service is investigating the reasons for salary arrears and is considering the possibility of closing down insolvent enterprises.


18 July 2008

the Hot Political News on the Moldovan (Romanian) Streets

- Presa araba se teme ca relatiile dintre George W. si Laura ar putea provoca cel de-al treilea razboi mondial

T
ranslation? Arabic press feel that the sour relations between George W and Laura could cause the Third World War....

Additionally...

Daca exista un sambure de adevar in faptul ca secretarul american de Stat Condoleezza Rice are un rol important in acest divort, povestea de dragoste dintre Carla Bruni si presedintele francez Nicolas Sarkozy va pali.

If even a sliver of truth exists that Sec of State Condeleeza Rice has a role in the cause of this divorce, the story of the relationship between Carla Bruni and French President Nicolas Sarkoy will pale.

Oh yes, did everyone else know that Condi and President Bush were having an affair? Because apparently all Moldovans think they are.

17 July 2008

Satire That's Actually Funny







Link

16 July 2008

Wow.

Nationally, RealtyTrac shows 261,255 properties received foreclosure notices during May -- a 7 percent increase from the previous month and a 48 percent boost from May 2007.

The report also states one in every 483 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing during the month.

And it's not just homes.

Senior centers, office buildings and even churches have been forced to deal with the threat of losing their million- dollar real estate to the lenders, forcing them to scramble to escape foreclosure auctions.

Exploring Moldova's wine caves

There's a really great article in the LA Times by Kay Mills about Moldova's Wine Trade. Here's a link and an excerpt:


By Kay Mills
Special to The Times

July 20, 2008

Few people, myself included, know much about Moldova, and fewer still have visited here. This former Soviet republic is sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine. Its two state-run wineries, Cricova and Milestii Mici, have almost 100 miles of underground winemaking and storage facilities in old limestone mines.

A few months later, I was riding in a Toyota 4Runner through those caves, one of the more surreal experiences in my life.

The caves at Cricova and Milestii Mici are so big, 34 and 62 miles long, respectively, that you drive through in a car or ride a small electric train. With winemaker Sergeiu Galusca as our guide, my driver, translator and I took the Toyota through Milestii Mici, 12 miles southwest of Chisinau. At times, we were more than 200 feet underground.

During our tour, Galusca pushed a button and a hidden limestone door rolled open. Behind it the winery hid 10,000 bottles of the winery's best stock -- placed there during Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign in the mid-1980s. That effort led to the destruction of many Moldovan vineyards and threatened the winery's historic collection.

The next day, we drove to Cricova, nine miles north of the capital. Most tourists ride a little red train through the caves, but we drove the faithful Toyota with our guide.

After passing racks of sparkling wine in production, we saw Cricova's historic collection. Its oldest wine is a 1902 vintage, kept on its side under a bell jar so no one will disturb it. The collection also includes 1930s vintages that the Soviets confiscated from No. 2 Nazi Hermann Goering as World War II ended.

We toured five tasting rooms, each done in a different style. One is an opulent, official-looking room with a table seating 25 to a side. Here, our guide explained, many state documents are signed.

Looking Back

So looking back on this blog a bit, and thinking on some of the questions I've received, I have realized a few things....

that I've said I'd talk about stuff and then I totally didn't.

that my generally whiney-ness could be interpreted as being miserable.

One big thing, at least in my mind, is that I never mentioned how my big presentation went, the one I was so scared about... which, if I was reading the blog would indicate to me that it went badly.

Not so.

In fact, I rocked the house. People were very impressed. And then confused when they tried to talk to me like a regular person afterwards and I was all "huh??"

But as far as first tests go, I did a really good job, and impressed my organization and all organizations in the network.

Now... I am not the director and/or producer of any of the videos on this blog, and neither is the organization that I work for. I just ran into them on youtube. I thought that was pretty obvious with the documentaries, but maybe not so much with the Chisinau one. But no, definitely not me.

As far as being unhappy... yes, I miss Chicago and that ain't no lie, and I also do think I had the second month slump... but think of it this way - I don't write when I'm happy. I forgot because I'm in a hurry, or have too many things to do.

Like, for instance, I went to this place called Vada Lui Voda last weekend for a birthday party. It's like a resort village on the Nistru river across from Romania. And I had an AWESOME time. It was so much fun, and it was so nice to get away.

