Flensburg Point System Reform: A necessity for travel in Germany?

26 Apr

Jason D. Smith |  April 26th,2012 | News from Across the Pond |  No Comments »


The Flensburg Point system in Germany is one of the most well-structured and categorized systems used to track and crack down on reckless drivers on the roads as well as determine the severity of the traffic offenses committed, whether it is speeding, driving while texting, or causing an accident. In its 63rd  year, it has reduced the annual number of accidents by at least 50% and has taken tens of thousands of drivers unfit for driving off the roads.
Yet, despite the successes, the point system is in the process of being reformed, sparking criticism from all sides of the spectrum who believe that the reform is the least of the problems of the German.  In a nutshell, the value of the points given to the driver per offense has been halved. Meaning for example, instead of two points for speeding, the driver would receive one point. For serious offenses which warranted seven points combined with heavy fines and revocation of the driver’s license, they would be reduced to two points. However, it does not mean that the people can commit more traffic offenses and get away with not paying a fine or being forced to retake driver’s training in order to get their licenses back. The maximum number of points needed before losing the driver’s license would also be reduced from 18 to eight, and the points collected in the old system would be calculated into the new system accordingly. Even the amount of time to work off the points in the Flensburg file (Verjährungsfrist) will be extended. Up until now it took a year to work off a point. According to the new rules, it takes two, while two points can be worked off in three years. The main intention, according to the Minister of Transportation, Peter Ramsauer, is to have more transparency with regards to the regulations and how the point system should be used per offense.
Yet opposition from the automobile clubs, the German police and even members of the oppositional party disagree with these new guidelines. Apart from the fact that the changes in the point system were unnecessary, many believe that the reforms that took place served as a distraction to the major problems facing travelers in Germany, which have become sophisticated and difficult to handle. This includes the problems with driving under the influence of alcohol, driving while on the cell phone and a new phenomenon that originated from the US but has made its way to European soil, texting while driving, which is considered an offense both in the US as well as in Germany. By laxing the Flensburg Point system, critics claim that it will give (potential) offenders an incentive to break the laws on the road, in particular with regards to speeding, which is common on German highways, especially the Autobahnen (German Motorways).
Despite being dependent on public transportation and bike (as I live in a city with 120,000 inhabitants), there are some times where travelling by car is necessary, and judging by the observations, reforming the system can only be necessary if and only if certain traffic offenses that were not very common 20-30 years ago are becoming a major problem today.  If there was a ranking of the most common traffic offenses common to German standards today, it would be ranked as the following:

Speeding and reckless driving
Driving while under the influence of alcohol
Distracted driving (not concentrating because of loud music or lack of sleep)
Driving while talking on the cell phone
Driving while texting.

In US standards today, driving while texting is the number one offense followed by driving while talking on the cell phone, and law enforcement officials have increased in numbers on many major highways in the last three years and have not hesitated in ticketing and jailing someone for speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol. This has resulted in a dramatic drop in the number of these incidences over time and drivers really watching it while driving- being overly careful to ensure that the money earned through their jobs do go for paying the fine or even worse, paying for court costs. In Germany, it is totally different.
We are faced with a double-edged sword on German roads today as we are seeing two sets of trends that could negatively impact the way we drive. The first one is that we are seeing more people going mobile- meaning that more people are commuting away from their homes in order to get better pay elsewhere. This includes many people living in the northern and eastern parts of the country but working in the southern half of the country, in places like Bavaria, Baden-Wurttemberg, Hesse, Rheinland-Palatinate, and Saarland, just to name a few. While train service has become more and more difficult to come by, the only way to work for many is by car and therefore, there is the trip home late Friday night and back to work on Monday morning, the times where most of the accidents take place. This also applies to people travelling by car on business trips and having to arrive at their destinations punctually to avoid being looked down upon. As many of us know, Germany prides itself on being the most punctual, so being there 15 minutes before an appointment is more preferred than being there only a minute before.

In addition to that trend we are also seeing another trend where distracted driving is causing some massive problems on the roads. This includes driving while texting, driving while on the cell phone (a very common offense for the last 6-7 years) and unchecked aggression towards other drivers and even cyclists. While the first and third portions of the offense have been included in the Flensburg point system, the second offense will have to require some investigating for although it is not common to do this on the roads, the trend is definitely rising.  Given the difference in dimensions of the roads between the USA and Germany despite some highways and Autobahnen being widened for safety purposes, one cannot afford to  commit these offenses unless they risk an accident and the consequences that follow (loss of driver’s license in accordance to the Flensburg point system, legal action and possible legal sanctions).
With the simplicity of the point system, as Ramsauer is planning, it will be more difficult to determine the degree of the traffic offense, let alone the consequences of the traffic offense. Instead the German government should look at other incentives to discourage traffic offenses and encourage safe driving habits. Reforming the Flensburg point system is definitely not a way to improve transparence, but increasing the point value for traffic offenses that have become more sophisticated (while at the same time, increase penalties for each offense and offer compulsory courses to encourage better driving habits) will definitely force drivers to think about their actions on the road and change their habits accordingly. After all, safe driving can also save lives, as there are more than 35,000 traffic fatalities in the European Union, a number that can be reduced even further.

While Ramsauer plan to open an online three-week forum about the changes in the Flensburg Point system beginning in May, he should not be surprised if he receives any criticism towards the reforms being carried out; especially from other countries that do not have such point systems, like the US but could use a similar system to crack down on traffic offenses, including distracted driving and aggression towards other drivers. Perhaps a pair of Flensburg points given to a driver for giving another driver the bird and three for texting while driving will give American drivers an incentive to think before taking action on the road. But before President Obama can think about introducing such a system, he must first watch the developments over in Germany before deciding whether it would make sense on America’s roads or not. With reforms becoming more confusing than simple, Ramsauer will have a rather difficult time to sell his reform plan to those, who like me believe that there are no problems with the Flensburg Point System and that it should be left as is.

