on february 12, robert c. byrd, u.s. senator for 45 years held an amazing speech which somehow only today could be found in a german newspaper. i really recommend reading through it, in either german or english. i am very impressed by mr byrds, for finally demonstrating that there are high-ranked politicians in america having the balls to speak up. it is so refreshing and relieving to follow his words:
[…] To contemplate war is to think about the most horrible of human experiences. […] Anti-Americanism based on mistrust, misinformation, suspicion, and alarming rhetoric from U.S. leaders is fracturing the once solid alliance against global terrorism which existed after September 11. […] This Administration has not finished the first war against terrorism and yet it is eager to embark on another conflict with perils much greater than those in Afghanistan. Is our attention span that short? Have we not learned that after winning the war one must always secure the peace? […] In only the space of two short years this reckless and arrogant Administration has initiated policies which may reap disastrous consequences for years. […] Frankly many of the pronouncements made by this Administration are outrageous. There is no other word. […] I truly must question the judgment of any President who can say that a massive unprovoked military attack on a nation which is over 50% children is „in the highest moral traditions of our country“.
-robert c.byrds
however, should you be interested in the american bullshit-talk we hear everyday, don’t miss the „axis of weasels“ website, but don’t forget to puke!
stadskern in beweging – maastricht city in motionwell, when i walked the city last week, i noticed that they had already started turnig the vrijthof and the administration buildings at the maas down. next day, i grabbed my camera to make some pictures:

   

martin in motion?well, actually not too much. i cancelled my efforts for an internship at mercedes benz. that was on monday. after weeks of talks, emails, phonecalls, it unfortunately boiled down to a topic/department/job description i did not feel really comfortable with. and since i was faced with the alternatives of doing that for 5 months or not at all, i followed what my stomach was telling me. no hard feelings at all, i simply had to make a decision. i should add that i am probably of the kind of people who need to be enthusiastic about what they have to do. and, if this is the case, they can and will give 150%. so i am following my last courses at maastricht university ever. to my great exitement, my grade for international competitive analysis and strategy was revised after i visited the complaint hour. i received additional points and they found a severe error in their formula for the grades. so i got a 7 now and am happy. so, i need only one more course and i am through with my domestic curriculum – technically. wouldn’t there be finance… however, due to my change of plans, i will be able to give it a last try. should that fail, i will ask for ‚free graduate‘ and substitute finance with another 4th-year course and drop that burden. — thursday night, i got a call from roel. he asked me whether i could do him a favor and design a banner and buttons for a website he was developing. of course i did, but i couldn’t stick to the task of designing something really „simple“ and not spending too much time on it. well, the result can be seen here… — time to say goodbye volume 2934: shorty and mathieu are off for korea. south-korea. i am very exited to hear updates and see what they ‚picture‘ there. — that’s it for now, tomorrow another beautifully boring week will start, reminding us all that every minute of our lives is valuable and should therefore be treated accordingly. stay tuned….