We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2007 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:29:12 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2008 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Won't work as a hooker? We'll cut yer unemployment bennies then. Well, there's an interesting take on welfare reform.... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html Sun, 30 Jan 2005 21:32:07 -0600 great meal in the smallest restaurant I've ever seen--two tables, both bigger than the kitchen.]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13260 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13260 Tue, 01 Feb 2005 11:33:45 -0600 Did you go to the Kriminal Museum in Rothenburg ob der Tauber? That is ONE fascinating place, complete with a functional Iron Maiden and chastity belts. There was one floor dedicated to life in the 1500s and I spent hours and hours there. So much better than reading some boring book on the rise of Western Civ. I have not one drop of Krautish blood (well, Danish, but that's a stretch, as any good Dane will tell you) but being there and seeing all the artifacts and reading about them, what they were used for, gave such a huge insight into the late Middle Ages that you felt you were there at that point in time. You had a connection to them. A lot of it was good, and showed that they valued peace and morality and protected it without the intervention of the local nobility or the priest. Fascinating fascinating stuff. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13257 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13257 Tue, 01 Feb 2005 11:15:00 -0600 Cricket - Relaxed, but not relaxed enough to tolerate the stuff in the museums--plural. The Germans I got to know didn't sneer at me, just thought I was an interesting change from the norm--but there's a lot of truth in what you're saying. Regardless, the incident did provide me with a new perspective on the phrase, "Inside the beltway"... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13225 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13225 Tue, 01 Feb 2005 05:36:54 -0600 EEEeuuuuwwww! Then there was that twit who wanted to be eaten. I don't think the Germans have always been 'that' relaxed about sex, as they have some pretty interesting stuff in the Kriminal Museum that says otherwise. I think as their society has moved away from religion and moral absolutes to relativism and government mandated reproductive choice, there is more of a casual aspect to their attitudes. Bottom line, Germans are more open about sex, but they sneer at our so called hypocrisy. I don't see that we repress it as much as we try to put it in its proper place. I think the Germans to a greater extent than we have, have a pragmatism about it that is unnerving...that it is just a means of relief, not a means of building intimacy and bonding and that is something I am not so sure was left over from Hitler. His Kinder Hausen and all but destroyed the family...just that whole culture of racial supremacy and purity. And they do use their fests as an excuse to cut loose and break down some taboos...Oktoberfest being one such event. Thoughts? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13222 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13222 Tue, 01 Feb 2005 02:43:54 -0600 hefe weissbier through my nose in response to being publicly groped by a bride-to-be. Cold hand, cold, cold, cold--and sharp nails... On the other hand, their rivers kinda stink. ]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13211 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13211 Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:26:27 -0600 P.S. "He said "Schuetzengraben"!" Giggle, snicker. In TOTW Hitler was making a speech about the sacrifices of the soldiers on the Western front in the trenches and dugouts. Apparently the German word for dugout is "Schuetzengrabe", which I immediately literally-mindedly translated to myself as "Safety-Grave." As in, "Make sure yer men dig safety graves on the new position first thing, Sergeant!" http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13210 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13210 Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:15:30 -0600 Know whatcha mean about those films, cricket. I remember watching "Triumph of the Will", which really is a beautifully made film, and even liking some of the boy-scout-like parts, guffawing at the "Ich bin Westfaelisch" parts, and getting totally creeped out by ol' Adolf talking around the subject of why he had all those SA guys kilt. Ever see "Sieg im Westen"? It's fairly propaganda-free, for those guys, but I couldn't help noticing a little dig at the French in one scene. In the background, they (cough) just happened to include a sign saying "Domremy 20 km." That was Joan of Arc's home town. Speer was really proud of that searchlight trick for the rally. I wonder how much Speer really repented. I read both of his books, seems he did to me, but some have suggested that he was sucking up to current opinion. He was definitely the nerdiest of the Nazis, IMHO. Oh, yeah, to get back on topic; German culture seems a little weird, sexually. I recall reading in one of Eric Flint's 163x novels about a 17th-century German woman getting raped and suing the rapist to make him post a pregnancy bond. Of course the 30 years war was going on at the time, and all, but she seemed to consider it more of a trespass than a crime. Flint does good historical research, so I bet it reflects the actual behavior at the time. I've often heard that Germans have muchly different sexual customs from Americans. Surely some of the people reading and writing here have spent time there. What have y'all observed? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13208 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13208 Mon, 31 Jan 2005 22:58:01 -0600 yeah, but all those rallies in Nuremburg..I used to watch the prop films in German class (no we weren't being brainwashed for the Fourth Reich)with this horrid fascination. It just amazed me how closely he tried to follow the Roman model in displays of statism and in being with the people. Truly an interesting, very charismatic person...and then ol Mel Brooks goes and puts him on ice! Anyhow, in reading this story it just sort of reminded me of the stories my parents told me about their putzfrau when my dad was stationed there after the war. She had a tattooed number on her chest courtesy of the Third Reich. Yes, she was at Auschwitz. The timing of this story is incredible. Sick sick sick. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13204 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13204 Mon, 31 Jan 2005 21:49:19 -0600 National Socialism (really torques the lefties when you remind them what the abbreviation "Nazi" is all about). Mussolini was the embodiment of fascism. Come to think of it, Hitler was also the embodiment of charismatic lunacy... ]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13198 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13198 Mon, 31 Jan 2005 21:13:12 -0600 And how many of her services are tax deductible^^? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13195 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13195 Mon, 31 Jan 2005 19:59:43 -0600 Egad! Let me see if I have this straight: "Prostitution was legalised in Germany in 2002 because the government believed that this would help to combat trafficking in women and cut links to organised crime." So they are saying "We don't want organized crime trafficking our women, let the government do it." Is that about right? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13192 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13192 Mon, 31 Jan 2005 18:34:23 -0600 Um, Hitler was, like, er, the *embodiment* of fascism? I hadn't considered the the value added tax aspects. What if she's no good (uninspired, unwilling, uninterested)- do I get a rebate? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13188 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13188 Mon, 31 Jan 2005 17:19:53 -0600 You know, I could get all sarcastic about the mehrwehrstueurfrei benefit off of this, but this is sick. Beyond oogie and they DEFINATLEY took a leaf out of Caligula's book...Hitler wasn't that far removed from Fascism. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13186 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13186 Mon, 31 Jan 2005 17:10:45 -0600 Oh Good Lord. What a load of crappola that is. And we wonder why Germany isn't on board with US? We should be wondering why they are on board with this insane ruling. This is the German *Sex for Food* equivalent of the UN *Oil for Food* scandal! Get yer weinerschnitzel here! yeah, right. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13158 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13158 Mon, 31 Jan 2005 11:14:08 -0600 vays to make you [vulgarity deleted by frantic NetNanny], Fraulein..."]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13146 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13146 Mon, 31 Jan 2005 08:39:13 -0600 deutschesbundesmadchen program...]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13144 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13144 Mon, 31 Jan 2005 08:32:26 -0600 Those French need to quit! (as usual) http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13127 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2005/01/news_from_a_socialists_paradise.html#comment-13127 Mon, 31 Jan 2005 06:20:41 -0600