The website with the forum on the Flensburg Point System Reform can be found here: www.punktereform.de.  (Available from 1 May on)

Gutenberg 10 years later

26 Apr

Jason D. Smith |  April 26th,2012 | News from Across the Pond |  No Comments »

26 April 2002- the day that will be remembered as the day that Germany stood still and watched in shock as a 19-year old stormed a high school Gutenberg Gymnasium in Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia, and gunned down 12 students, three teachers and a police officer before taking his own life a short time later. For many people, as peaceful a country as Germany was, one would not expect a massacre similar to the one at Columbine High School in Colorado three years earlier. But the incident has changed the way people think about Germany, its education system and its strict gun regulations. Ten years later, the massacre is still in our memory and despite attempts to try and stem the violence and reinforce the gun regulations, Germany has become another America but on a smaller scale. We have issues involving xenophobia and right-wing extremism, despite attempts to integrate new people into the German culture while at the same time encourage tolerance of other cultures.  People put at a disadvantage socially are taking their vengeance out on others, as was the case in Winnenden (Baden-Wurttemberg) and Ansbach (Bavaria) in 1999.  Despite attempts to crack down on violent video games and pornography, the loopholes are still open.  And despite the preaching of civil courage- people stepping in to stop the crimes- many still stay behind the curtains and ignore the help of others, being insensitive.

So what is there to do? Absolutely nothing? If that is the case, then we are just as guilty as the perpetrators who committed the crimes and should deserve the same penalties for not helping the victim as the person who attacked him/her in the first place.  Since the incident, we have learned to not walk past the people in need of help but to help them whenever possible, despite their background. We have taken a stand against hatred, xenophobia and anything that is morally wrong. We have found ways to make life favorable to people, no matter where they go (in school, on the streets and at home). We have found ways to avert potential crimes. But we have also found ways to cope with loss and learn from it, as this is the case on this day.  We have become more interconnected with each other than ever before, while at the same time look for answers- Why did this happen? What have we done to deserve this? What can we do to help make sure that such a crime never happens again, neither here in Germany nor the US, nor elsewhere?

Up until now, these questions have yet to be answered and they cannot be answered alone.

The Flensburg Files would like to dedicate this column in memory of the people, whose lives were lost in the Guttenberg incident 10 years ago, with the hope that we can look at what is wrong with society and ask ourselves why is this wrong and what we can do to make society better for everyone and ensure that an incident like this (and other similar acts) do not happen ever again.

Link to the anniversary of the massacre (in German): http://www.mdr.de/mdr-info/amoklauf-erfurt114_zc-885afaa7_zs-5d851339.html

The Light Shines On Forever: A Tribute to Thomas Kinkade

16 Apr

Jason D. Smith |  April 16th,2012 | Tributes |  No Comments »

 

It’s the light, Thom, that’s what lasts. The leaves are transient. They grow, turn green, turn red and die, but behind them the light lasts forever.- Peter O’Toole (from the film The Christmas Cottage)

Each of us is here for a reason. Whether it is to fulfill a certain dream or God’s plan. Whatever it is, each of us has a special gift for the world, which makes people happy.  Yet many of us do not realize it until someone comes into our lives and uncovers it for us. When that happens, we paint the most vivid colors of life and make people happy at the same time. Through our special gift, we influence others to embrace life and allow their gifts to blossom, like the bud on the tree that is starting to bloom, making the world greener and a nicer place for others to enjoy. And when we leave, we are not forgotten, for even if the leaves whither and fall, the legacy will last forever, the light will stay lit, and someone else will pick up where the other one left off.

Thomas Kinkade was known as the Painter of Light. But how he managed to rise to stardom has a story that goes beyond the lighted streets of Placerville, California. Born in a family where his father left him and his brother at a very young age, his mother kept the family together and went through tough times. But somehow Thomas wanted to be an artist. It was just a question of who can open him up to the world and show him. This is where Glenn Wessels came in. Born in South Africa in 1895, Wessels and his family moved to California, where he became a painter, painting modern western art, creating murals for community centers, and in the end, presenting his own form of art to the students at University of California-Berkeley, the University of Washington, and several small colleges in the San Francisco Bay area. He met Kinkade while at Berkeley, and passed his knowledge down to him in order for the artist to paint about life from where he sees it.

“My mission as an artist is to capture those special moments in life adorned with beauty and light. I work to create images that project a serene simplicity that can be appreciated and enjoyed by everyone. That is what I mean by sharing the light,” Kinkade stated once for his website. Kinkade’s paintings resembled a Kodak moment that every photographer would dream of capturing if he had the right camera, the right lighting and the right style of photography. It was almost like he was painting a live scene but with more enlightenment and liveliness than it would be, had it been on print. It was like time was standing still and the opportunity came for someone to paint it with the purpose of presenting a sort of realism combined with expressionism. From a point of view of a photographer and journalist, the works of Kinkade far outweigh the majority of photos taken by photographers, which present itself in various forms of expression and light. We are not talking about the photos for the World Press, as the majority of them present a realism in the darkest form with war photos and events that shape society in not the best of advantages of the people. These were photos taken live by photographers who got the lone opportunity before having to flee the bullets, bombs or other bastards who wanted to either shoo them or shoot them. What we are talking about is when a person photographs a certain event in the evening that is full of lights, like a Christmas market, a soccer game, or any campfire event involving family, Kinkade found a way to capture that particular moment that he saw fit and used the brush to bring the scene more into life. It was like a photo that was make with a paint brush, only better.  It is very difficult to explain this phenomenon, but when the Los Angeles Times wrote an obituary about the painter’s death, the journalist presented some of the very best of his works, which can be clicked on here.

Unfortunately, apart from complaints about his conduct with employees and other people (some of which he denied), Kinkade was a target of criticism by many who believed that his paintings were too religious, using a certain formula which is the same for all of his paintings. Even Joan Didion, another contemporary artist and critic wrote that a typical Kinkade painting “featured a cottage or a house of such insistent coziness as to seem actually sinister, suggestive of a trap designed to attract Hansel and Gretel.”  Others believed that Kinkade was diluting the quality of his paintings through mass-marketing. One can see books and calendars with Kinkade’s paintings on them at any book store world wide. Yet despite the critics, Kinkade did touch the hearts and minds of millions of people, even his own critics who admired him. ”He expresses what he believes and puts that in his art. That is not the trend in the high-art world at the moment, the idea that you can express things spiritually and be taken seriously,” stated Jeffrey Vallance in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. It is understandable that Kinkade was conservative and a devoted Christian, but if there were any types of religious formulas and codes in his paintings, it would be difficult to see them, at least when looking at the paintings up close. Each one had a theme for itself and they were expressed from the painter’s point of view to a point where others had the opportunity to awe and interpret them in any way shape of form.

