Ok, so I’d neglected my favorite German blogger, Konrad Werner, for awhile but now he’s insisted on drawing my attention again with his challenge “Bring It!“
According to Konrad, I’m challenged to come up with 44 examples of how Germany is fucked up, in comparison to the USA, the conservative German rag Frankfurter Allgemeine having come up with 45 reasons the USA is screwed by comparison with Germany; with one reasonable counterpoint presented by way of rebuttal. Here’s my submissions
1) The 3rd Reich monument proudly standing at Lindau, Bodensee:
18) I can’t comment at http://www.exberliner.com without having to turn on my facebook apps platform (a dumb thing to do for anyone concerned with security) …. change that and (perhaps I’m lying) I wouldn’t waste my time with stupid endeavors like this one…
Ok, so following on my last, now I will give Konrad Werner a bit of credit for his ‘manly good sportsmanship’ in lieu of any genuine gratitude for bringing the ‘teuton hordes’ to read at my site (my blog hits from Germany have dramatically spiked.)
And amazingly, the English of Werner’s rebuttal is quite ok, actually the high style of self-satire seems to be his true calling (Mark Twain’s ‘Life on the Mississippi’ is perhaps the greatest of examples of this avenue in quest for truth.) But alas, I also fear Mr Werner is suffering ‘Stockholm syndrome’ wherein one becomes enamored of one’s abuser. And he did miss a point or two but this last is easily corrected-
I know that modesty should stop me from mentioning this, and I know it’s really self-indulgent, but hell, I can’t help it. I need to share this happiness. I have a fan. An actual fan. In other words, someone who reads these articles all the way through. He’s called Ron and he keeps writing about me. At first, when you read Ron’s latest commentary on my scribbling, it looks a bit like a stream of abuse that ends with a drawing of a grotesquely large frog standing on its hind legs sucking a man off. This, the caption explains, is a metaphor for my English. You might think you’re a bad writer, but has your command of the written word ever been compared to amphibian fellatio? No, I don’t think it has.
Stockholm syndrome: noun, feelings of trust or affection felt in certain cases of kidnapping or hostage-taking by a victim toward a captor:
But then Ron offers a real insight. For years I’ve been struggling to name the thing that’s been missing in these commentaries. I used to lie awake at night, my tormented sweat-soaked sheets twisting up around me, trying to grasp that fleeting, unknowable thing that would make my work whole, and then along comes good old Ron and sums it up in one effortless line: “Werner lacks this thing called ‘Teutonic vision.’” That’s it. I just don’t “see” like the Teutons – the Germanic tribe that harried the Roman Republic in the first and second centuries BCE, and whose vision has been passed down genetically to all German people today.
Ron suggests my lack of “this thing called Teutonic vision” is the reason why I never noticed that all the old Kaisers were paedophiles, (or something, didn’t really get that bit), but there must be so many other things that I’m blind to as well. What other depraved things do Germans do beyond this non-Teutonic fog before my eyes? My poor genetically-handicapped mind strains itself to imagine these despicable acts. I mean, what’s the use of reading German newspapers and talking to German people and being in Germany if you don’t have Teutonic vision?
Actually Werner nailed it. Only I should have named it ‘post modern teutonic vision’ wherein the sufferers either do not lick their lips at sight of statues posing sexually suggestive little boys decorating the great monuments the Kaisers built to themselves or, perhaps don’t even notice this statuary at all. In this case Werner is blessed with a culturally significant social blindness and therein poses the precisely correct question: “What other depraved things do Germans do beyond this non-Teutonic fog before my eyes?”
Rest assured, the answer will be forthcoming.
And I wonder who does have Teutonic vision? The Christian Social Union have a bit presumably. You need some kind of tribal perspective to be able to tell all the Bulgarians apart, and indeed the Austrians and Hessians and Baden-Württembergers and Berliners, so you know who is allowed to vote for you and who isn’t.
