Winter in Europe

Der Spiegel Online (English version) posted this series of pictures of the beautiful and chaotic early start of Winter across Europe.

O’Reilly and Stewart pitch in [WikiLeaks]

Of course the two Cable News clowns O’Reilly (though he of course takes himself very seriously) and the brilliant Jon Stewart had to add their comments and arguments to today’s news cycle.

O’Reilly in his typical (and probably fake) outrage calls for the people responsible for the leaks to be “executed”  or sentenced to “hard labor” and generally focuses on Obama’s hesitation in commenting on the latest leaks instead of actually focusing on the leaks itself, which according to Rachel Maddow on her show actually turn out to be quite unimpressive/uninteresting (O’Reilly only mentions that in passing).

Stewart, like Maddow, also points out the ‘silly’ highly confidential leaks (including Gadaffi’s Ukrainian nurse and all the things we already knew) and then explains the absurdity of us teaming up with Saudi Arabia against Al-Qaida, when in fact Al-Qaida is largely funded by Saudi Arabia. In Stewart’s words:

“It’s like we’re the commission-less middlemen in a war we’re waging on ourselves.”

Maddow also raises the question of the incredible expense of attempting to keep so much unimportant information confidential, which goes back to the issue of actually discussing defense spending, which unfortunately is so often completely “off the table” when talking about reigning in the deficit.

 

 

Arianna Huffington on WikiLeaks

Arianna Huffington talked about ‘Cablegate’ on George Stromboulopoulos Tonight arguing (in the line of the general assumption that the release of all information is generally better for public discourse and democracy) that the leaks might “shed light on the Afghan war, its cost to America, and prompt the public to ask why we’re still there.”

Lets hope so!

All about WikiLeaks

I’ve found so many interesting articles and links about the most recent WikiLeaks (concerning the diplomatic cables) that I’ve almost considered temporarily re-naming this blog “All about WikiLeaks.”
But of course, in addition to news & updates, I am going to try and find stories and analysis of how these leaks are being responded to by Europe’s governments and political leaders.

But first up: The Huffington Post has a fantastic live feed up that’s definitely worth checking into.

Europe reacts to WikiLeaks

I woke up this morning to an interview by Steve Inskeep with the U.S. correspondent for my favorite weekly news magazine Der Spiegel (Gregor Peter Schmitz). Apparently many of the diplomat memos recently released had been known to the press since August and Der Spiegel is just now releasing excerpts and analysis in a several part series. The magazine will mainly focus on leaks that pertain to European diplomats and strategy. I’m not sure if it’s going to be available in the English speaking version of the Spiegel, but I’ll keep an eye out for it and post back here once I find something (in either German or English).

It’s not Christmas until…

… this is on TV:

At least that’s how I felt back in the late nineties/early 2000s in Germany. For a while, this ad (and variations of it) ran during the pre-holiday season and I just loved it! To this day, I make it a point to watch it online around this time of the year, so I figured I’d share.

Hope you enjoy!

P.S. Apparently loving these ads is a European phenomenon (check out the comment section on youtube). Does anyone know if this ever ran in the U.S.?

P.P.S. In case you were wondering, the two main monuments featured are The Brandenburg Gate and The Cologne Cathedral. Anyone know what the third one is? It looks like some kind of monastery.

DREAM Act hunger strike spreads

One of my former professors posted this link on his facebook earlier today.

Students at several University of Texas system campuses have joined a hunger strike movement to pressure Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (who was defeated by now fourth term Governor Rick Perry in the Republican primary) to vote for the DREAM Act.

UPDATE: The DREAMactivist blog posted this update.

 

Ireland in the NYT

Today’s New York Times features two stories about European countries in turmoil (for very different reasons): Ireland and Poland.

Protesters took to the streets in Ireland in response to the international community’s rescue plan, specifically the attached austerity program which proposes tax increases and spending cuts (including cuts to welfare, public-sector jobs (ca. 10%), and a lowering of the minimum wage).

I find it very interesting that spending cuts & tax INCREASES are mentioned in the same breath here. Having followed political discourse in this country for quite a while, I don’t recall anyone ever mentioning the two together, though they appear to fit together logically.

NYT online also featured this little collection of quotes from Europe’s political leaders trying to point out how their country is so very different from all the other ones.

For example this nice little pair:

“ ‘ Ireland is no Greece’ confirms latest economic forecast.”
Ernst and Young, in its Economic Eye Summer Forecast, June 2010

“Greece is not Ireland; it doesn’t have banking stability problems.”
George Papaconstantinou, finance minister of Greece, Nov. 8

Poland in the NYT

Today’s NYT also included this piece by Michael Slackman which is doing an excellent job trying to describe the currently almost irrational dissonance in the country.

After becoming one of the only countries emerging almost unscathed from the Soviet Era, Poland has largely avoided the recession that shook the world and is still growing at an expected rate of 4 percent (next year). But political infighting, especially after a tragic plane crash killed many of the country’s political and military leaders this year and a general sentiment of “needing an enemy” is hurting the country.

(My summary really doesn’t do it justice, so if you get a chance, please read!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving this year!

As most of you hopefully know, this is a purely U.S. festival, but since many readers of this blog seem to be interested in European festivities, I’m going to write a little about similar fall festivals and how they are celebrated abroad:

Germany (Erntedankfest)

An annual celebration often observed in churches to thank God for a good harvest. Most churches celebrate it on a Sunday in early October. In rural regions and regions with strong agricultural ties, a procession with an Erntekrone (Harvestcrown) often takes place. The crown is made up of corn, flowers, and colorful ribbons.

In Kindergarten and elementary school we would always make

little crafts out of  clay or construction paper. The typical motif was a basket with fall vegetables and corn. Similar to a cornucopia (btw, anyone know how it became such a popular image in U.S. pop culture?) just in a regular shaped basket.

Britain (Harvest festival (from the Anglo-Saxon word haverfest))

Apparently, in Britain, farmers used to make loaves of bread from the wheat crop which were then used for communion in the local churches. Also, reapers accompanied a ‘harvest cart,’ shouting “hooky, hooky.” [according to a Wikipedia article]

Austria

Many traditions in Germany and Austria are similar. But around this time of year, many regions (including in Germany) often have wine festivals with wine tastings etc. In Klosterneuburg near Vienna, Fasslrutschen has become a yearly tradition, where hundreds of people slide down a giant wooden barrel (holding 56000 liters or almost 15000 gallons) for good luck (sounds like fun, right?).

There are definitely more traditions. So, if interested, please check harvestfestivals.net for a much more comprehensive listing of harvest traditions around the world.

Sources: Wikipedia (German & English), Harvestfestivals.net, portalgesund.de, norcalblogs.com, vsklosterneuburg-brucknergasse.ac.at and my memories.