Adieu Ténéré

I've sold my motorbike today. My dad stored it for me in a garage and has recently convinced me put to up for sale. Obvioulsy he was right as I haven't used it in two years. And even in my last year in Germany I rarely took it for a ride. Still a bit sade though. we had a good time. So from Whitechapel in London it's good-bye.

Military Might II

Mit einiger Verspätung hier eine Meldung zu den weltweiten Rüstungsausgaben.

Stockholmer Friedensforschungsinstitut: 2006 rund 3,5 Prozent höhere Rüstungsausgaben

Die weltweiten Rüstungsausgaben sind im vergangenen Jahr auf die Rekordhöhe von rund 900 Milliarden Euro gestiegen. Damit seien 3,5 Prozent mehr als noch 2005 für militärische Zwecke ausgegeben worden, teilte das Stockholmer Friedensforschungsinstitut mit. Als Grund für die Entwicklung wurde der von den USA ausgerufene Krieg gegen den Terrorismus genannt.

Den weltweit größten Rüstungsetat haben die Vereinigten Staaten, auf die allein 42 Prozent aller Militärausgaben fallen. Deutschland liegt auf Platz sechs der Rangliste noch vor Russland. In Asien verwendete erstmals China das meiste Geld für Rüstung. Den Angaben zufolge sind die Mittel in diesem Bereich weltweit in den vergangenen zehn Jahren um ein Drittel gestiegen.

dradio-newsletters: Deutschlandradio 20 Uhr Nachrichten 11.Juni 2007

What a foreigner might find peculiar

Ich wollte diesen post eigentlich auf English schreiben. Dann fiel mir ein, lästern über Einwohner eines Land in dem man zu Gast ist sollte ich wohl lieber in meiner Muttersprache. Dieser Artikel ist der Start der Serie "Pecularities", die ich in loser Folge posten werde. Den Start macht die Schlange.

Es gibt diese Dinge, die man amüsant findet, weil sie anders sind als "zu Hause". Dann jene, die unverständlich erscheinen, weil man den Sinn dahinter schlichtweg nicht erkennen kann. Schließlich solche, die einfach nur nerven, weil sie absurd sind und einen dazu direkt betreffen.

Mit folgender Schilderung einer amüsanten Begebenheit bediene ich ein Klischee. Ich bemühe mich normalerweise, Klischees zu widerlegen, weil ich sie meist, wenn nicht unberechtigt, so doch übertrieben sind und der Sache nicht gerecht werden. In diesem Fall aber kann ich es nur bestätigen. Eine englische Kollegin tat das auch. Engländer lieben das Schlange stehen und praktizieren es regelmäßig. Besonders gerne vor Bankautomaten (cash points oder ATMs). Mittlerweile schaue ich mich schon verwundert um, wenn ich an einem ATM vorbeikomme und es stehen nicht mindestens fünf Leute an. Meistens ist er dann "out of service".

Das beste Beispiel ist die Barclays Filiale gegenüber Old Spitalfields Market. Dort habe ich Sonntag nachmittags mehrmals über 20 Menschen gesehen, die sich brav angestellt haben, um Geld abzuheben. Zugegeben, es befindet sich keine Bank in unmitelbarer Nähe.

Um mich nicht in Details zu verlieren, verweise ich auf meinen post vom Oktober.

P.S. Selbstanalysen in Sachen queuing wurden bereits angestellt.

We don't want your missile defence...

... especially because it does not work!

ACTION: Ask your Member of Parliament to sign EDM 1517 National Missile Defence, sponsored by Jeremy Corbyn MP

EDM 1517

NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENCE

18.05.2007

Corbyn, Jeremy

That this House expresses concern at US intentions to develop National Missile Defence (NMD) bases across Europe and the UK's continued involvement at Fylingdales and Menwith Hill in both the operational and logistical components of NMD and the advancement of the space based infra red system; is further concerned that the programme will encourage a new nuclear arms race; fears that it will put the UK in the frontline in future wars whereby the US will have the technological and military capability to launch first-strike attacks without fear of retaliation; and recommends that the Government withdraws its support and encourages the US to cease this programme, which is widely interpreted as aggressive not defensive.

Another Cold War?

Meanwhile the Russian President is re-aiming his ICBMs at European cities and the US have triggered a new cold war. And all that because of a missile defence system that does not work, did never work and will never work. I don't want to put myself in the limelight, but I the then called NMD was subjsct of my thesis.

Military Might

It's worth taking a look at military budgets from time to time. It seems that the news is dominated by the fear of China military and the extraordinary rise in the defense budget. Have a look at the DoD budget below. Within seven years it will have risen to $481.4 billion. That's 62 percent. And btw the almost Norway's and Denmark's GDP combined (Source: The Economist: Pocket World in Figures. 2007 Edition).

The President’s 2008 Budget:

• Provides $481.4 billion for the Department of Defense’s base budget—a 62-percent increase over 2001—to ensure a high level of military readiness as the Department develops capabilities to meet future threats, defends the homeland, and supports the all-volunteer force and their families;
• Supports operations in the Global War on Terror by providing an additional $93.4 billion in supplemental funds for 2007 and $141.7 billion for 2008, including funds to accelerate efforts to train and equip Iraqi and Afghan Security Forces;
• Continues ground force modernization and the expansion of Special Operations Forces;
• Enhances missile defense capabilities by adding additional interceptor missiles and sites to expand coverage against new threats;
• Provides a 3.0-percent increase in basic military and civilian pay; and
• Aligns military health care premiums and copayments for retirees under 65 years of age with general health insurance plans.

