An early morning riddle

Everyone is looking for it. You can't find it if you are actively seeking it. No one else can tell you when you've found it. When you find it you will have no doubts.

I thought of this when I woke up at 5 AM yesterday.

No twilight

One of the coolest things about my (not so) little town of Bellingham is that we have no astronomical twilight during the week of the Summer Solstice. This means that even at 1 AM (thanks to Daylight Savings, our astronomical twilight will be at 1:12, the 12 minutes is due to not being in the dead center of our time zone) some of the sun's rays are still showing for that week. it is a really cool experience I recommend everyone see at least once, and the midnight walks are really fun.

No night on Summer Solstice

This made me think, there is no page I can find which says how far north you have to be in order to have no sunset, so I am going to write it here, by working backwards.

Furthest north locations with night every night of the year:

• 48 25' - Mount Vernon, Washington
• 48 33' - Bow, Washington

Furthest south locations with no night on summer solstice.

• 48 35' - International Falls, Minnesota
• 48 37' - Alger, Washington
• 48 45' - Bellingham, Washington

This means the answer must be 48 degrees 34 minutes to have no astronomical twilight on the summer solstice.

No Astronomical Twilight on Summer Solstice

Let's say no night is not good enough for you, you want to have no astronomical twilight as well. This will mean the horizon will be faintly visible on your summer solstice. For this, let's do another exploration:

Furthest north locations with astronomical twilight on every night of the year:

• 54 18' - Prince Rupert, British Columbia 
• 54 28' - Perry Vale, Alberta
• 54 32' - Fawcett, Alberta
• 54 34' - Kitselas, British Columbia

Furthest south locations with no astronomical twilight on summer solstice: 

• 54 35' - Boyle, Alberta
• 54 37' - Colinton, Alberta
• 54 43' - Athabasca, Alberta
• 55 10' - Grande Prairie, Alberta
• 55 41' - Chetwynd, British Columbia

You have to be further north than 54 34' in order to have no astronomical twilight on Summer Solstice.

No Nautical Twilight on Summer Solstice

But that's not enough, and you want to be able to have no nautical twilight as well on your Summer solstice, which means you will have civil twilight which means that the light will be enough to discern objects.

Furthest north locations with nautical twilight on every night of the year:

• 60 10' - Teslin, Yukon
• 60 29' - Little Teslin Lake, Yukon
• 60 32' - Sterling, Alaska
• 60 33' - Kenai, Alaska

Furthest south locations with no nautical twilight on summer solstice:

• 60 36' - Drift River, Alaska
• 60 43' - Whitehorse, Yukon

If I had to take a guess, I'm expecting that you would have to be north of 60 34' in order to have no nautical twilight.

No Astronomical Twilight on the Summer Solstice

The pattern continues further with 66 degrees, 33 minutes, and 47.5 seconds is the most famous of all these lines. The Arctic Circle, the point where locations famously have the midnight sun.

On the other hand, if you check out Rovaniemi you will find that it has no sunset at all, and is located at 66 degrees 30 minutes. so, it is time to do the same thing to find the true Arctic Circle:

Furthest north locations with nautical twilight every night of the year:

• 65 35' - Kuivaniemi, Finland
• 65 41' - Maksniemi, Finland
• 65 44' - Kemi, Finland

Furthest south locations with no sunset on the summer solstice:

• 65 46' - Savast, Sweden
• 65 48' - Karlsborg, Sweden
• 65 49' - Kaakamo, Finland
• 65 51' - Tornio, Finland
• 66 30' - Rovaniemi, Finland

Looks like the real Arctic Circle should be at 65 45' North, not where it is traditionally put.

Northernmost places with Daylight every day of the year:

The other issue, is that at the Winter Solstice, you will still have daylight at the Arctic Circle. It doesn't last long, but it is still there.

Northernmost places with daylight every day of the year:

• 67 17' - Kolari, Finland
• 67 21' - Straumen, Norway

 Southernmost places with no daylight on the Winter solstice:

• 67 24' - Andkilen, Norway
• 67 26' - Junosuando, Sweden
• 67 29' - Kango, Sweden

It looks like you have to be around 67 22 or so in order to have truly no daylight on the Winter Solstice

Southernmost places with no Civil Twilight on the Winter Solstice

But, being a vampire you really hate the light, and the civil twilight still bothers you. You have to go even further north.

Northernmost places with civil twilight on Winter Solstice:

•  71 32' - Nuugatsiaq, Greenland

Southernmost places with no civil twilight on the Winter Solstice:

• 72 42' - Pond Inlet, Nunavut
• 72 47' - Upernavik, Norway

There is a real lack of locations between these two longitudes, being in the high Arctic.

Southernmost places with no Nautical Twilight on the Winter Solstice:

Most polar places with Nautical Twilight on the Winter Solstice:

• 78 13' - Longyearbyen, Norway
• 78 31' - Minna Bluff - Antarctica

Least polar places with no Nautical Twilight on Winter Solstice:

• 78 37' - Mount Slaughter, Antarctica
• 78 39' - Mount Atkinson, Antarctica
• 78 47' - Isachsen, Nunavut
• 79 59' - Eureka, Nunavut

Southernmost places with no Astronomical Twilight on the Winter Solstice

You HATE the sun. You want dark. For a full 24 hours. And when you say 24 hours you want a full darkness uninterrupted by the sun with not even astronomical twilight.

Most polar places with Astronomical twilight on the Winter Solstice:

• 82 31' - Alert, Nunavut 
• 83 10' - Holland Range, Antarctica 
• 84 15' - Commonwealth Range, Antarctica  
• 84 30' - Hughes Range, Antarctica

Least polar places with no Astronomical twilight on the Winter Solstice, meaning it is completely pitch black, without not even a hint of the rays of the sun:

• 84 44' - Queen Alexandra Range, Antarctica
• 85 30' - Amundsen Coast, Antarctica

The lack of locations with measurements in this area makes it hard to know exactly where the point of no astronomical sunlight on the winter solstice is.

