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Germans would welcome a Fuhrer

A new survey in Germany shows that 13 percent of its citizens would welcome a “Führer” – a German word for leader that is explicitly associated with Adolf Hitler – to run the country “with a firm hand.”

The findings signal that Europe’s largest nation, freed from cold-war strictures, is not immune from the extreme and often right-wing politics on the rise around the Continent.

The study, released Oct. 13 by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, affiliated with the center-left Social Democratic Party, revealed among other things that more than a third of Germans feel the country is “overrun by foreigners,” some 60 percent would “restrict the practice of Islam,” and 17 percent think Jews have “too much influence.”

The study's overall snapshot of German society shows new forms of extremism and hate are no longer the province of far-right cohorts who shave their heads or wear leather jackets adorned with silver skulls – but register in the tweedy political center, on the right and the left. Indeed, the study found, extremism in Germany isn’t a fringe phenomenon but is found in the political center, "in all social groups and in all age groups, regardless of employment status, educational level or gender."

Far-right parties gain power across EuropeThe year 2010 is marking a clear shift toward extremist politics across Europe, analysts say. An uncertain economy, a gap between elites and ordinary Europeans, and fraying of a traditional sense of national identity has just in the past month brought more hard-line politics and speech, often aimed at Islam or immigrants – into a political mainstream where it had been absent or considered taboo.

On Oct. 10, the city of Vienna, a cosmopolitan and socialist stronghold since World War II, voted the far-right Freedom Party into a ruling coalition. The party, which ran on an “anti-minaret” platform in a city with only one mosque, was formerly associated with nationalist Jorg Haider, but has been reinvented by an animated former dental hygienist, Heinz-Christian Strache.

On Sept. 19, Sweden, long a Scandinavian redoubt of social tolerance and openness, put the far-right Sweden Democrats into parliament for the first time.

Further, this week the Netherlands saw the rise to influence, if not power, of the anti-Islam party of Geert Wilders, a social liberal who argues for gay rights – but whose main platform is to ban the Quran and the practice of Islam in the Low Countries. Mr. Wilders' party will formally participate in the Dutch ruling coalition without specifically joining it.

This new governing architecture – extreme parties that indirectly join a ruling coalition – is now found in Denmark, where the government must rely on the far-right People’s Party to operate. As author Ian Buruma notes, this form of government gives extreme parties “power without responsibility.”

Growing divide over immigrants' placeTo be sure, German politics, which outlaws extremist parties, has no corollary to events taking place in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, or Switzerland.

Yet xenophobic rhetoric has crept in. Germany is currently enswathed in debate over comments by Horst Seehofer, president of the Bavarian Christian-Social Union, who stated days ago, “It is clear that immigrants from other cultures such as Turkey and Arabic countries have more difficulties. From that I draw the conclusion that we don’t need additional immigration from other cultures.” The CSU is a sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats.

Mr. Seehofer’s comments are seen as responding to German president Christian Wulff on Oct. 3, German Unity Day, in which he called for a second German unification that would more fully integrate those of immigrant background; he said that “Islam also is part of Germany.”

President Wulff’s statement followed a month of furor over a new book by leftist German central banker Thilo Sarrazin, “Germany Abolishes Itself,” positing that immigrants from Turkey and Arab states are lowering German intelligence quotients due to high birth rates and less education, and “have no productive function except in the fruit and vegetable trade.”

Mr. Sarrazin’s analysis and statistics have been roundly denunciated, and he has resigned his federal banker’s post – but his book quickly sold 1.5 million copies.

Why extreme-right views are coming to the surfaceThe Friedrich Ebert Foundation study that came out this week is based on 2,411 respondents and was conducted in April, prior to the recent emotional immigration debate sparked by Sarrazin, Seehofer, and Wulff.

The rise of racism and intolerance argued in the study contrasts with similar foundation studies, prior to the economic crisis in Europe, showing a decrease in racism or xenophobia. However, today nearly a third of Germans polled would consider a policy repatriating immigrants if the job market suffers further.

The authors of the study urge fellow Germans not to “underestimate” right-wing sentiment.

Oliver Decker, one of the study's authors, says the findings indicate a new popular willingness to express hardcore opinions.

“In the past the base for extreme-right views in Germany, though present, was more latent in nature. Now these views are being expressed more frequently,” Mr. Decker says. “The economic crisis seems to have allowed aggression come to the surface. Among those looking for a valve, foreigners in general and Muslims in particular fill that role.”

Last edited by MarievonGablitz on Tue Dec 28, 2010 5:19 pm; edited 1 time in total

Bug Off

Police and firemen are being given the runaround after the search for a deadly escaped centipede enters its second week.

The highly poison centipede escaped from its owners tank in an apartment in Hennef, Germany, forcing emergency services to evacuate the building so that they could search for the creature.

Bug experts have now sealed the property and pumped it with insecticide - but still have not located the Amazonian giant centipede (Scolopendra gigantea).

The building was evacuated after the experts warned one bite from the giant bug that is so big it can capture and kill bats and birds could also kill a person.

