Berlin @ MindSay 
And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.
The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.
When he was twelve years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organisation with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: “Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope?”
In the great Battles of Caucus and Primary he smote the conniving Hillary, wife of the deposed King Bill the Priapic and their barbarian hordes of Working Class Whites.
And so it was, in the fullness of time, before the harvest month of the appointed year, the Child ventured forth - for the first time - to bring the light unto all the world.
He travelled fleet of foot and light of camel, with a small retinue that consisted only of his loyal disciples from the tribe of the Media. He ventured first to the land of the Hindu Kush, where the
Taleban had harboured the viper of al-Qaeda in their bosom, raining terror on all the world.
And the Child spake and the tribes of Nato immediately loosed the Caveats that had previously bound them. And in the great battle that ensued the forces of the light were triumphant. For as long as the
Child stood with his arms raised aloft, the enemy suffered great blows and the threat of terror was no more.
From there he went forth to Mesopotamia where he was received by the great ruler al-Maliki, and al-Maliki spake unto him and blessed his Sixteen Month Troop Withdrawal Plan even as the imperial warrior Petraeus tried to destroy it.
And lo, in Mesopotamia, a miracle occurred. Even though the Great Surge of Armour that the evil Bush had ordered had been a terrible mistake, a waste of vital military resources and doomed to end in disaster, the Child's very presence suddenly brought forth a great victory for the forces of the light.
And the Persians, who saw all this and were greatly fearful, longed to speak with the Child and saw that the Child was the bringer of peace. At the mention of his name they quickly laid aside their intrigues and beat their uranium swords into civil nuclear energy ploughshares.
From there the Child went up to the city of Jerusalem, and entered through the gate seated on an ass. The crowds of network anchors who had followed him from afar cheered “Hosanna” and waved great palm fronds and strewed them at his feet.
In Jerusalem and in surrounding Palestine, the Child spake to the Hebrews and the Arabs, as the Scripture had foretold. And in an instant, the lion lay down with the lamb, and the Israelites and Ishmaelites ended their long enmity and lived for ever after in peace.
As word spread throughout the land about the Child's wondrous works, peoples from all over flocked to hear him; Hittites and Abbasids; Obamacons and McCainiacs; Cameroonians and Blairites.
And they told of strange and wondrous things that greeted the news of the Child's journey. Around the world, global temperatures began to decline, and the ocean levels fell and the great warming was over.
The Great Prophet Algore of Nobel and Oscar, who many had believed was the anointed one, smiled and told his followers that the Child was the one generations had been waiting for.
And there were other wonderful signs. In the city of the Street at the Wall, spreads on interbank interest rates dropped like manna from Heaven and rates on credit default swaps fell to the ground as dead birds from the almond tree, and the people who had lived in foreclosure were able to borrow again.
Black gold gushed from the ground at prices well below $140 per barrel. In hospitals across the land the sick were cured even though they were uninsured. And all because the Child had pronounced it.
And this is the testimony of one who speaks the truth and bears witness to the truth so that you might believe. And he knows it is the truth for he saw it all on CNN and the BBC and in the pages of The New York Times.
Then the Child ventured forth from Israel and Palestine and stepped onto the shores of the Old Continent. In the land of Queen Angela of Merkel, vast multitudes gathered to hear his voice, and he preached to them at length.
But when he had finished speaking his disciples told him the crowd was hungry, for they had had nothing to eat all the hours they had waited for him.
And so the Child told his disciples to fetch some food but all they had was five loaves and a couple of frankfurters. So he took the bread and the frankfurters and blessed them and told his disciples to feed the multitudes. And when all had eaten their fill, the scraps filled twelve baskets.
Thence he travelled west to Mount Sarkozy. Even the beauteous Princess Carla of the tribe of the Bruni was struck by awe and she was great in love with the Child, but he was tempted not.
On the Seventh Day he walked across the Channel of the Angles to the ancient land of the hooligans. There he was welcomed with open arms by the once great prophet Blair and his successor, Gordon the Leper, and his successor, David the Golden One.
And suddenly, with the men appeared the archangel Gabriel and the whole host of the heavenly choir, ranks of cherubim and seraphim, all praising God and singing: “Yes, We Can.”
-Gerard Baker
Madame Tussauds opened a new branch in Berlin this month to be welcomed by an abrupt protest. The second man to enter the wax museum allegedly tore the head off of an Adolf Hitler figurine on its opening day. German police arrested the 41-year-old man after two employees at the museum unsuccessfully tried to prevent him from jumping over a table that was in front of the wax figurine.
Within a matter of seconds, the man had tore off the head of the controversial figure. The man claimed that he was protesting against the display, but he has been arrested and is now facing "investigation on suspicion of causing damage to property and bodily harm," said a police spokesman.
The Hitler figure has been removed from the new museum, however it won't be decided until Monday what to do about the display. Though its presence causes a controversy and much criticism, Hitler's role in German history will not be forgotten. The museum aimed to portray the former German leader in a way that would not glorify him, going through such extremes as not allowing visitors to "touch, photograph, or pose with" it, however it is clear that including this display in the museum was upsetting to some.
Would it upset you to see a lifelike sculpture of a notorious leader or would you just consider it a part of history? Was this a poor mistake made by the museum or did the visitor go too far with his actions? Where do we draw the line between the truth and what people prefer to hear?
Last night's show at the Artist's Rep Theatre had its high moments and mostly some really forced maudin moments. Susannah Mars is a very funny and talented woman and if she had stuck with more humor I might have enjoyed the show more. My favorite sections were the tribute to Irving Berlin ( america's most patriotic immigrant) and an hysterical vamp bit down in a german accent about Mrs Claus always being left alone. she wore a white boa peppered with holly. That alone was worth the price of admission. Towards the end of the evening a small panic attack began to emerge. I thought of the house being caught on fire and the fire dept not rescuing little abi. Generally these four panic attacks in the past year have happened when: 1. i have missed my lexapro for a few days 2. I feel trapped somewhere I do not particularly want to be ( three times in bad performances and once near a river I did not want to canoe) and my mind wanders to the horrible.
Of course abi was safe and so was the house and we raced around the rooms when i got home chasing thrown food and batting her playstick dangles. finally she was so tuckered out she lay on her back and pretended to bat at the hair scrunchy she normally tries to devour. Right now she is rubbing around my ankles in preparation for a jump into my lap. this is her favorite grooming and nesting place as long as I don't move around too much.
And since i have my second cappo ready and next to me I can stay for a while and see what's new in blog world.
Left Berlin on Sunday evening from the main train station (Berlin-Hauptbahnhof) to Osnabrück where my parents picked me up. Visited my Onkel Jürgen and his wife Jutta on Monday. And Tante Ilse and her husband Onkel Karl came today, as did Tante Adelheid (Onkel Dieter's wife-- Onkel Dieter is still in La Gomera for 1 more week) came down from upstairs-- for Coffee, Green tea and home made appel cake--Yum!
Tomorrow we'll visit Onkel Heinz, and his wife Tante Giesela. For lunch i'll be meeting Jane Vernon, a local Baha'i (she's around my parents' age).
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