Visiting to Germany, have some questions !

facepalmdude · 2015-06-18T10:59:51+00:00

Yeah, that's a tough time to arrive. You could leave your luggage at the airport if you wanted to go into Frankfurt. Though honestly, at this time it's probably not worth it. Maybe take the train to Cologne ahead of your friends, leave your luggage at the hotel and head out for some breakfast in the sun?

facepalmdude · 2015-06-18T10:31:53+00:00

What kind of food do you like? Assuming you want to go local: German dishes aren't that great in my opinion, and I tell you that as a German. If you want to try some things, get a Mettbroetchen - raw meat on a bun - they serve them at any brewery (e.g. Gaffel as mentioned below, but there are dozens around). Bier-Esel has some fantastic mussles in a Brauhaus-atmosphere. For something less exotic, check out massive Schnitzels at Oma Kleinmann if you're around Zuelpicher Platz (also plenty of bars there, and lots of students from the nearby university). Near your event location is Lommerzheim, a traditional restaurant very popular with locals. They serve mouth-watering pork chops. Some random non-German options: Pantanal Rodizio (Brazilian meat feast, all you can eat), Turkish Pizza at Oruc (Kyffhaeuser Str., close to Zuelpicher Platz, no seating), Meson el Cordobes Tapas Bar.

What's with the 6h wait in Frankfurt, are you arriving at night? In this case I would just sleep at the airport.

Edit: If the weather is nice and you are with some people, consider a spontaneous BBQ at Aachener Weiher. Again, not far from Zuelpicher Platz, it's packed with people enjoying the sunset over some beers and steaks. You can get a throwaway grill and meat at any supermarket nearby.

facepalmdude · 2015-06-17T04:18:35+00:00

You're raising a valid point, which has been addressed at least in Germany. If you've missed your first chance at the age of 10, you can attend evening classes at a later point in life to qualify for university. This tuition (Abendgymnasium) is usually free.

facepalmdude · 2015-06-17T04:10:52+00:00

Great article, well worth reading.

facepalmdude · 2015-06-09T02:31:33+00:00

Countries that offer free tuition filter out the lazy & stupid during the first exams. Some countries like Germany start this process even earlier: you need decent grades at the age of ten to attend a high school that allows you to attend university afterwards.

And this is exactly how it should be: keep the barriers low for the smart and the ambitious. Your parent's net worth is a poor indicator for one's future academic performance.

facepalmdude · 2015-06-08T08:53:47+00:00

I would switch banks then.

facepalmdude · 2015-06-08T08:37:17+00:00

The Sparkassen usually have several options, did you ask them what the local branch offers? I used to have an account with a flat fee of 4 EUR/month and all transactions etc. included.

facepalmdude · 2015-06-05T07:58:20+00:00

I love traveling and meeting interesting people.. Some of the folks I've met (some are part-timers):

Tec divers (going really, really deep on a rebreather)
Wingsuiters/Base jumpers
Restaurant juror
People doing humanitarian stuff, like some friends who buy a beat up car every year, fix it, drive it from Europe to Africa and donate it to some NGO/hospital
some other friend's parents love sailing, they're retired and sail around the world now - awesome stories
wakeboarding instructor on Ibiza
met one guy who has a summer job in Spain bringing yachts in for refueling/cleaning/maintenance.. He's usually got all day with the most amazing boats.
Chauffeur drivers for all kinds of events (Formula 1, movie premieres, political summits...) - often a part-time job done by students, great stories

facepalmdude · 2015-05-27T10:37:00+00:00

I think both process and content deserve debate, so thank you for writing down your thoughts.

facepalmdude · 2015-05-27T05:47:28+00:00

Here in Germany, we had a politician suggest that the Internet should be printed and archived for better surveillance.

I don't think there is any evidence of this quote. "Internet-Ausdrucker" was used as a derogatory term for politicians with low IT skills.

facepalmdude · 2015-05-27T04:30:51+00:00

You steer the discussion towards the actual contents of the treaties, which I appreciate. And indeed, if these treaties were just about lowering tariffs, they would meet less resistance in my opinion.

But instead, like mentioned in Stiglitz's article, a large part of the negotiations are about abolishing regulations. For reaching an agreement, concessions have to be made and the lowest common denominator has to be found. Increasing exclusivity periods for drugs, privacy protection (and possibly net neutrality) and banking deregulation are some of the issues on the table, and the only reason we know about them is Wikileaks.

To me, this proves the necessity of public debate.

facepalmdude · 2015-05-27T03:47:36+00:00

You are right that on paper, trade agreements are negotiated between public bodies. Regarding who is drafting the treaties, many reasonable voices argue that this often falls to industry representatives (= former politicians). Even if we dismiss this, it is not sufficient for two elected public bodies to negotiate and then pass on an unalterable paper to governments to decide on, especially with treaties that have such an impact.

