So, had the EM finally with Portugal taking it all, apart from the embarrassing hooligan behavior we are really happy to say that there were no other attacks (if so: pls report to the authorities) – ah, Germany did not succeed in the EM after being world champion – and? Drama? Of course it is disappointing as the aim was to win. But – if the most offensive players missed because of injuries mostly and the few left could not replace their jobs… I am not talking about the strange ‘Müller Elfmeter’ in the game vs. Italy… In front of the TV we only saw the UEFA pictures resp. what the UEFA allowed us to see – in the stadium and for the players it is always different – for everyone directly involved in the game, no matter what role.
We loved to see strong teams we never had the chance to see before in the championships – Slovakia, Hungary, …; and no one would have bet on Iceland or Wales reaching the play offs.
I am not a soccer expert (Thomas is much more) but some things in my eyes were really weird – and some new ideas how to play the game to give it another twist I really could identify. Learning effect. Some were complaining that there is too much money spent on soccer.
Well, for some players (in the player market in general), stadiums, for advertising, may be.
But the effect – ask those who travelled and had the chance to visit France, to be part of the crowd in the stadiums, who earned money with the EM, even in small bars, restaurants…
Ah, and the Olympic Games! Rio, Samba feelin’, sunshine, Copacabana… favelas, crime and corruption. Lot of Russian athletes missed it as did a lot of politicians (Were they on vacation?
The politicians, I mean; the athletes, there is the doping reason). Well, the Olympics are still fascinating, I think nobody can deny it. But troubles are rising: started with Rio itself, the Olympic Village being not really in shape, the arenas that won’t be used by the poor afterwards (IOC, are there any plans?), the strange behaviours of some athletes and so on…
Mr. Bach celebrating – the games, his power – the power that failed in dismissing the Russian athletes completely for systematic doping reasons.
Positive signs are nevertheless arisin’ like athletes sponsoring their medals for good e.g.
New records have been set up, the stars did their job like every athlet did – as he/ she started
in Rio. This alone is an achievement and the pure medal counting is only a part of the big whole thing. And please, if you set the goals for medals – then make it possible to gain them and support the trainings and the effort behind… legally, of course.
Apart from sports, Europe and the world behaves hectic these days.
Brexit – now a fact – will have big impact – not only in economy and the financial markets – no, it will have direct influence on the people – free travels and work? Sorry, no longer possible.
Hey, I expected to have a job in the new wind parks? Sorry man, the company will leave
after the Brexit.
Oh, your spouse is living in another EU country? Hm, well, oh, do we have a paragraph for that? And so on…
New job for the EU, for sure. Brexit…, well, a lot of people just did not really know what the referendum was all about…
Attacks seem to be everywhere – in France right after the EM in Nice, in the US (esp. in the southern parts of the country) the police faces a kind of counter reaction. In Germany, we had attacks in Bavaria. And in Japan. And in… Terror, amok, IS, the words are buzzing through the press. Security. Big thing – may be the British play the island joker as a solution
‘Ha, come on over if you want to, but swim! To make it fair: We allow Burkinis.’
In politics – of course – they seem to have the right solutions. And the easy ones at first sight people believe right away. Main issue: strong leader. Seems as if it doesn’t matter anymore if he tends to be a dictator then or not (even Erdogan’s election has been democratic…ha, ha).
How would you describe Trump then? Some media here (even the ones I thought were always critical) now tend to underestimate a possible Trump effect, in case he would be elected.
And what about Mr. Putin? And…?
Is there still the good tradition of ‘Diskurs’, also in politics? Talk to each other first – and do not give the demagogs too much room. I am really concerned about the fact that whatever has been revealed about Trump and his campaign is forgotten the next day – disappointing that the and the NATO seem to have no idea how to handle Turkey. Now, Germany is warning Turkey:
‘Do not implement death penalty.’ Oh gosh, what about the other things happening now and happened right after the coup bid? Shortcut answer? ‘Sovereign State’…
And here in Germany? The political parties are kind of self-destroying or, OK, re-adjusting themselves. CSU and CDU are always competing, in persona Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Seehofer, well, Mr. Söder is preparing to be Seehofer II, Mr. Gabriel as Vice Chancellor at the moment seems
to be divided into three: left-left, left and green, the ‘Greens’ want to take over the power
with a ‘Öko Diktatur’, the AfD seems to fall into two parts (we will see if two parties of this kind is even worse than having just one proclaiming a ‘new (in fact: too old) national position’),
and so on…
Berlin is voting for the House on SEP, 18 and the parties have mounted their election posters, some more in a funny comic style, some of course very serious and some are not readable at all. And one party decided to paint their posters themselves… well, but very embarrassing:
CDU posters claim for ‘SICHER lernen’, ‘SICHER feiern’ etc. (‘SECURE learning’,
‘SECURE’ celebrating’). Annoying: no fellow citizens appear whatever their skin colour is…. hm, security for the white ones only? And what will Berlin visitors think?
International Berlin, open society, tolerant??? If I missed posters that show Berlin reality pls announce.
And may be someone has simply forgotten to tell Mrs. Merkel about it?
‘Wir schaffen das.’ So far away if Berlin itself puts up these kind of posters;
moreover, I missed comments in the Berlin press about that too.
Remember what life is: ‘It isn’t black and white’ as a good friend told me years ago when I was a student (as he noticed that I still used an old black and white TV). I changed – of course…
Want a short dog notice? New law regarding dog handling in Berlin, most of it starting later, beginning 2017. Beware, the more you regulate the more people will demand their rights and – again – bureaucracy will rise… end of discussion, end of Diskurs.
And here another notice that caught my eye (HC(A) Online, Jul 18, 2016 Julia Yates, UEL, stated):
‘If all the usual plans and ideas have failed, the organization is likely to look around,
desperate to try anything which might work. Even a woman.’
Hopefully this statement is ironic Mrs. Yates. Because one thing is clear: Women are not pure fill-ins. Not at all. If women now are the “Red” Adairs in times of crisis –
hey then, pay us an extra fee for taking all the risk: for bursting through the glass ceilings, etc. Would be fair enough.
You cannot find your way through in this world respectively these topics are not interesting for you at all (‘Ph, the world… I have my problems here and they are more important!’)? It is up to you, but nevertheless, a last comment:
Finally, let’s make a cosmic outlook: Proxima Centauri b – another possible next planet, earthlike. If everything is too confusing here – hey, there is a promising new planet to start again 😉
(kidding, of course, solve the problems where they are…).