39 posts tagged “united states”
I was leaving Seattle when I found this gentleman. He had recently come back from a tour of duty in Baghdad and I was so curious I just had to talk with him and get his impressions.
He said that war is hell, but he had to fulfill his duty which doesn't surprise me. As much as I disagree with the reasons why they are there, I hope that both the soldiers and the people of Iraq can weather the current situation.
I was quite touched since he's the first person I've ever met that is involved in a war, and talking to him he seemed pretty normal guy. I couldn't help but wonder what would I do if I ever were in a similar situation.
On a recent flight I saw Charlie Wilson's War, and it brought to the silver screen (or LCD, in this case) a couple of interesting points. We already knew that for the Soviets the invasion of Afghanistan was an equivalent of the Vietnam War for the Americans, but I didn't know that many details (still sketchy, after all, it's only a movie) on the American covert operations there.
The movie is funny and well-paced, but one thing that I would have liked to see more is a better job at bringing home the point that some of the "freedom fighters" of the 80's became the "terrorists" of the 2000's due to neglect.
Interestingly enough, I remember some of the newsclips shown in the film, even though then I was a small kid.
On one hand, the world definitely welcomes the US entertainment industry. On the other, I'm slightly worried that people get too far away from reality...
I was recently in the cradle of Grunge, but 15 years on, didn't really see much of it when I was there (I didn't visit the Experience Music Project then, so that's for sure a reason).
The climate, however, made me understand immediately why such a sound would find its origin there since it is pretty similar to what is found in the Nordic countries and as you may know hereabouts heavy metal, which can also be kind of depressing, is very popular.
I was very excited to visit the place of origin of bands I've liked since my teenage years, such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam & Foo Fighters, but I was not able to attend any gigs.
I don't have a car. I used to, but sold it when I moved to Brussels and when I came back I didn't really see the need for it, since in the Helsinki metro area we tend to have pretty decent public transportation.
it was not a surprise, but definitely a noticeable difference to see that the city of Seattle (as many other cities in the United States) is built around the car, to the extent that you get commuting times in the local news right after the weather report.
No surprise the price of oil has everybody up in arms.
At least, given its flora, weather and orography, its environment definitely does. The city, however, is built in an entirely different order.
I found out this article at Martín Varsavsky's blog, and found it extremely interesting... and sad. As he says, one side promises virgins, the other citizenship. They all want cannon fodder.
Let's hope that this is only empty rethoric, as the United States would be shooting itself on its own foot, and damaging its relationship with its neighbours to boot. More information in the Economist.
