Hello all,

Yet again, it has been too long since I posted. Things have been busy!!

As JP mentioned, in celebration of his birthday we went out to Death Valley, CA. What an amazing place. I will post pictures once the computer at home is up and running. Gavin is setting up a lot of recording equiptment in the basement and has been dismantling computers for the last few days. He just transfered our internet connection to a new computer/motherboard, and hasn't installed photoshop yet. He's quite handy. He did all that with no prior and knowledge, and through consultation with his brother. The picture above is a place we actually took several pictures of, but the above picture is not one of ours. JP, this is the spot we stopped at with the really high winds one the drive out. We stood on the rim of the observation platform, remember?

Dad, have you been to Death Valley? The lowest altitude we were at was 200 ft below sea level. It only went up to roughly 95F when we were camping for two days, which was very fortunate for us. However, while driving through the low levels at sunset on our drive out to the campsite the outside temp thermometer in the car got up to 104F, but we were in the nice, airconditioned environment. The heat is enjoyable though, not humid and sticky. We camped for two nights, visited a waterfall and ran around on sand dunes. I loved the sun and heat, didn't even get sunburned. There's something about Death Valley, that makes you feel energized, as long as you have enough water. We've got some great pictures. The landscape is very "other worldly," and I can't wait to go back. As JP mentioned, we were like wild animals at the buffet sunday night, after having eaten only chips and granola bars (besides Saturday breakfast) for the whole weekend. It was really disgusting. The buffet was about to close so we all got two plates at a time. cheap too - only $13. Christoph, if we do this again next year, you should come along. it isn't an expensive trip at all...

Somehow, I was able to get JP up after only 3 hours of sleep at the hotel Monday morning and got him in a cab to the airport. Radder and Gavin are both marveling over that feat. Gavin and I took a plane back to Philly that got us in at 4 pm, and I took Tuesday off to recoup. Wednesday then I flew to Manchester, NH for our first thin women session for work. It's nice up there, green. I didn't see any flood damage. I came back yesterday morning. We are flying to Boston Saturday morning for a wedding (one of Gavin's friends), returning Sunday afternoon. Sunday night WEEN is playing at a festival in Philly, so Amy and Rory will be in town with friends. I am so glad we have Monday off. Gavin is going to go help a friend of his build a fence, so I will have the day to myself for reflection and maybe a bloody mary.

Am at work, so will get back to talking to skinny women.
Oh, one question. So the Germans have some preconceived notions about Islam. Are there statistics available for Americans' views, asking the same questions? It would be interesting to see if it's jus the Germans who have so many preconceptions, or just most caucasian Westerners.

Love to all,
H
- posted by H @ 5/26/2006 12:11:00 PM

 
Wow. I thought anti-Americanism in Germany might be bad, but it pales in comparison to this:
Opinionjournal.com linked today to an analysis of a study commissioned this month by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung asking Germans about their views on Germany and Islam, and a "Clash of Civilizations".

There are some pretty interesting results:
91% associated Islam with discrimination against women
83% associated Islam with fanaticism
Only 8% associated Islam with peacefulness
61% believed there will be greater and greater clashes between Islam and Christianity
65% counted on clashes between Islam and Christianity in the future

What I found to be the most interesting is that 56% of respondents supported banning the building of mosques in Germany so long as Saudi Arabia and other Islamic states banned the building of Christian churches.
Also, 40% agreed with this statement: "Um zu verhindern, daß es zu viele radikale, gewaltbereite Moslems in Deutschland gibt, sollte man die Ausübung des islamischen Glaubens in Deutschland stark einschränken"

Here are the relevant paragraphs:

Spürbar verdüsterte Vorstellungen

So sind die Deutschen zunehmend der Ansicht, daß ein friedliches Zusammenleben mit der islamischen Welt auf Dauer unmöglich sein wird. Auf die Frage „Was meinen Sie: Können Christentum und Islam friedlich nebeneinander existieren, oder sind diese Religionen zu verschieden, wird es deshalb immer wieder zu schweren Konflikten kommen?“ antworten heute 61 Prozent der Befragten, sie glaubten, es werde immer wieder schwere Konflikte zwischen Islam und Christentum geben.

Formuliert man die Frage etwas genauer und fragt, ob es in Zukunft zu Konflikten zwischen der westlichen und der arabisch-muslimischen Kultur kommen werde, ändern sich die Antworten kaum. In diesem Fall sagen 65 Prozent, sie rechneten mit solchen Konflikten.

