Write here, write now

Sorry for the lack of postage hiers - had a lot of other stuff to do, including a post for the worship leaders blog (in Tschörmenn). But hey! Back agin today. So, wot's new? Well, first of all, still no pics from the party last weekend, which sucks totally. I may have to start spam-blasting my buddy or something... take his bass guitar hostage and threaten to break a string or two if he ain't forthcoming. Ah, well - mebbe not. Er, what else? Oh yes, I wanted to hype a website by Corporate Watch, an organisation monitoring what all those multinational global-playing industry giants are up to. The site's pretty neat if maybe a teeny bit "angry young man" for my own liking. Facts seem impeccable, though, as is the mission (in my humble opinion). Having led the leech-like existence of an external trainer/consultant to some of these big organisations (hope no-one from my job is reading this), I can see the angle they're shooting at, and support the thinking wholeheartedly. Nobody really is keeping an eye on what mega-corporations are doing these days, both in terms of their effects on society and economy (the long-term view) and, of course, concerning the violence inflicted upon our unsuspecting little planet. No, I'm not normally a raving leftie, but this is, I think, a worthy cause, so go check it out, everybody! Corporate Watch - cuz you know it makes sense, baby... Oh, here's a fact I found fascinating (courtesy, as ever, of the faithful Beeb feed, my main source of factoids and trivia these days); Forbes say there are more billionaires than ever, running up a total of 793 such persons worldwide if I'm correct. Now, I realise that simply turning around and saying well, how come our economy is bleeding workers all the time then - why are people being made redundant if, as the article states, the global economy has never seen such levels of growth since WWII, is selling the point short, not reading the figures in detail, etc. But, or "maismaismais", as Ed La Poignee would say in a Joe Bar Team comic, isn't there at least some degree of relevance to the question? Is this what globalisation means today - that everyone's making money by the bucketload, but us simple people obviously don't get anything out of that, besides maybe an offer to follow our jobs out to Novo Sibirsk or Hyderabad? Yes, I admit I was probably being a bit "angry young man" myself there... Rant over. Final point, and this one really is silly: a woman in Bath has gotten an ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Order) for repeatedly listening to "Show Me The Way to Amarillo" at ear-splitting volume. Apparently, her behaviour was both so obnoxious and of such persistence that she successfully drove at least one set of neighbours into selling up and leaving! Wow! Plus, funniest of all, she's now had her stereo confiscated... That is so un-German. Here, we would have had a public inquiry after the first time it happened (probably), followed by a court order to either insulate the relevant walls or keep noise levels down, else the coppers show up and cart you away, pronto! Ach, mein Vaterland of efficient punishment, or whatever...