There has been some discussion in the last few days about possible coalitions and I did think of mentioning them.

Ampelkoalition: a ‘traffic-lights’ coalition: red, green and yellow (amber, we would call the traffic light). Red: SPD, green: the Greens, yellow: FDP (Liberal Democrats). It always amazed me in the Bavarian translators’ oral exams, when my German colleague asked a candidate what an Ampelkoalition was, how none of them were capable of guessing it.

Große Koalition: grand coalition: black (CDU/CSU) and red (SPD)

Jamaika-Koalition or Schwampel (short for schwarze Ampel or black traffic lights): black, green and yellow. The commentators on TV this morning were behaving as if they’d only just heard this word, but it’s been around a week or so, because I have been thinking of blogging it, but I didn’t realize it would be the most likely (or least unlikely) alternative.

Mrs. Tilton (whose weekly spider photos I covet) has written on the topic in A Fistful of Euros, which is a group blog.

Now I hear that the significance of the colours in the Jamaican flag is: green for the land, yellow for the sun, black for hardship. How does this relate to the Pan-African colours, where the black represents the skin colour?

Anyway, the CSU did not have black balloons (unlike Mr. Bleck, the coffee chain – matt black balloons are great, but perhaps parents wouldn’t like them for their children). The Links-Partei is using red, like the SPD, but is represented as purple in graphics.

None of these coalitions appear very likely, except probably the grand coalition. But I digress.

I mentioned the San Francisco semicolon story in an earlier entry; now Derek Thornton, on flefo.org, reports that the Financial Times has a semicolon survey /September 16, so still online now).

bq. ”You’re kidding,” said Ann Keatings, an applied linguist, as she absorbed the news I had brought from the US, where I have lived for the past 12 years: Americans see the semicolon as punctuation’s axis of evil. Or at least many of them do. “But I like semicolons,” she protested, “they allow a writer to go further.”

I have thought about this. I use semicolons and colons, but I must admit I don’t like semicolons in email. I can think of two or three people who use them, and it has a sort of effete effect.

The FT article, by Trevor Butterworth, is very interesting. But as Derek points out, their survey is ambiguous:

Are you for or against the semicolon? Answer: Yes / No

My answer is yes and no, or, as the Germans say, jein.

The German-American Law Journal blog links to an old findlaw article by Anthony J. Sebok on How Germany Views U.S. Tort Law.

bq. From conversations with German friends and from reading the German press, I had always suspected Germany’s view of the U.S. tort system was conflicted, to say the least. But this impression was driven home to me this summer, when I taught German law students a basic first year course in torts, the same course I teach in New York City.

Two things in the article struck me from the British point of view: the British don’t know the Socratic method any more than the Germans do, and the English have a book, Kemp & Kemp on Quantum of Damages, not exactly like German Tabellen, but indicating the kind of awards that judges have been making.

There are some excellent points in the article. The conclusion is a bit oversimplified. I think it’s true that most European nations do not share the U.S. political culture, but nevertheless their tort law can take a variety of forms.

Meanwhile, the ABA Journal has some interesting articles online, including one called Vive les Class Actions (shouldn’t that be Vivent…?): Europe Is Showing More Interest in Legal Mechanisms That Have Come Under Fire in the United States

Points discussed include class actions, plea bargaining and antitrust (restrictive practices) suits.

Here’s an article in German on class actions – I know I saw one recently, but this is from 2004: Gibt es Sammelklagen in Deutschland?

The final day of campaigning still suggests a grand coalition:

with a surprise last-minute surge from C & A:

Here is an anonymized CSU town councillor eating a red and green lollipop:

Some politicians of note actually braved the sparse crowds in the Fürth Füzo (on Thursday; note typical Green supporters in background, bread advert with election theme at right of shop window) – this heckler’s main words were ‘Benzinpreise’ and ‘Scheiße’:

Ralph Stenzel has produced a Fürth blog. We must keep an eye on it. I have now removed my Fürth blog, Fürther Freiheiten, completely, but I intend to have a Fürth page if I’m still in Fürth when I get round to changing to different blog software.

In this connection, I might mention the Nuremberg blog plan. It’s much easier to follow if you click on Durchblick!

I think the best-known local blog is Lisa Neun‘s, with all the caricatures. She is in Erlangen, though, so she had to choose Vach as the nearest point to her.

A tram in Nuremberg: