Saturday, January 31, 2009
Los bikers Kiwis
I love hearing about mad adventures. Here is one from a Brazillian friend who is just starting a motorcycle ride through Patagonia.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Finally, a leader revelant to the USA and the world
Watching Obama's inaugral address, I believe the USA, as the only real global superpower, finally has a leader who is capable of being a leader the world needs, as well as the leader the USA needs.
Two things really moved me. I've lived in four different countries around the world, with very different cultures. So I feel pretty global in my outlook on life. So Obama's global viewpoint really strikes a chord. His global perspective, environmental awareness, respect for the role of both religion and science, clarity that the middle way is really the only way to bring people together, opposition to crude brute force , a stern clarity about the damage that greed and unrestrained market forces will bring to the world - all of this mirrors the experiences that my own evoution has led me who I am.
The second thing was that Obama clearly has crystal clear values. The USA is founded on inclusivity, crafted as a place of opportunity for those that wanted freedom of belief, religion, commerce and self-expression. As articulated by Obama, these values made me realize why I instinctively always wanted to experience living in the USA .
For the last eight years, we saw a massively corrupt Republican cabel cynically manipulate many of these values in order to justify political power and orchestrate the transfer of trillions of dollars in taxpayer wealth into the private fortunes of a narrow elite. Obama's message of new challenge, of creating a new country that improves on the old, of a 'more perfect union', these things speak to the timeless attraction of life in the US, rather than cynically created fear and war-based patriotism that the Bush white house cynically rammed down the throats of a vulnerable public after September 11, as part of their calculated campaign of theft of public money and misuse of power.
Obamas message, in contrast, articulates the the essence if freedom that US citizens so often feel deeply - but often fail to describe clearly. These values are much more clear when you move to the USA from another country where they are not as present. The USA is a land where people don't apologize for who they decide to be, where ideas can be tried on, spoken aloud, reconsidered and abandoned for better ones when you have grown beyond them. This is the attraction of living in this country, and through Obama's clarity of communication, I've leapt forward in understanding this.
He is a very much the consumate leader for our time, a leader for my generation of intelligent, discerning adults in their 30s and 40s who are sick of the hypocrisy and greed that so often characterised the powerful adults that supposedly served as our role models as we grew up. Instead these adults became the figures of our ridicule, digust and disillusionment.
We waited a long time for you Obama. Your time has come.
Two things really moved me. I've lived in four different countries around the world, with very different cultures. So I feel pretty global in my outlook on life. So Obama's global viewpoint really strikes a chord. His global perspective, environmental awareness, respect for the role of both religion and science, clarity that the middle way is really the only way to bring people together, opposition to crude brute force , a stern clarity about the damage that greed and unrestrained market forces will bring to the world - all of this mirrors the experiences that my own evoution has led me who I am.
The second thing was that Obama clearly has crystal clear values. The USA is founded on inclusivity, crafted as a place of opportunity for those that wanted freedom of belief, religion, commerce and self-expression. As articulated by Obama, these values made me realize why I instinctively always wanted to experience living in the USA .
For the last eight years, we saw a massively corrupt Republican cabel cynically manipulate many of these values in order to justify political power and orchestrate the transfer of trillions of dollars in taxpayer wealth into the private fortunes of a narrow elite. Obama's message of new challenge, of creating a new country that improves on the old, of a 'more perfect union', these things speak to the timeless attraction of life in the US, rather than cynically created fear and war-based patriotism that the Bush white house cynically rammed down the throats of a vulnerable public after September 11, as part of their calculated campaign of theft of public money and misuse of power.
Obamas message, in contrast, articulates the the essence if freedom that US citizens so often feel deeply - but often fail to describe clearly. These values are much more clear when you move to the USA from another country where they are not as present. The USA is a land where people don't apologize for who they decide to be, where ideas can be tried on, spoken aloud, reconsidered and abandoned for better ones when you have grown beyond them. This is the attraction of living in this country, and through Obama's clarity of communication, I've leapt forward in understanding this.
He is a very much the consumate leader for our time, a leader for my generation of intelligent, discerning adults in their 30s and 40s who are sick of the hypocrisy and greed that so often characterised the powerful adults that supposedly served as our role models as we grew up. Instead these adults became the figures of our ridicule, digust and disillusionment.
We waited a long time for you Obama. Your time has come.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
GM, please, please build this car
GM is not dead yet. Just returned from the Detroit autoshow, and can feel the change coming.
Why?
GM introduced the Converj, a kick-ass, razor sharp, Cadilliac plug in hybrid. And unlike the utterly gorgeous Lincoln concept C car, the Converj looked like it was production ready, already.
Why?
GM introduced the Converj, a kick-ass, razor sharp, Cadilliac plug in hybrid. And unlike the utterly gorgeous Lincoln concept C car, the Converj looked like it was production ready, already.
The converj uses Volt technology, which catapults the Cadillac brand into the future of eco-geek tech, as well as making it the must have status symbol for those who would otherwise be lusting after a BMW hybrid.
And, if you hadn't already noticed, eco-geek is the direction the USA is going as fast as Obama can hire PHD's for his white house staff.
The change in the auto industry is happening faster than most consumers realize. Let's see where this goes.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Through the worst of the crisis?
Well, it's 2009 and I still have a job.
There was a horrible moment not so long ago, where the only sane thing to do was to sit down and mind-map my own personal worst case scenario.
Which went something like this:
- Lose my job at HP
- Along with the job, lose my visa to work in the USA
- Have to sell our beautiful house at a big loss
- Have to search for a job somewhere else in the world in a global recession
- Spend all our savings moving a family of four around the world
- Move back to NZ or move back to Germany
- In short....start again.
Actually, I've done that several time before in Germany and the USA, so it shouldn't be too bad. Problem is, we really like what we are experiencing right now. Kids are growing up fast and don't keep us up at night, job is OK, house is a delight, Michigan is beautiful whatever season you are in...
But now that Bush did the only thing I ever think was actual a well informed decision in his 8 years of being president by bailing out the Detroit automakers (on which my job depends), at least the mortgage payment seems a bit more safe now. We've had a beautiful snowy winter, and my oldest son is finally potty trained! Life is looking up.
There was a horrible moment not so long ago, where the only sane thing to do was to sit down and mind-map my own personal worst case scenario.
Which went something like this:
- Lose my job at HP
- Along with the job, lose my visa to work in the USA
- Have to sell our beautiful house at a big loss
- Have to search for a job somewhere else in the world in a global recession
- Spend all our savings moving a family of four around the world
- Move back to NZ or move back to Germany
- In short....start again.
Actually, I've done that several time before in Germany and the USA, so it shouldn't be too bad. Problem is, we really like what we are experiencing right now. Kids are growing up fast and don't keep us up at night, job is OK, house is a delight, Michigan is beautiful whatever season you are in...
But now that Bush did the only thing I ever think was actual a well informed decision in his 8 years of being president by bailing out the Detroit automakers (on which my job depends), at least the mortgage payment seems a bit more safe now. We've had a beautiful snowy winter, and my oldest son is finally potty trained! Life is looking up.
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