Took a little blog vacation yesterday, pretty gassed after 4 strong days of training straight off the plane.
That and it’s Harry Potter Weekend on ABC Family, a slightly more inviting option than putting pen to paper in my current comatose state..
Not a lot going on here either.
Just easing our way back into training, something we can afford to do with a hill in this condition at our disposal.
Feels good to get back in some GS gates and be given the freedom to attack it after 3 days of pulling it back in Slalom. Training is pretty easy when the whole team’s skiing great this early in the year..
Toby’s discipline is unreal as always, Marty’s still tweaking his ski legs and getting used to new equipment after switching to Atomic this winter and looking really solid already.
Meanwhile Shannon Dallas is doing his best to keep up the angry wheelie reputation but moving along nicely on the comeback from shoulder surgery and my roomie, Cam Rumpelstilzchen, is also getting it together after an extended layoff with a back injury, he’ll be charging in no time.
No more crazy Italians yesterday, instead we had the Swiss, Austrian and Swedish tech skiers. As well as the one man team, Austrian-come-Bulgarian Killian Albrecht.
You know you’re on the right hill with these guys hanging around..
Einstein was a staunch Zionist since before 1920. He said in reply to a letter “I discovered that I was Jewish by the non-Jews as I arrived in Germany 15 years ago” (Einstein was appointed professor at the University of Prussia immediately after WWI in 1918 as his theory of relativity was demonstrated by observation). “The individual Jews reached a high state of evolution but they lacked the support of united communities of blood and tradition: Individual insecurity generates and provokes huge moral fragility. Only the creation of a homeland would heal this sick people. You may call this homeland concept nationalism, a concept that I hate but you are not wrong in your term. It is nationalism with no will for acquiring political power but preoccupied mainly to preserving the dignity and moral health of the Jews. If we were not living within intolerant communities then I would be the first to reject all kinds of nationalism for the benefit of a universal community”. (Didn’t we all read this lame argument?)
Einstein considered Herzl his guiding ideological leader who worked to aiding the Jewish people to discover solidarity for an achievable purpose of establishing a Jewish homeland. Einstein never missed an occasion in supporting the Zionism cause in meetings, speeches, and collecting funds for various Zionist organizations such as (organization for handicraft and agricultural work, ORT) and (organization for health protection of the Zionists, OZE). He visited the USA in 1930 to drum up funding and gathering specialist volunteers to establish a medical Jewish university in Jerusalem. He bantered to the leading literary figures of the period such as Bernard Shaw and H.G Wells in order to draw support from international figures.
Einstein impressed upon the audience that Jews have passion for knowledge, justice, and individual independence that are rooted in Jewish traditions; thus, anyone who is contrary to the ideals of reason and individual liberty is necessary “anti-Semite”. He claims that Judaism has no concept of the world; it focuses almost exclusively on the moral aspects, the sanctity of life, and the right of all living creatures to life. Sanctity of life is the supreme value to which all moral values are linked to. Judaism is not a “faith” because the Jewish God refuses superstitions; the God of the Jews cannot be considered a substitute to life on earth: serving God means serving life on earth; joy for the beauty in this world as the singing of birds, the mumbling of kids toward life.
Einstein would like us to believe that the God of Judaism is sort of a “cosmic spirit “, a symbol for the respect to life and justice and that Marx and Spinoza were inspired by that spirit. He recalled that Walter Rathenau once said “when a Jew says that he is hunting for his pleasure, then he is lying” (The brief history of the Zionist State has demonstrated that hunting Palestinians is the prime entertainment of the Israelis, Jews or not). Einstein claimed that the Sabbath sanctifies animals (so that they may be slaughtered during religious ceremonies?) Einstein ventures into saying that if the old Jewish traditions relied on fear tactics to impose its values then it has outgrown it (Israel is currently totally relying on instilling fear in the region on a State scale).
