Allgemein – Über’n Tellerrand • Off the trodden track

The scumbag takes over

Surrounded by his applauding horror show and this remarkable self propelling coat stand this Trump figure took office over on January 20. To be on his team you have best to violate valid laws or to be at least despictable. Some examples: Charles Kushner, Ambassador for France, 2-year prison sentence for illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion and witness tampering, pardoned by Trump. Pete Hegseth, designated defence minister, threatened his second wife Samantha. Matt Gaetz, accused of taking drugs, prostitution and sex with minors…

And quite consequent: Trump pardoned all January 6 rioters. To mention one last thing: Against the American constitution Trump thinks about a third term.

Nothing happening is only bad, but can deliver positive side effects as well. Or as my former headmaster put it “Nix is esu schlaech, dat et nit fuer irjendjet joot woer.” (Koelsch). Europe is challenged to recall its own strength and to take more responsibility for Europe and its security.

By the way: trying to keep the bully in the schoolyard at bay by being friendly and accommodating doesn‘t work. Europe should be robust. My suggestion: all Americans pay a €50 fee to enter the EU from January 2025 for fall below the expectable standard of granted civil and liberty rights. After all, they have elected or admitted a president who has violated many individual and collective rights. Remember when Trump wanted to make migrants fight each other in cages? Or that he wants to abolish the American citizenship by birth?

You can also express your displeasure with the US in your private consumer life: don’t buy a Tesla, don’t use PayPal (P. Thiel), don’t buy a Mac or HP computer…

Heil Tesla

Flamenco for all senses

Every traveler to Spain has probably seen a flamenco performance in public places or in the hotel lobby that is rightly quickly forgotten: actors who reel off their repertoire rather carelessly, spectators who feel encouraged to clap along and do not grasp the beat and the not so simple rhythms, an environment that is rather distracting…

Anyone who entrusts themselves to the Teatro Flamenco Granada for a one-hour flamenco performance is embarking on a completely different adventure: in a former discotheque, a concentrated and enthusiastic flamenco performance is offered for all the senses. Our event included performances with up to three dancers, which were commented on by a band reminiscent of an ancient choir through singing, rhythmic foot tapping, guitar music and gestures. Even if some things are improvised in these performances, nothing is left to chance. And the title Teatro in the venue once again emphasizes that a special form of expressive dance works together with certain roles, singing, guitar and rhythm beaten with shoes.

The effective lighting shows the dancers and musicians perfectly, enhances emotions and draws attention to the subtleties of the performance. Last but not least, the guitarist is particularly impressive; when mixed well, his music appears three-dimensional and lively. His melodies seem almost tangible, captivate the audience and give the evening an unmistakable depth. Another highlight is the effective alternation between ensemble dances and solo performances. While the group choreographies delight with their precision and dynamism, the solos impressively showcase the artists’ personal passion and technique. This flamenco experience in Granada combines tradition, artistry and, for the audience, a special closeness to the actors. (We sat maybe three meters from the stage.) It is an evening full of passion, dancing skills and authentic expression from the dancers and the guitarist. My best live performance of the last twenty years, definitely worth a visit.

Teatro Flamenco Granada
Calle Campo del Príncipe, 7
18009 Granada (Centro)

Link: teatroflamencogranada.com

The Teatro offers Flamenco courses of different kinds, as the Web site says. Simular theatres are in Madrid, Sevilla and Malaga.

A lie is a lie is a lie

“Die Fahnen hoch, die Reihen fest geschlossen…”

The American presidential election campaign is good for many a surprise and provides endless satirical material that writers of the future will draw on for decades to come. A striking example:

In Springfield, Ohio, a cat went missing and turned up a few days later. End of story* End of story? No way! JD Vance used an unproven allegation by a neighbour of the cat’s owner to construct a story about pet-eating Haitians.

Trump spread this blunt lie during his tv debate with Kamala Harris. Trump spread this blunt lie during his televised debate with Kamala Harris. But that’s not the end of the story for the people who live in Springfield. Haitians, fleeing very great hardship in Haiti and blameless, were threatened and two schools had to temporarily close after JD Vance and Trump’s lie.

But this is not the end of the story for people who live in Springfield. Haitians were threatened and two schools had to be closed in the aftermath of JD Vance’ and Trump’s lie. A group of Proud Boys came to Springfield and tried to exert their power on the streets. Not much different than what the SA did in Nazi Germany: they occupied the streets and threatened anyone they considered enemies by their presence alone.

