If you are going down, go down in flames!

At the end of the worst presidency in recent memory, we are beginning to see that what Clinton did on the way out is going to be nothing in comparison. That Bush would weaken a rule designed to protect natural resources (wildlife and their habitats) like this is just shameful. That it would in any way be justified in the name of money is even more sickening. Mr. Bush cares about the special interests of a few companies who will make a lot of money at the expense of the vast majority of people. Thank you for wearing your true money comes first face for once. May your ugliness never be forgotten.

The Death of Surfing and Freedom

Today I was reading about how a city in England is trying to increase its tourism industry by constructing an artificial shore reef that will, if succesful, create waves that can then be surfed by surf tourists. The first thing that came to my mind after this was how crowded it would be. Crowded and fake. Like it or not that is the direction that surfing is going anyway. First off Surfing has become a business. Corporations make millions of dollars every year off this hobby (call it lifestyle if you will but that died a long time ago). It has been accepted and popularized by the media. Its even perceived as a good, clean, fun, sporty thing to do.

All this brings us back to crowded surf spots. As the number of surfers increases, there will be an increase in the number of crowds at spots leading to increased anger, fighting, and with all probability deaths. At some point in time law enforcement will be forced to intervene and we may have an organizational system imposed upon us like skateparks do with helmets and waiting in turn etc. This will likely be coupled together with the concept of private waves, that is someone will own the spot where the waves break and be able to control who surfs there and how much it will cost. Welcome to the death of the spirit of surfing and freedom.

Motivation

I am struggling for motivation with both my current class project as well as with my thesis. I am going to go ahead and blame the weather as well as this course that I am taking. Anyway that is about all that is going on. In a few minutes someone will hopefully text me and let me know that I am supposed to go to a meeting where we will discuss some papers we had to read that were really stuff we read already first semester. Sometimes thats the way it is; you review and until it sticks. Blah!

Mess with airport security...if they are this weird

So I think it was last year someone got mad that a certain celebrity made a Dunkin' Donuts add wearing a keffiyah (and if you don't know what that is you might want to use wikipedia). Not only were people irritated with her for wearing one, they were also mad that Urban Outfitters were selling them (luckily I bought one before this became an issue) and so as retail giants often do they made like a reed and blew whichever way the wind carried them.

So here is my idea, if this fashion item has this kind of power and association then what impact will it have one ultra-patriotic airport security guards. So next time you want to mess with them, wear one of these to the airport. Of course the chance is that they ignore it completely but on the other hand there is always the chance that they go off the deep end about. Either way it makes for smugness (until the cavity check of course).

Communal Shower debate

Today I went to the swimming pool as I do about twice a week. I took a shower in a communal area before and after and when I got home I started thinking about how this doesn't happen in the US that much. My question today is why not? What is the reason that people are afraid to take showers in a public area where only members of the same sex are present?

My first thought when trying to understand this phobia from a male perspective would be to assume that many men are rather uncomfortable about their sexuality, and/or they have the assumption that were they to shower in the presence of other men they would become targets of a pick-up attempt. This seems over simplistic however and childish. First off I doubt many gay men go to communal showers and attempt to pick up men they think are straight anyway. Secondly this falls into the mental trap that many straight men have in their perception of homosexuals: that everyone who is gay wants them. Wake up and smell the coffee, they probably aren't interested.

My second big thought about all this is that there is some phobia about exposing one's body to someone else. The underlying idea here is that a person is extremely self conscious about their body and therefore unwilling to put it up for scrutiny. The odd thing about this however is how little people actually wear at a beach on the other hand. My thought on this, as someone who has used communal showers all his life and never found it odd, is that people don't use communal showers for sizing each other up. A shower serves a purpose: to get clean and I doubt anyone stands around looking at each other. I am going to guess that the recent generations obsession with penis size might also be a part of this. If this is part of the problem then I am going to go ahead and say that it is the most irrational reason for not using a shower.

In the end I think that having been raised in a culture that didn't have a problem with communal nudity is probably a part of the puzzle. I also think that since I like my body that might be another reason I don't take issue with these communal showers. Please add your thoughts.

Disturbing storms in Latvia

Today I found out that the Latvian security police has arrested two individuals who have expressed doubt in the countries ability to handle the economy. The one is a musician and the other is a university lecturer. Congratulations Latvia, you are now repressing anyone practicing free speech and that is equivalent with the tactics of the country that you once broke free from. That it was able to happen in the first place is a disgrace, that these two are now being prosecuted is a scandal. I hope that the individuals at the EU take serious notice of this.

Evil Santa

I was thinking for some reason about Santa Claus and his appearance and portrayal in the media. Generally I find him to be a very kitchy figure who doesn't really bring anything new to the myth and instead limits himself to giving us a cheap holiday smile. Enter Robot Santa from Futurama who was designed to give presents to those who are nice, but due to a computer error judges everyone to be bad and therefore goes on massive killing sprees during Christmas, thus leading to everyone locking their doors and hiding on Christmas eve. He is probably one of the best characters on Futurama.

Arrgh!

So this pirate phenomenon is on my mind the last few weeks (I guess it helps that up until the recent terror thing in India this was the main topic in the press). Its funny to think that while we have these vast warships that can launch airplanes and WMDs, we are pretty much helpless in trying to stop piracy. A couple of days ago a cruise ship outran two pirate boats. The reports are saying that shipping companies are turning to private protection firms. Essentially what we are going to have then is some sort of privateer industry that is designed around protecting sea bound vessels. The scary thing to me then is do they really have the legal ability to fire on pirate vessels. I am sure that there is some protection code in the law of the sea (UNCLOS) which the US has yet to ratify (losers).

Yes it is interesting that these massive naval forces are able to do so little, but then on the other hand, they were designed to fight each other instead of small bands of economically disadvantaged Africans who don't really have many other options for entrepreneurship. Of course as a German newspaper has noted, by protecting the ships and not trying to offer the pirates other means of providing income, the wealthy nations are only proving that their capitalist system is exclusionary and that if you are on the outside that is where you belong.

Tuesdays with the rain...

Its raining. That is what happens in Lund. Its dark outside. I don't feel like biking home and getting wet. Plus after that I have to bike to the store and buy some food because I am all out. Then I need to check my bank account to see that I have enough to pay rent and for my medication for the next three months. Doh! Anyway I still don't want to own a car so that is positive.