Where Can I Get A Jewish Loan Blank: Fill & Download for Free

My mother had loved one man (pictured above) all her life. I guess some women simply do.Ufa, Soviet UnionMy parents met in Ufa State Aviation Technical University. My father Vladimir (now known as Vlad) enrolled there, because being Jewish, he had been denied entrance to the vast majority of universities, while this particular one willingly accepted Jews.My Russian mother, Elena, finished high school with a gold medal and could pick and choose any university in the Soviet Union. However, she wasn’t confident in her abilities. He mother suggested Moscow but she, she wound up taking entrance exams in Ufa, Bashkiriya.Vladimir was a year younger Elena. She felt pretty helpless on her own, in another town, without parents, and Vladimir arranged everything for her. For the purpose, he engaged help from his local friends who would get him tickets to concerts, fetch delicatessen and fix him up with a car.Strange as it may sound, I met one of my father’s Ufa friends a few years ago in Forte De Marmi, Italy.At the time, I was tutoring his godson - whose father Iskander was his best friend and helped Iskander financially to launch his business, which eventually made him rich.Iskander’s father taught economics in the same university where my parents studied at, and helped open doors for Jewish students, including my father.Perhaps this is just a coincidence.My parents’ love affair continued after they graduated from the university. My father moved back to his native Crimea, and during their summer vacation in Yalta my mother became pregnant with me.When she found out, she tried to get in touch with Vladimir, but he was unavailable. She flew to his hometown, Simferopol, where she was confronted by his mother, Bronya.“Go away, Chiksa,” she said. “My son’s not interested in you. He’s a romantic man and now on a merchant ship in the Black Sea.”This encounter haunted my mother for the rest of her life. And possibly not only hers…Ulyanovsk, Soviet Union/RussiaMy mother returned to Ulyanovsk where her father, lieutenant colonel in the Red Army, was just given a one-bedroom apartment by the state. My mother was very upset and was heading for a hospital to do an abortion, but my grandmother, Alexandra, talked her into keeping the child.There had been this invisible, strong connection between my grandmother and me until she passed away in 2009. She felt responsible for me and I felt that I owed her my life.A few months after my mother gave birth to me, my father showed up. He wanted to see his son, but my mother told him, “don’t come back, don’t try to contact us, don’t try to see us.”Coincidentally, my father’s cousin Boris lived in the same town and was the head of the engineering department in the Interregional center of Microelectronics. Boris was angry with his cousin for what he had done to my mother and stopped communicating with him. He hired my mother right away.My grandmother told me the whole story. She loathed my father and became quite an anti-Semite.In 1994, my mother learned she had stomach cancer. Eight months later she was dead. In her painkillers’ induced delirium, she kept returning to the scene in Simferopol when my father’s mother told her off. What kind of family is that? This is what she really wanted to know. I vowed to find out.My grandmother realized she didn’t have money to bury her daughter - her pension and my granddad’s pension were barely enough to buy basic food for the three of us. This was a very dark day for her, as she lost her only daughter and the state she had worked for all her life couldn’t provide for the funeral. She was sitting on the couch and weeping, when the doorbell rang.She opened the door and saw a delegation of Jews headed by Boris.“Alexandra, I told folks in the Jewish community center that Elena was a wonderful person who helped everyone around her, and now we want to help you,” said Boris.He promised they would cover all the expenses with the funerals. They did, and also booked one of the largest restaurants in the city so there was a nice wake, and would bring food for us free of charge.After this incident, from being an anti-Semite my grandmother became a die-hard Judeophile. Whenever I’d have conflicts with Jews, she’d always take their side and scold me to tell me I was wrong and “don’t be like your father; he is a bad person.”A couple years later, I met Boris (he lives in Israel now) and told him I was going to meet my father. Prior to that, I found in my mother’s address book my father’s address in San Francisco, which was provided to her by Boris. She wrote to him asking to take care of me when she found out she had cancer, but he never answered. Maybe he didn’t get the letter. Maybe he did.Boris filled me in on what transpired in my father’s life, which he learned from his relatives who were still in touch with him.A few years after visiting paying a visit in Ulyanovsk, Vladimir married a woman, a singer, and they had a son, Stanislav. The singer was not Jewish, but this time his mother accepted him into the family, and helped bring him up.In the meantime, Vladimir did a PhD, and launched a business importing computers to the Soviet Union. He became rich, bought a yacht, hired a crew and was the first citizen of the Soviet Union who docked on a private yacht in Israel.Later his business was raided and he decided to leave the country, which was now Ukraine.In order to immigrate to the United States as a Jewish refugee he needed to bring in a family. Two persons qualified as family.He paid his ex-wife eighteen years worth of child support and took his son with him to San Francisco, California. There was a sponsor in California, who financed their first steps in the new country.Next, Vladimir’s mother, his sister, her husband and their two sons followed.Boris hadn’t heard from him in three years, so he didn’t know for sure Vladimir’s current address.And then he gave me a piece of advice. “Your father is a hard man. He’s not going to accept you. You’d be bitterly disappointed. Don’t go looking for him.”But I remembered my mother, who till her dying day wanted to know what was wrong with my father’s family, and so I decided to disregard his advice.Bay Area, California (1)It took me years to get to the United States, until I finally did in 2001. Once there, I found out that my father changed his address.I headed for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. After three hours in line, I was told that they can’t provide the address of my father because they had to protect his privacy.Next, I went to a Jewish Community Library. A librarian listened to my story, and was sympathetic to me. She gave me my father’s address. I took the BART to Millbrae and walked down El Camino Real to Burlingame. I rang the bell at a dingbat