Monthly Archives: November 2007

Sarkozy - Vive la révolution?

My favorite French President Sarkozy has had quite a revolutionary idea: Move the institutes of social studies from their nice “gauche caviar” neighborhood to the suburbs, so that they can actually see what they are writing about. - I like the idea.
“Ab in die Banlieue” von Wolf Lepenies, Die WELT, 8.11.2007
Die Pariser Institute für Sozialwissenschaften [...]

Robin Hood im Schwarzwald

I have just discovered a new blog I really like - and not only because of what the author writes about German women ;-)
No, of course not. Robin Hood im Schwarzwald is an American who after having spent a few days in Germany writes about what he has experienced. I was really upset when I [...]

Schroeder in China

One of the nicest birthday presents I ever got was that Schroeder left office on November 19th 2005. But somehow he is still around:
“Schroeder irked by Dalai Lama meeting” by Jiao Xiaoyang, China Daily, 2007-11-09:
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder criticized his successor Angela Merkel Thursday for meeting with the Dalai Lama recently and hoped [...]

Who built the Wall - the Americans?

Yesterday was the 18th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I was pretty shocked when I read about the results of a study of the Free University of Berlin in die WELT.
They had asked more than 5000 young Germans in East and West Germany questions about the former communist East Germany. Here are [...]

Invited for a mug and a hug

Usually I do not envy Angela Merkel for her job, but today I do:
“Chancellor Merkel, you are invited for a mug and a hug - and we’re pretty good at back rubs, too!”
(to be read on a sign in Crawford, Texas)
“President Bush Welcomes German Chancellor Merkel”, Bush Ranch
Crawford, Texas, November 9, 2007
PRESIDENT [...]

9. November 2007

Diese Woche wurde Angela Merkel mit dem Leo-Baeck-Preis ausgezeichnet. Ich habe soeben die bewegende Laudatio von Wolf Biermann gelesen.
Ausschnitte:
(…) Mir kommt auch Ihre Auszeichnung heute mit dem Leo-Baeck-Preis vor wie eine Bitte um Beistand, ein Appell an Menschen in Deutschland, die Einfluss haben auf die Politik der Bundesrepublik gegenüber den Juden im eigenen Lande [...]

Men to blame for global warming?

EVEN climate change cannot escape the gender wars. Now Swedish men are being blamed for having a disproportionately large impact on global warming.
The finger is squarely pointed at men in “A study on gender equality as a prerequisite for sustainable development” by Gerd Johnsson-Latham of the Swedish Ministry of Sustainable Development. She concludes: “The fact [...]

EU attack on “Apfelwein”

There are a lot of reasons not to like the EU: too much bureaucracy, not enough democracy … But now these people in Brussels have definitely crossed the red line, at least for us Hessians.
The EU says that Apfelwein (= apple wine) must no longer be called Apfelwein. The term “wine” shall be reserved for [...]

Kanadischer und deutscher Antiamerikanismus

Michael Stürmer vergleicht kanadischen und deutschen Antiamerikanismus und kommt zu folgendem Ergebnis:
Der kanadische Antiamerikanismus definiert Kanada als das bessere Amerika. Der deutsche definiert Deutschland als moralische Gegenmacht.

„Vereint gegen Amerika“ von Michael Stürmer, Die WELT, 1. November 2007
Michael Stürmer compares Canadian and German anti-Americanism and reaches the following result:
The Canadian anti-Americanism defines Canada as the [...]

Soft Power unwanted?

Jeff Gedmin, President RFE/RL, on the difficulties and dangers Radio Farda journalists are facing (Radio Farda is the Persian-language broadcast service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty):
„Voices That Tehran Fears“, The Washington Post op/ed, September 19, 2007
(…) Our broadcasters and correspondents are brave to do what they do. Intelligence officers in Tehran interrogate and threaten family [...]