Conclusion

The following lines of latitude are the important points for various levels of twilight at solstices:

• 48 34' - No night on Summer Solstice
• 54 34' - No astronomical twilight on Summer Solstice
• 60 34' - No nautical twilight on Summer Solstice
• 65 45' - No civil twilight on Summer Solstice
• 67 22' - No daylight on Winter Solstice
• 78 31-37' - No civil twilight on Winter Solstice
• 84 30-44' - No astronomical twilight on Winter Solstice

Latitude is from Wikipedia, twilight status is from timeanddate.com

Learning how to invest, tips

I have been an investor since August. I have a stable account with Acorns which has been giving me excellent returns for a passive fund, and will be enough to retire if I put enough in there every month once I get my first real job. On top of this, as an economist, I have been learning how to trade currencies, because I have a goal of being able to choose to work in 10 years. This is important to me, and how I will be able to have the ability to help others financially and spend time doing the research and activism which I believe the world desperately needs.

I started my Forex account about a year ago, exactly when Brexit started. From the beginning there have been some major problems. They gave me a 48 hour moratorium period to start with, which meant I could not profit off of Brexit which was the entire point of starting the account when I did. They have only about 30 currency pairs, which does not leave too many choices in how to invest, and are missing many important indicators, such as the Awesome Index. On top of this, in order to trade with any information you have to use their application on Windows using Silverlight, which is terrible software for so many reasons. You can technically trade on your phone, but this is not recommended because you are trading blind without any indicators. they have some good educational tools, but do not have the tools you need to be successful at trading.

I started my Oanda account a week ago and so far I love it. It is cross platform and works on any operating system, as someone who uses Linux for multiple reasons this is a huge plus. It has more indicators and more currency pairs, and an API interface which I need to set up. The Awesome Index is supported which makes it far easier to trade successfully versus the poorer indexes on Forex.com. It is much easier to use, presents information in a much better way, and the options are far better than what Forex offers. They also require far less money to get started with Forex, you can start for as little as $5, making investing accessible to more people and allowing you to test your chops with very little risk.

Once you set up your Oanda Account, the Awesome Index combined with Bollinger Bands is the easiest way to get started and make some money on the side. I am finding that it is workiug for me. Happy trading!

Disclaimer: I am in no way compensated from Oanda or Forex for these opinions which are solely my own based on my personal experience with these two systems.

Sometimes I can be crass

There have been times in my life where I have said some really stupid things. Everyone has had these from time to time, and this can really put others off.

I am finishing my bachelor's right now with only another 3 months to go. Being in political economy means that I am learning about concepts which have everything to do with extremely controversial subjects and can sometimes be very useful in conversations I have with people. I also am by nature very open about almost everything and when I feel comfortable with people I speak freely. When I get into my field of interest I can go on and on for hours. I probably have some type of Aspbergers as well, but it is fairly mild almost all of the time. So when I am talking with someone I trust and they say something I am not sure about I will speak freely what I think given my education (and sometimes lack of experience). For people who don't know me very well this can put them off and make them think of me as being rude, and they are right.

A particular incident was during a very intense and educational Unitarian Universalist Young Adult Con in my district. I was talking with someone I barely knew about gender quotas and had just started learning about how economic quotas and price ceilings work along with their effects both positive and negative. I spoke freely about what I was learning but unfortunately didn't realize that gender quotas work differently from other types of quotas in their efficiency and ability to deal with this. This really put her off and offended her, which I regret, but as soon as I got a chance I did research and found papers discussing the efficiency of gender quotas and she was absolutely right, they do work differently from price ceilings (I'm not sure exactly why yet, I have a lot of other projects I am working on, hopefully someday I will get back to it). But this is just one example of other times I have been too intense for people to know how to deal with me.

Disclaimer: I am a white heterosexual cisgender male American. I am very liberal. I am UU. I am also a liberal feminist meaning I believe that everyone should be treated fairly regardless of gender. I believe your skin color, background, native language, disability status, or any other trait should not determine how others treat you. This puts me at odds with Marxists and radical groups who think the solution to injustice is simply to turn the tables and make today's bourgeois tomorrow's proletariat which historically has only perpetuated such systems. It also puts me at odds with conservatives who don't believe in social liberalism.

Being a white heterosexual cisgender male puts me in a very advantaged class and effects how people see me on a daily basis which I find hard to fully understand, especially since I grew up in a very liberal community where we don't judge people by the color of their skin or other thing which has no bearing on someone's character. This means my personal experience is from that of a supporter and ally of people who are discriminated against, though I myself have not been directly discriminated against like other people find.

With this in mind, I am very open to learning. One principle I take very closely to heart is from UU's 7 principles "A free and responsible search for truth and meaning" which I try to put into practice every day. Knowing this means that when I talk with people and they say something that is inaccurate or hurtful I work very hard not to get angry with them and remember we are all on this journey together to make the world better and live our lives to the fullest we can. I am very interested in talking with the person about whatever issue it is so we can both grow and learn together. This is the best way I know to help move this world onto a better path. Only after someone says something offensive time and time again after talking about how it is wrong and show no incentive to learn and grow will I start to get tetchy with their statements. This is of course a goal and something I don't always succeed with but it is very important to me.

When I do things like this I want my friends and family to know that I do care about them and all they have to do is tell me they are done with the conversation and I will stop. If I call them by the wrong pronoun, it is never intentional, they just might have to correct me one more time and I will reliably get it right after I see them enough. I never purposefully try to offend people, and I will never be offended if someone calls me out for being too crass or offending them. The only way someone could offend me in such a situation is to think that I don't care and feel like they can't correct me, because nothing could possibly be further from the truth.

So, given my place in society and vantage point (which is definitely not a complete view on the world) and my age (I'm only 22) I find it is very important that when I talk with someone to respect them and not insult their intelligence or worth as a person as long as they are trying and making progress to be a better person. We are all in this journey together and we all have things to learn from one another and teach to each other. I really do believe that by having honest conversations with one another and sharing our knowledge we can become better people and make this world a better world.

Carbon, why not silicon?

I love technology, and I do see it as offering a lot of amazing answers to the future. Over the 20th century we developed batteries to store electricity better than before. With new carbon-fiber batteries we are able to store more electricity in a smaller space with shorter charging times and longer discharging times. This has enormous potential for the future of electric cars which will make them be able to carry electricity through the whole vehicle which Volvo is currently working on, the reduced weight means extra efficiency which means a longer range. The other advantage of short charging times means that people will be able to drive them as they would an internal combustion engine powered car and save enormous amounts of money and energy. This is currently being developed and in the next five years will yield enormous benefits to all people without significantly damaging the environment. Tesla has already made their current cars charge extremely quickly, and improving the technology once their patent expires will make electric cars the dominant car on the road.

