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. . .but I will try to give it a German spin.
We were out jogging today – the first time since pretty much ever – and passed a shop posting the Bi.ld Zeit.ung out in front. It seems that standardbearer of German journalistic quality saw fit to publish the photos of the dead or dying singer as he was being transported to the hospital and cpr was being performed.
While I think I would not go as far as saying that the photos shouldn’t be taken – (You never know what else might show up on a photo that might assist a later investigation) – I am not sure that I undertand the kind of people who will pay money to see them or who want to publish them.
I think one would call it pietätslos. I am surprised that they didn’t draw the line somewhere. What’s next, the post mortem photos?
For the non-Germans – yes the paper has a web page. I am not linking to it here. (And no the same photo is to my knowlege not posted there. Given that it’s a tabloid, it might still not be SFW.)
The paper is also one of the more common targets of the critical Bildblog – here is their post on the Bil.d Ze.itung’s coverage of the story. They don’t address the photo issue.
Re: MJ – love thriller – In the 80s, the roller skating place used to show the video on the big screen at some point during the birthday parties they held there.
You never know what the story is when allegations are made against wealthy people because there are gold-diggers out there as well, but there seemed a lot that wasn’t right with him and I was inclined to believe the charges. The positive tone of the media reaction has, therefore, really surprised me. What’s clear is that everyone was convinced that he was deeply troubled and likely very unhappy. If anything this should make all of us take a moment to be grateful for those positive family relationships we have and that measure of happiness which we have, even without millions. For the religious there’s certainly a thought or two about death, mercy, peace and a thing or two more in there as well.
Apparently, it has everything to do with being a member of the club. Literally. In a study widely reported in the news here yesterday, there are around 4.3m Mus.lim.s living in Germany. Previous research had produce lower figures, an error authors of the current study said arose because only some countries of origin were considered.
Here’s the fun part – When evaluating the integration of the groups, the results were presented as follows:
Die soziale Integration ist der Studie zufolge besser als angenommen. Mehr als die Hälfte der Muslime sind Mitglied in einem deutschen Verein.
According to the study, the level of social integration is better than previously supposed. More than half of the Mu.sl.ims are members of a German club/organisation.
Whaaaaaaa? Where do I even start on this? When did this become a measure of integration? I admit, I am not as well integrated as I would perhaps like, and I don’t belong to a club, but I know lots of people who don’t belong to clubs. Particularly if you don’t have hobbies and aren’t into sports, there is a much lower likelihood that you would be. I think there are also generational differences and urban/rural differences and socio-economic differences here which would make it less likely for immigrants to be club members.
The FAZ article even implied (to my mind, but maybe I was just riled) that belonging to a religious organisation or to an organisation associated with the heritage culture was a negative sign of integration.
How about having a job with German colleagues? Or working in a German-dominated field or speaking the language? *frust*
Although there is a sad truth to this, the media presentation of the study also seems to suggest that ignoring Is.lam.ic law is a sign of integration – and more specifically, the parts of it that are nobody’s business, but that of the individual. (Really, if you can leave your neighbors in the vegan WG in peace, the fact another neighbor says “no” to the bratwurst is something you’re just going to have to deal with.)
Die strengen islamischen Speisevorschriften beachten die meisten (80,7 Prozent) Befragten. Muslime iranischer Herkunft setzen sich indes zu 75 Prozent darüber hinweg. Auch Schiiten und Aleviten nehmen die Vorschriften nicht so ernst.
Most respondents (80.7 percent) observe the strict (I am under the impression that there are much stricter dietary codes out there – correct me if I am wrong G) dietary laws. But up to 75 percent of Mus.lims of Iran.ian descent ignore them. Nor do the Shi.ite.s and Alevites take the dietary codes so seriously.
to avoid telling the Beamtin at the foreigner’s office this morning that I had once again failed to wash my windows this weekend. (I am not only a bad blogger, I am a bad German housewife.) If I had, she would definitely not have issued me my shiny new Niederlassungserlaubnis. (The German equivalent of a green card.)
Now there is more or less no getting rid of me.
I asked about the Daueraufenthalt EG, but apparently I am better of just being Deutschverheiratet. And we have no intention of going anywhere, so now I am nearly as established here as the law allows. Short of naturalization, the only other step is waiting another 10 years 
. If at that point I am still living here, my permanent residency would indeed be permanent, even we3re I to move abroad. This is true at present, but would change if anything happened to the UNGS.
we were in barcelona for a couple of days. it was great, but i hadn’t planned much, so we didn’t get to do a lot that we wanted to do.
playing catch up this week – hope all groovy in your little corners of D and elsewhere!
London tips.
Have you lived there? No anyone who lives there or who offers good tips on finding temporary flat rentals? Good London expat blogs? (thank you thank you thank you in advance)
I need a place to stay for a month that is clean, safe and not insanely expensive. I would be getting money for work to cover the cost – but I am going to have to pay back nearly half of it in taxes and benefits at the end of the year, so I can’t really splurge.
Wifi is almost a must. I am going to have homework and lots of it and I can’t imagine doing any of it without web access. And then there is the small matter of keeping in touch with my husband. I missed him at a wedding in Tuscony (in Tuscony!) when I was gone for 2 days. Can’t say how I am going to handle a month.
Kitchen access would be a strong plus. And not too far from Paddington Bayswater.
I am going to do lots of work looking. And can I say thank you to the folks at Google? Street view is going to make it a lot easier to decide whether I will feel comfortable walking back to my room at night.
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