Tonight on German TV (SWR) the reason why I started line dancing. A very sweet comedy called “Welcome to Westerwald!”. And not at all anti-American! I watched it last year when my best friend was on his way to Iraq. I was worried, and watching this comedy lifted my spirits. Real life had a happy ending: He returned safely to the US. And the comedy … well, I am not going to tell you how it ends, but I am pretty sure you`ll like it ;-) Have fun watching!!!
Update: Sorry, but the movie was on TV yesterday evening!!!
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Heute abend im Deutschen Fernsehen, 20:15 Uhr, SWR, der Grund, weshalb ich mit Line Dance angefangen habe. Eine ganz süße, spritzige, unterhaltsame Komödie “Willkommen im Westerwald!”. Und ganz und gar nicht anti-amerikanisch. Also, wer noch nicht weiß, was Line Dance ist, unbedingt gucken! Viel Spaß!!!
Update: Es tut mir so leid, aber der Film lief schon gestern! Ist schon nicht so einfach, ein Fernsehprogramm richtig zu lesen. Heute gibt`s stattdessen André Rieu oder Hansi Hinterseer, mmh, …
Exit polls show CDU with 38,2 %, SPD 21,4 %, The Greens 12 %, FDP 10,6 %, the LEFT 7,1 %. I am glad to see that CDU and FDP won so many votes (apparently the SPD election spot that said: “Financial sharks would vote for FDP” did not work), but that the Greens won 12 % with an election spot that seems to want to transform Germany into an agrarian state is scaring. Or am I seeing things? Watch spot here:
Wums! Der TV-Spot zur Europawahl von Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
I can`t help it, but whenever I see the pictures of the American cemetery in Colleville sur Mer, tears start running down my cheeks. Thinking of the immense courage of the soldiers fighting there, of the many who made the ultimate sacrifice to liberate Europe from the Nazis. I am lacking the words to express my gratefulness. Thanks to the courage of these soldiers I was allowed to grow up in freedom and democracy. I will never forget.
President Obama put it like this today:
(…) Friends and veterans, what we cannot forget - what we must not forget - is that D-Day was a time and a place where the bravery and selflessness of a few was able to change the course of an entire century. At an hour of maximum danger, amid the bleakest of circumstances, men who thought themselves ordinary found it within themselves to do the extraordinary. They fought for their moms and sweethearts back home, for the fellow warriors they came to know as brothers. And they fought out of a simple sense of duty - a duty sustained by the same ideals for which their countrymen had fought and bled for over two centuries.
That is the story of Normandy - but also the story of America. Of the minutemen who gathered on a green in Lexington; of the Union boys from Maine who repelled a charge at Gettysburg; of the men who gave their last full measure at Inchon and Khe San; of all the young men and women whose valor and goodness still carry forward this legacy of service and sacrifice. It is a story that has never come easy, but one that always gives us hope. For as we face down the hardships and struggles of our time, and arrive at that hour for which we were born, we cannot help but draw strength from those moments in history when the best among us were somehow able to swallow their fears and secure a beachhead on an unforgiving shore. To those men who achieved that victory sixty-five years ago, I thank you for your service. May God Bless you, and may God Bless the memory of all those who rest here.
I agree to what President Obama says, but in contrast to George W. Bush five years ago Obama did not say this magic sentence that gave me so much hope and optimism. It was simple and short and awesome:
And we would do it again for our friends.
What an incredible promise!!!
And today? Would today`s America do it again?
PS: I wanted to link to the White House website, but very surprisingly the D-Day speech was not yet online, instead a picture of Obama and a statement about health care.
PPS: The White House webmaster has immediately reacted to my post ;-) the speech is now online:
Remarks by the President at D-Day 65th Anniversary Ceremony (Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial)
When I heard these news on the radio yesterday night, it really made me happy: My former French teacher, 77-years old Marianne P. who was kidnapped by Al Qaida back in January this year, is free at last! This comes like a belated Easter present. And I would not even be surprised if she was going to show her slide show on May 13th to the seniors of the village as she had planned.
Welcome back, willkommen zurück in Traisa, liebe Frau Petzold!
Global warming activists can be so entertaining:
“Out With A Shiver: Global Warming Protest Frozen Out by Massive Snowfall” by Joseph Abrams, FOXNews.com, March 02, 2009:
It was snowing irony in Washington on Monday when global warming activists descended on the District like a storm — but got beaten to the punch by a blast of wintry weather that incapacitated the city.
