Bei Spreeblick: Ackermann (eigentlich ein Schweizer), Ratzinger, Kohl.
Auch mit Photoshop-Template – so kann man den deutschen Freund(inn)en vielleicht eine hübsche Weihnachtskarte basteln.
Bei Flickr auch.
Du-bist-Deutschland-Parodie
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Monthly Archives: September 2005
Prohibited degrees in Warrington / Schwiegermutter heiraten
BBC News reports
bq. The European Court of Human Rights earlier this month ruled the ban on marriage between people who were in-laws is a breach of human rights.
The decision came in a case brought by a man and his daughter-in-law.
Coincidentally, that couple were also from Warrington.
The Times still has an article on the Strasbourg case online.
bq. The court was told that a son from the womans first marriage now calls his own grandfather Dad and that the couple plans to adopt him. The man and woman went to the European Court of Human Rights after being refused permission to marry by the Superintendent Registrar at Warrington Register Office.
Private Acts of parliament have sometimes been passed, but the last was apparently in 1987. One assumes the law will be changed – there have occasionally been remarks suggesting it is pointless.
European Court of Human Rights, Case of B. and L. v. The United Kingdom
Extraordinary rendition
The World Wide Words newsletter, whose RSS feed I read, has chosen the term extraordinary rendition to comment on.
In US law rendition refers to the transfer of individuals by what is called extra-judicial process (kidnapping, in plain speech) from a foreign country to the USA to answer criminal charges. The defendant is said to have been rendered up to justice.
A problem for the security forces is that once brought to the USA the person is subject to US law and the rules of due process, which of course excludes torture. Hence extraordinary rendition, a euphemism for taking them to a country where these rules do not apply.
From the Independent, 1 Jul. 2005: One week ago a judge in Milan signed warrants for the arrest of 13 of the agents, which has thrown covert CIA activities outside the US under the spotlight and drawn attention to the increasingly common practice of so-called extraordinary rendition, by which the US seizes terror suspects and removes them to countries known for their use of torture.
Außergewöhnliche Auslieferung, I suppose. Here’s a German article of June 2005 using that term:
Italien: Erstmals geht Justiz in Europa gegen US-Praktiken des Kidnappings Verdächtiger vor. Klarnamen von Geheimdienstagenten an Mailänder Konsulat aufgedeckt
The terms Kidnapping and Verschleppung seem to be more common. See heise.de.
For rendition, Romain has ‘Überstellung von Straftätern (ohne förmliche Auslieferung)’.
Wikipedia has something about it too.
Miscellaneous links / Links, vermischt
Today is European Languages Day, as I have mentioned sporadically since 2003, but it must have been going on longer than that. There is a game where you have to pinpoint on the map where each of the 41 languages of Europe is an official language. I managed 6 places with German and 3 with English, and I could do Azerbaidjan, Albania and Armenia, but although I recognize a Slavic language when I see one, there seem very many places to put it. There are the words for ‘Talk to me’ in all the languages – but even afterwards, they didn’t say what the language is called, or did I miss something?
LATER NOTE: I see Linklogbuch says the quiz doesn’t work in Firefox, but it does in Opera. What does it do that it doesn’t do in Firefox – give you a prize? I just had a look at it in IE, but there was no difference in playing. But surely German is an official language in part of Italy, isn’t it?
Today is also, according to the news, the first day for some well-known people (but not politicians) to say ‘Du bist das Wunder von Deutschland’ (You are the miracle of Germany). In fact, something will be happening at this website at 19.45 CET. It was strange enough seeing all the TV ads for Baden-Württemberg (‘We can do everything except speak High German’), but this should be weirder. I hope they have someone in the line-up who says ‘Church and state really are divided, despite appearances!’
The Language Guy examines four theories as to why President Bush sometimes mangles his words, and comes down on the side of the least offensive of them, namely mild anomia, a kind of verbal disorder.
EU translations into German/EU-Übersetzungen ins Deutsche
BILD-Gegendarstellung von 22. September.
BILD am 25. August: “EU schafft Deutsch ab”
Siehe BILDblog hier
bq. EU schafft Deutsch ab. Die EU-Kommission hat die Übersetzung ins Deutsche gestoppt. Grund: Dolmetscher seien durch die Ostereweiterung der EU überlastet. Die EU-Vorlagen und Ausschreibungen gibt es jetzt nur noch in englischer Sprache.
bq. EU removes German. The EU Commission has stopped translations into German. The reason: it says that interpreters [sic] are overburdened as a result of the enlargement of the EU eastwards. The EU documents and tenders are only available in English now.
und hier. Und am 15. September:
bq. Selbst als die EU-Kommission am 25. August eine einstweilige Verfügung erwirkte, die “Bild” zum Abdruck der Gegendarstellung verpflichtete, gab die Zeitung noch nicht auf und legte Widerspruch ein. Heute nun hat das Landgericht Berlin diesen Widerspruch abgewiesen.
bq. In der “F.A.Z.” sagte “Bild”-Chefredakteur Kai Diekmann, er drucke absurde Gegendarstellungen gerne, “weil sie zeigen, wie hier das Recht der Gegendarstellung im Kern mißbraucht wird.” Wir lernen: Weniger absurde Gegendarstellungen druckt er offenbar nicht so gerne.
Wobei es nicht nur bei BILD beliebt ist, Lügengeschichten über die EU zu verbreiten.
The naming of peaches / Pfirsiche
I’m very fond of these flat peaches that taste just like other white peaches.
Apparently in the USA they are called Saturn or Jupiter or doughnut (donut) peaches. What are they called in Germany?
The Washington State Fruit Commission says:
bq. Saturn/flat peaches are a variety of white peach that were originally developed in Asia. Low in acid and high in soluble solids, this tender peach is perfect for consumers who appreciate a sweet finish to their tree fruit. Likewise, this peach gets its name because it is much flatter in height than traditional peaches, very similar to a donut…but much healthier!
There is absolutely no need to knock doughnuts. And how come Saturn is trademarked?