Category: News

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Real Game of Thrones

The Guild of Heralds and Loudspeakers had once again become very upset with King Donald, because he had called them "enemies of the people" had called. But the people of the kingdom, especially those in the countryside who had voted for him, agreed with Donald. They had already felt that they were not fully and neutrally informed during the campaign, but only very one-sidedly, and had not followed the recommendations of almost all the speakers, who all spoke out in favor of Hillary.

Graphic: TP

In August 2020, the People’s Republic sold 9.5 percent more abroad than in August 2019

Yesterday, the Beijing Customs Administration announced that China exported nine and a half percent more in August 2020 than in the same month of August 2019. That makes it the strongest growth since March 2019, the third strongest in the history of the People’s Republic – and one that analysts had not expected in such rough order. They were expecting an August increase of 7.1 percent after a July gain of 7.2 percent.

"Officer" helps small labels through the billing jungle and supports e-commerce

Anyone who visits Popkomm, which has been held since 1989, will notice a certain perplexity that runs through the music industry’s coarse companys. Whereas shortly before the turn of the millennium the blessings of the digital age were still being invoked, grim negative figures or a lack of prospects now dominate the experts’ faces. And this is already noticeable in the exhibitor figures: While 924 exhibitors came to the Deutz exhibition halls last year, this year’s catalog lists only 820 exhibitors from 33 different countries. Also the numbers of the total sales of CDs are since 1999 backlaufig, while ever more CD blanks are sold and apart from Napster the other Tauschborsen in the Internet the digital exchange of music files frictionless and above all free of charge permit. So what has gone wrong and is the whole music industry really in a bad way??

If you talk to Rudolf Chelbea of the Munich-based software company Officer, the main reason for the difficulties of the major companies lies in their motives and objectives. "Whether techno or folk music labels, all small labels sell their records because they are convinced of it and because they earn their money with it. Any kind of additional income from Internet sales is very important for such companies, even in a small scale. But overall, the small label does not do it because they want to make millions. They do not expect this at all and are thus more realistic than many major companies. They bring out 20 singles in the hope that two of them will be a hit. And they have still completely slept through the rough trends like German hip hop or folk music!"

For Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer it is a sign of appreciation for Germany, but it is about disciplining her own ranks and rearmament. Comment

The USA increases its troops in Germany by 500 soldiers. This was announced by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after a meeting with his counterpart Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in Berlin. The soldiers are to be stationed in the Wiesbaden area.

The politician used the opportunity to produce the usual phrases. For example, the minister saw the troop increase "a sign of appreciation for Germany".

The re-election of President Aleksander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus in an authoritarian manner since 1994, once again seems certain

On 11. October elections will be held in Belarus. The difference from the previous elections: The opposition is hardly expected to protest against "Europe’s last dictator" and the usual means of pressure, such as imprisonment, are lacking.

In a certain way, the regime and the opposition have come closer to each other. Both sides are afraid of a Ukrainian scenario and do not want to risk a conflict before and after the elections on October 11. October and after the election on October 11.

Conservatives wallop Social Democrats in two important state elections and everybody knows it’s all about Gerhard Schroder

A day before state elections in Hesse and Lower Saxony on Sunday, Der Tagesspiegel set the stage in a front-page editorial. Chancellor Gerhard Schroder was essentially reelected last September not on the promise that he would make things better, but on the premise that he wouldn’t make things worse. But on the domestic front at least, things did get worse. A lot worse, and very quickly, too (see The Scope of the Crisis).

As for foreign policy, it depends on who you ask. Some worry about the on-going rift between Washington and Berlin, but among many Germans there’s an almost spunky pride in having landed on George W. Bush’s shit list. Sure, there were fears of being internationally isolated for a while there, but after France and Germany sealed the celebration of their 40-year friendship with a joint declaration of opposition to an immediate and groundless attack on Iraq, followed by "me, too"s from Russia and China, those fears dissipated. Only to be replaced days later by anxiety over the state of the European project.

Solidarity demonstration for Afrin in Berlin. Image: ANF

Apparently in the interest of German politics, repressive measures are increasingly being taken against symbols and events of Kurdish organizations

Peace doves are rarely used today as a means of political agitation. Hardly anyone today can imagine that in the 1950s, when Picasso created them for the world peace movement, they were considered subversive. In many countries with right-wing governments, the peace dove was banned as a communist symbol. Today it is often ridiculed and dismissed as naive by younger leftists.

Burj Khalifa, Dubai. Photo: Nepenthes / CC BY-SA 2.5

"The top ten percent have at least 61 percent of the total income." The French economist Kummer is a rough blind spot of Middle East coverage

Only a few economists become like the Frenchman Thomas Piketty to a worldwide known star. His book the capital in 21. Century was a bestseller with the English translation in 2014. Until Marz this year, according to the piketty, between 2.6 and 3 million copies were sold. Its thematic focus is inequality during wealth and income, making special attention to historical developments.

In the western United States, cell phone users are more courteous – and most of all, so are you

Proper cell phone etiquette, especially the commandment not to unnecessarily inconvenience those around you when using a cell phone, depends somewhat on the culture of each country: Italians are a bit livelier and more vocal on the cell phone than Finns, for example, just as they are in normal everyday life. In the U.S., different cultures meet, which could have different perceptions of the burden of public telephony. But the results are relatively consistent.

If the image of the useful companion, the cell phone, suffers due to pushy busybodies who babble loudly or are constantly called while eating or at the movies, this is not good at all for the cell phone manufacturers. To understand the current situation in the U.S., Samsung USA commissioned a survey from Kelton Research, a market research firm, in which more than 1,000 cell phone users from teenagers to seniors participated. The results were announced last Thursday.

The century of catastrophes is coming? – Part I

Our climate is not in good shape. On the one hand, there are already signs of impending climate change everywhere – increasing hurricanes, floods and drought disasters. On the other hand, the American oil, coal and automobile industries in particular, together with the Bush administration, are counterattacking: climate change ? – no treaty, no problem!

Water vapor image from Meteosat. Image: ESA