This is indeed astute observation relating to the CSU and precisely reads into my deliberately open-ended innuendo. Fortunately, for myself, such small tribal differences may be blurred, in that as a satirist who can easily trample any rules of distinction, in the main, in my sight all conservative Germans are Huns. Oh, but wait:
The CSU has been doing its thing again this week: openly opposing its coalition partners the CDU and the SPD by deciding that actually no, it doesn’t agree with the pension plan that was in the coalition contract and which its leader signed just last month. Once again, with a municipal election coming up and the Alternative für Deutschland sharpening their looney minds, the CSU is consciously positioning itself slightly but distinctly to the right of Merkel. Last week I pointed out, in my sorry froggy-blowjob style, that it was a bit undemocratic that a regional party should wield national influence. But now I think of it, it’s hardly fair on the Bavarians either – effectively, no one in Bavaria can ever vote for Angela Merkel and the CDU, seeing as she never fields any candidates there. So when the municipal elections come up in March, not a single Municher or Augsburger or Nuremberger can say, “No, I’m just normal right-wing (Merkel), and not I’ve-got-Teutonic-vision-and-I-hate-Bulgarians right-wing (Seehofer).” That can’t be right, surely? There must be some Bavarians who like Merkel and would like someone from her party – someone mainly normal – running their local councils? But hey, what do I know? I’m just a sexually depraved frog.
Here, preceding, is where Werner’s lack of ‘post modern teutonic vision’ altogether causes his missing the point. His apparent idealism and faith in the underlying good of humanity undermines his perception of political reality. There is no question it is possible some (at least two or three) right-wingers from the south of Germany might cringe at the more ‘open and honest’ expressions of racism by a back-stabbing Seehofer or Friedrich, but to expect Merkel would sincerely reject this and provide avenue to alternative, is to expect ‘Mutti’ would knowingly enter into a circumstance of uttering “Et tu Brute” with partners whose political heritage had been sired and nursed by authentic and unrepentant NAZIs.
This brings us back to the ‘Stockholm syndrome’ and the fact of mental state. The hostage Patti Hearst married her jailer after she’d been busted for joining her kidnappers’ Symbionese Liberation Army. Who is jailer and who is hostage here? Merkel to Seehofer and Friedrich? Seehofer and Friedrich to the CSU electorate? The CSU electorate to their Hun (read unrepentant NAZI) heritage? Konrad Werner to his idealism? The bottom line is, when one associates with criminals in politics, there will be criminal social tendencies manifest. This determines in honest point-of-view, either there is accountability or there is none, bringing us back, as promised, to Werner’s “What other depraved things do Germans do beyond this non-Teutonic fog before my eyes?” The short answer is:
Merkel and the CDU should be held accountable for this criminal association with the CSU and its impact on the direction Germany takes. I hold Merkel responsible. Werner does not hold Merkel responsible, rather wishing ‘Mutti’ would let her kids play with someone less mean… but alas for Werner, Merkel is not and never has been a responsible mother. She does not care one whit about making any sacrifice for her children’s ethical development, but only cares for German sovereign wealth protection, banking and industrial output at any cost to other nations. So, with the CSU history of keeping her CDU in power, German exports (armaments especially) are artificially under-priced in circumstance where the Euro benefits German industrial manufactured items that otherwise would be cost prohibitive in the same moment Greece cannot devalue its currency and become competitive, burying the common shop-keeper. Now it becomes a case of damned if you do and damned if you don’t have ‘post modern teutonic vision’, because if you can see this and do nothing about it, you’re crassly, criminally selfish, and if you can’t see it, it logically follows one can do nothing about what one cannot see and you benefit from crass, criminal selfishness nonetheless:
And just in case you missed it, the war-mongering Kaisers sexually suggestive statues of little boys were never declared ‘degenerate art’ by the NAZIs, the CSU, the CDU or anyone else I am aware of in Germany. The social scientist in yours truly is of the opinion this makes a statement about a certain cultural heritage and is why Merkel’s ‘Kaiser-esque’ expression of democracy resorts to selling deadly armaments abroad and telling parliament after the fact. Political blow-jobs all around, it would appear.