Die Vorstellungen der Deutschen über den Islam waren bereits in den vergangenen Jahren negativ, doch sie haben sich in der jüngsten Zeit noch einmal spürbar verdüstert. 91 Prozent der Befragten sagten im Mai 2006, sie dächten bei dem Stichwort Islam an die Benachteiligung von Frauen; im Jahr 2004 hatten 85 Prozent so geurteilt. Die Aussage, der Islam sei von Fanatismus geprägt, teilten vor zwei Jahren 75, jetzt 83 Prozent. Der Islam sei rückwärtsgewandt, sagen heute 62 im Vergleich zu 49 Prozent, er sei intolerant, meinen 71 gegenüber 66 Prozent, und die Ansicht, der Islam sei undemokratisch, hat in den vergangenen zwei Jahren von 52 auf 60 Prozent zugenommen. Die Eigenschaft Friedfertigkeit bescheinigen dem Islam gerade acht Prozent der Deutschen.
...
Angesichts des diffusen Gefühls der Bedrohung und der vermuteten Intoleranz des Islams sinkt die Bereitschaft der Deutschen, ihrerseits Toleranz gegenüber dem muslimischen Glauben zu üben. Der Aussage „Wenn es in manchen islamischen Ländern verboten ist, Kirchen zu bauen, sollte es bei uns auch verboten sein, Moscheen zu bauen“ stimmen 56 Prozent der Befragten zu, nur 30 Prozent sagen, das sähen sie nicht so. Selbst erhebliche Eingriffe in das Grundrecht der Religionsfreiheit würden von einem großen Teil der Bevölkerung befürwortet. Immerhin 40 Prozent reagieren auf die Aussage „Um zu verhindern, daß es zu viele radikale, gewaltbereite Moslems in Deutschland gibt, sollte man die Ausübung des islamischen Glaubens in Deutschland stark einschränken“ mit Zustimmung.

It looks like things will get interesting in Germany, before they get boring...
C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 5/24/2006 04:08:00 PM

 
Dad - Cool you have the new phone! I'll try it out - 717 521 6630!
JP - Glad you and H et al. had a good time. I'll give you a call tonight... I assume your cell is back up and running?
(Speaking of "cell" - Dad - the word "handy" in reference to a cell phone is 100% a German word! No one calls cell phones "handies" on this side of the Atlantic!)
JP - Yeah, apparently, the debate is raging in Germany on whether to warn World Cup tourists that they should stay out of certain parts of Germany for their own safety...
As far as I know, I have the "right" skin color to be safe... It should be interesting! Only 2 1/2 weeks till The Trip!

C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 5/23/2006 05:42:00 PM

 
Dad - Very nice about the lights. It does get pretty dark there in the valley...

Here's a case of deja vu:

Iran eyes badges for Jews: Law would require non-Muslim insignia

Iran's roughly 25,000 Jews would have to sew a yellow strip of cloth on the front of their clothes, while Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would be forced to wear blue cloth. ...

It would make religious minorities immediately identifiable and allow Muslims to avoid contact with non-Muslims.

I thought we dealt with this 60 years ago, but I guess not...

C

UPDATE: Opinionjournal has a link to an Israeli Middle East expert who claimed on a Montreal talk radio station that this story is false or old.
I love James Taranto's take: "If it is true, it goes to prove Karl Marx's observation that history repeats, first as tragedy, then as Farsi."

Heh.
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 5/19/2006 12:53:00 PM

 
Dad:

I got your letter. Thank you! Thanks also for the 90 Euros in cash. Definitely helpful for when we first arrive in Rome.

The noise-suppression headphones are still available on Amazon. Do you want me to order a pair for you?

The New Jersey Law Network has a FAQ page on wills, estates, etc.

I think questions and answers relevant to your question are here:

9) Do I need to file a formal accounting if I represent an estate?

The answer is no as most Estates in New Jersey are settled without formal court proceedings. A representative may, however, file an informal accounting with the court or obtain a written agreement/consent form from all of the beneficiaries to the Estate that dispenses with the accounting, approves the actions of the representative and provides for the method or manner of distribution.

13) What is the personal representative required to do?

They are required to collect and safeguard all of the assets of the Estate, pay the debts and taxes and turnover the balance of the Estate funds to the beneficiaries.

