politisch unkorrekter gedanke des tages

in turbulenten zeiten wie diesen kann ich mich des gefühls nicht erwehren, daß die einzige konstante in meinem leben der nahost-konflikt ist. - titanic

make the banks beg for it!

a sign of the times: while my banks annoy me every other week with an announcement of another interest rate adjustment, always down, there is now a new scheme that allows you to pick a bank for an amount of cash you want to put away safely. the website (for it is an online business, but the money, i'm told, as well as the banks and the resulting agreements are real) is called maxbips.com. they say, *as a depositor, you can conduct auctions. banks bid an interest rate for your cash.*
the ft have reviewed it, and the service launches on monday. i'll be there!

mikrogedanke des tages

was, wenn der entdecker der roentgenstrahlen herr leutheusser-schnarrenberger geheissen haette?

thought of the day

people cult, a hysterical media, and chauvinism are a dangerous mix. mark my words, americans.

word of the day

*iceland on thames* (=canary wharf/city of london)
will the uk government soon use the anti-terrorism act to fight the uk banks and the financial crisis?

on the state of the nation

*owners of capital will stimulate working class to buy more and more of expensive goods, houses and technology, pushing them to take more and more expensive credits, until their debt becomes unbearable. the unpaid debt will lead to bankruptcy of banks which will have to be nationalized and state will have to take the road which will eventually lead to communism.* - karl marx? vince cable?

abwrackpraemie

meine omi hat mich gefragt, ob das ein unwort fuer pflegeversicherung sei.

motto

*mitleid bekommt man geschenkt, neid muss man sich erst mal verdienen* - robert lembke

und das ist mein lebensmotto. ich arbeite fleissig dran.

role model

as of today, it is officially allowed in britain to call people *paki*. as did a member of the royal family. he is an adult, who had access to the best possible education, so excusing the use of what until yesterday was considered a racist derogatory term with *adolescent prank* or *the underclasses don't know any better* won't cut it. therefore, we are told that paki is an abbreviation (p=pakistani, a=afghani, k=kashmiri, i=indian), and that anyway, kevin from watford doesn't have a problem with the word. millions of asians, who did have a problem with being called paki, were clearly too thin-skinned in the past.
the prime minister has not confirmed yet whether terms like wog, frog, nigger etc are also now ok for everyday usage. i guess we'll have to wait until another member of the royals uses them.

when is *harry* going to be a swearword for any arrogant, ignorant bastard that is full of shit?

new year, new frugality

happy new year, happy everything!

for this blogger, the new year brings with it a resolution to dare more frugality. die neue sparsamkeit! quote of the day: trillion is the new billion. (in germany, an american trillion has always been a billion of course, not because we are so rich, but because we call that figure with nine zeros, between a million and a billion, a milliarde. then again, you already knew that.) so new frugality. shop at ikea for basics, and accessorise with some eye catchers from... dwell? conran? abroad? or buy your milk and toast at the supermarket (choose aldi over tesco if you can!) and indulge in a birthday cake from your local deli (raoul's perhaps?). never enter a shop without a shopping list, and never ever fall for the bogofs. instead of trying a new restaurant, try a new recipe. or let your friends invite you, if you have any. that sort of thing.
it's easy to be frugal, if you have been a spender before. what are people doing who have been frugal all throughout the boom years?