Germany marks 60 years of postwar constitution (http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4272150,00.html)
QuoteGermany's leaders have celebrated the 60th anniversary of the country's "Basic Law." President Horst Koehler lauded the post-World War II constitution for ensuring freedom and prosperity in a democratic system.
In an official state act at Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt Concert Hall on Friday, President Horst Köhler lauded 60 years of the German postwar constitution, saying it had turned Germany into a "mature democracy."
He said the founding fathers of the Federal Republic of Germany "had drawn lessons from the collapse of the Weimar Republic. They also learned from the Nazi dictatorship by creating a constitution that laid solid foundations for a free and just society," he added.
The Weimar Republic (1919-1933) was Germany's first attempt at creating a democratic system.
Koehler said the postwar transformation of Western Germany into a country based on democracy and a free-market economy had made the Federal Republic a prosperous and peace-loving nation.
Germany had regained "the status of a respected nation," Koehler said in his speech before political leaders. "Today we have friends all over the world. We are admired for our economic achievements and political reliability – for always being prepared to help others and fostering peace in the world."
Koehler also described the then West German state as a country deeply rooted in freedom and respect for human dignity. These commitments helped eastern Germans overcome four decades of communism in 1990, he said.
Renewing commitments
Koehler argued not to become complacent, saying that in view of the new challenges arising today, the commitments enshrined in the German constitution should be renewed.
"We should promise to ourselves that this country will never look away when people need us or are threatening to fall behind. Let's vow to pursue long-term policies that give future generations a chance to enjoy freedom as well."
The commemorative event marked the beginning of three days of celebrations.
Berlin's central Festival Mile is set to be reopened on Saturday – a reminder of the 2006 Soccer World Cup, when hundreds of thousands of fans partook of beer and bratwurst while watching the football matches on giant video screens.
This time around they'll have the opportunity to see a new German president elected in parliament on Saturday. German pop bands and theater groups will also be performing.
From the rubble
On May 23, 1949, political leaders in the western part of occupied Germany proclaimed the country's "Basic Law" -- Germany's postwar constitution -- which laid the foundation for West Germany to emerge from the rubble of World War II.
About four months later, on October 7, 1949, communist leaders in the Soviet-occupied zone of eastern Germany proclaimed their own state. The division of Germany continued until 1990, when the country was reunited in the wake of a peaceful popular uprising that brought an end to the communist regime.
:)
:)
I hereby pronounce the German people well and truly over their fascist, Nazi ways.
Congratulations. Can you guys start acting like you have balls again please? We could really use some help.
Quote from: Berkut on May 22, 2009, 10:32:32 AM
Congratulations. Can you guys start acting like you have balls again please? We could really use some help.
No, we won't start buying American cars.
You're welcome, slave.
I fucking blame Truman for this.
It's all good.
Now rebuild your massive armies and destroy the enemies of the West.
:cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
Quote from: Valmy on May 22, 2009, 10:45:17 AM
It's all good.
Now rebuild your massive armies and destroy the enemies of the West.
Yes, pretty please with sauerkraut on top :(
Quote from: Valmy on May 22, 2009, 10:45:17 AM
It's all good.
Now rebuild your massive armies and destroy the enemies of the West.
Didn't end up firebombing their major cities the last time they tried that?
Quote from: Syt on May 22, 2009, 10:34:40 AM
Quote from: Berkut on May 22, 2009, 10:32:32 AM
Congratulations. Can you guys start acting like you have balls again please? We could really use some help.
No, we won't start buying American cars.
:lmfao: Don't worry, even Soviets in 1945 wouldn't ask Germans to do that.
Quote from: Faeelin on May 22, 2009, 11:01:55 AM
Quote from: Valmy on May 22, 2009, 10:45:17 AM
It's all good.
Now rebuild your massive armies and destroy the enemies of the West.
Didn't end up firebombing their major cities the last time they tried that?
Yeah, but it was great fun all around. We should do it again sometime.
Congrats on the anniversary, and enjoy the festivities! :)
I also echo the call for Germany to regain some of it's fiestiness, and help fight the enemies of civilization! And no, that doesn't mean attacking Pres Bush.... ;)
I have a question about German comedy.