Global warming activists stormed Washington Monday for what was billed as the nation’s largest act of civil disobedience to fight climate change — only to see the nation’s capital virtually shut down by a major winter storm.
Schools and businesses were shuttered, lawmakers cancelled numerous appearances and the city came to a virtual standstill as Washington was blasted with its heaviest snowfall of the winter.
It spelled about six inches of trouble for global warming activists who had hoped to swarm the Capitol by the thousands in an effort to force the government to close the Capitol Power Plant, which heats and cools a number of government buildings, including the Supreme Court and the Capitol.
The snowy scene, with temperatures in the mid-20s, was reminiscent of a day in January 2004, when Al Gore made a major address on global warming in New York — on one of the coldest days in the city’s history. (…)
Here in Hesse we had 13 degrees on Sunday, sunny blue skies, almost spring-like weather ;-)
Well, I never go on a diet, especially not at carnival time. After all I had to try out all these delicious Kreppel (a kind of donut, but a lot better!!) at the bakery Müller in Darmstadt. And I almost had them all: Strawberry Cream, Egg Liqueur, Raspberry Jam, Chocolate Cream, Plum Jam, Baileys, Latte Macchiato, Vanilla Cream. The only two I left out were Batida de Coco and Nougat, and well yes the one without filling ;-)
But no I won`t go on a diet now, not even for Lent!! And you know what? I don`t have to thanks to my grandma`s good genes ;-)
Anyway, the Protestant Church offers an interesting alternative: They call it “Seven Weeks Without” and each year it is a different thing you can do without (and lucky me it is not chocolate or blogging this year!). No, this year`s motto is: “7 Wochen Ohne Zaudern” (”7 weeks without indecision / procrastination”). Wow! Very good motto for me, and when I look at my desk I am glad it only starts tomorrow …
HELAU!
I am just reading in my local newspaper that 77-years old Marianne P. from Traisa (that is where I live) is the woman who was kidnapped by Al Quaida two weeks ago in Mali. She is my former French teacher and if my French is so good, it is thanks to her. She was a great teacher (have I ever told her that?), very demanding, but that is how you learn a language. Before she became a teacher at my school she had spent several years in Africa teaching poor children there. And even after her retirement she actually never stopped teaching. The only difference: Today it is seniors she talks to. On May 13th she is supposed to speak about the landscapes around the river Niger. I hope Al Qaida knows that!
„Im Moment können wir wohl nur beten“, Darmstädter Echo, 10.02.2009
“Entlang des Niger von Niamey bis Gao – Landschaft und Mensch”
Diavortrag von Marianne Petzold, Traisa
Mittwoch den 13. Mai 2009
“Die DDR wird immer schöner” von Dominic Boeer, Die WELT, 10.02.2009:
In einem Witz gehen erboste Mütter in Pankow auf die Straße und fordern gute Schulnoten für ihre Kinder. Mit Transparenten, auf denen steht: “Einsen nicht nur für Schlaue”, demonstrieren sie gegen die himmelschreiende Ungerechtigkeit in unserem Land. Ob tatsächlich nur ein Witz oder eine Zukunftsvision, lässt sich bei genauerer Betrachtung der “Stimmung im Land” nicht zweifelsfrei erschließen. Jedenfalls scheint die Lust ungebrochen, mit dem Kopf gegen die sozialistische Wand zu rennen.
Lediglich 54 Prozent der Ostdeutschen sehen ihre Lebensverhältnisse nach dem Mauerfall verbessert, und nur 24 Prozent beurteilen es als “sehr wichtig”, in einer Demokratie zu leben. Auf der Anklagebank sitzen die “Neoliberalen”, das “ungerechte System”, kurz: der Kapitalismus. (…)
Ob bei der kubanischen Cha-Cha-Cha-Variante oder der Entrechtung des Volkes im chavistischen, von Oskar Lafontaine so bewunderten Sozialismus des 21. Jahrhunderts in Venezuela, klar ist: Im Sozialismus gibt es weder Freiheit noch Wohlstand. Wo sind die deutschen Politiker, die den Mut haben, daran zu erinnern, dass es einzig dem freien Markt zu verdanken ist, dass überhaupt umverteilt werden kann?
Ja, das würde ich auch mal gerne wissen …
This is so funny! Did she really say that?
House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Feb, 4, 2009):
I really think that if we do not have an economic recovery package, 500 million Americans lose their jobs. I don’t think we can go fast enough to stop that. The President asked for action, swift and bold. That is what we are doing.
If you don`t believe it you can watch it here
