Münster Shopping Arcade opened

Today the new Shopping Mall in the heart of Münster - called Münster Arcades - opened its doors. Maybe you remember the short blog notices of March, 9th and March, 20th.

If you should know Potsdamer Platz Arcades in the German capital Berlin, it will remind you of it as its look is somehow similar.

Art of Christo and Jean Claude

Well, this is a little art shop in Münster, the comfy German town I live in. As you can see, we have the world in our shop windows.
Not too bad.



I enjoy the look of that Christo art. Wish I could have seen the project in Central Park on my own. Well, it's a real luxury just going to New York for an art project. But... allright... people do things for lesser reasons.







Here are the respective links:
Christo and Jeanne Claude
Wolfgang Volz

Meeting Impressions

more...
Meeting Impressions
Meeting Impressions

Election Campaign - FDP

The Free Democratic Party (FDP) is one of the two smaller parties in the State of North-Rhine Westfalia (NRW), where I live. (The other small party is The Greens (Grüne)).

The FDP is in the opposition role in North-Rhine Westfalia (NRW) at the moment, together with the other big German party, the CDU.

Party leader of the FDP in the state of North-Rhine Westfalia is Mr. Andreas Pinkwart, a not very known politician, even to State residents.

Leader of the party in the State parliament is Mr. Ingo Wolf. He shares the same fate, i.e. not to be very known to State citizens outside of his party.

The upcoming State election for the North-Rhine Westfalian parliament will take place on Sunday, 22nd May, 2005.

In the 2000 elections, the FDP gained 721,558 votes. That's 9.8 % of all votes.

The writing on the election poster says:
Support (the education of) our children,
don't spend money on hard coal subvention.

Well, I should come to talk about the hard coal situation later.

Election campaign - CDU

On Sunday, 22nd May, 2005, there will be the State election for the North-Rhine Westfalian parliament.

The Christian Democratic Party (CDU) is one of the two big parties in the State of North-Rhine Westfalia (NRW) and currently in the opposition role.

Leader of the party in the State parliament and Party Leader in the State of North-Rhine Westfalia is Mr. Jürgen Rüttgers. He is not really popular so far but has a background from his time in the Federal Government when Chancellor Kohl and the CDU formed the Federal Government (until 1998).

In the 2000 elections, the CDU in the State of North-Rhine Westfalia gained 2,712,176 votes. That's 37,0 % of all votes.

The writing on the election poster says:
5 Million cancellations of (school) lessons.
"Enough is enough !"

Well, I wouldn't bet a dime that they'll do better.

Election Campaign - SPD

The Social Democratic Party (SPD) is one of the two big parties in the State of North-Rhine Westfalia, where I live. (The other one is called CDU).

The SPD is on power in the State of North-Rhine Westfalia since 39 years. The Ministerpräsident (Premier of a State) is head of the different secretaries and member of the party on power.

Currently this position is filled by Peer Steinbrück (left on photo).

The upcoming State election for the North-Rhine Westfalian parliament will take place on Sunday, 22nd May, 2005. The election date was announced one year before by the State government.

In 2000, the SPD gained 3,143,179 votes. That's 42.8 % of all votes.

The writing on the election poster says:
I don't promise workplaces,
but I fight for them every day.

Well, I'm sure every unemployed will be happy to hear this.

State elections

Currently there are four parties in the State Parliament of North-Rhine Westfalia. Two of these parties, the SPD (102 seats) and the Grüne (17 seats) form a coalition and therefore build the State government. Together they have a majority of 119 seats (out of 231 seats).

The two opposition parties are the CDU (88 seats) and the FDP (24 seats).

The 16 Federal States in Germany all have their respective election laws. It is the right of the particular State government to choose the date of the State election within a margin. The election turnus varies from 4 to 5 years depending on the State.

A 5%-hurdle is applied within all of the 16 State Elections and also with elections for the Federal Parliament.

In the following days I'd like to give you a little survey over each of the four parties represented in the State Parliament of North-Rhine Westfalia.

Cirque du Soleil with the Pope

On November 10th, 2004, members of the Canadian Cirque du Soleil took part in a so called General Audience with Pope John Paul II.

The clowns and artists of the Cirque du Soleil encorporate and stand for a kind of purity which is very similar to something usually described as real love. Would you agree ?

Burial of Pope John Paul II

Today Pope John Paul II (18.5.1920 - 02.04.2005) was buried in
Vatican City,
located within the City of Rome,
Country: Italy,
Continent: Europe,
Planet: Earth,
Solar System: Solar System,
Galaxy: Milky Way,
Universe.

More interesting information about the life and work of the deceased Pope John Paul II. can be found on his Vatican Homepage.

With the enumeration I'd just like to express:

• A human being seems miniscule and atomic in regard to the size of the universe.
• And god must be very occupied (if compared to a human) if he is truly in control of the universe.

From a scientific point of view, the human kind is most probably not the only intelligent being in the universe. From the macroscopic point of view, matter tends to self organize. And in regard to the interplay (or better symbiosis) between chaos and order, this results sooner or later in the evolution of some sort of intelligent life form such as the human being.

Therefore, other intelligent forms of life are imaginable and probable somewhere else in the universe. The love of god certainly also extends to these beings in the same way as it extends to the human race - in all areas.

However, does this diminish the meaning of the Pope on planet Earth ?

I think not ! The truth he believes in and enunciates remains a truth, no matter how big the universe might be and no matter how many other Popes there might be in other Solar Systems.

My Tropical Island

My Tropical Island is an artificial South Seas resort located some 40 km south of the German capital Berlin.

The dimensions of the dome are pretty impressing:
Length: 360 m
Width: 110 m
Heights: 107 m

Inside there's a tropical landscape with oceans, sceneries, beaches, slides and original houses. Actual natives built the houses who'd been out of their country on this occasion for the very first time.

You might wonder why the dome is that big ?
Well that's another story...