Christmas market, GluhWein and SauerKraut

There's a few Christmas Markets going on for the next 1,5 week. Have already
been there, but like to get back for a few more Gluhweins etc. Anyone else
northern who fancies this, is welcome to enjoy it with a few of us. Market
shuts at 21:00, so we'll have to find a proper venue for afterwards, but
that shouldn't be a real problem

Info:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/features/2003/11/20/christmas_markets.shtml

Let me know if you want to come over. Limited bedspace available as well as
groundspace.....

 

**** me - xmas markets in Manchester, whatever next. But no, I think
we're adequately supplied round here, what with Basel, Freiburg,
Strasbourg, and just about every other town. Even some quite small
villages have their own.

 

Strasbourg has been a concern for the last few years, as people
constantly talk of a terrorist attack there.

 

Why? Oh, there's some euro-crap goes on there, isn't there. Shame,
it's a really nice little old town.

 

IIRC, the market is one of the biggest in France over the Xmas period
too.

 

It claims to be the largest anywhere. The old town is just _so_ xmassy
anyway, lots of pretty old building overhanging cobbled streets etc.
that I could well believe it.

 

They constantly talk of terrorist attacks everywhere.

My feeling is that governments worldwide are using it as a very useful
handle to get us to do what they want and to introduce yet more
repressive legislation.

 

The Older Gentleman wrote

Goldstein.

 

The Older Gentleman was seen penning the following ode to ... whatever:

Well, it worked in Germany. Germany used to have fairly liberal gun
laws (yes, that actually includes '33-45) but the RAF[1] was used as a
convenient excuse to tighten them considerably. Of course it was
conveniently disregarded that no self-respecting terrorist would _buy_
their guns from yo olde gun shoppe when the Lybians (and possibly the
GDR) were supplying AK47s and other useful pieces of hardware
free. Not to mention that the threat of terrorism was used to create
an atmosphere of fear and distrust.

I don't think it ever got as bad as it got here, were you could just
lock up people without the inconvenience of the due process of the
law, but from what I heard the due process wasn't all that it was said
to be, either. Mind ewe, compared to the IRA these guys were rank
amateurs.

Of course the real joke now is that the German minister of the
Interior (Schily), right-wing law and order upstanding citizen he is,
used to be a defence lawyer. For the RAF terrorists in the
'70s. Although I must admit that I think it had less to do with
politics than his belief that everyone had a right to be defended by
the best lawyer they couldn't afford. And the guy is
brilliant. Although IMHO his politics suck a bit these days.

[1] No, not the one that drops bombs. The other one that used to blow
up things and kidnap people in the name of ... whatever.

 

Red Army Faction. Whatever happened to them?

 

The Older Gentleman was seen penning the following ode to ... whatever:

Most of them were eventually found and locked up. Some of them had
emigrated to the GDR, which eventually turned out to be a bad move
indeed...

 

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Red-Army-Faction

 

*Snort*. Yes, I can see that.....

 

Ta

 

Fastnacht, Mannen suppa (sp?)

Freiburg i.B?

St Georgian wine fest.

Very happy memories......................

OH yes.

 

On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 19:03:47 +0000,
(The Older Gentleman) bored us
all completely to death with wittery prose along the lines of:

Exactly my feelings.

Heard on the world service today, that the Merkins want to install
bases in some of the ex-communist bloc countries in the guise of
helping the war on terrorism [1]

Smacks of an American world-wide Police force to me. Probably
something to do with the "The Project for the New American Century"
[2]

[1] Apparently Boris and his mates aren't too chuffed.
[2] A right bunch of nutters consisting of very powerful rightwing
American politicians. http://www.newamericancentury.org/

 

^^^^^^ ^^^^^
You what? Never heard of it.

Aye, that's the one. Quite a few of my colleagues commute down from
there (about an hour) every day.

When's that then?

 

Went every year I lived South of Freiburg.
I couldn't remember how to spell the name of the brown soup every one
eats after midnight. Or 4am in my case.

Best ask your colleagues. The memory fades into the year long party that
is living in the High Black Forest. A Friday, Saturday, Sunday and
Monday wine fest from spring to autumn every year. The St G at the south
of Freiburg is a good one, worth going to.

 

Who told Clinton he ought to take out Iraq in 1998; and when he
didn't, bought the presidency, and then waited for the biggest excuse
to march right along.

And Blair *still* couldn't see it.

Unless he's in on it.

 

You say it like it's a bad thing for us.