apartment building. Nobody answered, but I already somehow knew he did not live there.I walked out and saw a public phone. On the spur of the moment, I opened the phone book and found my father’s family name. There was a new address, in the same town, Burlingame.It was a short walk, and when I reached the house, I felt I was at the end of a long journey. I sat on the porch of a single-family house, and watched a plane slowly move across the sky. I remembered what Boris told me that I shouldn’t look for my father. There was still time to get up and leave and never come back.I stood up and pressed the bell.A young woman opened the front door. She looked Russian, but just to be on the safe side I said, “Hello.” “Who are you?” “I’m Misha. Vladimir’s son.”She shut the door in my face. I sat on the porch and waited. It was too late to run away. About five minutes the young lady opened the door again and let me in. She was Russian. She and her ten-year old son lived with my father. “Vladimir is coming”, she said.About fifteen minutes later there came my father. He was a tall, burly man with a beard and black hair. He spoke in a monotonous, trembling voice. He didn’t look directly at me, but sort of circled around the living room like a bull around a toreador.“Are you Elena’s son?” he asked from a safe distance.“Yes.”“Where’s Elena?”“She passed away.”He stopped and stared me. I wondered if it came as a surprise or he knew. I couldn't tell.“There is no Elena…things would have been so different. No Elena,” he mumbled. “Mind coming with me for a ride?”I nodded. He drove me in his Lexus to a park by the San Francisco Bay.“I’m going to ask you a direct question,” my father said, not looking at me again. And then after a pause, said, “What do you want from me?”There were many things that I could tell him - that I wanted to be part of his family.That I wanted to get to know him.But I just felt he didn’t want to hear it and so all I managed was “Help me with getting a US citizenship.”“All right,” he breathed a sigh of relief, “and please call me Vladimir. Don’t call me “dad” or “father.””Vladimir let me stay in his house, while he was sorting out my request. I somehow knew he wouldn’t help me “adjust my status” but I also felt that he wouldn’t kick me out, not while his girlfriend was watching, and introduce me to his family.Only Vladimir didn’t, although they all lived nearby. While he was at work in Silicon Valley, where he was employed as a coder, I became friends with his girlfriend and told her the whole story. Stressed out, she kept borrowing cigarettes from me, and I could hear them argue in the evening. They would break up after I left.Vladimir took me to see his lawyer and she dutifully announced that my status couldn't be adjusted, and Vladimir said he wouldn’t pay for my college studies.When we left his lawyer’s office, Vladimir said, “That’s it. Now you can see that I can’t help you in your request.”Next morning, he woke me up and said it’s time for me to leave California. He handed me a one-way train ticket to New York. He took me to the train station and stood on the platform to make sure I didn’t get off the train.I spent four and a half days on that train smoking weed with some students from Boston. They wanted to take me with them to their campus, but I decided to get off in New York.Vladimir didn’t inquire if I had any money, and I’d given my last hundred dollars to a French guy in the hostel where I was staying before I found my father. The French guy was looking for the girl he was in love with, so I really wanted to help him out.New York, NYI had thirty five bucks on me, but even half of a Jew would never go hungry or sleep on the street in New York. I went to a random Orthodox community in Brooklyn, and they gave me money and a job taking care of a rabbi with Parkinson's disease in Manhattan hospital.The rabbi’s brother took me late in the evening across the Brooklyn Bridge. As I watched the wall of lights, mesmerized, he said, “G-d gives, G-d takes.”A few days later, I woke up to the smell of smoke in the air and breaking news on the TV. My new roommates were shouting “the twins have fallen.” I went outside and watched half-burned scraps of paper fall from the sky. People were numb, silent. I took a bus and got off by the Brooklyn Bridge.Smoke was billowing from where the Twin Towers used to stand. Five days prior, I was in the lobby of one of the towers, and was told by the security the day was too cloudy and the observation deck was closed. Office workers covered in soot were walking from the bridge like zombies, their eyes blank.I didn’t give up and decided to stay put. I got a job in a laundromat, and rented a room. My neighbor had a famous guest staying over at his place, the Uzbek-Russian singer Aziza.Aziza toured Brooklyn and spent afternoons sitting with me and my other roommates in the backyard. She told us stories and sang songs. It turned out she met my father’s ex-wife.“She was an alcoholic. Slept with every man in town. Your silly father needs to do DNA test and see if his son is actually his, you know, biologically speaking.”And then suddenly, out of the blue, Vladimir called on my cell.“My mother wants to meet you,” he said. “I’ll buy you a flight ticket.”Bay Area, California (2)I flew to San Francisco the very next day, and my half-brother picked me up in the airport. Stas smoked the same brand of cigarettes, and that’s all the things we had in common. He was out of the army, working as a bank teller. His car was his pride. He took me to meet his Russian friends. They drove around a Starbucks in a circle, showing off their cars and their choice of music blaring from the speakers.I stayed at Vladimir’s house in San Mateo, where he lived with Stas. Next, I met my two cousins, Misha and Sasha. They were both coders. Sasha lived with his mother and grandmother. I think my grandmother changed her mind, because I wasn’t being invited over, and continued to stay at Vladimir’s place waiting for the meet.On the spur of the moment, Sasha, with whom I was now spending most of the time, as I had more in common with him than with my brother, took me to his place. I sat in the living room when his - our - grandmother showed up.