Coffee from a Reusable Ceramic Mug

What kind of ID would Matthias have to carry in Arizona to prove he is not there illegally the next time we visit? He usually just has his German passport in the US, and he doesn’t usually carry that around because losing your passport sucks. I guess that shows that he was stamped into the country all properly, right? I hate that being married to a non-citizen creates more and more anxiety every time we come back to the US.

On the topic of expat stuff, I read an article today that the numbers of US expats giving up their citizenship is on the rise because of the double taxation that the US imposes. The article also mentioned that some US banks are refusing to honor accounts by US citizens living abroad (even though there is no law prohibiting this). Apparently, there is some confusion about some of the provisions in the Patriot Act to prevent funding of terrorist organizations. To cover there butts, some banks just put a blanket ban on expats.

This is all on top of the problems expats have trying to shop online in the US because most online shops in the US seem at a loss to understand that an American could live abroad and not be in the military. Actually, one friend even recently had a problem using a military APO.

OK. so there is really no point to this post except to gripe…… So there you are

I went to a workshop for women looking to become self-employed in Regensburg today. It was a full day with an overwhelming amount of information, not to mention a whole heck of a lot of technical German spoken with varying levels of Bayrisch. The first seminar was really basic information on starting a business. The speaker started by listing the typical ways women start businesses, and I pretty much fit each of the items she listed. Most women who start their own businesses are between 35 and 54 years old. More than 70% of these businesses include only the founder initially. Those were just two examples, which I would fit fairly well. Here, I thought I was somehow outstanding

There were a few interesting contradictions, like when the one speaker said that most women’s personal businesses start small and build into something larger (implying that men start larger with more risk, I guess). At the same time, the other speakers seemed to be assuming that the participants should be thinking on a small scale. If workshops geared toward women are discouraging big ideas, are they simply supporting their audiences or perpetuating the idea that women should start small because that’s what they do? Maybe I over think these things. I have been to self-employment seminars in the US, which were for a mixed gender audience, and they had a much different feel and a larger vision for their participants. That may be a cultural difference too between the US and Germany and also between large and small towns (the US seminars were in DC).

I was surprised to see that I recognized some women there, and at least one recognized me, but I had no idea how I knew them. It may just be that I live in a small enough town that I know them from the street. The one woman and I took a few minutes to try to figure out how we know each other and never figured it out. I hope I see her again because it is bugging me.

Anyway, I am a bit overwhelmed with all of the information at the moment and trying to get through the small mountain of reading material. I am pretty sure I haven’t violated any tax laws or anything with my limited self-employment activities, but I can’t be sure. This is a whole other way of seeing the world so I feel like I am starting from scratch. I am used to working inside of a big infrastructure where a smart woman asks me for all of my data, does some magic, and the money magically shows up in my bank account while I focus my energy on doing the job. I need a smart woman to run the business for me, and, frighteningly, I think that smart woman is me - scary (her German is not as good as it could be).

One fun thing that came out of the day is that I learned that Friday, March 26th is Germany’s national Equal Pay Day and the Rote Tasche (Red Purse) Initiative (and by ‘fun’ I mean a nice feeling of speaking with a politically active, interesting woman who told me about the initiative). The idea is to draw attention to the fact that women STILL earn less money than men for the same job. I, for one, should earn about 22% more than an equally qualified man just for being so darn fun to work with, on top of being extremely competent (right Brian?). The pay gap in Germany is about the same as in the US. There is a discussion in Regensburg around noon on Friday - details can be found here. Some of the shops are marking the day with ‘unhappy hour’ and if you show up with a red bag (or a lapel pin of a red purse) they have some gifts/discounts; a list of participating retails can be found here. I personally think the stores could do a better job of supporting the day by simply assuring and publicizing that their female employees are not being shafted in their pay, but what do I know? - Yay for shopping, right?

This January marks the hottest January ever recorded (The article is only in German, but I’m sure there is one in English out there somewhere). You might not believe that if you live in the blue stripe of cold weather going across most of the US and Europe….

I don’t mean life without the country of China. Every once in a while, I come across news stories that get very little press about some horrendous acts carried out by the Chinese government against it’s people. It goes beyond internet censorship that does get a lot of press, interestingly, to the point of what I would call mass murder. Often women are bear the brunt of these harshest of these acts. I won’t go into details here about the stories, but these stories usually touch me deeply every time.

Fast forward to my perfect little life (compared to, say, the life of someone living in rural China). I look at the bottom of my coffee cup to the inevitable stamp “made in China.” From clothes, to dishes, to furniture, so much of it is made in China, and my consumption, in some part, contributes to suffering of the Chinese people. I can’t do much about the top-end politics of how my countries interacts with the emerging super power, but I can do something about my habits of consumption.

I am somewhat aware of where the stuff I buy comes from. I have a mix of things that were a bit more expensive because they were made in Germany or Western Europe with explicit mention about the conditions in which they were produced, and I also have a lot of things made in China. I’d like to decrease that second part until I can live with the idea of contributing to the government of China. I also realize that things are less black and white than painted here (as Chinese prosperity grows, there may be more chances for people there to win their freedoms, etc), but I still want to cut back on consuming Chinese made products.