Oh, and afterthought… the ‘left’ in Germany is allowing this all to go on, when they could be in governance except for cowardice and refusal to compromise (a perfect ‘cluster-fuck’ in the mean vernacular) on all parties part, Greens, SPD and Die Linke alike (with ‘post modern teutonic vision’ extra credit awarded to the SPD for joining Merkel’s criminal cabal)
EXBERLINER (4) is limited to correcting Konrad Werner’s stilted English and decidedly amateur political ideation. The reasoning behind this is, I am not presently in Berlin (or Germany) and had neglected to arrange having the paper copy (EXBERLINER January issue) sent on to my purported new location (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.) Consequently, I cannot blog the entire issue but fortunately, for Konrad Werner’s edification, I can blog him, because his most recent is printed in its entirety at the EXBERLINER website. This negligent circumstance spares the otherwise often competent (and truly sweet) people at EXBERLINER the tongue-in-cheek wrath of this lampoonist’s pen. Sighs.
So, Konrad Werner opens his latest with a ‘salvo’ (fyi, this is a metaphor referring to firing of cannons, Mr Werner)
Now would be the time, Merkel. This would be the moment. There are municipal elections coming up in March in Bavaria. You can finally call the CSU’s bluff and field CDU candidates in Bavaria. This is your chance to rid yourself of these turbulent priests
The problem with Werner’s salvo is, 1) Merkel dumping the CSU is the farthest possible stretch of reality. It’s like saying Werner could write intelligently on German politics with his head out of his ass. The thing with this is, if Werner had his head out of his ass, he would realize he cannot write intelligently at all, and I would have to find someone else to lampoon.
The second problem with Werner’s salvo is, 2) Werner lacks this thing called ‘teutonic vision.’ Or perhaps Werner is unfamiliar with Bavarian culture, where in the southern German slang, a peculiarly shaped noodle is referred to as a ‘little boy’s penis.’ In this case Werner should have stated to Merkel this would be her chance to rid herself of ‘pedophile priests.’ But what of the habits of the CSU parishioners? You can’t wish this away Werner, just go to any palace in the Berlin vicinity and look at the statuary of little boys worshipped by generations of warmongering Kaisers. Or ask recently unemployed Guido Westerwelle what it is like to be a gay exporter of deadly armaments. Talk philosophy with him. Maybe too many little (never grew up) Bavarian boys to count are still upset over having been imprinted for life by this metaphor for ‘noodles’ …. think that anger might translate at the ballot box? Oh yes, but probably not in any nice way…. you see Werner, inter-generational violence is a cultural phenomena and de-nazification never really gained much traction in the south of Germany, speaking of a certain German brand of ‘pedophile priests.’ For your edification Werner, the NAZI problem wasn’t with gays, it was mainly with ‘out of the closet’ gays, if only because this threatened the denial of a certain ‘noodles’ metaphor along the lines of Pinocchio.
^ NAZI Reich Eagle at Lindau, Bodensee (2008)
Homework assignment for the political writers at EXBERLINER: Read ‘The Arms of Krupp’ with special attention given to the passage (this is for you, Werner) relating the story of how a German field marshall dropped dead (mid-pirouette) wearing only a ballerina tutu at a party attended by Germany’s military-industrial elite (other than ‘out of the closet’ some things never change, eh, Guido Westerwelle?) I hate to inform you Werner, Merkel’s CDU is a ‘kinder, gentler’ (remember George Bush saying this?) version of the CSU and there is going to be no separating the ‘sisters.’
Then, Werner goes on to ‘elucidate’ in impossibly stilted English (gag)
The Christian Social Union, often called the “Bavarian sister party to Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union” by baffled Anglo journalists who can’t understand why they exist, has again presented a policy that isn’t just entirely independent of its supposed sibling, but is obviously just a blindingly obvious attempt to outflank anti-European parties in advance of the local council elections in Bavaria. And once again, a Bavarian party that never stops going on about how much it loves being a Bavarian party and how great Bavaria is (“Bavaria first” a slogan on its website proclaims, or “a strong Bavaria in Berlin”) is allowed to determine the national political debate for a whole bloody week
Other than redundancy (“obviously just a blindingly obvious”), what Werner misses in the preceding is, the electorate makes up the the party, the party does not make up the electorate. In fact some ‘Anglo’ (this is a word referring to White Americans, pointing this out in case Werner thought it meant British) journalists perfectly understand the CSU is Germany’s mainstream anti-european party (relating to a certain metaphor of ‘noodles’ pointing to statues of little naked boys and a certain ‘past century’ or historical ‘export’ of the German armaments industry.)
