Posts tagged Germany
Periodical Political Post *35
Sep 18th
- Change we can believe in: White House seeks renewal of Bush’s surveillance laws
- Leftist government of Labour Party, Socialists and Greens in Norway re-elected
- An American dies every 12 minutes because there is no universal health care in the USA
- France passes three-strikes-law, will cut off internet if music or film industry says you’re a pirate
- Child-safety software sells kids’ IM conversations to market-research companies
- Israeli government ads warn people against marrying Non-Jews
- German police beats up guy at demonstration because he tried to report another cop
- US author of middle-grade novels not allowed to see class via Skype because he might be a pedo
- For peace in the world? US holds huge lead in global weapons sales
- Sci-Fi becomes real: US High-Tech drone software fails and ignores human commands
- How the financial crisis changes the markets: Europe now richer than the USA
- Man in Brazil held because he dared to kiss his own daughter, faces 15 years in jail
- Verfassungsschutz überwacht komplette Fraktion der Linken im Bundestag
- Wolfagng Schäuble will die parlamentarische Kontrolle der Geheimdienste abschaffen
- Warum die Pläne der Linken kein unfinanzierbarer Populismus sind
- BKA und CDU warnen mal wieder for Terroranschlägen vor der Wahl damit auch ja alle CDU wählen
- Dokumentation von Polizeigewalt in Frankreich durch neues Gesetz verboten
- Französische Nationalversammlung winkt Three-Strikes-Sperrgesetz durch
- Italien entsorgt Atommüll bequem über die Mafia im Mittelmeer, 120 Behälter entdeckt
- Wie die Interessen einen deutsches Konzerns die Souveränität eines ganzen Staates gefährden…
Freedom not Fear 2009
Sep 12th
Text stolen from Karl over at the Destroyer Blog <3 ‘cause i couldn’t make it to the demo this year sadly.
Like last year, the Freedom not Fear (Freiheit statt Angst) demonstration in Berlin attracted thousands of people (25,000 according to a press release found at Netzpolitik). Peter Sunde of The Pirate Bay was there, as well as Pirate Party supporter Oscar Swartz, and Claudia Roth of the German Green Party. [comment by Josh: The Left party was there also of course. The fact that the Green Party tries to act like they are the civil rights party is somewhat hypocritical seeing how they supported surveillance laws when they were in the German government.]
The Pirate Party at the demo. I just wish they would use the Swedish Purple as their colour, not that fugly Orange.
A few rainbow flags could be seen in the crowd. I think the gay movement in general has missed that the privacy issues that the Pirate Parties have put on the agenda are very relevant to gay people. For example, when the Berlin gay guide Siegessäule interviewed politicians about gay issues, the focus was mostly marriage and adoption – the traditional gay issues. But those fights are won; today politicians compete in offering gay people human rights. It’s time to look upon gay politics from another angle. If gay people knew their history, they would worry about excessive surveillance laws, since gays and just about anyone with a different lifestyle are common targets in a society that aims to control its citizens. Surveillance laws will be misused, period.
Periodical Political Post *34
Sep 5th
- Indian government tipped to allow gay sex ruling, decriminalizing homosexuality
- State of Washington to hold referendum on new gay rights laws
- New Bill would give US president power to shut down internet for all Americans
- Lawless surveillance, warrantless rationales – Obama’s continuation of Bush policies
- DNA data bases useless? Scientists learn to fabricate DNA evidence
- How the UK government lies about number of file sharers with fantasy calculating
- Sweden seeks way out of selfish capitalism with negative interest rate for banks
- Umfragen zu Gewalt gegen Schwule manipuliert um Stimmung gegen Ausländer zu machen
- Unzensierte Nach-Wahl-Pläne der CDU aufgetaucht: Kein Mindestlohn und höhere Steuern
- FDP verhindert BND-Untersuchungsausschuss & klagt nur gegen Netztzensur wenn sie nicht gewählt werden
- CDU traut nicht mal den eigenen Parteimitgliedern, liest heimlich vertrauliche Mails mit
- Bundeswehr fordert Luftschlag gegen dutzende Zivilisten an, aber das ist natürlich eine Friedensmission…
- Nur gegen Kinderpornos? Österreich sperrt Website eines kritischen Journalisten
- Contentmafia mahnt jetzt schon der Wiederverkauf legal erworbener CDs ab
- Air France verbietet Männern neben allein reisenden Kindern zu sitzen
Skins hits Germany. And fails horribly.
