On Sunday, Switzerland had a referendum regarding a building regulation concerning minarettes. Henceforth, it is illegal to build new ones. The swiss government didn't really believe that the referendum would be successful and has since tried to do damage control. They are concerned about how this vote might reflect on their foreign relations and location for international banking. It might be bad for business, and according to criticism the ban violates the human rights of freedom of religion. ...

I spent the last few days with the possibility to watch TV - I don't normally do - and I happend across a documentary/magazine about the midwest of the US, specifically Colorado in wintertime. They had several little films. One was about a wounded warriors outing in a famous wintersport resort, and it was just amazing to see how some of these veterans were performing. The narrator said that since so many soldiers were wounded in the recent wars, interest in disabled sports has increased a lot si...

The highest appeals court in Turkey has ruled that virginity is a prerequisite for marriage. A man had sued and wanted to nullify his marriage because his bride hadn't been a virgin... sheesh! Why doesn't the man have to be a virgin too? What about a widow that remarries? Turks (and arabs) and their sexist ideals about marriage and honour.. thank god I wasn't born there.

I was trolling Spiegel magazine and found this article and thought I'd share it. Enjoy East German Jokes Collected by West German Spies Did East Germans originate from apes? Impossible. Apes could never have survived on just two bananas a year. Such jokes were whispered in communist East Germany -- and West German spies recorded them diligently to gain insights into the public mood, according to recently released intelligence files. "What would happen if the desert became communist? Not...

Just a few weeks ago I watched a really cool documentary about the Bikini and its origin. The bikini was created in 1946 by a french designer. Coincidentally, the US had started a series of nuclear tests "for the benefit of mankind" on the Bikini atolls, and because it was a provocative isse the fashion designer named his invention after said atoll. Sexbomb refers to that insofar as the name bikini derives from the nuclear bomb tests, so a hot woman wearing a bikini became a sexbomb.. It liberat...

I was ransacking my bookshelfs the other day looking for Harry Potter book 1 to give to a friend, and I rediscovered my copy of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. I know that his book created quite a stir back in the day due to the conspiracy of Mary Magdalene and Jesus and their supposed offspring and subsequent royal dynasty of the Merovingians. Many religious people were outraged and warned against the dangers such statements could produce etc pp. People wrote books about the historic errors and fa...

First few pages of chapter 12 - Bologna Actually, itw as not Captain Black but Sergeant Knight who triggered the solemn panic of Bologna, slipping silently off the truck for two extra flak suits as soon as he learned the target and signaling the start of the grim procession back into the parachute tent that degenerated into a frantic stampede finally before all the extra flak suits were gone. "Hey, what's going on?" Kid Sampson asked nervously. "Bologna can't be that rough, can it?" N...

Translation exercise (just for fun) US military transportplanes are sitting side by side on the airfield. Soldiers, maybe from Idaho or Texas, are idly talking while leaning against a hummer painted in camouflage needed in Afghanistan. The soldiers ignore the nosy civilians that have just left a russian Aeroflot plane and are now walking towards the airportbuilding, even when some are taking pictures. Only a kirgisian security guard makes a halfhearted attempt after the pictures had long be...

I just read this on CNN: Cemetery workers accused of reselling plots, and apparently it is a huge thing. But from my standpoint it is pretty normal to do just that. In Germany you have to rent your grave and pay for it for 25 years. If the grave isn't rerented and paid for, the grave will be bulldozed and get a new tenant.. There is not enough space to have a final resting place forever, and once the body has gone dust to dust there is no reason to reserve that spot, unless the family explicitly...

I just read that they defused a 1000 pound aircraft bomb in Freiburg (where I live) on the 2nd of July, last week. A digger operator on a construction site next to the university hospital complex discovered it suddenly in his bucket. There are special police EOD units for unexploded american and british demolition and fire bombs in Germany and nothing happened, but that is no guarantee. Most duds are discovered by perusing allied aerial pictures from WW2, and by accident on construction sites. S...

I hope somebody can help me here, I can only logg into my hotmail account if I am logged in facebook at the same time. Otherwise hotmail will just not work, fails to find the server. I tried everything, deleting all the cookies and the cache - and it's annoying. Maybe my internet is haunted lol

Last week, a brutal murder took place in a german courtroom in Dresden. An egyptian woman was stabbed to death by the defendant in front of her husband and little son. This event has caused fury in Egypt.. it was a terrible crime and tragedy. Racism is just awful. From Spiegel online: A brutal murder in Germany last week has caused shockwaves in far-off Egypt. Thousands of mourners took to the streets of Alexandria on Monday to protest at the funeral of a pregnant Egyptian woman who was ...

For the first time since World War 2 Germany has reintroduced a medal for bravery for actions beyhond the call of duty ( I am not really firm about what ajectives adequatly describe such an act). 4 german soldiers that served in Afghanistan are awarded the "Ehrenkreuz der Bundeswehr für Tapferkeit" for risking their lives helping wounded teammates after a suicide attack on their convoi that killed 2 soldiers and 5 afghani children. Awarding medals for bravery seems something normal ...

From what I have seen alot of people here could use a stay there, me included Argument Clinic  

From what I have seen alot of people here could use a stay there, me included Argument Clinic