Also, I haven't really been working, but I've still had to go to work. This makes for crankiness. However, I've just submitted and received (almost complete) approval for a two year work plan with some pretty heavy projects that should keep me busy. One national campaign needing to be built from the ground up and the creation of two independent centers for disparate populations in Chisinau. And those are just the long term.... to say nothing of all the forums and seminars and raising volunteerism across the country...

I like being busy.

It does suck being broke all the time. The curse of living in Chisinau has reared its ugly, ugly head. Things are going to get much more messy when lock-down (the three-month period newbies are not allowed to leave their site) ends, which is at the beginning of august. At that time, all my friends are going to be coming into Chisinau, wanting to hang.... and I'll be broke. Oh, and on vacation, because my organization closes for three weeks.

Le Sigh. Cum trist.

So I've set up work and a school for myself. Translation of things for the webpage into english, research for funding, and in-depth language study, 3 hours a day. I'm excited about it. And maybe the homework will keep me busy enough so I won't be able to go out.

Yea right. Cine este de mare mincinoasa? Who is the big liar? That would be me. Asta ar fi de mine.

I think that's all I wanted to cover.

Me? Not depressed.
Videos? Not Mine.
Organization? Can't give you the info unless I know who you are, G.
Miss and love everyone? Yes and yes.

this summer, I'm going to fall in love... (with a new band)

Lately, I've been listening to a new band called Vama Veche. I've been trying to listen to more Romanian music, romanian news, etc. It's better than surrounding myself with English, ya? Anyway, this band is a ton of fun, and I genuinely, genuinely like them.



He's singing about how this summer he's going to fall in love (cu tiine - which means "with you")

The google dance of Joy


Many of you (oh so many of you), have heard me rhapsodize about how much I love the company google. About how if I had *any* money, I would buy stock in this company, (currently $524 and change, having risen a full $8 today despite the general economic downturn)....


About how it's like google reads my mind, because the minute I think of an application that would be useful, they turn-around and come up with it (think about bundled email in gmail, embedded chats, the amazing notebook, sharing documents, converting documents back and forth between programs - ahhh, it's magic).


Oh google, now you had to go and outdo yourself, forcing me to embarrass myself in fawning gratitude. You see friends, Google has created a translator bot. And not just any old translation application, that you stick a word into and hope it comes out okay, but a real, working, "you can put phrases into me and I'll spit it back at you conjugated and in complete sentences" application. And it's in Romanian.

No Translator Application is ever in Romanian. I mean, not the good ones. Oddly to me, the google translator spells it Rumanian (a very old spelling I think) but hell, if that's the price I'll even start to spell it that way! There's nothing I won't forgive after this! That whole You-Tube thing, pish-posh, whatever, all our data is being watched by somebody anyway. People need to get over it. Google is still a wonderful, amazing, do no evil company and I love them.


My only sadness is that I could never work for them and spread this love in a professional capacity. Apparently google only hires the best of the best (meaning Ivy League). Seriously guys, you don't know what you're missing in me. I am your biggest advocate.



So what does this mean, and why am I writing about this so much??? Well, for one thing, having the ability to translate things completely has made the task of learning a language FUN again. Seriously, almost a joy. I write something, try to translate it myself, see what google thinks....

So thank you google. You have, yet again, forced me to be your ridiculously adoring fan.

McCain defends non-existant country...again again

UPDATE JUNE 15: McCain made the same mistake again today during a town hall meeting in New Mexico.




Hm..... seriously, Senator McCain needs better handlers. Or better alzheimers medicine. Or more sleep. Poor guy.

15 July 2008

Tee Hee.

Of course, I am a completely unbiased and apolitical Peace Corps volunteer....

However....

when somethings funny, it's just funny... and sad, too, obviously. Observe.

McCain avoids Viagra question
Posted: 12:19 PM ET

From
CNN

Watch McCain field a question about Viagra and health insurance.

(CNN) – John McCain is known for his frequent chats with reporters and his willingness to discuss nearly any issue.

But at least one is off-limits, the Republican presidential nominee suggested Wednesday: Viagra.

"I certainly do not want to discuss that issue," the Arizona senator said aboard his "Straight Talk Express" bus in Ohio when asked about his views on health insurance covering the medication.

But the off-message topic was raised from a member of McCain’s own team: national co-chairwoman Carly Fiorina, who had said earlier women often express frustration over the fact many health insurance plans cover Viagra but not birth control medication.

"Let me give you a real, live example, which I've been hearing a lot about from women. There are many health insurance plans that will cover Viagra but won't cover birth control medication. Those women would like a choice," she said Monday.