Brain drain (East) German style II

Speaking of the devil. Thanks for reading my blog, Angela.

The German government wants to launch a programme to stop the migration of young Germans from Eastern Germany.

It's not yet been decided where the two pilot projects will bet set up. They have €4m for the next two years. Good luck.

A tiny little difference

I knew that everything is biger in America. With the experience of five West Wing seasons I should have been prepared. Yet it struck me when I read Martin Amis's Blair portrait in this weeks Guardian weekend.

"When Blair goes somewhere, he relies on a staff of 30 (and five bodyguards). When Bush goes somewhere, he relies on a staff of 800 (and 100 bodyguards); if he vistits two countries on the same trip, the firgure rises to 1,600; three countries, and the figure is 2,400. At the other end, Blair will settle for whatever transport is made available. Using freight aircraft, Bush takes along his own limousine, his own back-up limousine, his own refuling trucks and his own helicopters. Mm, murmured a chastened Brit. You make our lives seem very simple. This was, shall we say, the diplomatic way of putting it."

Indeed. Even in this list of superlatives, I think that the helicopters and the refuling trucks stand out.

Apparently the presidential motorcade includes 35 vehicles. Not including the helicopters and trucks, I suppose.

Brain drain (East) German style

The low birth rate has been a German problem for some years now. This is especially true for the East. In so far, the findings of the report of the Berlin-Institut für Bevölkerung Entwicklung (Population and Development) are hardly surprising.

It is worrying though as they shows that the government has not been able to tackle the problem. Young and well educated people move to the West or foreign countries. Why shouldn't they? The aveage unemployment rate for the Eastern Bundesländer has been 20 percent for years.

It is also not new that the Neo-Nazi and other radical right wing groups are popular in the so called new states. It is very distressing indeed that they attract especially young people, mostly teens and young men. And one conclusion is that those who stay only have an average education. Some of them are more likely to believe (Neo) Nazi propaganda as it offer so easy solutions. Something along the lines of 'foreigners steal your job'.

You have to ask yourself why black world cup tourist were warned to to go to certain areas in Berlin and Brandenburg. Lonely Planet did the same before the world cup fever started.

My feeling is that these problems are widely ignored by politicians. I remember that the funds for anti-nazi programmes and for organisations who try to give these kids some future. I reckon it helps a lot if the only explain the world to them and make them aware of other cultures. Tell them, that it is mostly foreigners who empty there wheelie bins and that being gay is nothing unnatural or wrong.

Sad but true, people were killed because of her skin colour, sexual orientation etc.

Have you seen her? No. STOP IT!

This Madeleine story has been going on my nerves for a while now. Basically since it started. Don't get me wrong. I feel sorry for this family and wish them that they find her soon. But the whole country is getting crazy about this thing. Well, at least the media is. Leave it to the tabloids! Please! I cannot stand it anymore! If you don't bother carry on reading, my point is simply this. Why should this girl and her family deserve more attention than any other abducted person?

There were 846 offences in 2002/03 in England and Wales alone. Also has anyone ever questioned that the media hype may do the girl more harm than good? I mean decreasing her chances to be found alive?

It was predictable that The Sun would exploit the story. But live coverage from the BBC? Eleven minutes prime time with anchor Hugh Edwards live from the Algarve (10 o'clock news 15th May BBC1)? And what was the news? Well, that there was no news. The couple had been seen walking on the beach. But there was an agreement that media would not bother them with interviews. Nice, they are so respectful.

Earlier this week it was reported that the parents feel guilty because they hadn't been with her when she was abducted. Jesus, of course! What did you think? That they are happy about it.

There is more. Today the Prime Minister in waiting demanded that the Portuguese police should release more details of the case. Can someone please tell him to stay out of this.

And when you think it can't get any worse... BBC online has justed annouced that the parents are to see the Pope.

To sum it up there are 4,270,000 hits for "Maddie" on google and the entry on wikipedia has about the length of the WW2 article. Appeals from David Beckham and Christiano Ronaldo, yellow ribbons at a football match, uncounted campaigns. The rewards total £2.6m - and counting.

And has anyone ever dared questioning this madness? Well, I have. Anyone out there joining me? Yes, found them!

And while I'm moaning 128m are still searching...

We love David M.

If there was ever polictician to praise, it must be Environment Secretary David Miliband. No, I'm not in the Labour party, they didn't bribe me or anything. I just think that he takes his job seriously and tackles a serious problem. One that has been left unnoticed, indeed ignored for far too long. I'm talking rubbish, I mean about waste and avoiding waste in particular. I am aware that after announcing the Government's plans everybody feared that the wheelie bin chips will trigger a spy rather than an environment programme.

The most important part for me, however, was that someone mentions the enourmous waste in this country. The Independent ran a brilliant campaign against waste - i.e. waste as in unnecessary items such as packagin or most interestingly carrier bags. I was shocked when I heard that Teso alone gave out four billion - this is 4,000,000,000 - carrier bags to customers last year.

The mere fact that Miliband mentioned carrier bags seems remarkable to me. He talked not only about recycling quotas the UK needs to meet, he actually talked about avoiding waste. That's the point, you don't need to recycle somehting that has never been produced and used in the first place.

So, take your carrier bag to the shop and refuse new ones. I have to tell the assisstants over and over again as they already have the new bag in their hands when I arrive at the till. But they'll learn if more people refuse it.

Of course it remains to be seen if the Government really acts though on this problem. And if Miliband will still be in his job after 27th June.

Sorry, Bryan, but that's it

Marks and Spencer drop Bryan Ferry over the Nazi gaffe. Oh no, sorry it wasn't because of that. We wouldn't have used him for the campaign anyway, or least it was "highly unlikely". Ferry apologised for his remarks earlier. But, between us, how likely is it that this just M+S PR? A pretty bad one btw...

Just as you like it

The German government wants to reintroduce border controls for the G8 summit in Heiligendamm from 6th to 8th June. Germany signed the Schengen Agreement and introduced it in 1995. So how is it possible to simply opt out for a couple of days as it suits you? It seems the government is afraid of (radical) left wing protestors and attacks.

To be fair there were attacks in the past, just remember Genoa in 2001. But I doubt very strongly that one can put so called suspects under "Vorbeugehaft" (which I guess can be translated as a preventive arrest) and indeed reintrodce border controls for a week or so - then abandon them again and say, well, principally Schengen is a good idea, but sometimes we just need the Cold War back.

Ferry III

It's really getting confusing now. More than 300,00 hits on google. I remember finding only to German papers mentioning him. Only two weeks ago...

More in the UK
BBC
Yahoo News
Telegraph
Brandrepublic
Contactmusic.com
Mail on Sunday

Blogging
Bryan you disappoint me

Eire
RTE

Even Australia and Canada
The West Australian
Reuters Canada

More re Mr Ferry

There were more stories in the Daily Mail and the Mirror today.

Bryan's Bunker

I guess Bryan Ferry had no idea that his remark in the interview for the German weekly Welt am Sonntag (4th March) a couple of weeks ago could be used against him. But then how daft can you be to admit that you admire Riefenstahl's movies, Speer's buidlings and Nazi mass parades and not think that there will be an outcry? In a German newspaper! Up to now Ferry was lucky. Even the Welt editor's were sensible enough (or gutless) to leave out the passage of the March interview (Headline: "I am a serious player") on their website. It seemed that the remarks remained almost unoticed in German media in general. Only Spiegel online and freundin, a women's magazin reported. I actually discovered it in the satire magazine Titanic (April edition) in the infamous column "Briefe an die Leser".

Today's Independent on Sunday finally reveals his "Nazi gaffe - and the outcry was prompt. And loud.

Moreover Ferry calls his West London studio "Führerbunker".

Gut, 10 Uhr 30 Gaststätte Brummer...

Die berühmt berüchtigte Satirezeitschrift Titanic (Ausgabe Juni 2001) hat das Ausstiegsprogramm des Bundesamtes für Verfassungsschutz zum Anlass genommen, bei DVU-Kreisvorsitzenden anzurufen und sich nach ihrem Ausstiegswillen erkundigt. Genauergesagt ist der Anlass der Misserfolg der eigens für die Aktion eingerichteten Hotline. Will sagen, Neonazis wollen nicht aussteigen und rufen folglich nicht da.

Warum sollte man auch darauf warten, dass sich die "Fahnenflüchtigen" melden? Titanic druckt ja auch keine Leserbriefe ab sondern "Briefe an die Leser".

Der "TITANIC-Telefon-Terror" war ein voller Erfolg. "Julius Streicher", die Redaktion hat die Namen der DVU-Kreisvorsitzenden netterweise mit denen von Nazigrößen ausgestauscht, nahm das Angebot und mindestens 25.000 Mark "finanzielle Unterstützung" dankend an. Und damit nicht genug: Für weitere 3.000 tritt er auch in die SPD ein!

Köstlich! Vor allem der Anruf im Originalmitschnitt (letzter Download).

Wer im Glashaus sitzt, sollte nicht mit Steinen werfen

Der türkische Außenminister Gül hat das neue deutsche Einwanderungsgesetz kritisiert. Ausländische Ehepartner, die nach Deutschland nachiehen, müssen schon vor der Einreise ausreichende Sprachkenntnisse nachweisen. Nach Herrn Güls Ansicht verstößt das gegen die Menschenrechte. Ich bin wahrlich kein Freund von schärferen Migrationsgesetzen - zumal ich selbst in einem fremden Land lebe. Als Repräsentant der türkischen Regierung aber in einem anderen Land die Menschnrechte einzufordern geht zu weit.

Der Länderbericht von Amnesty International listet im Kapitel Türkei zahlreiche Vergehen auf. Nach einem neuen Strafgesetz können Menschen, die sich zu bestimmten Themen äußern strafrechtlich verfolgt werden. Es gibt zudem regelmäßig Berichte über Folter und Misshandlungen. Das Vorgehen der Polizei gegen Demonstranten wird als "exzessiv" bezeichnet. Im November 2006 wurden vier Demonstranten erschossen.

Natürlich kann und soll jeder deutsche Gesetze kritisieren, schon gar Einwanderungsgesetze und ganz besonders deren Verschärfung. Kommt diese Kritik aber von der Regierung eines Landes, das selbst massiv die Menschenrechte verletzt, so wirkt diese Kritik bestenfalls unglaubwürdig.