Aug 30th
TV channel Fox started airing Skins on German TV recently. Skins, which was only available as download via BitTorrent or DVD import to Non-UK residents for a good while, became an insiders’ secret for gay teenagers all over the world but the German perversion of dubbing foreign series turns it into a disaster.
Tony and Maxxie from Skins, season 1 | Photo via The Bats Nest
The BAFTA-winning teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England as they grow up is one of the most popular TV series in the United Kingdom and fans, as well as critics, appreciate its authenticity, humour and the sentimentality of puberty it shows. But the German version cut out too much of that. Not only is it hard to stand the desperate attempt to translate English youth slang into German which is moreover presented by bored, 40 year old voice actors but even the carefully selected original soundtrack of the series was replaced with mainstream soap trash.
Worst of all: In the original version Skins uses a loose but correct way of referring to homosexuality. In the German version ‘tho, the Gay character Maxxie sounds like the worst cliché of a nancy boy; and right in the first scene of the first episode Maxxie’s father is insulting him as a “little faggot” – nothing like that happens in the Original series. German TV has managed to turn a show that has a respectful approach to homosexuality into an amplifier of homophobic language and behaviour.[via queer.de]
Trap Thursday *12
Aug 28th
Let’s just assume it’s still Thursday in some parts of the world, kthx :p
For some reason I think it’s a girl looking like a boy looking like a girl, however, I’d hit it | Found by Sid
Periodical Political Post *33
Aug 14th
- UK tells police to ignore human rights court ruling over DNA database
- UK govt. accessing private telephone and e-mail records 1.500 times a day
- German high court case against gay marriage withdrawn by opposing state
- Pirate Party officially registered as political party and ready to go in the UK
- Rich NY town tries to shut down children’s library because poor kids might use it
- US college gives students credits for trolling web with creationist propaganda
- Police in NY using devious trick to arrest people for pot possession
- US Judge sentences man to 6 months in jail — for yawning in court
- FDP entsetzt über “Linksrutsch” der CDU und für Ausweitung des Überwachungsstaats
- Bayern zieht Klage gegen Stiefkind-Adoption bei gleichgeschlechtlichen Paaren zurück
- Auch die Grünen finden das Internet braucht schärfere Gesetzte als das “echte Leben”
- SPD-Kandidatin für Familienminesterium findet Zensur sollte schneller implementiert werden
- CDU will möglichst schnell Studiengebühren von über 1000 Euro für Erststudium einführen
- CDU will im Falle eines Wahlsieges 1,5 Milliarden Euro in deutsche Mondmission investieren
- Auf Hitlers Spuren: In Israel werden Ehen zwischen Juden und Nichtjuden vom Staat nicht anerkannt
Periodical Political Post *32
Aug 7th
- 2 teens murdered, 12 injured in Tel Aviv shooting at gay youth meeting
- Gay couples protest Australian gay marriage ban with mock weddings
- Aussie MP attacks plans to allow gay adoption, says homosexuality isn’t normal
- Cambodia relocates HIV families to AIDS Ghettos lacking clean water
- Boy dies after being shot in the back by police, Amnesty demands investigation
- UK wants to set thousands of families under 24/7 surveillance
- Football clubs take a stand for gay pride in Sweden
- Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz will mehr & schärfere Netzzensur
- Meinungsfreiheit als Sondermüll – CDU will Zensur ebenfalls ausweiten
- SPD-Spitzenkandidat meint, das Grundgesetz ist nicht so wichtig
- Auch Grüne wollen zensieren: Kommentar des Bremer Fraktionsvorsitzenden
- SPD will Grundrechte zu Gunsten von Urheberrechten schwächen
- CDU weiß seit 13 Jahren von Sicherheitsproblem in Atommülllager
Trap Thursday *9
Jul 16th
