JP - I forgot you have that helmet! I bought it for inline skating many years back. It never sustained a blow while I was using it, so it should be tip-top! Remember that those helmets should be trashed after one big hit - just in case you've taken a fall in it...
Also, JP, this will warm your heart: "Vladimir Bukovksy, the 63-year old former Soviet dissident, fears that the European Union is on its way to becoming another Soviet Union. In a speech he delivered in Brussels last week Mr Bukovsky called the EU a “monster” that must be destroyed, the sooner the better, before it develops into a fullfledged totalitarian state."
Maybe your beloved hammer and sickle will fly above Europe / the EUSSR after all, with the jackboot firmly placed on people's necks...
Or maybe not...
C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 2/28/2006 12:30:00 PM

 
Hey, all. I don't mean to overwhelm the blog with my postings on various cultural and religious matters... If I am, I can move this stuff somewhere else.

I just want to link to a journal entry by Michael Totten, a blogger who is currently in the Kurdistan part of Iraq, writing about his travels.

Totten visited the most holy ground of the Yedzidi religion, where the Yedzidi say the universe was born.
I've never heard of the Yedzidi; some parts of their religion are fascinating. The central figure of their religion is the Peacock Angel, Melek Taus. Melek Taus is a fallen angel who redeemed himself, thus Melek Taus is equated with Satan by the Muslims who live near the Yedzidi.
The story of Melek Taus' fall is similar to the story in the apocryphal Book of Adam and Eve, where God created the angels and asked them to bow only to Him. Then God created mankind and asked the angels to bow to man, as well. Melek Taus/the Fallen Angel refused to bow to man, and would only bow to God, thus disobeying God's command.
I find it fascinating that in the Yedzidi religion, this fallen angel then redeemed himself and became the central figure in the religion...

Gotta love the Internet!
C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 2/23/2006 03:10:00 PM

 
H:
Another item to add to my list below:
The cover story of Newsweek International this week is entitled:
Stuck in Place: The Myth of Women's Equality in Europe
On the cover is a picture of a woman's legs with a chain clamped around one ankle.
From the article:

It sounds impossible, but it's true. For all the myths of equality that Europe tells itself, the Continent is by and large a woeful place for a woman who aspires to lead.
...
Among Europe's myriad problems, this one is huge—with ramifications way beyond gender relations. In fact, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Europe's future hinges on it.
...
The result is a system where most European women do some kind of work outside the home, but relatively few enjoy genuine upward mobility.
...
Consider as well the double-edged benefits of part-time work—also held up in Europe as a solution for working mothers. In reality, it's a trap for those who want to get ahead.
...
The system doesn't help women break out of this downward spiral. To the contrary, most European countries base their tax structures around the notion of a single breadwinner. The result: taxwise, it's often advantageous for families if the mother doesn't work. Germany is exhibit A.

Interesting... And, it's in Newsweek!
C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 2/22/2006 10:25:00 AM

 
JP - what's up with the mysterious black goo bubbling from the streets in downtown L.A.?
What are people saying in your 'hood?
C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 2/21/2006 06:11:00 PM

 
H - I agree; it would be interesting to examine how access to medical care effects quality of life in the U.S. versus Europe. Keep in mind that, although Europeans have easier access to medical care, I've read that the quality of that care is significantly lower than in the U.S. I need to find a study about that though.

Debt is another important issue, and I haven't read any comparisons between the two areas.

At this point, what we do know is:

1) The average poor American has better living conditions than the average (non-poor!) European. See my post of June 1, 2005 discussing the Swedish study which demonstrated this. (I would link it, but I can't get the links to work.)
2) The EU average GDP per capita is lower than 46 of the 50 American states. The average GDP per capita in the EU is higher than the average only in Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana and West Virginia. (See 6/1/2005 as well.)
3) American workers have as much leisure time as German workers, if not even more, if you combine paid and unpaid work. See my post on February 7, 2006 discussing this.
4) Demography is very important. Not only are birth rates down tremendously (read the piece by Mark Steyn I linked on 1/11/2006), but as Steyn points out in a piece today in The Australian,

The countries cited are going out of business. Seventeen European nations are now at what demographers call "lowest-low" fertility - 1.3 births per woman, the point at which you're so far down the death spiral you can't pull out.

In theory, those countries will find their population halving every 40 years or so. In practice, it will be quicker than that, as the savvier youngsters figure there's no point sticking around a country that's turned into one big undertaker's waiting room: not every pimply burger flipper is going to want to work himself into the ground to pay for new shuffleboard courts at the old folks' home.

In other words, young people will leave these countries in droves to avoid paying the enormous costs involved in supporting their older population, thus accelerating the demographic downward trend.

