Civilian Security Forces!?

"We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded." Sen. Obama.

Now, historical precedents should tell us something, I believe. Did anyone hear of the Kampfgruppen der Arbeiterklasse (KdA), for instance? What about the Blackshirts? Or the Sturmabteilung?

I thought the liberals were aghast at the idea of paramilitary services and left them to the "right wing nutjobs". Apparently not anymore.

This is getting a bit too creepy...

Could it be we hadn't seen things like that in the western world since, say, the mid '40s?

You've got to be kidding, FT

From the Financial Times "Republican legislators ripped into a $700bn financial rescue package backed by almost the entire US political establishment. "

Now:

- 94 Democrats, members of the party holding an overwhelming majority in the American House of Reporesentatives, voted against the package, included 5 committee chairmen

- the House (democratic) speaker, besides being unable to keep control of more than one third of her party's votes, thought it was a good idea to lunch herself in an aggressive speech right before the vote criticizing the very idea of a bailout, putting all the blame on the republicans (first video) and casually forgetting the prominent role of the democrats in refusing regulations on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae which could had avoided the subprime crisis (second video)

- Contrarily to McCain, Obama didn't even try to help the bill pass (NYT: "Aides to Mr. Obama said he had not directly reached out to try to sway any House Democrats who opposed the measure. ")

... and the republicans ripped into the package?

An Autumn afternoon walk in Bretzenheim

The light and the colors of Autumn, the houses and look of Bretzenheim:

Blue eyes, baby's got blue eyes...

Goodbye Paul Newman.

And you might want to read this too.

Unassuming

German classes every day at 8.45 is not a light task, I can assure you... however, at 10.30 we get 20 minutes of a pause. After much searching, finally a place was found worth of the walk (and the occasional 50 cents of fine for getting back late...) . It's in Fort Malakoff, which is unassuming from outside (left) and unassuming from inside (right).










The Bar itself is unassuming (so much that, having gone there a half dozen times, I still have to catch the name of the place), with unassuming façade (left), unassuming customers (except when the occasional first or second grade class parks in front of it, which happens surprisingly often) and, you bet, unassuming espresso... but then... try the apfelstrudel or the puddingbretze...

Igloos

A couple of days ago, Mainz demonstrated as the climate change might be affecting the city, but also that they will be ready for the next ice age, as the new polar compound stood proudly in Gutembergplatz.
No, seriously, it was a series of tents to host some kind of intercultural manifestation, but considering it was FIVE degrees this morning, one has to wonder...

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more

Here we are again... for the third time in my life, I try once again to learn German. After having signed with the Berlitz school here in Mainz for a course that never started and made me waste 2 whole months, eventually I signed up at the VolksHochSchule... will I manage this time to grasp at least the basics of this barbaric and hypercomplicated language? Ich weiss nicht...

The school (left) , located downtown near the Zitadelle and Fort Malakov, and the old style corridors of the school (right).








The classroom empty and with some of my colleagues. The group s incredibly varied, with people coming from 4 diferent continents and countries as Italy, Iran, Iraq, Chile, Hungary, Japan, Turkey, Greece, Philippines, Cambodia...







Kindergarden feelings: the sparrschwein (left) where people arriving late must deposit 1 euro and (right) an awesomely useful rigmarole to try and remember the insane rules of the language







The two teachers: Angelika (left) and Peter, who apparently has been an actor in the past and that indeed does show when he teaches, making him the funniest German teacher I ever met...