It might be due to the fact that people think I won’t post girls on milkboys (which isn’t true) but the majority of people who have voted in last week’s Trap Thursday poll were right once again. 63% of you said the trap is a boy. Tack to the great Pinkneptune for finding this beauty. More photos of him can be found here and here. This week’s trap is to famous (at least in Germany) to make a poll so you have to enjoy your cake without a vote this time ;)
A 16-year-old trans teenager who became an internet hit is launching a pop career. Kim Petras, from Germany, began taking hormones at the age of 12 and underwent gender reassignment last year. Her music is horrible pop trash but at least she’s not as bad as the other tranny everybody seems to love ;p
The Center of the World
Jul 13th
When I was about 14 I carried a book with me for weeks, if not months, because I just couldn’t let the protagonist go away. It must have been the first time that I really fell in love with a book. Welcome to The Center of the World…
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A coming of age story set in a remote mountain range in Germany; Steinhöfel weaves the elegant tale of a seventeen-year-old boy named Phil. Although the novel does deal with Phil’s sexuality, it primarily illustrates his tumultuous relationship with his unconventional mother, Glass, and reclusive twin sister, Dianne. From the birth of Phil and Dianne by their teenage mother in the prologue of the story, the family occupies a large estate, called Visible, on the outskirts of a socially repressive and ultra-conservative town. The town not only discriminates against Glass because of her promiscuous nature, but they transfer their criticisms to her two children. Therefore, throughout Phil’s childhood, he feels ostracized despite his mother’s advice to ignore the harshness of the "Little People," or the people who inhabit the town. Phil does discover refuge in the form of a young and vivacious girl named Kat, who becomes his one and only ally. However, despite Phil’s seeming acceptance of his sexuality, he does not believe that his family or his friends would approve of his relationship with a charming and attractive runner, named Nicholas, who becomes his first boyfriend. The novel is written in a first-person narrative with intermittent flashbacks that describe the roots of Phil’s personality. |
Steinhöfel’s greatest accomplishment is that he portrays homosexual relationships as the equivalent of heterosexual relationships. By demonstrating that the journey toward self-discovery of a young gay man is the same as that of a young straight man, Steinhöfel shows that discriminatory views on homosexuality are completely unfounded. In addition to vividly depicting Visible’s breathtaking surroundings, his crisp and graceful prose provides insight into Phil’s complex thoughts and emotions. Satisfying the reader with Phil’s self-discovery, Steinhöfel does an excellent job of balancing the scales between satisfaction and misery, having and wanting. By the end of the novel, one aches with a confused combination of happiness and grief. Steinhöfel and his novel deserve every word of praise!
English ISBN: 0440229324 | German ISBN 3551353158
English Version at Amazon | German Version at Amazon
Periodical Political Post *30
Jul 10th
- Government starts to search homes without suspicion in the Netherlands
- Mother’s letter inspires gay marriage protest outside Irish parliament
- Fears for the world’s poor countries as the rich grab land to grow food
- Surprise, surprise: CIA director admits they were lying to Congress for years
- Sweden moves closer to nursing homes for gays, starting in Stockholm
- IPREDator, the global anonymity service from The Pirate Bay, goes live soon
- Zensursula will 1.000 Websites ohne Richtervorbehalt sperren – pro Tag!
- Grundrechtspartei? Wie die FDP in Hessen für den Polizeistaat übt
- FDP will versprochene Steuersenkungen mit Obdachlosigkeit finanzieren
- Vorwärts Marsch zum Deutschnetz – Sperrungen: der Nächste bitte
- Linke reicht Verfassungsklage für Gleichstellung von Homo-Ehe ein
- Tiefe Einblicke ins Private: Gutachten zur Vorratsdatenspeicherung
- Deutschland verschwendet mal wieder (3,1) Milliarden für nutzlose Panzer
- Witz des Tages: Klimaberater der Kanzelrin ist… der Chef von Vattenfall!
