general zod

There is a certain cachet to arch-villains that the cadre of contemporary but quaking megalomaniacal leaders have failed to capture. I don't know if there is an annual gathering of the truly rotten and demonized heads of state, Leader and Guide of the Revolution, Dear Leader, Baby Doc, Protector of the People, Fidei Defensor, to coordinate and plan outright--or if such a summit falls under the guise of another. These bad guys are readily identifiable, like any well-drawn nemesis, and certainly have the tragic flaw of hubris. This much they are capitalizing on, not that the struggles and triumphs all around the world are some comic book adventure, but they, for one, do not admit to an equally matched opponent--which makes the revolution all the more impressive with the accumulated efforts of the people a more sturdy support than any super hero--and because or despite of this imbalance, these stubborn dictators are not the ultimate fonts of evil either.

Greed and rank hypocrisy of course punctuated their long reigns, but the source and inspiration and allowance surely lay elsewhere, just as the people draw their line in the sand, came to their tipping-point, not solely when this steady-state oppression became suddenly intolerable but also when outside pressures and influences made day-to-day existence even more of a struggle, exposure--the sieves of information, financial inversion that brought too much down on the markets, souks and bazaars. No outstanding credit is due, however.

princess kay of the milky way

There are many quaint and wonderful things that share the same constellation as the Dells in Wisconsin, including, hopefully the fortitude to not relent to corporate sponsored politics that would undermine the power and influence of workers' unions. Anything public and institutionalized, of course, can betray a spotted record, both in reality and in guided perceptions, and the produce of State employees is just as much exposed to scrutiny as the careless custody of funds and the plastic accounting of sophistry. Fighting for the venue to voice one's concerns is a bit more abstract than the actual workers' rights that might be later entertained, but this distinction is not lost on those who have stood with them, the solidarity of the region and the world and the politicians who have flagged due caution in fiscal-planning. Toppling entrenched and moribund regimes is a clear focus of rage and frustration, and though right to bargain and right to strike may be dressed down, dismissively--living in Europe, union actions and impetus are well-integrated components of any business and governance--that distinction is not lost either on those bravely fighting against bald and unmasked antagonists.

ich habe noch einen koffer in berlin

We are on vacation for the long weekend, and this time to the capital, to explore the strata of this multilayered, storied city.  Stay tuned to our little trave blog for upcoming developments.  For now, we have arrived in a shabby-chic hotel in the quarter of old Moabit, just beyond the buildings of parliment.  This area, bizarrely, was originally settled by French Hugonauts fleeing religious persecution.  One of their first enterprises after arriving was a venture for silk cultivation, but the Chinese white mulberry tree would not grow in the sandy soil of Berlin, which are the only trees that silkworms will spin their cocoons on, so they had to find another way to support their new community.

plagiat or creative-commons

Amid continuing controversies over German troop presence in Afghanistan, the debate over ending universal conscription, the state of affairs on board the navy's training tall ship, the Minister of Defense is facing a more personal embarrassment and crisis of integrity. Legal scholars stumbled across some tell-tale passages from the Minister's 2006 doctorial dissertation comparing and contrasting the constitutional (Verfassung) systems and processes of America and Europe that strongly indicate academic dishonesty and plagiarism. With all the other debates going on in the ministry and tensions all around, one has to wonder about the timing of the this curious audit--possibly meant as a character-assassination that withers more credibility.

If the Minister did cheat a little, then he deserves to lose his doctor-title regardless of whether it was a vanity degree for someone already entrenched in the halls of government and even if originality and due-credit are not mainstays of any government.  Such behaviour should not be condoned but it should neither unsettle confidence in itself--not all embarrassments and skeletons are outed through leaks.  It surprises me though with all the warnings against it from the same learned councils that say Wikipedia is not an acceptable source or scans term papers line by line against the sum total of human knowledge--that is, at least what is committed to the internet, or sends out publication manuals and style guides with every text book shipment to reinforce the importance of proper and full citations. Considering all that is recycled and repackaged, maybe the Minister's dissertation was a fitting homage to old wine in new bottles.

operation paperclip or grand moff tarkin

A Finnish film producer has teamed with partners in Germany and Australia to pose the audience with the alternative, speculative time-line, in which surviving members of the National Socialist German Workers' Party escape to the dark side of the Moon after the fall of the Third Reich. After decades of nursing defeat on their lunar colony, the space villains plot a spectacular re-conquest of the Earth in contemporary 2018. This dark comedy and  science-fiction amalgam, which bears some similarity with the adventures and exploits of Baron von Münchausen, seems bold in essaying a heretofore unexplored extreme conclusion of pioneering rocketry and mad ambition. The sillier side of the project, however, is the makers' hope that the movie will be financed almost exclusively by donation, crowd-funding by fans. That makes the whole premise seems too familiar--like that of Mel Brooks' The Producers. No one has tried to make an utter flop in quite awhile, though I imagine that wrestling shining success from surpassing tastelessness is a bigger surprise than to be let down by mediocrity or tepid reception.