Düsseldorf I

Düsseldorf, Deutschland (Germany) is home to over a half million people and lies on the Rhine River. It's about an hour and a half from our house and we spent a Saturday there recently.

This is probably the most famous landmark in Düsseldorf - the Triton fountain.

This street is called Konigsallee. It's a really nice area with fancy stores like Louis Vuitton, Mont Blanc, Chanel, Armani, Cartier, Gucci, Prada - one right after the other. We decided to stay away from all that.

This is Germany's earliest high-rise building, Wilhelm-Marx-House built in 1922. Wilhelm Marx was the Lord Mayor from 1899 - 1910. That is one ugly building.

This is the Neander Protestant Church built in 1683. At that time (and since) the city was mostly Catholic so this church was built in the shadow of many other buildings. It's tucked in off the street - you might miss it if you aren't looking for it.

The Burgplatz (Castle Square) is where this promenade runs along the Rhine River. This clock is called Pegeluhr and also shows the water level of the Rhine.

In the background you see the tower of St. Lambertus Basilica. Legend says that 100 years ago a bride pretending to be a virgin came to altar. Being ashamed the tower turned aside. The legend continues that it will straighten again if a real virgin appears at the altar. As you can see it is still twisted. Even after it was destroyed in the war, it was reconstructed twisted as it was before.

This is the Schlossturm (Castle Tower). Once the castle of the Earls of Berg, it burned in 1872 and only this tower was left. Apparently there's a coffee shop at the top which provides great views - unfortunately I discovered this information only after our visit :(

This is St. Andreas, a baroque Jesuit church, founded in 1629.

This is the City Hall dating to the 16th century. The statue in front is Johann Wilhelms II, known to the locals as Jan Wellem. He was instrumental in the development of Düsseldorf through his connection to European dynasties.

This area is called Carlstadt and has this really nice market open every day but Sundays. There's more to Düsseldorf so hope you will stop back by for Düsseldorf II.

Brits

I once asked our Flemish teacher how to pronounce a particular word. He thought for a minute trying to come up with an English equivalent. Ah, he finally said, it's like you would say "bath".

Well, not really, I thought, 'cause we don't say "bath" the same way we say "moth", but I get it.

But all Brits say their "a's" that way and Flemish "a's" are pronounced just the same. As a matter of fact, when Belgian children learn to speak English, they are taught to pronounce words as the British would.

Apparently that's proper English. The British accent wears on me just the same as any other accent does. And just the same as mine likely does too.

When I worked at a hospital in Arkansas we had a lot of foreign-born doctors mostly because it's much easier to get a visa to work in a rural, under-served area. Many accents can make one very tired. Even when the person is speaking English, concentration on your part is essential when an accent is involved. So once these foreign-born doctors got the required paperwork in order, they typically moved on to bigger and better things. It's the truth, but usually a win-win at the same time.

The actual term for the way most Britons talk is Received Pronunciation (RP), sometimes called the Queen's (or King's) English, or Oxford English. There's nothing about RP that makes it superior, but it is often associated with power, money and influence. However, according to Wikipedia, in recent years it has also been criticized as a symbol of undeserved privilege and viewed negatively.

I'll let you form your own opinion about that.

General American (GA) is considered the pronunciation of English speakers in the U.S. and is most closely related to a Midwestern accent like you hear on television and movies. A newscaster, for example.

Two-thirds of native English speakers are American so I guess that would make GA the standard now. Maybe the Belgian school officials could move towards that Midwestern accent?

I guess the goal for some might be to sound like you could be from anywhere.

The other day I figured out how to make my very own playlist on YouTube. There's nothing to it, I just never tried before. I noticed that about half my playlist consisted of British bands. I had no idea and really never thought about it before. When it comes to music, it's not so easy to detect an accent.

Did you know all these are British?

The Rolling Stones

Elton John

Coldplay

Iron Maiden

Sting/The Police

Queen

George Michael/Wham

Dido

The Who

Led Zeppelin

David Bowie

Eric Clapton

Phil Collins/Genesis

Duran Duran

Eurythmics

Culture Club

Rod Stewart

The Hollies

Spice Girls

The Kinks

Van Morrison

Pink Floyd

Fleetwood Mac

Adele

and of course, The Beatles.

