tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6427940.post9072201785207750466..comments2023-12-05T07:50:19.855-05:00Comments on No Oil for Pacifists: What I've Been Doing@nooil4pacifistshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16688417615117569825noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6427940.post-85846564705049334212010-05-15T19:22:24.437-04:002010-05-15T19:22:24.437-04:00Sue:
It didn't start well: my German isn'...Sue:<br /><br />It didn't start well: my German isn't that bad, yet the only common language I shared with the cab driver in from Tegel airport was Turkish--and I don't speak a word of that! But thereafter, I saw no reason for concern; plenty of "Gastarbeiter" and their German-citizen descendants, but all spoke excellent German and seemed fully integrated. Saw only one Burqa the whole time.<br /><br />This trip was limited to Berlin and, as I said, I was hugely impressed with the cultural changes--out with the anti-American hippies, in with actual adults. One problems is that Berlin has only two industries: tourism and government. And there's a lot of the later, with an excess of huge official buildings and short-sighted government bureaucrats. Berlin has no industry to speak of--even less than Washington, DC--so it has something of a "bubble" mentality. (Real estate prices there are shockingly low.) However, all the people I had arranged to meet on the trip impressed me as savvy, ambitious, and surprisingly un-stiff. <br /><br />Where in Germany were you based--Heidelberg? Wiesbaden? I spent some time in Bavaria as a child, and loved it--but Southern Germans are somehow different. And, I'm pleased to say, Bavaria is equally enjoyable today.<br /><br />OBH:<br /><br />I rate <i>GWAC</i> as P.J.'s finest (<i>Parliament of Whores</i> is second). And I actually think the "Death of Communism" essay on the fall of the Wall is O'Rourke's single greatest article. Though I'm embarrassed to admit it, when I first read it (in a fast-food restaurant in a Virginia strip-mall), I sobbed all the way through. But, as you said, Germany's always been a bit of an obsession for me. <br /><br />Anony:<br /><br />Thanks! Y.O.S., NOfP.@nooil4pacifistshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16688417615117569825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6427940.post-13094108214798285452010-05-14T20:42:53.194-04:002010-05-14T20:42:53.194-04:00Carl, excellent! I give you good joy of your VE D...Carl, excellent! I give you good joy of your VE Day.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6427940.post-3979873452812693102010-05-14T13:23:30.176-04:002010-05-14T13:23:30.176-04:00A nice piece, Carl.
I, too, liked Give War A Chan...A nice piece, Carl.<br /><br />I, too, liked <i>Give War A Chance</i> (I place it #3 behind <i>Parliament of Whores</i> and <i>Eat The Rich</i>), though, lacking your personal perspective, found the two best pieces to be the ones on the elections in Nicaragua (another of Reagan's legacies to the world) and the coup in Paraguay.OBloodyHellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09992539380115488567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6427940.post-62620440014183679902010-05-14T12:44:04.349-04:002010-05-14T12:44:04.349-04:00What about the muslim presence? Were you consciou...What about the muslim presence? Were you conscious of it?<br /><br />We lived in Germany for a total of 7 years while in the military. Three of my sons were born there. I remember taking a trip to Berlin through East Germany - a somewhat nerve wracking 3 hours or so. <br /><br />At this point, however, I have no inclination to return. The Germany I knew seems not to be the Germany that is now.<br /><br />On a time/culture basis - what is your impression of the changes?sueknoreply@blogger.com