Father Christmas from the Roof

Believe me, I've seen Father Christmas with my own eyes. He is with us at our house at the moment and hides there. He smells like apples and like snow; perhaps he came from his forest. His eyes look so sad, he surely is cold.
Does anybody listen to me? Father Christmas is here with us. He's hanging around in the attic. I think he needs help and he's hard up.

Biscuits, nuts and wrapping paper are scattered all over the floor. Between two lists of wishes and a bottle of schnapps lies his student ID. The red coat and his white beard, even the boots lie next to his sack. A tipped over chair lies right in the middle. Written on a card is a greeting from him: "Merry Christmas, I hope you are doing well. Don't be angry at my escape."

He's slowly careening as if there's a slight wind blowing; in the rhythm with the candlelight burning in the corner. He hung himself up on a beam right under the window and when you're very silent, you can hear the church bells from here. A diary lies on the table and the last entry is a new one. Only one sentence he wrote big and wide: "I'm here and Bethlehem is far away."

Merry Christmas, I hope you're doing well. Don't be angry at my escape. Even so I'll watch you celebrate from here above. Merry Christmas, I hope you're all doing well. Don't be angry because of my little escape.

Frohe Weihnacht, ich hoffe es geht Euch gut. Seid nicht böse über meine Flucht. Ich schau' Euch trotzdem von hier oben beim Feiern zu. Frohe Weihnacht, ich hoffe es geht Euch allen gut. Seid nicht böse über meine kleine Flucht.

Merry Christmas,...


(Die Toten Hosen: Weihnachtsmann from Dach)

CCTV surveillance in the UK

Dear Sir or Madam,

I've read the article "This surveillance onslaught is draconian and creepy," published in The Guardian on 28th June, 2008 by Mrs. Hyde and I'd like to give my statement for that matter. I definitely don't agree with the indications made by Mrs. Hyde. It is a common fact that CCTV surveillance has made our country much saver than it has been without it. Mrs. Hyde's article implies that surveillance is a big thread to people in the UK but I think that the presence of cameras prevents many crimes. There have always been security cameras in banks and arount governmental buildings to protect people and facilities from harm. So why not extent savety aspects over whole cities or even the country? It would be quite expensive to increase the number of policemen whereas security cameras are much cheaper to get and install. They even don't need a rest and work 24 hours a day to keep us save. One single policeman in his office can do the work of a whole hundred by just monitoring what's going on in the streets and it's important that we always be aware what happens around us. From January till March 2008 over 100 persons, even kids and teenagers, were stabbed in Londons streets and sadly the number will increase nearly every single day. But we cannot tell people to stay at home persistantly to avoid all the threads; this would definitely be a severe restriction of their freedom. That is why I think that we even need more cameras and surveillance technology to protect people and their given right to walk their cities savely - without constantly being scared to become a victim of a crime. Policemen can't be in every place all the time, but cameras can. As one last aspect I'd mention that CCTV is good for the British economy. Remember all the companies and their employees which work on new technological upgrades and sell these devices. Not to mention all the workers who install and maintain them, or the virtuous men and women doing the monitoring.

I hope my statement shows you that CCTV is not as bad as Mrs. Hyde wrote in her article and I would be pleased if you could mention these aspects in one of the Guardian's next releases.

Yours sincerely,
J. Kögler

So Little Time, So Much Damage

In the article “So Little Time, So Much Damage,” published in the New York Times on 4^th November 2008, the author describes George W. Bush’s efforts to change regulations and to leave an imprint of his power before he will leave the White House.

In the first part of the article the author speaks about a curtail of civil rights by Bush and his White House staff, e.g. through changed guidelines for the F.B.I. and the Department of Homeland Security. The main points include the widened scope of activities regarding observations of people and legal groups and the decreasing influence of officials who have to ensure that civil rights are maintained and protected. A further aspect of the text deals with the White House’s environmental policy. Great efforts are made to find exceptions of existing regulations to provide companies and the industry with more power to accomplish their claims. This includes the disdain of endangered species, less restrictions on air pollution, the positioning of power plants and the dumping of toxic waste. The last main topic mentions the abortion rights. Recent changes of the law are limiting women’s chances to get professional counsel and also an abortion. These changes will be enforced by Bush’s recently appointed judges for a long time after he had left the White House. In the end the author describes harmful regulations on taxes for banks and the closure of the prison in Guantánamo Bay which Bush failed to accomplish. The good news: The important deadline for Bush to initiate further changes is the 20^th December 2008.

