This attitude can be observed in Hesse right now. The four SPD members who opposed the collaboration with The LEFT are being called “traitors”. And one member of The LEFT party, Hermann Schaus, even called them “sneaking pigs”.
Short reminder: Hesse SPD head Andrea Ypsilanti, before the elections in Hesse, promised NOT to cooperate with The LEFT party. Today she wanted to get elected with their votes. Who is the traitor?

Interestingly, it is a conservative politician who asks Hermann Schaus to apologize, not a liberal.

„Schweine“-Zitat - Landtagspräsident will Entschuldigung von Schaus, 4.11.2008, echo-online:

Weil er die hessischen SPD-Abweichler als „hinterlistige Schweine“ bezeichnet hat, ist der Linken-Abgeordnete Hermann Schaus von Landtagspräsident Norbert Kartmann (CDU) scharf kritisiert worden. „Ich beurteile Ihre Aussage, zumal Sie Vizepräsident des Hessischen Landtags sind, als inakzeptabel“, schrieb Kartmann heute an den Linken-Politiker. Schaus hatte gestern wörtlich gesagt: „Solche hinterlistigen Schweine - das habe ich selbst Jürgen Walter nicht zugetraut.“ Er erwarte für diese Aussage eine öffentliche Entschuldigung, sagte Kartmann. (…)

“False hope for global unity” by Lawrence Solomon, Financial Post,
October 31, 2008:

My American friends believe that, after Barack Obama becomes president, America will once again be loved around the world. They are wishful thinkers.
Anti-Americanism didn’t begin with George Bush and it won’t end with an Obama presidency. With rare exceptions, America has always inspired hatred and contempt, and for reasons that aren’t about to go away. Those who expect America’s haters to convert on November 4 need to get out more. (…)
Many, many scholars have examined the phenomenon of anti-Americanism, some likening it to a kind of secular religion that explains all the world’s evils, from poverty and injustice to wars and environmental destruction. My explanation is less complicated: America is an unparalleled success, and with success comes envy and resentment, especially of those who don’t have it. (…)
Finally, America is loathed because its brand of free-market capitalism remains ascendant, having outperformed European-style socialism and utterly defeated Communism, ideologies that attract many if not most of the world’s intellectuals. More than two centuries since its founding, the U.S. shows no sign of losing either its economic or military supremacy. (…)
America will be America after Nov 4. Anti-Americanism is safe.

Thanks Bob for sending the link!

PS: One of the commenters even states she had an editorial orgasm when reading this piece. Well, I would not go that far ;-) but it is definitely worth reading!

I have just found this joke in today`s BILD am Sonntag and I think it is hilarious. And as long as the (Un-) Fairness Doctrine is not yet reestablished I guess I am still allowed to post it?

What is the Fairness Doctrine?

The Fairness Doctrine was a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation from 1949 to 1987 that required broadcast licensees to present controversial issues of public importance in a manner deemed by the FCC to be “honest, equitable and balanced.”

I admit, at first that sounds good. But if you have a closer look, what does it mean? It means that a few FCC bureaucrats would determine what is “fair”. Which is not fair, but arbitrary. Censorship instead of freedom of speech. And in my view a violation of First Amendment free speech principles.

Dear friends in America,
if there is one thing I have always envied you for it is FREEDOM! Germany is a democracy, yes, but freedom of speech it is not as far-reaching as in the US.

And you really want to give up on it so easily?

Die Forderungen des neuen, von der FDP gestellten Integrationsbeauftragten Georg Barfuß nach der teilweisen Einführung der islamischen Rechtsordnung Scharia in Bayern haben noch am Tag der Kabinettsvereidigung zu einem ersten Streit in der schwarz-gelben Koalition geführt. (…)

Der FDP-Landtagsabgeordnete Georg Barfuß, der früher lange Jahre für die CSU in der Kleinstadt Lauingen Bürgermeister war, hatte der Süddeutschen Zeitung gesagt: “Wo sich die Scharia mit dem Grundgesetz als kompatibel herausstellt, soll sie in Bayern erlaubt sein.” Der Verfassungsschutz müsse im Einzelfall prüfen, ob ihre Regelungen mit dem Grundgesetz vereinbar seien. Auf Nachfrage konnte Barfuß aber nicht genauer erklären, welche Teile der Scharia er meinte.

Barfuß ruderte aufgrund der heftigen Kritik sofort zurück. Er nannte seine Äußerungen ein Missverständnis. ” Interpretationen, wonach ich die ,Einführung der Scharia in Bayern’ gefordert hätte, entsprechen nicht der Realität.”

“CSU und FDP: Erster Koalitionsstreit um Äußerungen zur Scharia”, sueddeutsche.de, 30.10.2008

I do not mind that. What I do not like though is Halloween in politics. And that seems to be happening these days. And November 4th might well be the spookiest day of all.

In my home state Hesse, the Social democratic party leader Andrea Ypsilanti will try to get elected State Governor with the votes of Die Linke (= The Left). And this party, called The Left, is not just left-wing, it is as far left-wing that it is actually being observed by our “Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz Hessen” (= Office for the Protection of the Constitution) This party includes people that want the Wall back, want to change “The System”. Actually they are enemies of our Constitution and they might soon get quite a lot of influence in Hesse. That is a nightmare!

