shamisms [ENGLISH]

That's what I am talking about

2011-10-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

Out of the box thinking has been recently 'pushed' on me as I work in creative company now.
Here is that thinking in relation to my old fascination about life/universe/God ....

Bikining

2011-08-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

My new hobby with my new bike for ~$800 is biking. I did 3 ... 80 miles, with bike club.
This Saturday we do the below ...

&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://classic.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ky/salvisa/505131327379518960"&amp;amp;amp;gt;Two Rivers Ride, Mercer. Co. Salvisa-Kennon Rd-Ebenezer-Oregon&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;br/&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://classic.mapmyride.com/find-ride/united-states/ky/salvisa"&amp;amp;amp;gt;Find more Bike Rides in Salvisa, Kentucky&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;

Start to learn Chinese

2011-01-31T10:26:00.001-08:00

Reviving my old passion

2011-01-20T08:40:00.000-08:00

I was always interest in cosmology, methaphysics, physics and mathematics and universe.
This movie below is for my own records ... must find out more about it ...

Like Clark in National Vacation

2011-01-06T06:12:00.000-08:00

View Larger Map

What would this cost in RV? Let’s say 2 weeks trip

Based on this web site, the cost would be http://www.roamingtimes.com/b/articles/how-much-does-it-cost-to-rent-an-rv.aspx

2 weeks - $120/night for first week, $128/night for following week

Typical fees for mileage are 32¢ per mile travel

fuel economy is about 10 miles per gallon

The above trip is 7,174 miles

12 nights = 800 + 850 = $1660 (cost of rental per day)

7,174 x $.32 = $2,295.68 (fees for mile travel)

Gasoline = 7,174 / 10 717.4 x COST of gas = 717.4 x $3.25 = $2,331.55

Cost (at minimum) would be 1,660 + 2,295 + 2,332 =~ $6,350

So6,350 dollars to make this trip in RV for 2 weeks. (This includes driving nonstop sometimes in 2 weeks for 4 days 22 hours, so 5 days)

Not worth it I would say … better take airplane and rent cars …

Shamick

Meaning of life

2010-12-15T08:16:00.000-08:00

I have been through a lot, and I feel like I can overcome lots and lots but this one is out of my control. Too bad I am not religious, would be something important to pray for ...

http://divorcesupport.about.com/od/isdivorcethesolution/a/surv_midlife.htm?p=1

Diversity

2010-12-01T08:30:00.000-08:00

I miss this in USA ... all English, bit of Spanish but that's about it.
Think of this, all those different languages, cultures, people ... all in a place similar in size to USA.

That's what I call diversity.

http://europa.eu/abc/european_countries/languages/slovenian/index_en.htm?_sl

My old house in Poland

2010-10-19T06:07:00.001-07:00

There is "Polish Facebook" in Poland, it is called nasza-klasa.pl (which is literally our class, so more like classmates equivelent in USA, but it is increasingly trying to make itself as 'place for meetings of friends' so it wants to really be Facebook)

In any case, someone took a picture there and post it.
On the background you can see my old house where I grew up.

The house is the one of the left of the one that has light greenish or yellowish color of the top floor.

I lived there roughly from 1977 to 1993.

China now top speed

2010-09-30T04:34:00.000-07:00

But up here the focus is to give couple thousands or couple hundred of thousands dollars more to the people who already are swimming in thousands of dollars ... and don't really need those new thousands of dollars.

Kitchen officially done

2010-09-23T07:35:00.001-07:00

While small little things remind, overall 99% of the kitchen is done. I made a book about it

It was a surprise for my wife. (She said there are a few small mistakes but nothing to worry too much about ... she probably was just trying to be nice so just focus on pictures)

Beautiful game time!

2010-06-09T05:52:00.000-07:00

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So the choice is ...

2010-05-24T04:50:00.000-07:00

Here, so you know in case you care, what color of counter tops we chose.

God bless America

2010-05-20T10:22:00.000-07:00

Since a couple of days I have better appreciation of this country ... and ironically God is the reason, but in reverse, why I like it here more and more ...

My other native country Poland is going backwards ... soon they will be burning 'infidels' in the center of cities ...

So I though it was time to say it clearly, "God Bless America" ... I am very happy I am here versus Poland.

Good day everyone!

Next big project

2010-05-10T07:03:00.000-07:00

Thinking of this one for our kitchen

2010-05-04T05:27:00.000-07:00

Do doubt, God exists!

2010-03-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

Why wait? God is Omnipotent and Omni Powerful, why wait?

Let's stop Religious wars since they are KILLING INNOCENT people - not very God-like, just simply show us and we will have heaven, here on Earth.

And finally since this is not showing, if it would, wouldn't this be a bit closer to GODLY showing than some stupid tree on fire like Moses claimed? Lunatic, that's what we would say about Moses today, and lack him in institution.

Imagine if God did this, and added ... you silly people with your Buddha, Jesus, Mohamed ...
God is God, it is me, that's all there is to it. Now, start packing ... all of you. I just made humans incapable of being evil ... hey, I am God, I can do whatever I want to ... anytime, in fraction of a second ... you simply cannot shoot a bullet anymore or harm another creature, even fly, ... I just made that so ...

Like I said, I am omnipowerful, everlasting, all-knowing ...
You silly humans, you though you knew me ha? ha ha ... what a bunch of silly creatures ...

Ski

2010-03-01T11:59:00.000-08:00

We ski a lot, even though we live in Kentucky

Long time ago was tubing

How Cheney Started War for Oil

2010-02-26T05:55:00.001-08:00

Just so nobody forgets what Cheney is capable of! Why isn't this person in jail? Why isn't he answering questions about 'yellow cake', 'we will be welcomed with flowers'?
Instead he criticizes Obama and goes on like he never lied and indirectly sent thousands of American young women and man to unnecessary death in Iraq?

Happy "Lovers Day"

2010-02-03T11:03:00.000-08:00

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Capstone from a year ago

2010-01-25T12:05:00.001-08:00

This capstone was the final for my Master in Public Administration Executive Summary only

Executive Summary

Problem Statement - Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG) must reduce stormwater and sewer system overflow, increase stormwater capacity and overall, improve its stormwater infrastructure in order to comply with a consent decree between LFUCG and the EPA. Per decree, a stormwater fee must also be established. This paper examines the cost effectiveness of repaving public urban roads and private paved surfaces with porous asphalt. Porous asphalt allows the water to sink through the asphalt and reduces stormwater runoff.

Research Strategy - Through interviews with knowledgeable individuals, public stormwater task force meetings and research, we will examine the feasibility of widespread use of porous asphalt as a viable alternative to storm water tax soon to be imposed on businesses in Lexington, as required by the consent decree. Porous pavement would allow businesses to decrease the stormwater tax based on the area of impervious surface (driveways, parking, sidewalks, streets).

Findings – Repaving of even 1/3 of public roads in urbanized areas in Lexington is impractical and prohibitively expensive, as well as inefficient. Incentives for businesses to avoid the stormwater fee tax through tax credits are problematic. With a 100% credit, the return on investment is more than 100 years for existing pavements and 70 years for new development. The table below shows cost per quantity unit for total volume of stormwater, dissolved solids and total phosphorous between current situation of no porous asphalt and hypothetical situation of repaving 1/3 of urban roads with porous asphalt. Following, the comparison is made for private impervious surfaces changed to porous asphalt surfaces. Lastly, the table shows return on investment for new and existing porous asphalt in relation to $4.16 tax per 1ERU (2,585 sq feet).

Recommendations - Per dollars spent for total stormwater runoff volumes, dissolved solids and phosphorous in stormwater it is the recommendation of the author that porous asphalt should be strongly considered, encouraged and subsidized for new construction. Existing development may rely on conventional approaches to stormwater management such as improving open channels, and increasing capacity of and building new detention basins. Existing development may also investigate other ‘green infrastructures’ (ex. green roofs, green parking) to decrease stormwater tax. This recommendation is influenced by the desire to decrease stormwater runoff, which leads to better water quality, not purely a cost-efficiency aspect.

Senior Recital

2010-01-25T11:44:00.000-08:00

So I don't forget that I did play once :-)

Singletary Center for the Arts. March 1, 1998. 7:00 p.m.

It has been almost 10 years since my clarinet recital.

Paul Hindemith - Sonata for Clarinet and Piano

Massing bewegt
Lebhaft
Sehr langsam
Kleines Rondo, gemachlich

Norbert Burgmuller
- Sonata for clarinet and Piano
Leonard Bernstein
- Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, 1st movement
Louis Cahuzac
- Variations for Clarinet and Piano - above as video!!!!!!!

Our new house

2009-12-08T05:50:00.000-08:00

Polska Wersja (Polish Version of this entry)

Since August 20th 2009 we live in new house. Well, it is not 'new' just new for us. The house was actually build in 1930's so there were lots of old things we (I :-)) needed to change. We are making progress. With face-book and nasza-klasa (Polish equivalent of classmates) I realize this blog is missing lots of info about this new undertaking that takes most of my energy and time. So here you will find some photos related to this project (not necessarily in order at the beginning ... I organize them one day ... think of it more like archive of pictures related to our new 'nest')

Those pics summarize nicelly our ongoing inside struggle ...

Xstmas Shopping Orgy

2009-12-01T11:55:00.000-08:00

Xstmas Shopping Orgy started again ... and the 'deals' are great!

I mean, obviously to make a gift you need a "deal" on super expensive top of the line things like Blue-Ray player ...

What, you though gifts are some 'symbolic gesture of appreciation'? Like you could buy someone say scarf for 20 dollars and that would be enough? What you are in some developing country with 11% unemployment or something?

Did you not get the memo this year again that Christmas is a national anti-terrorist campaign in which it is your national duty to shop expensive things that normally you would never think about with 10% discount on those super expensive things because without this campaign this country will fall into another ... Mozambique (no harm feeling Mozambique, just could not think of anything else)

Common man, 2/3 or national economy depends on you. You think we call "Black" Friday because of political correctness or something? We keep the dam malls open whole year to lose money only so during last month we can make some profit ... that is a nice model right?

But just one word of advice, don't buy longueur based on Victoria Secret adds. The girls don't come with the panties ... unfortunately of course. If they would, I would really really love Christmas! :-)

What is Poland like?

2009-10-07T07:35:00.001-07:00

Very interesting (Polska Wersja)

430 miles, 42 MPG - Honda Civic Hybrid

2009-08-04T07:31:00.001-07:00

My Honda Civic Hybrid going more or less to work and back - 7 miles each way, morning and evening, got 42 MPG. This means I can make 430 miles before going to gas station.

Not bad :-)

Road in the morning is the best as far as mpg because often you don't have to use Air Conditioning. But the KEY to such result is very smooth driving, very gradual speeding up. But a bit of luck is needed too. For instance driving in rain will never give you good mpg, rain under car and in air is not good for aerodynamics, the car must work harder to get 'through' the rain.

Car is great, on the other setting it shows that on 3,600 miles it averaged 39.8 MPG.

Dealer says 40/45 and it actually seems underrate city and a bit overrate highway (but with highway it also depends if it rains, against the wind? hills? how many people in the car ... weight in general ... and finally, do you drive smoothly 70 MPH or speed up like crazy, drive 80 or above MPH)

Edisto Beach 09

2009-07-13T11:23:00.000-07:00

Easter - the 'nonexisting' holiday in US

2009-04-08T06:34:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wonder why we start Xstmas more or less in October these days but Easter has just about the same importance in US as ... President Day or Flag Day. It comes, hardly anyone notices, and .... well, that's just about as much attention anyone pays to this holiday.

Too pessimistic for America?
Too religious? But Christmas is also religious ...

What's the deal? Where is the dam bonny coming from? Eggs?

Maybe the pagan truth is so mixed into this holiday, so much more than Wine God celebration associated with Xstmas, that we are too embarrassed to push on this holiday and make it more or less the same commercialized BS as Xstmas is in US?

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Ice Storm

2009-02-01T06:05:00.001-08:00

Because camera does not correct for image reflection, everything in horizontal view is switched 180 degrees ...

I found my old class ...

2009-01-21T12:33:00.000-08:00

What has happened with our class
Asks Adam in Tela-viv
It is hard to bear today
It is hard to live honestly

What has happened with our class
Wojtek in Sweden writes in Porno Club
I am paid here well for something
I otherwise like anyway

Kasia Tomek are in Canada
Because they have perspectives here
Staszek is doing well in US
Pawel got used to Paris

Goska Pawel are barely making it
In May there will be third child
They fruitlessly complain to offices
That they would also want to go West.

But Magda is in Madrid
She is marrying Spanish man
Maciek has lost his life in December
When they ‘walk’ houses

Janusz who was envied as he jump on
Each ‘wave’ when he was young
He is a doctor, he heals people
But his brother hanged himself

Marek is in prison because
he refused to shoot at Michal
And I write their story
And that is the entire class

And Fillip, physic in Moscow
He gets many awards
He visits Poland when he wants
He was invited by Prime minister

I have found our entire class
Abroad, here, in grave
But something has changed
Everyone is preoccupied with self

I have found our class
Matured and grown up
I have scratched our young hood
But it did not hurt too badly

Not boys anymore, but man
Women, not girls
Young hood will heal fast
That’s not anybody’s fault

All are responsible
All have objectives
All are rather normal
But that is so little

I don’t know what I am dreaming about
What star shines upon me
When among those strange faces
I am looking for a kid face

Why am I constantly looking over my shoulder
Nobody is calling “common friend”
That someone plays with me “Berek”
Or at the very least hide-sick

Our own roots, leaves
We are growing for ourselves
And big roots of course
Abroad, here, in grave

Towards the ground, to the sides,
Towards the sun, left and right
Who remembers that at the end
This is the very same tree

Let's help all of us and ... Stop Conspicuous Consumption

2008-12-02T09:04:00.000-08:00

One with Nineveh: Politics, Consumption, and the Human Future
Paul Ehrlich Anne Ehrlich
Reviewed by Shamick Gaworski

Six centuries before the birth of Christ, the great capital city of the Assyrian Empire, Nineveh was surrounded by rich irrigated farmlands and supported population of 120,000 people. Civilizations disappeared throughout humanity while others appeared elsewhere on earth. If our civilization consumes its entire natural global earth base, where will we go? The scale of human enterprise is now so gigantic that people are significantly altering even the gaseous composition of the atmosphere and changing the climate.