“This is Misha, my cousin,” said Sasha.My grandmother stood in the doorway, not sure what to do. She was befuddled, completely taken aback. She hesitated - I could see she was fighting with herself. Finally, she turned away and went upstairs without even saying hello to me. That meeting, too, was anti-climactic.Next day, Vladimir introduced me to his former girlfriend and tutor, Della Peretti. She invited me over to her house in Oakland. Her children, Jonah and Chelsea, lived in New York. We spent a nice time chatting and I told her that I write short stories in English, but I can’t get them published.I flew back to New York the next day, again, without any money. I found another Jewish employer to give me a job. I felt morally exhausted and really wanted to leave the United States once I earned enough money for a flight ticket. Boris was right - my father didn’t need me. There was nothing wrong with their family - I was just not part of it nor would ever be.Vladimir called me up and said, “My mother passed away…I think it’s time for you to leave America.”My grandmother didn’t get a chance to speak with me. I was there, in her living room, all smiles. She could have come over and said what was in her heart and mind.My mother lived with her pain of a broken heart, and the pain killed her. Or perhaps it was just a coincidence?I was exchanging emails with Della, and then out of the blue she invited me over to California. Instead of flying home (and where was my home anyways?), I bought a bus ticket and crossed America from coast to coast.With other passengers, I applauded a man who saw snow for the first time in his life as he caught snowflakes with his open palms.I saw a boy slowly walk around the bus station with a golden belt of a wrestling champion in his outstretched hands.I watched sunrise over the desert with a black woman who was on her way to visit her children.I played snowballs in the mountains with passengers.In Oakland, I stayed at Della’s house. We hit it off. She drove me around North California in her PT Cruiser visiting coastal towns. Della had a career of teaching English at school, then earned a PhD and became a deputy head of the teacher training program at UC Berkeley. I wrote short stories and Della helped me edit them, as we sat together behind her Mac. She said I’m a fast learner.In a matter of weeks, I began to get published in electronic magazines. But I wasn’t good enough to get published in reputable publications. I gave up on writing believing I wasn’t good enough.In the meantime, I tried to establish a connection with Vladimir, but all my efforts were in vain. He was irritated that I didn’t get lost, and tried to talk Della into kicking me out. In one comical episode, he found a distant relative in Canada and flew to visit him.Della also told me that she suspected that Stas wasn’t Vlad’s son, as he didn’t look a bit like him, not physically, nor behavior or character-wise.Her son, Jonah, who'd soon launch HuffPost and BuzzFeed, came over. He was getting married. I attended his reception. As I mixed with the guests, I managed to speak with him for five whole minutes. Della’s daughter, comedian Chelsea (Brooklyn 99) also came over, but she just ignored me. They were both mildly irritated by my presence in the house where they grew up, but I guess they were just used to their mother’s antics.I had a crush on this girl, Rebecca. Della was the one who hooked me with her. We spent three or four days together, visiting her mother in San Francisco and her father in Los Angeles, and then I received a weird email from Della.She confessed that she loved me and begged me to abandon Rebecca. Rebecca was in a relationship, and she promptly kicked me over to Della, “go to your sugar mama.”Della suggested that we should get married, so that I could get a green card and study in UC Berkeley. She would pay for my studies. However, I wasn’t allowed to have any girlfriend. That was the deal.“Take your time, think it over” she said and to persuade me, she took me back to LA.At the end of the trip, we sat at this fancy restaurant in Beverly Hills Hotel, eating crème brûlée. Della’s old mother was there, too. She looked like she just stepped from a black and white silent movie with her high brow, a pre-Revolutionary Russian.She was nobility in Russia before Bolsheviks kicked them out. I was a grandson of peasants. It seemed like Della’s offer was a fair deal. A serf will always be a serf.When we returned to Oakland, I packed my bag and left Della’s house.About two years later I was planning to take a month-long course in teacher training and asked Della for a $1,500 loan. After all, Della was a teacher, too, and I thought she would want to assist me. But she refused outright.I realized that she had just used me and told her so. She took offense and wouldn’t speak with me again. My grandmother gave me the money, which she had methodically put aside from her small pensions. I did the course and became a tutor.I haven’t been in contact with Della for 12 years.Moscow, RussiaI continued to be in touch with Vladimir for some time, on his condition: “I can give you advice, but I can’t do anything for you.” I met him in Moscow, when he came to visit his new girlfriend and partner.My wife had just given birth to our daughter, and Vladimir was flying in to Moscow to meet his new business partner. “Would you like to see your granddaughter?” I asked him.“Only if I have time.”Vladimir spent three days in Moscow, but he didn’t find time to meet his granddaughter. He never came to see her.This is when I finally realized it was pointless to pretend to have a relationship with him.I haven’t been in contact with my father for 6 years.__Here’s my take from the story. Everyone made a choice and then paid the price. I think it’s a fair game.My mother chose a life of martyr, and martyrs die young.My father chose to adopt another man’s son and abandon his biological son, his flesh and blood. I didn’t know these things happen, but apparently they do.My Jewish grandmother chose to protect her son once, but not twice. She learned from her mistake.Della chose to push her children away only to fill the void in her heart (and house) with someone who could never be her son. I sincerely hope she has a better relationship with her children these days.I have a daughter now. She needs me. If I’d had a daughter then, I wouldn’t have gone looking for my father.There’s one good thing for me that came out of it though.All my childhood I had to listen to my mother and grandmother telling me how I look like my evil father. Finally, I could find peace to live my life like a normal person without looking for demons inside of me.