Einstein claims that if we factor out the teachings of Jesus and the Jewish prophets from their religious institutions then we discover that we have a doctrine capable of healing humanity of all its social ills. He went on “as long as we lived in ghettos, the Jewish communities experienced material and physical hardship but never psychological or social problems. After the emancipation of the Jews in (most of Europe) and their integration in the European societies then the Jewish youth integrated fully in schools, universities, and professional institutions and started to shun Jewish traditions and customs. This conversion was unilateral: the overwhelming majority in the European societies engaged in discrimination.” He went on “we have to clarify our condition as strangers and draw conclusions; we have to work out our social solutions; we have to establish our own syndicates and institutions and refrain from imitating the non-Jewish sets of values and customs. That is the solution for anti-Semitism”
Einstein abhorred the concept of nationalism but made it an exception for the Jews. He insisted on calling the Palestinians “Arabs”; this is not a simple general label that the Europeans used but an ideological Zionist indoctrination to rob the native Palestinians of any national identity. He said that a Jewish homeland should be a spiritual center; the goal is not to establishing a political community but a cultural community founded on Jewish traditions. “Jews and Arabs (in Palestine) got to reach an understanding on guiding lines for efficacious community needs: Switzerland represents a state evolution that caters to the complex constitution among its various nationalities. Our colonization enterprise to re-construct Palestine should be realized to serve the concrete interests of the Arab population; thus, we should refrain from allowing the mandated power of England to meddle in our affairs”.
These pronouncements came after the “Jewish colonization” came to a standstill in the late 20’s due to the trickling of external funding after the US financial crash and the stubborn resistance of the Palestinian to further Jewish immigration. It seems that Weitzman managed to coax England to resume its facilitation to Jewish immigration. In response to a letter from an “Arab” in March 1930, Einstein suggested the formation of mixed “private councils”; four members of each “nationality” would delegates of non-political organizations and syndicates such as medical, legal, worker syndicates or orders and a religious representative. The private council would meet once a week and discuss and deliberate; all discussions to stay secret then decisions would be disseminated to the public as an entity. Einstein must have played the dumb: if the Palestinians could find non-political organizations then it was not the case with the Jews; also, Palestine had a dozen religious sects including many Christian sects and Moslem sects to be able to sending one religious representative.
It is very possible that Europe would have considered reserving statehood for the Western Jews in east Europe because they were integrated in European societies; the main apprehension was the flooding of oriental Jews to Europe, a potentially not agreeable policy to racist Europe.
Einstein must have learned of the genocide committed against the Palestinians after Israel was recognized a State by the UN in 1948; hundred of thousands of Palestinians were displaced by brute force from their towns by a policy of transfer enacted by Ben Gurion. Has Einstein written or spoken on these crimes against humanity? It is said that Ben Gurion PM has proposed to Einstein to be President of the new Israeli State but that he refused for declining health. All Einstein’s manuscripts and documents are preserved in Israel; is there any time limit to have Einstein papers released to the general public? Einstein was the prime disseminator of the Zionist movement targeting the elite political and academic figures in the western world due to his aura as the leading theoretical scientist since 1918. It is very plausible that after the recognition of Israel that Einstein was formally hired as a spy so that his pronouncements be strictly controlled and kept secret after Israel decided on political policies that didn’t agree with Einstein’s principles.
What gives cities its unique style? Its personality and character? Its allure? Is it the fashion style of its residents? Or the artistic communities, expressing their art-form to the outside world. Is it the historic fabric of the city, embodied in all her historic buildings and edifices with all their different architectural styles?
Perhaps all of the above. Each city is as unique as her personal story of how it came about, embellished by a colorful history, replete with its own trials and tribulations. Much like Boutique Hotels that have become a permanent fixture in cities across the world. Each with a distinctive character, style, charm and attitude, to suit any lifestyle.
From classic elegance, chic seaside retreats, eclectic mix, to urban hip haunts, spunky funky, and cool mod (click on picture). Here’s a look at boutique hotels in San Diego, California’s city by the bay that is better known as a family-friendly destination with its world-famous San Diego Zoo, Sea World and Legoland. There is, however, an ongoing transformation, that is giving this laid-back surfer’s mecca with the perfect all-year round Mediterranean weather, a sophisticated make-over. Hollywood types have been secretly converging on San Diego’s boutique hotel, gourmet dining and club scene for years. The cat is clearly out of the bag!
US visas for founders of start-ups is an important topic that I feel rather strongly about. There are no ifs or buts about it. It is a crime that we do not have a mechanism to retain the brightest minds from other countries in our own who would create exciting & dynamic new ventures, create jobs for educated Americans, lead the way in global innovation, and open new frontiers for our economy. We need to immediately figure out a way to enable anybody who wants to start a legit business in the US to stay here.
Brad Feld and Paul Kedrosky have done an excellent job describing why we need to have:
(a) a special class of visa called ‘Startup visa’ for founders of startups. Founders that are able to raise a nominal amount of capital as validation of their company creation idea should be given a visa so they stay here and pursue their venture.
(b) a visa stapled to every graduate degree awarded in the US to retain the brightest minds here instead of sending them away after training them at our top universities. These young, highly educated, motivated and creative individuals are precisely what this country needs – for innovation, job creation, global leadership.
