Everybody is so concerned about genocides in Iraq and Liban, rise of neocon fascism in USA and RIAA's legal terrorism that they seem to miss a much greater human rights crisis happening in Germany.Basically in Germany it is illegal to buy or sell anything. You cannot buy food, you cannot buy coffee, you cannot buy computer hardware, you cannot buy beer, you cannot buy anything at all ! The only thing you can legally do is wait until you die of hunger, dehydration, or boredom.
How come Germans aren't all dead yet ? The regime makes a few exceptions. It seems that you can buy stuff at designated hours - 8 to 20 Monday to Saturday, at least unless this is some sort of "no stuff for you" day, which they have plenty and at completely arbitrary times (some of them are holidays, but usually it's just some random day). That's about 35% of the total time. Of course if you wake up in the afternoon like pretty much every hacker, you can hardly shop at all ! Even in Iraq you can buy food every day. The regime used to be even more evil a few years back, forcing everything to close before 18:30 and even earlier on Saturdays.
And the shops suck so much. Instead of real shops they only have really tiny ones that hardly have anything. You need to visit at least 10 such shops in different parts of the city to get anything, and probably on two different days, because they're not open long enough to do so in a single day. In a sane country you go to a shopping mall, get stuff, and you're done in half an hour. Oh yeah, and they don't take VISA.
Do not think that this insanity is limited to trade - the whole country is screwed up like that. Is it any wonder that Germany is in constant state of economic crisis and huge unemployment ?
And by the way, I've finally left Germany and moved to some saner country :-)
Ireland is pretty much the same, plus the pubs are tiny as well and close at 22:30. (Oh, on weekends, that is friday and saturday, they're open till 2:30.)
ReplyDeleteOf course apparently you CAN buy alcohol at night if you live here long enough and know where to go. So all this must be probably some evil scheme to repel tourists and immigrants.
So are Poland and USA the only civilized countries in the world ? Have fascists already taken over all other places ?
ReplyDeleteYou're exactly right, of course, but look on the bright side: prostitution is legal. The German FKKs (sauna clubs) are the closest thing to paradise on earth, and they're open almost non-stop. (Oh, and the buffet is included in the admission price.)
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteJust saw Amnesty International have launched another cool campaign. I just joined and it's fun. Give it a try, it's for a good cause and it takes only a couple of minutes. Postin' some of the info from their blog:
"Where can you find bearded ladies, parachuting mermaids and Siamese pirate twins on the web? On the way to Guántanamo!
Amnesty International has launched an animated online petition asking for people to join our flotilla travelling all the way to Guantánamo. We have already got thousands of people on the voyage with us. The travellers are taking part in AI's latest online campaign to draw more people to our campaign against the US government to close Guantánamo. This online petition will run until 26 June, International day for the Protection of Victims of Torture.
Help us pass the message! Please forward the link to as many people as you can http://www.amnesty.org/ and ask them to sign up to the campaign and forward it to their friends and colleagues. People can also link to the flotilla from their website or blog. Find here banners and buttons in several languages. Together we can Close Guantánamo. Let's give it a good try!
Joining only takes a minute and it is a lot of fun. And while you're there, have a look at how your friends and colleagues here have designed their outfits, done their hair and chosen their mode of transport -- its a hoot! Have you always wanted a beard but were afraid to grow one? Now's your chance!
The campaign is gathering momentum and is creating quite a splash. Now we need your help to pass on the message. Can we count on you to keep up the momentum and ensure we get this awful detention site closed for good?
Thanks, everyone!
Amnesty International"
so there you are, ladies, go grow your beard on the way to Guantánamo! :)
(the mermaid with a beard riding a sea dragon, that's me!)