geo-politics or rare-earth tafel

Geologists researching defunct mining sites around Leipzig are discovering veins of rare-earth elements, which are in high demand for the electronics industry mainly as something akin to what the connective tissue and synapses need to metabolize in circuitry.
Currently, China has a virtual monopoly the world’s supply, which might be putting manufacturers in an awkward position, given purported labour conditions and compromising environmental practices. Germany, first trying to provide resources through electronic scrap, is studying Australia’s, as China’s chief competition, less than sloppy-seconds for ideas on how to extract pay-dirt in a more responsible way. I wonder how the shift in potential suppliers, though price always seems to under-cut accountability, might alter the landscape of prospecting and consumerism.

liberal arts or oh the huge manatees

Former foreign correspondent of London’s Financial Times, Robert Cottrell, has been sharing and celebrating his transition, gradually then unabashedly, from a daily producer of copy to a voracious consumer of it, on his website called The Browser. I was delighted to discover such a resource, which is a very discriminating connoisseur of writing worth reading without being fussy, particular about the source or subject. This careful and enthusiastic curating has gone on for some years now, and I hope regularly perusing the recommendations can impart the discipline that I wish matched my curiosity.

wildfire

The spreading discoveries of horse and donkey meat in samples of processed foods in discount supermarkets does not only represent a revolting betrayal and a call for consumers who either seek out the greatest apparent bargains out of thrift or out of necessity to re-evaluate trust and priorities. Shoppers who are not patronizing their local butchers and farmers’ markets, though left with some reliable alternatives at grocery stores, have to wonder what sort of institutionalization in Europe make cheap food no good deals.

It turns out uncovering some substitute, some mystery meat is not very surprising, but represents a definite departure and a dissonance for Europe’s regular reputation for food integrity and insisting on provenance and chain-of-custody. All produce, fruits and vegetables, are clearly marked with their country and farm of origin; eggs are individually numbered and sometimes bear a bar-code; regional specialties are according special rights and no counterfeit could claim the same designation, despite allowable gimmicks and self-promotion. Once food is processed, however, all such labeling becomes voluntary. If not fresh or raw, frozen “beef” or a pre-washed mixed salad in a bag, there was formerly no requirement to disclose the origin of the ingredients, though misrepresentation was something not tolerated, as well. It seems a little bit inconceivable, considering the prominent labeling that one can choice from on cartons of store-bought pizza and other Fertiggeriche, which usually come at a premium, and sometimes one cannot avoid taking a certain risk, when dining out or at a cafeteria (Mensa), but legislation is underway to close this disturbing loop-hole.

across the pond

While the media focus on European economic policies and tax accords from the perspective of the States seems more preoccupied with the potential spillage and knock-on effects of the proposed Tobin Tax, a levy on financial transactions and market trades, the burgeoning talk of a trans-Atlantic Free-Trade-Agreement, urged by both the US administration and European commission president seems an idea comfortably, tantalizingly far away.

Though it is probably true, for both optimists and pessimists, that reaching any kind of meaningful and functional compromise, aligning US and EU standards on safety, quality and transparency, can only be achieved in a receding distant future, displaced by politics and protectionism (by those current players who would be excluded, too), the notion and the will for such an arrangement is not a Fata Morgana that one can never meet. Naïvely, perhaps, but not without hope as there have been plenty of examples of Bridges to Nowhere over trade and tariffs, like the bickering over the aerospace giants or the fact that one cannot purchase a Silver Lady in the States but embassies of genetically modified organisms, untested drugs and wage inequity are equally unwelcomed, the mutual benefits have been articulated, of substantial increases for the gross domestic products of European nations through fewer administrative and process barriers and greater job security for American export industries.
Those sound positive on balance, but I fear that consumer protections will suffer through compromise. Instead of meeting half-way or adopting the more stringent standards of one partner, existing safeguards, like employment rights, food labeling requirements, safety standards and protection for the environment and livestock will be relaxed, diluted in order to meet industry imposed milestones. I hope that this is not the case, because risking health and security is no lubricant for trade, and to prevent these attitudes from prevailing, one cannot take the stance that procrastination and off-putting is acceptable, any more than in the here and now surrendering one’s sovereignty and self-determination to creditors is.