Biggest problems: 1) Deforestation. 2) Water: Overdrawn and underappreciated. In developing regions more than 2 billion people survive on inadequate supply of water for household use. 3) Oceanic Resources. We are depleting our natural capital for short-term gains with help of our inadequate accounting system.

Is humanity a planet-wide poison? After the invention of agriculture population growth accelerated. From 5 million or so people when farming first started, the world’s population rose to perhaps 250 million by the time of the Roman Empire. While overall population growth slowed to 1.2 percent, the world population will reach 9 billion in 2050.

While population of Europe and other developed countries slowed, the dense population of Rwanda is dependent almost exclusively on the resources and ecosystems of that small, desperately poor country’s own territory whereas the even more dense population of the wealthy Netherlanders is able to draw resources form all over the world.

Paul & Anne Ehrlich points out the major culprit of human predicament: not just number of people but their conspicuous consumption. Of course our accounting system does not record those costs.

We need to develop sustainable agriculture and sustainable living that does not deplete the nutritive capacity of the soil or the biodiversity of natural habitats. Nation’s gross national product (GNP) fails to account for lose of natural base. Humans are incapable of thinking globally. Most people are still focused on the classic social, political and economic problems. Few people realize that we’re living in what agricultural economist Lester Brown has called an “environmental bubble economy,” an economy in which “output is artificially inflated by over-consumption of the earth’s natural assets.”

In summary, humans and the natural world are on a collision course. Human activities inflict harsh and often irreversible damage on the environment and on critical resources.

I liked the book and how Paul & Anne Ehrlich tie all together painting gloomy picture based on past civilizations, overused and under appreciated natural base of today. I particularly liked their pragmatic solutions, be it difficult to implement, often almost Utopian. The one aspect I dislike was a bit disorganized material and some aspects such as overpopulation repeated over and over again throughout the book.

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E8 - the most beautiful structure

2008-10-18T08:40:00.000-07:00

Very close to understanding ... God
One would say, sort of 'Sarah-like' way ... "I can almost see it from my window" :-)

Cyrcus is back in town ...

2008-07-16T12:57:00.001-07:00

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To My Child

2008-06-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

Polska Versja

Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.

Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.

Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.

Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck and I will buy you one if he comes by.

Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.

Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.

Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.

Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.

Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.

Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.

Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows.

Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.

I will think about the mothers And fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore.

And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask Him for nothing, except one more day............

IT Job

2008-05-28T08:08:00.001-07:00

10 years behind

2008-05-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

Polska Werjsa

This weekend we celebrate our 10th years wedding anniversary. We will be in Gatlinburg on Friday, Saturday and Monday. On Sunday we will go to Biltomore Estate and ride horses. (10 years ago we went to Gatlinburg for 3 days for our 'honey moon')

View Larger Map

God is Everything

2008-04-25T05:57:00.000-07:00

GOD is believed to be omnipresent and omni powerful.
If we were to understand Her, we would need to at the very least understand the Universe, which either is all there is or is at least an aspect of God. From Newton, through Einstein we attempt to understand God (Universe) but did not quite succeed.

In most churches on this one of many rocks in the Universe, the only one we can be certain supports carbon-based intelligent life form, you would learn absolutely nothing or close to nothing about the nature of God. You will however learn a lot about what people couple of thousand years ago though of Her. In some aspects you may learn the philosophical and ethical aspect of Her, but nothing of the laws that govern Her.

For that, skip the Sunday trip to the Church or Temple (save on Gasoline too and protect the rock from overheating) and listen to the below.

USA Education System is FAIR

2008-04-11T08:18:00.000-07:00

Polska Wersja

I write some critical things about U.S. so I think it is time that I say something positive (see Juli, I can from time to time :-0)

In Poland, at least in Poland before ~1995 or so, professor at the University was God! Not only there was no syllabus but basically despite studying during entire semester, being good student that does all that is asked from him/her, professor could do whatever he/she wanted during the final exam ("Zaliczenie")

When I talk to my mother on the phone about my school, she is still used to that kind of thinking and when I am struggling in the middle of semester to get good grades, she says something like "But it is not the final yet right?" The assumption is, why are you worrying, this all does not matter, only the end does.

In U.S. professors are required and do provide clear guidance of what is expected from students during a semester and how will they be graded through out and at the end.

In the class called Public Economics (PA 652) we were informed right from the start about details of the course. The most important were 4 exams, with the 4th one being the final. We were told that only 3 best out of 4 will count and if we do well on first 3 and are satisfied with grade, we will not even go to the final.

Also, in contrast to Poland, there is respect of privacy of the student and random number are assigned to student and only particular student knows his/her number. This way student does not have to worry about being looked down because he/she did not do well on the exam.

I remember one class in Poland, in school of music. The teacher gave each student his/her exam but left one at the desk. Then he wen on about how stupid this person is. That person was me. I knew it and most student knew as they all could just look around and see who does not have his/her paper yet. Those kind of abuses were not that uncommon. Professors at the Universities often gave F to students during the final exam despite the fact that this was A student till that final exam. Sometimes the professor would then do a "favorite" to half of the class that found itself with Fs and gave them "poprawke" - another opportunity to try to pass the final. He/she would say they will have this session at 9 am in his/her office only to show up around 1 pm ... again giving F to half of those who waited there.

So, God or not, but something should bless the higher education in America, for its fairness and respectful treatment of students at the very least.

My random number is 27. I already passed the class (must go to last two classes ... last requirement) I can try for A by taking final. Now, Polish students, are you envious of such treatment? I would be.

Exact fair treatment is all classes although finals are usually required, this arrangement is rather unusuall. The key is that all this is predetermined at the beginign of semester. There is a CONTRACT between professor and student. Netiher one can dismiss the contract or not obay it.

Problems with Faith

2008-04-01T10:18:00.000-07:00

Polska Wersja (Polish Version)

Problems with Faith

One - does not reason
Two - sees other religions' ideas as crazy but not its own one

Terminator SG1

2008-03-24T09:05:00.000-07:00

Polska Wersja
A cyborg (part man, part machine) is sent from the 31 century to present-day Midwest America to assassinate a seemingly innocent women whose child will play an important part in the world from which the killer came ...

.... the half man half machine's name is ... Shamick Gaworski ... production of this monstrous machine started last year in some dental labs in Midwest USA, reportedly in the state of KY, probably in the city of Lexington ... the year is 2008, 1028 years before the rise of machines ...

... his first dangerous ability is a killer bite with his lower left jaw .... just look at those!!!

See Final Result - April 30, 2008

Being of many things ...

2008-03-11T13:17:00.000-07:00

Polska Wersja (Polish version)

I have been accused by Europeans (both new and old ... think Rumsfold) of being too Americanized while Americans give me a grief from time to time (like on YouTube) of being too European. [If you do not like it here, why don't you leave]

I was taken by a NPR "This I believe" yesterday and Yo-Yo Ma literally talking about himself in a way that I could only add "amen" to his words

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87960790

I am not You You Ma (if I had his talent, I would stay in Music) but his approach to being a citizen of no country and yet all countries speaks volume to me.

Since I do not want to lose what he said, I am quoting his words here.

"All Things Considered, March 10, 2008 · I believe in the infinite variety of human expression.

I grew up in three cultures: I was born in Paris, my parents were from China and I was brought up mostly in America. When I was young, this was very confusing: everyone said that their culture was best, but I knew they couldn't all be right.

I felt that there was an expectation that I would choose to be Chinese or French or American. For many years I bounced among the three, trying on each but never being wholly comfortable. I hoped I wouldn't have to choose, but I didn't know what that meant and how exactly to "not choose."

However, the process of trying on each culture taught me something. As I struggled to belong, I came to understand what made each one unique. At that point, I realized that I didn't need to choose one culture to the exclusion of another, but instead I could choose from all three.

The values I selected would become part of who I was, but no one culture needed to win. I could honor the cultural depth and longevity of my Chinese heritage, while feeling just as passionate about the deep artistic traditions of the French and the American commitment to opportunity and the future.

So, rather than settling on any one of the cultures in which I grew up, I now choose to explore many more cultures and find elements to love in each. Every day I make an effort to go toward what I don't understand. This wandering leads to the accidental learning that continually shapes my life.

As I work in music today, I try to implement this idea — that the music I play, like me, doesn't belong to only one culture. In recent years, I have explored many musical traditions.

Along the way, I have met musicians who share a belief in the creative power that exists at the intersection of cultures. These musicians have generously become my guides to their traditions. Thanks to them and their music I have found new meaning in my own music making.

It is extraordinary the way people, music and cultures develop. The paths and experiences that guide them are unpredictable. Shaped by our families, neighborhoods, cultures and countries, each of us ultimately goes through this process of incorporating what we learn with who we are and who we seek to become. As we struggle to find our individual voices, I believe we must look beyond the voice we've been assigned, and find our place among the tones and timbre of human expression.

Independently produced for All Things Considered by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman with John Gregory and Viki Merrick.

Southwestern trip

2008-03-05T11:03:00.000-08:00

My in-laws are gone ... for 6 weeks
Polska Wersja
They started a big trip in their makeup van across USA.

Larry took back seats out and made special folding bed (he had special mattress made for it)

It is really cool as the van resembles more now little RV (storage space is under the bad which folds easily so half of the back is still 'empty')

Read more about it on a blog I made for them - they just left today (I think. Larry postponed the departure by one day ... he wasn't ready ...)

http://southwesterntrip.blogspot.com/2008/03/southwestern-trip.html

Environmental Ethics and Capitalism

2008-02-28T14:03:00.000-08:00

Environmental Ethics and Capitalism: An Environmental and Ecological Accounting Perspective Homework Assignment

1) Mueller (2006) makes five arguments detailing the moral benefits of the market. Take one of these arguments and elaborate on ti from an environmental ethics perspective. Do you agree with his argument when you consider environmental ethical concepts we discussed in class? (Hint: think about ethical theories, the way we value things, etc.) Why or why not? If your views differ from Muller, explain why there might be a gap in your viewpoints.

I picked the fourth argument about capitalism as in my opinion this is the most important problem humanity must overcome before addressing some other problems that it faces.
The fourth argument of the positive aspect of capitalism is that it brings people together giving them interest and interest in the same common denominator – commerce. Capitalism then is to decrease the isolation of nations and make them think as one. Presumably common goal would bring people together and decrease nationalism.
“Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind. “ said Albert Einstein

“Capitalism creates an awareness of [peoples] needs and wants, and to the extent that we view them as customers for our products and as producers of the goods we hope to consume” holds the argument. Of course, as the author also points out, “a wider form of association is itself a source of moral complaint by those who […] rightly view trans-cultural contact as a threat to their inherited identity, at least in its traditional form. " (Muller 2006)

It is impossible to analyze this argument completely in a page or two and therefore this paper will focus only on some assumptions and implications of this argument.

Capitalism drives commerce. Commerce means employment. It is perhaps hard in USA to experience true unemployment. This is not to say that there are jobs for everyone and it is very true that minimum wage jobs cannot support families in the long run. Nevertheless, at least theoretically, assuming the workers are lucky to have great health and no unexpected expenses, one can very easily find employment in USA. To truly know what it means not to be able to find any employment most people really have to stretch their imagination. Instead of thinking of unemployment in ranges of 4-5% and really in form of finding well-paid employment, one should imagine 50 or 60% or 80% percent unemployment in form of inability to find any work whatsoever. We can think of Palestine, many African countries and also many oil-rich Middle East countries.

Not very well publicized, there are actually quite many trades and other commercial capital ventures going on between Israel and Palestine despite the ongoing conflict. There are not enough of them for sure but those that are going on are rather successful and it matters not that one side is Jewish and the other is not. Since Israel-Palestine conflict is arguably the most important conflict to be resolved in the world to rip the biggest advantages to the world as a whole, one should pause for a minute and contemplate the role capitalism could play in such resolution.

But instead of contemplating potential role, let’s look at a historical one. Berlin wall did not collapse because of the Pope or Ronald Regan although they may have played important role in this process. Berlin wall collapsed because of people's desire for better redistribution of capital rewards resulting from sound free market based commerce. Despite numerous communistic attempts to portrait capitalism as invasive and abusive, people living in communists Poland were aware through street talks and illegal radio “Free Europe” and other contacts with the west about the prosperity that results from sound Capitalistic system. They envied it. They wanted to have the same opportunity. They wanted to have the same what German people have, even though just 40 years ago the German people (Nazis) attacked Poland during WWII.

But it is also a fact that just a few years after the Berlin Wall collapsed many of the people so enchanted by capitalism in the past are very disappointed of it today. To play a game, you must know its rules early on. Often if you join the game in the middle of the road, the results may be devastating. Lack of education is just one of the problems of societies in transition from one socio-political system to another.

But nevertheless, if one looks on two antagonistic systems, one must realize that although not perfect, although with many potential problems, capitalism in a right format is the best medicine.