Is there any? And is it: funny?
Quote from: Valmy on May 22, 2009, 10:45:17 AM
It's all good.
Now rebuild your massive armies and destroy the enemies of the West.
Namely the French
and Poles.
Quote from: HVC on May 22, 2009, 11:37:38 AM
Namely the French
Portugal and Brazil must be turned to ash for the good of the Western World.
Quote from: saskganesh on May 22, 2009, 11:35:29 AM
Is there any?
Yes.
QuoteAnd is it: funny?
Only if you're German. Even Austrians dislike German comedy.
Some of the political satire isn't bad, but nowhere near as good as 10, 20 years ago.
Quote from: Valmy on May 22, 2009, 11:42:52 AM
Quote from: HVC on May 22, 2009, 11:37:38 AM
Namely the French
Portugal and Brazil must be turned to ash for the good of the Western World.
You can Have the brazilians. Leave their Women alone though.
Just read in Newsweek that the per capita income of Berlin is half that of Detroit and Birmingham Alabama. :huh:
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 22, 2009, 12:38:37 PM
Just read in Newsweek that the per capita income of Berlin is half that of Detroit and Birmingham Alabama. :huh:
Link?
Quote from: Syt on May 22, 2009, 11:47:34 AM
Quote from: saskganesh on May 22, 2009, 11:35:29 AM
Is there any?
Yes.
QuoteAnd is it: funny?
Only if you're German. Even Austrians dislike German comedy.
Some of the political satire isn't bad, but nowhere near as good as 10, 20 years ago.
... this is hardly a glowing endorsement you know.
Quote from: Habbaku on May 22, 2009, 12:46:39 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 22, 2009, 12:38:37 PM
Just read in Newsweek that the per capita income of Berlin is half that of Detroit and Birmingham Alabama. :huh:
Link?
http://www.newsweek.com/id/197808
Quote from: ulmont on May 22, 2009, 12:53:41 PM
Quote from: Habbaku on May 22, 2009, 12:46:39 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 22, 2009, 12:38:37 PM
Just read in Newsweek that the per capita income of Berlin is half that of Detroit and Birmingham Alabama. :huh:
Link?
http://www.newsweek.com/id/197808
Wow I had no idea Berlin was in such rough shape.
Quote from: HVC on May 22, 2009, 11:50:00 AM
You can Have the brazilians. Leave their Women alone though.
Dunno if it's just me, but all the Brazilian women I've met in real life have been a bit disappointing :mellow:
Quote from: derspiess on May 22, 2009, 01:24:29 PM
Dunno if it's just me, but all the Brazilian women I've met in real life have been a bit disappointing :mellow:
:blink:
Quote from: derspiess on May 22, 2009, 01:24:29 PM
Dunno if it's just me, but all the Brazilian women I've met in real life have been a bit disappointing :mellow:
How do you feel about light skinned black chicks in general?
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 22, 2009, 12:38:37 PM
Just read in Newsweek that the per capita income of Berlin is half that of Detroit and Birmingham Alabama. :huh:
On the plus side, Berlin is one of the cheapest major cities in Europe.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 22, 2009, 01:32:30 PM
Quote from: derspiess on May 22, 2009, 01:24:29 PM
Dunno if it's just me, but all the Brazilian women I've met in real life have been a bit disappointing :mellow:
How do you feel about light skinned black chicks in general?
My brother is dating a Brazilian chick. She's just downright white.
And the few other Brazilian chicks I've met that I can think of were fairly dark-skinned black.
It's a country with a very confusing racial mix.
Certainly a good reason to celebrate. The German post-war constitution was a great success. :cheers:
Quote from: Barrister on May 22, 2009, 01:42:53 PM
It's a country with a very confusing racial mix.