I was working in my younger years as a credit analyst for an American Bank new on Australian soil but an international brand at the time Chase Manhattan. My Boss was a 30 something fundamental Christian with a PHD in Economics. She insisted we call her Doctor.I get a call one day from our Perth Branch. I was based in Sydney Head Office.“ I didn’t want to waste anyone’s time so I thought I’d check first. I have just received a loan application from the local Buddhist Temple. 3 people are prepared to stand as guarantors for the loan and all 3 have good steady employment histories. Is this something we would look at?”“ Wow, I’ve never heard of a Buddhist Temple borrowing money. Do they have financial statements?”“Yes, but they are a not for profit organisation and the money goes back into the church. You can see the assets growing year to year on their balance sheet.”“ Let me look into it and I’ll get back to you.”I went through our lending manual and there were guidelines for lending to churches. I assumed the same would apply in this case.“ Seems OK, send the deal in and mark it to my attention.”3 days later Doctor Pat’s PA comes down to see me.“ The doctor would like to see you in her office.”“ Now? “ I was half way through a sandwich sitting at my desk.“ Yes now please.”I wiped my mouth with the serviette that came with the sandwich, put the sandwich on my desk and made my way up to the doctor’s office.“ Do you know what it’s about Sally?”“ She didn’t say but she sounds pissed.”I racked my brain to think what she could be upset about and kept drawing blanks.“ Close the door and take a seat. “My arch nemesis was in the room with her, another analyst that I thought was a self serving, back stabbing twat who was always trying to outdo me like it was some sort of competition. When we spoke about Pat, we called her Pat, he called her Doctor Pat, even when she was not there. When they were both not there, if anyone asked where he was, we would reply “ He’s sick”. Sarcastically suggesting he was visiting the doctors office.From the grin on Neils face I knew this was not good and it involved me. His grin said “ I got you now”“Is there a problem Doctor?” I asked concerned.She threw the Buddhist temple file on the meeting desk and says “ You tell me”.I looked at both of them still confused.“ I’m lost.”“ Indeed you are young man. Since when did we start approving loans for cults?”“ Cults?”“ Yes Cults. When you were hired they told me you were an experienced lender.”Niels grin was so wide it looked like his lips were about to wrap all the way around his face.“ Its a religious organisation. What cult.”“ Excuse me, the Catholic church is a religious organisation. A temple belongs to a cult.”“ I want to make sure I’m understanding you. You believe the Buddhist church is a cult?”“ Are you trying to suggest it’s not?”“ Look Pat I went ….”“DOCTOR”“ Sorry, doctor. I went through the banks policy and it does not exclude …..”“ It should be common sense that we do not lend to cults.” She cut me off.“ It the 3rd largest religion in the world. “ I pleaded“ Not in Australia it’s not. I am withdrawing the approval, lucky Neil bought it to my attention. “I looked at him with dagger eyes but his grin did not wavier“ And I have been told you are to friendly on the phone with the branch mangers, no wonder they can talk you into approving loans like this.”“This is turning into a witch hunt.” I was starting to get mad.“And next time I call you into my office I’d like to see you with a clean haricut. This is a bank not a new wave recording studio.”“ I’ve had enough.” I barked. What I wanted to finish with was “ I dont have to put up with your fundamental, right wing Christian Bullshit bigotry” instead I said “This has turned into a personal attack.” and got up and walked out her office.I spent 2 months looking for another job and suspect she didn't fire me in that time because she had already cost the bank 2 analysts in the last 3 months and staff turnover was one of her KPI’s.Chase closed its doors in Australia soon after that but the industry has a way of recycling the same characters and I often imagine she is in another bank somewhere casting her eye today over an application for a Muslim Mosque or a Jewish synagogue.

I’m not surprised that no one mentions him — Otto Frederick Warmbier.The 21-year-old from University of Virginia allegedly committed a “severe crime” — he attempted to steal a propaganda poster from a restricted staff-only area of the Yanggakdo Hotel to take back to the U.S.On January 2, 2016, while awaiting departure at Pyongyang International Airport, two military guards arrested him and charged him with subversion. He was accused of stealing a propaganda poster from Yanggakdo International Hotel. Consequently, he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.Not many people feel bad for him. In fact, several supposedly respected figures openly stated that he deserved what he got. After all, he went to North Korea voluntarily, knowing its antagonism with the US and its cruel dictatorship. What else could he expect?Katherine Dettwyler, an anthropologist and adjunct professor at University of Delaware, posted on Facebook that Otto Warmbier was a “clueless white male” who “got exactly what he deserved.”[1][1][1][1]Larry Wilmore repeatedly ridiculed Otto Warmbier in an episode of The Nightly Show, a nationally broadcasted late-night talk show.“A story coming straight out of Pyongyang. Not to be confused with ‘Straight Outta Pyongyang’ the hit film about the rise and fall of NKWA (North Koreans with Attitude). Tonight’s story is about the North Korean government, which recently captured one of America’s most annoying exports, a frat bro.”“Otto Frederick Warm Beer? Did this kid get arrested in North Korea and then just give the cop his fake I.D.? ‘Yes, sir, we've got American student Otto Warm Beer here. His birthday is 4-20, and he lives on 69 Weed Avenue.’”“Okay. Listen up, frat boy, this isn’t like the time you stole Sig Ep’s goat. This is North Korea. They’re not known for their love of pranks. Look, I get the desire to steal things from hotel rooms.”[2][2][2][2]While he was playing a footage of a tearful Otto Warmbier begging for forgiveness, Larry Wilmore mocked that Warmbier thought he was entitled to “frat bro privilege.”“It's all the way at the bottom so it's easy to miss, but it says: ‘Frat bro privilege not valid in totalitarian dystopias.’ Listen, Otto Von Crybaby, if you're so anxious to go to a country with an unpredictable megalomaniac in charge, just wait a year and you'll live in one! It's coming, you guys! You know that shit is coming! Make America Great!Huffington Post published an article, “North Korea Proves Your White Male Privilege Is Not Universal.”The author La Sha, apparently a minority in the US, compared her “oppression” in the US to the torture Otto Warmbier would face in North Korea. She compared Otto Warmbier visiting North Korea with those mass shooters in Aurora, CO and Charleston, NC. She ruthlessly mocked him for his cis white male privilege.[3][3][3][3]I feel bad for Otto Warmbier because his fellow American citizens show no sympathy to someone who has suffered unexpected misfortune.As Otto Warmbier was begging for help in sheer terror and weeping openly for someone to help him, his fellow American citizens mocked him, laughed at his misfortune, and made fun of his “white American” and “frat bro” identity.All I can say is — ARE YOU F**KING SERIOUS?His fellow citizens still stand by their sick grounds and defend for their accusative comments.