Right format of capitalism is however very important. The wrong format can bring just the opposite consequences. African countries for instance are neither communistic nor socialistic and yet despite officially following the doctrine of capitalism, they cannot shake many of their overwhelming problems. Capitalism only works if it is a mature capitalism – backed by enforceable laws and people’s trust in law enforcement of contracts, etc. This is why corruption is actually greater threat to humanity than communism. Communism is based on quite noble ideas, better in theory than capitalism. But those ideas humans so far proved to be quite utopian, unattainable. Collective farming is just one of the most known examples of the failure of communism. Without incentives, good amount of greed, different preferences, overtime the system fails. It fails while having great equitable ideas in its background, ideas which gave birth to it in the first place.

In addition to enforcement of contractual laws, the right capitalism has at least arguably sensible and somewhat fair redistribution of income. This is perhaps the most important aspect of 'good' capitalism. The capitalism from the beginning of this century is very different from capitalism of today with sick days, unemployment benefits, retirement, minimum wage protection, law enforcement, worker representation through variety of institutions including the government, etc. This is why capitalism deprived of equal and fair redistribution of income is at the very least not helping animosity among different entities in some regions, and arguably, and most likely, it is increasing such animosity.

Middle East for example can be very easily seen as colonialism of some small and weak Arabian countries by exploitation of their natural resources. Such way of 'doing business' rewards only privilege class of the Middle East while the vast majority of the population is left in poverty and despair. With no prospects of improving this situation, vast majority of population sees injustice and turns its anger towards those who benefit from this injustice. Capitalism could help more than any number of bombs or imprisonments but it would require more equitable redistribution of the income from natural resources among the populations of the countries with those natural resources. Can't we see Norway and learn from it? I have never heard of anger or religious fanatics in Norway, a very oil-rich country which takes very good care of all of its citizens.

Only with just and fair capitalism we can even start to talk about environmental ethics. Capitalism is not perfect but it is the best we have so far and if implemented correctly, it can quickly heal some of the major problems. One should remember the scale of the problem with thousands or rather millions of people lacking basic food and water and living on few dollars a day. Unless there is more equitable redistribution of wealth, any talk about environmental ethics, intrinsic or inherited values, is quite meaningless as it is more or less like to worry about the color of a ribbon in some girl's hair while the girl is hungry, abused, angry and living in despair, easily affected by all the evils of the world.

In my opinion, we must accept the value of capitalism which has been established over 50 or so years and try to make it better through careful regulations and better redistribution, better education about the environment, focus on long term sustainability, better accounting that takes long term and sustainability into account.

Drastic changes as abolishment of the system may, and they will in my opinion, cause even greater damage to both humanity and environment.

In conclusion, “fair capitalism” (certainly not the one from XVIII century deprived of any regulations) can diffuses the religious antagonisms between the Jew, the Muslim, and the Christian but the “raw” one can do at best nothing to improve the antagonisms and most likely increase the antagonisms. Once antagonism is gone and nationalism is erased from the minds of most people in the world, we can start truly take a better care of environment in measurable and substantial way. Otherwise, it is just a nice talk and nicely written papers without much tangible positive outcome.

Do animals think?

2008-02-14T16:39:00.000-08:00

ES 600
Homework #1 Question: Environmental Ethics

DRAFT

Do animals think?

In contrast to teachings of most deontological systems, science teaches us that humans evolved from animals through millions of years of evolution. In comparison to other animals, humans stand up by showing signs of not only superior intelligence and abilities but distinguishably by developing consciousness and system of values and morals. Such view is at the center of science and therefore adopted by anthropocentric ethics where the world is to “provide” to humans who are to “have dominion over fish of the sea, and over fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth”, Genesis 1:27-8

But human thoughts about the surrounding world have evolved through thousand of years. Anthropocentricism could not be possible thousands of years ago where nature was seemingly untenable and full of mysteries to the rather primitive by our standards homo sapiens. So this simple fact begs the question, is the value we assign to human in contrast to other species intrinsic or instrumental?

Indeed just a couple of hundred years ago, probably in the place where I am writing this paper, the humans who inhabited this place thought of man as merely one of many animals who was to seek survival by partnership with the animals. Hunting was an activity of necessity and animal killed was given a respect and the hunter prayed to its spirit for forgiveness. Man and animals were one.

What is often summarized by simple worlds – technological innovation – has given a birth to much more materialized approach to our environment. No longer do we see “spirits and mysteries” surrounding a forest as new animism movement points. Similarly more and more animals are seen only as meat, food that can sustain human population.

The mom-and-pop restaurant are disappearing and instead chain enterprises are building what really amounts to feeding places for population which is hardly hungry but instead gorges itself in cheaper and cheaper, larger and larger portions of slaughter animals. Those animals are raised in conditions that prevent them often from moving, seeing sunshine, keeping alive till slaughter day by piles of antibiotics, fatten up by steroids.

Anthropocentric instrumental-value view of our environment would simply stay that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the view of animals raised in commercial way. Animals are to be used for food. It is the economy that dictates modern, large scale farming activity. There is no scientific evidence that today this harms humans in any way and any other evidence is simply irrelevant.

Other schools of ethics such as biosphere-centered would argue that other species and the environment as a whole have a right to continued existence, protection of fundamental interests, and protection from harm and damage. Peter Signer argues “speciesism” in homo-sapiens arbitrarily presuming control over the animals is immoral and wrong.

Deep ecology movement would not only provide the animals with dignity and intrinsic value but would extend those values to environmental elements that most people never think of such as mountains, rivers. Christopher Stone thought that giving those environmental elements legal rights similar to legal rights of corporations or individuals would stop the abuse those elements encounter from the hands of humans. For all practical reasons in Western world this idea would most likely produce tangible environment protection but it is doubtful it could ever materialize.

I proposed more balanced view, sort of a mixture of both major branches: Atomistic (anthropocentric; biocentric), Holistic (earth-centered).

Our world is full of mysteries. Until we have answers to at least some deep questions below, we should be careful by not engaging in some “deep” environmental protection which in essence is hypocritical portrait of our richness while it is nothing more than “hidden anthropocentrism.

What is conscious, are different levels of consciousness and are humans at the end of the scale? Is human a miracle of universe? (More or less the dogmatic view of God creating human) Is life a miracle? What is life? How come bacteria “know” what to do? Could it be that planet is “alive”, meaning it “thinks” on some larger unimaginable scale? Are other forms of ‘life’ possible beyond organic? Do galaxies have some ‘logic’ and ‘meaning’ beyond the physical laws that govern them? Furthermore, is there some meaning to not just lives of human beings but to the universe as a whole? After all, universe seems cold, brutal place where through explosions old matter dies and gives birth to new matter which exists for millions of years to die. There is a cycle but is there some meaning to all of this, some higher purpose? Is human logic and capacity failing humanity when faced with those big questions?

Since we can’t really answer those questions, I believe we should strive to look at earth from the point of Sustainability. I capitalized the “S” like the proponent of Deep Ecology movement of ‘Self-realization’ because this is not the sustainability we are accustomed of hearing in our economy driven, capitalistic society concerned with the next quarter financial result.

Based on today’s knowledge, earth is a fragile miracle. It is very true then that “People ought not to degrade this wonderful system in such a way that it can not function to keep its systems within the various delicate margins necessary for life.”

In a way this is anthropocentric view of the world for humanity but in this view I believe the view of animals or mountains having feeling can be replaced by view of earth with humanity playing leadership role to preserve it. By preserving it – the earth – the leadership will also be preserved. Treating animals “inhumanly” feels wrong because they are part of eco-system, the only eco-system we know. The animal may or may not be aware by itself that wrong actions are being done to it, but at least in part, through humanity being able to perceived the consciousness of this act being morally wrong, the very animal has some conscious. In other words, unnecessary killing of animals, the epidemic of obesity being at least in part related to society loosing sight of what is good food, what good food is or should be worth to people, we are harming not just planet as a whole, but the very humanity itself. Animals can and have to be killed for food. Such process however should be done in respectful manner. People should respect and appreciate food, its quality, origins, values, where it came from and how the source lived and died.

In my view, humanity’s problem is not that the anthropocentric view has contributed to the dismay of environment; it is that this anthropocentric view has been applied in very narrow and short sighted way with emphasizes on next month, next year, at most next decade and also to small population – country, region at most. In addition, this view is applied hypocritically through the lenses of privilege class – mainly rich Europe, USA and some other Asian countries. Just like feminists environmentalists speak of male dominance of women, we must recognize that developed countries are oppressing developing countries. They have been doing this in the past by polluting earth and becoming rich or through military invasions or both. Today, the same countries faced with consequences of their short sighted actions appeal for environmental protection without willingness to pay not just larger cost of doing so but often any cost at all (USA refuse of Kyoto)

So the question if animals have feeling and are able to feel some consciousness about their own existence must be put aside. First the humanity must answer a question of its own long term consciousness about the environment. Today, humanity looks more like an animal in line to slaughter house amazingly unaware of what is at the end of the line – environmental catastrophe and disappearance of the little blue planet in otherwise vast, cold and violent lifelessness (as far as we know) universe.

Legal, Social & Econ Sci In Environ SYS (Polski)

2008-02-07T16:01:00.000-08:00

I am tired ....

Our Future Vacation House in Poland (Polski)

2008-02-07T12:28:00.000-08:00

Polska Wersja
http://gaworskipolak.blogspot.com/2008/02/w-przyszlosci-nasz-dom-wakacyjny-w.html

Things you have to believe to be a Republican today (Polski)

2008-02-06T07:52:00.000-08:00

It will be McCain vs. Hillary or Obama so it is time to start the hate email and web site exchanges right? :-)

Things you have to believe to be a Republican today:
Polska Werjsa

a. Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of the environment, homosexuals, and Hillary.

b. Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.

c. Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

d. The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iran.

e. A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.

f. The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.

g. If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.

h. A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money.

i. Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans is socialism. HMOs and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.

j. Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

k. A president lying about an extra-marital affair is an impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

l. Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.

m. The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving and military records are none of our business.

n. Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

How times changed (Polski)

2008-02-05T07:23:00.000-08:00

Polska Wersja

I had to drive to Western Kentucky yesterday to give presentation about effective web design. One does not think of Kentucky as such a large state, certainly it isn't Texas (size of France) but nevertheless it take 2.5 hours to get from Lexington to Bowling Green.

I had lots of time to think about other things than school, work and how to manage it all ... thought about how things changed ... driving state car by plasma place where as a student I used to sell my plasma to make some money ... so needed back then, now giving presentations and while waiting for my turn, browsing real estate market in Poland seeing for some more realistically priced lots and properties ... [in my opinion they are experiencing there what one can easily compared to the .com bubble ... which should soon burst ... it was not enough to have a web site to be profitable, it isn't enough just to have land and put a world price on it to sell it]

While doing all that I drink $2 fancy star buck coffee never giving much though about those $2 I spent ...

2 dollars 15 years ago would be almost 1% of my entire money that I had in my pocket when I landed in Chicago in 1993. I valued 2 dollars much more back then especially that to earning another 2 was not guaranteed and was through hard "unstructured" work in hot and humid weather of Kentucky. I did not buy one single beer for the first year I was in USA. I love beer!

FYI, don't do the plasma thing. I hated it. I only did it every six months or so when they paid my good money (< 50 dollars)
Here are the reasons I hated it:
- at least 1 hour on medical exam
- at least 1 hour doing it
- do not like needles
- it isn't like giving blood, you have to pump your own blood with your fist so the blood goes for 15 minutes or so to the machine where the plasma is separated and then the blood is returned to your body .... You have to do this 4 or 5 times, depending on your body ... with 5 minutes breaks in between ... then your hand gets cold ... that's when blood is returned to your body ...

Arrr ... I shiver even now when I am writing this ...

OK, if you do want to do it, you should focus on something more noble about this process - Plasma saves lives. It used in hospitals etc.

And finally, it was close to Bowling Green that Monmouth Cave is located. That's when I proposed to Juli 10 years ago. Which reminded me to think for long time on the way back of ideas for our 10 years anniversary ... ideas that will be affordable that is ...

Times did not changed that much ....

R2D2 - I evolved

2008-01-17T13:01:00.000-08:00

I entered new phase in my life. I am going to beep now on airports ... which "should be fun" :-(

On the other hand, now that I have water, bionic mass and titanium in my body, I should be much stronger! Maybe soon I get titanium other parts and will be finally super hero ... (I am sure in some 30 years knee will be one of those)

So here you have it, I am no R2D2 yet, but took my first step.

So what you see there are two titanium screws and little healing tops that were literally screwed into the bone by the dentist [he said I have hard bones, which is good health wise but made him work for his money ... he should ... titanium implants aren't cheap]

You can see on this picture but in my mirror I see literally two caps and if I had a good wrench I could probably unscrew those and screw them back ... not like I am going to do that of course ...

Malina Iza (Maya) Blogs

2008-01-05T08:11:00.000-08:00

Why not introduce them to the modern world? The Internet will be incredibly important part of their lives and knowing and being comfortable with it will help them in their schools, careers, etc.

So here it is - 2 new blogs for my kids
(And if you wonder, I will protect them on the Internet. Internet is my work so I can make it safe for them)

Malina - http://malinagaworski.blogspot.com/

Iza - http://izagaworski.blogspot.com/

Maya (Juli) - http://maystorama.blogspot.com

Wesolych Świąt - Happy Xstmas

2007-12-20T16:04:00.001-08:00

I believe this is like 13th or 14th Christmas I spend in USA ...

Not a big thing of course but see I am Polish so one would think I am "miserable" during Christmas in foreign land. This is a time of increase number of suicides ... people who are truly miserable somehow can't get enough alcohol or drugs to get through the Christmas season and before you know it, they are the new members of the exclusive morgue club.

