Afterwards, she said "Since then I have drunk at least three glasses of water – I obviously needed that and so I'm doing very well now."
The Mayo Clinic website does not list shaking as a symptom of dehydration.
About that German national anthem (from Wikipedia):
The song is also well known by the beginning and refrain of the first stanza, "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles"... but this has never been its title. The line "Germany, Germany above all" originally meant that the most important goal of 19th-century German liberal revolutionaries should be a unified Germany which would overcome loyalties to the local kingdoms, principalities, duchies and palatines (Kleinstaaterei) of then-fragmented Germany.Losing physical control during the German national anthem got me thinking about the last scene in "Dr. Strangelove."
The melody of the "Deutschlandlied" was written by Joseph Haydn in 1797 to provide music to the poem "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" (English: "God save Franz the Emperor") by Lorenz Leopold Haschka... Haydn's work is sometimes called the "Emperor's Hymn". It is often used as the musical basis for the hymnal "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken".
That said, I hope Angela is doing fine, I think Haydn wrote a beautiful song, and I have participated in the singing of "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken" many times.
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131 comments:
One of my favorite German words and concepts is Sonderweg. It's been reused and repurposed many times over but the underlying ethos hasn't really changed. Merkel and the up and coming Greens are a blip on the radar screen...a spike in an otherwise uninterrupted trajectory.
I hope the Greens are as colossal a failure as the Christian democrats have been. Alternive fur Deustchland is rising. Soon I hope.
Deutschland Uber Alles - Pan Am
I always liked this bit - gets the complicated nature of DUA
Borderline heat stroke maybe? I had the misfortune in Boot Camp, you do the "funky chicken", like an epileptic seizure. So maybe the twitch was a harbinger?
Fun follow-on effect - you carry a water bottle around for life, purely psychological.
I can shake like that if I am ill with a bad case of the flu and am forced to stand while feeling really queasy- actually moving alleviates it for me. I imagine being dehydrated can the exact same thing.
Poor woman, obviously something very wrong was happening to her physically.
What I found interesting there was Zelensky's not seeming to notice and/or care about Merkel's obvious tremors.
Germans should be proud of their leader who, in standing in side-by-side profile, projected her belly 6"-8" beyond the vertical, thereby letting the world know that Germany means business.
Since then I have drunk at least three glasses of water...
No self-respecting German would admit to drinking water! Beer is also a more effective treatment for DTs...if not exactly doctor-recommended...
Given her record as chancellor, I suppose claiming she was emotionally overcome by her patriotism wasn't an option.
“projected her belly 6"-8" beyond the vertical, thereby letting the world know that Germany means business.”
Let’s stand Trump next to a slender man and let’s see whose belly protrudes.
German unification (of the 19th century) was a mistake.
It was a romantic delusion leveraged by ambitious Prussians.
Its usually a mistake, for the general good, to permit such centralization of power.
Europe would have been far better off with Germany as a collection of independent states, Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, etc. And likewise Italy.
The Catholic position, in part justified by its policy of subsidiarity, opposed these things, both the German and Italian unifications.
"Losing physical control during the German national anthem"
Given all the Jew-hating Muslims Merkel has invited in, could you imagine how ecstatic she would have been if the Horst Wessel Song had been played.
I have had the shakes before, but while lying bed. It hasn’t happened in years. It was like shivering from being cold, but it wasn’t really cold. Totally involuntary.
Not dehydration. Her color is normal. Also, at that point you'd be looking for an arm to grab onto or a place to lie down. I noticed two things.
1. She is grabbing at her hands to try and stabilize them. I'm sure she has had this happen before.
2. The instant she starts walking she is fine.
Perhaps Parkinson's. The tremor is at rest and tends to be most noted in the hands. With intentional activity such as reaching for something it gets better.
She also has a bit of the reduced facial expression of Parkinson's but after what she has had to go through in recent years a permanent flat affect is probably normal.