Not every band on this list made "my playlist", but this one did. Hope you like it.

Thanks, Kodak

Jim has an old Nikon camera somewhere in all our stuff in Jefferson. As far as I know, we can still buy 35mm film for it, but I'm not sure I'd seriously consider using it to take pictures anymore.

But there was a day when it was the finest camera out there and every picture taken of our children when they were young was taken with it. Thank you, Kodak for making film.

"You press the button, we do the rest."

As much as I sometimes wish things were the way they used to be, no longer using film in my camera is not one of them. Sorry, Kodak.

Kodak was founded in 1892 and they're still around, however in 2010 they were removed from the S&P's 500 index. And sadly, in 2009, retired Kodachrome color film after 74 years.

The history of the camera is a bit complex.

Frenchman Joseph Niepce made the first photographic image in 1827. Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre invented the first photographic device in 1836, but camera-like devices actually came much earlier. The first known instance of people being aware of photography was in 5th century China.

In 1885 George Eastman began making paper film and in 1900 came out with the Brownie - the first snapshot camera.

It looked something like this.

Kodak Brownie "2012 Olympic" Camera - James Coleman

Although I haven't seen these for sale anywhere, these cute little things are souvenir cameras for the 2012 Olympics.

The digital camera was first created by Eastman Kodak engineer Steven Sasson in 1975. The first digital camera introduced to the public was Fuji which came out in 1988, but there's no real evidence it ever left Japan. The first commercially available digital camera was the 1990 Dycam Model 1.

Before digital cameras . . . still hard to believe there was a day when there were no digital cameras . . . I would think two and three times about taking a picture and making sure it was just right. I can now take 10 shots of the same thing and not think, period.

Like these pictures we took while in Courmayeur, Italy.

I'm not sure which one we declared as "good enough".

***

Or these pictures riding the subway in Paris.

I think we finally just gave up.

***

But then, if you take enough digital pictures . . .

you get a jewel like this one.

And this one.

Or this one.

And this one.

This one.

And this one.

And this one.

Thanks again, Kodak.

Independence Day

. . . commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence declaring America's independence from Great Britain.

The legal separation actually occurred on 2 July 1776, but Congress debated, revised and approved it on 4 July.

The Committee of Five who wrote the Declaration of Independence were appointed on 11 June 1776 and at their first meeting, Thomas Jefferson was given to task of writing the first draft.

Roger Sherman

Robert Livingston

Benjamin Franklin

Thomas Jefferson

John Adams

On 1 July, Congress debated whether or not to declare independence. A majority voted yes. The third reading of the declaration in Congress occurred on 3 July and the final adoption on July 4, 1776.

The original, signed document is on display at the National Archives in Washington D.C. It's longer than you think and frankly, I'm not sure I've ever read the whole thing . . . until now.

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

John Adams wrote to his wife:

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp andparade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.

Happy 4th of July - go out and celebrate!

Addicted

We've been living in Belgium for nearly 2 years and I realized I've bought a new pair of shoes for every six weeks we've been here.

I really love shoes, but is this an addiction, I wonder.

I guess I shouldn't worry too much, it's not going to kill me.

Maastricht - a city in the Netherlands, just a half hour from our house is really beautiful and we've visited there several times.

It's a really good place to shop for shoes and incidentally, marijuana (cannabis).

Coffeeshop is local lingo for a place to buy marijuana.

This is one of several boats on the River Maas (Meuse) that runs through Maastricht. I thought it was odd that the boats (not just this one) are named for U.S. states.

We (and by we, I mean, the family) were discussing drugs - those which are legal and those which are not. As you may know, the global "war on drugs" and particularly America's "war on drugs", declared exactly 40 years ago, is a complete failure.

This is not debated by anyone. It's a fact.