So any chance I will be? Well, not. Sorry to disappoint you my dear insurance company (if I do end my life by myself, you would not have to pay that 100,000 dollars in life insurance and keep all the monthly payments ... [it is kind of weird to think that there is at least one entity - insurance company - that would be happy if you committed a suicide :-)])

I never forget how worry my mother and I guess sister too were during my first Christmas season abroad ... they called and sounded very concerned. They did not know how lucky I was to meet good American family who, in addition to giving me employment, which in the end gave me a realistic chance to make it here, gave me warm family feeling and opportunity to be around people who cared about me as a human being.

Good think they did not think of themselves as “better”, even though they had about literally 1 million times the income I had and even their dogs came from better blood than I did ... You know, they did sort of the same thing if some would indeed actually invite the beggar Romanians from the Central Railroad station in Poland to the Christmas Eve meal ("Wigilia") ... instead of just nicely and comfortably leaving empty dish … And by the way, we will see the American family this Christmas again. They became good friends of ours …

But times change, poor people - me - become a bit less poor and suddenly instead of just worrying about some people to spend the Christmas with, people are worrying about the quality of the season celebrations ... Maslow truly was correct in his theories.

This Christmas we will spend with my friend Darryl and his wife Masha from Ukraine with their kids ... and we will speak English and talk about Jesus’ birthday, as even though I think Jesus was just a man (good one) I do not want to stop the Christians from enjoying their holidays and want to introduce my kids to this concept.

We will talk about families, Christmas traditions, Mikolaj (Santa Clause), love will be in the air, we will talk to my mother on the phone ... we make a fire in the chimney, play some Christmas carols on the piano or listen to some on the radio ... Maria will cook some good Ukrainian meals, including her version of “goląbki” (cabbage rolls with beef and rice inside them), Juli will cook fish (although not carp) and pierogi (and not by hand but even the ‘good Polish wives’ do not do pierogies by hand anymore .. got “lazy I guess?:-)) Kids will play with Elizabeth and her little brother, Darryl’s and Maria’s kids.

It will be nice, and maybe they will ask about Christmas in Poland under communism, like those people who gave me warm family Christmas during my first years in USA ... I remember their stories of their own experiences in communist Poland during their trips there (They are rich people, some were there on business travels). They were very surprised that people were stealing toilet paper from trains when they traveled in Poland … (I did not tell them it was most likely my mother and her friends who stole it ... they would not understand ... just like most young people in Poland already forgot what life under communism was ....) Would any normal person steal toilet paper? Just because I lived in not normal country for 35 years does not mean somehow those who did not are 'worse' than me ... and close minded.

There is a sea of interesting things to get to know about Christmas in USA. In contrary to stereotypes about Americans simply only shopping during the holiday season, one should note that they cook special cookies sometimes keeping doe for days and following special rules, making ginger houses and having special times when the kids are allowed to pick the candies form it, leaving letter and milk and cookies to Santa by the chimney ... as he is of course tired of bringing the gifts (and of course Santa writes back to the kids ....which they can witness themselves next day by reading what he wrote on the paper), self-criticism of their shopping attitudes and openness to find out about any other tradition they can pick and carry during Christmas, even if that will be just one Christmas) They go to church, they eat special dinner, they look for the first star … and of course there are “special department lunches” and Christmas Work Parties.

So Merry Christmas, as my boss today said during our "special department lunch" in near by restaurant. I guess everyone knew that the official name of the lunch was just “politically correct” as many did not hesitates with greetings "Marry Christmas so and so" ... but then again, this is my work, somewhat liberal ... can't speak for the entire country ... the size of Europe and part of Asia combined ... I guess we would not want to be called for Honokaa Party if it just happened that our boss was a Jew ... and then again, the way it is respects whoever does not want to participate but people inside may choose the greetings the way they want … that’s what happens in diverse country where not 99% of the people are white, catholic and lived behind a wall for the last 35 years with little ability or permission to travel and stick the nose out of their environment.

But the best are the parties. This is not the time of my students years when I was poor and my English was poorer. This is time of free drinks and lots of fun with food and during mingling among the people. This is a sort of a skill that I learned the hard way through my 14 years in USA. People like comfort. Foreign things, be it people or someone speaking of controversial topics make them uncomfortable. People do not like change nor being force to feel uncomfortable against their will. You may be lucky to meet “cultural” person on some party and bush this and that with that person for a few hours … But guess what, unless he/she is really “cultural” (translation for other people “weird” or “geek”) even that person gets tired of that after a while during the same party.

Mingling and “finding” yourself is not something natural and some people, of the same nationality, never learn and are never comfortable. Nothing wrong with that! Just you should know it ain’t the crowd that is the obstacle.

And what a crowd it was during Juli's work Christmas party

Shhh, don’t tell Juli, there are some hot girls working for my wife’s company!... and they drink like Polish people!!! (Actually I already told her and said that if we would ever get a divorce, I have some new candidates … to which she responded with a sad face …sign I should not “joke” anymore.)

During the party, I was introduced to a girl from England ... Eva I think? She has been all over the place because her parents moved. She lived in South Africa, South USA [which may as well be a different country from north USA], Canada, and Europe. She did not even have much of an accent (and, yes, as I was saying there are lots of hot girls in Juli's work ... :-))

It was nice to talk to her because she understood ... we both agree how rich our lives are thanks to the diversity of lives we have seen and been introduced to ... we may not "belong" to any 100% but it is that not belonging that makes us happy ... no, more than that, makes us strong and appreciative of the opportunity to be able to be "outside" of things and to see things through a perspective of environment, culture, structure, etc. and not being blinded by being "inside" things ...

That's I guess why I see things in much broader light and from broader prospective - Carp (fish) is now a fish of necessity for mostly poor Polish people in addition to being Christmas meal tradition ... and good breakfast ... peasant culture tradition where breakfast was important to gain strength for physical work in the field ... Your country tradition, in other words, is nothing but just one of many, product of its own environment, culture and often semi-temporary culture that resulted from semi-temp historic times ... Most likely in 50 years, people in Poland will look at carp the same way American do ... as a "bottom feeder" ... far down the line of fish worthy of dinner plate.

But ironically, it just makes you appreciate the carp even more ... but you life will not end nor you have to be unhappy if you do not get to eat one this Christmas...

Merry Christmas

WOW, I sure write a lot …
Tell you a secret, my biggest challenge in school is to shorten the papers I write!

Smile. It is Xstmas

2007-12-17T08:52:00.000-08:00

Trip. USA - Poland - France. (Polski)

2007-12-06T11:59:00.001-08:00

USA - Poland - France

www.shamick.com/index.htm

Odwiedziny Przemka z Rodzina

Zabawa

Polska Wersja - http://gaworskipolak.blogspot.com/2008/02/usa-polska-francja-listopad-2007.html

>>>>>Friday, Piatek 9 XI, 2007 <<<<<

http://gaworskipolak.blogspot.com/2008/02/usa-polska-francja-listopad-2007.html

OK, we are in Charlotte ... Iza & Malina liked the trip but Iza was already impatient towards the end of only 50 min flight. It is now 5.27 pm ... nice airport here ... we are going to eat something and on 7:04 a flight to Frankfurt is leaving ... Airbus.

>>>>>Saturday 10 XI, 2007 <<<<<

8 hours of across Atlantic ... we slept some ... 4 hours me ... Frankfurt is a horrible airport ... crowded, hot and confusing ... but we made it, Karolina picked us up. Now we are going to the play ground ... then to dinner ... we are so glad to finally be here in Poland. A bit tired ... Karolina has Internet ... OK, going to help with the kids ... they are tired too ...

Iza slept the whole time in Restaurant "Chlopskie Jadlo" ... but we had Barszczyk, Golabki and of course Polish Beer Zywiec ... Taxi in and Taxi out ... I start to like Warsaw ... and so does Juli. First day and so far so good ... We paid $75.75 plus $2,27 Foreign Transaction Fee
Times of cheap Poland is over.

>>>>>Sunday 11 XI, 2007 <<<<<

Maybe it is 3rd time the charm. This is our 2nd trip and everything is going almost perfect. The train was great!!!!!!!!! 1st class ... it took 5 hours but we did not notice ... we set, laugh, played with the kids, ate food and drank coffee brought from the near-by restaurant wagon, look through the window ... until it got dark ... which hided the snow on the ground that we saw in Poznan. Mother and father picked us up ... 1.5 hours to Ostrzeszow. Father, me and Iza together ... 1.5 hours Polish made Iza very scared and she asked "where is mommy ... sister ...daddy ... stop talking" :-)

>>>>>Monday 12 XI, 2007 <<<<<

Today on Monday Ciocia Henia & Artur visited ... it was great! Artur will visit us soon ... Tadek called, we talked 30 minutes ... he could not make it ... it was one of my greatest conversations ... I really like him. We then made a little snow man, kids helped ... Iza was without pants ... they still walk bare foot in the house to the despair of Babcia ... we took a walk later ... it was good, bought some beer at the end and "warm ice cream" earlier but one thing that now I noticed so much was CO2 in the air, it is dark at 5 o'clock ... smoke all around, it gets noticeable and it is smelly, almost hard to breathe .... USA should fight Global Warming here ... would make a bigger difference

>>>>>Tuesday, 13 XI, 2007 <<<<<

Today we went shopping. It is crazy now in Poland. People make so little but prices like in Europe (and also more expensive then in USA We went to Antonin to little castle for ice creams. We had good time there.

>>>>>Wednesday, 14 XI, 2007 <<<<<

We went to visit my father in his place. It was very nice.

>>>>>Thursday, 15 XI, 2007 <<<<<

We went to the flee market in the morning. It was a bit cold but it was fun although the kids had to go back earlier. After dinner we went to inside playground where kids played. The same evening we stopped by Castorama and Carefour. Yes, as far as shopping, Poland is definitively in Europe … funny however how people’s shopping baskets are only covered on the bottom ….

>>>> Friday, 6 XI, 2007 <<<<<

We went to the cemetery and visited abandoned property where my mother’s parents used to live. It was cold. Later on we packed.

>>>>>Saturday, 17 XI, 2007 <<<<<

We are at the airport in Poznan. We got here “only” after 3 hours in the car … despite the fact it is only 120 km or so but in Poland there are no highways so you can’t really drive like in a normal country …

FRANCE

Bienvenue au France!!!!! With sunshine! Nice. We rented a car and went to Lille. We found Ville De ASCE with no problems. Jean and Michele welcomed us with a dinner. Laurence and Stephen were there two with their 3 kids.

>>>>>Sunday, 18 XI, 2007 <<<<<

We met with Lars and Amira. It was so great despite the bad and sad news how our “adventure” with CDNetPlay.com broke many friendships and destroyed or at least hurt people (including financially) ...

Then we went back to Laurence and Stephan house and later had great pizza. Boy, the French pizza is 100 times better than the staff we eat in USA! And that was “chain” pizza! My French is not so bad … I can communicate OK. I surprised myself.

>>>>> Monday, 19 XI, 2007 <<<<<

Finally we decided to call the doctor for Juli who is really sick since a week or so … he came to the house. How nice, and even without any insurance (as far as the country France sees it) we paid ONLY around $50 … That would be at least 100 times that much in USA and doubtful that one could get home visit. We wanted to go to the beach (to Belgium) but instead we went to the mall … bought a few nice foods, kids played … it was good to relax a bit. In the evening we had a great dinner. Jean and I picked up great big platters with see food (fruit de mere) and it was really good. Polish women (first name Balbina) was also invited to the Dinner. Juli and her have actually similar jobs.

>>>>>Tuesday, 20 XI, 2007 <<<<<

In the morning (well, after 10 am) we went to visit kindergarten where Stephan and Laurence kids are going. It was great. Kids were there for 1.5 hours and will correspond with this place in the future. The kids (with the teachers of course) made a big banner “Welcome” which they put on the windows. Malina were not that impressed with them and wanted to play in little toy-kitchen all the time but Iza participated and draw with them. All kids drawings were put together and made a little book which the kids gave Malina and Iza as gift.

Right after it, making my wife extremely angry, I insisted on going to the beach, to Belgium even though it started to rain … big time. But this is me being “Polish” and thinking it is somewhat cool for the kids to say “I was in Belgium” … hopefully they help me for it one day (maybe? Yes I know I am naïve)

Even before the trip to the beach, we had to pack really quickly and went to another family Juli knows, Gaston and Claudine

We had a nice diner in the evening. All kinds of wine, cheese … can’t get more French than that! It was great!

>>>>>Wednesday, 21 XI, 2007 <<<<<

Change of plants. We were to go to Paris today (that’s why the hurry to the beach in Belgium) but there is a strike going there so we will stay one extra day here. We are going to IKEA soon … we used to go there while we lived in France and “dream” of our house one day and how we will decorate it. It used to make us sad not to be able to have a house and our live …. IKEA is more than a store to us, it is something of a nostalgia. Before IKEA we visited Isabella’s place.

In the evening, Cecile called from Paris. We will not go there at all except for Friday to fly from it. It is a mess, people are “killing” each other to get to the metro. Only ¼ of trains are going …

>>>> Thursday, 22 XI, 2007 <<<<<

+8 degrees C. Sunny. Kids are starting to complain and are “missing our yellow house”
The fact that we are not going to Paris makes me a little said because kids won’t see (at the minimum) Eifel tower … of well, they will see it next time. We also saved some money on hotels (although Juli had a heck of time cancelling that hotel and not being charged)

Malina and I went downtown and had a good time. After lunch, we all went to IKEA while Juli and Gaston went to Auchan and Carefour to buy a few more things for USA (alcohol among others) I used IKEA free internet connection to catch up on blogs, emails and my school.

