oddly enough, quicklink

Frauenparkplatz

is German for one of the usually well lit and extremely conveniently placed discriminatory parking spots in car parks reserved for female use. A few weeks ago, I saw a comedy programme on German tv take the word literally: Husbands about to run errants parked their wifes on a “Frauenparkplatz”, leaving them holding the parking tickets in their mouths…

Well, maybe it was because of this gag that the Nox Bar in Hamburg has now started a “Maennerparkplatz”, or rather, “Maennergarten”, as in Kindergarten for men: “[f]or $11.80, [they are] offering boy’s games and home-improvement coaching as well as a meal and two beers for men left there for a Saturday afternoon, leaving women free to shop in the city’s swanky boutiques.”

I don’t know if this will survive in the long run – but they had 27 parked guys there on the project’s second saturday… who said the German service industry isn’t sufficiently innovative? [via Papascott, noted by AP last week.]

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quicklink, US Politics, web 2.0

Georgy Update

The Ventura County Star thinks George may have stolen Georgy’s votes. Not that George (W.) though, who is probably innocent, for once. Here’s what the newspaper’s Colleen Cason believes:

“A heretofore unknown candidate named George Schwartzman placed ninth statewide. Although the San Diego County businessman insists his fresh ideas won him those 11,000 votes, his stellar showing more likely results from a case of mistaken identity. Voters no doubt confused George Schwartzman with Georgy Russell – the candidate who marketed herself on thong undies.”

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quicklink, US Politics

Slightly Surprised.

The final results for the Californian recall are in – “100.0 % ( 15235 of 15235 ) precincts reporting as of Oct 9, 2003 at 7:27 pm“. In the end, only 1,957 votes were cast for Georgy Russell, while 3,747,446 (48,6%) people trusted Schwarzenegger to sweep the office. Georgy’s result is not only unfortunate, it also deserves a closer look given all her blog- and thong-induced internet fame. I’ll think about that over the weekend.

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Allgemein

A Ray Of Hope?

The Jerusalem Post reports that “Leftists, Palestinians near ‘Swiss Agreement‘” along the lines of the proposed Taba compromise of early 2001, under which Israel would cede some 95 percent of the occupied territories, Palestinian control of east Jerusalem, and for the right of refugees to return to a Palestinian state, but not to Israel.

Sure, such an agreement would not have any legal effect – and it is hard to imagine how something that wasn’t truly accepted by a gambling Arafat back in 2000 could become official Israeli policy now given the tragic state of affairs). But it would certainly signal to the world that there are still people in Israel and among the Palestinians who are willing to go all the way for a negotiated agreement. Depending on press coverage, it could be an extremely powerful political signal.

No wonder Ariel Sharon already denounced any possible agreement even before its conclusion (from the Jerusalem Post):

“There is a cynical political attempt by Labor and the Left to topple the government at a time when it is fighting terror,” Sharon said. “This must be taken seriously. They did it in a time of war before, and now, too, they are cooperating with the Palestinians in a time of war.”

Of course, it is impossible to predict both peoples’ reactions in these violent times. But Sharon’s reaction somehow implies that it would help recreate hope, the scarcest resource in the Middle East these days.

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US Politics

Making Votes Count. Or So.

The day of this year’s funniest election has finally arrived.

Today registered voters in California are going to decide whether to dethrone their incumbent governor Gray Davis and if so, with whom to replace him. In spite of a campaign that was content void even by American standards and despite recent allegations of sexual harassment in times gone by, Arnold Schwarzenegger is still leading the pack of more than 130 candidates. Whatever the truth to these “timely” allegations, they are not negligible and will probably have some effect on voters.

Speaking of effect on voters: Dear Californian readers, I know it is not my business to judge the way this recall came about (a story about wealthy people financing a signature campaign, show business, budgetary difficulties and number-plate fees) and how this campaign was carried out. But even so, I would like to once again endorse Georgy “Beauty, Brains, Leadership” Russell whose campaign pledges you can read at www.georgyforgov.com. Should you want to know why exactly I endorse her, scroll down a bit in the main blog and you will see.

For all others, why not check out the NY Times Recall Full Coverage including a nice  interactive electoral map (update 06/02/2014 : link not working anymore) further explaining this strange democratic exercise that could possibly give rise to another banana republic stand-off resembling the presidential mud-fight in Florida three years ago. Court decisions have ensured that the election can be held even though a significant number of polling stations are equipped with the same punch card system that caused confusion in Florida. And just as in Florida, there are a quite a few absentee ballots, more than a million, who will only be counted after the polling stations close.

All this leaves me with two main questions: Why not use paper & pen? And why did Californians, living in one of the world’s main high-tech incubators, feel compelled to take the risk of a worldwide demonstration of the fallibility of (their) technology?

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Iraq, media, US Politics

The Economist surrenders.

wielders of mass deception?Now look at that – The Economist is getting warier of supporting President Bush and Tony Blair. Given that the magazine was among the very few European outlets which decidedly supported the war on Iraq because of the dangers posed by the assumed proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, a cover like this week’s must be considered a clear indicator of a shift in editorial policy. Now the interesting question would be – taking the headline quite literally – how could the Economist be deceived like it has?

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Iraq, US Politics

900 million Dollars.

That’s 900 000 000 Dollars, or 2 465 753,42 Dollars a day, on an annual basis ignoring all kinds of interest. It’s also the amount the current American administration wants to spend to search the weapons of mass destruction it could not find so far. A third, roughly 300 million US Dollars, has been spent already with, to be honest, discouraging results. Tonight, David Kay, US special WMD investigator is reporting to the US Congress about the results of the hunt for the smoking gun in and around Baghdad. And apparently, he’s not too confident about finding anything even slightly reminiscent thereof.

So let’s ask the inevitable question: If Kay is right, and 600 more millions will not help uncover WMDs, will they be enough to buy back the stuff Hussein managed to secure outside the country or sold to terrorists? Hardly. But maybe the amount is sufficient to credibly wag the dog and help President Bush keep the White House… [more: NY Times]

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oddly enough, quicklink

Night of the long knives.

Kids, don’t click this link if you cannot entirely rule out the possibility of having a plastic surgery one day. Via Lillimarleen comes this link (Update 06/02/2014: link not working) to awful examples of plastic surgery.

And indeed, having at least a little idea of the kind of stunning effects well done plastic surgery can have, I am surprised that even some A-list celebrities are still being visually handicapped by their beauty-ops. Anyway – have a look, if you dare.

Oh, and here’s another beauty related statistic I recently overheard: In Venezuela, half of the upper-class girls aged 16-20 are getting “something” done -maybe that’s the reason why Venezuelan girls are renown for their beauty.

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Iraq, quicklink, USA

Deserting a professional army?

Apparently, the number of deserters in the US army has been increasing for some years now.. Not surprising, one might be tempted to say, given the rising number of foreign deployments. But then again – maybe I am not getting this – but why would anyone desert in a professional army? Isn’t serving in a professional army like any other employment? Why “desert” when one could simply quit?

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