Indeed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blumenau
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2F4%2F41%2FBlumenauu.jpg&hash=a11aaa60372cd243ad210432216da91459b78918)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomerode
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.goede.ru%2FPomerode3.jpg&hash=587eb74d7aab0bbc5b55cecdb2e60c0f6c8ae398)
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.trilhaseaventuras.com.br%2Fimages%2Fnoticias%2Fsc_pomerode.jpg&hash=a0d0ca5a50a19de1d323991138e81b1fd72333e2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainians_of_Brazil
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2F7%2F7e%2FParque_Tingui_Curitiba_Brasil.jpg&hash=1d41285a99c3b8662c7b405764ea0994d31484df)
And then there's of course the downright crazy:
Keeping Dixie Alive in Brazil (http://www.comingstobrazil.com/blog/archives/2005/03/more_about_conf.php)
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comingstobrazil.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2049398.jpg&hash=54a0d5715150f41dc7216cdc4ee290072be24fda)
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comingstobrazil.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2049434.jpg&hash=f0a3edf52eb030b6438f497b22e1f5211f6fca44)
Quote"WE'RE TRYING to preserve our culture," says Frederico Padoveze, a 23-year-old dressed like a Confederate general whose name belies his southern U.S. heritage.
Like most of the 160 people who gathered on the outskirts of this town one recent Sunday, Padoveze is the descendant of a group of Americans who left their homes in the U.S. South after the Civil War.
Some died searching for better fortune in Brazil and many went back to America. But a small group overcame the perils of life in what was to them a strange, poor, tropical land and have become a small but important piece of its history.
"They wanted a new country, a new place to live," said Noemia Cullen Pyles of her ancestors, who are known as the Confederados in Brazil.
"Everybody's dream is to live in the United States. We wanted to leave," she said.
Indeed, the Confederados' exodus was one of the very few organized emigrations out of the United States, a country better known for receiving immigrants than producing them.
GOSSIP AND SOUTHERN CHOW
At last four times a year, a group known as the Fraternity of American Descendants gathers at a cemetery where their ancestors are buried to gossip, celebrate their roots and chow down on southern cooking.
Padoveze and his friends also put on a dance to tunes like "The Yellow Rose of Texas," and the group holds a church service in a small red brick chapel where the first Baptist ceremony in Brazil was organized in 1871.
Behind the church, the names on the tombstones chart a web of intermarriages that followed the initial settlements and helped knit the community together.
Like the United States, Brazil is a country founded largely by immigrants. The Portuguese arrived in 1500, and later so did swarms of European, Japanese, Jewish and Arab settlers.
By comparison, the U.S. presence is small.
Cyrus Dawsey, a professor of geography at Auburn University in Alabama who coauthored the book "The Confederados," estimates that between 5,000 and 7,000 southerners made their way to Brazil. About half went back.
Most of them were ordinary farmers or craftsmen worried about their prospects in the economic turmoil of the post-war South. Too poor to afford slaves in the United States, only a few bought them when they arrived in Brazil.
"There was a little bit of slave ownership in Brazil but it wasn't very important," Dawsey said.
"That's not to say they were abolitionists, but [slavery] just wasn't important to them."
Brazil did not abolish slavery until 1888, 23 years after the United States.
Eventually most of the immigrants headed to the interior of Sao Paulo state near a town later named after them: Americana. The cemetery is located outside a neighboring city, Santa Barbara do Oeste, about two hours' drive northwest of Sao Paulo and where many of their descendants live.
Dawsey believes the Confederados' geographical isolation in Brazil and their Protestantism in a mostly Roman Catholic country may have initially helped them preserve more of their culture than other immigrant groups.
PERFECTLY INTEGRATED
But on a Sunday, many of those mulling around are fourth-or fifth-generation Confederados, and they say they are just like anybody else in Brazil.
"We're perfectly integrated," said Allison Jones, the Fraternity's official spokesman.
Indeed, just about everyone savoring fried chicken was speaking Portuguese and some don't speak English. Like Padoveze, whose Confederate ancestor married a black Brazilian slave, many have also lost their American last names and pale Anglo-Saxon complexion.
But then again, few people in Brazil fly the U.S., Brazilian and Confederate flags side by side at mealtime.
In the United States, the flying of the Confederate "Stars and Bars" flag has sparked numerous controversies as a symbol of the racial hatred institutionalized in the the Confederate South.
But Cullen Pyles, the Fraternity's treasurer, said the Confederate flag has a different meaning for the group.