“He chose to go to North Korea. If he hadn’t gone there, this would not have happened!”Before I graduated from law school, I took a spontaneous trip to Easter Island, without knowing a word of Spanish. A guy in my year flew all the way to Kenya to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, with limited experience in outdoor sports. Another person purchased an expensive cruise to celebrate her graduation in Antarctica, at the cost of 3/4 of her savings. I also know someone who took a whole month walking across the Camino de Santiago even though she was hardly outside her room in the past three years. And of course, a few people went to North Korea and took pictures with the Kim statutes. Twenty people in my year, including me, went on a trip to Israel, took walks along the West Bank and swam in the Dead Sea.These are just a few examples. We know too well that for indefinite years to come, we will have to bury ourselves in legal memos or spreadsheet, dedicate ourselves to clients or supervisors, live in our offices and drink multiple shots of Expresso to survive. This would be our last opportunity to try something exciting before we are tired out by everyday mundane events.Before a big, important and long-term commitment, everyone has done, or at least thought of doing, something out of ordinary, something crazy, something memorable, something that we could tell others and hear their “wow”.Has it come across our minds that we might lose our lives by doing such crazy things? While I admit that most of the times I’m sort of a daredevil, what we do is not nearly as dangerous as it sounds. For example, even though Mount Kilimanjaro sounds intimidating to amateurs, only 3 — 10 people died out of 30,000 visitors.Likewise, to many people, North Korea does not sound like a good place for vacation. Every year, 4,000 — 6,000 tourists from Western countries visited North Korea, but in the past 20 years, fewer than 20 U.S. citizens were detained, and none of them entered North Korea as tourists.[4][4][4][4]Until 2011, not a single tourist had ever been detained for any reason.[5][5][5][5]I’m sure that as a seasoned traveler who has been to Israel, Cuba and Ecuador, Otto Warmbier had done his share of due diligence. Personally, I don’t think Otto Warmbier himself expected himself to be convicted and sentenced when he first entered North Korea. He might have some idea about severe consequences of certain act, so he may have tried his best to behave himself, but being detained and sentenced to hard labor for touching a poster is not one of them. Before this happened to him, we couldn’t really find incidents where tourists got detained for whatever happened in a hotel.If what happened to him is not within reasonable expectation, why should we think that Otto Warmbier deserves what he got?It might be more justifiable to say “he deserves it” if someone goes to climb Mount Everest untrained and bare-handed and dies along the way.I feel bad for Otto Warmbier because after he confessed to attempting to steal a poster, people simply assumed that he was actually guilty.People blame him for stealing the poster. People blame him for looking for trouble.“But he stole a propaganda poster! That’s foolish! He didn’t respect the rules of a foreign country.”Said by a bunch of people who have grown up in a country where people are innocent until proven guilty. They seem to forget — under the US legal standard, Otto Warmbier was, without the slightest doubt, wrongfully convicted.Many people feel bad about the wrongfully convicted prisoners as a whole, but I have yet to see anyone pointing out that Otto Warmbier was one of them. People simply assumed that he did it, and that he had not respected the rules of a foreign country. By believing he was guilty, these people had also accepted the legitimacy of a decision made by a Kangaroo Court.I personally believe he was innocent.Based on the evidence available, there was absolutely no way we could ever hold him as guilty. I am shocked that very few people have suspected that the figure in the video might not be him.He was denied a fair trial. The entire trial lasted hardly over an hour. There was no opening and closing statements, no testimony, no witnesses or depositions. Not only was he wrongfully convicted, he was also sent to the scariest prison in the world — North Korea labor camp.The Court only presented one item as evidence — an extremely low-resolution video purported to be taken from the hotel’s security camera footage. In this very brief video captured at 1:57 a.m., an unidentifiable individual removed a poster from the wall and placed it on the floor. No footage concerning the subsequent events was displayed.This is how blurred the video was:First, how come most people didn’t notice that this individual in the footage does not look like Otto Warmbier at all?The guy in the footage was way too short. Actually, the video was so blurred that I’m not even confident that the individual is a he.In the second picture, you can clearly see that even if he stands up straight, there is plenty of room between the top of his head and the ceiling.I don’t know how tall Otto Warmbier was, but definitely above average among white American 21-year-olds. From the picture below, he seemed at least 6 feet.Meanwhile, the off-limit 5th floor is well-known for its very low ceiling. In 2011, a group of tourists ventured to the 5th off-limit area and took plenty of pictures to show how low the ceiling was.The guy in the picture was Asian. While this generalization does not apply to everyone, it is undeniable that Asian males are shorter than white males on average.[6][6][6][6] We can see that the Asian guy had to duck his head to avoid hitting the ceiling. The woman, standing in front of him, was also about to hit the ceiling. Again, I don’t know how tall these two people are, but at least from the picture, Otto Warmbier seems taller than both of them.The tourists who explored the 5th floor in 2011 wrote, “[the ceiling] was around half that of the other floors. Some ducked or tilted their heads to the sides.”