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Photography(1) Why pirates save the environment
The pirate raids in the seas east of Africa have had a significant impact on the environment: international trawlers that were illegally fishing there for years have apparently been avoiding the shores, which led to a dramatic increase in fish stock. In Mogadishu (capital of Somalia), the growing supply has led to decreasing prices, thus people who live there can actually afford to eat fish for the first time in many years. So far, most of the fish was exported.
(Source: sz-online.de)
(2) Why there is beauty in architecture
I have not seen anything like that before … take yourself 12 minutes, relax, get a cup of tea and a blanket, and watch this. Please.
And after you realize that this is nearly 100% rendered (this is not filmed, it was created with a computer), I hope you’re as amazed as I am.
(3) Why the FDP reduces hotel taxes
Germany has financial problems – like most other countries really. We started doing better until the big recession hit us a couple of months ago. I don’t want to go into the details very much, but the point is: there is an ongoing debate whether to make more debt and spend lots of money in order to get the economy going again, or whether we have to save money because our debts are already fairly high. The FDP (the “liberal” party), currently governing Germany together with the Christian Parties (CDU & CSU), had a clear message before the election: they wanted to simplify the system by erasing exceptions, especially regarding the tax system.
What they did – together with the Christian Parties – a couple of weeks back left nearly all Germans flabbergasted: the taxes for hotels in Germany were reduced from 19% to 7%. This had not been discussed previously, was simply decided upon, and is nothing else than introducing a new exception to the tax system.
A couple of weeks later, we know now that the FDP received a donation of 1.100.000 Euro in the year 2009 by “Substantia AG”. This company is owned by August Baron von Finck, one of the richest Germans – and his familiy is heavily involved in “Mövenpick Group”, a company which runs 14 hotels in Germany.
By the way: it was the biggest sum ever donated to the FDP.
EDIT: Oh well, the CSU (part of the Christian Coalition, situated only in Bavaria) also received a donation from Substantia AG, shortly before the election in Bavaria 2008. The sum was 820.000 Euro. And it also turns out: FDP and CSU were the ones pushing the bill.
EDIT: Right … the CDU also received money, around 100.000 Euro. Same donator, obviously.
(Source: Spiegel.de)
(4) Why we don’t believe in change
NYTimes reported on a decision of a federal appeals court panel last Tuesday:
[the court] … strongly backed the powers of the government to hold Guantánamo detainees and other noncitizens suspected of committing terrorist acts. In a sweeping opinion, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that the presidential war power to detain those suspected of terrorism is not limited even by international law of war.