Friday, January 8, 2016

Much to write about, not much time

In the morning, we go on the treadmill more now than before.  While on it, I am finding that I am catching up on the News, usually watching the German Tagesschau.  Usually, I watch the 20:00 o'clock version, and then parts of the later version Tagesthemen with interviews by Thomas Roth.  Thomas Roth I magnificent interviewer.  He has the beautiful soft baritone and manner of a teller of fairy tales, the kind we had on vinyl records when young.  He looks a bit like Santa Claus, too. But the kindly, warm and sage manner belies the skill of a very sharp, experienced, well-travelled and multilingual journalist.



Having watched the two shows, I am usually finished with the treadmill.  (What would we do without our I-Pods...) Sorry, you have to learn German to get the full effect of the shows.  Of course, the current thematic deals with the events of the New Year's evening problems in Cologne and other cities.  Today, there also was a lengthy interview with British Prime Minister Cameron in a beautiful, snowy setting in Bavaria, meeting with a conservative party, discussing British demands regarding European Union.  It was a well-done interview.  Roth conducts it in English and then also provides the German voice-over for himself.  Cameron says that Europe needs to be a "network" not a "block". In essence, he does not want any more people arriving simply to just get onto welfare.  The openess of the EU rules, allows immigration from practically anyone with immediate access to supports. (In fact, I have seen a show where an Imam advocates Muslims doing just that, calling the free welfare a kind of Jizya due them from unbelievers.)

However, one rarely sees actual Islamic beliefs and sermons by preachers analyzed in the media.  For some strange reasons, this is off-limits, altogether.  In any case, British society has had it, and if the rules can't be changed, then they want out of the EU.  There.






No comments: