Author: john
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US decides torture is bad. No, really.
So, better late than never? Now that the world has been exposed for several years to our humane, no, let’s say genuinely vacation-like resorts at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, and is currently being treated to the spectacle of an alleged brutal rape and murder by GIs in Iraq, policymakers have decided that the Geneva Conventions…
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Cup and community, the morning after
My first start-to-finish World Cup now just 10 hours and a fitful sleep past, and I am already melancholy, conscious of its absence. But its final moment’s mystery remains: Why did Zidane, one of the world’s best players, in what was probably the final international match of his life, at a critical moment, give way…
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Tuniermannschaft, flags, and chaos in the streets
Three weeks ago, whenever I talked to a German about their World Cup team, almost no one expressed much faith in their football team. They weren’t graceful like the Brazilians or the Argentinians, were young, had an inexperienced coach. Last night they beat Argentina in shoot-out. When we went to bed at 1 people were…
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To Dortmund and back, off to see the wizards
To Dortmund and back: Two slow buses and a suburban tent city located right between the airport and the highway, on the outskirts of a very tasteful office park. They spare no expense for we invading Auslanders, who turned out mostly to be Brazilians or people-masquerading-as-Brazilians, and a large number of extremely happy and drunken…
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Off to footieland, with Ghana jersey in hand
So. Tomorrow morning we get up early and take a bus to Dortmund, where we will see Brazil and Ghana play, with tickets care of Jim Hu. Needless to say, we’re excited. Overwhelmed. Brimming over with fussball anticipation! Here’s our lovely, green spielkarten:
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Eating in the dark
Last night dinner at Dunkel Restaurant, a Mitte establishment in which you are led by a blind waiter into a large dining room wholly devoid of light, and spend the next few hours guided only by your fingers, ears and taste buds. I’ve experienced complete darkness just once, and only for a moment, in the…
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Gavin’s health plan for San Francisco
Give Gavin Newsom credit for thinking big. He’s proposing a new plan that would offer health coverage to currently uninsured people who live in San Francisco. Under the current system, far too many people are uninsured, and costing the city money anyway at emergency rooms, he argues. True enough. Anyone with half an eye open…
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There is more than football in the world. Like, say, robot football.
There is more happening here than just the World Cup. Just take one example: This weekend was RoboCup, in which lots of little robots play, um, football. Maybe that’s not so totally different. But it was a blast to watch. It turns out that cheering for two pairs of wobbly little two-foot-high robots as they…
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On football, nationalism and cantaloupes
There are probably other things going on in the world besides football/soccer. Wars, Zarqawi’s death, violence in Palestine again. But around us here every day is football, which provides its own lessons in international relations. A bit of texture first: All of Berlin, at least, is dedicated to watching as many minutes of the thrice-daily…
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The World Cup, and Europe’s race and racism problem
A piece in the New York Times today that echoes much of the soul-searching that’s been happening in German and other European newspapers: With the World Cup imminent, racial tensions here are being put on a world stage. Several ugly racial incidents have dominated headlines in the month-plus we’ve been here. A Ethiopian-born man was…
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Wild West on the banks of the Spree, and Polish hip-hop
So, cultures meld instead of clash. Or blend. But that would imply delicacy and grace. Whatever. A first part of the evening: The opening of a wild-west themed beach and flea market, built to look more or less frontier-style (don’t forget the Wild West massage) on the banks of the Spree. BBQ hamburgers and beer,…
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Der Spiegel interviews, debates Iran’s president
A fascinating interview utterly unlike anything that would happen with a major U.S. publication. Der Spiegel talks at length to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (link is to English translation) about the Holocaust, Palestine, German responsibility to Jews, and about the current nuclear debates. Ahmadinejad accuses the interviewers of “fanatically” taking the side of European politicians, and…
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All Bud at the World Cup? No wonder people hate Americans
The World Cup. Big sports event. In Germany. Where they drink, and make, a lot of beer. But Anheuser-Busch spent northwards of $40 million to sponsor the World Cup, and so at all stadiums, all games, Budweiser will be nearly the only beer availible. *Nearly* the only beer because of trademark issues, thankfully. First, they…
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Nass, which doesn’t mean nice, for Sleater-Kinney
It’s wet outside. Nass, a word which I have just learned. It’s also wet inside, on me and through me. My fingers are too cold to type really efficiently; but just wait, I tell myself, they have real winters here, its no use complaining about the spring. We’ve just ridden back across town from the…
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Hammer from the sky. It’s Thor! Or the construction guys.
Every morning, at eight o’clock (weather permitting), the people turning our attic into a luxury penthouse begin hammering. There are no power tools in this job, except for the hoist they’re using to bring sheetrock and glass up the six stories. So we hear the bang through the walls. Bang. Bang. Bang. It’s better than…