If one asks a photographer or a painter what started them into their profession, regardless of whether it was full time or part time, four out of five times, one will hear the name Thomas Kinkade come out of his/her mouth. Kinkade was not only a big influence in the world of contemporary art, but he also inspired us to look and appreciate the surroundings we have and capture the moment either under the lens or with a paint brush. While many of us are still grieving and inquiring more about his loss- he died on 9 April at his home in San Francisco at the age of 54- the light did not go out forever. It is still burning, even stronger in saluting him for his work and waiting for the next Painter of Light to pick up where he left off.

In closing, I would like to ask each of you to look at the outside world and your surroundings and ask yourselves “What do you see?” Look closer and if you see something that you love, capture it.  Chances are more likely that if you see something that you love, others will take notice. If you do not, then do not worry, someone will help you show you the way. Kinkade’s success in my opinion was based on looking at what he sees in life and capturing that moment for others to see. Part of that had to do with having the right people to push him to be successful like Wessels. But the other part has to do with what he sees in life and how he can captivate it for others to see and interpret. For any photographer and painter entering the field, you should take this advice and see what is in front of you and what you have. Only then will you know how to be the person you want to be.

Joachim Gauck is President of Germany. Who is Mr. Gauck?

22 Mar

Jason D. Smith |  March 22nd,2012 | News from Across the Pond |  No Comments »

Discussions about Gauck at supper time.

 

We all have our political discussions at the dinner table this evening. In the US, many families are talking about the elections of 2012 and the direction the country is going regardless of the outcome. In the Middle East, many families are talking about creating a new government after overthrowing the dictators in the Jasmine-Spring of last year. Here in Germany, our latest discussion is about Joachim Gauck. Apart from the fact that he was officially elected as the 11th President of Germany (Bundespräsident) thanks to the majority vote of 991 to 237 at the Federal Convention on 18 March, and that he originated from Rostock in Mecklenburg-Pommerania, there is very little information that we know about him right now. Even when I sent a questionnaire around on facebook a couple days ago, the response was blank, assuming that no one knows much about the man at all.

Therefore, I decided to do some research about Mr. Gauck and set my own predictions about how he will run the country and support Chancellor Angela Merkel. The results were amazing. Here are some fast facts that one needs to know about Joachim Gauck:

 

Flensburg Files Fact File- Joachim Gauck:

 

1. He was born on 24 January, 1940 in Rostock. His family consisted of sailors, one of whom was his father, who was a distinguished naval officer and ship’s captain. However, his father was taken away to Siberia by the Soviet troops when he was 11 and was never seen again afterwards.

2. While he grew up behind the Iron Curtain, he opposed the East German government and the ideas of socialism to a point where he refused to join the Free German Youth (FDJ) and joined groups that opposed anti-communism. Even the state security police (Stasi) considered him a natural-born opponent and had mentioned his actions in their reports. A good part of that had to do with what had happened to his father.

3. Because he was considered by the Stasi an ”incorrigible anti-communist,” Gauck was denied entrance to his studies in German and Journalism and instead studied theology at the University of Rostock and became a pastor at a church in Mecklenburg-Pommerania. At that time, the East German government looked down upon Christianity and had the Stasi spy and harass the church. Gauck was no exception to the rule.

4. At the time of the revolution in 1989, Gauck joined the New Forum, which was a democratic opposition party to the socialist party. He was very active in the organisation, later becoming spokesperson and in March 1990, being elected to the People’s Chamber. It merged with two other democratic parties to form the Alliance 90 party,  and upon his departure from the party in 1990, he was elected Special Representative of the Stasi Archives. Since 1990, he has had no affiliations with any of the political parties in Germany.  The Alliance 90 party eventually folded into the Green Party in 1993.

5.  Gauck worked as Federal Commissioner of the Stasi Archives from 1990 (as Special Representative) to 2000. During his time at the archives, he uncovered thousands of people, mostly in the eastern part of the country, who had worked for the Stasi and exposed the activities of the opposition. Many of the people who had worked for the Stasi lost their jobs in the public sector as a result. In addition, he advocated for human rights and stressed the importance of ensuring that the history of communism in central and Eastern Europe is not overshadowed by the era of the Third Reich and remembering that both National Socialism and Communism were equally bad and thus the history of the two should not be forgotten. He has written about communism which included a chapter in The Black Book of Communism (published in 1998) and was one of the signatory fathers of two key declarations: of both the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism (2008) and the Declaration on Crimes of Communism (2010). On his 70th birthday, Chancellor Angela Merkel commended him for his tireless work of advocating the education about and elimination of communism and other forms of totalitarianism.

6. Gauck was narrowly defeated by Christian Wulff in the Presidential elections to replace Horst Köhler in 2010. Yet Wulff’s scandals resulted in his falling out of favor with the government and the people and subsequentially had to step down from his post. However, many people believe that because of his honesty and tolerance to and acceptance of other people regardless of background, he was touted by many as the “better president.”

 

Keeping these facts in mind, the next question will be what impact will he have for Germany and the rest of the world? For Germany alone, he will bring the country into calmer waters and provide a fresh start for a government marred by a series of scandals that has resulted in the loss of credibility from the public over the last two years. One of his goals will be to win the hearts and souls of the public and ensure them that Germany is a country that prides itself on high quality, honesty, and transparency. This is something that is rarely seen these days as many countries are paralysed by politicians who are hypocritical and defer responsibility onto others instead of taking them. While Gauck may not be Harry Truman and his policy of “The Buck Stops Here”- where he bore the responsibility of the policies that were burdened by Congress during his administration (1945-53), given his religious background, combined with his past during the communist times, Gauck will ensure that the best way for the country is to be honest, help others in need and have tolerance.

Gauck will definitely provide the government with some much-needed weight with regards to cracking down on right-wing extremism, which includes eliminating the NPD by declaring the party unconstitutional. However, despite years of attempts to make the party unlawful according to German law, Gauck may want to consider rewriting a section of constitution which calls for eliminating any political parties that focuses on any sort of national socialism, socialism/communism, and xenophobia, while at the same time, try to reach out to the youth who are exposed to the right-wing influence, by discouraging that type of behavior.

