6.4.02023

Post photo: Pub | © Felix Mittermeier from Pixabay 

For Karin & Lisa

They do exist, readers of my weblog, who share my passion for poetry. With Rainer Maria Rilke Then it was time and I got positive feedback and this was also combined with sunny Easter greetings.

What more could a blogger want?

Therefore, first of all, the greetings back and as a small Easter gift here is a link to a poem from Reiner Kunze. The poem bears the title nature poem and impresses with its brevity and expressiveness.

Addendum

And while I'm at it, link here the poem “The Palace” from Kaveh Akbar, an American poet who was born in Iran in 1989 but has lived in the USA since he was two years old — probably a typical migrant life story.

The poem was previously published by the New Yorker in 2019 and captivated me with the words "There are no good kings. / Only beautiful palaces' immediately captivated.

Stammtische

In the last few days I was able to attend two regulars' tables again, and I was able to state that yesterday's roast beef with onions was by far the best I've eaten this year. At our regulars' tables, it's not primarily about the good food or drinks, but about the good conversations that you can have before, during and after the meal.

One topic this time was a regulars' table itself, because we launched the European regulars' table back in 2005 and since then it has only been held every two months and now monthly for a little longer; over the pandemic years, it was partially moved to the virtual world. At the aforementioned European regulars' table, I happened to sit next to a friend who has been there with me since 2005. Which caused us to get a little sentimental. The European regulars' table started with five regulars, two of whom have already passed away, and each time guaranteed a very intensive political exchange, although jokes were not skimped on either. In the meantime, there are rarely fewer than 20 participants at the regulars' tables and so the way the regulars' tables are run has inevitably changed. And since it's not always the same 20 federalists, the course changes at least a little each time. The constant number of participants suggests that we have found the right mix at the regulars' tables.

And so you still find the opportunity today to exchange ideas bilaterally or in a small group at the regulars' table and the others don't take it amiss if you separate for half an hour. And for the smokers among the regulars, this has long since become routine.

In any case, these two round tables are a very good opportunity to exchange ideas and to keep up to date on current events. Good regulars' tables also offer the best opportunity to discuss very sensitive topics with those affected themselves - the good environment alone ensures that too much china is not unnecessarily broken.

For the long-time regulars, it is also interesting to observe how some newcomers come along, some stay but some stay away and very few never come back.

gossip

As a soldier with a few decades of experience under his belt, who is also a little proud of having served at all military levels, from the tactical to the operational to the military-strategic, I read a lot about the current and supposed course of the war in Of Ukraine. In addition to my job as a basis, I also read Clausewitz and the collected works of Moltke the Elder.

And so I'm a bit amazed at how lightly we experts, many of whom don't even know how to lead a group of infantry over the curb, throw around military jargon and make statements and assertions for which every military required the capacities of entire staffs to come even halfway to such conclusions.

If you take a closer look at these experts, for whom being in the military is no longer enough — at least you have to be a military scientist or a military economist — you are even more astonished. And so it is not surprising that the Bundeswehr has now moved overall suitability, performance and qualifications to the military museum and has to regard quotas, consultants and military experts as the ultima ratio.

In the meantime, Germany's most disgusting professional politicians are warming up on the sidelines, who have never served themselves but can at least partially come up with a criminal career, and prance through the media as Bundeswehr officers. If it is now—God save us from it! — should war also come here with us, then these illustrious figures lead the German (male) youth jubilantly and smirking without weapons, equipment and ammunition to the slaughterhouse — this of course virtually out of safe exile.

reading recommendation

I would be happy to refer to an article by Elena Witzeck from the FAZ of March 23, 2023, which she wrote on the subject of generational conflicts and which is titled "Get out of the baby boomer blues" carries. This article is a must read, especially if you are a baby boomer parent yourself.

My readers who cannot access this article are welcome to send me a message.

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