Ship Mates 

My baseball boys at opening day in Anenii Noi.  

James and Scott in Moldova (click here)

James and I outside the village. If you desire a similar homage to yourself, come visit me. I live in Moldova; just ask for the funny looking incompetent American. Until then click the above link and enjoy James' and my journey through a little of Eastern Europe. 

A picture taken at the orphanage. It is located about 15 miles north (about and hour away)of Saratenii Vechi, my peer education groups are currently planning regular visits. 

Gheorge, me, and Bruno riding the polobochi full of wine located in the cellar. A couple of weeks ago Amy and Bruno visited the house and were treated to the usual hospitality of wine in the beci. 

Some Pictures Posted

Adam and I at Jessica's Hram doing things the Moldovan way.

Halloween in Annenii Noi

The picture just shows no matter how old you are, nor Soldier or Ninja, you always need your grandma...and a bottel of Chisinau.

The things you see on the beach. 

Chillin' in the baci during Haram. (The celebration of Saratenii Vechi.) 

The lake 

West River Campaign staff with Ace and our boss Tom. (Torpedo Factory Art Center 4/15/05) (some WR campaign staff missing) 

Black Hills. View from Harney Peak. (Highest point East of the Rockies until the Pyrenees.) 

The Cornyn Connection

Senator Cornyn is a fricken idiot. This has to be the most ill-conceived announcement I have ever heard. Senator Cornyn stated,

“I don’t know if there is a cause-and-effect connection, but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in this country…And I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters on some occasions, where judges are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in, engage in violence…a concern that I have”

He fails to mention the two shootings were of a personal nature. The judges were shot at because they convicted the gunmen of crimes.

Perhaps the senator would also like to make the connection that because leaves fall from trees in New York it causes people in Argentina to get sun tans. But this might have too much correlation for his taste.

Maybe he would prefer the contention that my dog was hit by a car because Pitbulls have strong jaws.

I lost my shoe because children in India can’t make Nikes fast enough.

I eat sugar beats because the farm industry is being oppressed by big business and Bush Jr.

Wal-Mart oppresses its workers because it provides quality services and products.

People choke on food because McDonalds has one world wide taste of Fat.

Cigarettes kill you because Lawyers sue people.

Medical mal-practice happens because there are no cap-limits on tort suits.

Citizens are uninsured because the insurance companies cannot afford to cover people.

Schools lack funding because the Russians are building nuclear bombs.

People who don’t have a job cannot get a job because they are lazy.

Native Americans who live on the reservation live on the reservations by choice.

Children are hungry because they don’t believe in Jesus.

All people are sinners unless they have faith.

You are a patriot because you fight 9 of the first 10 amendments.

People are poor because the trickle down theory works.

Social Security is having problems because it doesn’t benefit corporate America enough.

Senior Citizens can’t afford prescription drugs because the Canadians might invade.

Big business is good because the government is evil.

Evolution doesn’t exist because the bible doesn’t say so.

Homosexuals are inferior because African Americans are different than us.

World temperature rises are due to personal integrities held by industries.

Women don’t deserve a choice because they fucked the guy.

It is this dubious thought process that creates a government that spends billions of dollars on unnecessary defense, but allows a 12.5 percent poverty rate. Defense spending is necessary, but not in the amount that allows for two full scale wars with Russia, China, and a gulf size war while at the same time 35 million US citizens do not know where there next meal is coming from.

This type of thinking is a party theme. One of the most recent and devastating examples of this terrible thought process is with the war in Iraq. Bush Jr. linked Saddam Hussein to 9/11 with a complete understanding Osama Bin Laden bombed the World Trade Center. He also knew fully that Hussein and Bin Laden have had no relationship but extreme dislike of one another. Yet we fight terrorism by combating a third world nation that had no weapons of mass destruction, no evidence indicating that they did have weapons of mass destruction, and no threat to American or world safety.

The conservative manner of thinking and rationalization is “a concern that I have.”

Scott 

James inside the cave monastery. It was designed to protect the monks from invaders. It is extremely dark, with jagged walls allowing for no paths of direct light.