His last goal will be to improve on international relations with other countries including the US, something that was almost non-existent during Wulff’s short term. He will have the advantage of being an independent and thus having strong relations with the other political parties supporting him, including Merkel’s CDU and the opposing Social Democrats, and even having an influence on their work as he will not have to worry about being influenced by one party or another (like it would have been the case had he been a member). A president who influences the government instead of the government (and in particular, the political parties) influencing the president is something that I hope we see in the US once the elections are completed in November of this year and perhaps if Gauck does a grand of a job in his first six months in office, the presidential candidates and the incumbent, President Obama, should look to him for reference and see what a person can do if he is independent of all the external influences, like it is the case in Washington.

While Gauck may be considered a grandpa by many, after looking at his past through research, I do believe that he is the right man for the job. If he can remain independent and work together on achieving the three primary goals mentioned here, he may end up becoming one of the best presidents in modern German history. But success can only be dependent on two important variables, the ability to take action independently and the ability to lead rationally and responsibly. We have seen the likes of Wulff ignoring the two and paying the price for that, but perhaps Gauck can change that and set an example for other politicians to follow, both in Germany and beyond.

 

Deutsche Welle also has an analysis on what Gauck will do for Germany and the rest of the world and you can see the report by clicking here.

Never buy a combi-lock! Always use one with a key!

20 Mar

Jason D. Smith |  March 20th,2012 | Food for thought, Strange but interesting facts |  No Comments »

Combination locks are not preferred!

 

Normally, I do not advocate for things on this column for reasons that I usually keep my thoughts and stories as neutral and interesting as possible. But this column should force many of us to think of which lock one should buy if we want to protect our property from theft or vandalism.

A couple weeks ago, my wife and I were moving from one end of town to another, and I had the dubious task of moving boxes upon boxes of our personal belongings rarely needed for the apartment from our old basement to the new one. I had bought a Burg and Waechter combination lock a couple weeks earlier- one similar to the picture above, with four digits where you can set your own combination to open the padlock. It had worked for several times until one Saturday, when I went down to open the lock, only to find that despite lining up the combination numbers on the line to open it, the padlock would not open.  I tried to open it up several times only to end up doing it in vain. The same applied when my wife and a couple other guests helping out with the move tried.

After about an hour working on the lock, we decided to give up and investigate the underlying causes of this problem. We started with access to the internet and the keyword Burg and Waechter combination locks and found our answer- our combi- lock was picked, when we were not even around! While there is a one in 10,000 chance of matching the combination set by the proprietor of the padlock, by clicking in the links above, one will see how easy picking a Burg and Waechter combi-lock really is and how frustrating it is, for once a person sets the combination in place, it is nearly impossible to reset it after it was picked!

This led to me being curious about the other combination locks that are out there, for we had had a Master combination lock for the basement of our old apartment, the typical three- number combination set lock where it requires turning to the right for the first number, left for the second number and right for the third and final number before unlocking it- all between 0 and 39.

 

Master-lock: more effective, but.......

 

While the the lock was very effective and there were no attempts of theft or vandalism of our belongings in the basement that we knew about, Master locks are also not safe for use, for there is a one in 64,000 chance that the combination would be figured out and the goods kept in a safe place would disappear before the police can intercept the thief. There are two ways of getting the combination from the proprietor- over the shoulder or by cracking it. Looking over the shoulder is effective if the person owning the lock is dumb enough to give the combination away! While one would be insane enough to just say the combination, all it would take is a person NOT putting the hand over the combination and thus having someone look over the shoulder or even record it on the iPhone or any cell phone to do the trick.  But even if people do put their hand over the padlock to keep the combination under wraps, there is the intelligent way of cracking the code, which could be done in 10-15 minutes and requires some mathematics. If the person is not up to numbers and equations, there is always a shim to use if the lock is to be opened in less time. Just insert it into the shackle, wiggle, and whalaa! While shims can be a blessing and a curse all on a silver platter, pending on if one is a thief or the owner of the padlock, I learned that Master locks are perhaps the most vulnerable of the padlocks in the market, as they can be easily picked by anyone regardless of their expertise in breaking into one’s property.

So what is the alternative? The last one is the padlock with a key. There are many brands of padlocks that can be chosen from. While Master also offers these assortments, Medeco offers fancy locks with keys, even though they are perhaps the most expensive of the locks in general. Also popular internationally is Abus, which offers all sorts of locks with keys- not just padlocks but also those for bicycles. The last one is based here in Germany in Wetter (Ruhr), located near Hagen in North Rhine Westphalia. But like the aforementioned padlocks, these types are also vulnerable to being picked, despite the security features on them. For an Abus lock, all it takes is a wave-jiggler or even a thin piece of metal to stick in and turn the lock. Even the Medeco locks are prone to being picked, despite its high security features. One needs a little bit of time and dedication in order to get the job done.

Abus locks made in Germany

In the end, despite all of the benefits and drawbacks, the decision was made to forego the combination locks in favor of the padlock with the key, and with the Abus logo on there. Even though the danger is there to pick it with the necessary tools, we saw that other lots in the basement also had the same locks on there, and for a good reason. When an apartment block has a lot of teenagers living there, they can get into a lot of mischief, as a group of kids did, by changing the combination on the Burg Waechter lock as a practical joke. That was definitely not a laughing matter, for if caught, legal action can be taken by those affected by the (attempted) burglary.

This brings me to the closing of the column on padlocks with a series of advices that should be taken when it comes to padlocks and protecting personal items from theft and vandalism, regardless of whether you are storing items at a train station during a short stay in a town or if you are walking the halls of the university enroute to your classes or even if you have a house with a basement.  Some are reminders but others should be an enlightenment for you:

 

1. Never keep your valuables in a place requiring a lock. Always keep them with you so you know where they are at at all times. That means do not leave your books and other items that you use often in a basement, but find a place in the apartment for them where you can see them at all times.

 

2. If you are at the university, always take your laptop and today’s materials with you that you will DEFINITELY use at all times. Do not check out library books and leave them in a locker, but do that before going home. Home is the best place for your items, whereas the lockers are meant for your jackets and hats only- but even then, they are not safe either….

 

3. If an institution has lockers, please check what type of lockers are available. Many places have lockers where you just need to deposit a coin or two and you can store your belongings and lock them with the key provided. They are perhaps one of the safest lockers to have. Always keep your key with you until you leave the place.

 

4. The basement should be used for storing items that you do not need that often, like holiday things, etc. The reason for that is the basement is the most vulnerable room in the apartment or house. If a thief wants to break into the basement, he would do it because of something valuable he wants. You do not want that; you want to discourage him from doing that, so keep something that is worthless down there, so that in the end, you can “mothball” him and force him to look for another place to break in.