The other piece of the puzzle is that silicon batteries are currently being developed and offers better storage than other forms of batteries. Hopefully this will hit the market soon which will allow better storage which then will make electric cars even more realistic and affordable for people. This will reduce the carbon footprint of humanity, helping to stall global warming in the long run.

This is why I am a proud technophile and optimistic about the future. This future is now.

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon%E2%80%93air_battery
http://www.materials360online.com/newsDetails/12800;jsessionid=208C96025E476AB21334B13EAC8C60C5
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/168964-volvo-develops-battery-infused-carbon-fiber-body-panels
http://ecomento.com/2014/06/06/carbon-fiber-battery-bodywork-for-electric-cars-swedish-researchers-say-yes/
https://www.google.com/patents/EP2502295A1?cl=en has information on the silicon air battery
http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger

Summer Con 2014

Summer con was fun. I took the Greyhound bus down and met some really nice people, one from Canada who does web design and is in his late 20s. I then had a very nice conversation with a nice lady who is my age from Edinburgh which is now on my list of places I want to travel. Mark and Kyle helped me out a ton by letting me stay with them on Thursday night. Mark was there but Kyle was at his house in Corvallis. I like all of their roommates who are wonderful people. Mark and I went to West Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in the morning and helped set things up and participate in the board meeting. I am really good at my job, and participated to the best of yay ability in the conversations. There were about 30 people there who ended up going at the end of the day, and if knew most of them already. About 5 people were going to their first YA con after Bridging and there were at least two people who were completely new. I helped cook breakfast on Monday. I was the touch group leader for my group consisting of Robyn, her friend, and Shawna, all of whom I hadn't met before. We were great and talked about inclusion, which was the theme for the con. For the first workshop I did some Tai Chi with my new friend from Ashland, and it was a slightly different form than what I originally learned. The second workshop was blues dancing which was the first time I did it, and the other people were really good. I learned quickly, and the one thing I need to improve on is using my arms when I dance by myself. At the middle of it a family who was driving north needed help with paying for a hotel room and we a number of us (including ourselves) pitched in even though most of us are the stereotypical starving college student. I have never loved my friends as much as when we practiced the second principle (justice and compassion in human relations) right there to the best of our ability. The big workshop including all people was to talk about how we as UUs make sure we are inclusive to as many people as possible. Makayla was in my group and she was awesome, along with 6 other people. We talked about how we make sure we let almost anyone join our fellowships and ministries without being so inclusive that we allow someone to engage in destructive behaviors that are contrary to our 7 principles and covenant. It is a delicate be lancing act when working with people to ensure that we keep ourselves safe while still not isolating ourselves from people who need our help. During the final worship I played Moonlight Sonata, Ave Maria by Bach/Gounod, and Clair de Lune which was naturally a total hit. At least 10 people complimented me on my piano playing. I played four times in the talent show, thee times on the piano accompanying other people and one time on the trumpet. I played Andante et Allegro by Balay (with a small introduction about who he is and saying it is one of my favorite trumpet pieces) and accompanied with our own Pete Seeger's Where Have all the Flowers Gone? while singing, a piece with Grant, and once with Kira from a musical. On my way back to the bus stop Mark kindly drove me back and is such a wonderful person who is kind to everybody he knows and a good friend.

I am always astounded by the love of my UUs that I am fortunate to experience on an almost daily basis and our willingness to help each other and others outside our community whenever we can. I will never leave this community.

One final thought on charity. I gave $10 to the family who needed a hotel room to visit their ailing grandfather, even though I have very little. The con was almost completely college students but we still were generous enough to make sure they wouldn't be hungry. Sophia only gave money when she knew they had kids, which is important. Resources are not limited and and we need to make sure that when we hand out cash which is extremely liquid that it will be used for what we the donors intend for it to go to. I practiced this as well when a man approached me at the greyhound station asking for money while he absolutely reeked of nicotine. I didn't give him money because I am certain that it will go to furthering his destructive addiction. Given how I am already going to pay for his chemotherapy when he gets cancer, and I absolutely refuse on moral grounds to fund the Child labor that goes into that extremely disgusting habit. If someone is truly hungry there are churches like mine and if they are scarred by conservative religion they can always go to the food bank, so I don't give people cash unless I know they really are in need like the family who approached us on Saturday or it is through an intermediary like the UUA which ensures that the cash will not go to furthering the unfair labor practices and disastrous health effects of cigarettes and the unjust way they are produced but instead to the services people need. If someone can afford a pack of cigarettes they can afford food. I refuse to participate in that industry in any shape or form given all the lives they have taken.

Muslim Student Association dinner

Tonight I went to an amazing dinner/event with the Muslim Student Association at my university. We started with just talking for a while, and about half an hour in dinner was served from a local Indian restaurant. The people I was sitting with were extremely kind, and the featured people were amazing. The first presenters were some Sufi dancers from Seattle who sang and danced, which was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. The second presenter was a graduate of my school who sang some pleasant rap with Islamic themes of serving your community, looking to God for help, etc.

The third was a speaker who graduated from my school a few years ago and he talked about what it means to be Muslim, about faith in action, serving your neighbors, and some examples. He talked about some Muslims who were going to Mosque to break the fast during Ramadan who saw a poor man outside and they talked to him about Muhammad. After hearing about his situation they fed him before they broke their fast and when the Imam came to Mosque the starving man (who apparently knew nothing about Islam before that day) told him how much he loved Muhammad. Another example was about washing his feet which once presented an awkward moment in a private restroom when he was using a public sink to clean his feet (which is required in Islam) and someone else washed his hands after using the bathroom next to him, and not a word was spoken between them. Another time he was washing his feet and a TSA agent came in... he's ok, don't worry. He was an amazing speaker. The message that Islam teaches peace (which is true) and in serving your neighbor is something all religious people agree on.

All in all a wonderful conference with some wonderful people.

Spring UU PNWD YA Con

So, this weekend has been one of the best weekends I've had for a very long time, that is because it was the seasonal Young Adult Con for UUs here in Bellingham where I go to school!

Like the last con I went to, the people were absolutely wonderful and fun to talk with and do things with. I played Cards Against Humanity, helped in the kitchen, and many other things.

