Take that, sheeple:

A Scientology video put on YouTube, view it while your soul is stll on Earth:

I had an intense week. It started with me trying to get a car and failing and then my wonderful plan for getting my grandma’s stuff was ruined. I ended up renting a U-Haul on Friday and barely making back in Bloomington to play a show, and then I had to unload the truck and I didn’t get to party as much as I could have. Saturday I tried to get a loan from the bank. They said they would get it done first thing Monday. It ended up being Wednesday. At least I got it, but I missed my brother’s graduation, which was the whole point of this trip.

Drove straight to NY, got lost, got a ticket in bumfuck, PA. Got in at 4am, slept at the hotel till 8am. Got together with Jeremy and Kristine and walked all around. Little Italy was nice, we went into a nice and cool bar that was having a $2 world cup special, and I watched Brazil pick apart Japan. That night we drove out to Long Island to go camping, but we got lost and ended up in East NYC for a while and then when we got to the campsite it was too late to check in, so we called up BJ’s aunt and crashed in her living room in Long Beach. The Taco Bell ran out of tortillas that night so I couldn’t get a quesadilla, and I was sad. Breakfast the next day was good and then we went wading in the Atlantic. It was too cold to swim, but it was fun anyways. Went to the Met, and then went to the MoMA. They were doing a dada exhibition, I like dada a lot. Afterwards we got dinner with Vanessa, an old friend from Paris. It was tasty and good to see her. We went to a bar with some of her friends, they are pretty cool. Talked world cup some. Tara got trashed. Then we drove home at 2am, it was a good drive. Got into my house around 7. I’m pretty tired. My car is doin pretty good though. I’ve put 1200 miles on it so far. Woo!

The national conscious of the Nazi atrocities in German memory has led to cautiousness towards conflict in the German public and government. While this position is a natural reaction and in many respects noble, it has unfortunately decreased Germany’s ability and consequent role to be an international peacekeeper and decision maker. Indeed, Germany’s relations with traditional powers such as the United States and Great Britain have undoubtedly been affected by the apprehension associated with German worldwide involvement. In order to sufficiently repair important diplomatic relationships and raise its role as a purveyor of social democracy, Germany must engage in a plan to increase militarization with the appropriate adjustment of political stance to encourage public opinion towards proactive international contributions.

In the wake of World War 2, West Germany was decidedly demilitarized in order to avert future German involvement in conflict and to spur economic growth by focusing funds on development and human capital. Though West Germany rearmament occurred in 1951 in reaction to the Korean War, West Germany’s military (and later reunified Germany’s) was willfully smaller in comparison to other NATO nations. This has continued to this day, where German spending on military as a percentage of GDP is significantly less than other industrialized nations (approximately 1.5% of GDP in 2003 compared to 4% in America, 2.4% in the UK). Further, “According to a Department of Defense report, Germany’s defense spending was 1.45% of GDP in 2003 and with $35 billion amounted to less than ten percent of US spending ($384 billion). The only US allies with a larger defense spending than Germany were France, the UK and Japan. As percentage of GDP, however, Germany’s defense spending is smaller than those of 21 US allies.” Politics and policy have been similarly affected: Germany participated in Operating Enduring Freedom because of NATO commitments, but was a staunch opponent of action against Iraq, leading to a freeze of relations between Germany and several countries.

Its easier not to be wise
And measure these things by your brains
I sank into eden with you
Alone in the church by and by

Ill read to you here, save your eyes
Youll need them, your boat is at sea

there is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
there is a rapture on the lonely shore.
there is a society where none intrudes,
by the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not the man less, but nature more,
from these our interviews, in which i steal,