Ethno:log beschreibt eine Möglichkeit, für direkte Hilfe in einem Fischerdorf nahe Pondicherry zu spenden.

Details of the above project are available only in German (Ethno:log, via Mosaikum). Professor Laubscher of the Ethnology department at Munich University has a house on the coast near Pondicherry that the wave did not quite reach and is involved in a project that has been going on for 30 years. Money is intended to help the locals help themselves. Among other things, 6 fishing boats for 3000 euros each are needed.

System by Jeremy Grove, via MoCo Loco and netbib.weblog.

This is Höffi, the mascot of the huge furniture shop Möbel Höffner, which has been promising to build in Fürth for a couple of years now.

Meanwhile, the no less wily Möbel XXXLutz has opened in Nuremberg.

It seems that Möbel Lutz has bought a small piece of land interrupting Möbel Höffner’s prospective connection to the motorway.

bq. Was den Neubau hinauszögern könnte: Im Bereich der geplanten neuen Autobahnauffahrt bei Steinach hat Möbel Lutz ein Sperrgrundstück (einen so genannten Schikanierzwickel) erworben. Die nun nötigen Grundstücksverhandlungen sind er-fahrungsgemäß langwierig.

(Fürther Nachrichten – link unlikely to last).

Zwickel means gusset or gore or spandrel; schikanieren is to harass someone. There are a few Google hits for Schikanierzwickel – the Amtsblatt der Stadt Radebeul actually apologizes for using the term (it apparently hadn’t heard of Sperrgrundstück).

bq. Auch das im Amtsblatt 2/2000 angesprochene „Schikanierzwickel“ – für diesen Ausdruck entschuldigen wir uns hiermit – ist in dem für den Straßenbau erforderlichen Umfang durch die Eigentümerin zur Verfügung gestellt worden.

However, Höffner has got its revenge by buying Franken Wohnland, at the next exit along from IKEA, so until the big building goes up it can sell from there.

On top of this, there’s the ongoing saga of the planned mineral baths and the attempts at sabotage by Herr Steiner of the bath once known as Palm Beach and now Kristall Palm Beach, of which more another time (history of mineral baths in Fürth).

Breaking news on In Brief reveals a case of sexual equality where a woman allegedly spiked two men’s drinks with Rohypnol and robbed them:

bq. Banker Volker Vogler met Hakki in the rooftop bar of London’s Park Lane Hilton. She went back to his home with him and literally stole the clothes off his back – disappearing while he was unconscious with a £100 pair of black Versace jeans with £100 in the pocket, a Versace jumper, three pairs of shoes and an £850 Omega watch, as well as a Tiffany alarm clock and a bottle of red wine, according to the prosecution. Her second alleged victim, Alexander Jovy, also found items missing after going back to his flat with Hakki and falling unconscious, the court heard. The case continues.

The article says she ‘slipped them a Mickey Finn’ – good to see traditional terms preserved. The first time I heard of Rohypnol was a couple of years ago in court here in Germany, where the effects of the substance were described but the judge refused to name it for fear of encouraging others, apparently. I had to do some Internet searching before I got the name.

EISIL is a site developed by the American Society of International Law to provide links to the best online primary materials.

The site was recommended by Delia Venables. I regularly look at her page on new sites for lawyers.

Another good page of many on Delia’s site gives links to legal newspapers and journals.

The English Wikipedia deals with German law among other topics, and how it’s put into English might be of interest.

In mid-December, the daily article featured was on Paragraph/Section 175 of the German Criminal Code, which made homosexual acts illegal. It had been abolished in East Germany but was not abolished in West or united Germany till 1994. It was pointed out to me that some of the discussion dealt with translation into English.

Today, the featured article was on Henry VIII, who introduced the first legislation against homosexuality in England or any other ‘Germanic country’.

bq. Some have suggested that zoophilia was specifically included because of the fear of hybrid births.

The mooted translation relates to the version of June 28, 1935 and the problem term is “Unzucht treiben”, which replaced “widernatürlich Unzucht treiben”.

I can’t see a huge problem in comparison with other legal translation. If the change from the earlier version of the statute is important, there will have to be a translator’s note. It is suggested that

“…mit einem anderen Mann Unzucht treibt oder sich von ihm zur Unzucht missbrauchen lässt”.

is translated as:

“commits lewdness (as the active partner) with another man or allows such an abuse to be done to him”
or
“engages as the active or passive partner in lewdness with another man”.

Lister and Veth and Dietl give for Unzucht “sexual offence”, “illicit sexual act”, “illicit sexual practices”; Romain has, inter alia, “indecency, lewd acts, debauchery, fornication”. Von Beseler/Jacobs-Wüstefeld has a number of these too.

It’s interesting to see this on Wikipedia, partly because there’s evidence of some discussion on the translation. The references include a link to the German-language Wikipedia article. That adds the factoid that May 17th was sometimes called the gays’ holiday (17.5 / 175).

Here’s part of the discussion:

bq. Jmabel 07:04, Sep 9, 2004 (UTC)
I’ve written most parts of the German article and will review the English translation within the next few days (you’ve really done good work as far as I can see!). I’ve already corrected some slight mistakes. But I hope, you will check my corrections, too, with respect to linguistics, because I’m never sure if “one can say that in English”. One last question: Is it really necessary to provide so much German vocabulary in brackets? I don’t think, it necessarily helps understanding to know the legal terms in the original. –Amys 21:28, 9 Sep 2004 (UTC)

bq. I’ve kept them because legal terms don’t always line up exactly. If you are confident that the English term is a precise equivalent, feel free to delete the German. However, for example, I think it is absolutely necessary to include the discussion of Unsucht, on which so much turns, and I think honesty requires including the problematic Schutzhaft, which can be translated to two very different meanings in English, as we’ve discussed at Image talk:Gestapo anti-gay telex.jpg. It’s one thing for me to translate it as “preventive detention”, it’s another to hide the fact that I’m translating an ambiguous phrase. — Jmabel 23:55, Sep 9, 2004 (UTC)

I agree about the use of German terms in brackets.

There’s another interesting article on German legal citation. Goodness gracious, it even quotes me (a messy entry of mine on quoting statutes).