I think 9) addresses your question. If Grossmutter's estate was settled without formal court proceedings, then there seems to be no requirement for a formal accounting. The second sentence of the answer to 9) seems to apply to formal court proceedings only.

This page, listing "Executor Duties and Responsibilities", does not list a formal accounting as a duty or responsibility.

I searched around for an answer to your question, and couldn't find anything conclusive. The closest I came is the FAQ above, and this page, providing "ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT PROBATE AND ADMINISTRATION OF AN ESTATE", which has this question:

Basically, what is the Executor/Administrator required to do?

The Executor or Administrator is, in general, required to collect and safeguard all of the assets of the estate and eventually to pay the debts of the decedent, as well as any taxes due, and be able to provide an accounting of his actions to the beneficiaries or heirs.

Note the language is "be able", not "must", and it does not talk about a formal accounting.

In conclusion, I think that if the estate was settled without formal court proceedings, as most are in New Jersey, there is no need for a formal accounting. Please let me know if there were formal court proceedings in this case.

C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 5/17/2006 11:38:00 AM

 
Dad - any buzz on the Pennsylvania primaries tomorrow (5/16)?
John Fund of the Wall Street Journal has an interesting article about the big pay raises PA legislators voted themselves last year. I didn't read the whole thing, but I used that PACleanSweep.com webpage to determine that Penn Township is in PA House District 193, where your incumbent (Steven Nikol) voted no on the self pay raise. Penn Township is in PA Senate District 28, and your incumbent (Michael Waugh) likewise voted no on the self pay raise (but did vote yes on the budget increase).
So your direct representatives both voted No on the pay raise. Which is nice...
Any talk in PA on the whole thing?

C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 5/15/2006 05:09:00 PM

 
My world cup favorites are:

"Our army is the team, our weapon is the ball. Let's go to Germany and give it our all" Costa Rica - looks like we need to go down there and check for some WMDs.

"Australia Socceroos – Bound for glory" Of course OZ had to come up with some lame kangaroo related nickname.

"Liberté, egalité, Jules Rimet" France. I don't get it. Jules must be one baaaaad dude.

"Light up your Samurai spirit!" Japan - just the mention of samurai is cool.

"White and red, dangerous and brave" Poland - Dangerous? Kind of ominous. This would have been cooler: "black and blue, dangerous and loving it." or not.

"2006, it's Swiss o'clock" Switzerland - just pure goofy.

Sweden – "Fight! Show spirit! Come on! You have the support of everyone" Sounds like there are some motivational issues in Sweden. COME ON, what's the hold up? that kind of thing.

Trinidad and Tobago - "Here come the Soca Warriors – the fighting spirit of the Caribbean" This is by far my favorite. I think of pirates instantly.

C, after hearing about the trip last weekend I am so excited for you guys. Especially for Siobhan because she has never been to the mainland. Don't forget to get the Chaco sandals and Dansko shoes. Worth the money by far.

Dad, I didn't get to talk to you this Sunday, and I hope all is well. I have been pretty busy at work, did my last trip to Scranton on Monday and Tuesday, and am setting up thin women sessions in Manchester, NH. I've never been up there and hear it's nice, so am looking forward to it.

JP, good luck with the website launch. Did you do your german accent for the T onliners? ve all ope that you deeeed.

Love to all,
H
- posted by H @ 5/11/2006 12:04:00 PM

 
It's less than a month from our trip to Germany & Italy, and the World Cup starts on the day we fly out.
We have our tickets to the USA-Ghana game in Nuremberg on June 22nd. H got to see them - each one has a chip in it to deter counterfeiting! Pretty cool.
I was on the FIFA World Cup web page, and I found this cool (and funny!):
FIFA held an online vote for the slogans to be placed on each country's team buses.