[7][7][7][7]Second, are any of the propaganda posters even removable?From the pictures and a couple of videos uploaded by tourists over the years, we can see that the posters are gigantic. You don’t have to think twice about whether they are small enough to be put in a suitcase. Surely, Otto Warmbier didn’t notice this fact until he took down the whole poster? Further, I’m not sure anyone could carry such a propaganda by himself, no matter how strong he is. Even if a thief has successfully stolen a propaganda poster, it’s very unlikely to be unnoticed by the customs or any North Korean folks passing by. Was Otto Warmbier so stupid? I highly doubt.The group of tourists in 2011 said, “While we were there there were no posters that you could take down. The pictures were either all painted or nailed to the wall. Not that we ever had considered taking, let alone touching anything on the floor - there was nothing that we could have stolen from there anyway. Except for maybe the pair of slippers on the floor outside the surveillance room."One of those tourists even shot a video depicting all the propaganda posters on the wall.The posters could only possibly be taken down if they were made of paper, but we couldn’t see any of them made with paper. All of them seemed to be made of concrete and paint.Third, has anyone ever got into trouble by venturing to the 5th floor?If there is one thing that I think Otto Warmbie might have done, it is that he explored, or at least thought about exploring the 5th off-limit area.The mysterious “5th floor” has fascinated many tourists for years. Every group of tourists would ask their guide questions about the 5th floor. In fact, before Otto Warmbier got into trouble, the 5th floor was almost “a rite of passage” for visitors to North Korea.In 2011, while wandering around the off-limit area, Calvin Sun and his fellow tourists had been warned three times by different hotel staff members. Nothing happened. The staff members did not even escort them back to their own room. A couple among the tourists even kissed on the 5th floor, and still they were not blamed at all.Also in 2011, a British woman, along with other tourists in the group, was encouraged by the tour guide to visit the off-limit floor. The guide told them that they had to be very quiet. The woman described the excursion as “clandestine” and “a little scary”, but otherwise nothing special.[8][8][8][8]A few weeks before Otto Warmbier embarked on his fateful journey, a guy from Glasgow sneaked to the 5th floor on his own, but only ended up getting stuck inside the propaganda room in the middle of the night. The elevator was broken.[9][9][9][9]Many years later, Calvin Sun spoke of the excursion, “we weren’t the first group to go to the 5th floor - or the last….. the weight of what we were doing didn’t occur to us.”Just like Calvin Sun and his fellow tourists, Otto Warmbier might have been curious as well, and the weight of sneaking to the off-limit area didn’t occur to him. There was no reason to, since Sun said there wasn’t warnings either online or offline warning tourists that the 5th floor was “strictly off-limits.”As to why it happened to Otto Warmbier, I believe he was just unlucky, and the laws in North Korea was arbitrary. He was hit by the arbitrary law, when he visited during a sensitive period where the relationship between the U.S. and North Korea tensed up. Even so, it might have never occurred to him that he would be used as a pawn for the politicians.Fourth, the footage seems to be taken out of the context intentionally.In most other videos, the 5th floor was dark. A reporter who had explored the floor said it was all dark even during the day. It didn’t really make sense that a country in short supply of electricity would keep an empty area well-lit.In addition, the footage was very short. What the surveillance camera had captured following this individual’s act was never publicized. The video footage we could see has been cut abruptly, as if intentionally showing an act to the audience.Fifth, what is shown in the footage contradicts what North Korean officials told us.There were glaring inconsistencies between what the North Korean government officials claimed and what the video footage showed.While an official told the press that Otto Warmbier stole the propaganda from the hotel’s 2nd floor, we know for a fact that it is the 5th floor that hangs many propaganda posters and is off-limits to tourists.The officials said Otto Warmbier attempted to take the slogan away, but “the slogan was bigger than he had thought …. he turned it upside down and deserted it on the floor.” The video footage didn’t show his intent to take it away or turn it upside down.I feel bad for Otto Warmbier because he is an epitome of victim-blaming, an outlet for people’s hostility towards privileged white males.As I mentioned above, Otto Warmbier had his legitimate reasons to seek adventure. But furthermore, there is another more important reason why he received so much hostility — he was born in a Republican, well-off family; he was white, male, Prom King, student at University of Virginia and a member of a fraternity. Based on these facts, people immediately put together an image in which he was an entitled, spoiled, naive and clueless college student.It is difficult for me to reconcile the group of people who advocate for equality and these people who made unsubstantiated assumption of Otto Warmbier.Katheryn Dettwyler’s Facebook post cost her entire academic career. She was fired immediately by University of Delaware.I don’t know what she is doing now, but here is what I think of her:Is it wrong of me to think that Dettwyler got exactly what she deserved? She was, ironically, an anthropologist, for f**k’s sake, and then posted racist, sexist, insensitive and selfish stuff on Facebook, which is visible to literally everyone. I see her getting fired by the university and think, “What did you expect?” How about a few moments of thoughts given to all the students of anthropology who were taught by such a hypocrite? Just because we are young students and don’t have the same power as you do, we shouldn’t deserve a better education?Larry Wilmore, good thing your show is defunct now. They were full of sick jokes.La Sha, while I acknowledge the oppression you feel in the everyday life in the US, you should reflect upon yourself — is it only because of your gender and skin color?Most of all, I feel bad for Otto Warmbier because after he had made the confession at the press conference, he was still sentenced to 15 years hard labor. As if he had not suffered enough, he and his family had to bear the blame and ridicule by his fellow citizens.If you still remember the press conference he had “requested” to hold, he started reading from a prepared, fanciful and heavily-scripted statement in level tones.Over the years, I’ve come across multiple articles stating that it was “unclear if Otto Warmbier was forced to attend the news conference and apologize” or “unclear if Warmbier made the confession under coercion.”However, the answer was painfully obvious from the very beginning.First, I would like to thank everyone for coming to the press conference that I eagerly request to have. I would also like to show my sincere gratitude for the government of the D.P.R Korea for giving me this opportunity to apologize for my crime, to beg for forgiveness, and to beg for any assistance to save my life.The chance that North Korea government would grant the request from a US prisoner — who had committed