 

5. When choosing a lock, ALWAYS find the safest one to use (and of course the most practical to suit your needs). It is better to spend more for a safe lock than to spend on lost personal items taken in a burglary.

 

6. If you have a lot in the basement of an apartment complex, check who else is living there and the locks they are using. Always conform to the locks used as there is a reason for locks being picked in the first place.

 

7. Make sure you know the policies of the place where you are storing your belongings and know who to contact in case your items are stolen. Normally there are regulations as to how long you can store your belongings, while at the same time take the best course of action in case something happens to your belongings, however,….

 

8. You are responsible for your items that you store in places requiring locks. Many places are not liable for lost items so please be very careful as to what items to store and how you store them.

 

9. Always have a padlock breaker with you or any device (like a shim) you can use to break open the lock in case if it is picked. Locksmiths can be very spendy and based on our experience, it is cheaper to invest in something to break open yourself and keep the tools with you for future use.

 

10. Always have a support group to ensure that nothing happens to you and your belongings and that of others. Neighborhood watch groups are very common in the US and in some places in Germany where the population is very dense and are highly affected by crime. And lastly, report any stolen items to the police right away and know what exactly was taken.

 

By taking these important measures, you will feel safer and your belongings will be better protected against theft and vandalism, as there are a lot of people who want to exert his/her pleasure in doing harm to others. Stealing one’s important goods or destroying property are two classic examples of doing just that, hurting others. Even if changing the combination on the padlock was a prank, like it was the case with our padlock, it is not funny. Therefore we must take measures to ensure that we feel safe as well as our personal belongings that we value the most. The last thing that can happen to a person is to have is to have one’s padlock picked, to have the items stolen and to throw the whole schedule of the day into limbo.

As the apartment complex has no electronic locks where we are issued a combination for use, let alone inform the police of a possible break-in (like we have in the US), we now know which padlock is the best against any pickers. And apart from knowing which items to be stored in the basement, we do have a back-up plan should another picking attempt take place while we are away, even though we hope it will not come down to this…..

 

Lockbreaker with the locks

March Madness regarding Moving

05 Mar

Jason D. Smith |  March 5th,2012 | Culture |  No Comments »

Back in the late 1970s when basketball was predominantly a men’s sport, sports columnist Brent Musberger coined the terminology March Madness,  which pertained to the NCAA college basketball tournament that took place every year in March. 64 teams took part in the no-holds barred basketball tournament where the men were separated from the boys, where most college basketball coaches compete to see who can grow grays in their hair the most and the quickest and who can see who can retain their voices before winning the basketball title. Over time, the women joined the fray with their own tournaments and the result is as many as 200 million viewers in the USA and abroad watching at least one basketball tournament in its entirety and betting for their own team to win it all, in both the men’s bracket as well as the women’s.
We do have another form of March Madness in Germany, but not in the form of basketball or any sports for that matter. It is with the moving.  Normally in Germany, the majority of the population is not inclined to move much. If one is born in a region, it is expected that the person stays in that region for life because of friends, family and permanent employment (which is hard to find nowadays). While that trend is leaning towards the American attitude of moving, which is “Mobility and Flexibility is Everything,” that is mostly for people in their early 20s and 30s, who are single or have a partner and have nothing that could anchor them in one particular location. This is because when one gets older, one settles down and takes whatever is offered to them and is thankful for the job.  But when the move takes place, it is more hassle than it is worth in the short term. In the long term however, it was worth every cent if one stays in one spot for a long time.
If there is one month where most of the moving takes place in my experiences as an expatriate living in Germany, it is in March. Why?  It is during the time where the need for greener pastures, more space and a new beginning in one’s life converge into one. It may be because of new job opportunities or the need of a new place in general. It may be because the summer time is solely kept free for vacationing in various places in Europe or North America (for example). For students, it is because the winter semester is much shorter than the summer semester. There is an average of 1-2 months free during the winter break and 3-4 during the summer break. While there is no spring break at German Universities, where students go to exotic places for booze and babes, like many American students often do, many German students take advantage of the free time in March to move to a new location.
Even now as I write this, many streets in the cities are partially corralled off to make way for the movers to arrive with ladders to bring down and load the furniture and other belongings from the top floor of a five-story apartment into the vans to be relocated to another destination. Much of the furniture has to be disassembled before loading and reassembled in the new apartment. One has clutter to sort through and throw out, as well as books to pack in boxes seven layers high- high enough to reach the ceiling. When there is a child in the midst, one has to try and keep him/her occupied and out of trouble.  And often if there is no help, then you are on your own and it becomes even more difficult to get things done especially because of a tight work schedule you have to deal with , resulting in packing until the wee hours of the morning every day.  And at last when all of the belongings are in the new apartment , one has to please the tenants of the old apartment by tearing down the wall paper, re-wallpapering the rooms and making it spic and span. Many people mop the floors before the movers arrive, which does not make any sense because they would be trampled on anyway and is therefore considered a waste of time.
But when all this is done, during the madness of March, it is no wonder why many people just simply stay put and take whatever job may be available to them but does not fit to their own career portfolio. It is a big difference whether a person travels light with as little as possible just to chase after their careers in places like Buxtehude, Stuttgart, Passau, Rostock, Weimar, Dresden,….. or if a person decides to ditch his career and does something different in order to create a permanent home- a nest where the children can grow up and graduate from school in one city and where one can do his/her time at a company or agency for 35 years until retiring with a nice juicy pension to live from.   The move may be a lot of hassle, but we have our purposes for a bigger and nicer home, which in the end, after spending tens of thousands of dollars and Euros in expenditures for renovation, new furniture and moving, it will definitely pay off and we can live happily ever after.

Wulff steps down. Is the End of the Dream Coalition near?