George W. Bush’s last weeks’ policy probably has caused many damages. It remains to the new President to restore democratic rules.

(275 words)

Article

The big Obama-Search

In the article “Das große Obama-Suchen” by Werner A. Perger and published in the newspaper Zeit, the author tries to explain the reasons why there is only a small chance for a man like Barack Obama to play an important role in German politics.

Although Germany seems to look for a strong person like Obama the author mentions that the main question is not “Where is the German Obama?” but “Is there a place for him in German politics?”
There would be many obstacles for such a person on the way to power. So might a too passionate speech in front of the masses in Germany be suggestive of certain similar events during World War II. On the other side would a weak performance imply that the speaker is probably not ready for politics yet. Another big problem is that the big German parties have not much to offer for creative young politicians.

Nobody can say at the moment if the German future will bring any more opportunities for strong politicians who are eager to change things.

(161 words)

It's all Fantasy, you know!

For many thousand years fairytales, legends and fantastic stories have stimulated peoples minds. Some of them seem to have a true background, others seem to be just products of vivid minds of men and women who became more or less successful by telling them. Some of them have been verbally passed on and were written down in the end; others, mostly very old ones, got lost during the centuries and will never be remembered and told again. It doesn't always matter which intention or background all these stories had (and still have) but one thing is for sure: they are fascinating pieces of art with the purpose to entertain.

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter, just to start off with it, became famous over night and the formerly unknown woman one of the richest persons in Britain. Suddenly people of all ages had to read Potter's adventures and we could experience runs on bookshops all over the world when a new sequel has been published (of course along with so much concentrated marketing to prevent ignorance that even the biggest dumbass must have realised what's going on in his little village). Suddenly German kids, usually not very fond of learning foreign languages (who needs them anyway) and not very fond of reading books (why read a book if there's TVs everywhere), started to read the new Potter in English because nobody could wait for the translation to come. What a fantastic chance for English lessons in school. Finally we teachers found a book averybody is really interested in, didn't we?

Well, let me tell you: Potter might be good and Rowling is, thanks to worldwide marketing, merchandising and the Potter movies, now probably as well known as authors like Tolkien and Shakespeare (if we want to stay in good old England). But be assured that there will always be fantasy literature which is far better than that. Among fantasy fans George R. R. Martin's series called A Song of Ice and Fire is probably one of the most gripping to read, not to mention Tolkin's Lord of the Rings, Terry Pratchett's Discworld series and Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogies and many many others. Fantastic!

Tolkin, Pratchett and Rowling are probably the most famous examples for good English fantasy. Hobb, King, Martin and Tad Williams a few very successful American counterparts. But where the hell are the Germans? Although we like reading fantasy it seems that we don't have authors to take care of this wonderful genre, do we? We have them! Ralf Isau's series called Kreis der Dämmerung (engl. The Circle of Dawn is a good example and has a fascinating plot. Unfortunately (and as far as I know) his books have never been translated into any foreign language and that's why he probably will never be a multi-millionaire like Rowling. We don't care at all because English speaking kids and the whole rest on this planet will have to learn German to read his works and that definitely makes him special.

-ww-

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Where are these silent faces? I took them all. They all went away and now you're alone. To turn out every light so deep in me. Hold on - too late!

Will I ever see them back again or did they all die by my hand? Or were they killed by the old evil ghost who had taken the ocean of all my dreams which were worth to keep deep inside my heart?
I wish I could get them back from the everflow before they'll fade away!

Imaginations from the other side. Far out of nowhere it got back to my mind. Out of the dark back to the light then I'll break down the walls around my heart. Imaginations from the other side!

Where's the ocean's daughter? Was Peter Pan in Mordor? Noone's there to keep alive all these fairy tales.
May I return to Oz? Will I meet the "Tin Man"? "Coward Lion" where are you?
Without brain the scarecrow's lost in the middle of the lake. Stranded in the real world and left in a world with no place for daydreams - serious life! I fall into a dark hole and I can't come out!