Americans, think twice before voting for these Trump and Vance characters …

* https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/cat-at-center-of-jd-vance-pet-eating-claims-is-alive-and-well [thanks to your fact checking and your article]

The weirdo #2 — New Jersey 13 / 5 / 2024 Hannibal Lector

It’s the usual Trump style: Donald starts with the topic ‘migrant flood’, rows his arms back and forth a lot and ends up with… surprise … the character Hannibal Lector. This is what happened on 13. May 24 in New Jersey.

The sentence that interested me and others:

The late great Hannibal Lector. He’s a wonderful man. He oftentimes would have a friend for dinner.

For people who don’t know what to do with this novel The Silence of the Lambs, which was made into a film with Anthony Hopkins and the main character Hannibal Lector by novelist Thomas Harris: It’s about an extremely educated cannibal who cruelly kills several people in order to then eat them. What is supposed to connect the two topics of immigration and Hannibal Lector? Of course there is NOTHING. The attempted joke “He oftentimes would have people for dinner.” turns the subjects, guests, into objects, meat. This reversal figure is nothing new in our days. It’s quite typical for the humiliating style of Donald Trump.

It reassures me a little that most of the commentators on the film snippet think Trump is just as nuts as I do:

“The Late Great Hannibal Lecter” Trump’s Mind is Literally Melting
and Untethered from Reality. • Does anyone know the context • Diarrhea of the mouth. • Getting more bizarre as his mental decline gets worse.

Let’s see what else the great Donald produces in the coming weeks and months. If we hadn’t learnt that enough Americans seem to approve of such nonsense, we could only laugh our heads off…

Verbal diarrhoea. Trump on 6/9/24. Agent orange on the brink #1

It’s difficult to believe but everyone can check this piece of verbal diarrhoea performed by Trump on June 9 2024 in Las Vegas:

Teleprompter not working, not even a little bit! Great job. And then I dont’t pay the company that does it, right? And then I end up with a story Trump doesn’t pay. I don’t pay contractors that do a *** job. And that’s a *** job. I hope the military-revolts at the voting booth. So I said let me ask you a question, and he said nobody ever asks this question. And it must because of MIT, my relationship with MIT, very smart. He goes, I say, what would happen if the boat sank from its weight and you’re in the boat. And there’s a shark that’s approximately 10 yards over there. By the way lots of shark attacks lately. Did you notice that? Do I stay on top of the boat and get electrocuted or do I jump over by the shark and not get electrocuted?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VtW60uXAgQ

Don’t tell me that you are going to vote for this weirdo, do you?

Just put them in their place, ragazzi

…and give a strong answer to unfairness and nationalism.

Mayence & Blankenberg / March 2021

Jon Batiste – the black political wunderkind

Protests against police violence concerning foremost black people were perfectly right. But sometimes they changed to violence as well when shops were looted or cars burnt. Jon Batiste did probably suffer equally from this racial suppression. But he chose another strategy to bring his protest to the public: music.

Having a New Orleans origin and musical background from his family he accompanied street protests with very loud and energetic music. The new perspective of these marches is indicated by the motto We are [whatever]. This was quite effective when you consider the public feedback. Recently the Sueddeutsche, one of the two leading German newspapers, dedicated him the top report.

But Jon Batiste can make good music and funny performances as well. See the youtube video on top. And one more thing are the lyrics In a world with a lot of problems / all we need is a little lovin’. That’s it!

Mille gracie, Mr Draghi

Appeasement politics weren’t that successful in the past. Think of Hitler and Munich 1938 or Stalin in the thirties and fourties. Therefore I appreciate very much that Mr Draghi called Erdogan a “dictator” on Thursday. That’s clearly his main feature as you can see in his behaviour. Want some samples?

• Everyone who can menace his power is called “terrorist”, even if nice and peaceful people are concerned like Mr Kavala who is only fighting for human rights.
• Elections like that for the mayor of Istanbul are repeated if the outcome is unpleasant for Erdogan.
• To butter up the ultra nationalists Erdogan left the Istanbul Convention recently. This Convention was meant to blame violence against women. The need of protecting women rights can be clearly seen when you consider the hundreds of Turkish women murdered (470 in 2019) or hurt each year.
• Despite having a number of elected MPs the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) is effectively detained from exercising its rights of participation.

That’s what sensible people call a dictatorship and Erdogan therefore a “dictator”. Well done, Mr Draghi.