originally, i planned not to blog until tomorrow when i will be back to maastricht and my flatrate, but today’s headlines simply hit it off! “germany is a problem” was the paper saying, as usual in big, bold letters. this is a quote from us minister of defense, donald rumsfeld, expressing his upsetnes and anger about the franco-german ‘no’ to a possible military attack on iraq. france and germany, as he explains, are representing the ‘old europe’, but in his understanding, europe is not germany and france. well, we all know how well the americans learn geography, so applause for this fantastic analysis!
“war may never be considered unavoidable. … everything must be done to achieve the implementation of the (u.n.) resolution by peaceful means. that is the common position of france and germany and we will not be diverted from it”
-gerhard schröder
in the course of the celebrations of the elysee-contract the two countries entered 40 years ago, which is also viewed as the beginning of the franco-german friendship and an era of true peace in europe for the first time in history, this monkey g.w. bush accuses france and germany, or generally speaking all the countries who are not with the us, of being on the side of the enemy. hello? what do these cowboys believe the world to be in the first place? an ever refreshing resource of allies in their madman’s run for world-leadership and the war against terror? a war, that started with a few thousand dead civilians and turned a symbol of national pride and invincibility into a junkyard. this, my valued readers, is no more a war against terrorism, this is the cowboy’s prestigeous world-tour with the title ‘world war 3′. i am so glad that we germans did not start it this time… but, since history tends to repeat itself, in the end it will be the german ‘no’ being held responsible for all this. the americans should bang one thing into their heads: germany is not a protectorate of the us! being a part of a united and peaceful europe, germany should stand up against big brother america if it believes to have good reason to do so. this, mr rumsfeld, is not a problem. rather, it is a move towards peace, away from military aggression. besides, what kind of arrogance is it to believe that if the us blow the horn everybody will follow suit? georgie and donald, get it: we don’t want to make your war, we don’t want to spoon out the badly tasting bouillon you are cooking all over the world. maybe the comparison with a german, acutally austrian, who was popular 6 decades ago, wasn’t that misplaced as always said. but if you can’t stop it, go ahead. go for a second waterloo, for a second stalingrad, for a second vietnam! keep on intruding in the affairs of others, impose the ‘right’ behavior on other nations, keep killing and sacrficing people, but never forget to tell everybody what a great nation you are! —
“if it can’t be solved peacefully and if the u.n. should fail to act — and i hope that is not the case - then the united states reserves the right to do what it thinks is appropriate to defend its interests, the interests of its friends and to protect the world. and I am quite confident if it comes to that we will be joined by many nations.”
-colin powell, us secretary of state

change of place: the netherlands have elected a new cabinet, kicking out many of the right-wing populists, making the social democrates the true winner of the show. the christ-democrates, who have won the elections, now have the difficult task to form a new government. unlike in germany, the dutch votes are more widespread across the different parties. as a result, three main players have to come up with a solution. really a dilemma, since one can’t do without the other(s), requiring talks, negotiations, and compromise and mutual concessions. but i view it as true democracy. — germany’s scandal of the week were the proposals for a complete restructuring of the german federal system. different proposals exist, the most extreme claiming the reduction from currently 16 to 9 federal states (länder). in my point of view, they should do it - ten fortunes could be saved on adminstrative expenses. besides, ‘länderpolitik’ seems to be reduced to the educative system and employment. this at least are the only two things you read regarding the upcoming elections. plus, integrating the city-states berlin, hamburg, and bremen into the state surrounding them is pure logic. go for it! — yesterday, i received two negative responses for the applications for internships, but i still have the appointment with mercedes in utrecht next week and i am looking forward to it. i keep you informed if a room in maastricht is free for sub-rent in the very near future ;)