extraterritoriality or bridges and islands

As I was completing some of the bureaucratic tasks to settle into my new job, I found it a little ironic that the special vehicle registration office (Kfz-Zulassungsbehörde) for the Hessian state capital of Wiesbaden was located in a particularly contentious former exclave, the borough of Mainz-Kastel and probably the least allied location for a function peculiar to state authorities.
 I knew that there was a certain patriotic tug-of-war between the state capitals, facing each other on opposite sides of the Rhine, but I did not know about the details or history at first. In Roman times with the founding of the frontier fortifications at Mogonticum (Mainz, Mayence), the empire first crossed the Rhine at this point of land with a bridgehead established at Kastel, with first a wooden bridge in the year 11 BC and then a permanent stone structure in the year 71 AD.
The modern Theodor-Heuss Brücke was built in the same spot. A triumphal arch dedicated to the memory of Roman general Germanicus, who nonetheless was unable to penetrate far into Germany except via a narrow corridor of control hugging the Main and the Danube to just outside of Regensburg (Limes Germanicus, the German limits or frontier), stood here until probably the early Renaissance.

Mainz-Kastel existed as an enclave of the Rhineland-Palatinate (historically, itself a district, an exclave, of the non-contiguous Kingdom of Prussia, et al.) inside the municipality of Wiesbaden (the Grand Duchy of Hessen), with some notable interruptions, until the end of World War II. When mapping out the zones of occupation, and subsequent formation of the new federal states of Germany, the Allied forces decided that the border for the French and the American sectors would be drawn by the river, and it became administratively easier to realign Mainz-Kastel with Hessen. In the end, the historical feuding is mostly in fun, I think, and in keeping with the spirit of Karnival and the Fasching season.

local colour

I can remember this strange sort of introductory hazing in the form of a ritual and obligatory exchange among freshmen at colleges away from home, which goes something along the lines of: “What is Friendly’s? What you call Arby’s, we call Hardee’s. I went to a Piggly-Wiggly once when we were visiting my aunt in Alabama.” And so on with the comparison of the terroir of fast food and grocery store franchises. I wonder if such conversations still take place. Having lived in Germany for more than a decade, I wouldn’t have thought I would ever notice regional branding again, since all chains seem to co-exist peaceably.
Of course, there is preference and convenience, but there never seemed to be a “Rewe-town” that locked Edeka out or kept down the competition or any demarcation—except for Aldi-Nord and Aldi-Süd (and I understand that now Aldi is really prevalent in the States too)—that defined the borders of a company’s reach, like an Appel/Apfel line in the German Sprachraum. I am beginning to notice, now however living in a place where it’s easier to forego driving altogether, that there are assertions and neighbourhood anchors, of grocers’ and supermarkets, that do require some shift in selection and expectations, plus there are more smaller markets that are independent and not part of any chain, which I am enjoying as well and certainly worth seeking out.

polk salad annie, gator’s got your granny

National Geographic magazine had an interesting feature on the work of researchers at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, from 2008, finding that the blood of alligators and other similar swamp denizens has prized anti-microbial properties, which can stave off infections from many types of bacteria, including a few that have developed resistance to human antibiotics through keeping too neat and tidy and abuse of our resources.  Five years on, the research still, I think, merits a look and an update.

It stands to reason that alligators and crocodiles would have strong natural defenses, since they tend to lead fairly violent careers and sustain battle damage in not the most sanitary conditions, yet don’t succumb to infections. The protein fragments, peptides, in the blood of these creatures may even combat HIV. It all sounds like some voodoo white magic but seems promising. I wonder what happened.  Translation of these chemicals, however, may not be immediate and direct since such high levels of peptides would be toxic to humans, although I imagine not less toxic than AIDS or gangrene.

awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, conviction, purchase

I suppose all targeted advertising, by its nature, is somewhat recursive, and there are limitations to what product or service can be matched to content, but for those of you who dare dither towards the bottom of the page, perhaps you’ve discovered more about “decorating the walls,” my sponsors and just perhaps, a little bit about yourselves (or rather at least how demographic sub-routines and marketing algorithms might describe you, though we don’t care what they think or give them any credence).
Meditating on these strange and spammy haikus, however, I grew more and more intrigued about the workings behind these simple text ads. I imagine it’s quite primitive and probably would not yield anything useful—the mechanism, but I wonder if there are some sort of organic, spontaneous commercials that build themselves according to the latest visitor and content of the web site, rather than being apportioned from a pool of existing advertisements. It’s primitive, I guess, in so far as no one is really paying for that service and the effectiveness would be too big of a gamble (right now, at least), but it would be pretty keen if computers could generate a well-executed ad and find a product for it afterwards.