issues
Well, here we are again. We made it to July. The Russians are still bombing cities in the Ukraine, people are getting killed every day. Finland and Sweden are getting into NATO and Germany is experiencing right now what happens if you don't do the things you …
The mercury climbs everywhere, summer is getting hot. When you're reading this, I'm most likely running the Hamburg Half Marathon, hopefully with somewhat bearable temperatures in the morning.This Friday was noteworthy. In the US the Supreme Court overturned …
Today I turned 50 years old. I guess I have to realize that I left my 20s behind. I just have a tiny birthday wish: if you like this newsletter, pass it on to your friends and have them subscribe as well. Thanks! Now have some cake!
Inflation is something Germany tried to avoid for decades, it had become one of the pillars of our political system. Now we experience inflation and it defines the political discourse. Also it leads to really stupid ideas, like a tax break for gasoline which …
It's June already. I like this part of the year a lot, probably because I was born in June. The days are so nice and long and warm and sunny, it really feels like we get so much more out of the day in June. June is awesome, I'd love to live in a place where t…
The war in Ukraine is still destroying too many lives and the West still is too reluctant to provide the Ukraine with everything necessary to beat the Russians. I think rebuilding Ukraine after the war will lead to a new understanding of what the West is and …
So, it's Sunday again. This week I did something totally weird: I went to the OMR Festival in my hometown Hamburg and mingled with 70k other people. This felt good. And yet it felt really weird. I did a few COVID-19 tests since, all negative. It hasn't been t…
I really like the month of May - when it starts to get warm and sunny and the early morning is bright. I always feel so motivated this time of the year. At the same time it feels like we're in an accelerated mode and lots of things change much faster than the…
Don't forget to get some flowers today! But before you do that, grab a coffee and read these five articles I picked out for you.
Today is May Day and we should all pause a bit and remember that lots of people had to fight hard to achieve lots of regulation in the workplace that has led to better pay, more safety and more rights for workers. We should not take this for granted as all th…
When you read this, I'll be running 42195 meters through Hamburg on a lovely Sunday morning. Or I'm already done with it and can hardly walk anymore. Yes, I know, different strokes for different folks, but I'm really looking forward to this, as I ran my first…
In Germany Easter is a nice long weekend from Friday until Tuesday. In Ukraine everybody is expecting the next big wave of attacks from the Russians. We see more and more cars and buses from Ukraine in the streets. This war is so close and it is an assault on…
The war is still going on and I sure hope the West is rushing in as many weapons as possible to help the Ukrainians fight back against the Russians. Today I was driving behind a bus with a Ukranian license plate. There were lots of women and kids on that bus.…
It's April. The war in Ukraine is still going on and it looks like we're entering a new phase which will look a lot like the cold war I remember from my youth. It#s painful to see how so many hopes and beliefs we held were now shattered within days. But I thi…
The war in Ukraine gets into the fifth weekend and the Russians are still bombing civilian targets and destroying whole city. The brave Ukrainians are doing the best they can to fight back - I sure hope they will prevail and get us much help from the Western …
Yesterday I made an appointment at the shop to get my summer tires on our car. This is the true sign that spring is coming. Putin is still killing people in Ukraine and I sure hope the Ukraine can fight back until the Russians get rid of Putin and get out of …
100 years ago on March 12, 1922, Jack Kerouac was born and he's by far the most important writer to me as a lot of what I like in literature, music and art is heavily influenced by him and he other writers of the beat generation. “So in America when the sun g…
I grew up 10 km away from the East German border and the cold war was obviously very present. I never thought we'd see a war in Europe again. Putin as obviously lost his mind. This war is terrible for the Ukraine and for Russia. The people of Ukraine are incr…
I didn't think it was possible to have a war in Europe again, but here we are. Kyiv is about as far away from us as Rome, so this feels pretty close to me. And although the EU is united at the moment, it doesn't play a good role right now. The West is weak an…
Northern Germany got hit by a hurricane this weekend (or actually a series of hurricanes) and we got to feel the power of nature - or ideally just stayed inside and dry. At the same time the Russian crisis is heating up and I sure hope that the heads of state…