I have been an entrepreneur who created at least a couple dozen jobs in the US, and am now an investor in startups that create even more jobs….but I almost never became an entrepreneur due to visa issues.
Even with a highly technical Ph.D from MIT, I had no legal way of staying in this country after graduation to start a company. I had a couple of business ideas in mind but no way of pursuing them formally. My entrepreneurship passion was almost destined to die in entrepreneurship classes at MIT.
The only way for me to stay in the country post-graduation was to get a job in a large corporation that would sponsor an H1-B work visa. So I did that and joined a large management consulting firm. I liked my work, but lets be clear: I did not create any new jobs for Americans, or create much economic value/contribution to US economy in any meaningful manner (besides paying taxes) until I was able to join the entrepreneurship ranks mostly due to a lucky option available to me to retain my visa status in the US. For a few reasons, we created our new company initially as a subsidiary of our angel investor’s company, and fortunately for me I was able to transfer my H1-B visa to that parent company while I applied for a permanent residency as a person of interest to the US. Had that visa transfer not been possible (and most non-US citizen/resident startup founders don’t have such corporate structures available to them), I would have had to stay in my corporate job for additional 6-7 years (possibly my most productive years). I think 7 years later, with a bigger salary+bonus package in a comfy corporate job, leaving to do a startup would have been infinitely harder. I was able to take a big risk when I did partly because I had less to lose at a young age, and partly because passions ran strong. Now I wish for more people to have the kind of opportunity I had in this country.
I am posting some sections of Brad and Paul’s article in Wall Street Journal below:
While fast-growing companies have long been the main source of new jobs and innovation, this country makes it outrageously difficult for immigrants to launch new companies here. This doesn’t make any sense. After all, Google, Pfizer, Intel, Yahoo, DuPont, eBay and Procter & Gamble are all former start-ups founded by immigrants. Where would this country be today without their world-changing innovations?
Immigrants have not only founded big, well-known companies. Foreign-born residents made up just 12.5% of the U.S. population in 2008. But nearly 40% of technology company founders and 52% of founders of companies in Silicon Valley.
Yet we don’t seem to care. We send recent, foreign-born university science and engineering graduates back to their own countries after their student visas expire—unless these creative sorts are willing to spend some of the most entrepreneurial years of their lives working in a big company under an H-1B visa after they finish their studies.
…
In the 21st century [...] opportunities don’t wait for our interminable, employment-based visa programs. As a result rather than saying “Come and create jobs here” we, in effect, tell them to shove off. Come back when you have a few million in sales— at which point they will be rooted elsewhere and creating jobs somewhere else.
That needs to end now. Immigrants who come here to create companies create jobs. We need the jobs.
…
The U.S. remains one of the most attractive countries for entrepreneurs. It has a culture of risk taking, capital formation, and an economic dynamism that is the envy of the world. This gives us a competitive edge that we should not let slip through our fingers.
via Paul Kedrosky and Brad Feld: Start-up Visas Can Jump-Start the Economy – WSJ.com.
The Danish parliament today passed legislation which will give police sweeping powers of “pre-emptive” arrest and extend custodial sentences for acts of civil disobedience. The “deeply worrying” law comes ahead of the UN climate talks which start on 7 December and are expected to attract thousands of activists from next week…
The Danish police also separately issued a statement in August (pdf) applying new rules and regulations for protests at the climate conference, warning that “gatherings that may disturb the public order must not take place”.
Obama’s announcement on new Afghanistan military commitments scheduled for after the Thanksgiving holiday has been heralded by his Administration as offering what it takes to “get the job done”. Obama wants to signal an end to the crisis of confidence about U.S. commitment in Afghanistan. But equally he will need to confront lack of confidence around the world that his foreign policy for Muslim countries in conflict will be different from U.S. Presidents who have gone before him.
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The United States and their political allies need to create a standing Council (heads of State and international organizations) that will represent a more genuine partnership between the United States, Europe and Muslim leaders. It might comprise the UN Secretary General (as chair), Afghanistan, Pakistan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, the OIC Secretary General, the Aga Khan, the United States, the European Union, Russia, China and India.