Friday: We got together starting around 5:00 and had dinner made by one of my friends who I finally got to meet, who is an absolutely marvelous cook. We had a small worship service and the theme was about communication, making sure that people can understand what we are saying, given the amount we talk and the common UU habit of being extremely intelligent, clearly honest, and vocal while still attempting to be respectful and open to others while not letting our guard down and compromising our values which for me explains why we have so many famous famous humanitarians in our religion despite our size. The speaker would say something that sounded really different from what she/he meant so we could be aware of speaking clearly which at times when I am speaking, though not so much when I am writing, is something I can personally struggle with. We stayed up until 2 AM which is normal for these sorts of events.

Saturday: We had breakfast which was the most amazing omelette I have ever eaten. The first event was getting into our touch groups which were set up so we can discuss certain prompts to help understand the theme of the con, and we finished very early, so we talked about another issue that kept us going full speed ahead until it was time to gather back together. We have the same touch groups through the con so we can get to know people we don't frequently see at a deeper level and have a deeper dialogue, my group had 6 people total. We then had our first workshop for which I chose to go to an environmental sustainability workshop which was really fun discussing with a UU who traveled from Montreal to start to build a large network of young UUs who want to help the environment. There were only 4 of us in that workshop, and it was very fun to lay out what we can and should do to successfully move the world to a sustainable future very different from what we are currently doing. The second workshop I attended was looking at several readings by different philosophers and discussing their writings on how to successfully communicate ideas to people transcending cultural, economical, and political boundaries. Being a very political group of people this was very interesting and important. After that, there was a lot of free time in which I played Cards Against Humanity and briefly played some Magic the Gathering before the worship service. The worship service was normal for UUism, starting with some opening words, lighting the chalice, as well as joys and concerns while the leader speaks about whatever she wants to talk about (in this case, a she). She talked about holding our values close while spreading words of freedom and justice around our lives, and being open to people. This is what it truly means to be UU and no one could have said it as eloquently as she did. I totally agree that there is no respect, rhyme, or reason to not being clear with other people and personally following the wisdom of treat others how you wish to be treated, that it is rude. I don't like being lied to and I shouldn't do it to other people. This is why Unitarians are so successful at making monumental change across the nation and world despite our small numbers. We are honest to people and by sticking by our guns while still being open to others we have done the impossible and we will do it again. Thinking of what we have done, what we do and the true meaning of true trust and love that comes with our journey made me feel so whole and complete that when she asked for us to write down one joy, one concern, and one other thing which escapes me I couldn't think of any concern which was such a wonderful feeling. That is why I go to Con and surround myself with people like UUs, because they allow me to see the best in humanity and make me feel whole.
This was followed after a break with the highlight of Con, the Talent/No Talent show where we entertain each other with music and prose. I played America from Westside Story on my trumpet and got a huge applause for my solo, just like last time. It was fun hearing stories and other types of music, including an extremely hilarious song about banjos where we all laughed, and one guy who told a true story of meeting a creeper on a bus wearing a gigantic sombrero trying to give him a strange soap. We had a wonderful time and didn't disappoint.

Sunday, today: We were woken up by one of our chaplains, who is also one of my best friends, playing the banjo so we would be up before people came to church. We had breakfast, packed up. Four of us who live in Bellingham stayed for the service and the rest went out to lunch which looked really fun. I was really torn about my decision but since the service today was about the Beatles and the last time I will hear our interim minister talk I decided to stay.

All in all, it was an absolutely wonderful con and I will never forget it.

Canonical Needs Google and Google needs Canonical

There is really only one truly great seamless operating system in today's market, and that operating system is without a doubt Ubuntu. I've found Ubuntu to be the fastest, easiest to use, and most reliable operating system I've ever used. As long as programmers use standard code, such as HTML 5 for videos and don't try pulling any funny stuff, because HTML can do pretty much anything you want, it will work on every platform. The only reason people can't use Linux with every website is most people don't know how to code and the companies that hire people don't know anything about computers. Hopefully this will change as my generation and people slightly older than my generation take over after these people, assuming they don't work into their 90s God forbid.

There are many reasons why I love Ubuntu and it is my operating system of choice. First of all, it is fast. I have never had an operating system that runs as quickly in my life. Secondly, it is reliable. While Microsoft is in this gigantic phase of having one decent operating system and then changing it to something completely unreliable I won't be able to trust them.

Android has gigantic memory problems which means it is going to lag behind until Google fixes this glaring error. Google's Chromebook which I have tried seriously didn't grab me. Google is not very good at designing operating systems, they are trying to be too brash when the traditional desktop works very well. Canonical is much better.

Microsoft has the problem of producing one good operating system followed by a bad one. Windows 7 was mostly reliable, but not 100%. But it was way better than Vista! Their browser is by far the worst browser of the past 5 years. Memory lag is a gigantic problem, and when they fixed this problem they introduced the problems of Windows 8. 2 out of 5 stars by real people on Cnet is not a rave review. CNET is one of the major sites where technology people go for news, so we are not talking about average users. Microsoft is an unreliable company and they should retreat into the video game market.

Apple makes all of their products too expensive, overcharge for underpowered hardware, and my iPad (which is only 2 years old) crashes more than any other device I have ever owned. Being so closed source seriously limits their ability to seriously penetrate the market along with everything being overpriced (it's worth mentioning twice).

This leaves only one truly excellent operating system in the world which is Ubuntu. After 7 years of using Ubuntu on a daily basis I have never lost a single file on my Ubuntu partition. It is fast and the programs are able to almost seamlessly work within the operating system even though almost none of them are made by Canonical. It is stable, reliable, and easy to use. Because of this it is my favourite operating system by far and my next phone will have the Ubuntu OS if they release it. They will take over the market and there will be no other competition once they enter.

The only problem is it doesn't have other companies work with them. Valve has done a remarkable job porting games over to Linux operating systems which is increasing frequently and as more games available people will move to the most reliable computer company in the world. The other company that needs to work with Canonical (which I fully believe will be the future) is Google because they can't make an operating system half as good. If Google brings back Google Earth and improves Chromium on Ubuntu they will see immense progress. The second step Google should do is move Youtube from Flash to HTML 5 over the next year which will significantly improve the quality and speed of Youtube and how it works with all modern platforms. At that point it won't require any special software on any modern OS. Any Operating System today that doesn't support HTML 5 is not modern. Not only is HTML 5 extraordinarily functional but like Python it is easy to code, which makes it the only base code for websites.

With all of these in place we should see Ubuntu become a major operating system which will lead to a more stable computer market which will allow people to have a stable operating system.