Drawing a distinction between the CDU & CSU is little different to claiming a ‘kinder, gentler’ conservative German politic ‘a la George Bush.’ The CDU merely keeps German miltarism’s historic affinity for youngster’s ‘noodles’ a bit deeper in the closet, and are happy for the CSU to take on the dirty work, is all the difference. So, Werner, rather than draw a distinction that does not in actuality exist, as your much loved ‘pro-Europe’ Chancellor buries the Greek people with draconian fiscal policies, why not research Angela Merkel’s history championing ‘democracy’ & ‘human rights’ and juxtapose this to the facts of a NATO ‘deep state’ caper in Ukraine (western intelligence agencies inciting ‘color revolution’), as well the disaster that became Syria? (actually, do NOT do this Werner, because I’d feel responsible to untangle the mess you’d made of it.) And Werner goes on:
This week it banged a worn-out drum, warning that eastern Europeans would take advantage of EU expansion to flood into Germany and start working here and/or claiming Hartz IV. This time it was Romanians and Bulgarians – a couple of years ago it was Poles and Slovakians, in a few years’ time it’ll be Croatians. The CSU’s brand new policy paper was leaked to the press this week, and caused much debate with its not-properly-rhyming slogan “Wer betrügt, der fliegt.” “Anyone who cheats gets kicked out.” In other words, the CSU wants to make sure that any foreigner who falsely claims benefits gets sent home. This IS ALREADY THE LAW. That’s right, the CSU has managed to cause a big fucking media debate by calling for something that ALREADY EXISTS. WHY? Who knows? Why has my spaniel got bollocks? Why am I writing about it? I could be getting stoned and eating weird German Kaktus Eis and watching a 3D movie on IMAX. IMAX!! In 3D!! Imagine. It’s so big and so deep.
Werner could be “getting stoned.” I think we’d all be better of if this were the case (as in Werner getting too stoned to write or perhaps “stoned” is Werner’s real problem) considering his stilted “not-properly-rhyming-slogan” (‘improperly’ would be the better English, Werner, or you might have given the higher ‘ill-rhymed’ a go.)
But no, because these fucking regional cunts are so worried about losing votes to the Alternative für Deutschland in March and they just couldn’t think of anything with a lower denominator than a slightly-racist fear mongering slogan about all the Romanians, I now have to sit here and join all the other commentators to point this out:
So, Werner pops a hemorrhoid with his pretense and mocked up outrage (profanity), while using the ‘c’ word, which is a favorite of gynophobes worldwide, the British particularly (Werner, profanity only works in highly creative format and you don’t appear to have a creative bone in your body, so stop emphasizing your lack of intelligence, is my advice) and then his “sightly racist” is absolutely myopic view of the endemic German racism. Oh, and you don’t “have” to demonstrate anything Werner, although it be nice if you’d demonstrate you’d pulled your head out of your ass and quit writing… because yes, many have said these things already and so very much more intelligently than yourself Mr Werner (go to Der Spiegel English for these political stories dear readers)
Right. There. Everyone else has said it and I’ve said it too. Can I go to the IMAX now?
Yes, Werner, you can go get (more) stoned now-
^ metaphor for Konrad Werner’s journalism (it’s the frog)
EXBERLINER Issue 122 (December 2013) is sub-titled ‘The Berlin Book Issue.’ It is largely about publishing and personalities associated with book retail sales in Berlin (and not so much about books.) I’ll begin my ‘review’ of this issue with the ‘not books related’ article on Berlin’s so-called gentrification, move superficially through the articles on publishing and wrap up cover of BERLINER issue 122 with giving the presumed ‘expert’ political commentator Konrad Werner the attention I’d promised at the close of my last review of this stealth ‘chic’ tabloid (in guise of socially responsible news outlet.) Let the review of EXBERLINER begin with Dan Borden’s crocodile tears:
“A snowball in hell” is Dan Borden’s title for an article encapsulizing the ‘gentrification’ of Berlin with a short (very short) essay on the demise of Hotel Bogota. Speaking of snowballs and the area the article locates in, Kurfurstendam, if I had an Olympic arm, I could have nearly hit the armed guard standing outside Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle’s apartment, from outside my window in Charlottenberg (November 2010 – March 2012.) So, I know the neighborhood.