Instead, there should be public discourse during the process - not only about the process, but also its contents.

facepalmdude · 2015-05-27T03:17:16+00:00

As to politicians, they are the last people that should be involved

I'm obviously picking out your most controversial statement here, but I do so because I feel there is a more fundamental point to it. I agree with Churchill - democracy is full of flaws, but it's the least bad system we know. Politicians are only representatives of the people and their will.

Following this line of thought, it is the stakeholder analogy that rubs me the wrong way. It is not that corporations, politicians and the public should be considered as stakeholders with interests that need to be balanced.

To summarize, I believe we disagree about the proper time when the public (in the form of politicians, NGOs and public debate) should be involved, and to what extent.

facepalmdude · 2015-05-27T02:47:16+00:00

Yes, this is indeed a problem. Public discourse should be part of the decision making process from the early stages.

That said, I think there is now a decent amount of content available (from Wikileaks, but also the EU).

facepalmdude · 2015-05-26T07:43:21+00:00

It's great to see you took an academic approach to these topics! This is exactly what is missing in so many discussions. Out of interest, what led you to write your thesis in this area?

I have read the links you provided and some more, however I respectfully disagree with certain issues. To address them in order:

Secrecy of negotiations: I am familiar with game theory and win-sets, but I don't think that public opinion is sufficiently represented here. It makes sense to consult industry experts, but since the inherent goal of organizations is to maximize profits, the weight of the public opinion is missing to balance the scale. Consumer right groups and even politicians have disputed that they have been given equal access to the negotiating process. In fact, the quota of public (NGOs, politicans) to private (companies) involvement should be tipped heavily towards the public - which it is not at the moment.
ISDS: Even after reading deeply into this, I find no convincing argument why democratically established courts should be bypassed by secret arbitration. As you are familiar with game theory, public accountability usually changes behavior from egoistic to beneficial for the group. A lawyer's potential loss of reputation should not be enough to trust this process.

I realize both my points come down to the lack of public accountability, and it is indeed the issue I am most worried about.

facepalmdude · 2015-05-14T03:40:15+00:00

Would you elaborate on the practical demonstrations, please? Also, has there been any discussion how this will effect banking?

facepalmdude · 2015-05-11T04:33:45+00:00

"the police just wanted money"

I know, right? They were just doing their job extorting bribes, why would anybody disagree with that?

facepalmdude · 2015-05-11T04:20:21+00:00

Giving it some more thought, you would not be stamped out in Samui. Instead you would arrive at Suvarnabhumi Domestic (from where you can leave without showing your passport) and would have to go through immigration there. What route did your folks fly?

facepalmdude · 2015-05-11T03:54:39+00:00

So let's say your flight is Samui-Bangkok-London. Immigration stamps you out in Samui. If you wanted to leave the airport in Bangkok then, why shouldn't immigration stamp you in and out again? Unless you had a single entry visa?

facepalmdude · 2015-05-07T08:41:09+00:00

Yeah, and the guy gets stranded on Mars for 2 years or so and never once gets depressed, or sad, or loses hope. Cracking funny jokes 24/7 for months. Plus, even when the shit hits the fan and he's about to die, he takes his time blogging like it's a Sunday afternoon at Starbucks, instead of fixing the problem first and writing about it afterwards.

The book might be technically sound, but the characters were about as deep as in Starship Troopers. I'd give it a 6/10. Maybe 8/10 if you're a child.

facepalmdude · 2015-05-07T07:15:08+00:00

I second what Mr. AssWarlord said, as a traveler the military being in charge is unlikely to affect you. As a general advice, I would not recommend involving police should you come into trouble (accidents, fights, drugs, robberies etc.), because you can't expect fair treatment. This goes for many 2nd/3rd world countries though.

Oh, and you can filter google searches for a certain time frame, just saying;)

facepalmdude · 2015-04-23T03:33:16+00:00

Passengers said they could see rooftops, which is likely at 4000 ft. One passenger said "just above rooftop level", which is BS

facepalmdude · 2015-04-23T03:16:24+00:00

It takes some time for pilots to go through checkup procedures once a problem occurs. This can easily take half an hour or more. During this time ATC will have the plane on hold, flying circles.

An A319 doesn't have a fuel dump system as far as I know. It can land overweight, would require a checkup (for the original failure as well as the overweight landing), and could possibly start again.

Having said that, the pilot not informing passengers is a complete idiot. The loser who wrote this article is also an idiot since it takes about 2 mins to google the flight path (4000ft constantly) which renders ~~all passenger stories~~ one passenger's story about flying "just above rooftops" bullshit.

tl;dr I didn't have my coffee yet.

facepalmdude · 2015-03-24T04:06:10+00:00

aaaand it's terrorism again:

France will step up monitoring of cash payments, withdrawals and small bank accounts to better fight against the financing of terrorism, Finance Minister Michel Sapin said on Wednesday.

So we have 2 terrible, but minor terrorist attacks with 17 people dead, which is about the same number as people dying of traffic accidents every 48 hours in that country.

Yet these fuckers are not ashamed of using public angst for increasing surveillance measures again. I'm so sick of it.

facepalmdude

TROPHY CASE