What a year

Over the past year my life has changed in ways I personally can barely understand. My dog died last March. It took over 3 months for the house to finally come down, even though after the first week or so the soot had penetrated our belongings so much whatever we hadn't already saved was beyond the ability to rescue anything. Something I wish I knew in the beginning. Personal items certainly aren't everything, but they are important.

I went to Germany and Georgia, met new friends in the wonderful extremely hospitable country of Georgia which has been on my mind for a very long time. I met so many friends and they are all so special. My travel in Germany meeting my family, the side which I personally take after the most (no-nonsense when it comes to the important things, hyper-intelligence, ability to have fun, with strong values) meeting my wonderful aunt and many very special cousins, and seeing my friends in Köln who I enjoy being with. That was a trip I had planned for years and I can't wait to return.

I finished my associates and helped coordinate an international science conference (not primarily but helped with details, and wish I had done more) and started doing my bachelor's degree. I love my school, I love my teachers, and have met many very good friends. I have become involved in the local Unitarian Universalist church and have met more people there that share my basic beliefs and desire to just make a difference in the world regardless of how hard it might be which is so important. With board game club, advocacy for my university, registering people to vote, and getting a new job recently I have had the most amazing year. The only thing my life is missing is a girlfriend which would make me completely whole.

I've decided to live off-campus next year so I have a kitchen available and people won't decide to come in drunk at late hours which will be very convenient. I will have a job working at a small convenience store soon which will help bring in some income which will help me save for grad school or whatever I decide to do after my bachelor's degree. I'm torn between going to grad school immediately and getting a job for a while before going back. Excluding things like making a family if the right person comes along, I expect I will continue to grad school which will open a lot of doors in economics. I'm really excited.

My parents will also move into their new house in just a week or two which will be very nice for all of us.

The Future of Unitarian Universalism

I am a Unitarian Universalist, and I was reading an interesting article in UU World, one of the two major publications of my faith today. http://www.uuworld.org/ideas/articles/279318.shtml


While searching for some UU sites, I found some interesting viewpoints from ex-Unitarian Universalists. We must remember that an important aspect to growth is to be a place people won't want to leave. http://cabaretic.blogspot.com/2007/06/confessions-of-ex-unitarian.html and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/29/unitarian-universalists_n_887267.html have some important points on what struggles this religion faces, and have some very reasonable points. The point of people who are radical atheists who get offended when people talk about God is a very important point, and this needs to be suppressed in our movement. Just because a belief doesn't fit with one person's viewpoint doesn't mean that it shouldn't be discussed. This ties in deeply with being a place where people can find meaning with their own readings and experience, and people who do this aren't truly UUs because they are not following the 4th principle, free and responsible search for truth and meaning, and by making a congregation not follow this principle means it loses a lot of value. Those congregations need to think very hard about if they are truly Unitarian Universalist, or just atheists seeking revenge. There are atheist UUs, and they have an important role to play, but they don't have the right to enforce their dogma on everyone else, as some people have experienced. This might be our number one hurdle to growth in the near and distant future.

I have some ideas on how Unitarian Universalism can grow, and I hope that at an assembly soon this can be made clear on how we are going to grow and become more relevant in the near future and be a major force for justice and democracy in the world. In typical UU fashion, here it is in list form, to be an addition to our seven principles and six sources, consider this to be perhaps our seven responsibilities:

1. We welcome people of different backgrounds to our congregations who wish to celebrate the joy of life and meaning and be part of our community.
2. We help our communities through service projects to make our world a better place.
3. We offer a place of peace for people to share their beliefs and gain insight from each other. The ministry has a responsibility to be available to mediate conflicts so that people can be comfortable.
4. We offer a place of love for all people needing a place to grow a family in peace.
5. We honor and practice the Golden Rule towards all people as is taught by all great faiths.
6. We support all people who need support from oppression.
7. The pulpit will have the freedom to talk about any religion, and the pulpit will be available to all members for a reasonable amount of time.
8. We have a message that must be shared and it is our responsibility to share this message.

A very common concern people have is that by not limiting ourselves to a Christian message we can't be a true religion. I think this is narrow minded. I have many beliefs of my own and I have been challenged in every one of them, and by understanding different religious beliefs I have been able to gain a perspective that serves me very well. People who are Buddhist or Christian and explore both deeply will find many things about each that are very compatible, at least this is what I have found. The most common belief system in China is a combination of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism. Being American, this is not a viewpoint I probably would not have learned a lot about without being either interested in comparative religion or Unitarian Universalist. For people who don't fit any one box in belief, are genuinely interested in other points of view, and have the basic morals that UU has in the seven principles, Unitarian Universalism has a very important place in the world's religious landscape.

Religion is a very important institution. Among roles are charity throughout the world, charity for the local community, and support for its members and visitors. Religion offers a place where people can grow spiritually. I believe that people need to fed in three ways, physically through food and exercise, mentally through education and life-long learning, and spiritually through different means that make our beliefs and actions moral. Religion is one of the most effective ways that people around the world fulfil their spiritual needs, and become well-rounded individuals. The charity that religions give out cannot be understated, given the existence of military and prison chaplains, and movements for homelessness and defending the people who are not defended. Being able to pool your money to one trustworthy organization that provides a wide variety of roles is a very efficient way to donate money to charity and make a real difference in the world. Some people will say this is partisan, but many of the greatest Americans in history, Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King Jr. among others, were guided by their faith and patriotism, and many of them were Unitarian, Universalist, or Unitarian Universalist. For people who live in Western nations in particular who have difficulty with hell, the trinity, or other dogmas of Christianity, Unitarian Universalism has a very important role to play, and for people from around the world from any culture that find that not just one religion speaks to them and want to have a community that will allow them to grow spiritually, Unitarian Universalism's role becomes globally important in every country.

Unitarian Universalism however, is not Mormonism or Jehovah's Witnesses. We don't have a set doctrine on God or the afterlife, which is a very important aspect of who we are. We are seekers, and we seek guidance around the world, from the Bible to the Tao Te Ching, from the Koran to the Bhagavad Gita, even from more modern non-religious writings like The Lord of the Rings or even The Lorax, we look for and usually find meaning in everything. Because we are seekers and don't expect people to necessarily come out with one belief or another converting people to Unitarian Universalism in the Mormon fashion won't work very well... a better way to have higher retention for us would be to retain people who visit our congregations and make certain people have access to on-line resources and can join groups like Church of the Larger Fellowship if going to church on Sunday isn't a realistic option. The best way is to have open churches that allow people to come in and are very inviting but not pushy for conversion and have people be treated both as members, but with information on how to begin. When people visit us and we don't see them for a while we should check in with them to see how they are doing, so they know we care about them.

