2008

a:fter all, nobody expected a kind of Spanish Inquisition. It's just another night, between two other days, who happen to be the 31st of December and the 1st of January.
Nevertheless, lots of special feelings came up that night, waltz, champagne and a sense of doing things completely different in the oncoming 12 months (366 days). Something that should not only apply to me, but even more to people who are "in power" - which leads me to the latest thoughts on politics:

• Shouldn't be the smartest / most intelligent / most experienced people be leading our country? Why is "Mr. Average" so afraid of intelligence among politicans then, and prefers to vote for someone who, let's say, finished secondary school instead of someone who's a professor at a large university?
• The dilemma of politicians: To rise to a position of power, you have to serve, obey and work in the party's structure for years. In these years, you learn to shut up, follow, accept, and crawl. How can you expect that all of a sudden, you are able to speak, lead, decide and stand straight? Parties educate their members to be servants, and thus we are led by people who were trained to be servants. Not so surprising any more that our country is led the way it is.... yes?
  

People who share my birthday

Michelangelo
Gabriel García Márquez
Cyrano de Bergerac
Joseph von Fraunhofer
Alan Greenspan
Shaq O'Neal
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol

Happy Christmas

Oh yeah, I know, politically correct it should be "Season's Greetings" or something like this... but what the heck, I am celebrating Christmas, and I hope you will be happy, celebrating whatever you celebrate (this shan't sound derogative!).

Going to Paris for New Years Eve, so if you are around, give me a call :-)

Movie: Lions for Lambs

Who would have thought? A movie that makes you think from the very first minute til hours after you have seen it... Patriotism at its best, not the "negative" association one may have with it, but what it really means - fighting for the sake of your country, for its political system, for its people, for control over its leaders; questioning everything, deciding, making the right choices, admitting mistakes (or not...).

A definite must-see for everyone who grew tired of the US flag waving in the background while 11 men walk shoulder by shoulder saving the world!

The fawlty tower of Pisa

Discuss all you want about methods, questions and interpretations - the current PISA test shows that Austria (and its school system) suffers from several diseases; a lack of integration (how else would migrants of the 2nd generation be even worse in their results than ones from the 1st generation?), a lack of equality between "upper" and "lower" class, a lack of supporting courses for both highly intelligent and struggling pupils.

The challenge is to take this as an opportunity for change - change of the system, but also change of mind and attitude, not only in the "concerned" groups and parties, but within the Austrians as a whole, to realize that education is not only something the state has to provide, but also something every single parent has to care about for the sake of their own children.

Complaining is not a solution, but part of the problem.