On another related note, it looks like China will never become a "hyper-power" to rival the United States. Why? Steyn again: Its population will get old before it gets rich.
More detail on that here.

Interesting times we live in...
C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 2/16/2006 05:22:00 PM

 
Good snow stories, XO. Allentown would be good to ride around in the snow in - quite a few hills.

Good link to the Zakaria article. I read his stuff in Newsweek all the time and I think he's got a good sense of the reality of a lot of things. The only problem I have with his article is when he talks about the income levels of people in certain European countries compared to the US. One has to factor into the discussion the fact that many of the countries he cited have socialized medicine, hence it's easier in that respect of families to live on lower incomes. Of course, this in no way makes up for the wage gap, but it is an important thing to think about. I think it would be interesting to look at citizen debt in certain EU countries vs. US and asian countries. Americans have a lot of debt on average (for college students it's something like $9000, for families I am sure much higher), and the UK, with their intermediate wage status between the US and EU is quickly catching up to us. I wonder if people in Sweden have high credit card debt? It would interesting to see if there is a correlation between high income on average in a country and high average credit card debt. just something to think about. C, let me know if you come across anything like that.

Hope all are well. Looking forward to your birthday, Dad! the big 7-0. We'll have to take you out and get tattooed or something. ha.

love to all,
H
- posted by H @ 2/14/2006 02:45:00 PM

 
26.9 inches of snow in Manhattan yesterday.
That's the new record. They've been keeping track since the mid-1800s.

The thing is, this storm doesn't feel nearly as bad as the great winters of 1993 and 1996. Talking about it at the office, we think it is because those winters had continuous snow, all winter long.
One big snowstorm (not even officially a blizzard) in the middle of February doesn't feel as bad.
Thankfully, the storm hit on a weekend, which allowed the City to clear things up by Monday morning. Which the City did, admirably.
So this one doesn't feel anything like those storms in the 1990s.

(Here are my stories of those storms:

1993: I was in Miami Beach with Walter and Matzinger. I stood in line in Miami International Airport for 8 hours on that Sunday, waiting to book a new ticket: got the earliest available: the next Thursday. Thankfully, W&M were staying another week in Miami Beach, so I was able to sleep in their hotel room. Many, many others were not so lucky.
The day after the storm was Sanjay's infamous break-in into our head dorm RA's room (through the ceiling!). The breakers-in were ratted out by one of their members and they all went on academic probation and Sanjay couldn't join a fraternity...

1996: The storm hit a day or two before I flew back from Hong Kong (via Germany!). Took the bus from Newark to Allentown. No cabs available, so my stubborn ass walked the couple-hour trek through the snowy sidewalks, carrying 3 bags, back to my room. Upon arrival, I had 12 messages from Grossmutter, who was practically having a heart attack at my not calling her back. She thought I had expired in a snowdrift somewhere. Called her and calmed her down.
The next week, Sanjay and I went tearing around the Allentown alleyways in his beat-up Honda Accord, smashing into snowdrifts left and right, powersliding through intersections, etc. Incredible fun!
Now those were real storms....
Long parenthetical over!)

P.S. When the meme has reached Newsweek, you know it's true:
The Decline and Fall of Europe
C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 2/13/2006 02:42:00 PM

 
wow, c, that's great news! I would definitely not be able to go that game, as rory and amy are getting married on 6/24. sounds like fun though. for some reason I have been googling all of my old friends in Germany, and sent a few emails to them today. 5 years is entirely too long to go without a visit back. Whether or not I go to Germany this summer really just depends on a lot of things...

dad, what is a good weekend for us to come for engagement toasting and other fun things? we are trying to coordinate with rory and amy so that they can share in the celebration.
it should be soon though, otherwise we overlap into your birthday month, and of course there needs to be a celebration for that!!! and we couldn't possibly have two visits in one month. now that would a little excessive.

cold here! work is fine. our 8th trip to Indy went off without a hitch. good flights, soft landings, early arrivals.

my love to all,
H
- posted by H @ 2/09/2006 05:07:00 PM

 
I got some good news in my email last week, and I forgot to tell you guys:
In the lottery for World Cup 2006 tickets, I got an allocation!
So S and I have two tickets (100 Euros each) to the June 22nd game between the U.S. and Ghana, in Nuremberg.
I think I got pretty lucky - according to this press release, 300,000 tickets were available. 677,900 applicants requested 6,000,000 tickets in total. So the demand was twenty times the supply! Even if each applicant had requested only 1 ticket, an applicant had only a 44.25% chance of getting an allocation.
So like I said, I got lucky!
The next sales phase, which is "first come, first served" unlike the last one, a lottery, begins on February 15, so fire up your MasterCards and Internet browsers so you guys can meet us in Nuremberg!
C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 2/08/2006 01:18:00 PM