A McCain spokesman later said the Arizona senator supported competition in the healthcare industry, presumably allowing women to nix policies that cover Viagra but not their specific needs.

Election Center: Where McCain stands on healthcare

McCain has voted against Senate measures that sought to require insurance companies to cover birth control medication.

The exchange also followed a town-hall event during which McCain touched upon the abortion issue, a matter that traditionally hasn’t animated him on the stump.

After praising President Bush’s efforts to expand faith-based programs, McCain pivoted: “I also think that we should do everything that we can, and one of those in my view is respect for human life both born and the unborn.”

The comments led to a standing ovation — his first at that event.

McCain Defends Czechoslovakia, A Non-Existent Country -- Again

And a double tee hee!

(I've bolded something, just to pull it out for you. Really, anytime somebody gets schooled by President Bush in geography, you gotta ask yourself some questions...)

John McCain expressed concern about relations between Russia and a country that hasn't existed for quite some time. According to a rough pool report transcript, he said:

"I was concerned about a couple of steps that the Russian government took in the last several days. One was reducing the energy supplies to Czechoslovakia. Apparently that is in reaction to the Czech's agreement with us concerning missile defense, and again some of the Russian now announcement they are now retargeting new targets, something they abandoned at the end of the Cold War, is also a concern."

Czechoslovakia, of course, split into two separate countries in 1993.

It isn't the first time McCain has made this mistake, as TPM's Greg Sargent points out:

Around three months ago, McCain told Don Imus that he would "work closely with Czechoslovakia and Poland and other countries" to install the European Missile Defense System in Poland, according to the Democratic National Committee. (The slip-up was referenced elsewhere, too.)


And during a GOP debate in October 2007, McCain said: "The first thing I would do is make sure that we have a missile defense system in place in Czechoslovakia and Poland, and I don't care what his objections are to it."

There are more: in 1994, McCain suggested NATO be expanded to include Czechoslovakia. At a dinner in 1999, he "twice thanked the ambassador from 'Czechoslovakia' for his efforts," according to the Washington Post.

In fact, George Bush himself dinged McCain for this blunder back in the 2000 primary. Steve Clemons writes:

Second, before Republicans condemn Dems for being picky on this, let's not forget that in the 2000 campaign, when McCain also screwed up Czechoslovakia, it was none other than George W. Bush who said it deserved to be a campaign issue: "A guy gets up and quizzes me [on world leaders] ... but John McCain says something about the 'ambassador to Czechoslovakia.' Well, I know there is no Czechoslovakia [there's a Czech Republic and a Slovakia], but yet it didn't make the nightly national news."

This longstanding confusion persists despite McCain's numerous visits to both the Czech Republic and Slovakia (he described his 2001 meeting with Czech President Vaclav Havel as "an experience . . . I can tell my Grandchildren about.") In fact, the former U.S. ambassador to Slovakia endorsed McCain's candidacy for president. Maybe he should offer the candidate some geography lessons too.

Rachel Weiner

The Huffington Post, July 14




14 July 2008

really random

in an article about Obama, Abner Mikva (one of the coolest men to ever walk the planet) had something to say:

Chicago taught Obama a key lesson, Mikva noted. He was an outsider with an unusual name, but he was able to overcome those obstacles. "This is a big city, but it's a very open city," Mikva said. "People plant their flag in Chicago, and this is where they're from. You can be accepted quickly. Being here has given Barack a very large comfort zone."

Not to continue my excessive talk about a city I no longer live in, but that line just kind of struck me: "People plant their flag in Chicago, and this is where they're from."

It's interesting being here, not knowing what to say when people ask me where I'm from ... I was born in St Louis, yes, but my home is Chicago. I've hedged on this question, answered it indirectly... It's an odd thing. But a city that is *still* made up of immigrants welcomes those even from the next state over, and maybe if I just admit that I've planted my own personal Rian flag, I'll finally know what to say when I get asked that question next time.

09 July 2008

World Leaders Discuss Global Food Crisis Over 18-Course Meal


Like anybody would want beetroot foam, anyhow.

A few words on the food crisis, though.

I remember before I left the states bitterly complaining about how high the cost of food was getting. It seemed like the cost of milk had doubled, as had all dairy products, really...

And if you wanted to get nice fruits and vegetables, well, forget about it.

In Moldova, in the four months since I've been here, the price of flour has doubled. The price of rice has tripled. I'm not sure of the price of corn products, but you can bet they've skyrocketed as well. In *four months.*

Right now, maybe this isn't that big of a deal because Moldova is rich in fruits and vegetables in the summer. But come autumn and winter, things could get seriously messy.