a severe crime against the people and the government — is less than zero.On September 23, 2015, I was having dinner at my friend Stephen's home and with his mother Sharon, a member of Friendship Methodist Church. Sharon emphasized that her church does not support North Korea and the communism should be ended. She asked me to take an important political slogan to be hung in her church as a trophy. She continued to say that if I take this slogan, we could weaken the community and motivation of the North Korean people, to show this country an insult from the West.She knew how desperately I needed a car to drive to my job, so she offered me a used car with $10,000 if I were successful. And, she said if I got detained and not return, her church would pay my family $200,000 in a way of charitable donation. This is the amount I am expected to pay for my brother's and sister's university tuition. $400,000 in total. Then she showed me the Friendship United Methodist Church's official bank account statement, with $42 million.At first, due to fear, I was hesitant. But since my family suffered from severe financial difficulties, I started to consider this as my only golden opportunity to earn money.Otto gave a detailed description of his absurd motive behind this premeditated “criminal act.”He stated that the criminal act all started from September 2015, but some reported that he came up with the idea only after he got accepted into the Hong Kong exchange program, and North Korea was close to China. Did he already know that he was accepted by September 2015?I have never heard that in a country with five-figure college tuition each year, the eldest brother was expected to pay for the college tuition of all his younger siblings. Can anyone realistically expect a 21-year-old full-time student to earn $400,000? Meanwhile, this is very likely true in North Korea, or even South Korea, where college tuition is much more affordable, and there is such thing as “no federal student loan” available.Plus, even the most creative and imaginative college student living in the 21st century outside North Korea would not come up with the theory that “taking a poster down” could plausibly be effectively weakening the government of a country. Such belief could not ever occurred to anyone living in 2015.Lastly, Otto Warmbier was Jewish. Since when would a Jewish person get affiliated with a Methodist church?The United States Administration used me, like many before me. I am a victim of the United States Administration’s consistent hostile policies against the D.P.R. Korea. I wish the United States citizens, who might follow my precedent, would never, ever allow yourself to be allured by the United States Administration.Through the tour to this country, I have come to see the reality of D.P.R. Korea. It’s very different from the state of evils that the West had. And I have come to see the current human rights issues in the D.P.R. Korea consistently highlighted by the United States administration. It’s nothing more than an excuse to harm and eventually overthrow the government of the D.P.R. Korea.My dear United States citizens, seeing is believing. Please come to Pyongyang, which once the United States long ago called “the Eastern Jerusalem”, then you will believe me.Otto Warmbier heavily accused the U.S. Administration for its “consistent hostile policies” against North Korea, for using “human rights” as an excuse to harm and overthrow the North Korean government.Even though I don’t consider myself very patriotic, I can’t imagine myself being able to accuse my own country in such harsh, humiliating words in a televised, broadcasted press conference, for no wrongdoing whatsoever.It must be very hard for him to read this as well.As an American citizen detained for severe crimes in the D.P.R. Korea, I had feared that I may receive torture or mental pressure. That was my totally wrong thinking.I’ve been given the most humanitarian treatment in a hotel-class guesthouse with no torture or mental pressure. I’m fed three meals daily of high quality and I was given a full medical checkup. I’m given one hour daily to walk outside and I’m given a weekly sauna bath. I was also given a haircut. I sleep more than 8 hours daily. As you can see, I am healthy, but I miss my family very much.I have been very impressed by the Korean government's humanitarian treatment of severe criminals like myself, and of the very fair and square legal procedures in the D.P.R. Korea. I am most ashamed in my life for committing a crime in such a friendly country. At least through this press conference, my family will see that I’m in good health and find some relief. However, I miss my family so, so much. I understand the severity of my crime, and I have no idea what sort of penalty I may face. But I’m begging to the Korean people and the government for my forgiveness, and I am praying to the heavens so that I may be returned home to my family.I almost laughed aloud at the irony of this part.Sure, “the most humanitarian treatment in a hotel-class guesthouse with no torture or mental pressure” could easily turn a healthy young man to a state of vegetation. Who would believe that?If any part of his confession was real and of his own volition, it was his tears and his love for his family. In contrast to his monotonous tone and mechanically flipping through his notes, he suddenly became visibly emotional:Once again, I want to beg for forgiveness. Please, act to save me, save my life, and save my family. I am the oldest son of the family. My mother needs me. My father needs me. My younger brother and younger sister need me. I have made the single worst decision of my life. But I’m only human. I beg you to consider that, and I beg that you would find in your heart to give me forgiveness and to allow me to return home to my family. I also beg the journalists to accurately and objectively report my story and provide help of any kind. Thank you all for giving me this opportunity.After this press conference, my family will come to know my current situation. I am very worried that they may be harmed and got manipulated by the United States Administration. I’m worried that they may be threatened and harmed from the government. I beg for any kind of public protection for my family.One final time, people and government of the D.P.R. Korea, I beg for forgiveness. I never, never should have allowed myself to be allured by the United States administration to commit a crime in this country. I wish that the United States administration never manipulate people like myself in the future to commit crimes against foreign countries.I entirely beg you and the government of D.P.R. Korea for your forgiveness. Please I've made the worst mistake of my life, but please act to save me. Please. Think of my family.The monotonous