Borden’s article is a thumbnail sketch of Hotel Bogota’s history and lament of loss. Kurfurstendam is already lost to so-called ‘gentrification’ and I question why, however historic, a nearly un-noticed remnant structure in a 3 kilometer stretch of marble and glass, bearing no resemblance to the area admired by my friends with Cold War past as ‘spooks’, is the focus of the article. Shouldn’t the focus rather be on what can be saved in Berlin as opposed to what cannot? Hotel Bogota stood no chance of resisting swallowed by the Russian mafia influence which actually controls the district (when purchased by the corporate mafia which must accommodate this.)
Perhaps a more remarkable omission is brought up with mention of the ‘occupied’ hotel’s Nazi past as site for the Rich’s ‘Chamber of Culture’ deciding which film’s adhered to Hitler’s ‘code of decency.’ Nazis are not my favorite people (ranking right up there with certain present day German CSU personalities’ apparently never extinguished closet ambitions) but nevertheless one should be careful in any LBGT (Lesbian, Bi-sexual, Gay and Transgender) friendly publication to present carefully balanced facts, not only point to past extremes of persecution.
The person most empowered to reverse the ‘gentrification’ trend in Berlin and its phenomena of skyrocketing rents breaking up and driving out (persecuting) long established communities, is that man who has participated most egregiously in selling Berlin to the highest bidder: openly gay mayor of Berlin; Klaus Wowerweit. This is entirely overlooked (perhaps excused?) in Borden’s article. Responsible journalism as presented in LBGT community friendly format, should not come across to the outside reader as ‘cloistered’ or ‘removed from reality’ as I’d mentioned in my previous review of Issue 121. This ‘there are no sinners among us’ journalism of omission cannot pass muster.
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Borden’s less than candid article is followed on by the ‘Best of Berlin’ two page section on some of Berlin’s hot spots, in this case four scenes people might like to check out.
Dodo Beach in Schoeneberg does nothing for me, but if your into the old school ‘long play’ (LP) records and have some ancient high fidelity stereo equipment, I suppose you could be entertained here for hours on end. It is a front for commercial promoters of concerts (EXBERLINER states this more ‘gracefully’), in which case I will avoid this venue on account of my appreciation for Nine Inch Nails statement on their music: “Steal this album” when in conflict with (and protest of) commercial rip-off of customers by music publishing houses.
The Russian sauna scene in Marzahn, TEREMOK, seems inviting, perhaps I would actually check this out for myself.
Club Marx is a shameless rip-off appealing to the faux-left upwardly mobile liberals and is to be avoided in any case of search for intelligent life, would be my best guess. But if you don’t mind paying a ten Euro cover charge for the right to buy drinks and dance with the ‘suits’ inside, well, that’s your problem, not mine.
The last mentioned place, a jewellery shop, I won’t bother to name, only mention 90 tonnes of crushed rock in community poisoning cyanide heap leach in 3rd world countries produces enough gold to make a single wedding band. Way to go EXBERLINER! I think we know now just how serious a magazine this is, in relation to social (and related environmental) justice.
The next (one page) “Fashionistas” section begins with “A Bold Reality” which is dedicated to a clothing label inspired by the ‘gifted’ degenerates William S Burroughs and Jack Kerouac. Heroin junkie and CIA reject Burroughs shot his wife dead in a “William Tell stunt gone wrong” (one of the times he wasn’t getting 12 year old boys drunk while seducing them or maybe to shut her up over his habit of getting 12 year old boys drunk while seducing them) and the compulsive liar & rabid misogynist Kerouac had his own litany of comparable crimes to live down. So what did Burroughs and Kerouac (together with their resolute compatriot Allan Ginsberg) do to get ‘some’ people to forget these ‘small details’ and become great? They adopted the left, together with an anti-war stance, to en-noble themselves. Perhaps this section should have been better named ‘degenerate fashionista-ettes on the left.’