On my mission...

... to eliminate stereotypes I deal with "Germans don't have a sense of humour" today. I was at a wedding in Frankfurt, Germany last weekend. It was in fact my cousin's wedding (Jörn and Sonja on the left). I realised that my preparations were mediocre at best when my boss asked my if I had written my speech. It is not a German tradition that the broom's best man holds a humorous speech. Nevertheless the wedding was very nice and very funny. Funny especially because of a special comedy programme (Schmitts Reisen). Thanks for that, Sandra, well done! I also learned that a 83 year old guest was forced to change her travel itinerary this year because her children were concerned about her well being during air travel. So she's only up to short flights to Bulgaria and the Czech Republic this year. She travels on her own btw.

Living in London for almost a year and a half now my present had to be English somehow. So invited Sonja and Jörn to London for a concert and gave them the first season of Green Wing to get them used to British humour. He's a doctor in a hosptial and she a physiotherapist.

The later the hour the more unusual the dancing becomes.

Moving House

I have to say that my idea - and in fact my experience - of moving house is somehow different from what I experienced yesterday. Christina, however, pointed out that they only had two people helping during there last move - and they had lived on the second floor then. So, no problem. Right, I started as the only member of the team filling cardboard boxes with books and files. No worries, I loved the breakfast :-)

Due to my remarkable skills in logistics we managed to get all the staff in the van (proof pictured with Christina and Martin). And off they went to Oxford. Bye-bye guys, hope you have a good time.

Rain and city ponds

In one of my first blogs I argued that the stereotypes a lot of people have with regard to Britain and especially British weather were untrue. Well, the facts remain, London had more sunny hours than Madrid in 2006 and I still haven't experienced a lot of of rainy miles while cycling through the city.



It does, however, rain in London as it does in any other European city from time to time. So you would expect a reasonable sewage system. The pictures on the top and left prove otherwise.

I have passed this spot (Southwark Street close to Borough Market) regularly and it always looks like this after a shower. There is either a gully that is constantly blocked or there is no fall that would allow the water flow towards it. I mean, this is not a puddle it comes closer to a pond - and it's not the only spot on my way to work. I only cycle 15 minutes btw.

Health & Safety

Und ich dachte, in unserem Büro, dessen Sicherheitsbeauftragten ich die Ehre zu sein habe, sei es gefährlich. In der britischen "Nationalen Sicherheits- und Gesundheitsbehörde" wimmele es so tagesschau.de am heutigen Samstag nur so von Gefahren für Mitarbeiter. Markant, weil eben genau diese Behörde, die Aufgabe hat, solche Gefahren zu bannen. Landesweit.

Leider habe ich bisher weder herausgefunden, auf welche Quellen man sich bei tageschau.de beruft, noch, um welche Behörde es sich handelt. Die einschlägige Behörde wäre NIOSH (The National Institute on Occupational Safety and Health’s), aktuelle Berichte über Versäumnisse sind aber weder bei bei der BBC noch Guardian online zu finden. Beides sind in der Regel sehr verlässliche Quellen und beim Health & Safetywahn der Briten ist es zudem sehr unwahrscheinlich, dass ein solcher Skandal unentdeckt bliebe. Keep on searching.

What could happen outside your front door

This building or what's left of it collapsed this afternoon. It's literally a hundred meters from my flat. Just phoned my mum, telling her that I'm ok and our house is still standing. I wouldn't know however for how long.

BBC NEWS
Building collapses in east London
A search has begun for trapped people after a four-storey building collapsed in east London. Emergency services were called to Commercial Road, Whitechapel, at 1640 GMT on Tuesday following reports of a building partially collapsing. Sound tests are being carried out on the building to determine whether people are trapped inside. Paramedics at the scene treated 10 adults and one boy for shock, but no-one was taken to hospital. Loud bang Steve Ware, from the London Fire Brigade, said: "We're trying to work out if there are people inside. We have no confirmation of anybody involved at the moment. "We have specialist teams actually in the process of using listening devices and we're considering what plan to adapt." About six to eight metres of debris has fallen onto the pavement in front of the building, said emergency services. The building was being refurbished when the first and second floors collapsed. Part of the building has fallen against scaffolding on the front of the site, which is leaning against a lamp-post. Ali Morris, landlady of The Castle Pub, said: "My flatmate came and told me he'd heard a loud bang so we looked out of the window and the fire brigade were already coming out. "We came down, they sealed the road off and you could see all the debris that had come out of the building and the scaffolding is leaning right over."

Commercial Road is blocked in both directions. There are delays in the area, with all traffic being diverted along Whitechapel Road towards Mile End. It is also affecting the buses with routes 15 and 155 being diverted. Police advised motorists to avoid the area around the western end of Commercial Road. Scotland Yard said cordons around the collapsed building were expected to remain in place until further notice.

Story from BBC NEWS - Published: 2007/02/13 22:45:58 GMT

Weltmeister II

This time it's in exports. China is close though and expected to get the cup next year.