22 Feb

Jason D. Smith |  February 22nd,2012 | News from Across the Pond |  No Comments »

 

At the beginning of the year, I submitted a piece on the changes scheduled to take place in 2012, which included the end of many eras, like the Euro and Germany’s Dream Coalition.  This included German President Christian Wulff stepping down because of his usage of the public’s money and private investments on his own indulgences.  On Friday, he did just that.
In a move that was expected by many political analysts and people closest to the German President, Wulff, beleaguered by the pursuit of prosecutors and media alike and fresh from the latest setback he endured in Hannover, submitted his resignation as President effective immediately, resulting in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cancellation of her trip to Italy and early return to Berlin to hand pick the next president. This came as the request to lift his immunity against any forms of litigation was granted, providing prosecutors with a golden opportunity to take him to court and convict him. While the move was swifter than expected, it does raise questions about the future of the Dream Coalition and its ability to govern the country between now and the elections next year.  Given the slew of scandals involving many of Merkel’s cabinet members, the rash decay of the FDP (Free Democrats) after suffering the most number of humiliating defeats in the party’s history last year, and the search for the second president in the chancellor’s career, one might consider the fact that the reign of the Dream Coalition may be over with earlier than expected. Why?
Let’s compare the predicament of the Dream Coalition with that of the Red-Green Coalition (consisting of the Social Democrats and the Greens) under Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder, which ran the country from 1998 to 2005. Both regimes got off on the fast foot and provided some rounds of success through their policies that reformed the job market and reduced the unemployment rate. The Dream Coalition went further by allowing Merkel to take the lead in straightening the European Union out in terms of its fiscal crisis, which is ongoing especially since Greece just recently received another 130bn Euros in relief funds to alleviate its own crisis.  Yet as the years went on, the public started figuring out that some of the policies that were in place was to their disadvantage, and many politicians were removed from office because of dissatisfaction. With the Red Green Coalition, it was because of its inability to reduce the unemployment and its paltry sets of policies, such as the Hartz IV social welfare policy. For the Dream Coalition, it was because of its stance on nuclear power, which up to the Fukushima disaster, they were staunch supporters of that energy. Furthermore, the scandals that affected the politicians- in particular the plagiarism scandals- has eroded the confidence of the public in the government, even though the latest Political Barometer still shows the majority supporting Merkel and her party, the Christian Democrats, despite sustaining losses in key German states last year.  Wulff’s downfall may signal the change that Germany needs to steer itself (and the rest of Europe) in the right direction for three reasons: 1. It would mark the first time in modern German history that a Chancellor has to appoint a President twice during his/her regime. While the President plays a figurative role by showing the outside world that Germany also has a president, one must not forget that he is the number two man should something happen to Merkel.  2. While the economy has been doing well despite sustaining some substantial blows caused by the ongoing financial crisis, people are questioning the way Germany has been handling its domestic policies in comparison to the foreign policies. While the government has been providing support to business and to European countries, as a consequence, austerity packages have been introduced, cutting aid to state-run institutions, such as universities, health care facilities, and other governmental offices, resulting in strikes and protests within the last two years. This has affected many people on multiple fronts and discouraged others from taking state jobs that pay little and provide only limited contracts. Lastly 3., the strive to return to morals and honesty has been picking up steam, despite the pleas from many supporters to have the likes of Karl Theordore zu Guttenberg to return despite his resignation from office because of plagiarism. These two key words (morals and honesty) are very common in American society for many politicians caught for their social ills (like extra marital affairs, homosexuality, etc.) are defamed by the public and forced out of office.  While this type of behavior is almost uncommon over here in Germany, using the public’s money for indulgences and investing in private funds, while at the same time threatening the media with naming and shaming if it exposes the secret, is indeed morally wrong. It is just as wrong as plagiarizing a doctoral thesis or sexually harassing a state employee, the other two offences that are common over here.  One has to ask whether Merkel is covering up the bad deeds, not paying attention to the inner-political strife, or both, but it does show significant weakness in her ability to rule the country.
The loss of Wulff to his successor Joachim Gauck as President combined with the restlessness of the Free Democrats and its question of identity are two key blows that she may not be able to swallow. While it is easy for her and the rest of the party to strongly encourage politicians with their own set of scandals and ills to resign from their post in the interest of the German population, it will not solve the problem of how the Chancellor will lead the country between now and the elections next year. Facing a crisis of her own and the growing uncertainty regarding 2012 as a whole, the easiest and most effective approach is to dissolve the Dream Coalition and have early elections this year. It was done by Gerhard Schroeder in 2005 when his coalition broke apart after a string of defeats and other mishaps. Perhaps Merkel should learn from her SPD opponent and make the right decision. Only then will Germany (and all of Europe) will go into the right direction with a new set of policies and especially a new set of morals for the public to follow.

FLENSBURG FILES FAST FACT: Joachim Gauck is not officially the President of Germany, at least not yet. According to the German Constitution „Grundgesetz“ (EN: Basic Law), a candidate must be decided by the majority of the ruling party and the opposition. Gauck was nominated by the Dream Coalition together with the Social Democrats and the Green Party on the Opposition side. The Left-wing party abstained and is pursuing its own path. On 18 March, a Federal Convention will take place, where 1000 members (from the federal and state governments) will submit their vote for their new president. If there is no absolute majority after the first two votes, then the candidate may be endorsed through the third and fourth voting process, where the plurality of votes are casted. That means if no majority is found for Gauck, another candidate may be endorsed and could possibly win the post. The process is complicated as a lot of politicking is involved.  If the president wins the post, he will hold this office for five years but can be reelected once after the first term. At president, Horst Seehofer is acting head of state until the Convention takes place on the 18th. As a general rule, when a president steps down, the German government has 30 days to elect a new president through this Convention.

Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Germany

http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15759222,00.html

http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15747820,00.html

 

The Fall from Greatness

20 Feb

Jason D. Smith |  February 20th,2012 | Food for thought, Tributes |  No Comments »

I would like to start with a proverb that I learned from playing chess with my father when I was a teenager and listening to him talk about all his chess greats he grew up with (from Bobby Fischer to Gary Kasparov).  Every great was once a beginner. One starts his career as a novice, learning his way around and experiencing success and failure- success as a way of walking forward and failure as a way of learning from the mistakes made and moving on.  Milestones are reached and the pushing and shoving persist until the person is at the top and is looking down at the envious and the zealous.

The strive to get to the top may be a hard task to accomplish on its own. Staying on top is even harder, as even the most successful ones end up falling into an abyss and end up at square one again. The hardest part of all is when one tries to be the greatest again, for nine times out of ten, comebacks fail because of the mistakes not learned and the flaws not addressed properly. Many try to indulge in destructive behavioral patterns (alcohol, sex, drugs, you name it) just to quell the problems in their lives and ignoring the effects on their careers and even their lives. In the end, one falls from greatness for good and seven times out of ten into their own graves.