>>>>>Friday, 23 XI, 2007 <<<<<

We got lucky. Juli changed easily our last flight from Chicago do Lexington and not like we were to go from Chicago to Cincinnati. And we will fly earlier from Chicago!

We had no major problems in Paris except that we forgot (!) that you can’t have liquids in the carry-on and almost lost 2, 3 good bottles of wine. But the people let Juli go back and recheck the language.

We got to Lexington around 22.00. That one last language was not here but the airline brought it home next day. Malina felt asleep in Chicago and slept the entire last hour on the plane, in the car – Juli’s father picked us up – and slept till the “morning” … 4.30 in the morning that is …

Another jet lag … oh well, that is normal. It was a good trip (bit long and bit tired of living on suitcases)

Our dog was waiting for us at home. It is good to be home in our yellow house again.

Trip Cost

USA Airways (all flights except one) – 3,422.76
WingCentral (Poznan – Paris[Beauve]) - $200
Train (1^st class) - $150
Credit Cards Travel Expenses - $191 (including conversion fees)
Bank Card Expenses (Debit) -$539 (including conversion fees)
Car Rental – Avis – 5 days - $600 (400 Euros)

Total (at minimum) = $5,102.76

Mother and Dieter. Thank you very much for your financial substantial help! We appreicate it very much! We hope to visit you more often thanks to that financial help!

Malina Iza Famous Quotes. Updated 6/24

2007-11-29T03:59:00.000-08:00

My kids say things that are profound (or simply funny). It is time to start to archive some of those before we forget ....

- Iza in the car "Daddy, you know what, poptars are close to my heart"
- Cacada - bug making lots of noise every 17 years - was making noise in our front yard tree. On one Saturday, the noise stopped. Malina said "Maybe they are here only on school days"?
- In the car on the way home from school, Iza is asking her sister for candy [they were sharing and Iza already ate hers] to which Malina responds "Iza, I can't give you any candy, my hands our sore"
- "Iza, it is not about winning, not about having fun, it is about trying longer ..."
- "Daddy, Do you know why I like Lexington? Because I can understand what people say here"
- To her dallies while playing ... "Anybody who died long time ago, raise your hand ..."
- On airport in Chicago ... "I think I am allergic to walking"
- "Sister, we can't go to the Eiffel tower because there are lots of strangers there and they are going to be there for a long time ..."
- "Don't go there sister ... the darkness is going to get you"
- In Poland in the car, during eating vanilla ice creams, "Sister, you can't say 'vanilla' very good because you spoke too much Polish ..."
- "I can't speak French, but I can sign it very well ... " (Happy Birthday in French)
- "Daddy, go to work and take some money, we need to buy the beautiful princess ... " (in famous store where they cried as if I was killing them because I refused to buy overprices princess)
- Iza falls what seems like all the time and most of the time she laughs about it, but this one time she felt and Maya was close to her. Maya may have touched her with her tail. Iza started to cry and said "Mommy, Maya was trying to kill me ..."
- I am not really good on closing my eyes ... (in response to repeating attempts to make Malina sleep)

Quotes I like. Ungoing ... (Polski)

2007-11-26T08:13:00.000-08:00

Because "Shaminisms" are way overrated ...
Polska Wersja - http://gaworskipolak.blogspot.com/2008/02/cytaty-jakie-lubie.html

I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious. - Albert Einstein
Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence, he is just using his memory. - Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519.
What luck for the rulers, that men do not think. - Adolf Hitler
God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically.- Albert Einstein
He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed. - Albert Einstein
May the conscience and the common sense of the peoples be awakened, so that we may reach a new stage in the life of nations, where people will look back on war as an incomprehensible aberration of their forefathers! - Albert Einstein
How can it be that mathematics, being after all a product of human thought which is independent of experience, is so admirably appropriate to the objects of reality? Is human reason, then, without experience, merely by taking thought, able to fathom the properties of real things - Albert Einstein
The bigotry of the nonbeliever is for me nearly as funny as the bigotry of the believer - Albert Einstein
Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind. - Albert Einstein
"I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land." - Jon Steward
Life is a long lesson in humility. - James M. Barrie
"Knowledge and timber shouldn't be much used till they are seasoned." Oliver Wendell Holmes
Religious war is like children fighting over who has the strongest imaginary friend - www.cafepress.com
"Timelines are dangerous. What we need is a 'horizon'- a withdrawal strategy named after something that no matter how long you head towards it, you never quite reach it. " 08/08/2008 Jon Steward

"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man." Heraclitus

Classy Halloween

2007-10-31T15:11:00.000-07:00

It isn’t an oxymoron to have classy Halloween. Indeed, one can classy almost anything including life style. But “Classy Halloween” in here is sadly just a play on word. Classy means “In Class” or “With Class”, to be surrounded by 4 walls, 20-30 students and teacher who is trying desperately to make the topics interesting enough to make me forget that I am missing great time with my daughters.

Miss ‘M’ wants to be a Cat but as far as I know she does not have the costume. Beside she has a strap throat so she will have to have limited participation. Miss ‘I’ wants to be ‘the same every Halloween’, as criticized by Miss M often, … yes, you guessed it … Princess. And she does have the many costumes for that purpose. In any case, after the candies start floating, none of this will matter and the sugar rush will keep them awake long after I roll home at last in the shadows of the bright moon.

But don’t let me paint myself as a victim here. In addition to being school which is my choice, I do have to say that the Halloween for me just feels OK but it seems to miss something … the next day.

Being from 100% catholic country, The All Saint Days is uniquely absent in the place where I live in USA. My wife tells me in France some people also practice this day and so do some people in USA. But from what I see, it is far from what I remember from Poland … cemeteries full of candles, the smell of burning candles and whatever else kids put in them after dark …

One of these days I take my kids to Poland on November 1st so they can see it … if it is still going to be there, that is.

Just in ... one of the students came into class ... she is an angle and has hallo above her head. The teacher also put a hat on her head. Not sure what she is supposed to be but it fits her well ...

When in Rom, do as Romans.
Still, I miss the smell of the candles ...

Did God have choice? Updated

2007-10-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

What really interests me is whether God had any choice in the creation of the world.

Polska Wersja http://gaworskipolak.blogspot.com/2008/02/czy-bog-mial-wybor.html
Had She? If she did, it means she is independent of the fruit of her creation. If it didn't, she can not be omni powerful, by definition.

Such as simple question, but what a depth. If you answer yes, it means that She has absolute control, which means she could have stopped Holocaust and Tsunami, but she chose not to. If she did not have a choice, then she isn't omni powerful, one is wasting the time to pray for "safety, prosperity, health" etc.

Good luck with answering the dilemma above, and you waste your time looking for any discussion about the answer to this dilemma in any church on this one of billion of trillions of rocks that She created. All you end up at the end is "God knows better" ... or something really stupid like "Collective Punishment" of God ... as some ultra right Christians would claim ... "God sent Tsunami because those people turn away from God" ...

Go figure, apparently God is such a monster that instead of flipping his thumb and making all the people who turned from him drop dead, he just choses to kill all ... and he can't find a better way but do an earthquake ...to accomplish her 'objectives'. But oh well, that is kind of his "historic" approach right, after all he also destroyed Sonoma the same way ... Does anyone actually believe there were no 1 or 2 years old babies in Sonoma? How can a baby be a "sinner"?!!!!!

PS. You may have noticed I always refer to God as She. It is not a feminist approach or anything like that. I am just tired of "Old Birded Man sitting on the cloud" ... Why does God have to be a Man?!

So see you can get closer to God by reading quote from Einstein, then from going to church every Sunday ...

"This man's God does not have to communicate with him through intercessors, ministers, or saints, or angels, but rather, through the quietness of his own mind, the beauties of his garden, the refreshing rain, the wispering breeses through the trees, the warm touch off a loved one's hand, the innocence of the questioning look of a child. This man's God is all Nature of which he is truly a part. To talk with Him, then, is to talk with himself, and be aware that God's presence is constant. To him, this is what is known as 'prayer.'"

Vacation at last. Europe here we come!

2007-10-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

A few more days and we are going on our 2 weeks long vacation. We cannot wait. The weather may not be as good as it could be but at least the lack of air conditioning in Europe will not bother us this time. That’s for sure.

I am excited. I am going to see my mother and she will see again her granddaughters. Love is in the air. Some say because it is not “amour” or “libe dich” then it can’t possibly be as good as "love", but oh well … that’s their problem.

So in a few days we are leaving Lexington and fly to Chicago. From there to Frankfort, Germany. Final fly will end in Warsaw where we spend a day and a half with our Polish friend Carolina. Then something that should be really exciting for the kids – 4 hours real electric train ride from Warsaw to Ostrów where their grandmother and her husband will pick us up and drive (30 minutes) to Ostrzeszow.

After week in Poland, we will fly to Lille, France and spend another week there visiting us friends. We will also visit our friends in Paris, France.

It should be fun. The picture, although not us literally of course, it really does show how tired we are and despite all the effort that it will take to go on such a trip with 5 and 3.5 years old, it should be fun nevertheless.

The only bad news is that dollar lost 40% value since 6 months ago so we are going to have to watch our wallets ....

Voting

2007-10-22T09:17:00.000-07:00

If I was still in Poland, I would have voted over this past weekend. (And it is too dam far to Chicago) Liberal party won yesterday over “assertive foreign policy and traditional Catholic values” and “skeptical approach to the European Union”.

“Civic Platform says it will repair Poland's strained ties with Germany and other EU neighbors. It also wants strong ties with the US but Mr Tusk has vowed to withdraw 900 Polish troops from the US-led coalition force in Iraq.” (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7054912.stm)

Liberal opposition to “it is my way or the highway” (sounds kind of familiar to some other little cowboy’s speeches from the past?) won and turnout was the highest recorded in Poland since communism fell in 1989.

That reminds me of my old days in Poland. That’s when I voted first and last time. I remember how annoyed my corporal was (don’t remember his name) when he had to assist “kot” (cat – that’s how they called young soldiers during basic training), the only solider who expressed willingness and desire to go and vote. I voted for Lech Walesa of course at that time. (Want to get to know how the L. Walesa happened? Watch "Strike")

Here is the only picture I have where you can see his left shoulder. Wonder what he is doing today? He wasn’t a bad person. He did what was expected from him during basic training but deep down he was good, he treated us well although I probably would have not said that a few times when I had to clean the bathroom for the 5th time at 2 a.m., and often with a toothbrush … you know, the typical basic training things.

So good luck Poland. You need the money from Germany and France, and uncle George ... well, even the conservatives do not like him anymore (and don't ask the Turks ....) so don't expect much from here. Smart move going against those who do not like Europe. And good lesson I guess that as a young new member, perhaps a bit more conciliatory tone during EU debates would be ... smarter ... and also appropriate and tactful?

Just a thought? Treat your neighbors well, live and let live?

Be Green or Die

2007-10-11T19:26:00.000-07:00

Here is what I do to try to be green (or to save energy which means the same thing these days)

recycle as much as I can, as provided by the city
made a compost pile
put plastic foil all over all windows during winter
insulated duck tapes underneath the house and in the attic with a "zipped blanket" over the entrance to the attic
gradually switching to cars with better MPG ... 50% there (34 MPG and 20 MPG)
do not use plastic bags in groceries - takes some thousands of years for them to degrade in the land fields and some barrels of oil plus 4 litters of Arab blood per million of them produced ... (my wife was instrumental in this switch)
I "smartly" use wood fireplace. It can help your heating bill ... (weekends and turn off your normal heat; install blower with fireplace as specified by manufacturer of the fireplace insert)
put down the thermostat to max 67 in the winter, 64 when we go to sleep
in the summer we shut windows covers to block the sun from heating up the inside
in the winter, I or my wife turns the thermostat 10 degrees lower before last one goes to work in the morning ... after I come back it will take around 15 minutes to get it back to comfortable levels ...
around 80% of our lights use energy efficient light bob

My heating bill in the winter was 40% lower in comparison to the previous year (based on consumption shown on the bill, not price which went up slightly, 5-15%)

It is the ECONOMY stupid!

Sincerely,
Shamick Gaworski

She is just too much

2007-10-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

This is my sexy actress. I know, I am married. Hey, it is just an add for vegetarianism ... :-)
We married man can still watch advertising right?

I first saw Alicia in 'Crazy' for Aerosmith ( or was it "Crying", can't remember - both are great) - I feel so OLD :-) - this coincided with the period of my life as a student when I was dating Jennifer, my first American girlfriend ( She is "missing" me :-) somewhere in North Carolina)

Anyway, isn't Alicia Silverstone hot?

Alicia Silverstone Sexy Veggie PSA
Order a FREE vegetarian starter kit at GoVeg.com

Well not if you are Senator Craig but ... gee, go figure. How is bathroom stole comparing to the above?

And by the way, since this really is about vegetarianism or (as I see it) preventing animal cruelty - pay attention to what you eat and if you can, become vegetarian (I cannot, I have too high metabolism ... I would starve to death ... I am already thin ... )

It matters if the chicken or pig was raised in cruelty ... and if you do not think it does, the religious recipient of your religiousness "prayers" will tell you ... it does.

(Yes I indeed suggested it is a sin to eat abused animal.
As I see it, if God is the way religious people say she is, there is no way she would just agree with the same 'religious' people who say "it does not matter that the chicken never moved in its cage ... it was just there put by our creator as our "chain food chicken wings with bear")

PS. It was 'Crying' ... and, well, there is a reason that movie reminds me of those days ... but we are getting a bit too personal here :-)

Dentist in Poland (before 1990)

2007-09-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

I want to stress that this video is not supposed to serve as bashing of universal health care systems in modern countries! Note that this video portraits Communist State-Run Dental Health Care System, not Canada, France, etc. (I was once at the dentist in France and it was cheap [much cheaper than in USA] and the dental care was equivalent/same as in USA)

OK. So now that we got that straighten up (as not to give ammunition to critics of universal health care), the video is a slight exaggeration of the situation that existed in Poland before 1990. (I will not comment on today's situation as I simply do not know anymore ... it has been many years since I left Poland.)