The latest plan is to cook the centipede by turning up the temperature in the flat to over 100 degrees.

But one apartment owner forced to live in temporary accommodation said: "I don't see how killing it is going to help because if it dies in one of the walls how will they know it's dead? We could be out here for weeks. "

The rescue operation has already cost tens of thousands of pounds and is unlikely to end any time soon warn experts.

Last edited by MarievonGablitz on Tue Dec 28, 2010 5:20 pm; edited 1 time in total

Pets art

A German Court has ruled that pets are not allowed to be tattooed because it causes unnecessary pain and suffering.

The court at Münster, in Germany, came to its decision after hearing a complaint about the number of people joining the animal tattooing trend, which began when eight pigs were tattooed with Louis Vuitton logos.

Belgian artist Wim Delvoye had tattooed the porkers with the distinctive LV sign as part of an exhibition called Art Farm two years ago.

The judges in Germany also heard a complaint about a man who wanted to get a Rolling Stones Tongue Tattoo on his pony's thigh.

The court ruled it was not in the interest of the animals, was for the owners' personal interest and was against the animal protection laws.

Heidi the cross-eyed opossum is been asked to join the Oscars by a top American TV network, her zoo keepers have revealed.

The cute creature - who now has more than 50,000 Facebook friends - has been asked to join NBC's Academy Awards presenters team in February for the biggest showbiz event in the world.

Leipzig Zoo chief Jörg Junhold explained: "We have had the first requests form US TV stations for Heidi to go to Hollywood. NBC would like Heidi to present the Oscars and of course we are thinking about it."

Zoo spokeswomen Maria Sägebarth added: "Heidi will be shown via video link - she won't have to go all the way to America. We are in contact with the US TV station and we're discussing what Heidi would be required to do. We don't want her to be put under too much stress."

Heidi shot to fame when pictures of her bizarre cross-eyed look emerged from the zoo in Germany earlier this year. Experts believe her condition could be caused by fatty deposits around her eyes.

A crystal skull believed to have occult powers that was part of a treasure trove of architects held by S.S. chief Heinrich Himmler has been unearthed in Germany.

The skull, found resting in an attic in the roof of a house in a small Bavarian village, has excited treasure hunters who say it was with a list showing it was part of a larger trove of booty once owned by the most sinister man in the Third Reich.

Early indications are that it is part of a series worshipped by ancient Mayan cultures in what is now Mexico which, legend has it, are vital to stop the world from ending next year.

The Mayans believed that after a ‘Great Flood‘ destroyed Atlantis, the survivors wished to preserve their wisdom. They shaped thirteen crystal skulls; nine were coloured and represented the races of men and four were as clear as glass to represent ``the beasts that walk, crawl, slide and fly."

They were then sent to their place of "birth" until such a time when all are needed to avert the catastrophe that man will wreak on the planet.

The Mayans were a race of highly gifted astronomers and mathematicians.

Using their knowledge of planetary and galactic progressions, the Mayans were able to record a time and date for this ‘end of days‘ - the winter solstice, 21st December 2012.

Himmler, who ran the modern industrial-scale murder programme of the Jews, was also spellbound by myths and legends all his life. He financed expeditions to far-flung corners of the earth by Indiana Jones-type S.S. men seeking proof of the supremacy of Ayran man - ie, the Germans.

The skull, which weighs nearly 20lbs, is of the same design as the death’s head which adorned the uniforms of his killers. It was found in a wooden and leather box in the home of an old lady and it is now in the hands of Swiss journalist Luc Burgin.

With it, it is claimed, was a list of 35 treasures which the S.S. was seeking to bring back to Germany from Sudetenland on the border with Czechoslovakia as the Reich crumbled in 1945. Part of it reads;"Nr. 14; the crystal skull - 263-2 RFSS Collection Rahn, No 25592, leather case, crystal death‘s head, South America."

RFSS referred to Reichsfuehrer-S.S. - Himmler‘s official title in Nazi Germany While Rahn referred to Otto Rahn, an S.S. officer and chief occultist for Himmler who has been described as as the inspiration behind the Indiana Jones movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, although neither George Lucas nor Steven Spielberg have never spoken of him.

Burgin says he is commissioning experts in the coming weeks to examine the skull to try to prove its authenticity. He said; "I am 99 percent sure that this is one of the skulls of the Mayans, but we need clarity and all available tests will be carried out to ascertain authenticity."

A footnote on the box stated; "Do not open! The personal property of the Reichsfuehrer-S.S.!"

The old lady who handed it over in a village near Munich was once married to a high ranking S.S. officer.

The full details of the booty on the list found along with the skull haven‘t been revealed but are thought to include details of S.S. silver rings worth 50 million pounds in today‘s money.

They are said to be buried in the hills surrounding the eerie triangular-shaped castle of Wewelsburg near Paderborn. Himmler used the castle as a Black Camelot for his knights-of-the-dark-side.

As the Reich crumbled he abandoned Wewelsburg. Some 9,280 special S.S silver rings struck for his men, and returned on his orders to him after death, were stashed in secret cave in the nearby hills.

Hello. And Bye.