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February 26, 2008
Out of the woods of Germany.
The most civilized nations of modern Europe issued from the woods of Germany; in the rude institutions of those Barbarians we [received] the original principles of our present laws and manners.
--Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chapter IX (1782)
The German people, even as they emerged as a strong nation, and world leaders in commerce, didn't always have real freedom in the way Brits, the French and Americans think of it. Instead, Germans had Philosophy, Poetry and, more infrequently, Humor. And now they have Hermann the German, who is fresh, well-read, funny, insightful, hip. He can write. See "Fine young radicals gain ground in Hamburg". Perfect if it's still winter in the Midwest and you're in a bad mood: a German with a strong streak of the Blarney. Not always hyper-technically factual--but always truthful. The Irish know the difference, and what we mean. Hermann, any Celt or Irish blood there, mate?
Posted by JD Hull at February 26, 2008 11:49 PM