Mohammad Eke was born and grew up in the German city of Essen. Until authorities found out that his parents had entered the country illegally, Germany was his home. Then Eke was deported to Turkey, even though he'd never visited the country and didn't speak the language. It's just another run-of-the-mill case of German immigration policy in action. The young man sits with his bag in Istanbul's airport, as he often does when he doesn't know what to do with himself or his time. The bag holds two towels, two pairs of jeans, three T-shirts, a pair of shoes, a jacket and his toiletries. It also contains a Turkish dictionary, a folder containing documents from a German Office of Alien Affairs and a bottle of antidepressant pills, which he needs to fall asleep. The bag is the size of a carry-on bag, and he could easily be mistaken for a tourist visiting Istanbul for a couple of days. Such tourists are eager to see the sights and do the things tourists do here: see the Bosporus, Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque or a game of Fenerbahçe, the city's famed football team -- and then return home.
Mohammad Eke was born and grew up in the German city of Essen. Until authorities found out that his parents had entered the country illegally, Germany was his home. Then Eke was deported to Turkey, even though he'd never visited the country and didn't speak the language. It's just another run-of-the-mill case of German immigration policy in action.
The young man sits with his bag in Istanbul's airport, as he often does when he doesn't know what to do with himself or his time.
The bag holds two towels, two pairs of jeans, three T-shirts, a pair of shoes, a jacket and his toiletries. It also contains a Turkish dictionary, a folder containing documents from a German Office of Alien Affairs and a bottle of antidepressant pills, which he needs to fall asleep. The bag is the size of a carry-on bag, and he could easily be mistaken for a tourist visiting Istanbul for a couple of days. Such tourists are eager to see the sights and do the things tourists do here: see the Bosporus, Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque or a game of Fenerbahçe, the city's famed football team -- and then return home.
But since I am writing my dissertation now, the Auslandsbehörde now says I am a student under paragraph 18. No grandfather clause for a bureaucratic misprint.
Now, I am a resident of German ancestry (with documented proof as a descendent of the Luther family, and Martin is practically a national hero) and an educated Germanist with a Masters Degree who speaks relatively good German and who has been told that he knows more about German literature and culture than the average German - intergration is not a problem for me. Yet still, I am having a lot of problems (more here in Thüringia than in NRW).
As Essen is in NRW, and I lived near there before, this is scary. I mean if I am having these problems, I can imagine what young Mr. Eke had to face. This is very unjust, the young man is German! Period!
Maybe that is just my idealistic American upbringing where an immigrant is an American after he or she swears an oath to the Constitution.
But these laws sincerely need an overhaul, but there seems no political will to do so. "Schiller sprach zu Goethe, Steck in dem Arsch die Flöte! Goethe sagte zu Schiller, Mein Arsch ist kein Triller!"
Poll: Most Czechs believe Beneš decrees should remain valid A poll by the CVVM agency released on Friday shows that 65 percent of Czechs believe the post-war Beneš decrees which legalised the expulsion of some three million ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia should remain valid. Two years ago, only about 50 percent of Czechs held the same opinion. 47 percent of Czechs also believe that the expulsion was just. The decrees put out by President Edvard Beneš still remains a sensitive issue in the Czech Republic. In a reaction to Nazi atrocities during war, around three million German citizens of Czechoslovakia were stripped of their nationality and expelled from the country between 1945 and 1947, while their property was confiscated. It is estimated that between 15,000 and 20,000 Germans were killed in the process.
A poll by the CVVM agency released on Friday shows that 65 percent of Czechs believe the post-war Beneš decrees which legalised the expulsion of some three million ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia should remain valid. Two years ago, only about 50 percent of Czechs held the same opinion. 47 percent of Czechs also believe that the expulsion was just. The decrees put out by President Edvard Beneš still remains a sensitive issue in the Czech Republic.
In a reaction to Nazi atrocities during war, around three million German citizens of Czechoslovakia were stripped of their nationality and expelled from the country between 1945 and 1947, while their property was confiscated. It is estimated that between 15,000 and 20,000 Germans were killed in the process.
England will open their quest to lift the World Cup by tackling the United States in Rustenburg on Saturday, June 12. Fabio Capello could not have hoped for much better from a group that will also see the Three Lions tackle Algeria and Slovenia in Group C. Any clash with the United States is bound to revive memories of that shock defeat during the 1950 tournament in Brazil.
England will open their quest to lift the World Cup by tackling the United States in Rustenburg on Saturday, June 12.
Fabio Capello could not have hoped for much better from a group that will also see the Three Lions tackle Algeria and Slovenia in Group C.
Any clash with the United States is bound to revive memories of that shock defeat during the 1950 tournament in Brazil.
2010 WORLD CUP DRAW: Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France Group B: Argentina, South Korea, Nigeria, Greece Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia Group D: Germany, Australia, Ghana, Serbia Group E: Netherlands, Japan, Cameroon, Denmark Group F: Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia Group G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal Group H: Spain, Honduras, Chile, Switzerland
2010 WORLD CUP DRAW:
Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Group B: Argentina, South Korea, Nigeria, Greece
Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia
Group D: Germany, Australia, Ghana, Serbia
Group E: Netherlands, Japan, Cameroon, Denmark
Group F: Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia
Group G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal
Group H: Spain, Honduras, Chile, Switzerland
From the Dutch perspective, the advantage is that if we win the group, we play against the #2 from Italy's group (Paraguay) which should mean we're in the quarter finals. Those Italians lucked out. The French, lucky considering the pot they were in, but I wouldn't underestimate Mexico and Uruguay.
Nate Silver, who's got his own index, did some number crunching which to some extent confirms my expectations.
You heard it here first. Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
They don't have a lot of depth in their team, but you're playing them for the first game. They're going to be dangerous.