"She is a reminder of our ancestry," she says. "It doesn't represent racism or any of that to us."
Later on in the day, Padoveze is resting after having led his friends in a dance. He says his association with the Fraternity has helped him learn not only about U.S. history but about Brazil.
"One of the things I learned from Americans is to love your country," he says. "And I do love my country: Brazil."
I love Brazil.
I also love post-war Germany and I'm a huge, huge fan of the German Social Democrat tradition. To my mind it's the most rigorous, thoughtful, intelligent and honourable left-wing tradition in the world. And then Gerhard Schroeder shat all over it :weep:
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 22, 2009, 01:32:30 PM
How do you feel about light skinned black chicks in general?
Depends on how light they are. I haven't seen many I like outside of TV & advertisements though, to be honest.
I suppose I should amend my earlier statement about Brazilian wimmenz. My wife has 2 cousins who were originally from Brazil (adopted by her aunt), and both are attractive.
Quote from: Sheilbh on May 22, 2009, 02:36:36 PMAnd then Gerhard Schroeder shat all over it :weep:
:lol:
Quote from: Sheilbh on May 22, 2009, 02:36:36 PM
I also love post-war Germany and I'm a huge, huge fan of the German Social Democrat tradition. To my mind it's the most rigorous, thoughtful, intelligent and honourable left-wing tradition in the world. And then Gerhard Schroeder shat all over it :weep:
To be honest, the SPD had little to offer in rigorous, thoughtful, intelligent and honourable personal even in the years before Schröder. Especially since Lafontaine would have been his only real alternative. :bleeding:
Carlo Schmid however, one of the most inflluential members of the parliamentary council that created the Grundgesetz, was quite a distinguished man. He was also one of the driving men behind the Godesberger Programm.
Quote from: Sheilbh on May 22, 2009, 02:36:36 PM
I love Brazil.
I also love post-war Germany and I'm a huge, huge fan of the German Social Democrat tradition. To my mind it's the most rigorous, thoughtful, intelligent and honourable left-wing tradition in the world. And then Gerhard Schroeder shat all over it :weep:
Like Blair did with Labour`? :P
It is the way of the left.
Righty : Socialism has never worked!
Lefty : Ah........but it has never been tried.
Quote from: Saladin on May 23, 2009, 12:05:59 PM
Like Blair did with Labour`? :P
:o Not at all.
In all honesty I am distant enough from Germany to be able to talk about a 'German Social Democrat tradition' while I'm close enough to the UK to realise that I don't think there is an Old Labour, there's a plural vision of the left that ranges from intellectual if rather patronising bourgeois Fabianism, to Christian Socialism , the Trades Union left and so on.
But Blair's up there, for me, in my Labour Party Pantheon :)
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on May 23, 2009, 04:16:36 PMRighty : Socialism has never worked!
Lefty : Ah........but it has never been tried.
Socialism has and is working, in this country, right now. But that doesn't mean it can't be improved or that all changes should stop. Socialism's not a destination but a process - so are all political values I suppose :mellow:
Quote from: Sheilbh on May 23, 2009, 05:10:14 PM
Socialism has and is working, in this country, right now. But that doesn't mean it can't be improved or that all changes should stop. Socialism's not a destination but a process - so are all political values I suppose :mellow:
Weren't you singing a different tune during the great "Europe is not socialist it's social democrat" debate during the US election? :contract:
In what way is is it socialist?
It looks like throwing a few crumbs to the peasants in order to preserve the status quo to me :huh:
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 23, 2009, 05:19:56 PM
Weren't you singing a different tune during the great "Europe is not socialist it's social democrat" debate during the US election? :contract:
Most lefty European parties are social democrats. The only big exception I can think of are the French elephants (or dinosaurs). Labour certainly is, though we still occassionally refer to it as socialist. But that reference is, like the use of 'Comrade' and singing 'The Red Flag' more an acknowledgement of heritage than anything else.
Though it is a scale to socialism to social democracy.
Having said that given that my condition for socialism was nationalisation of major industry I was quite wrong. Obama has turned out to be a socialist. So did Bush, for that matter. Indeed, we're all socialists now.
The reason I used the phrase 'socialism' was because RH did :)