… but in reality, the clouds did.
Photographed in Targu Mures, Romania on 19 September 2015.
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Video Blog: Ice Bucket Challenge
Don’t worry if you haven’t heard of the Ice Bucket Challenge yet. You soon will, because as so often before, I will probably start a trend.
I explain everything in this video:
Honestly, I think it’s a stupid idea. If you want to fund medical research, fund it. If you want to make a donation, do so. To me, this looks like a rather obvious ploy to get girls to pour water over them in bikinis or in tight T-shirts.
Britain, it’s time for a revolution!
What kind of a country is that which celebrates having had the same un-elected head of state for 63 years?
The Sinking House in “Casino Royale”
Walking through Venice on a cold February morning, I saw a row of houses along the Grand Canal which I thought I had seen before. It was my first day in Venice, I don’t believe in reincarnation, so my recollection must have come from a film.
And indeed: This is where the ultimate fight in the James Bond film Casino Royale takes place and one of the houses slowly sinks into the water.
You will notice that the red house (second from right in the two first photos), which stands conveniently apart from the houses to the left and right of it, has been replaced by a fake house in the movie. So, you needn’t worry! No real Venetian house was destroyed for this movie.
Posted in Cinema, Italy, Photography, Travel
Tagged Casino Royale, Cinema, James Bond, movies, Venice
6 Comments
Ronald Reagan on Iran
Tonight, the three dozen or so Republican contenders for the presidential nomination will come together for their second televised debate. All of them will lambast the Iran deal, will say that the end of the world is near and will fail to mention that Iran already has nuclear power (also thanks to the support of American companies and previous US administrations). They won’t say how the US pulling out of a deal agreed on by six other nations would stop that deal or what they want instead. They won’t notice that the agreement doesn’t deny any of the military options some of them cherish so much.
Except for Ted Cruz, whose hero is Egyptian dictator al-Sisi, the Republican hopefuls will then all say something along the lines of “I would do what Ronald Reagan would do” or “Ronald Reagan never would have signed such a deal”. Which is not only weird, given that it’s 2015 and Reagan has been dead for a while, but which also displays a shocking lack of knowledge of recent history.
Here’s a brief refresher on Ronald Reagan’s policy towards Iran:
The Reagan administration sold weapons to Iran, breaking US laws and an arms embargo. The goal was to secure the release of US hostages (“we don’t negotiate with terrorists”). Hundreds of anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles were sold to Iran.
Interestingly, because some Republicans accuse anyone supporting the Iran deal of being soft on Israel’s security, the weapons to Iran were provided via Israel. Earlier in the Iran-Iraq war, Israel had already helped Iran considerably by destroying Iraq’s nuclear reactor in Osirak. (To my big surprise, I discovered on both my trips to Iran that many Iranians actually have fond memories of the cooperation between Iran and Israel, that a number of Iranians have a much more favorable view of Israel than of the Palestinians, and that nothing happened to me when I disclosed – during an interrogation by the Iranian Intelligence Service – that I had been to Israel before.)
Ronald Reagan lied to the American people in a televised speech and had to admit later that he had knowledge of the Iran-Contra dealings. His administration destroyed evidence.
So, could the candidates tonight please specify which part of President Reagan’s Iran policy they want to emulate?
A storm is coming up
Photographed in Targu Mures, Romania.
Venice by Boat
One of the best things about Venice is that there are no cars. None. Zero. All the traffic happens on the water, by boat. This makes visiting Venice a unique experience. It is much quieter and more relaxed than other cities with their cars, congestion, noise, pollution and accidents. – I wish more of the millions of visitors to Venice would take that lesson home with them and get rid of their car.
Mail and all other supplies come by boat:
The DHL and UPS boats were one of my first sightings of boats after I arrived in Venice. I first found it funny or cute that the express companies have boats with their logos instead of the trucks that I had so far seen everywhere else. But after strolling around Venice, one quickly realises that this is of course the only mode of transport that makes sense here. – Even James Bond and Superman have been spotted using the boat in Venice.
Most of the passenger transport happens on boats too, of course. I had the impression that the proportion of public transport was much higher than in street-and-car cities. The following photo is of a vaporetto which make up the main public transport system. There are 19 scheduled routes, (water) bus stops and machine readable pre-paid cards as you may know them from the London Underground or other sophisticated public transport systems around the world.
Some lines also run at night.
The prices for vaporetti are quite steep for tourists: 6.50 € for one trip. Locals get it much cheaper. But the price for the water bus is nothing compared to that for a ride in a gondola, which are therefore hired exclusively by tourists. (I travelled without a female companion, so I was able to forego this experience.)
You don’t need to worry about falling into the water because the ambulance will quickly be there to take you to the hospital:
I first thought that this boat traffic is great because there is no congestion, no traffic jams, none of the car-related problems. It turned out though that Venetians have a problem with parking space, too:
When you are moving house in Venice, it looks like this:
Even the last journey is done by boat:
Sorry, we are closed.
Even closed and out of business, some restaurants still look more interesting than others when they are open.
Photographed in Targu Mures, Romania.
Benjamin Franklin on Immigration
Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States of America, wrote this about German immigrants in 1753:
Those who come hither are generally of the most ignorant Stupid Sort of their own Nation… and as few of the English understand the German Language, and so cannot address them either from the Press or Pulpit, ’tis almost impossible to remove any prejudices they once entertain…Not being used to Liberty, they know not how to make a modest use of it… I remember when they modestly declined intermeddling in our Elections, but now they come in droves, and carry all before them, except in one or two Counties… In short unless the stream of their importation could be turned from this to other colonies, as you very judiciously propose, they will soon so out number us, that all the advantages we have will not in My Opinion be able to preserve our language, and even our Government will become precarious.
Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a Colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Anglifying them, and will never adopt our Language or Customs, any more than they can acquire our Complexion.
The same xenophobia is expressed against immigrants today, 260 years later, alleging inability or unwillingness to learn the language, cultural incompatibility, different values, huge masses of people changing the face of the nation.
How did it turn out for the USA? Not too bad, I would say, despite or even because of the millions of German immigrants.
Posted in Germany, History, Immigration Law, Language, Politics, USA
Tagged Benjamin Franklin, immigration, refugees
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The appeal of the political outsiders
The three Republican candidates who have never held any elected office before, Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina, now poll – taken together – at more than 50%.
More than half of Republican primary voters seem to think that experience as a governor, senator or congressperson is overrated, or even a negative factor. I wonder if these are the same people who said that President Obama had no executive and little legislative experience when he became president. I also wonder if they’d let me operate their tumors, repair their cars or cut their hair if I advertise myself as “not being part of the system”.
Well, good luck with that! The last time the Republicans (or indeed any major party in the US) chose a businessperson with no political experience as its presidential nominee was in 1940.
How did it go? Well, do you remember Wendell Willkie?
No? Hmm, probably because he didn’t win.