What is not an exaggeration about the movie are the following
- the line in the hall of the Dentist with people keeping the order, not the dentist
- the bad equipment
- the luck of any pain killing medication during the procedure
- the "it should not hurt anymore" mentality instead of healing teeth; such things like cosmetic surgeries did not exist at all)
- the God-Dentist attitude (no choice)

So now you understand that I have absolutely no fear when going to a dentist in USA and I find it rather amusing that they offer putting me to sleep for silly things like extractions (wisdom teeth). Man, they give you so much pain medicine here that all you can feel is pressure. They ask you every minute, are you in pain?

Watch this movie and start blessing your dental health care America!

So now you understand why I have to have the below done this year. My wallet is crying big time! But what is one to do? Can't go back in time, can't we?

Nostalgic

2007-09-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

This birthday thing must have made me a bit nostalgic. Things are changing in Poland, my native country. It is for better for a lot of people, earnings are higher (by ~300% since I have been there)

Not like that makes me want to go back for good but I am glad that for many Poland is attractive again. I will soon be here almost as long as long I lived consciously in Poland (excluding the first years where we all basically poop in diapers and cry all the time) I am not moving back to something I knew but does not exist anymore (and frankly not sure if the new thing is that much better or better at all)

Anyway, there are some things that we, the Polish people, will always remember about our old Poland. Here is a short part from a Polish comedy "Nic Smiesznego" (Nothing Funny)

And right below a picture of my mother and her house (no more) with the same super car. FYI, it is Fiat 126p, originally designed in Italy in the 1970's and very very popular in Poland. It was produced in Poland under Fiat license. Under Communism one draw a ticket that determined how long one had to wait in line for it. (You still had to have money to buy it, the wait for in addition ... sort of like Prius not so long ago)

Life is too short day

2007-09-17T05:29:00.000-07:00

I wish so very much I could put my thoughts together like him …

But I just can’t, I am not that talented. Most Americans should be required to watch him every day and jailed if they fail to do so. Maybe we would not be so brained washed as a nation. Oh boy, instead we watch some propaganda on Faux News ... go figure.

Language defines our ideas

2007-09-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

An Française, tout cet différent me ce net pas sel muent pacque ce la même chose me au Française ! No ! La logique, le culturel, l’espacé e différent.

(Wow, that was hard, thank God one can switch languages in World Document and check spelling)

Anyway, listen to Steven Pinker on TED who explains the very deep meaning of language, beyond just simple translations

Below it is the movie embedded in my blog

No wonder my silly buttons on the right do not work well. Language is really complex, on the deep level, it takes years to master it fully, not just grammar wise but to understand all the (cultural, social, economical) meaning behind it

Why I like my job?

2007-09-07T08:16:00.000-07:00

I realized recently that as 37 years old person I have been attending different classes and learning different things for around 30 years now, with 2 breaks 1 or 1.5 years long.

When I was 7 I started Elementary School in Sosnie, Poland. Then, into High School but that was High School with Rail Road Specialization (idea was that it is better to have such high school education and increase chances of finding employment afterwords ... not the same as vocational school which also existed [and does] in Poland)

So in addition to Language (Polish), Math, Biology, I also learned about Electricity, Electromechanics of different parts of electrical trains (Poland train infrastructures is far superior to #1 [sarcasm for US] but then so is most civilized nations ...), etc.

I also wanted to be "cool" so I started to study music in School of Music along with my high school. I remember seeing one of my friends who played piano and all the girls gathering around him and at that time I though "mm, I want to play piano like that ..."

Music got me into US in 1993. I was in Polish Army in Orchestra thanks to Music. In USA in addition to music and learning how to march in Marching Band, which I soon realized was not going to bring any bread on the table, in my sophomore year I also started to study business, administration, economics.

Even after graduating and before graduate school I took some classes to learn more, computers, statistics, higher level of English to learn to write and read better (as you can see, I need still many more classes) (I also learned some French living in France from 1998 to 2000)

So what does this have to do with the title of this post? I like my job because I can be creative. I learned or was learning rather about lots of things but this job allows me to use a bit of everything in my work. My work does not pay as much as I could earn in private practice but it provides nice casual atmosphere and very liberal approach to hours worked, leaving work, etc. In a word, I am not a slave of a corporation. I can't afford as many things but I enjoy my days more and learned overtime to be happy with what I have and make the most of it (and if you think this is trivial and not that important, then, well ... that's your right)

The movie below made by some professor about Web 2.0 best describes not just the environment we live in, but for me it reminds me that I get to play with all this ... and incredibly, some people actually are paying me for it!

Hectic Times

2007-09-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

... to the Library to pick up readings for PA642 ... sent to campus office for new ID ... then back 400 yards to the Library ... back to my office to put off another fire ... progress some on some projects ... then making copies ... going for another meeting ... back to the library to turn back the few hours reserved material to avoid fines ...

... next day same thing, this time bank account is a little low so I run to one place to withdraw some money, run to the library to deposit it in our bank, then to the dentist who will make 4,000 dollars this year on me ... (because I was lazy as a child and did not brush my teeth! and the communistic dental care was far from good) .... back to the pharmacy for more pain medicine .... back to the office .... oh time to go to school - Wednesday today.

... it will be 8.30 pm before I will open my car's door on the parking spot and the only good thing about going home that late is that I can pretend to be NASCAR driver and spin down the rather empty parking lot all the way down from the top floor hearing squiggling tires on all curves.

... when I get home my kids will be still awake and Iza will no doubt insist on me falling asleep with her and one of the last things she will say will be "Daddy, I don't like your school; it takes too long; I miss you"

...but it is worth it right? Another 2 years of this and I will be a secret agent in some bureaucracy in Washington? (I picked a name already "Natasha" :-)) Or will I be some bureaucrat elsewhere? Regardless, I put nice little title in front of my name ... I will therefore be a "better" person?

... just sometimes, specially when your mouth is in pain for days and when you realized this is some 20th or so year you keep on going to classes of all sorts of colors and shades ... and it is close to a 100 degrees outside and you keep on going and going, you wonder, why can't I just be stereotypically ... "lazy American" ... or maybe stereotypes are just that, stereotypes?

Sincerely,
Shamick

One’s work may be finished someday,
But one’s education never.
Alexandre Dumas, 1802-1870

Psychological Projection

2007-08-29T11:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Sen. Larry Craig (Republican) was on the news. He was allegedly caught by policemen in a gay sting at some airport bathrooms. I am not sure of course that he is guilty but what strikes me in this situation is something different.

Most of us have some kind of weakness and I will focus on man here as I am one. It may be alcohol, sex (promiscuous also), drugs, laziness, obesity, nervousness along with abusive behavior towards wife and/or children, gambling, pornography, etc.

Whatever it is, most of us know this and try to control ourselves with better or worse results. Most of us, however, DO NOT preach about how all other people but me are so terrible and how sinful such activity is.

So why the Senator was so strongly voicing his concerns about Gay while only a naïve person would still think he isn’t one. I mean c'mon! Man up there will understand.

No man one pleads guilty to charge of being gay if they are not. For us man the idea of guy love is very vulgar. We, the man, we really, really like women for sex purposes. We really, really enjoy sex with women and if not for all the societal barriers and/or being in love and wanting to be treated with respect, trust, etc., we could have sex with different women every day

So when some Policemen in the bathroom would accidentally misread my signals and wrongly accused me of being gay and looking for gay sex in that place, I can tell you I would not plead guilty for this thing just to go away. I may not be a senator but I have a respectful job, family, friends, etc. I do not want to plead guilty for something I am not, for crimes that not only did not enter my mind but I would not do even if you pay me.

Why then this Senator was so avidly and openly bushing Gays before

I was watching Saturday Nigh one day and some sketch was about why so and so was so creative in his life. He, the actor that played that person on SNL was already looking a bit drugged and said "LSD is a powerful drug man, powerful drug"

Projection is a powerful thing my friend, powerful thing

In psychology, psychological projection (or projection bias) is a defense mechanism in which one attributes to others one’s own unacceptable or unwanted thoughts or/and emotions. Projection reduces anxiety by allowing the expression of the unwanted subconscious impulses/desires without letting the ego recognize them. The theory was developed by Sigmund Freud and further refined by his daughter Anna Freud, and for this reason, it is sometimes referred to as "Freudian Projection" [1][2]"

Source - Wikipedia. Maybe, however, we are all guilty of some projecting

PS. Let me clarify something here. Gay sex is not a crime! Gay people are fine and the same as others. God blesses you all! (Otherwise, take your God away from me please) To do it in public bathrooms is an "offense" just it would be between man and women. The biggest crime here is of course the hypocrisies of "Evangelical Christian so-called Values" ... maybe it is time to let people live and have sex with whoever they want and in general get the hell out of someone's life as it is none of your (dam) business?

Great success of Polish "mix"

2007-08-28T07:36:00.000-07:00

Mix of vegetables called "Salatka" in Polish is a traditional dish that can be found on most tables of Polish people in Poland (and abroad) (Note about the picture - salatka tastes better than it looks!)

Here is receipt written by my wife (American) if you interested

Sawatka – Polish potato salad

5-6 medium golden potatoes, boiled, but firm, diced
10 Dill pickles, diced
8 oz. block Swiss cheese, diced
6 slices med-sliced ham, diced
16 oz. baby carrots, steamed, chopped
8-10 oz. frozen (cooked) or canned corn
8-10 oz. frozen (cooked) or canned peas
One med to large onion, diced
Celery, 2 stalks chopped
1.5 cups mayonnaise (to taste if you like it creamier)
Fresh chopped parsley (do not use too much as it is strong and will overpower the dish, can use dried parsley)
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped boiled eggs, optional

Boil potatoes in salted water until done, but still firm. Let cool and remove skins. Dice into about 1 inch squares or about the size of a sugar cube.

Chop pickles, onions, carrots, celery, ham and cheese and add to bowl. Add corn and peas and fresh parsley, then fold in mayo. Add salt and pepper to taste.

[add me] Cool off final product in refrigerator. You can decorate the top with thin layer of mayonnaise and create all kinds of patterns with vegetables, ex. smiley face with little pieces of carrots, eggs, etc. Be creative.

You can also experiment with all kinds of other vegetables. Use your own knowledge of vegetables taste to create "perfect salad" for your own taste.

(Keep refrigerated. It should last 6,7 days)

Where are the shamisms man?

2007-08-25T13:33:00.000-07:00

This blog was named to be 'priceless statements of the village's genius', shamisms for short. So it is finally time to get into it. This entry will be devoted to such statements and I encourage you to submit some to me. I'll post them. This post will grow overtime.

Requirement for shamisms - they must be relatively short, the shorter the better. Think bumper stickers. Also, I will occasionally post some other nice short statements that are not mine but I subscribe to them.
(Photo: "Man, there just nothing on those 2 black & white]government-run channels available only from 5pm to 11pm. 1970-1990")

If Americans are as religious as they claim then the best way to fight diabetes would be to change that disease's name to gluttony
(same as above but shorter) God Bless Gluttony America
W
World Worse Weak Wrecked Wacky War-of-choice-loving WIMP!
If only Native Indians have built the wall (My Bumper Sticker. Source: cafe express)
Pro-Life does not end at birth (My Bumper Sticker. Source: cafe express)
Annoy conservative who says "annoy liberal, work hard and be happy" by working hard AND smart, thinking, demanding fairness and justice and being happy
Don't forget to shop after Sunday's church. It makes Jesus happy to see you spending ... 2/3 of the country he blessed depends on it!
1/3 of USA GDP is thanks to government activity (state and federal). Say capitalism! Great, again, no regulations!
What does nothing look like? (Internet)
Best way to promote Soccer in USA would be to establish Soccer World Series. Whoever wins then will be Champion of the World. (By default -> USA team)
Pride is a sin! Study the bible more carefully!

Hike - beginning of sheltowee

2007-08-17T12:05:00.000-07:00

This hike will start at Pickett State Forest Tennessee and end at Peters Mountain in Daniel Boone National Forest. It is 15.6 miles end to end.

This is the beginning of http://www.sheltoweetrace.com/ Map of the location. Better (PDF) map showing 2/3 of the trail in more details - we slept at Great Meadows (but to get to State line is at least 4 miles ... which translates in 3 hours of walking)

To get to the Great Meadows was a stretch and it took from 10 o'clock in the morning till 7.30 pm ... (10 o'clock due to logistics of taking a car to the end of the hike so we all can come back to the starting point)

It was a difficult one, according to another map it was actually 17 miles and we made the 12 or so the first day.

Sincerely,
Shamick P. Gaworski

WOMEN!

2007-08-15T08:01:00.000-07:00

9 PHRASES WOMEN USE

1. Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

2. Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

3. Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

4. Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

5. Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to #3 for the meaning of nothing.)

6. That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

7. Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say 'You're welcome!'

8. Whatever: Is a women's way of saying F@!# YOU!

9. Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking "What's wrong?" For the woman's response refer to #3

:-)

Cumberland Lake Falls Weekend Hike

2007-07-30T06:32:00.000-07:00

Hike organized by Sierra Club. On Friday evening we drove to the camp site close to Cumberland Falls State Resort Park where we started 14 miles trail the next morning. It poured rain Friday night making it sleepless for many.