Deutscher Außenhandel verzeichnet 2006 Rekordüberschuss

Deutschland hat im vergangenen Jahr so viel Waren ins Ausland exportiert wie nie zuvor. Wie das Statistische Bundesamt in Wiesbaden mitteilte, betrug der Wert der ausgeführten Produkte insgesamt 893,6 Milliarden Euro. Das waren 13,7 Prozent mehr als im Jahr zuvor. Für 2007 gehen Volkswirte davon aus, dass die Branche weiter wächst, wenn auch nicht mehr so stark.

Ausgabe des dradio-newsletters: Deutschlandradio 20 Uhr Nachrichten vom 8. Februar 2007.

About things I do not understand

Haven't moaned in a while. So here we go. Tell me if I'm too naive, but sometimes I feel that things could be so easy.

To start with, there is this waterless urinal. You might have seen it in a restaurant. I mean, whoever invented this thing, give the guy the Nobel Prize and make these urinals compulsory for every pub, restaurant, government building, university etc. How many water could be saved?

Number 2, why can't you abolish cars in the city centre like Montpellier (which is twinned with Glasgow btw) did? You can then even safe the money for proper cycle lanes and pedestrian zones because cyclists and pedestrian can simple use the streets. Beside exceptions for emergency services, give special permission to couriers, but increase the number of bike couriers and have low emission delivery vans. Effectively abolish SUVs and sports cars in cities in general by increasing tax by some hundred percent and/or set a petrol consumption (e.g. five litres). Subsidies cycle to work programs massively and encourage employers and employees o join.

To be continued.

WELTMEISTER - at last

Germany wins the Handball Worldcup! The team of coach Heiner Brandt who won the titel as a player in 1978 beated Poland 29:24.

tagesschau.de Telegramm, 04.02.2007, 17:54 Uhr

Handball-WM: Deutschland ist Weltmeister

Die deutsche Handballmannschaft hat im eigenen Land das Endspiel der
Weltmeisterschaft gewonnen. Das Team von Trainer Heiner Brand besiegte in
Köln die polnische Auswahl souverän mit 29:24 Toren. [...]

Weitere Informationen: http://newsletter.tagesschau.de/re?l=6m5n10I3gyho1I0

El Morro, Rumba, El Prado

And on we went. The next day we visited El Morro, a massive fortress built in the late 16th century to spot enemies approaching the city.

Vedado and Habana Vieja

We then moved on to the Plaza de la Revolución. The memorial in the middle of the square – named after the national hero José Martí - is not really pleasant, due to its height of 109m yet impressive. We judged most of the monuments that way, seems to be common in communist countries. Nice contrast to the massive concrete building: By chance we saw a colourful parade with dancers on stilts.


While going around the city in the coconuts you obviously get a very good impression of the day to day life in Havana. Most remarkable are the means of transport, pictured below.

The old part (Habana Vieja, above) where we stopped next is totally different from the newer quarters. Here you find colourful houses, newly renovated sights and nicely cobblestoned streets. Could have been southern Italy or so.

I especially liked the houses round Plaza de la Catedral with its balconies and stained-glass windows.

Sightseeing in Havana

We started our first day with a sightseeing tour in the notorious coconut taxis (right, short movie available on request). Eddy our Cuban guide - who speaks an almost perfect but funny German and also a very good English - suggested to start with the real Havana "where the people live" (Centro Habana). We saw some beautifully renovated houses, but mainly ruined buildings. Rather shocking when you see people living under these circumtances. Also sad that the architecture of these houses is superb, but there is no money to reconstruct them. People, however, have more trouble getting everything they need for the day to day life - the average earnings are about 250 Cuban Pesos (ca. £6). At least they don't have to pay the rent.

El Morro seen from Malecón

Our Hotel was directly on Malecón, Havana's famous coast road, opposite El Morro fortress.

Off to Cuba we go!

After a nine hour flight we touched down and the stewardess announced: "Welcome to Jose Marti international airport. The temperature is 28 degrees Celsius." Wow, this was going to be my warmest Christmas eve. My first impression of Cuba, however, was not so positive. First of all, o one seems to work in this country. While waiting at the passport checkpoint we counted as many as 14 uniformed men and women walking around the hall and/or chatting with each other. It took as two hours to get through the checks. And that's considered to be normal our guide explained later. As is the xray hand luggage check on arrival.

Anyway, we were glad to see him the minute we got our baggage and off we drove through the Havana night to our hotel.

Back from Cuba

After an almost 24 hours journey I'm back in London. The last 17 days were really great, I've seen a lot of wonderful places, met lovely people and had a lot of fun. I'm still not completely back, a bit of my mind and heart are still on the island. But, let's face it, tomorrow is the first working day... I took some 800 pictures that I hope will help to bring across a bit of the Cuban spirit. Have fun. BTW there will soon be a Cuba revival party. Christina, Martin?

Viva La Revolución!

We have learned today that the massimo lider is indeed not well, but not terminally ill either. The BBC relies on a statement from Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, who has close ties to Castro. Let's hope that he's right. I'd feel a bit uncomfortable if he died while walking about in Havana.

Crime and Media coverage

Ever since my arrival in the UK in November 2005 I have wondered where there has been such an intensive and frequent media coverage of crime. Especially capital crime. This is true for newspapers, TV and radio. It also - unfortunately true for both tabloids and quality papers like The Times, The Daily Mirror, and The Guardian. I am under the impression that The Independent does have fewer crime related stories or at least does not push it that much than the others. Anyway, looking at the headlines and watching TV news reminded me of Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine.