And in the US a politician who thinks that “spreading wealth is a good thing” might become President. This is beyond me. Socialism has not worked in the past and it will not work in the future!
I know what I am talking about. I grew up in a country that was divided by a wall. Even back then there were people in the West who stated that Eastern Germany was the “better Germany”. But no, it wasn`t. People were shot dead when they tried to escape. Finally, the system collapsed, the Wall came down, people were free! That is not even 20 years ago. But still, the ghost of anti-capitalism is spooking around.

I am afraid there are not enough sweets in my cupboard to appease this ghost. But you can`t treat with him anyway, after all he is anti-capitalist ;-)

And this might well be his biggest mistake.

Because he does not have a clue what to do once all the wealth has been spread.

Thousands flock to German keep that may have inspired Shelley’s Frankenstein

MUEHLTAL, Germany — Boris Karloff never walked these grounds, but the history of Burg Frankenstein may have inspired Mary Shelley’s famous monster.
It has also inspired one of the oldest Halloween parties in Germany, started by the U.S. Army 31 years ago.
Since then an estimated 15,000 people flock to the former keep near Darmstadt in western Germany annually for chills, frights and the chance to walk through the halls of the place that many believe inspired the creation of “The Modern Prometheus,” as Shelley subtitled her famous novel.
This year, the weekend parties started Oct. 24 and extend through Nov. 9.
Once a massive fortress, all that remains now of the castle is a pair of towers and a chapel. But that is plenty of space for Halloween-inspired mischief and merry mayhem with a torture chamber, fireworks, flaming swords and, of course, a rather tall, grey-tinged hulking collection of body parts with a major fear of fire.
What’s left of the 1,000-year-old castle - it was first mentioned in local records in 948 - offers the perfect atmosphere for thrill-seeking. (…)
Walter Scheele, a writer and chronicler of the castle, has traced the history of both the castle and the festival.
Halloween came in earnest with the U.S. Army, he said.
“After the Second World War the U.S. Army stayed in Darmstadt and they brought Halloween with them,” he told the Associated Press. “They had their party at the barracks until it was too noisy and they asked if they could have it at the castle instead.”
Mathias Buehrer, who owned the Frankenstein Inn inside the castle at the time, agreed to host the festivities.
It’s been there ever since.
“The U.S. Army broadcast the message over the radio, on the American Forces Network,” he said. “‘Come to Burg Frankenstein, home of the monster,’ they said, before every program. And then people from all over Europe came to the castle.” (…)
While the U.S. Army is in the process of leaving Darmstadt, soldiers and their families remain drawn to the castle.
Busloads of men and women and their families come here annually to celebrate in costume, just like haunted houses back home. A Halloween party in a castle named Frankenstein is too perfect to miss.
The castle itself is also believed to have influenced Shelley, though there is some debate how much. The generally accepted notion is that she passed by the castle at night, but Scheele said his research is more thorough.
“Mary Shelley got the name Victor von Frankenstein from the physician and alchemist Johann Conrad Dippel von Frankenstein,” said Scheele, who has written two books about the castle and its legends.
“Dippel took bodies from the graveyard in Nieder-Beerbach and the minister told everyone in the local parish said that he used the body parts to create a monster,” he explained.
Jacob Grimm, half of the fabled Brothers Grimm, related the folklore to Shelley’s stepmother, Mary Jean Clairmont, who may have told her.
“Mary Shelley got the idea from her,” Scheele said.

If you want to know more check out Castle Frankenstein`s website. In the FAQ section you will even find an answer to the eternal question: What should I wear?

Net Nylons – high heels – tight tops – look great and are eye catchers – but due to a thousand years old cobblestones pavement, a stony moat, swampy quagmires and a raw east wind we recommend lace-up boots, body belts, angora underwear and waterproofed clothing!

I`d take that seriously ;-)

Whether you believe in ghosts or not, do not miss to watch at least the first part of “Ghost Hunters International Episode 7” on You Tube. It is hilarious!

A green-friendly dating site. We cater to environmentalists, animal rights activists, vegetarians, vegans, raw foodists and those who value personal growth and consciousness in general.

Or for the ones with a more hectic lifestyle there is also greenspeeddating:

Green Speed Dating (or “carbon neutral love”) brings together single people, living in the same area, who care about the environment, believe in sustainability, and would like to meet others who feel the same way.
At a Green Speed Dating event, you’ll meet 10-20 people of the opposite sex in your age range and will get to talk to each person for 3 minutes. When the 3 minutes is up, the organizer rings a bell and you rotate to the next person.

I just imagine people rushing back from their business trips by plane, then sitting down at a bio candlelight dinner hoping to find the carbon neutral love of their life within 3 minutes ;-)

Funny. But I do not want to be misunderstood here. I am very much in favour of protecting the environment, not wasting resources, exploring new sources of energy thus reducing our dependence on oil and gas etc., but I do simply not believe in global warming hysteria.
And carbon offsets remind me of indulgences, once a Catholic thing. Hey, I am Protestant!
Also my carbon footprint must be a lot smaller than the one of people rushing from one climate change conference to the next.
I admit I go to work by car, but I have not been in a plane for 2 ½ years now and you know what? I am lucky. I do not have to buy offsets. No. My best friend in the US planted lots of trees this spring. For himself, his family and - lucky me! - also some for me :-)