Saturday was also rainy but all 12 of us, full of energy and good humors, were following the river for around 7 miles to finally end on a make-up shelter quite tired from rain and difficult terrain. 6 of us slept in the shelter (simple wooden construction with a roof and one wall open, nothing more than that) The rest of us got into our own tents and John, Michael, Laurence and I found a nice dry camp 100 yards to the left of the shelter. We made a fire and cooked our dinners. There was plenty of water near by and the owners of water filters were very, very popular.

It stopped raining Saturday evening. It did not rain much at all on Sunday. Rain or not, makes little difference on this trail. It is so humid that after 15 minutes everyone is wet anyway. On Sunday, after breakfast and coffee, Jessie (14) who came on the trip with his Grandfather (>60) from North Carolina, together with our co-leader Shelly, got us going again. They started fast pace . We could barely keep up. Shelly runs her own little hobby-company climbing trees with earth joy.com

Soon the group decided to split and let the younger group (~40,50) go up front and get the car that was going take the drivers back to the beginning sooner than the entire group. The terrain was getting even more difficult and we had another 7 miles to go. So Jessie, Shelly, I(37), John (>50), Laurence (>50) and Jessie's Grandfather got to the 'end' of our hike about 15 minutes earlier than the older group. I was impressed by the older group with many of them in their 60's and Larry 71 doing extremely well considering the terrain. There were also two ladies Karen and Diane, both great hikers.

So once the header group got to the dam (trail followed the river) Laurence and I hiked additional 2 miles or so to get to his car that we parked Friday night. Once we got there after an hour or so, we drove back to the dam, picked up 3 drivers and drove back to the State Park where we picked all cars and drove back to the dam. We were all done around 4.30 pm on Sunday afternoon.

We had a great time. You get to know people, you share the ups and downs, laughs, falls, poison ivy and iron plan (FYI, as I am sure you are curious, it is called "Pokrzywa" in Polish :-)) Poison ivy can hurt you later (depends if you're allergic), iron plant hurts you right when you walk through it and there is no way around them.

You have lots of time when you keep on walking. You get to know people, and you want to walk at least a few feet apart on Sunday ... there ain't any showers on the way unless you do not mind rather cold water dropping 50, 60 feet from the cliffs all the way down, almost directly on your head ...

It is beautiful and green all the way around, you can hear the water all the time and you can feel it on every inch of your body (which obviously sometimes you wish you wouldn't) We saw two turtles and some kind of wild bird.

Till the next time folks. I need to do this more often ...

Pointers for hike
1) pack light
2) use polyester or nylon everything, no cotton
3) use wool socks and good hiking shoes but also bring light sandals for evenings
4) if you do not have stove and hope for fire, bring some fire starting thing and lighter (matches do not work well specially in rainy conditions)
5) ... more you get to know when you do this, if I tell you everything, it would be no fun to laugh at the novice :-)

Shamick P. Gaworski

Tornado Shelter Finished (Updated)

2007-07-12T05:57:00.000-07:00

Process of creating Tornado Shelter from crawling space roughly 15 feet by 8 feet and final height 6.5 feet.

Original height of crawling space 42 inches. Added 38 plus 6 or so for concrete floor. Entrance from Garage. Pictures tell the story

"Don't try this at home" :-) (Put it another way, it ain't worth it ... so much work for little storage space ... the only justification is the 'tornado shelter' but I hope I will never know if that justifies my effort in building it)

Thanks,
Shamick P. Gaworski

War is lost

2007-07-11T09:15:00.001-07:00

Actually, there may be HOPE for this country.
Read my younger entry
http://shamick.blogspot.com/2007/12/change-is-coming-bush-down-oil-down.html

But what war is lost? What are we actually fighting for? Bunch of cheap oil, and soon there after gasoline for 30 cents a gallon? And now we are going to leave, exposing ourselves to "grave consequences" ... of $30 a gallon while Middle East burns?!

Oil is our GOD and we are 'crude awaking' slowly ... it is almost too late, but no politician is brave (wait, that is oxymoron) enough to tell that to "#1" ...

Oil is ending and thanks to the Internet USA long ago lost the communications war. People are smarter. While inside here people still can't really handle the truth and keep on believing in "power of pride", the reality is that this whole country is like a fish that sees the lake dry out and starts flipping because there is not enough water …

And! We aren't doing anything to stop our decline ...
Europe and Asia have sophisticated electrical train system and will survive much longer than we do when the oil stops floating … All politicians know this fact as the only way they get to be politicians is the corruptive money they receive from corporation – which know very very well what this whole middle east colonization is supposed to prohibit $30 a gallon and end of this empire with no clothes as we know it … Yes, other countries will get hurt too, but they will stand up later on while we will be 3rd world country.

And we used to be good ... "victory gardens" anyone?

Oh, and please do not blame Bush for all this. He was just trying to keep the oil going a little longer and in a way he succeeded. We never leave Iraq, unless to Iran or some other Middle East country! "Modern colonization" keeps on going ...

You and I are at fault! Capitalism is at fault for its attention to short-term only!
The only way to fix it is to inquire BIG costs today!
So it is so much easier to turn on False News or blame Bush and do not forget those evil Europeans and other Godless Liberals that want to destroy this country through imaginary things such as "global warming"

Otherwise loving this great land that went terribly array ... beginning sometimes after 1945 when it felt in love with ... OIL.

I don't know. Most profound religious statement (Polski)

2007-07-11T08:37:00.000-07:00

Polska werjsa -
http://gaworskipolak.blogspot.com/2008/02/nie-wiem-dlaczego-bog-pozwala-na-zlo.html

"Discovering, wondering and getting even a glimpse of what is most likely the truth is more fulfilling than settling on comfortable lies and illusions" - Shamick

If you ever had any questions about power of God, powerlessness of God, why he allows evil, who or what is God, where and how logically explain it - in a word, if you ever did what religions tells you just take on 'faith' or 'divine' and you should never ever question, you may want to listen to

Tom Honey on God and the tsunami

Below movie embedded in this blog

Full Text of the speech that I really really like
(words in bold I am not sure about ... all typed by me by listening to the video)

Rev. Tom Honey: How could God have allowed the tsunami?

We want an explanation from God.

I am vigor in a Church of England. I have been a priest for 20 years. For most of that time I have been struggling and grappling with questions about the nature of God, who is God. And I am very aware that when you say the word “God” many people will turn off immediately and most people, both within and outside of the organized Church, still have a picture of celestial controller, a rule maker, a policemen in the sky who orders everything and causes everything to happen. He will protect his own people and answer the prayers of the faithful. And in the worship of my church the most frequently used adjective about God is almighty.

But I have a problem with that. I have become more and more uncomfortable with this perception of God over the years. Do we really believe that God is the kind of male boss that we have been presenting in our worship and liturgies over the years.

Of course there have been thinkers that suggested different ways of looking at God, exploring the feminine nurturing side of divinity, suggesting that God expresses himself or herself through powerlessness rather than power, acknowledging that God is unknown and unknowable by definition. Finding deep residencies with other religions and philosophies and ways at looking at life as part of what it is universal and global search for meaning. These ideas are well known in liberal and academic circles. But clergy like myself have been reluctant to air them for fear of creating tension and division in our church communities, for fear of upsetting the simple faith of more traditional believers. I have chosen not to rock the boat. Then on December 26^th last year, just two months ago, that underwater earthquake triggered the Tsunami and two weeks later Sunday Morning 9^th January, I found myself standing in front of my congregation, intelligent well meaning mostly thoughtful Christian people and I needed to express on their behalf our feeling and our questions. I had my own personal responses but I also have a public role and something needed to be said. And this is what I said.

Shortly after the Tsunami I read a newspaper article written by the archbishop of Canterbury about the tragedy in Southern Asia. The essence of what he said was this “The people most affected by this devastation and loss of life do not want intellectual theories, about how God let this happen.” He wrote “If some religious genius did come up with explanation of exactly why did all these deaths made sense, would we feel happier, or safer or more confident in God? If the man in the photographs that appeared in the newspapers holding the hand of his dead child was standing in front of us now, there are no words that we can say to him. A verbal response would not be appropriate. The only appropriate response would be compassionate silence and some kind of practical help. It isn’t the time for explanation or preaching or philology. It is time for tears.

This is true and yet, here we are my church Knoxville, semi detached from events that happened a long way away but with our faith bruised. And we want an explanation from God, we demand an explanation from God.

Does God Feel our pain?

Some have concluded that we can only believe in God that shares our pain. In some way God must feel the anguish, and grief and physical pain that we feel. In some way the eternal God must be able to enter into the souls of human beings and experience the torment within. And if this is true it must also be that God knows the joy and exaltation of the human spirit as well. We want a God who can weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. This seems to me both deeply moving and convincing restatement of Christian belief about God. For hundred of years the prevailing orthodoxy, the accepted truth was that God the father, the Creator, is unchanging. And therefore by definition cannot feel pain or sadness. Now the unchanging God feels a bit cold and indifferent to me and the devastating events of the XX century have forced people to question the cold unfeeling God. The slaughter of millions in the trenches and the death camps have caused people to ask where is God in all this. Who is God in all this? And the answer was God is in this with us. Or God does not deserve our allegiant anymore.

If God is a bystander, observing but not involved, then God may well exist but we do not want to know about him. Many Jews and Christians are now feel like this I know. And I am among them.

So we have a suffering God. God who is intimately connected with this world and with every living soul. I every much relate to this idea of God. But it isn’t enough. I need to ask some more questions and I hope those are questions you may want to ask as well, some of you. Over the last few weeks I’ve been struck by words in our worship have felt bit inappropriate, bit doggie. We have a prime service on Tuesday morning for Moms and their preschool children and last week we sang with the children one of their favorite songs “The wise man build his house upon the rock” Perhaps some of you may know it.

Some of the words go like this “The foolish man built his house upon the sand and the floods came up and the house on the sand went crash” Then in the same week at the funeral we sang the familiar hymn “We plod the field and scatter” very English here. In the second verse comes the line “The winds and waves obey him”

Do they?

I don’t feel we can sign that song again in Church after what’s happened.

So the first big question is about control. Does God have a plan for each of us? Is God in control? Does God order each moment? Does the wind and waves obey him?

From time to time one hears Christians telling the story of how God organized things for them. So everything worked out right. Some difficulty overcome some illness cured some trouble averted. A parking space found at the crucial time. I can remember someone saying this to me with her eyes shining with enthusiasm at this wonderful confirmation of her faith and the goodness of God. But if God can and will do these things, intervene to change the flow of events then surely he could have stopped the Tsunami. Do we have a local God who can do little things like parking spaces but not big things like 500 miles per hour waves. That’s just not acceptable to intelligent Christians and we must acknowledge it.

Either God is responsible for Tsunami or God is not in control.

After the tragedy survivors’ stories began to emerged, you probably hear some of them. The man who served the wave, the teenage girl who recognized the danger because she just been learning about tsunamis at school, then there was the congregation who had left they usual church building on the shore to hold the service in the hills. The preacher delivered an extra long sermon so they were still out of harms way when the wave struck. After that someone said that God must have been looking after them.

So the next question is about partiality. Can we earn God’s favor by worshiping him or believing in him? Does God demand loyalty like any medieval tyrant? A God who looks after his own so the Christians are OK while everyone else perishes? A cosmic arsenate? And a God who is guilty of the worse kind of favoritism. That would be appalling! And that would be the point at which I would hand in my membership. Such a God would be morally inferior to the highest ideas of humanity.

So who is God? If not the great Puppet Master or the tribal protected. Perhaps God allows or permits terrible things to happen so the heroism and compassion can be shown. Perhaps God is testing us, testing our charity or our faith. Perhaps there is a great cosmic plan that allows for horrible suffering so everything will work out at the end. Perhaps, but these ideas are all just variations on God controlling everything. The supreme commander toying with expendable units in a great campaign. We are still left with the God that can do the Tsunami and allow Auschwitz.

In his great novel, “The Brother Caramantsov” Dostoyevsky gives these words to Ivan addressed to his naïve and devout brother Allioshia “If the suffering of children go to make up the sum of suffering which is necessary of the purchase of truth then I say beforehand that the entire truth is not worth such a price. We cannot afford to pay so much for admission. It is not God that I do not accept. I merely most respectfully return him the ticket.”

Or perhaps God set this whole universe at the beginning and then relinquished control for ever so the natural processes can occur and evolution run its course? This seems more acceptable. But it still leaves God with the ultimate moral responsibility.

Is God a cold unfeeling spectator? Or powerless lover watching with infinitive compassion things God is unable to control or change? Is God intimately involved in our suffering so his feels it in its own being?

If we believe something like this we must let go of the puppet master completely, take our leave of the almighty controller, and abandon traditional models. We must think again about God

Maybe God doesn’t do things at all? Maybe God isn’t an agent like all of us are agents. Early religious thoughts conceived God as a sort of super human person doing things all over the place, beating up the Egyptians, drowning them in the Red See, wasting cities, getting angry. The people knew that God by his mighty acts. But what if God doesn’t act? What if God doesn’t do things at all? What if God is in things? The loving soul of the universe, and indwelling compassionate presence underpinning and sustaining all things. What if God is in things? In the infinitively complex network of relationships and connections that make up life, in the nature cycle of life and death, the creation and destruction that must happen continuously, in the process of evolution and in incredible intricacy and magnificence of the natural world, in the collective unconscious, the soul of the human race, in you, in me, mind and body and spirit, in the tsunami, in the victims, in the depth of things, in the presence and in absence and simplicity and complexity, in change and development and growth?

How does this Inness, the interiority of God work?

It is hard to conceive and it begs more questions. Is god just another name for the Universe with no independent existence at all? I don’t know. To what extend we can ascribe personality to God? I don’t know.