 
Wow.
The entire editorial staff of the New York Press (an alternative weekly) resigned their positions today, after the paper's publisher backed down from printing the Mohammed cartoons.
I used to read the NYP when I was at NYU, but haven't really in years. The owner sold it a few years back, and it seems to have gone downhill since then.
The repercussions of the cartoons keep spreading...
C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 2/07/2006 11:13:00 PM

 
There's an interesting article here about the length of the work week and the amount of leisure time American workers have, as well as some comparisons with European (especially German) workers. One surprising finding by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston is that, over the last 40 years, leisure time for American men has increased by 6-8 hours per week, and leisure time for American women has increased by 4-8 hours per week. In addition, the largest increases in leisure time were enjoyed by the less-educated portion of the workforce.

Another study, out of Utrecht University, found that American men and German men work about the same number of hours (paid and unpaid), while German women work about 1.5 hours more per week than American women.

In other words, American workers have higher incomes and as much leisure time, if not more, than German workers. Which goes against the convention wisdom.
As they say, read the whole thing!
(Hat tip: Instapundit)
C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 2/07/2006 12:13:00 PM

 
yes, steelers won. I thought it was kind of a boring game in a sense. I mean, the Steelers barely got a 1st down in the first 1/2 of the game...
there were bursts of luckly plays and errors on teh side of the seahawks which caused the Steelers to make those huge long running plays that resulted in touch downs. I personally thought it was kind of an unsatisfying superbowl.
but that's just me.
going to Indy again tonight. 8th time around. can't wait to eat lovely sushi at our favorite restaurant there tomorrow for lunch. it's the bright spot in our visits. flying back tuesday night ,arriving in PHL at 6 pm.

all from me.
love to all,
H
- posted by H @ 2/06/2006 01:36:00 PM

 
Steelers win! 21-10. Not the best game ever, but they won it!
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 2/06/2006 11:31:00 AM

 
Regarding the Mohammed cartoons, the U.S. State Department chose appeasement today.
"These cartoons are indeed offensive to the belief of Muslims," State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said in answer to a question. "We all fully recognize and respect freedom of the press and expression but it must be coupled with press responsibility. Inciting religious or ethnic hatreds in this manner is not acceptable."
I wonder if that is a legal requirement - freedom of the press must be coupled with press responsibility. Sounds like a recipe for repression to me, but I'm a First Amendment absolutist.

Michelle Malkin has posted some pictures from a demonstration in London today. Here is what some of the protester's signs say:

Freedom Go to Hell
Be Prepared for the Real Holocaust
Europe You Will Pay. Your 9/11 is on its Way!!
Behead Those Who Insult Islam
Slay Those Who Insult Islam
Butcher Those Who Mock Islam
Exterminate Those Who Slander Islam
Annihilate Those Who Insult Islam!!

So, is it time to get prepared for the real Holocaust?
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 2/03/2006 03:29:00 PM

 
Regarding the Mohammed cartoons, more European newspapers are standing up for free speech. The cartoons have been reprinted in Norway, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Holland.
Wikipedia has an article about the cartoons here, and the page is undergoing an edit war, where some people repeatedly remove the cartoons from the article about the cartoons, while others continuously put them back. The discussion of the Wikipedia page, here, is an interesting read. For example, some Wiki editors point out that Wikipedia’s page on Piss Christ has a picture of the artwork, even though it is very offensive to some…

What I am trying to figure out is the basis for the anti-iconism. It apparently isn’t in found the Koran, and some branches of Islam don’t ban icons. I can’t find a source for the belief in any of the articles about the Mohammed cartoons. If you guys know what the source is, please let me know – I’m very interested.

Dad – I’m glad you addressed the issue. What concerns me is that one group’s religious sensibilities shouldn’t restrict another group’s free speech. If an evangelical Christian is offended by the concept of evolution, should another person be banned from writing about evolution?

Two articles on the cartoons here:
‘First they came for the funny ones’ in the Orlando Sentinal; and
‘Fight the bullies of Islam’ on the RealClearPolitics commentary page.

I think this is a very important freedom of speech issue, and it needs more attention...

C

UPDATE: France has surrendered.
France Soir originally said it had published the images in full to show "religious dogma" had no place in a secular society.
But late on Wednesday its owner, Raymond Lakah, said he had removed managing editor Jacques Lefranc "as a powerful sign of respect for the intimate beliefs and convictions of every individual".
In fairness, I should say that the French newspaper has surrendered.

What it boils down to is: Is there a right to blasphemy?
What do you guys think?
My answer: there is.
C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 2/01/2006 02:36:00 PM