And the winners are:
Angola - "Angola lead the way – our team is our people"
Argentina - "Get up, Argentina are on the move"
Australia - "Australia Socceroos – Bound for glory"
Brazil - "Vehicle monitored by 180 million Brazilian hearts"
Costa Rica- "Our army is the team, our weapon is the ball. Let's go to Germany and give it our all"
Côte d'Ivoire - "Come on the Elephants! Win the cup in style"
Croatia – "To the finals with fire in our hearts"
Czech Republic – "Belief and a lion's strength, for victory and our fans"
Ecuador – "Ecuador my life, football my passion, the cup my goal"
England - "One Nation, One Trophy, Eleven Lions"
France – "Liberté, egalité, Jules Rimet"
Germany - "We are football"
Iran - "Stars of Persia"
Italy – "Blue pride, Italy in our hearts"
Japan - "Light up your Samurai spirit!"
Korea Republic - "Never-ending legend, united Korea"
Ghana – "Go Black Stars, the stars of our world"
Mexico - "Aztec passion across the world"
Netherlands – "Oranje on the road to gold"
Paraguay – "From the heart of America... this is the Guarani spirit"
Poland – "White and red, dangerous and brave"
Portugal – "With a flag in the window and a nation on the pitch. Força Portugal"
Saudi Arabia - "The Green Hawks cannot be stopped"
Serbia and Montenegro - "For the love of the game"
Spain – "Spain. One country, one goal"
Switzerland – "2006, it's Swiss o'clock"
Sweden – "Fight! Show spirit! Come on! You have the support of everyone"
Togo – "A passion to win and a thirst to succeed"
Trinidad and Tobago - "Here come the Soca Warriors – the fighting spirit of the Caribbean"
Tunisia – "The Carthage Eagles... higher and stronger than ever"
Ukraine – "With our support, Ukraine cannot fail to win!"
USA - "United we play, United we win"

My personal favorites:
"Spain. One country, one goal" - Is that one goal per game, or one goal the entire Cup? Or is the goal to win it all?
"2006, it's Swiss o'clock" - What?
Togo is thirsty!

I can't wait to see the Black Stars play the Uniteds!

C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 5/10/2006 11:41:00 AM

 
H: Good questions. I think I enjoy the Davids Medienkritik entries on the German media because they affirm how I already feel about intellectual Germans (which include journalists): I don't like them very much. I got along great with more down-to-earth (i.e., blue collar) people in Germany (like Walter, and arguably Matzinger), but the intellectual Germans, who make up most of the Germans you meet here in NYC, irritate me.

I attribute it to my sensitivity to an anti-Americanism which lies just beneath the surface. Of course, this anti-American sentiment has been around about as long as America has. There's a good essay, Hating America by Bruce Bawer that discusses this subject. One good quote:
[N]ineteenth-century European aristocrats despised America as a symbol of progress, innovation, and (above all) equality, ridiculing it as a mongrel land of simple-minded Indians and blacks; later, avaricious Jews were added to the list. These stereotypes soon spread to Americans generally, resulting in today’s European-establishment view of Americans as materialistic morons.

In those times, Europeans considered Americans to be degenerate and not sufficiently religious; now we are portrayed as prudish and too religious. The irony!

More recently, the anti-Americanism comes from (among other sources):
- We stopped the Thousand-Year Reich. Not only did we end it (with the help of the Brits and Russians, of course), but it lasted only about 13 years, thanks to us.
- We blew the crap out of Germany.
- We gave the Germans trillions of dollars to rebuild their country, and have never asked for a penny back - this is embarrasing to some.
- We have provided 100% of Germany's military security for more than a half century. The Germans used the money they saved on defense to give their citizens very wealthy lifestyles. The intellectually honest Germans realize this and resent it.
- Our popular culture. 'Nuff said.

The list goes on and on, but there are many, many reasons for Germans to hate America, before and after 9/11/2001.

I can feel the attitude when I talk to Germans here in NYC. It annoys me, so I focus on it.

Remember that much of the media in Germany is state-run, so there is not the diversity of viewpoints we have here in the U.S. So when the German media lies to its readers/watchers, to make an anti-American point, it is a big deal for me...

Well, that was longer than I expected, but maybe an explanation...
C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 5/03/2006 08:25:00 PM

 
I see. I was getting more at what other media outlets are saying. Like French, Swiss, Australian, Indian ones, etc. Was just wondering if you look into their perceptions of the US too.

The reason I am asking is because a lot of your posts are negative towards Germany, which in part is probably due to their media's portrayal of our country. So another way of looking at my question is do you have the same attitude towards other countries that portray America in a similar light, or just Germany? For example, regarding the war in Iraq, a lot of countries around the world think that the invasion and subsequent occupation by US, and some international troops, is a bad idea. One would think that their media might protray the US in a negative light because of their attitude towards the Iraq situation.

This is all curiosity, and in no way meant as an attack.
- posted by H @ 5/03/2006 02:39:00 PM

 
H: It's not so much that I seek out the German media's anti-Americanism, it's the fact that I read Davids Medienkritik a few times a week. Their subtitle is: Politically Incorrect Observations on Reporting in the German Media. They do seem to focus on the obvious examples of anti-Americanism and blatant misrepresentations or errors in the German media.