From the Washington Post:

"In Chicago, Minneapolis and Kansas City, traders watched from the pits early last summer as wheat prices spiked amid mediocre harvests in the United States and Europe and signs of prolonged drought in Australia. But within a few weeks, the traders discerned an ominous snowball effect -- one that would eventually bring down a prime minister in Haiti, make more children in Mauritania go to bed hungry, even cause American executives at Sam's Club to restrict sales of large bags of rice.

As prices rose, major grain producers including Argentina and Ukraine, battling inflation caused in part by soaring oil bills, were moving to bar exports on a range of crops to control costs at home. It meant less supply on world markets even as global demand entered a fundamentally new phase. Already, corn prices had been climbing for months on the back of booming government-subsidized ethanol programs. Soybeans were facing pressure from surging demand in China. But as supplies in the pipelines of global trade shrank, prices for corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, rice and other grains began shooting through the roof.

At the same time, food was becoming the new gold. Investors fleeing Wall Street's mortgage-related strife plowed hundreds of millions of dollars into grain futures, driving prices up even more. By Christmas, a global panic was building. With fewer places to turn, and tempted by the weaker dollar, nations staged a run on the American wheat harvest.

Foreign buyers, who typically seek to purchase one or two months' supply of wheat at a time, suddenly began to stockpile. They put in orders on U.S. grain exchanges two to three times larger than normal as food riots began to erupt worldwide. This led major domestic U.S. mills to jump into the fray with their own massive orders, fearing that there would soon be no wheat left at any price.

"Japan, the Philippines, [South] Korea, Taiwan -- they all came in with huge orders, and no matter how high prices go, they keep on buying," said Jeff Voge, chairman of the Kansas City Board of Trade and also an independent trader. Grains have surged so high, he said, that some traders are walking off the floor for weeks at a time, unable to handle the stress.

"We have never seen anything like this before," Voge said. "Prices are going up more in one day than they have during entire years in the past. But no matter the price, there always seems to be a buyer. . . . This isn't just any commodity. It is food, and people need to eat."

People in the south of Moldova wake up every day and pray for rain. Maybe in the United States in the Midwest, y'all are waking up every day and praying for less rain.

Personally, at this point I'm praying for a discontinuation of subsidies to the farming industry for biofuels (well, to the farming industry as a whole, really), an investment and institution of subsidies to public transportation i.e. a national train system, and a release on tariffs from places like Brazil, who have managed to make turning sludge sugar into fuel an act of art.

But that's just me.

03 July 2008

An Education in Moldova

I ran across a few things today that I thought might be of interest to those who want to know more of the country that I'm living in. Unfortunately, I can't embed them into this blog, but I can link to them as I describe each. This is slightly over an hour of material on Moldova folks, a goldmine, actually, if you're seriously interested in where I'm living. Poftim.

The first video is about Moldova in general, and it does do a fairly good job of describing much of the situation. It does a very good job of describing the economic and infrastructure story of Moldova. And although the financial situation has gotten better since 2001, Moldova is still the Poorest Country in Europe.

Moldova: Europe's Poorest Country

There was actually an article that came out the other day with updated data that is applicable:

Chisinau, 30 June /MOLDPRES/ - The average monthly salary was 2,370 lei (152 euros) in Moldova in January-May 2008, increasing by 27 per cent against the first five months of 2007.

On this period, the average monthly remuneration in the budgetary sector was 1,862 lei, and in the real sector of the economy - 2,639 lei, according to data put out by the National Statistics Bureau (BNS).

According to the BNS director-general Vladimir Golovatiuc, the average salary of an employee in the financial sector was of 5,328 lei in January-May 2008, in constructions - 3,149 lei, in transactions - 3,003, in industry - 2,842, in public administration - 2,597, in health and social assistance - 2,075 lei, etc.

On the other hand, the lowest average monthly salary was recorded in agriculture and forestry - 1,149 lei, fish breeding - 1,251, education - 1,632, etc.

The average remuneration was 24 per cent higher last May against the same month of 2007.

The above data covers all the budgetary institutions, as well as the enterprises from the real sector, except for those situated in Transnistria, Golovatiuc said.