If you compare headlines and stories in general in German papers as Süddeutsche Zeitung, Frankfurter Rundschau, Frankfurter Allgemeine, Die Welt you will soon find out that there are far less stories about crime. If your German is good enough of course.

This is because there is simply more capital crime in the UK and it does therefore affect people more. Really?

647 people were convicted of murder and manslaughter in Germany in 2004. This included attempted murder and manslaughter. For the England and Wales this figure is 670. Considering the inhabitants in the two areas and to make it more complicated, this is about 0.01% of the German population and about 0.008% of the population in England and Wales.

So there is more crime here than there is in Germany. Quod erat demonstrantum. But, given the very small total numbers does that really justify this intensive coverage? I sincerely believe it doesn't. I think it makes people feel unsafe.

Another reason for the dominant place of crime stories in UK media might be the rising number of crimes committed. So has the crime rate risen of the last years? No, says the British Crime Survey.

According to the BCS:

• In 2005/06 the total number of crimes in England and Wales was around 10,912,000.
• Total crime peaked in 1995, and has since fallen by 44%.

The Brits and Finance

I know that it is not quite English understatement to criticise people directly; however, I have just learned in my communication skills course that the English habit of apologising in advance rather than coming straight to the point. I also do nit intend to criticise people but a whole system. The British financial system this is.

I have already touched this issue on my blog and would like to add yet another story. I have recently changed my bank because my old bank charged me for going into debt. This is not unusual and I understand that banks charge fees if you do not comply with their terms and conditions. I consider my case - and maybe of millions of others? - to be a little different.

To start with, it took my more than two months to open the current account in the first place after the clerk suddenly decided to accept my overseas utility bill as proof of address. After about half a year I asked for an overdraft and was told that the bank, Barclays, could not grant me one. "But why? I have been a customer for over 6 months now and you see that I have a regular income." "I am sorry, sir, but we can't give you an overdraft". "But why?". "We can't give you one." "I just want to know why!" ...

I did not intend to use the overdraft. It was only a precaution to secure payments if I had to pay a large bill a day or so before my salary would be due. Exactly that happened two weeks after I had asked for the overdraft. So my account was in debt for two days and the amount was less than £5. I was charged £30. My enqueries in person and per email weren't successful so I decided to switch.

smile give you a £500 - at least for the first 6 months. Fine. Anyway, it all worked out well. They transfered my direct debits and I could use the account online about two weeks after I had applied for the current account.

Today I have received this letter. It is a joke, isn't it? I have checked this account online and the new direct debit is listed. So we on earth do they still need the details? And a cheque? Apropos, one of my next blogs will definitely about these ancient form of payment.

Tips for foreigners can be found here. Sorry, it's only available in German.

Make it easy

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be
the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was
the other possibility.

As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English
spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5- year phase-in
plan that would become known as "Euro-English".

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make
the sivil servants jump with joy.

The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k". This should klear up
konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the
troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like
fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to
reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.

Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always
ben a deterent to akurate speling.

Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is
disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with
"z" and "w"with "v".

During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou"

and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensi bl riten styl.

Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu
understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze
forst plas.

If zis mad you smil, pleas pas on to oza pepl.

Made in Offenbach. Fast.

Nicht nur, dass mein dänischer temp flatmate ein netter Kerl ist, er ist auch erfahren im bügeln. Zumindest ließ sein schnittiges Dampfbügeleisen darauf schließen. Nach anfänglicher Skepsis habe ich den Versuch gewagt und war vom Ergebnis sehr angetan. Es ist tatsächlich ein Leichtes, mit diesem Gerät zu bügeln und - das Entscheidende - das Hemd ist nahezu knitterfrei! Nach zwei Monaten (temp!) zieht mein flatmate nun wieder aus und nimmt natürlich sein Wundergerät mit.

Ich musste zur Tat schreiten. In einem Elektromarkt stand ich vor einem Regal mit 20 verschiedenen Bügeleisen, die sich m.E. nur im Preis unterschieden. In der Kategorie £25 fand ich glücklicherweise ein Modell von Rowenta. Gute deutsche Wertarbeit. Noch dazu aus Offenbach (zumindest dort gegründet, mittlerweile SEB). Wunderbar, nachdem ich letzten Monat nicht ohne Stolz herausfand, dass der Londoner Stadteil, in dem ich lebe, Tower Hamlets, mit Offenbach verschwistert ist, ist dieser Kauf schon die zweite gute Tat, um die ehemals heimische Wirtschaft zu unterstützen.

Als ich das gute Stück zu Hause auspackte und die Bedienungsanleitung studierte, musste ich jedoch voller Schrecken feststellen, dass es mit nichten in Offenbach hergestellt wurde: Made in China prangte neben dem Rowentalogo.

I'm working...

For those of you who always wanted to know what I'm doing. And were wondering if I'm working hard. Pa?

Clean pubs at last

The date the smoking ban in England will come into force has been announced today. It's the 1st July. So over a week for the pubs to clear until my birthday. Great. But let's have a fag the night before ;-)

Ladenschluss sucks!

Endlich!