I would read other German and Germany-related blogs, but Germans are so tremendously weak in that department. See the article in The Economist: Japanese- and Chinese-language blogs are the big boys, together representing 55% of the blogosphere. English-language blogs weigh in at just over one fourth of all blogs (28%).

But German-language blogs are only 1% of the blogosphere! One percent! If you do find German-language blogs that are interesting and worth reading, please let me know... I would like to see more German viewpoints.

C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 5/03/2006 12:22:00 PM

 
wow. I hadn't heard about the Penn State censorship thing AT ALL until right now. I read some of the stuff posted on instapundit. I have no idea why that professor was acting in such a crazy way - it seems like something motivated by politics. Very interesting though. At least good old Graham Spanier (president of the university) didn't support this crazy censorship.

Regarding the Stern article - I guess I wasn't looking at the headline, along with the text. usually it's the other way around. haha. I think it was just an error in editing. That headline doesn't really fit the article anyway.

C, you are always bringing up how the German media has a 'liberal' bias (or an anti-american bias, whatever). What about the news outlets of other countries around the world? Is this kind of sloppiness confined to the German media alone?

love to all,
H
- posted by H @ 5/03/2006 09:26:00 AM

 
H: My theory on the Stern article is that the headline writer and the story's author are two different people, and the headline writer didn't understand the story. The story's author says that, with 37 million people, Hispanics are now the largest minority in the USA. Also, they sympathize to some degree with the "illegals."

However, the headline above the paragraph says: "37 Millionen Illegale in den USA". So the writer of the headline states that all Hispanics are illegal, apparently without actually reading the article (or maybe this is some deeply-held belief of the headline writer).

On its face, this doesn't seem like a big deal, but there is a strong pattern of misrepresentation, if not lies, in the German media in stories about America.

For example, the U.S. State Department issued its annual Country Reports on Terrorism, and said "Iraq is not currently a terrorist safe haven." Spiegel Online (SPON) reported this by saying, "Den Irak nennt der Report einen "sicheren Hafen" fuer Terroristen."
Either the SPON writers can't read English, or they are lying to German audiences, or I don't know what...

Another example relates to the Plame/Wilson kerfuffle. The German press agency dpa reported that Bush ordered Libby to leak Plame's name. Which was completely untrue.

P.S. H: Is there any talk among Penn State alumns about the Penn State Censorship Scandal? My favorite bit of irony in the matter is that the professor who censored the artwork wrote an article ten years ago entitled "Fighting censorship in the art classroom."
Now that is funny!

C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 5/02/2006 05:22:00 PM

 
quick note on the Stern post: I read that little column, and didn't really get the same thing out of it as the blogger. What I read was: There is a growing number of hispanics in the US. "Ein Teil," so "a part" of them sympathize with the 'illegals.' If anything, I think it was just bad wording, and a little bit of hyperreactivity on the side of that blogger.

am working on my paper for my brain imaging class. it's due Friday. I think it's going to be great, but going is slow because I keep finding new sources and things to talk about. Plus I am having trouble downloading an article I need.

Regarding the horoscope tstudy, C: yeah, their sample is at the very LEAST 20 years old. They group people together who were tested in completely different ways. Sure, the sheer numbers are impressive, but you really have to wonder why they bothered submitting something so irrelevant and poorly done. But that's science! haha.

love to all,
H
- posted by H @ 5/02/2006 04:13:00 PM

 
H: Thanks for the analysis of the methodology of that horoscope study. So not only is the description lacking, but the conclusions were drawn from studies that were done decades ago? Are there no newer studies researchers can look to?

Dad: Nice to hear life in PA is going smoothly. The Leikheim centerpiece sounds like a nice touch for returning missionaries...

And, I can't help linking to one political/social matter (I've been trying to cut down on that!) on Davids Medienkritik: Stern Magazine implied in an article that all Hispanics in the USA are here illegally!?! I just don't understand it: is it simple racism; or tremendous ignorance; or just very bad editing? I'm not surprised that a German magazine would assume that if you are Hispanic, you must be illegal, but it still chafes...

Anyway, the World Cup tickets came in the mail yesterday! 5 weeks till the trip!

C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 5/02/2006 10:48:00 AM