H:
Cool that you guys had a good time in Death Valley. I've never been there, and I do want to go sometime. When Walter, Matzinger and I took that RV trip in October 2000, we drove 2 1/2 hours north of Las Vegas, before turning west into California (and eventually to Yosemite). We kind of went around Death Valley that time... But I would like to check it out, and your pics would be appreciated!
I talked to JP about the trip, and it sounds like he had a good birthday there!

H and Dad: Regarding the Germany/Islam survey, I don't know if there are comparable surveys in the U.S. But I do find the results interesting, especially the mosque-building question and the "clash of civilizations" question. It might be the case that close to two-thirds (61% or 65% of Germans) of Americans predict greater and greater clashes between Islam and Christianity in the future, or that a strong majority of Americans (56% of Germans) say that no more mosques should be built here until the Saudis allow the building of Christian churches, but I just don't get the feeling that this is the general sentiment here. Maybe living in NYC is skewing my perception of the issue, as NYC is famously left-wing. If you think your communities would agree with the Germans on these issues, that would be interesting.

Dad: Re: anti-Americanism, my feeling is that it has been around for centuries in Europe. During the Cold War, it was suppressed, especially in Germany, as we were the only ones stopping Soviet tanks from rolling into Bonn. But now that the Cold War is long over, anti-Americanism is back on the rise, for all the usual reasons, and perhaps some new ones (and regarding this, one can have interesting arguments on what these new reasons may be...).
Re: Iran - it's funny that you mention "his approach to Iran's desire to build nuclear reactors". After all the cries of "unlateralism" regarding Iraq, the US in recent years has been following a strict multi-lateral approach with Iran. We participate in talks with Iran next to Britain, Germany, France, the UN, etc. But you can never win. What does the administration get for taking a multi-lateral approach? Accusations of "outsourcing" our diplomacy to Europe! In other words, if you deal with another country alone, it's "unilateralism". If you deal with another country in a multi-lateral group, it's "out-sourcing"... Crazy.

On another topic, out of curiosity, if you guys don't mind me asking, what are your (individual and maybe collective) thoughts on Darfur? The U.S. considers what is going on genocide, but the U.N. doesn't, so that's that. Do you think we should intervene in Darfur? If so, uni-laterally, or with allies? And, if so, how is this intervention different that that in Iraq? Of course, if you support leaving the Africans alone to sort out their own messes, that's a valid viewpoint, but then the question is raised, when is intervention ever proper? Was it proper in Bosnia and Kosovo? Would it have been proper in Rwanda in 1994? These are tough questions, and I don't think even high-level policy people in the U.S. have the answers...

Anyway, only 8 days till our trip! Gonna pack this weekend!

Talk to you guys soon! Love you!

C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 6/01/2006 11:44:00 AM