Charity. One important function a good religious organization has is the community that develops around the shared principles. In the two UU groups I am part of, the local congregation and campus ministry, I have made many friends who I expect will last a lifetime, or at least for a very long time. Having a single place where I know I can gather with people who share my optimism, values, and beliefs once or twice a week is a very uplifting experience. It is possible to find this in the secular world, but more difficult to build a large family that is self-supporting that exists for a purpose like religion can. The community I am part of is global and gives me connections to people around the world.

Friendship. Another function of good religious organizations is support. When someone is part of a fully functional religious organization the person knows the minister is there to help him/her. This is an important role that happens in the secular world, but usually not with the level of training religious organizations have.

Discovery. Finally the third function of religion for me is to open my eyes to new wonderful things. I hear beautiful music, and stimulating sermons that get me thinking about the world and my place in it. Having a highly educated minister in religion gives me the opportunity to get a perspective that takes a long time to assemble alone. The world is big and having a guide is useful in learning about the world.

These are a few reasons why I believe religion has an important role in the future.

I hope that Unitarian Universalism can grow soon. We have a wonderful message, wonderful people, and all we need is to get our message out. Historically important Unitarians Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Mott built the  feminist movement, and many leading Transcendalists were also UUs. Not just that, but President Obama's mother was also Unitarian Universalist, we are standing right now on the brink of growth, all we need is the first little push to make us climb the mountaintop.

We have a lot to offer the world, and we have a lot to do to expand to people who are not part of our dominant demographic. We need to reach out so we can grow and be one of the largest forces for good in the world. If more people discover us we can continue to change the world and show people there is a way to make the world a better place in beloved community. I truly love my church, it gives so much to everyone around it. It is our duty to share our mission with the world.

(Most of this was written a year ago, but I think this must be shared, so I'm publishing it now with a few additions)

Successful day in the capital

Yesterday I went to Olympia to lobby for Western Washington University where I've gone to school since September. It's been a great four months.

I was scheduled to talk to 5 members of the legislature, including the Senate Minority Leader (Republican) who was a very personable man, and hopefully will keep education at the top of his agenda before the amount of upkeep the State needs to do becomes truly expensive. There is clearly a conflict with the Republicans between their desire for low taxes and their support for education (in this state, if only the Republicans in the federal government supported education) which means at the end of the session they have to decide which one they want more, low taxes or high quality schools. Most Democrats have a conflict between their desire for compromise and their desire for high quality schools, but fortunately that is less common in this state so we have some of the best schools in the country. (without getting into international comparisons)

I talked to my former representative Kathy Haigh and found her to be very personable and is very supportive of our education system.

I saw Karen Fraser and Sam Hunt of Olympia's 22nd district who clearly are very good people, and I am glad they are the representatives of Olympia.

The one representative I was not impressed with tried to explain how temporary farm workers don't pay taxes, which is not true because our state has a sales tax, and people pay the sales tax regardless of where they live or what color their passport is.

All in all I think it was a very successful day and I look forward to going down next month to do more lobbying for education because it is so important for me personally but also is the motor in the background of our economy.

Dachau

Today was very surreal, I spent most of the day at Dachau concentration camp. It was a fascinating experience seeing how it started as a small camp in 1933 by the Nazis and then grew over the next 12 years to become one of the largest and most-feared camps in all of Germany. It answered my largest question of how they were able to put such horror next to such a large city. There also was absolutely no freedom of the press in Germany in the Third Reich, so if it wasn't in the state press, Germans wouldn't know about it. There were actual tours of Dachau during the 1930s with concerts, and the prisoners were said to be people who wouldn't work (the homeless and mentally ill) even though this was not the truth. Thinking of a lot of people i have met, this type of explanation would work on a lot of people, and most people wouldn't investigate further. I saw the death chambers, which consisted of ovens and a gas chamber. I spent a good two hours in the museum and still didn't see all of the exhibits, and at a few points I felt like crying it was so overwhelming (which I don't do). That alone took most of the day. By the end of the existence of Dachau there was the beginning of a resistance forming, which had been difficult for most of the chance of existence because the prisoners were from so many different groups, which kept them divided and conquered (United we stand, divided we fall). The museum is really well designed and does an excellent job at explaining the history of Dachau and ties it in with the larger picture of what was happening in Germany at the same time. Standing in Dachau it is impossible to fully understand the complete horror that took place under Nazi rule and how a country so completely devestated by the Treaty of Versailles could fall so low. The massive depression that hit Germany and the blaming of minorities on the whole country's problems were the two major factors that led to the Nazis coming to power. John Maynard Keynes predicted that the Treaty of Versailles was a terrible misstep, and he was so very right. One thing for me that is particularly uncomfortable is that we often think of the second world war as the epitome of a "just war" if such a thing is possible, yet we really took our time in going into the second world war, and we didn't go into the concentration camps until 1945. One would think there would have been bombing raids on Nazi Germany in 1939 if the purpose of the second world war was to free the Jews et al, but the truth is that we didn't do that, and it wasn't until we ran in and found how extensive and overcrowded the concentration camps were. I also thought of today in North Korea at their numerous concentration camps on their territory and in Russia that are operating today. We have done nothing to end this and the reasons (Putin) help a modern observer understand past mistakes better. But are only part of a complete understanding. 

Dachau made me think of right now in North Korea which is so similar.
After Dachau Concentration Camp we drove back into the city of Dachau and had our lunch. We came home, I packed since I leave in two days and dinner. The evening was spent catching up on two weeks of news and learning how there will be new Star Wars games.

Munich and Starnberg

6 June 2013

On thursday I took the s-bahn to starnberg to see a friend and deliver one of her things. We first went for a bike ride around Munich and saw the English garden and walked around downtown. I found a few bookshops and bought a few. I found a beautiful map store that has literally every country in the world. I found a small antique book store but didn't buy anything. I then caught the train which took half an hour, which is very good for a city train at that distance. Her husband is a doctor in a hospital and when I arrived he pretended to not speak English like other Germans I have met which forced me to speak German which I appreciated. They live with their granddaughter who is my brother's age, and she was nice. We had a much needed quiet day.