"Auch Hessen und Brandenburg liberalisieren Ladenschluss

Nach anderen Bundesländern haben nun auch Hessen und Brandenburg den Ladenschluss weitgehend freigegeben. Der hessische Landtag in Wiesbaden entschied, dass ab Dezember der Einkauf an Werktagen rund um die Uhr möglich sein soll. Lediglich Sonn- und Feiertage bleiben weitgehend geschützt.Das Parlament in Potsdam beschloss eine ähnliche Regelung. Auch eine Ausweitung der Öffnungszeiten an den Advent-Sonntagen ist vorgesehen. Zuvor hatten bereits unter anderem Berlin, Nordrhein-Westfalen und Sachsen die Ladenschluss-Bestimmungen gelockert."

dradio-newsletters: Deutschlandradio 20 Uhr Nachrichten vom 23. November 2006

20 Millionen illegale Waffen in Deutschland

Diese Meldung hat mich geschockt.

[...] 2002 schätzte die Gewerkschaft der Polizei die Zahl der illegalen Schusswaffen in Deutschland auf 20 Millionen, die Größenordnung wurde seither nie ernsthaft bestritten. Die Sprecherin des Bundeskriminalamtes dazu: "Uns liegt hierzu kein statistisches Datenmaterial vor, und Schätzungen geben wir nicht ab." [...]

Ich habe für Amnesty International bei der Kampagne control arms (Waffen unter Kontrolle) engagiert und Passanten und Kinobesuchern erzählt, wie viele illegale Waffen in Afrika kursieren, dass Kindersoldaten an ihnen zum Töten ausgebildet werden und jede Minute ein Mensch durch eine Kugel stirbt. Dabei habe ich habe nicht daran gedacht, dass jeder vierte mit dem ich gesprochen habe, statistisch auch eine illegale Waffe zu HAuse im Schrank stehen hat. Vielliecht bin ich zu naiv...

What a week!

This week was quite an exiting one. It started with an accident just outside our office. A motor cyclist was hit by a car when making a right turn. Despite the fact that the hit must have caused a loud noise I didn't hear anything, but ran out of the office after seeing the crashed bike on the street. Everything I had learned in the First Aid Course rushed through my head. When I arrived at the scene I could see that the cyclist was lying in the street holding is leg that was apparently broken. He was surrounded by people and someone apparently had called an ambulance. So apart from reassuring him that help would be there soon there was no need for First Aid.

On Thursday we had a heavily drunken tramp who was also shouting at passers-by on our door step. We had to call the police. Once there they questioned him, but he was not really in the state to answer them. Then they tried to remove him from the steps. That didn't work either. By the time I left they managed to move him from the step to the pavement. After all.

Friday promised to be very busy as I had to hand in a report. Around lunchtime someone was due in to fix the electricity problem in the office. Too make a long story short, we ended up with an electrician who was furious when I had told that we cannot pay him by cheque as agreed before as the signatory had to leave because of an emergency. Ok, I did not deliver what was agreed. But, hey, what would you do if someone calls you in to fix a problem and you had agreed on a immediate payment after fulfillment? And knowing that the other option, i.e. invoicing your customer (not an unusual thing to do anyway, is it?) would bring you 100 quid more? Right, tell him you have to add that amount to the invoice, get your worksheet signed, leave and report to your boss. Well, he did all that in the end, but not without making a major fuss about our agreement, my responsibility and even our morality.

Just to be on the safe side

We all know that the terror cell who planned 9/11 was living in Marienstraße 54, Hamburg. I am pretty sue that the neighbours have been asking themselves again and again, why didn't we see or hear anything when they had planned the attacks next door? Could have prevented anyhing? The answer to these questions is probably now.

Just have a look at the picture above. I came across it on my way to work. The sign shows the entrance to a mosque. Does that ring a bell? Well, as I live two minutes from there I felt I should let you know...

Sozialneid

Kleiner Beitrag zum Thema Immer auf die Kleinen. Das unterste Viertel der deutschen Steuerzahler trägt weniger als vier Prozent zum Einkommenssteueraufkommen bei. Diejenigen auf den top Plätzen (das sind die ersten acht Prozent, die einen Spitzensteursatz 40 bis 42 Prozent zahlen) kommen für 44 Prozent auf. (Die Zeit vom 2. November 2006, S.23)

Mit anderen Worten, der Staat bekommt fast die Hälfte seiner Einnahmen durch die Einkommensteuer von acht Prozent der arbeitenden Bevölkerung.

Zitat der Woche

Zugegeben, FJ Jung war und ist kein Politpromi und selbst den meisten Hessen vermutlich kein Begriff. Er diente ein Jahr lang MP Koch als Kanzleichef und stand zwei Jahre der CDU-Landtagsfraktion in Wiesbaden vor.

Aber das Ergebnis einer ARD-Umfrage, hat mich dann doch etwas geschockt. "Mir sagt der Name gar nichts", oder "Ich könnte mir vorstellen, dass der Franz Josef Jung so Sachbücher in punkto Kochen schreibt". Auch jemand, "der Musik gemacht hat", fällt zufällig gefragten Passanten bei dem Namen Franz Josef Jung ein."

You wonder what they have learned from the past...

Hello BBC! Anybody home? By putting the "news" about a German sex offender in the Europe section you proved me right (see posting below). Thanks for that.

But wasn't there something else? Something you - oh, sorry, should I limit this to the yellow press? - jump at immediately? Yes, there was. And yes it's the Nazis. They are back. In a way at least.

