Steve: Given today's reports of the SCOTUS decision on guns, do you think the Dutch would accept two refugees from the U.S.? TJ in Malta
======================= Tom Johnson Inst. for Analytic Journalism Santa Fe, New Mexico 505-577-6482 ======================= On Thu, Jun 23, 2022, 7:34 PM Steve Smith <sasm...@swcp.com> wrote: > Phellow Phriammers - > > I haven't heard much discussion of the ongoing tragedy in Ukraine on the > list, not that it is our charter... > > I don't know if we have another Euro on our list besides Jochen, there > must be some? Lurkers? Jenny, of course, but she is a lurker (hi > Jenny!) in Alaska for the summer while we keep her house warm for a bit. > > After 5 (of 7) weeks in UK/EU I am really amazed and impressed by the > very expansive support for Ukrainian refugees. This of course flies > somewhat in the face of those other refugees who do not have as much > popular support, yet overall northern Europe seems ever so much > welcoming and conscious than the US (on average) to refugees of all > kinds. There *does* seem to be a modest populist > anti-muslim/anti-immigrant movement even here in uber-tolerant Holland, > but where we have been, we have not seen that evidenced openly. The > professional/liberal people we discuss such things with assure us that > such an undercurrent is here, but in my own life I only have to go one > degree of separation in family and neighbors and two in friends to find > significant anti-immigrant sentiment, including Ukrainian. I guess > Fox-News broadcasts don't reach Europe? > > Meanwhile, Vlada, Mary's Nephew's (early 30s) Ukrainian-of-interest has > progressed from merely escaping Ukraine in the first month to Poland to > finally being allowed/offered entry to the US under Wil and his wife's > sponsorship. She had been an exchange student with them a few years ago > and they stayed in touch, and jumped to her aide when this came down > (spent their own funds, organized a kickstarter). She has yet to be > able to obtain a Ukrainian passport, but that is scheduled through the > Ukrainian Embassy in Poland. It sounds as if the delays are entirely > bureaucratic and (for the moment) the US programs are ready to allow her > in with their sponsorship. Perhaps the queues to resolve Ukrainian > passports are prioritized to support those who do not have a safe place > to land already (in this case Poland where she is now). > > I had thought that perhaps we could personally do something to help > while here, though it is not obvious what. Meet her and escort her > back on the plane, hand-walk her paperwork with her? I have not met or > spoken with her but her year in Wisconsin as a teen a few years ago > tuned up her American English and some understanding of our systems and > culture. it looks every so much better for her now than it did the > first month or so... even if the grind IN Ukraine is as bad or worse > than ever. > > Tomorrow we take a train in the rain to The Hague to visit the Het en > Paleis where a large collection of Escher's work sit and given the rain > I went to schedule a taxi or uber and found that Uber has a > Uber-for-Ukraine choice where EU$1 goes to a fund with every ride. > Again I am astounded by the level of support here. Perhaps UberUSA does > the same? > > We have seen no shortages of anything in our travels but a *modest* > awareness that roughly 40% of every liter of petrol or aviation fuel is > funding Putin to continue. We hear that there is fear of grain > shortages, but it seems that the worst of that will hit north Africa and > the middle East first (since Europe proper has pretty strong agriculture > themselves?) > > The Netherlands (as at least DaveW will likely attest from his time > here) is an amazing study in calm, quiet, positive joyfulness for the > most part. We have not heard a raised voice, and even the (many) dogs > hardly bark! Downtown Amsterdam (and esp the Red Light District) is of > course a Disney/LasVegas tourist sh*tShow but outside of that are it > seems at *worst* like a clean and *flat* version of the Bay Area. And > here: Stuff like this gives me the warm-fuzzies: > > https://www.repaircafe.org/cafe/repair-cafe-weesp-muiden/ > > I can just see the in-person FriAM crowd huddled around a rocking chair > or a computer needing a fresh battery or memory upgrade! > > I think the ThurAM vFriAM crowd is online as I type this and I suppose I > could dial in there, but instead I'll just sign off here. This > latitude (52N) makes for some damn-long days around Solstice. > > Welcome Back to a keyboard/screen Nick, I hope you sort the Monsoon > Season question. I'm bamboozled by the EU weather patterns with no > reference for where the hot/humid masses are coming from and what things > (e.g. Rocky Mountains) they are hitting and how the Jet Stream streams > here. There has been a mild heat-wave but really it is the *constant* > humidity that I notice, even though that is not overwhelming... I hear > there are pre-monsoons in NM this week or are they proto-Monsoons? > > - Steve > > > -. --- - / ...- .- .-.. .. -.. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://bit.ly/virtualfriam > to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ >
-. --- - / ...- .- .-.. .. -.. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom https://bit.ly/virtualfriam to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ archives: 5/2017 thru present https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/
