Unsere letzte, beste Hoffnung

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Der Mann, der das Treppenhaus vor meiner Mietwohnung fegt, erklärte mir vor ein paar Jahren, warum er 2005 die FDP gewählt hat: Da gibt es mehr Netto vom Brutto. Einige meiner linken Freundinnen möchten gerne den Handel mit Derivaten auf Lebensmittel verbieten, weil man mit manchen Sachen einfach nicht handeln sollte und weil das für die Armen besser wäre. Achso, und auf einem meiner abonnierten Blogs, steht (glaube ich) manchmal, dass wir weniger Wachstum brauchen oder weniger arbeiten müssen oder sowas.

Mehr Netto vom Brutto
Juli 2009, Berlin

Naja. Ich weiß es auch nicht so genau, aber irgendwie scheinen mir diese Fragen komplizierter zu sein. Vielleicht deshalbdeshalb, und deshalb.

“Die Politik gleicht der Sphinx der Fabel: Sie verschlingt alle, die ihre Rätsel nicht lösen.” — Antoine de Rivarol

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“If it bleeds, it leads” – On a culture of fear and urgency

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Text message received from UCI’s text alert system

Text message received from UCI’s text alert system

I just got these messages on my cellphone from UCI’s text alert system, just like everyone else enrolled at or otherwise affiliated with the university. 

January 20th 2008, 20:48 
6:30PM ARMED ROBBERY IN 4069 MESA CT 2 MALE ASIAN SUSPECTS 18-20 5’7’’ TO 5’9’’ W/BANDANAS, 1 W/BLK HANDGUN, FLED SCENE W/DUFFLE BAG STAY INSIDE LOCK DOORS

January 20th 2008, 23:37
*zotAlert* Update on armed robbery – no signs of suspects on campus, but appr. safety measures should be taken. If you have any info call UCIPD at 949-824-5223

I am sure this alert system, in principal, has many potential benefits, and I do not mean to negate the violence suffered by the victims of this particular incident and the hypothetical threat it posed to other community members. Still, these messages got me thinking whether we are indeed focusing our attention and resources on the right things, when we are letting our fears guide us.
The question is not, as some conservative critics may respond, whether or not the fear of assaults on campus, or other fears – of terrorism, of child abduction or of sex offenders – are well-founded. These risks, like many others, are not merely constructs, but are real threats, and our fear of them can be very functional to protect us from harm.

Submitted first draft on “Journalisms in Europe”-Project

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Today, Prof. Hartmut Wessler has submitted a paper on “Journalisms in Europe” to the International Communication Association for review concerning its 2007 annual conference. The paper has been co-authored by me and three other student colleagues. The project is based on a quantitative content analysis of news items from online versions of 30 European newspapers, originally conducted in the undergraduate research seminar “Media Communication in the European Union”, held by Prof. Hartmut Wessler at International University Bremen in Fall 2005. The paper reviews and integrates initial research findings from the research seminar.

 

Retrieved from commons.wikipedia.org on November 12, 2006

Retrieved from commons.wikipedia.org on November 12, 2006

 

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