TW (MD retired)
That said, I hope Angela is doing fine
I don't. She managed to institute a two-tier justice system in Germany whereby Muslim immigrants are not guilty of rape as long as they can claim that to them, "culturally," it was not rape. Includes rape of boys, girls barely into puberty, as well as women. To a Muslim, any woman without a head covering is "asking for it."
Great country you turned into, Germany.
The German National Anthem is one of my favorites. So beautiful. I have no idea what's going on with Merkel but it wasn't dehydration or emotional resonance.
Aside from RBG, Merkel is the female on the big stage I least prefer.
Hillary and May no longer being eligible for the award.
At least her staff didn't have to grab her and toss her into a van like a sack of shit.
Europe would have been far better off with Germany as a collection of independent states, Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, etc. And likewise Italy.
Napoleon set off that particular pathology. I think it was Bismarck who mentioned that Alsace and Lorraine had been German until the French invaded them originally. Not Germany but German.
France annexed Lorraine by force in 1766, and it retains control in the early 21st century. Due to the region's location, the population has been mixed. The north is largely Germanic, speaking Lorraine Franconian and other Germanic dialects. Strong centralized nationalism had only begun to replace the feudalist system which had formed the multilingual borders, and insurrection against the French occupation influenced much of the area's early identity. In 1871, the German Empire regained a part of Lorraine Bezirk Lothringen, corresponding to the current department of Moselle). The department formed part of the new Imperial German State of Alsace-Lorraine. In France, the revanchist movement developed to recover this territory.
Maybe Louis XIV.
"What I don't understand is, if "nationalism" is bad, why is "continentalism" good?"
Because continentalism is worse. Localism is better.
"en Aragón antes que rey hubo ley"
In Aragon before kings there were laws
These were the local laws, the fueros of much later strife, which the centralizers crushed.
I also thought it might be Parkinson's- my dad had it and there were times during physical examinations he had to stand still like that, and he had similar tremors that receded the moment he could start moving again.
Perhaps Parkinson's. The tremor is at rest and tends to be most noted in the hands. With intentional activity such as reaching for something it gets better.
Yes, and I still think Hillary has Parkinsons, well medicated but with occasional reactions to loud noise.
I wish no ill will upon Ms. Merkel, but that didn't look like a health problem. I think something is wracking her conscience. What deal and with which devil did she make it?
Many be she was shaking in shame for what the Germans did during WWII to the local population in present day Ukraine not to mention all Slavic countries. Was she shaking enough?
You think that bitch was shaking there, check this out.
She, like Hillary, would make the world a better place by leaving it.
I know Inga just wants to dig Trump, but the President of Ukraine is as tall as Merkel. Put Trump next to him and he'll look like a child. Trump would look like an adult.
Merkel, like Hillary and Pelosi, just loves power and just can't give it up.
"The German National Anthem is one of my favorites. So beautiful."
Because it is Austrian.
As Althouse mentions above.
Austria seems to have had special national abilities in that line.
The run of Austrian composers is really quite remarkable, so many out of such as small population.
"The Catholic position, in part justified by its policy of subsidiarity, opposed these things, both the German and Italian unifications."
Just finished Barbara Tuchman's March of Folly. She wrote it in 1984 but I'd never read it. The section on the Renaissance Popes and how they lost influence to the reformist religious leaders in Europe also explored the factional competition between the various Italian duchies (Naples, Florence, Venice, Milan). The Vatican competed for influence just like all the other actors, making alliances and declaring war as they deemed in their interests at the moment. France in particular, and Spain, with the Holy Roman Emperor, showed the scattered independent states and duchies what centralized power really was. Constant invasion and occupation. The Germans and the Italians were late to the game and the Vatican in Rome lost influence, particularly within now-Italy, when the independent states unified.
Chancellor Merkel has the heebie-jeebies, though as it's Germany, it's low on the Heebies and high on the Jeebies.
