What an extremely nice suprise! This morning I had asked the question if and why Americans are more optimistic than Europeans and this evening I found the first answer in my mailbox. One of the Chicago Boyz wrote the following:
Of course we`re optimistic. The truth is that optimism is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
My grandfathers were [...]
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 [...]
Irena Sendler, the Polish woman who organized the rescue of some 2,500 Jewish children from the Nazis died yesterday at the age of 98. Her name had been put forward for the Nobel Peace Prize this year, but who won instead? Al Gore. A chance missed forever to honour a real hero.
I read about her [...]
This time no video in the internet, but a message on my yard-gate saying: “Großmaul” (= bigmouth).
Charming.
By the way, the police did not find the one who posted the video and has stopped investigations (temporarily).
Update April 9, 2008: They re-started investigations!
Henryk M. Broder über den angeblichen Rechtspopulisten Wilders und seinen Film „Fitna“:
(…) Wilders ist so “einseitig” wie jeder Dokumentarist, der die Wirklichkeit verdichtet. Sein Film ist so “islamfeindlich” wie die Filme von Michael Moore “kapitalismusfeindlich” sind. Die Feindschaft liegt nicht im Auge des Betrachters, sondern in der Natur des betrachteten Gegenstands. Zu den festen Ritualen, [...]