According to a recent NYTimes article, in the last 20 years, consumption of:

opiates - has increased 34.5%

cocaine - has increased 27%

cannabis - has increased 8.5%

Interesting factoids:

>Around 90% of the world's opium comes from Afghanistan

>Around 75% of the world's cocaine comes from Columbia

>Marijuana is America's biggest cash crop

Like cigarettes and alcohol?

Some of this information is from the recent report from the Global Commission on Drug Policy. This commission includes former presidents, former prime ministers, former UN secretary general, and more.

The primary recommendation of this commission is to

"substitute treatment for imprisonment for people who use drugs but do no harm to others, and to concentrate more coordinated international effort on combating violent criminal organizations rather than nonviolent, low-level offenders".

Well, that makes a lot of sense on every level. But didn't we already know that?

President Jimmy Carter made this same recommendation in a message to Congress for the U.S. drug policy. Three decades ago.

***

The U.S. has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world. In 2009, 1 out of every 135 U.S. residents was in prison.

According to the FBI, in 2009, there were 1.6 million arrests for drug violations in the U.S. Nearly 50% were for marijuana and 89% of those were for possession only.

Prison = federal

Jail = state/local

~The '70s~

Three decades ago, President Carter said the country should decriminalize the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, with a full program for treatment of addicts. He also cautioned against filling prisons with young people who were no threat to society.

He summarized by saying: "Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself."

Worth repeating . . .

"Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself."

Although President Carter's recommendations were accepted at the time, in the early '70's President Nixon had declared the war on drugs and created the DEA in 1973.

~The '80s~

President Reagan and Congress shifted toward efforts to control drug imports from foreign countries by throwing $1.7 billion into the drug war and creating mandatory minimum penalties for drug offenses. Oh, and Nancy launched her "Just Say No" effort.

In 1989, President George H. W. Bush appoints the first "drug czar".

~The '90s & '00's~

President Clinton signed NAFTA in 1993 making it difficult for U.S. Customs to find narcotics as they crossed the border. Then in 2000, President Clinton did his part to continue the futile effort by giving $1.3 billion to Plan Columbia in an effort to control cocaine production.

President George W. Bush continued the trend and here we are, over $1 trillion and 40 years later needing to seriously re-focus.

Interesting factoids:

>The U.S. spent over $15 billion in 2010 on the War on Drugs at a rate of $500 per second.

> State and local governments spent an estimated additional $25 billion.

>Someone is arrested for violating a drug law every 19 seconds.

>An American is arrested for violating cannabis laws every 30 seconds.

***

In the Netherlands, which borders Belgium to the north, marijuana is not legal, but there is a tolerance policy in effect which states possession of a maximum of 5 grams for personal use is not prosecuted and furthermore, 5 cannabis plants may be grown without prosecution.

This is a map of European Cannabis Laws

Illegal in France?

This is a map of European Cannabis Use

Perhaps France should be orange in that other map?

(geographically challenged? France is large and dark green.)

Back to the addiction part. According to a recent study in Britain, heroin and crack cocaine rank as second and third most harmful drugs when considering harm to the user and to others.

"Harm to user" =

- drug-related death

- drug dependence

- damage to health

"Harm to others" =

- crime

- family conflict

- economic cost

So what's the most harmful drug?

Alcohol.

On a scale of 1 to 100, here's how the top few stack up as "harmful" as well as their addiction rate. Interesting what is legal and what is not.

Alcohol 72 82%

Heroin 55 88%

Crack cocaine 54 96%

Ice/Glass -- 93%

Crystal meth 33 91%

Oxycodone -- 99%

Cocaine 27 --

Tobacco 26 98%

Amphetamines 23 --

Cannabis 20 --

Benzodiazepines 15 86%

-- = no data

Surely access and consumption play a role in this data and I'm definitely not advocating the legalization of even more addictive drugs, but . . .

hopefully a fresh approach to a decades-old issue and perhaps a new policy will do what the previous four decades has not.

Ironically, just last month, the Dutch (Netherlands) government announced that tourists are banned from Dutch coffee shops (places like that boat pictured above). May I see your passport please?

This has no effect on me. Just don't stop tourists from buying shoes.