Read more: http://www.neurope.eu/articles/Can-Obama-end-the-crisis-in-confidence/97800.php#ixzz0YKlBopPc
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial
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“Dentro de la fábrica de la felicidad,” ‘documental de The Coca-Cola Company
La mañana es jovialmente fría, un hermoso día sureño de invierno en Atlante; el sol no influye en nada en la temperatura pero brilla en el claro cielo azul. Unos pocos policías rondan por Pemberton Park en el centro de la ciudad, con sus chaquetas con cremallera cerrada y con gorros con orejeras que cuelgan por los lados de sus cabezas, reduciéndolos amablemente de representantes de la autoridad a parodias de Elmer Gruñón. Toman café, sonríen y saludan cuando paso. Es la entrada al Mundo de Coca-Cola y en algún sitio hay discretos altavoces tocando el más memorable jingle publicitario de Coke: “Quisiera comprar una Coke al mundo.” Lo que podría explicar las orejeras…
Prefiero pensar que la compañía toca esa canción como himno de gracias a la Autoridad de Desarrollo de Atlanta que le dio 5,4 millones de dólares para contribuir al hermoseamiento del parque y a la plaza de ingreso, o al Concejo de la Ciudad que redujo 1,5 millones de dólares del impuesto a las ventas de la compañía, o ciertamente el impuesto a la propiedad de 2 millones de dólares que Coca-Cola no tuvo que pagar por decisión de las autoridades municipales. Coke podrá valer miles de millones de dólares pero no es reacia a estirar la mano para recibir un poco de moneda, especialmente si esa moneda tiene seis ceros al final.
En el sitio de honor en Pemberton Park, subvencionado por el Estado, hay una estatua de bronce de casi dos metros de alto del homónimo del área, el padre fundador de Coca-Cola, el farmacéutico John Pemberton. Oficialmente, creó la bebida en 1886 y la vendió desde la farmacia Jacobs; ahora, más de 120 años después, su noble imagen enfrenta el parque, con una mano sobre una pequeña mesa victoriana. En su otra mano levanta un vaso de Coca-Cola, en parte en celebración, en parte inspeccionándolo, con su cara impasible examinando la bebida y ofreciéndola al mundo. Es la imagen de un pionero, de un héroe científico y de un benefactor a la humanidad. A Sir Alexander Fleming le hubiera gustado tener una estatua semejante, y descubrió la penicilina. La estatua representa a Pemberton más delgado que en las fotos que he visto de su persona, donde se ve un poquito regordete. Al parecer no es la única discrepancia con los hechos. Según Mark Pendergrast, uno de los autores más respetados sobre la compañía, John Pemberton volvió de la guerra civil de EE.UU. convertido en un adicto a la morfina. De modo que el fundador de Coca-Cola fue un yonki, aunque para ser justos, ¿quién erigiría una estatua de un drogui gordo frente a una atracción turística familiar – con la excepción de la casa de Elvis Presley?
De modo que por el bien de la imagen corporativa, el gordo Pemberton pierde unos kilos y se desintoxica. Y en el interior sigue el revisionismo histórico: extrañamente, no hay ninguna mención de uno de los ingredientes originales de la bebida: cocaína, que a posteriori no parece ser su mayor pecado, ya que hubo otras bebidas a fines del Siglo XIX que contenían diferentes cantidades de la exportación más famosa de Colombia. Reconocidamente, es un hecho ligeramente confuso: un instante quieres enseñarle al mundo a cantar, al siguiente quieres enseñarle a hablar verdaderamente rápido y a frotarse las encías con el dedo índice.
Son los ‘hechos confusos’ que al parecer la Compañía trata de ocultar por un deseo casi patológico. Son desviaciones de la narrativa de la Compañía, arenilla en la grasa de las Relaciones Públicas. Y a Coca-Cola no le gusta que haya arenilla en la grasa.
El control de imágenes del Mundo de Coca-Cola se extiende incluso a su selección de vecinos. Directamente al lado está el Acuario Georgia: En 2002 Coke entregó 3,6 hectáreas para el acuario. En 2006, Coke separó 1 hectárea para un museo de derechos civiles – una atracción que celebrara Atlanta como cuna del movimiento, con planes de albergar unas 7.000 páginas de escritos del doctor Martin Luther King Jr. Por lo tanto la historia corporativa y la de los derechos civiles se entrelazan en un solo sitio en el centro de la ciudad, para que podamos recordar la lucha por la dignidad humana y visitar los peces.
Los nuevos vecinos podrán o no exhibir detalles del último discurso del doctor King. Hecho el día antes de ser asesinado. En él llamó a los afro-estadounidenses a retirar su apoyo económico a compañías si ‘no han sido justas en sus políticas de contratación,’ es decir, si han favorecido a trabajadores blancos por sobre los trabajadores negros. Una de las compañías que debían ser boicoteadas era Coca-Cola. Las palabras exactas del doctor King fueron: ‘os pedimos esta noche, que vayáis y digáis a vuestros vecinos que no compren Coca-Cola en Memphis.’