According to a survey by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation more than 15 percent of Germans want to have a "Führer with a strong hand", 26 percent a sole party in the country that represents the ethnic community ("Volksgemeinschaft")!!! By now all signals must have turned to red!

BBC, this is newsworthy! Not Britney's sex life or a tosser running on a prison's roof.

Media

Ich hatte es eigentlich schon aufgegeben, mich über die schlechte englische Presse zu echauffieren. Das schließt die ach so ehrwürdige und seriöse BBC ein. Eigentlich. Ab und an überkommt mich aber wieder ein Schauder. So auch heute. Obige Meldung erschien allen Ernstes heute Abend als "Breaking News", um nach wenigen Minuten zu einer Topmeldung aufzusteigen.

The verdict

It worries me that the Foreign Secretary has welcomed the verdict against Saddam Hussein. The former Iraqi president has been sentenced to death over the killings of 148 civilians in Dujail in 1982 today.

How can a government that clearly opposes the death penalty be in favour of a verdict that results in hanging? Mrs Beckett speaks of "appalling crimes" and that "It is right that those accused of such crimes against the Iraqi people should face Iraqi justice."

Let's be clear. These crimes were appalling and whoever is responsible for them needs to be brought to justice. Two questions arise though. Firstly, was the trial against Saddam fair? International lawyers and Amnesty International have serious doubts. The human rights organisation claims that is was "deeply flawed and unfair". It appears that the trial was not judged by Western standards as Mrs Beckett implies.

Secondly, if you are under the impression that the trial was held under democratic standards - an opinion that is predictable if you are part of the "coalition against terror" - why do you feel obliged to hail such a verdict? And how credible is it if you then add that you are opposed to the death penalty? Does that mean we are generally against and it, but not this time? Why didn't Mrs Beckett join her European counterparts in their statements today? Most of them said that Saddam should be held accountable for his crimes, but that he should get life imprisonment rather than the death penalty.

BTW is it coincidence that the verdict was announced two days before the US midterm election?

CCTV

Die bemerkenswerteste Meldung der Woche ist, dass die Briten zugeben, in einer Überwachungsgesellschaft zu leben. Sorry guys, aber dass hätte ich euch auch vorher sagen können. Man wird schier von den Dingern erschlagen, wenn man durch Londons Straßen läuft. Im Königreich gibt es geschätzte 4,2 Mio so genannte closed-circuit televison (CCTV) Kameras. Eine Kamera für 14 Einwohner! Man kennt ja solche Rechnungen aus der Welt der Statistik. 280 Einwohner pro Quadratkilometer (Deutschland), 5 000 Einwohner pro Arzt (?) oder sehr beliebt 10 000 Londoner pro ATM (frei nach FL).

Man stelle sich das vor: 14 Einwohner pro Kamera! Die könnte man tatsächlich auf einem zur Kamera gehöhrigen Bildschirm sehen und identifizieren. Da das aber meistens nicht passiert, rennt der Einwohner Großbritanniens durchschnittlich 300 durch das Sichtfeld einer CCTV Kamera. Und wie stehts mit dem Datenschutz? Aber man muss doch nichts befürchten, wenn man ein braver Bürger ist und hat es eine abschreckenden Wirkung. Außerdem stelle dir vor: Ein Familienmitglied wird auf der Straße ermordet und man kann den Täter mittels CCTV identifizieren. So in etwa die Ansicht zweier meiner Kollegen zum Thema. Ich gebe nur zu Bedenken, dass sowohl die 9/11 als auch die 7/7 Attentäter aufgezeichnet wurden...

Anyway, wenn man dann das Gesicht zum Täter (oder potenziellen Täter) gefunden hat, kann man es mit der DNA Datenbank (3.5 Mio Einträge) und der für Fingerabdrücke abgleichen (6 Mio Einträge) und, weiß eigentlich?. Achja, zuschlagen. Und um sicher zu gehen, schicken wir 250 Polizisten zum Verhaften.

Damit überlasse ich euch das Feld. Und wer mir sagen kann, wie hoch die Wahrscheinlichkeit ist, dass ich auch schon in einer solchen Datenbank verzeichnet bin (Die UK hat 60 Mio. Einwohner), bekommt ein Pint.

Watch your money

We all now that we should watch our valuables in busy tourist areas, e.g. Amsterdam. But this is different and rather shocking. Brittle Euro notes have appeared in Germany. Apparently the notes literally fall into pieces while using them. The German Bundesbank denies that they are forgeries but claims that they must have come into contact with an acid.

I just try to imagine the day we have to pay our rent. Thanks to the great bank system and/or strange landlords we have to pay it in cash. So once every month we'd walk with well over £1,000 to the property agent. As you can imagine this already is quite a pile of notes. Now multiply this by say 20 and imagine the face of the agent when you put the crumbs on the table...

I have to say this is the first time I'm really happy that the UK have not (yet?) joined the EU monetary union. They have found 1,500 notes so far. Good luck guys!

My committment

If anyone has any tips re best man please leave a coment to this blog. My cousin gets married in March and I've committed myself to be his best man (I like the German word for it better. Trauzeuge. There's no direct translation into English for it, although it means witness to a marriage).

Already regret it, Sonja and Jörn, cause I bet you somehow make me sign this document where I commit myself to pay for you expenses when you loose your jobs, get the blame if your rats get poisened and so on. Well, I'll be prepared ;-)