I might shiver like that if I had a fever. I shiver a lot when I'm feverish. Never had to stand upright and pretend I was fine during it. I could see spazzing out like that if I had to.
Kudos to the Ukraniam PM for not reaching out to hold her hand or offering any kind of assistance. He correctly didn't do anything which would make her look weak.
God forgive me, but the first thing that came into my head watching that was "that shook when he laugh’d, like a bowl full of jelly".
Dehydration can absolutely cause issues with muscle control. You can cause serious electrolyte imbalances, especially in older folks. And her color seemed off to me, though not terribly.
That being said, that didn't look like shakes or weakness due to dehydration to me. She also maintained an upright posture while it was happening, which is difficult if you are shaking from weakness/dehydration.
Joe
P.s. I have an unidentified occasional tremor and my shaking becomes much more noticeable when I'm exhausted, very hungry/low blood sugar, dehydrated, or in caffeine withdrawal.
At least her staff didn't have to grab her and toss her into a van like a sack of shit.
Quoted for truth.
Electrolyte imbalance. Needed potassium. Gatorade would do if no Brawndo was available.
It's a bit gross for a Parkinson's tremor, unless it is advanced Parkinson's. If that were the case one would expect to have seen it in her before. However, Parkinson's tremor is most often a resting tremor. Note how it instantaneously stops when she turns to the guy and then walks away. Kind of a classic resting tremor scenario. That makes it quite suggestive of Parkinson's. I hope I'm wrong - that is a really lousy disease.
I know Inga just wants to dig Trump,
Wow!
Who woulda thunk it?
According to Mel Brooks, the first national anthem was "They Can All Go to Hell Except Cave Seven".
The run of Austrian composers is really quite remarkable, so many out of such as small population.
A favorite.
Sorry. Beethoven was born in Bonn.
I'm reminded of when Marco Rubio needed a drink. He didn't carry it nearly as well as Ms. Merkel.
https://youtu.be/19ZxJVnM5Gs?t=19
Maybe it was cold?
Breaking news: Rush thinks that the womb and the uterus are different things.
I think the old hymns are a rich intellectual source of stirring poetic exegesis of the Lord's word.
From that hymn " Grace, which like the Lord, the giver, never fails age to age". And i might add it never fails whether you are dumb or you are smart, tall or short, black or white, rich or poor , liberal or conservative, American or Russian, etc.
Ann what is an atheist like you doing singing a hymn and saying it is beautiful?
Some old CS-rebels wrote to the Confederate Veteran magazine during WWI to point out that it was Suthen boys' duty to fight against the centralizing German Empire, just like they had fought the good fight against old Centralizer Lincoln. No, really.
Alsace-Lorraine has been contested since the Middle Ages, and only "belongs" to this or that particular nation or empire on a contingent basis. It seems clear for the moment that France is that nation, but the fact that the EU Parliament is based in Strasbourg is a nod to the international/multi-cultural history of the region, and I suppose a bit of political piety on the part of the Euro-elite.
Some famous "Austrian" composers, weren't. Beethoven and Brahms for two; Dvorak. Not to knock Papa, Wolfie, Franz, or the Strausses!
My view is that Europe is simple: a Spanish conductor leading a Dutch orchestra in music by a Russian, a Romanian, and a Norwegian. That, and its parallels and analogs in other areas of culture, is all we should expect. Political wisdom or great leadership is asking too much.
When Merkel first came on the scene, I wondered if she was as stupid as she looks.
Narr
Didn't take long for an answer!
I think that might just be the way Germans dance.
Could be a lot of things. Parkinsons. Alcohol poisoning. (I wonder how many of the people who run the world are 3/4 lit most of the time.)
Between the old farts who won't just go away and the new farts who are frankly bonkers lies the generation that couldn't be bothered to care. God help my kids. I'm among the very youngest of Boomers or the oldest of Gen X, and we really screwed up.
One too many schnitzengrubens?
It looks like an orgasm to me.