We have seen this pattern many times- especially those who were superstars in the 1980s and 90s, when the good times really did roll and everyone prospered in one way or another. But now what has happened to many of us? The greatness has failed, we have become a laughing stock of the paparazzi and the public, our fields of work are no longer appreciated or even needed, and since we do not know how to look left or right, we just slam our cars into the walls and walk away from this life, ignoring the people who still care a great deal about us (fans, friends and especially family). We’re too inflexible and not forthcoming with changes. We do not listen to what others tell us what they expect from us. The methods of success we presented to them in the past is no longer valid. Sometimes people want us to change professions even though we have been doing them really well for many years, as they want to see new faces. Sometimes the mistakes we make in the past come back to haunt us and in the long term have a negative impact on our careers. Sometimes we are a one-hit wonder and we walk away while on top. It all depends on who we are and what we want from ourselves and the people around us.

It is hard to think of us for our successes when we are haunted by our shortcomings and mishaps, but it does not mean we have to be jerks about it in order to succeed at any cost. Sometimes we go into cycles where we reach our peaks every few years and low points for longer periods of time. It does not mean that we are not forgotten. It means we go into stages of hibernation only to come out better than before. It is just a question of how we handle ourselves and what we can do for the better of the community and the environment. While this is possible with our careers, it is also possible when we take a few steps back from our careers, as a way of seeing what is out there and subsequentially reinventing ourselves.  When doing that we can look at ourselves in the mirror more often than before and be proud of ourselves and our morals. It will make for a good reputation with the public, and show that we do have character and a set of morals for people to follow. In the end, we can take better care of ourselves and have a fulfilling career and life.

I’m writing this column in response to the loss of one of the 80s’ Greats. Whitney Houston was one of the examples of an icon who was at the top of her game in the 80s and 90s both as a singer as well as an actress. She was the best supporting actress behind Kevin Kostner in The Bodyguard, which in my opinion, was the peak of her career. Unfortunately, she fell from grace through tumultuous times with drugs, alcohol, Bobby Brown, and in the end the once beautiful voice becoming that of a frog, almost losing it in its entirety. She died on 12 February in the hotel in Los Angeles on the eve of the Grammy Awards. Her funeral came six days later as thousands paid their last respects to a person whose life was cut short way too soon.  She’s one of many celebrities, whose greatness in the 80s and 90s was overshadowed by scandals that led to their downfall and the end of their lives. I hope that when today’s celebrities are at their top, they learn from the mistakes of those who were great before them. Some will read this column and take some thoughts with them. Others will find alternatives that will be useful to them. It is just a matter of how they conduct themselves and keep from falling from greatness and becoming the forgotten or worse, the persecuted.

The Flensburg Files would like to dedicate this column in loving memory of a true celebrity, Whitney Houston.

Germanarctica!

08 Feb

Jason D. Smith |  February 8th,2012 | News from Across the Pond |  No Comments »

Normally at about this time of year, there would be snow ranging from six inches to a foot in the northern parts of the US and all of Canada, while Europe would thaw early because of its mild winters where temperatures are above freezing and if there is snow, then only in the mountain regions of the Alps and to a certain degree some mountain regions in the southern half of Germany, like Little Switzerland in southern Saxony and northern Bavaria and the Black Forest in Baden Wurttemberg. Not this winter!

If there is a sure sign that climate change is in full swing, here is a short one sentence summary to describe what we are still going through: It is spring in the US while Europe has converted itself into its own form of Antarctica, or as the title puts it, Germanarctica. In the past week, temperatures here in Europe have plummeted by up to 40°C from a balmy 10° above zero and lots of green to -30°C and snow cover, forcing many people to seek warm shelters and travellers to reconsider their plans as many airlines and railines have been crippled. At the time of this entry, as many as 400 people have died of cold exposure, most of them being the homeless and residents with either no heating or one that malfunctioned.  It is unknown how many have died in Germany except reports have indicated at least a dozen bodies have been found, but according to Deutsche Welle, the hardest hit area seems to be the Ukraine and points to the south and east. 135 dead have been reported in the country with more to come as many areas in the south and east are not only trying to survive the cold but also dig out of snowfall of up to a meter (3 feet) high in Serbia, Bosnia and Romania, just to name a few areas.

While this cold snap is nothing compared to the cold snaps that occurred last winter and even more so in 1994 to 1997 (where Tower, Minnesota broke its own record by posting a low of -60°F (-51°C) in 1996), it is bad enough that many places in Germanarctica have set records for low temperatures. A couple nights ago, no city in Germany, not even the northern part could escape temperatures of at least -20°C, with some places in Hamburg and Kiel reaching -28°C. Even the waterways, like the Elbe, Danube, Rhein and the Main are frozen solid thus suspending shipping indefinitely. And the cold snap has not been kind to diesel-operated cars, as many of them have not functioned properly because of the fuel’s inability to adapt to the cold. This has forced many to carpool or take the train, the latter of which are either overpacked or delayed by up to an hour.

To provide you with an example of how bad this cold snap has been here in Germanarctica, I conducted an experiment involving pouring  salt water in a cup and setting it outside. While theory has it that salt water never freezes over, despite putting excessive amounts of salt in the water, this weather proved the theory dead wrong, for the salt water did freeze over within a span of eight hours! This is how severe the weather has been, and sadly it will continue for another week before we finally see a sign of spring weather.

Surprisingly though, the salt water experiment did get the author to think whether the cold snap could freeze alcohol, as bad as it was. Trying that experiment, it was proven that it was not the case (which fits to the argument that alcohol never freezes, even in this extreme cold weather), and combining it with the salt water, it can even reduce the ice to water. In case if one runs out of salt or sand for the sidewalk and has a bottle of vodka in their possession, one might want to think about that as an alternative, although be forewarned: alcohol, like salt, needs time to work and should be added a few hours before leaving.

NOTE: Over 30,000 were taken to the hospital for frostbite and many villages in the southeastern part of Europe have been buried with snow to a point where many residents were cut off from the world completely. Work is in progress to dig the villages out.