In the end we have to say I don’t know. If we knew God would not be God. To have faith in this God would be more like trusting and essential benevolence in the Universe and less like believing in a system of doctrinal statements. Isn’t it ironic that Christians have claimed to believe in an infinite unknowable being than tie God down in close systems and ridged doctrines? How could one practice such a faith?

By seeking the God within, by cultivating my own inwardness, silence and meditation, in my inner space, in the me that remains when I gently put aside my passing emotions and ideas and preoccupations, in a wellness of the inner conversation.

And how would we live such a faith? How would I live such a faith? By seeking intimate connection with your inwardness, the kind of relationships when deep speaks to deep. If God is in all people then there is a meeting place where my relationship with you becomes a three way encounter. There is an Indian greeting, which I am sure some of you know ‘Namaste’ accompanying by respectful bow which roughly translated means “That which is of God in me greats that which is of God in you”. Namaste.

And how would one deep in such a faith?

By seeking the inwardness that is in all things, in music and poetry, and natural world of beauty, and in the small ordinary things in life. There is a deep indwelling presence that makes them extraordinary. It needs a profound attentiveness and a patient waiting a contemplative attitude and the generosity and openness to those whose experiences differ from my own.

When I stood up to speak to my people about God in a tsunami I had no answers to offer them, no neat packages of faith with bible references to prove them, only doubts and questioning and uncertainty. I had some suggestions to make, possible new ways of thinking about God, ways that may allow us to go on down a new and uncharted road.

But in the end, the only thing I can say for sure was “I don’t know”. And that may just be the most profoundly religious statement of all. Thank you.

Why one has to be citizen of any country?

2007-06-29T08:12:00.000-07:00

Many people are and want to be citizens of a country. One may like this one or that one although most are citizens of the country they were born in. (Kind of like religion although they claim later in life that this is a divine situation and only that religion guarantees salvation while others will bring you hell. Some then are even willing to die to 'safe' others and hardly ever occurs to them that it is rather pure coincident that they were born in this and not another religion)

One may feel very strongly about his/her country, but does it really matter? Or think of it this way, if one sees a person primarily as "white" or "black" and pays so much attention to that fact that it skews his view of other attributes of the object, then most people will agree there is a problem.

Try to think from larger perspective, if you were born French would you not like it because there is something in you that is American? Or is it the society and culture that makes us who we are? And then, as that seems rather obvious, can we 'change' by submerging and accepting another culture, perhaps one that we truly like despite seeing also the other's culture shortcomings. But most importantly here, is or would be such act some kind of "sin", some kind of act that should be punishable by society? formally or informally?

In any way, in addition to my soon to be 2 citizenships, I think I want to apply to become a citizen of Pitcairn Islands ... will be 51st person

Sincerely,
Shamick P. Gaworski

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_citizen

Religions do not exist. Time neither. God does.

2007-06-06T10:35:00.000-07:00

Listen to this excellent speech about GOD!!!

I was raised as Catholic. Today I only recognize God more or less as a Universe and all that surrounds us. (It is complicated and I do not want to offend some very GOOD religious people.)

Here is a passage from the book of Parker Lochiel Johnstone "Origin of the Universe, Life, then religions" that most closely resembles my religion.

"This man's God does not demand prayers about his weaknesses or demand supplications of his desires. This man's God does not expect him ever to be perfect, but rather allows him to do the best he can by following his own Conscience.

This man's God does not have to communicate with him through intercessors, ministers, or saints, or angels, but rather, through the quietness of his own mind, the beauties of his garden, the refreshing rain, the whispering breezes through the trees, the warm touch off a loved one's hand, the innocence of the questioning look of a child.

This man's God is all Nature of which he is truly a part. To talk with Him, then, is to talk with himself, and be aware that God's presence is constant. To him, this is what is known as 'prayer.'"

Here is another way to make my point

There were 4 good man and by good I mean they all were faithful to their wives, love and respect their children and did all the universally good things that most people immediately recognize as good (as oppose to bad) and do not need any special definition of what those good things are.

You get the picture.

The 1st man was Christian, 2nd Muslim, 3rd was Atheists, and last 4th one was African Bushman whose village was only relatively recently discovered by "white man" and till today he does not have electricity in his village.

Here is a question. Which one is GOOD? Which one is THE one?!

See according to religion, they all cannot be completely equally good ... 3 of them ALWAYS miss this 'one thing' .. Jesus, or Allah or XYZ, or The Sun God. God would only let 1 one of them to Heaven. The other 3 will (according to Religion[s]) burn in Hell.

So, until this situation changes, I am staying out. Sorry.

Sincerely,
Shamick Przemek Gaworski

All the respect to all who disagree ... pray for me then, let your God have mercy on me after ... well, you know after what. The good news is that if you pray for your God and allow others to pray to others Gods, then practically, there isn't that much difference between you and me.

We just may be both Good Man.

And here is more deeper and physical aspect that I like to tackle when thinking of God on the large scale. What does "omni-present", "timeless", and "infinitive" really means?

To start, you must read this article (no matter how much your head may hurt; my did!)

Discovermagazine.com Newsflash: Time May Not Exist

If time and space is like waves and light and not continuous, if it is getting closer to be explained by quantum mechanics, if time is just an illusion, approximation on the large scale, then the idea of infinitive and omni-present (universe; God) is suddenly much more understandable.

How trivial is "bible studying" in this context? Do we really believe that studying silly texts written by people 2,000 years ago are going to get us closer to the nature of God than asking the real questions, the difficult ones? What a primitive God it would have been that chose 200 pages long obscure book to sum up her existence and nature!

The bigotry of the nonbeliever is for me nearly as funny as the bigotry of the believer.
Albert Einstein

What impressed me about USA in 1993 (& Today holds)

2007-06-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

Another blog asked: describe some of the culture shocks you experienced when you came here to USA from Poland. I though why not include it here as well. Here it is.

It is hard to remember, some may be more general impressive things than those from when I came here, but here is the best I can come up with. (FYI, I am Polish Immigrant, first generation, living in USA)

my independence and ability to start live with very little money completely on my own
people not jumping to conclusions and judgments
optimism and general understanding that everyone has an opinion (although I did not express any controversial [political] opinions at the beginning)
mature capitalism, respect of the law (contract) and entrepreneurial spirit of most people even if they do not engage in entrepreneurial activities
nicely cut grass and grass cutting industry
air conditioning
do-it-yourself culture (why hire a person to put tile if you can do it yourself)
respect of the student, his/her rights and ability to plan and choose classes. Lack of “God Professors” who can negate the entire semester of your work because of their humor during the final only one exam. Instead students earn their grades throughout semester and it is often possible student could skip final and still get B (4) …
incredibly hot girls! (as a father today, I see them a bit as little naïve College Girls but I was 13 years younger then … )
genuine care of my well being by many and no Mr. I know it all bureaucrat that is mean to you in some office just … because he or she feels like it. (Related to rule of law)
ability to seriously and realistically plan for the future
Overall general respect of one's work, even physical – contrast to Polish culture of fast cars and cool fast money that was present at that time in Poland. (And is perhaps to some degree today)

FYI, I can write about 100 points what I do not like here, but you probably will hear about it sooner or later so let me just finish here. (Example)

Sincerely,
Shamick Przemek Gaworski

Soviet Communism vs. others

2007-05-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

I am Polish and I lived in Poland from 1970 to 1993.

While taking an Economic Statecraft class at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, we have read Olson book Power & Prosperity: Outgrowing Communist and Capitalist Dictatorships accurately describes the major mechanism of what was happening in Poland, USRR and other Eastern European countries from roughly 1917 to 1990. Olson accurately points out the “Covert Collusion” and the very fact that the lack of ownership encouraged deterioration of ethic, which in turn started corruption and economical downfall.

People here in USA have, in general, very skewed picture of communism. On daily bases there was some form of competition, career struggles, etc. as the book describes. See the picture! I have never ever felt that scared in Poland! We have never had any drills like that!

A short story. My parents wanted to buy refrigerator. Mother had contact with the store (she new the salesperson there). Father and Mother stayed in line in front of the merchant stores beginning around 3 o’clock in the morning, before it opened. Without any authority present, people in line made a list and established self-imposed rules. When store opened, everybody was allowed to purchase one or two things. The People decided on that rule. They all wanted to buy something and not let the first few get everything. Since only two refrigerators came (some bureaucrat made the decision to produce only so many), the very first lucky two could buy them …unless of course through “contact” the manager of the store already sold one before the store open. Not all contacts were equal. And of course you had to know when the shipment was going to come to the merchant store to begging with – meaning, you better had “contacts” … and they sometimes did not come cheap. The next shipment could come next month or in 3 months, or who know when. How many refrigerators would come, perhaps none?

On the other hand we were all going to schools; my mother had a career as a teacher, my father worked as well. We all laughed, play without any fear. There were office politics just like there are here, people got promoted, went on vacations, they worked for promotions, were stressed, etc. – it was not one big prison with chicken wire around places and people waking in uniforms, sad and hungry.

Freedom? Who needs it if you have money? While inefficient, the story shows a system that in its core is the same. The rich buy 'contacts' and get what they want. Poor will not. The only better thing in capitalism is that ... you can decide that right in the open in the store, no need for inefficient under the table contacts (generally speaking about small things of course; if you want to buy a senator ... [in USA one has constitutional right to do so] you may want to do that not in an open so much)

Sincerely and respectfully,

Shamick Przemek Gaworski

Spank me or not?

2007-05-16T10:36:00.001-07:00

My wife and I have some time arguments about spanking kids. She thinks that the act of such is a failure of parents and admission of weakness as the parent failed to communicate his/her authority without violence.

I on the other hand, remembering the very many times I found myself walking to the closet to bring used engine belt for my father so he can make me band over a chair and smack my little bottom with that belt 2 or 3 times, well I think since I survived, perhaps it was not such a bad practice that my parents believed was useful in raising a reasonable person?

The counter argument is that spanking teaches kids violence. That perhaps is true to some degree. It teaches them that if you have authority and tell people to do something and they do not and if you tell them that many times and they still refuse to do it, they may be physically feeling the consequences of such refusal by pinches of pain on their little bottom.

Here is my opinion what's wrong in general even about thinking that spanking a kid may be wrong to begin with (clarification, we are talking about occasional light spanking after trying repeating warnings, time outs, etc. ... not abusive spanking right away)

Kids are kids. They do not have any rights till they graduate from High School. Yest, you hear it right, not till they are 18 even, but they only get rights when they earn their own money to support themselves. Spank them occasionally. They will respect it and a little violence they learn will be nothing in comparison to even simple cartoon such as Sponge Bob that they may watch on TV or play video games.

Sincerely,

Shamick Przemek Gaworski

American Values

2007-05-10T06:54:00.000-07:00

I found this document while being in school. I apologize for not showing any copyright info. I simply do not remember

American Values

Personal Control over the environment.
People can alter nature, and, to a large extend, can determine the direction of their lives.
Contrasting value - Fate: What happens in life is a result of a grand plan or destiny.
Change: Change is healthy. People stagnate if they don't make enough changes.
Contrasting value - tradition: Preservation and emphasis of rituals, customs, and beliefs from the past.
Control over time: Time flies. People are pressured and constrained by time because they are trying to control it. People shouldn't waste or kill time. They must rush to get things done. They must follow their schedules to be productive.
Contrasting value - Time walks: There is no need for people to feel so pressured. They should take it easy.
Equality and egalitarianism. All people are created equal. (Remember: This is a value or ideal, not a fact.)
Contrasting Value - Hierarchy, rank, status: Peoples roles are defined in terms of their relationships to other people; people are mostly either subordinate to or superior to someone else.
Individualism and privacy: Individual needs are considered primary.
Contrasting value - Group orientation: The individual sacrifices his or her needs to those of the group.
Self-help: People can and should try to improve their own lives. Many middle- and upper class Americans have the belief that people can "pull themselves up by their own bootstraps."
Contrasting value - Birthright inheritance: People are born into either wealth or poverty; they cant change their status in life.
Future Orientation. Look to the future and not to the past.
Contrasting Value - Past or present orientation: People should live for today or for their ancestors; they should live according to tradition.
Action and work orientation. Work often defines people; their identities come from what they do. (Don't just stand there! Do something)
Contrasting value - "Being" orientation: Work is not the center of peoples identity: It is acceptable not to focus on work, accomplishments, and achievements.
Informality: First name usage ("Just call me Bob"), casual clothes, and the lack of formal ritual are typical in American life.
Contrasting value - Formality: Use of titles and last names are common. People are restrained and polite with each other.
Directness, openness, and honesty: Honesty is the best policy. People should express themselves openly. It is not considered good to "beat around the bush."
Contrasting value - Indirectness and "saving face": People should consider another’s feelings when deciding what to say. Honesty is not always the best policy.
Materialism: Tendency to be more concerned with material than spiritual or intellectual goals.
Contrasting value - Spiritualism.

Note of caution for critics. I am NOT that naive to think that all "American Values" are so absolute that they are 100% correct in most circumstances.

The "Contrasting values" are also present in many parts of America. America is such a vast and diverse culture (in many way; not so much in others) (It is at least very big geographically) that any generalization about values is bound to fail.

For instance, as a Polish person I would say that Polish people are in general much more materialistic than Americans. Materialism is also paying attention and assigning value to wealth - not necessarily only having wealth.

Sincerely, Shamick Przemek Gaworski

Village or town?

2007-05-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed that there are villages abroad and only small towns in USA? This picture could be (it isn't) a picture of the entire population of some small town in USA. Strangely enough, one couldn't even make a village abroad from so few people. Sorry to break your bubble millions of Americans but you live in villages ...

This was 2006 hike. I just made my first 2007 hike.

Sincerely,

Shamick Przemek Gaworski