tone, the way he flipped through page after page of his notes, and some of the awkward English phrases thrust unnaturally in the sentences. Were it not for the background, I could have mistaken such a script as a badly-written fiction.The press conference was the first time that the world got a glimpse of Otto Warmbier since his arrest.I don’t know how he managed to remain so composed as he read his confession from the notes. Maybe he had already become numb to everything after six weeks of who-knows-what treatment. Maybe someone promised him that he would be released as long as he read this statement in the press conference.Whatever happened during the six weeks silence and the weeks following the press conference would remain a mystery. We can only imagine what this poor guy had been going through in order to give such a confession to a large group of emotionless journalists and photographers.In spite of the powerful confession and apology he delivered, and the deep bows to the North Korean people as he begged them for leniency, North Korea’s Supreme Court showed no mercy. On March 16, 2016, Otto Warmbier was tried and convicted of “subversion” under Art. 60 of North Korea’s Criminal Code. He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.Being escorted out of the North Korea’s Supreme Court by two military guards was the last time we could see him alive and fully mobile. Then, he disappeared into the dictatorship’s prison system.I feel bad for him for the manner he died, and for whatever that caused his coma.We all know how he ended up.After 17 months of total silence, North Korean government suddenly decided that they would send Otto Warmbier back home out of “humanitarian” concern. The officials told the U.S. Department of State that Otto Warmbier was in a coma shortly after his trial, when he contracted food-borne botulism and took a sleeping pill.He was sent back in an air ambulance. Fred and Cindy Warmbier, his parents, was confronted with a “guttural inhuman howling” coming from the cabin cluttered with medical equipment. Their son was strapped to a stretcher, jerking violently against his restraints and wailing. His eyes were open and blank. His nostrils were infiltrated by a feeding tube.He was immediately rushed to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. There, his medical team determined that he was in a state of unresponsive wakefulness, also known as a “persistent vegetative state.” The only positive sign was “spontaneous eye-opening and blinking.”Records and scans indicated that Otto Warmbier had been in a vegetative state since April 2016, soon after his trial and sentence. The physicians also found extensive loss of brain tissue in all regions of the brain, which is usually caused by deprivation of oxygen and blood for a long time.Knowing that Otto would never be cognizant again, his parents requested the feeding tube removed. A week later, Otto passed away.However, the physicians found no signs that he suffered from the effects of botulism — a finding that appears to contradict the explanation the North Korean officials. Given the length of time since he fell in a coma, it was difficult to tell the exact cause.Although some speculate that he attempted to take his own life after the trial, I highly doubt it. If that is the real reason for his coma, why would North Korean officials lie to the U.S. Department of State?Whatever the exact cause is, North Korean government is 100% responsible for it.The only comforting part of the story is Otto Warmbier’s father, Fred.Two days after Otto Warmbier landed, Fred Warmbier gave a speech at Wyoming High School, where his son graduated as a salutatorian. He was wearing the same blazer his son had worn during his confession. He spoke highly of his son’s “adventurous side,” the same trait that led his son to take a trip to North Korea in the first place.“We’re thrilled that our son is on American soil. Otto was a young university student who was on a tour with other university students. He’s never been in trouble with his life. He fought to stay alive through the worst the North Koreans put him through to return to the family and community he loves.”“I’m proud of Otto, and the courage he showed by going to North Korea and having that adventurous side to him. And so, the fact that he was taken and treated this way is horrible, and it’s tough to process. But we’re tremendously proud of him!”Footnotes[1] Katherine Ann Dettwyler - Wikipedia[1] Katherine Ann Dettwyler - Wikipedia[1] Katherine Ann Dettwyler - Wikipedia[1] Katherine Ann Dettwyler - Wikipedia[2] "The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore" Frat Boy in North Korea & Football Hazards (TV Episode 2016) - IMDb[2] "The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore" Frat Boy in North Korea & Football Hazards (TV Episode 2016) - IMDb[2] "The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore" Frat Boy in North Korea & Football Hazards (TV Episode 2016) - IMDb[2] "The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore" Frat Boy in North Korea & Football Hazards (TV Episode 2016) - IMDb[3] North Korea Proves Your White Male Privilege Is Not Universal[3] North Korea Proves Your White Male Privilege Is Not Universal[3] North Korea Proves Your White Male Privilege Is Not Universal[3] North Korea Proves Your White Male Privilege Is Not Universal[4] List of foreign nationals detained in North Korea - Wikipedia[4] List of foreign nationals detained in North Korea - Wikipedia[4] List of foreign nationals detained in North Korea - Wikipedia[4] List of foreign nationals detained in North Korea - Wikipedia[5] Creepy North Korea: The Hidden 5th Floor - The Monsoon Diaries[5] Creepy North Korea: The Hidden 5th Floor - The Monsoon Diaries[5] Creepy North Korea: The Hidden 5th Floor - The Monsoon Diaries[5] Creepy North Korea: The Hidden 5th Floor - The Monsoon Diaries[6] Average human height by country - Wikipedia[6] Average human height by country - Wikipedia[6] Average human height by country - Wikipedia[6] Average human height by country - Wikipedia[7] Inside the North Korean place that ‘doesn’t exist’[7] Inside the North Korean place that ‘doesn’t exist’[7] Inside the North Korean place that ‘doesn’t exist’[7] Inside the North Korean place that ‘doesn’t exist’[8] Lawyer was taken to 'secret' floor of North Korea hotel[8] Lawyer was taken to 'secret' floor of North Korea hotel[8] Lawyer was taken to 'secret' floor of North Korea hotel[8] Lawyer was taken to 'secret' floor of North Korea hotel[9] 5 Things I Learned Trapped in a Secret Propaganda Room in North Korea[9] 5 Things I Learned Trapped in a Secret Propaganda Room in North Korea[9] 5 Things I Learned Trapped in a Secret Propaganda Room in North Korea[9] 5 Things I Learned Trapped in a Secret Propaganda Room in North Korea