When I searched “American Optimism” in Google, I found an interesting article: “The land of optimism is in the dumps, but refuses to accept how it got there” by Gary Younge, The Guardian, October 15, 2007
Although I do not agree to the title, nor to the conclusions, there is a passage I liked:
(…) America`s [...]
Before he had to go to Afghanistan I asked my best friend:
How come that Americans are more self-assertive, more optimistic than Europeans? Is it in the genes? Is it education?
Here is his answer:
I can tell you that part of the reason (at least why I believe) why Americans are more assertive, optimistic, and individualistic is [...]
On Monday Michael Ballack lifted Germany to quarterfinals by firing a powerful shot (121 km/h!) into the Austrian goal. And this very moment he has scored against Portugal which means Germany is now leading 3:1. Wow! I admit I would not have expected this.
30 minutes later: We won 3:2! Semifinals we are coming :-)
My timing for Euro 2008 has been really bad: One day before kick-off I fell sick. So I missed the first match which must have been incredible: Polish-born Lukas Podolski scored two goals against Poland. On the other hand, I am glad I did not see much of the second match because the German team`s [...]
This WELT-Interview (”Deiche bauen statt CO2 reduzieren”, 7. Juni 2008) with Salomon Kroonenberg very much reflects my views on global warming.
Excerpts:
Herr Kroonenberg, Sie haben es mit “Der Lange Zyklus” in Holland in die Bestsellerlisten geschafft, obwohl oder weil Sie dem Bild einer bevorstehenden Klimakatastrophe widersprechen?
Professor Salomon Kroonenberg:
Als Geologieprofessor bin ich es gewöhnt, lange Zeitabschnitte der [...]
President Bush`s visit to Germany this week did not get the attention it would have deserved, yet some politicians could not abstain from Bush-bashing:
Jürgen Trittin, former German Environment Minister, Green Party, said: “Bush definitely made the world worse.”
Karsten Voigt, a Social Democrat and the government`s coordinator for relations between Germany and America, accused Bush of [...]
I am getting ready for the Euro 2008. I am glad to have kept all my fan articles from World Cup 2006: T-Shirts, Caps, Flags, … and I got a new one: It is a small fan (black, red and gold) and when you switch it on, you do not only get cold air, but [...]
We Germans may have a lot of anti-American prejudices, but we love using Anglicisms. “Public Viewing” is one of them, and now that the Euro 2008 ( = European Soccer Championship 2008) is approaching a very important one. Maybe I should rather say a Pseudo-Anglicism. Because when we use it we do not think of [...]