Do you know if Merlin did exist or Frodo wore the Ring? Did Corum kill the gods or where's the Wonderland which young Alice had seen or was it just a dream?
I knew the answers but now they're lost for me!

Imaginations from the other side. Far out of nowhere it got back to my mind. Out of the dark back to the light then I'll break down the walls around my heart. Imaginations from the other side!

I hope there is a way back with my talisman, so I look into myself to the days when I was just a child.
Come follow me to Wonderland and see the tale that never ends. Don't fear the lion, nor the witch. I can't come back! I'm lost but still I know there is another world.

(Blind Guardian)

What made the 2008 Presidential election different from previous US elections?

In the article “10 things that never happened in a campaign before” published in TIME Magazine by Mark Halperin, the author gathers the main points why Obama´s presidential campaign was so special and different from the 43 elections of US presidents before.

First of all Halperin mentions the fact the Hillary Clinton, one of the democratic candidates during the primaries, is a former First Lady who tried to take her husband´s place in the White House which has never happened before. Another aspect for an extraordinary campaign is the person of Barack Obama who firstly could convince most of the voters with his straight ideas and disarming charisma, and secondly had the advantage of the most smashing results for the GOP in polls ever and that mainly because of G.W. Bush´s former politics. This year´s campaign also was the first for eighty years without a Vice President or a current President running for the next term in office. The fact that Barack Obama was the first African American candidate was certainly an important point mentioned in the media. Two outstanding aspects not only made the election a complete success for the Democrat, but they might change the ways of future elections as well. One is the immense effort Obama´s staff had put in merchandising and marketing strategies to support his campaign and collect votes; the other is their astonishing ability to raise money via internet. The Democrats in some months received more cash from supporters over the web than some former presidential candidates during their whole campaign. One reason for that is definitely the high intensity this campaign was promoted and broadcasted over the media. Another reason is the way how TV´s and newspapers kept the public informed of what happened in the candidate´s private lives aside from political speeches and strategies. So the media successfully contributed to America´s longings for entertainment and shows. According to the author the “Campaign ’08 was the hit of the season”. Last but not least the current financial crisis marked an important turning point for the Republicans. Serious mistakes made by McCain only a few weeks before the election, caused the loss of many votes and had a great impact on the final results.

In conclusion it is to say that the election for the 44^th US President had shown many differences in comparison to former elections which the author of the article has tried to describe accurately.

(385 words)

Don´t vote - it only encourages them

Every few years, when the election period of politicians is nearly over, people all over the country are again summoned to nearby polling stations to give their vote to their favourite representative. Of course many promises have been made beforehand; promises that well paid politicians of various parties regard as useful to get votes from as many people as possible; and as the times always haven´t been that worse like at the moment, people are more than willing to believe all the honourable ideas to make things better which nicely suited, smiling men and women tell them in the media. Then, when the election is finally over, a sudden wave of memory loss washes most of these ideas away and over board, leaving nothing else behind than more or less smiling politicians in their struggle to remember their given promises – too late. People will have to deal with the situation for a few more years. It is probably better not to vote at all and show the political parties that we don´t want to be fooled another time. Is it really the better choice?

Of course it is easy to stand back and spare the way to a polling station on an election day. It is said that people who don´t do anything, don´t make mistakes at all, but that is not how a healthy democracy works. It is the peoples right and it also should be their duty to give their vote to a candidate that seems to represent their opinion. Even if their choice might be the smallest of a dozen evils, it is probably better to vote for it than not to vote at all. Not to do so means that they do not care at all or that they have resigned and finally believe they cannot change a tiny little thing. But the truth is: If people don´t vote, they actually miss their at least small chance to initiate changes.
We also should remember that when citizens are satisfied with the current circumstances, it would be in their own interest to maintain the status quo and the only way to do this is to vote.
Apart from that: not only do we have the right to elect a person, we also have the right to take an even more active part in politics by joining a political party and articulate our ideas. It wouldn´t be the first time that a young man or women is climbing the political ladder, trying to change adverse conditions themselves.

(427 words)