7 June 2013

On Friday I went to a Biergarten south of Starnberg which was very big and had excellent food in German serving sizes (the largest I have ever seen) and then went back to Munich by the S-Bahn and got off at the wrong station because I didn't understand which station I had to get off at. Next time I come to Germany the first thing I am going to do is get a simple prepaid t-mobile SIM card that works with a small data   I went for a long bike ride in Munich to southwest Munich (we live in Ottobrunn) which was a beautiful bike ride to a Biergarten which had live music on the edge of the Isar.

The other German side

8 June 2013

Today we left Munich early in the morning around 8:30 and drove west to Swabia. My cousin who planned the gathering spent a few weeks exploring the Swabian alps (which are hills) where my uncle used to live and found the small hotel where we had our family gathering. My family is wonderful, but family politics between my uncle and two of his sons meant that my uncle chose not to come to his own party, so I will never meet him, and I'm not sure if that is a bad thing. I had a wonderful time talking with my wonderful cousins about our lives, playing with the younger cousins and having wonderful food. There was one young cousin who is less then a year old who was always happy when she saw me and my presence calmed her down. I went for a car ride around town in a convertible my cousin rented (because the rental company made a mistake, so he got an upgrade for free). Two of my Finnish cousins are entrepreneurs, one is hoping to start a bed and breakfast and one is getting close to starting a dance studio in Helsinki. It was interesting comparing starting businesses in the us and Northern Europe which is really similar. I got more information on our heritage and had a wonderful day.

9 June 2013

In the morning the remaining members of the family had breakfast together, consisting of those of us who live outside Germany, two of my uncle's sons, my cousin and fiancé who live in Switzerland, and the family with the five year old. We drove to Roetlingen and the Finns, Americans, one of my uncle's sons and I had a delicious lunch at a nice restaurant owned by family friends of my uncle. We then drove back to Munich and spent three hours with my aunt talking and having dinner. I was exhausted. My 2nd cousin I am staying with and I are plotting to get the family back together since the German side all lives so close to one another. 

4th and 5th of June

4 June
We went to the Altenpinapotek which has a lot of beautiful paintings from the late Medieval era to the early 1700s. It had works by many great artists and many were very large. I couldn't imagine what it was like to paint such large paintings, but I'm not an artist so that doesn't really mean anything. We then went to my aunt's house and her two older sons were there, and her second son's son. I talked with my second cousin for a couple hours, and he is an interesting guy. We came home and had dinner at a nearby Chinese buffet.

5 June
Today I went to Neuschwanstein with my cousin's partner, and it is a really amazing castle. It is a good hour and a half from Munich and a lot is between the two places. We stopped by Wieskirche on the way south which is a beautiful little church with wonderful paintings near Wies, Bavaria. We arrived at Neuschwanstein early, and took the bus up the mountain partway to the castle. We walked to a bridge and saw Neuschwanstein before going inside. The throne room is currently under construction so I didn't see that part, I guess I have to watch chitty chitty bang bang again. It was a beautiful castle and is a must see for a trip to southern Bavaria.

We then went to Füssen, and walked through the city which is beautiful. We got some bread and went back home.

Back to Munich

Today my friend had to leave at 5:30 so I woke up at 5 to see her off. I then went back to bed, but didn't sleep. Her boyfriend came back around 6:30 and we packed lunches and breakfasts before going to the u-bahn so I could go downtown and he could go to school. I walked around for about three hours seeing the city away from the tourist area. I walked across the bridge of love to the other station and it is clear that the west side is nicer. I found a nice used bookstore with good prices and got a few books, and the went back to the train station an hour early. My train was fifteen minutes late (which talking to the other passengers they assured me is unusual, one more difference between the us and Europe!) but when I couldn't make my connection in Mainz they allowed me to stop at Frankfurt and get a direct train to Munich, so I  came out ahead! I arrived in Munich on time when I remembered why I am never traveling without a SIM card again. I went home and had dinner with my cousins, after which I went to bed pretty quickly (since I was falling asleep at the dinner table). 

Köln day 2

Today I had a pretty quiet morning at home. My friend's boyfriend was at work so we stayed, watched tv and read some things having a quiet morning. His sister came with her daughter who is 18 months old and she played with my friend as I read different things (I have grown to like quiet mornings). He came home and we all went downtown where we walked around. Everything was closed so we didn't do anything. We went for a short walk in a park before coming back home for some Iranian food his parents made. It was delicious. We then went to walk around a German cemetery which was a really beautiful place. Families here have their family gravesite which they rent for a period of 25 years before it is given to someone else, and some gravesites can be very beautiful. You will usually have several people buried at the same gravesite. We then came home and watched the German-US football match, and it was fun to see the US beat one of the best teams in the world. A potential upset for the German team, which is currently ranked as the second best team in the world. The US is the 29th strongest according to the FIFA Ranking, so we might see the US grow in strength next year in Brazil.

I'm sure going to miss my friends, and can't wait to see them again.

Köln day 1, thoughts about cities

Today I had a quiet morning as my friend's boyfriend was working. He works at a German bakery and Northern German food is so delicious! It is also very similar to American, but slightly different. While in Southern Germany (or at least Bavaria) it is common to have a platter of different meats and cheeses next to a basket of bread, and then everyone takes as much bread and meats and cheese as you want. Northern Germany is more where everyone has their own dish and they are very similar to what is considered American food that you could get at a good restaurant. It is very clear that Northern Germany had a large influence on American cuisine. We went with the same friend we went with yesterday to downtown Köln and walked around for probably a good 5 hours. We took the U-bahn which is by far the most convenient way to get around and is the least expensive and most flexible option (since you could arrive let's say in north downtown, walk for a few hours to the other side of the river and catch a different train without ever having to back trace) and you don't have to waste time finding a parking spot. We went right downtown and I found a card store my friends had never found before. We went to a very nice chocolate factory where they show people how they make chocolate and have old chocolate dispensers and things like that. There were a lot from Dresden before the American military destroyed it. We went to the bridge of love. We then went to get our lunch at a Turkish section of Köln which was absolutely delicious. Köln is a huge city and as a huge city there are people from around the world here which I really like. We were then quite tired after a long day walking around this beautiful city and came home. I remembered that we were going to get a board game (Settlers of Catan in English, originally a German game) so we walked into the mall in Weiden where they live and got it. Our other friend went home at that point so I played Catan with my friend who I went to school with for a good three hours since her boyfriend was so exhausted.