Any ideas out there? I find that, generally, buying less stuff is a good start, and when I have to buy stuff, I have to read really carefully. I used to think that sticking with major brands helped, but it doesn’t anymore. That little ‘made in China’ stamp has a way of sneaking in there when I thought I have bought something from elsewhere. Has anyone had success in this? It would be nice if they had something similar to ‘conflict-free’ diamonds for Chinese products.

As an aside, I saw a headline about some video the Glenn Beck is promoting about the ‘truth’ behind communism. Apparently, he thinks it is a big secret that Stalin was probably the worst mass murderer in history and the Che Guevara was an actual violent revolutionary. Long story short, from what I saw, the video kind of implied that communism is really bad and that the liberals (AKA Obama and elitists) have been trying to spread lies that communism is great and that Stalin is a hero!!!! OK, that last bit may just be my cynical extrapolation of where the video goes, but you get the idea. Anyway, I was thinking about the people this video was marketed toward (I suspect I am not one of them), and I wonder if the video will inspire them to take a similar stand against Chinese products since China is the largest communist regime ever. Will crazy-eyes Beck try to raise a boycott against Wallmart and most other discount retails who thrive off of Chinese imports? That would be an interesting twist. I suspect it will most likely be blamed on Obama and no one will be asked to sacrifice their cheap stuff, but it could happen.

As someone whose learned a bit about automotive control systems (from the guys sitting next to me on the couch who designs such things), the story about the Toyota recalls is pretty scary. The LA Times wrote the article I linked to, and it is a pretty good investigative report - that kind of depth isn’t in the news so much these days. Anyway, it’s a very scary idea that your car’s accelerator and/or breaking system can be out of your control! We watched “Final Destination” last night, and it seems like something from that movie.

Disney admits that “Baby Einstein” doesn’t actually make babies smarter - duh? I have only seen one of the videos (a friend gave me), and it is a video of toys being played with accompanied by classical music. Did anyone actually think this made babies smarter. Clair is mesmerized by it, but it is bright and flashy, so that kind of makes sense.

The scientists who came up with the idea of the ‘Mozart Effect’ (who was a UCI physicist by the way) even says there is no evidence that listening to Mozart makes anyone smarter. His studies just showed that it seemed to offer help for short term memory but had no significant lasting effects. So if you are cramming for an exam, play Mozart, aside from that, just enjoy the music.

Clair likes classical music, so we’ve listened to more lately, but she also likes Lady Ga Ga quite a lot. She even dances when I chant the Yoga Sutras - I wonder if they will ever make a kids video of that.

There is a video making the rounds on the interwebs showing Nancy Pelosi standing with Harry Reid. People are laughing/analyzing her body language with regard to what he is saying. I watched the video, and I think people may be missing the point. In the video, Reid puts his arm around her as he is making his point, and she is obviously NOT OK with that contact and discretely moves away from him. Reid, on the other hand has the body language of the good husband, standing with his quiet wife at his side, making an announcement to the kids.

Wasn’t Bush’s shoulder massage to Angela Merkel enough of a gaff for male politicians to remind themselves to keep their hands off of the women they work with (at the very least, in a public setting)!!! You can see by Merkel and Pelosi’s reactions that it is awkward situation for a professional woman to be in because they obviously don’t want these men touching them but telling them to keep their f$*#ing hands to themselves is kind of strong reaction (and possibly a bit over the top during a press conference, though it would undoubtedly grab headlines).

I have worked with many, many men (sometimes for long hours in close quarters), and the men I work with don’t put their hands on my body when we are working with the exception of a hand shake when we meet (there was an exception of a creepy old professor who is a slime bag and was confronted for his grabby, grabby hands). Is that too much to expect? Am I missing something? I worked with my good friend Brian for a couple of years. We worked together daily, traveled around the country together, and became friends, but when we were working, we were working! I can’t imagine him putting his arm around me during a meeting as he makes a point about a decision we made. Why doesn’t anyone in the media think it’s strange when male politicians are overly familiar with their female counterparts??

I have to give Michelle Obama some props for ardently sticking out her hand to Sillvio Berlusconi rather than letting him kiss her! I guess she could have guessed that unwanted contact was coming and headed it off. It is the times that socially awkward men catch you off guard in front of an audience that are harder to deal with.

There is a really great article in the New York Times clarifying why empowering women around the world is really a critical issues despite the fact that it is often put on the back burner when it comes to international policy. It’s a bit long but totally worth the read.

So, I thought Sarah Palin should be left alone because her odd press conference kind of hinted that her and her family needed that. Then, she called all the major networks to come down to the lake where her family seemed to be retreating and continued to expand on the gobbly-gook that she gives as an explanation of her actions. I couldn’t really defend her right to privacy after that - she just seemed to be asking for it.

Surprisingly, I found an article by Peggy Noonan about the whole Palin phenomenon that I actually completely agree with. That was a bit surprising considering that Noonan comes off as a bit of a raving maniac quite often, but that is usually when she is on TV speaking. Perhaps she writes more coherently than she speaks, but it is nice to read words from a rather right-wing spokes person that is thoughtful, intelligent, reflective, and dare I say, “elitist”?

OK, back to your regularly scheduled blogging.

Clair and I watched Obama become President! CNN had this thing where they asked people at the inauguration to take a photo of ‘The Moment’ and send it to them. We aren’t there, but I took a photo of the moment from here. Clair must have liked what Obama had to say because she made a big poo during his speech! Then she cried when Bush lifted off in the helicopter - maybe she is a Republican!