Also, remember the last time an underperforming French team drew the host...
Unlikely. I don't reckon I'll be picked.
As far as I'm concerned, they're playing them. And indeed France may well struggle -they do have the worst coach in the world.
"Also, remember the last time an underperforming French team drew the host..."
When was that? Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. Gandhi
As for the 'last time', I got my facts mixed up.
The mighty Rosenbergs left many a legend behind them when their lineage ended in the early 17th century. Among those is one that said the last of the line were not buried as normal, but had their bodies seated on golden thrones around an oak table, symbolically continuing their reign into the afterlife. The entrance to the tomb was then said to be sealed in such a way as for it never to be found. Now, nearly 400 years later, archaeologists (armed with drills against history's mysteries) found a much different situation in the floor of the Church Ascension of the Virgin Mary in the South Bohemian town of Vyšší Brod. Zuzana Thomová is the head of the study. "The situation proved to be simpler and much more prosaic than legend suggests - the Rosenbergs are not sitting on golden armchairs. There is essentially a small space there where two tin caskets can be seen. One of them belongs to Petr Vok, and we haven't been able to determine who the second one belongs to. And then there is a number of broken wooden coffins according to written records, there should be ten generations of members of the Rosenberg dynasty in the tomb."
The mighty Rosenbergs left many a legend behind them when their lineage ended in the early 17th century. Among those is one that said the last of the line were not buried as normal, but had their bodies seated on golden thrones around an oak table, symbolically continuing their reign into the afterlife. The entrance to the tomb was then said to be sealed in such a way as for it never to be found. Now, nearly 400 years later, archaeologists (armed with drills against history's mysteries) found a much different situation in the floor of the Church Ascension of the Virgin Mary in the South Bohemian town of Vyšší Brod. Zuzana Thomová is the head of the study.
"The situation proved to be simpler and much more prosaic than legend suggests - the Rosenbergs are not sitting on golden armchairs. There is essentially a small space there where two tin caskets can be seen. One of them belongs to Petr Vok, and we haven't been able to determine who the second one belongs to. And then there is a number of broken wooden coffins according to written records, there should be ten generations of members of the Rosenberg dynasty in the tomb."
A UCLA School of Medicine professor of cardiothoracic surgery has settled a lawsuit brought by the state attorney general forcing him to repay $140,000 to a research charity he founded and removing him from multiple positions he held within the charity. In the lawsuit filed in September, state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown alleged that Dr. Gerald Buckberg and five officers of the nonprofit L.B. Research & Education Foundation used money from the charity to fund their personal business ventures and medical research activities. Under the agreements of the settlement, Buckberg must return the diverted funds to the charity and will only be allowed to serve as the director - giving up his other positions as manager and chief executive officer.
In the lawsuit filed in September, state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown alleged that Dr. Gerald Buckberg and five officers of the nonprofit L.B. Research & Education Foundation used money from the charity to fund their personal business ventures and medical research activities.
Under the agreements of the settlement, Buckberg must return the diverted funds to the charity and will only be allowed to serve as the director - giving up his other positions as manager and chief executive officer.
Prostitutes offer free climate summit sex COP15 guests are being offered free sex if they produce one of Lord Mayor Ritt Bjerregaard's `no sex' postcards. Copenhagen Council and Lord Mayor Ritt Bjerregaard have sent postcards out to 160 Copenhagen hotels urging COP15 guests and delegates to `Be sustainable - don't buy sex'. "Dear hotel owner, we would like to urge you not to arrange contacts between hotel guests and prostitutes," the approach to hotels says. Copenhagen prostitutes are up in arms at the project saying that the council has no business meddling in their affairs, and have now offered free sex to anyone who can produce one of the offending postcards and their COP15 identity card, according to avisen.dk.
COP15 guests are being offered free sex if they produce one of Lord Mayor Ritt Bjerregaard's `no sex' postcards.
Copenhagen Council and Lord Mayor Ritt Bjerregaard have sent postcards out to 160 Copenhagen hotels urging COP15 guests and delegates to `Be sustainable - don't buy sex'.
"Dear hotel owner, we would like to urge you not to arrange contacts between hotel guests and prostitutes," the approach to hotels says.
Copenhagen prostitutes are up in arms at the project saying that the council has no business meddling in their affairs, and have now offered free sex to anyone who can produce one of the offending postcards and their COP15 identity card, according to avisen.dk.
Where can I get a postcard and conference ID? "Schiller sprach zu Goethe, Steck in dem Arsch die Flöte! Goethe sagte zu Schiller, Mein Arsch ist kein Triller!"
Re: Emissions Trading (none / 0) Prostitutes offer free climate summit sex - Politiken.dkCopenhagen Council and Lord Mayor Ritt Bjerregaard have sent postcards out to 160 Copenhagen hotels urging COP15 guests and delegates to `Be sustainable - don't buy sex'. "Dear hotel owner, we would like to urge you not to arrange contacts between hotel guests and prostitutes," the approach to hotels says. Copenhagen prostitutes are up in arms at the project saying that the council has no business meddling in their affairs, and have now offered free sex to anyone who can produce one of the offending postcards and their COP15 identity card, according to avisen.dk.
Copenhagen Council and Lord Mayor Ritt Bjerregaard have sent postcards out to 160 Copenhagen hotels urging COP15 guests and delegates to `Be sustainable - don't buy sex'. "Dear hotel owner, we would like to urge you not to arrange contacts between hotel guests and prostitutes," the approach to hotels says. Copenhagen prostitutes are up in arms at the project saying that the council has no business meddling in their affairs, and have now offered free sex to anyone who can produce one of the offending postcards and their COP15 identity card, according to avisen.dk.