I am surprised that Köln has free parking, it probably won't last because we saw our friend trying to park this morning and she had trouble finding a good spot, the Bahn is by far the best option, and goes everywhere in the city and to the neighboring cities. It is also very quick and pleasant, and for intercity travel you don't have to arrive several hours beforehand for a flight which wastes valuable time which I've grown to hate. That's my advice for travelers to Europe, since all cities here have excellent mass transit systems and the intercity mass transit system is very good, and has a lot of room to improve in the next ten years if they choose to. You also go to the center of downtown when you take the train into Köln which is right next to the second largest cathedral in the world after St. Peter's Basilica. It is a must see on a trip to Northwestern Germany.

Köln is currently the fourth largest city in Germany and the largest of the Rhine region (behind Berlin, Hamburg, and München) and I love this city as much as München and Tbilisi. I have liked most cities I have been to, the only ones I don't care for so much are Los Angeles (because of the god awful smog and lack of options to get around, there is very little freedom of movement in comparison to European cities or other American cities), Tri-Cities Washington (urban sprawl, three eyed fish, excellent apples you can get at home at your supermarket and not much else), and in the future there will be other cities I will not be so enthralled by. Cities I have really enjoyed are Seattle, Sydney, Brisbane (for the 3 hours I was there, and I need to explore this city more), Portland OR (which has a lot for its relatively small size), Vancouver (amazing people, amazing culture), Victoria Canada (for everything), München (wonderful city with amazing food, excellent museums, wonderful people and it is extremely easy to get around), Köln (for the same reasons as München), and I enjoyed Tbilisi (it takes a few days to get used to the differences which are quite extreme, but once you figure out how the city ticks it becomes quite pleasant.

In the future my list includes (but is in no way limited to): The Northeast coast of the USA from Boston to Canada. There is so much to see in my own country still! San Francisco, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Northeast Brazil, Santiago, Bogota, Medellin, Cape Town, Johannesburg, and different places in South Africa along with Botswana and Namibia. Paris, London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Rome, Venice, Milano, Istanbul, Berlin, Hamburg, Mainz, Hanover, Leipzig, Luxembourg, Nuremburg, Bern, Zurich, Vienna, Stockholm, Gotenburg, Copenhagen, Malmo, Oslo, Helsinki, Vasa, Nice, Monaco, Stuttgart, Strasbourg, Athens, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Seville, Granada, Melbourne, Adelaide, Tasmania, New Zealand, Singapore, Delhi, Calcutta, Dubai, Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai, Chongqing, Beijing, Tianjin, Seoul, Pusan, Tokyo, Osaka, and so many places I haven't thought of yet!

A summary of my route yesterday:
I started in Munich, and passed through Ingolstadt, Nürnburg, Würzburg, Frankfurt, Mainz, Koblenz, Bonn, Köln. The most beautiful part of the trip was between Mainz and Bonn. I want to explore Mainz in the future, the home of Johannes Gutenburg, and a city that has been settled for over 300,000 years. http://www.germany.ru/images/germany-map.jpg is an excellent map of the German train system that is useful for people who plan a trip to Germany in the future.

München und Köln

29 May 2013

I climbed up a tower in the center of Munich with my cousin's partner which had a great view. We then went to my aunt's house for dinner and talked.

30 May 2013

I went to the Deutsches Museum with my cousin's partner in the morning. It is a large science museum with some really interesting exhibits for all ages. We then went to my aunt's house where we spent a few hours. We talked about family and I told her how big our American family is. We had dinner and it was a good evening. After that we went home and I packed for my trip to Köln. I realized how much there is to do in Germany, and all of Europe. There is so much to do over here that I want to see and it is so diverse, it is a little overwhelming. It would be easier to spend more time with family if there fewer other attractions and it would be easier to see everything else if I didn't have so much family here.

31 May 2013

Today I went to the train station around 9:00 with my cousin's partner after dropping my cousin off at my aunt's house. The train system in Munich is extremely efficient and useful. If I lived in Munich I wouldn't bother getting a car until I had children. I met a nice man (about 32) and we talked about all sorts of things. He was a Political Science/Economics major like what I am looking at and we compared the systems of Germany and the United States. One thing I am a little surprised by is that the ICE train doesn't go full speed because the tracks are not maintained well enough for 300 km/h which they are designed for, except in a few areas. I hope that in the next 5 years the German government will seriously look at improving the tracks so that trains can go at the speed they should be going. I am a little worried that the creation of freeways will replace the great train system here in Europe, but since they are purchasing more trains along with building more motorways I think this is fortunately unlikely. It is a very smooth ride and very comfortable. On my way back on Monday I am going to go on the slower trains which will probably be similar to the AMTRAK trains back home. The German countryside is very beautiful, and I am enjoying everything about this trip. Mainz looks like a very beautiful city that I would like to explore someday. When we were between Mainz und Köln a man who is probably my age came through in a straw hat singing for people and selling postcards for 2 Euros each. Who says Germans have no sense of humor?

I arrived in Köln a few minutes late and met my friend, her boyfriend, and two of their friends at the train station. We went up into the Köln cathedral which is magnificent, the second largest cathedral in the world! We climbed to the top of a spire and looked out at Köln which is a great city. We took the train to where my friend lives with her boyfriend and then went to a restaurant in Frechen where we had some food. Northern German food and standard "American" food is almost identical. We came back home and talked about whether my friend and her boyfriend should move to the United States. I love my country, but given how they have inexpensive health care and education here, made sure they were aware of some changes they are not prepared for that Germany has set up. Would I ever say to a friend to move to the United States? If the person is European, probably not given the difference in distribution of wealth between Europe and the United States and how health care is statistically speaking of the same quality in the US but a lot more expensive, which when I explained the types of costs associated with health care at home they were shocked. When I explained how my university will cost $8000 for tuition alone and they pay €3600 a year for the same thing here, they need to keep it in comparison that raising a family might be easier in Germany. Of course this is comparing apples and oranges for the same career and one has to make careful planning to maintain his/her standard of living in a new country with a different set of rules. I hope in the future I won't have to be such a spoil sport, given how I have a good bit hanging on the fate of the USA. I shared some statistics with her boyfriend on distribution of wealth in relation to income so they can decide whether it will work for them and their particular situation. Only time will tell. It is really good to see her again.