De la misma manera puede o no que haya mención de la demanda judicial presentada contra la compañía por cientos de empleados de Coke, acusándola de discriminación contra trabajadores negros en la remuneración y los ascensos. La Compañía no admitió esas acusaciones, pero en noviembre de 2000 anunció que pagaría 192,5 millones de dólares para dirimir el caso. Si uno mide el racismo en dólares, representa un montón de racismo.
Otra pequeña historia que no es del gusto de la Compañía tiene que ver con los Juegos Olímpicos. La relación de Coca-Cola con los Juegos Olímpicos comenzó en 1928. Pero Coke minimiza su patrocinio de la Olimpíada de 1936, la Olimpíada de Berlín, en la cual un cierto pintor y decorador psicópata lanzó una ofensiva de relaciones públicas para promover su Estado nazi. A The Coca-Cola Company le gusta mencionar que uno de los miembros del equipo de remo estadounidense en la Olimpíada de 1936 posteriormente llegó a ser su presidente. También se enorgullece al mencionar que el corredor Jesse Owens hizo publicidad para Coke – aunque fue años después de ganar cuatro medallas de oro en Berlín, con lo que afectó en algo las teorías de la raza superior de su anfitrión. La Compañía prefiere colocarse junto a los que son vistos como ‘luchando’ contra los nazis o promoviendo el ‘ideal olímpico’, en lugar de mostrarse como patrocinadores de una plataforma olímpica para Hitler. Y, francamente, ¿quién no lo preferiría?
Pero la Compañía tiene unos pocos ítems nazis más en su desván. Por ejemplo, Max Keith, el director gerente de Coca-Cola GmbH, embotellador de Coke en Alemania durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Al avanzar la guerra, se acabó el suministro de ingredientes para hacer Coca-Cola, modo que Max inventó una nueva bebida para aliviar la sed alemana. La llamó Fanta. Y tenemos un eslogan para un anuncio: ‘Una Fanta, un Reich ¿Juegas?’
Los historiadores de la Compañía señalan que Max Keith nunca se unió al Partido Nazi, pero exhibió a Coca-Cola GmbH en una exposición organizada para abrazar el concepto del trabajador alemán bajo el Führer. En otro caso, Max Keith decoró su stand de Coca-Cola con banderas nazis. Esto fue confirmado por The Coca-Cola Company que dijo: ‘[Max] Keith en una convención de embotelladores exhibió esvásticas y terminó con un saludo a Hitler. Esto no hubiera estado fuera de lugar en EE.UU. al revés y el podio hubiera tenido una bandera estadounidense y los actos comenzarían o terminarían con el Juramento de Lealtad.’ Dejo que juzguéis por vuestra propia cuenta.
Lo que sé es que los archivos de The Coca-Cola Company tienen fotos del stand en la exposición ‘que muestran esvásticas utilizadas como decoración’ bajo el emblema de Coca-Cola. Sólo imagino que el archivista preferiría irse al infierno que exhibir esas fotos al público.
Seguramente no me equivoco si digo que estas historias no van a aumentar las ventas de Coca-Cola, con la excepción de uno que otro cliente del Ku-Klux-Klan. Ninguno de estos hechos, sea la traviesa aguja de Pemberton, el problemático parentesco de Fanta o la condena de King, presenta la historia que Coca-Cola quisiera que conociéramos ni es la historia que quiere presentar para vender su bebida.
Para escuchar la historia de Coca-Cola cobran 15 dólares por adulto, 9 dólares por niño entre tres y doce años. Pero antes de dejarse tentar por una visita al Mundo de Coca-Cola, hay que hacerse una pregunta: ¿qué es lo que muestran? Hacen gaseosas y las anuncian en todo el mundo para venderlas; todo lo que tienen son botellas y anuncios – no pueden hacer un museo con eso, ¿verdad? Sí, pueden. Es exactamente lo que es el Mundo de Coca-Cola: Coca-Cola, anuncios de Coca-Cola y una tienda de regalos que vende artículos publicitarios de Coca-Cola.
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Mark Thomas es comediante, presentador, activista político y periodista del sur de Londres. Es mejor conocido por satíricas políticas en su The Mark Thomas Comedy Product, que ha causado inmensas controversias al denunciar crímenes políticos y corporativos. Figura en el Libro de Récords Guinness por realizar la mayor cantidad de protestas políticas en un solo día. Vive en Londres.
Por Mark Thomas.