Fri, 29 Aug 2008
3rd Congress on Solidary Economy Bremen
If you happen to be near Bremen, Germany around the 5.-7. September 2008 and have an interest in solidary economy, free software, renewable energies and the like you might want to stop by at the 3rd Congress on Solidary Economy (German website).
I haven't been at the first two of these congresses but I was invited as a speaker for this one, so I'll be around at least on Saturday and probably also on Sunday. I'll mainly be on a panel on free and open source software which will take place on Saturday evening at 20:00. (Prime Time :)) But I've also let myself be talked into joining another panel at 17:00 which is somehow ubuntu-related (Communtu). I am not yet sure if I'll have much to contribute there, I am neither a ubuntu specialist nor particularly fond of it, but the organiser said he wouldn't mind and he'd welcome critical remarks just as much, so, we'll see.
I am really looking forward to being a speaker on an event again! Ever since I started my PhD I've been much too busy to attend (leave alone prepare talks for) as many events as I'd have liked. I hope the situation will improve next year when things get rolling with my PhD. (Currently still in a "topic orientation/find a project/write proposals" state ...)
Posted at: 16:42 in /english/politics
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Mon, 29 Oct 2007
Only three days left ...
Citizens of Germany have only three days left if they want to apply for a new travel passport that does not include its owner's fingerprints. From the 1st of November on German citizens who apply for a new travel passport will have to provide their fingerprints so they can be included in the passport's biometric section. Up until now, fingerprinting was a treatement reserved for those user reasonable suspicion of a crime.
A new travel passport can be applied for at any time, whether the old one is expired or not. Your new passport will be valid for 10 years if you are 26 or older, otherwise it will be valid for only five years. A new passport costs 59,00 Euro respectively 37,50 Euro for those under 26 years.
I for one do not welcome this further erosion of privacy so I got myself a new passport just in time. Guess I'll have to do a lot of travelling in the next 10 years ...
Posted at: 16:40 in /english/politics
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Mon, 07 May 2007
Chère racaille
Unfortunatelly, Mr Sarkozy winnig these elections does not come as a total surprise. Still it is not something you have to passively accept. You still have a democracy. What is needed now is a strong and watchful opposition, in and outside the parliaments. Remain alert, protect and defend your République and the rights its residents have! We're with you!
Best,
Meike
Posted at: 09:56 in /english/politics
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Tue, 30 Jan 2007
They're at it again
(Almost all links in this text lead to German sources. Sorry, but this is a local topic and there aren't any English sources.)
Unfortunately, Hildesheim is home to some rather prominent figures of the German neo-nazi scene. One of them has now registered for a protest march through Hildesheim on the 24 February 2007.
The reason for this is, that an other neo-nazi event, that had been disguised as a "birthday party", but was in fact a propaganda event featuring talks by "contemporary witnesses" and "an evening of ballads" and was arranged by "National Forces of Hildesheim and the Association of German Women" had been prevented by the Hildesheim police.
As a reaction to this, the aforementioned gentleman has now registered for a demonstration with the Hildesheim city council. (In Germany you need to register demonstrations.) Official head of the whole thing is this other gentleman, who has a history of trying to organise nazi demonstrations. He occasionally does so in Leipzig, where he tries to organise such demonstrations about twice a year. Their attendance is dropping though and they are usually met with about ten times as many counter demonstrators and thus have to be ended prematurely, exposing them as the unwanted and ridiculous farces they really are.
However, the fact that people still try to register demonstrations such as this one is worrying. And the fact that this one is meant to be in the town I live in makes me pretty angry. Fortunately the demonstration is met with broad opposition. An alliance has been formed, consisting of the German adult education centre of Hildesheim (VHS), the Federation of German Trade Unions (DGB), Verdi, our public services union, Attac, the Antifa, the refugee council of Lower Saxony and the political parties with the Hildesheim Greens as the most active part at the moment. It is good to see, that such neo-nazi endeavours are met with such a broad opposition, and that this opposition does not only originate from the "usual suspects", but from the centre of society. (The VHS for example is usually a non-political organisation, and seeing them engage in such an alliance and even hosting its meetings is pretty cool!)
It's not sure yet, whether the demonstration will be approved. It probably will, but with a bunch of extra conditions. If it is approved, it is even more important to meet it with the resistance it deserves! So, if you are living near Hildesheim, watch this space for announcements of the planned counter measures.
Posted at: 10:36 in /english/politics
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