Claudia and Scott have already noted that this day marks the breach of the Berlin Wall (and, as Claudia notes, a lot of other important events in German history). Let me chime in with my felicitations to the German people, and a couple of thoughts.
In 1989, the German Democratic Republic saw a revolution. The citizens [...]

November 9, 1848
Robert Blum is executed in Vienna. One of the more prominent members of the Frankfurt National Assembly, he was in Vienna to observe how the Austrians dealt with the revolutionary forces. Not objective at all, he spoke to the revolutionaries and even took part in street fights. His diplomatic immunity [...]

Reparlez-moi des roses de Gottingen
qui m’accompagnent
dans l’autre Allemagne
? l’heure o? colombes et vautours s’?loignent.
De quel c?t? du mur, la fronti?re vous rassure…
Tell me again about the roses in Gottingen
that come with me
into the other Germany
when the doves and vultures part ways.
From whichever side of the wall, the border comforts you…
- Patricia Kaas, D’Allemagne
Today is [...]

A week after Queen Elisabeth II’s fourth state visit to Germany The Times is stunned that Germans hailed her as one of them (story including statements by the inevitable Nazi), while The Independent takes its readers on a detailed journey through time, attempting to uncover the exact extent to which the Windsors may in fact [...]

Rocco Buttiglione, who resigned as Italian candidate for EU commissioner last week, now believes he can turn his political defeat into victory and form new religious movement in Europe (see related afoe post here). According to the Guardian -
At a debate entitled “The trial of the Catholic witch” in Milan’s Teatro Nuovo on Saturday, Mr [...]

In addition to being a valuable opportunity for the western world to revisit important enlightenment concepts like religious tolerance and the importance of secular government, the re-election of President Bush could also lead to a more effective transatlantic division of diplomatic labour in the Middle East outside Iraq, as - possibly - indicated by this [...]

The Berlin Wall.To be sure, this was a busy week for the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder. In addition to the obligations caused by a state visit of Queen Elizabteth II, which, not unexpectedly, took place in an atmosphere of tabloid turmoil on both sides of the channel, the autumn European summit in Brussels, and the [...]

Everybody knows cigarette warning labels. They are a fact of life, although evidence of their effectiveness in preventing people from smoking is scarce. Frankly, no one knows if they really have any significant effect given that, these days, everyone already knows about the health endangering nature of smoking. In fact, at least in Europe, warning [...]

Or as they say in Hungarian, “H?llosztok!”
Hungary announces Iraq pull-out

Jos? Manuel Barroso is now ready to announce the changes he and the concerned member states made to his Commission line up. According to Spiegel Online, he stated during the ongoing European summit in Brussels that
“We now have a good solution.”

Read more… or [...]