Links:   http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15725176,00.html

http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15722472,00.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower,_Minnesota

Flynnism for the Arrogant and Cocky

01 Feb

Jason D. Smith |  February 1st,2012 | Food for thought, News from Across the Pond |  No Comments »

 

This column includes some stories from the Flensburg Files News Flyer
There are some people who are born to greatness and prove it through word and practice, both as a professional as well as in private life. They set examples for others (especially in the younger generations) to follow, endure and prevail in hardships, and succeed the hardest way possible, through the four Ps of success: perseverance, patience, passion, and persistence.  Yet there are many who love to pretend they are the greatest, by showing off their greatness to the world with their words only and not showing the colors that fit the description. Many times, these marketing techniques can fail miserably through poor performance and scandals that can ruin ones popularity beyond repair. It is like buying a luxury car that has all the features a person could ever ask for (air conditioning, GPS computer, built-in cup holder and retractable seating), only to find that an important component (like the brakes or wiring) fails, and the driver loses control of the car, ending up crashing into a wall or a lake and paying a dear price for it.
This month so far, we have seen many promis who fell into that category as they showed off their greatness through their mouth but the exact opposite in practice.  Tim Tebow, quarterback of the Denver Broncos (in American football the National Football League) pretended he was Jesus Christ in leading the team to the playoffs, knocking out the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round, and talking about his heroics and its connection with religion to the TV audience. This sparked a sensation known as Tebowmania, which many anti-Broncos fans were itching to see him eat dirt in humiliation. The New England Patriots under quarterback Tom Brady took care of that wish by not only burying him and his team 45-10 in the second round this past weekend, but also using him as a tackling dummy (and making him eat grass in the process).  So much for Tebowmania, huh?
Then there is another American football team that everyone loved to hate with a passion, the Green Bay Packers. For 15 out of 16 games, they pummeled every single mediocre football team by an average score of 35-7. Yet the only loss was to another mediocre team (Kansas City), and the cracks started to show. Still, the team was way too proud and cheesy to address the problems and still stressed their greatness to the public. Bring in the New York Giants, a team that won only nine games and were projected to lose in the second round in the playoffs, and the team under Eli Manning disrobed the Pack under Aaron Rodgers on their home turf at Lambeau Field. I guess Goliath can bring down David after all. After all, the telephone switchboards of 1-800 GET HELP were blinking like a Christmas tree full of despair Packers fans after the Giants walked off the field feeling glorious and preparing for the NFC finals game against the San Francisco 49ers next week.
I just know that there was the sound of Angela Merkel, Germany’s Chancellor doing a solo for the Mozart Requiem the next morning when I found out about the Giants’ clear cut victory over Green Bay, because it can be heard clearly throughout all of Germany from the halls of the German Parliamentary Building in Berlin. Perhaps she is a Giants fan, but maybe it is because she is broiling in her own anger because of another scandal that has hit the Parliament; this time it involves the German President Christian Wulff and his private loan affair to purchase a house.
It is hard to believe that Wulff can hold the second most powerful post in the German government (behind Merkel), smile in the face of the public and have the nerve to inform the public on how to be frugal in our spending for 2012 during the Christmas Eve address, that was watched by over 20 million viewers, but at the same time, expose his own corruptive deeds through his own actions. And to exacerbate the situation further, he threatens the media with actions that are considered unlawful to today’s standards. Apparently he does not like the fact that the media is already writing him off for dead and that it is glorifying the Social Democrats for planning his successor for Merkel.  Perhaps if and when the Dream Coalition gets voted out of office in 2013 the future former cabinet members would rather take a trip on a cruise ship off the coast of Italy. After all, if they have a captain who can abandon ship after running it aground and tipping it over- before all the passengers leave, that is- they can relate their experience in the Bundestag to the events that occurred off the coast of Toscana.
That would be invincibility is a recipe for disaster unless you know how to deal with the people first and- in a proper way. Talk is cheap if you are unable to show your actions and impress the people first. Even my former math teacher and high school track and field coach once said that a person’s mouth and actions will determine one’s destiny. He is definitely right about that, yet people don’t seem to take that advice nowadays.
I would like to close this column by bidding farewell to a judge whose wit and charismatic actions have coined another terminology in the legal dictionary. Jeffery Flynn, the 5th Judicial Court Judge in Minnesota, whose residence is in Worthington, Minnesota, is stepping down after 27 years.  He provided students at high schools throughout the region with a whiff of what life in the legal business is all about, encouraging even some of my friends and former classmates to embrace the business, either as a lawyer, solicitor or even a judge.  His quotes to the convicted and to the audience helped coin the term Flynnism, and while some examples would take another page of my column (you can read the article here: https://secure.forumcomm.com/?publisher_ID=24&article_id=54414 ), it sometimes makes me wonder what he would have to say to the people who have fallen flat on their faces so far this month. Before I make my prediction on that, I will just leave this last part blank and hope that when he has the opportunity to read this column, he can close it with some comments on his own. Besides, his Flynnisms for the hot-headed whose air has been released (regardless of which side of the Atlantic they are on) can only be done by the person who has done his deeds to the criminals for all those years.

Flensburg Files News Flyer:
Apart from Flynn stepping down, the Giants have made it to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2008 and will have a rematch with the New England Patriots. The last time these two teams met in the Super Bowl, the Giants spoiled the Patriots run for a perfect record, which would have been the second time this happened. Game time is the 5th of February and given all the rumors from the audience and within the American Football league NFL, this could be the last time the Super Bowl is played on a Sunday. Proposals for a Super Saturday is in the making even as this column comes out.

ALSO:
Calls for German President Wulff to step down are getting louder, for despite him presenting his financial records that are in connection with the real estate scandal, the media organizations have accused him of making threats to the yellow press for exposing his housing loan and abuse of power, and his former press secretary Olaf Glaeseker is coming under fire for assisting him in some of the cover-up. The Opposition (SPD, Green and the Socialist party Die Linke) have been trying to work with Chancellor Merkel on finding a successor for Wulff, should he decide to step down sometime in the course of three months. And even some of the members of his own party (the Christian Democrats) are expressing their dismay and have recommended Wulff to step aside in the interest of the party and his own family. Currently, approval ratings have dropped from 72% to a sobering 30% in the course of two weeks. What will happen next remains to be seen.
As for the tragedy off the coast of the Tuscan Island of Giglio, 17 deaths have been recorded so far (six coming from Germany) with attempts to find the remaining 20 passengers being very difficult because of the capsized luxury ship slipping off the reef and into the water.  The captain of the ship has come under fire because of his inability to see the passengers off the ship and the excuses that were made, such as falling off the ship into the lifeboat. Needless to say, even if he is acquitted, his days of navigating the ship are finished after this incident.

More info here: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15683975,00.html and http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15705486,00.html

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