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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Elsewhere who wrote (103076)	3/3/2005 3:09:08 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793838

The bottom hasn't been reached yet. I haven't seen it broken down, but I assume two thirds of the problem is in the old Eastern Zone.

To: Elsewhere who wrote (103076)	3/3/2005 3:20:08 AM
From: KLP	Respond to of 793838

The Dems and Unions have some of the same troubles here.... The funny little secret is - it must be profitable for employers to employ people. But hardly anybody talks about that

To: Elsewhere who wrote (103076)	3/3/2005 7:28:00 AM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793838

JJ, I know the unemployment rate in the former E Germany was reported very high (25+%) when the wall came down. Is that where most of the problem still exists or has it spread into the entire country? And is it white or blue collar jobs? I ask because I wondered just how badly the Bonn area would get hurt by moving the federal government back to Berlin and how far the damage would spread. And during my two post-wall visits (as a consultant) I was surprised at how fast (for example) the Potsdam inner city was being restored but driving around the countryside nobody seemed to be working and there was no sign of industrial development in the so-called new frontier. In other words, the only employment seemed to be small shopkeepers and those working on government funded projects. During the second trip, I was on the Ku-Damm twice at night. The deterioration was shocking. My thoughts then were that the heart of Berlin is succumbing to the drug and prostitution culture. If the industrial base is losing jobs too, there is a lesson to be learned from the German experience for America. We continue to lose industrial production. In discussions on SI a coupla years ago, we talked about what happens to a town when the local production plant shuts down. Everyone knows the answer to that, but few can extrapolate that concept to national level. We have Germany setting record unemployment figures while German lawmakers are being quoted in the German press as planning to half the federal deficit by next year. Empty promises for sure. Durn, you might think an election is coming up. uw

To: Elsewhere who wrote (103076)	3/3/2005 10:57:39 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793838

The Corner - STUDENT DEMONSTRATIONS IN SYRIA? [K. J. Lopez ] Joshua Livestro e-mails with some useful translations: welt.de This article in today's edition of the Berlin newspaper Die welt (entitled “When we win, Syria’s regime will fall”) is well worth reading. First of all, it explains that the ultimate ambition of the Lebanese demonstrators is regime change in Damascus: Wenn die Syrer den Libanon verlassen, dann "ist das auch das Ende des syrischen Regimes", sagt Alan Merhi. Alle Anwesenden geben ihm recht - denn es ist Geld aus dem Libanon, mit dem sich das Baath-Regime in Damaskus finanziert. "Sie kontrollieren die Casinos, die Häfen, sie nehmen 50 Prozent unserer Steuern, sie haben sich an den 40 Milliarden Dollar bedient, die dem Land nach dem Bürgerkrieg für den Wiederaufbau geliehen wurden", sagt Merhi. Gerade das mache die Lage gefährlich. "Die Syrer werden nicht ohne Gewalt gehen. Sie werden versuchen, im Libanon einen neuen Bürgerkrieg zu entfachen. Aber es wird diesmal nicht funktionieren." (When the Syrians leave Lebanon, that “will also spell the end of the Syrian regime,” says Alan Merhi (a 23 year old graphic design student camping out on the square, JL). All the others agree with him – it’s Lebanese money that pays for the Baath-regime in Damaskus. “They control the casinos, the harbours, they take 50 percent of our taxes, they took the $40 billion in reconstruction loans that the country received after the end of the civil war,” says Merhi. That makes the situation all the more dangerous. “The Syrians won’t leave without a fight. They will try to start a new civil war in Lebanon. But this time round they won’t succeed.”) And again in the final paragraph: "Sie wollen Zwietracht säen, Schlägereien anfangen", sagt Eddie. Aber "keine Chance, wir halten zusammen. Bevor wir aufgeben, hat Assad in Damaskus das Handtuch geworfen." (“They want to create discord, start riots,” says Eddie. But “no chance, we’ll stick together. Before we’re through, Assad will have thrown in the towel in Damascus.”) Beyond this remarkable embrace by the Arab street of the Bush doctrine of regime change, however, there is also a reference to a story which, if true, would be extremely significant, and perhaps a sign that Baby Assad may be losing his grip: Vor allem aber habe die Jugend in Damaskus ihre Augen auf Beirut gerichtet. "Die Syrer sind ja auch Gefangene ihres Regimes, wie wir", sagt er. "Vor zwei Tagen haben in Damaskus Studenten gegen das Regime demonstriert, so etwas hat es noch nie gegeben. Jetzt sind sie wahrscheinlich im Gefängnis, denn seither gab es keine Aktionen mehr." (“The eyes of young people in Damascus are fixed on Beirut right now. “The Syrians are as much prisoners of their regime as we are, after all,” he says. “Two days ago in Damascus students staged a protest against the regime, something that has never happened before. Most likely, they’re all in jail now, because since then there have been no new demonstrations.)