Heiko Hebig has an entry:

bq. Are all English translators in Germany on strike? Surely Horst Köhler has delivered more than one speech.

He links to this page of English speeches by Horst Köhler.

They have his inaugural speech to the Bundestag and his speech on October 3rd – very prompt in the latter case. Curiously, the date is given in American (10/03/2004) – I’m not sure what good this does. The translation has a slightly wooden and non-English quality (‘Our thanks goes to you…’):

bq. Nevertheless, our country should be worth something to us. Notwithstanding our current dif­ficulties, the Basic Law and our social market economy represent a particularly successful and peaceful phase in our country’s history, as President Rau mentioned.

Presumably Heiko was looking for material to send English-speakers. I doubt the Bundespräsident has an inhouse translator though, quite apart from the fact that these are fairly rare today even in industry, and we outhouse translators (to coin a phrase) shouldn’t be going on strike, or should we?

Of course, at least before he took office, Köhler was discouraged from speaking, but there are certainly a few more gems on the German part of the website,albeit only the same two in French and Spanish.

Di 27.07.2004 Toast von Bundespräsident Horst Köhler anlässlich des Mittagessens in Schloß Gottorf
Mo 19.07.2004 Grußwort von Bundespräsident Horst Köhler beim Empfang aus Anlass des 60. Jahrestages des 20. Juli 1944
Do 15.07.2004 Tischrede von Bundespräsident Horst Köhler anlässlich seines Nachbarschaftsbesuches in Polen beim Mittagessen, gegeben vom polnischen Staatspräsidenten Aleksander Kwasniewski
Mi 14.07.2004 Grußwort von Bundespräsident Horst Köhler bei seinem Antrittsbesuch beim Bundesverfassungsgericht
Fr 09.07.2004 Grußwort von Bundespräsident Horst Köhler beim Besuch des Freistaats Sachsen
Do 01.07.2004 Wir können in Deutschland vieles möglich machen
So 23.05.2004 Ansprache von Horst Köhler vor der Bundesversammlung nach seiner Wahl zum Bundespräsidenten

Whether some of these speeches are regarded as of less international interest or whether only a few speeches are ever translated I don’t know.

Bernd Röthlingshöfer hat ein Buch geschrieben: Werben mit kleinem Budget. Man kann es auch als kostenloses E-Book downloaden. Ich habe es noch nicht angeschaut, wurde aufmerksam darauf bei der Erwähnung an der Frankfurter-Buchmesse-Site, dass BR eine “virtuelle Buchtournee” macht, indem er fünf Weblogs besucht siehe sein Weblog, ebenfalls Werben mit kleinem Budget genannt.

Weblog and e-book on advertising on a small budget, by an author who held a virtual book tour by visiting five weblogs – all in German.

Not quite a breakout from the Battersea Dogs’ Home, but one dog opening his and his friends’ cages at night for midnight feasts. Story and videoclip.

(via Random Acts of Reality, the blog of a London ambulance man)

An exciting new weblog in English on Spanish affairs, spainmedia.com, has been launched by famous persons in Barcelona and thereabouts. Anyone who can write about Spanish football should contact them. Looking at the list of writers – and there are a number, and the site is full of information – I see Trevor is more of an impresario now. My favourite bit so far is the article ‘Pujol holiday home is tremor epicentre’, by ‘Barcelona-based geographer Derek Geary’.

Sadly, another legal weblog I liked has stopped – LATER NOTE: No it hasn’t – see comment: The Blogbook. However, the reason for its demise is that the (main) author, David Maizenberg, has a new job, and he may, and I hope will, blog again at a later date. In commemoration, if you haven’t done so before, test your vocabulary against that of Judge Selya of the First Circuit.

Meanwhile, another new law blog in Germany. mein blawg – via Udo – is the work of a judge or public prosecutor

bq. Blogs lesen macht Spass. Mein Einstiegs-Blog war Udos lawblog – sehr unterhaltsam – und von dort aus habe ich viele juristische Blogs kennen gelernt.

bq. Es gibt viele Blogs von Rechtsanwälten, Referendaren, Studenten, Wissenschaftlichen Mitarbeitern usw. Von Richtern oder Staatsanwälten habe ich noch keinen Blog gefunden und oft sind die Angestellten der Justiz eher die Zielscheibe der Postings. Meistens völlig zu recht!

bq. Vielleicht kann ich ja ein paar Aspekte von der “anderen Seite” beitragen.

A new magazine for translators, to appear 4 times a year, has been launched in Britain. The Translating Today website is informative.
It looks as if the first issue has already gone out, that is, cannot be ordered any longer.
(Tip-off from an ITI mailing list)

In an article on the delivery of letters to confusing addresses, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reports that a schoolboy addressed his application to the police to the following street address: Berthaübelsiegfriedcäsarheinrichemilrichardstraße 2-6.

He had phoned up to ask how the street name was spelt: Büscherstraße, and not recognized the phonetic alphabet when he heard it.

The writer wanted to do a practical/internship with the police, but they turned him down on the basis of the envelope. As the heading says, quoting a common German expression, ‘More stupid than the police permit’ (Dümmer als die Polizei erlaubt).

Here are more phonetic alphabets (not in the IPA sense), and Wikipedia on the NATO phonetic alphabet.

LATER NOTE: here is another list of phonetic alphabets, suggested by a commenter.