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The following sections on agents, e-publishing and whatnot, are (mostly) worthwhile reads about (mostly) smart, strong women in Berlin’s publishing scene, and other publishing specific information that might be helpful or useful to aspiring authors. These sections are of little interest to myself personally, since I fired my publisher and these days all of my literature is free on the net. This free (and highly entertaining) literature includes ‘Penucquem Speaks’ with its rave review by a truly honest and great personality on the left: Howard Zinn. But if you wish to be in the book market in Berlin, have a read of EXBERLINER Issue 122, you might see opportunity and the break you are looking for.
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‘Best Niche Bookshops’ section is correct to include Marga Schoeller (lovely people to do business with, my personal experience) but misses Dave Solomon’s ‘Books in Berlin’ at Goethestr 69 (Charlottenberg) where you’ll find the often distracted, nearly always disheveled, truly caring in cause of social justice (this should count for something), helpful and well informed shop proprietor. Give Dave your business and be entertained, whether he is in ‘stark raving mad’ mode or merely level mood.
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And FINALLY we can get to EXBERLINER’s political ‘expert’, Konrad Werner (I am so glad to be nearly finished with this blog.)
Werner appears to have ‘tried hard’ to get it right in EXBERLINER Issue 122. But he did not win any cigars. Only promotion from ‘expert moron’ to ‘aspiring competent amateur.’ But I fear he will relapse. Werner is an incorrectable idiot because he is an idealist (like myself) but not a realist (unlike myself.) In Werner’s political column in Issue 122, he deplores the present day co-opted state of democracy with “imagine inventing a cure for cancer and then not giving it to your children.” And then goes on to propose repair to the failed western model of government. Hurdle number one to Werner’s desired democratic ideal is this:
“In any democracy, ethics, self restraint, tolerance and honesty will always play second fiddle to narcissism, avarice, bigotry & persecution, if only because people who play by the rules in any democracy are at a disadvantage to those who easily subvert the rules to their own advantage” -Ronald Thomas West
Mister Konrad Werner, I must inform you that ‘democracy’ is a failed experiment on account of this maxim (preceding.) So while correctly inferring the idea a return to fascism is a clear and present danger, in the meanwhile you had better pull a miracle cure for democracy out of your ass, to move western society forward intelligently. Or come up with a better idea (than western society.)
Then, Werner presciently proposes his cure with ‘referendum’ as true democratic model for future. Not. Even. Close. Refer to preceding maxim and consider ignorance and bias in the population responsible for voting and… who creates the referendum language? Which ‘free speech’ protected corporate media lies and related bought off politicians beholden to EADS, Boeing and other war profiteering corporations milking ‘humanitarian violence’ for all it’s worth, will spin your ‘referendum’? All of the preceding and too many more criminal corporations and bought off politicians to count? (again, refer to maxim.)
You see, dear readers, when ‘free speech’ in western media is not lying to you deliberately, they are lying to you by default when, as Werner (and EXBERLINER) does, they lie to themselves about the possibilities…
One end note: my preceding review of EXBERLINER (Issue 121) had noted the CSU in Bavaria was set to profit from re-publication of Hitler’s Mein Kampf. In the one month and few days since I’d pointed this out, it appears a panicked scramble had taken place (Hans-Peter Friedrich‘s people read here, this I know) and now the plan has been scrapped. That is result of effective journalism (even if the dropped plan is covered by a self-serving CSU lie.) This, my friends, is actually the important news about books.
Omission note: the article on the striking shop-workers somewhat defied explanation. Somewhat similar to the German psyche often defies description. Or perhaps it was my simply being disgusted with the rank cowardice and often shallow hypocrisy (by the male writers particularly) in EXBERLINER and this had caught up with me. I thought of comparing the events described in shop-workers striking to the ‘Keystone Cops’ or a so-called ‘Chinese fire-drill’ but satire failed me. So, in the spirit of lampooning nearly anything (my forte) I have simply decided to put up a select video (substitute for article coverage) with eye to outrage the feminism aligned editors of EXBERLINER; in spirit of suggesting having a psychologically castrated requirement as prerequisite to men writing for the magazine will have the inevitable result of unintelligent product.
It’s been a time of transition. And a time of wondering where to take this blog in future. It seemed I’d reached a stopping point, insofar as developing my case and circumstance of exile, and now is up to the cowardly German politicians to rectify matters or simply to continue to give Obama political fellatio and cover for CIA & JSOC crimes and related, incidental miscreant behaviors of MOSSAD. But somehow I suspect my case will not, cannot stay swept under the rug. At this point, I only need be patient. The question remains however, is there any possibility I will reach a detente with the intelligence agencies? If they’d back off, I would quit burning them, a message even the most moronic should be able to absorb and act on. So what to do in the meanwhile?
I have plenty of interest in composing folk stories, as well my interest in translation of ancient concept to modern and would prefer to turn my attention to these interests … but I am well aware I have readers looking for politics and satire [both gag me] and feel there is some obligation to appreciating loyalty to my unfortunate brilliance in these matters. So I will wind back burning the criminal agencies, to a point. If they behave well in relation to my personal circumstance, I will likely turn my attention more and more to those interests I prefer giving my attention, which altogether excludes the stupidities of international intrigue. So it will be a process of withdrawal, and meanwhile I’ve settled on my newer, somewhat more benign political target: EXBERLINER [the magazine]
Why EXBERLINER? The magazine is about Berlin, it is in English, caters to expatriates, is largely intelligent, somewhat interesting to me and has a total moron for a political commentator.
“Werner’s Political Notebook” has earned EXBERLINER the savages of this lampoonist and former intelligence professional’s political pen. Congratulations! For the foreseeable future, my intention is to write a monthly column on EXBERLINER.
The October issue [#120] has a brilliant article on Salman Rushdie with extensive quotes from a Rushdie appearance in Berlin, very good reading I would recommend to anyone [who can actually read, of course.] The series of articles on alternative healing are worthwhile particularly because the writers put their own bodies on the line in pursuit of understanding. Most commendable. The sundry information on several scenes in Berlin looks to have entertaining possibilities, and then…
… there is [Konrad] Werner.
Werner’s smug, sideways glance from his black & white photo is set to reassure his narcissism in the mirror, as he pontificates on Merkel & Syria. DO NOT read Werner’s column, if you’d like to discover anything close to truth. The petty Bibi Netanyahus of this world, whose policies Werner embodies with his ill-informed moralizing on Syrians dying in their beds on account of the Assad regime, overlooks a small reality; were it not for western democracies intelligence agencies having facilitated, arranged the arming of, and stimulated the armed rebellion in Syria, Syrians would not be dying in their beds. Oops! Werner’s pushing the USA-Israeli-Saudi alliance in Syria (originally initiated as a stepping stone to taking down Iran before Obama got cold feet) in the guise of a moralism: “The decision the German government makes every day not to shoot down Assad’s scuds means families die in their beds” … makes one wonder whether there will ever come a day ordinary people of European cultural origin can competently assess humanitarian violence, sans ego (it is this cultural ego, a form of chauvinism, drives humanitarian violence and idiots like Werner.) In the alternative, perhaps Werner is merely a pontificating moralist of small mind who has sucked up and re-spewed Netanyahu-AIPAC originated propaganda per the many information operations tossed at the general public by intelligence agencies (intended to spread like memes.) Oh, and Werner managed the otherwise intelligent people at EXBERLINER to give his ill-informed political gibberish print. And the invigorating of al-Qaida (al-Nusra) as a side effect of the western/wahabi alliance effort to oust Assad is to be overlooked as a case of c’est la vie?
Uh, Werner, I hate to inform you (and the people at EXBERLINER) ‘democracy’ has murdered more Syrians, by far, than Assad, left alone, ever would have… and insofar as the purpose in this malignant social phenomena you support with lobbying Germany to become militarily proactive in Syria, I recommend to you a small but informative reading project: ‘The Least of All Possible Evils‘ (Humanitarian Violence From Arendt to Gaza) by Eyal Weizman
Ronald Thomas West 