I would like to remind people that, as of today, 10$ = 100 Lei (around), so when it says the average salary has jumped to 2370, that means the average person makes $237 per month. It is not my place to discuss my family's situation, but suffice it to say that my living here doubles their monthly income, and we live in a government subsidized building (making our rent very very low). Rent in Chisinau is seriously expensive, shockingly expensive to me, and food prices here have tripled since I've been here.



A result of the country being so poor is the massive exodus of people working abroad. This has left many villages practically empty, and also left a veritable army of children without parents. I believe that I talked about some of the children (who barely deserve the name) I met in Peresecina, girls 12, 13 years old that are taking care of younger siblings, doing all the chores, etc. The following video actually highlights this phenomenon.

Left Behind


And finally, a video on the Transnistrian conflict. This video brings up a lot of stuff, and is frankly a little scary. Moldova is, tragically, known for being an inbetween state, a poor state, and this had fed into a large human trafficking problem. Maybe this is a larger problem in Transnistria, and I am absolutely willing to believe that to be true, I'm also not going to say it's not a problem in the general population in Moldova.

Recently, Moldova has been smacked by the world community for its part in global trafficking, and this has caused somewhat of a stir. The following was reported about a recent council meeting: (President) Voronin asked bodies in charge of the issue to quickly adopt a comprehensive plan of measures which would lead to concrete results. He concluded that the issue of human trafficking is of utmost importance for ensuring the interests and security of Moldovan citizens, but, he said, it is also a question of prestige, of Moldova s image.

I added the bold in that last sentence there.

(Sometimes, politics in this country reminds me so much of Chicago politics I can't even stand it)

Europe's Black Hole

So, poftim. (Poftim, by the way, means just about anything. In this context, it means "there ya go." It can also mean "excuse me?" or "you're welcome" or "thank you" or "I didn't understand a word you just said". It's a general, all purpose word that I have begun to use in abundance.

Poftim.

A video of my new city: Chisinau

Mistakes

Many people go into the Peace Corps, and leave boyfriends and girlfriends behind. This becomes, inevitably, a problem. People pine, romanticizing the past and how great things were. Or they move on, and find something else.

I didn't come here with a boyfriend, but I have realized something: I'm in love with a damn city.

I'm so homesick for Chicago it's killing me. But it's not for people necessarily (although, god knows, I miss my family tons, talking to my grandmother, and the fact that I'll miss christmas with my nieces and nephew still hasn't kicked in yet), but right now I'm missing a Chicago Summer. And that really sucks, because there is nothing like a Chicago summer.

I made the mistake of watching the Chicago Top Chef the past few days (a Chicagoan won - Woot!) and seeing all the places... the gay Whole Foods, the space where they did Restaurant Wars was the space where I won Fight Club, I'm almost positive.... I seem to be inundated with sightings of sailboats, even on a Moldovan calendar, although there is no sailing in Moldova so I'm not really sure what that's about.

It's with a degree of certainty that I write that this homesickness is part of a general lethargy and even a slight bit of ennui. I've been here four total months, and I've completely lost the desire to learn the language in the past week. I'm not yet doing anything substantial at work, although that's about to go through a world of change, whether my org knows this or not. And I very much dislike living with a family. I feel like my wings have been clipped. I can't sleep at all, (I'm literally dosing myself with benedryl to get sleep) but I realized that maybe my mind is staying up because the only time I have to myself is when everyone is asleep. I have no privacy, and as much as I like my family, I'm too old to have a 10 year old sister and too old to be living with a mother.

I'm such a whiner though, and I know this. I have a much better situation than everyone else, living in the city. Chisinau is cool I guess. Looking at things from this perspective, and how big a whiner I am being, it cannot be denied that there may have been serious problems had they put me in a village.

But I wonder how many people loved their life as much as I did before making a decision to join Peace Corps. And maybe I am romanticizing! I know I had issues, and I got stressed.

But I always loved my city. Seven years into living there, and driving down Lakeshore Drive would still give me goosebumps and put butterflies in my stomach.

I haven't the slightest intention of leaving Moldova, and I'm sure I'm just going through a normal initial placement slump. But I really want summer to be over already, so I can stop thinking about the Taste (which I actually hated! But I loved the vibe it gave the city) and the 4th (or 3rd, in Chicago) up on the rooftops, Chicago Architecture Foundation tours, sitting outside at T's, and sailing...

I really need to stop watching tv shows that highlight Chicago, and I need to stop reading the Chicago Trib and Sun-Times, and cancel all my e-subs to various cultural things. I think trying to hold on so tight has been a mistake, and it's making the transition harder.

But it's hard to let go when you're in love.

 


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