I'm not saying Merkel is Just Like Hitler™, but Hitler had Parkinson's, too.
“When Merkel first came on the scene, I wondered if she was as stupid as she looks.
Narr
Didn't take long for an answer!”
‘Tis a pity she isn’t a stable genius like Trump.
I was trying to get a laugh, and then rhhardin goes and does that. Glad he wasn't in grade school with me.
BTW, that Strangelove clip is awesome from start to finish.
You really need to live in someplace with the demographics of Merkel-land Kölnberg instead of your whitopia, Inga.
Vibrant.
Maybe fifteen is her limit for schnitzengruben?
Poor Inga.
Who can forget how Inga declared Merkel the Real Leader of The Free World!! LOL
That was followed by Inga calling Theresa May The Real Leader of The Free World!!
That was followed by Inga calling Macron The Real Leader of The Free World!!
Inga followed that up by calling the Boy Trudeau The Real Leader of The Free World!!
The Inga Political Kiss of Death!
And just because Merkel has allowed muslim "spark of divinity" rapes of children across Germany (to the applause and protection of the entire German left), we shouldnt be too harsh about her departure from power.
After all, our own Inga wants as many of these "spark of divinity" rapists allowed into the US as well. So Merkel is not alone.
I find it particularly poignant that Merkel has sold out all of Europe in developing the German-Putin/Russia energy alliance which is going to fund a great deal of Russias activities.
Once more to universal left/LLR-left praise.
rhhardin: Rush thinks that the womb and the uterus are different things.
And yet, Rush is still smarter than anyone here.
Can you imagine taking 5-8 hours per day and having your every word scrutinized by a gotcha?
But how come you didn't provide a link? My experience has been that in almost all such cases, it's because the actual words or context don't support the assertion.
Would be nice to be proven wrong every now and then...
Dang it!! Mattman26 beat me to the punch... :)
Who can forget how Inga declared Merkel the Real Leader of The Free World!! LOL
That was followed by Inga calling Theresa May The Real Leader of The Free World!!
That was followed by Inga calling Macron The Real Leader of The Free World!!
Inga followed that up by calling the Boy Trudeau The Real Leader of The Free World!!
The Inga Political Kiss of Death!
Hehe. I had forgotten about that. Can someone get her to predict 2020?
I shouldnt be too hard on our Stable Collusion Hoax Truther Conspiracy freak Inga.
She doesnt even know the Russia-German gas pipeline exists.
"rhhardin said...
It looks like an orgasm to me."
Nah, like our resident dullard she's closed up shop down there.
This is from RT? Then it must be fake news and a doctored video. Time to dox a factory worker somewhere.
Seriously though, I came down with the flu a couple months ago and was shivering at my desk like that.
"Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken" is a beautiful hymn. But the hymn to Haydn's tune that is more familiar to me is also lovely and meaningful: "We Are Called to Be God's People".
I'm Merkel's age and the heat just slays me too. Yet supposedly healthy.
How many men have tried to conquer Europe and failed?
And yet one woman trades it all away.
I've always wondered if ancient humans actually experimented with matriarchal systems, and that the reason we have no evidence of it is because they failed so miserably they were forgotten by history. Just an odd evolutionary trigger that twinges "no not that shit again!" whenever we reconsider it.
Kinda wish it had been a guy. Valerie Jarret, Samantha Powers, Lois Lerner, Hillary Clinton... and now Angela Merkel. Not a good century startup for the ladies. At least we can always point to Thatcher.
She is the German Hillary.
Otto: Ann what is an atheist like you doing singing a hymn and saying it is beautiful?
Many of us who cannot believe can yet be moved by all the hope and beauty and sorrow bound up in the idea of grace.
If drinking some liquid squared her away, then it looks most like she had a panic attack. Probably heard from Hussein Obama what Trump had on them for taking cash bribes from Iran and their cozy pocketing of Solar and Wind Farm mandated energy boondagles that mainly generated kick backs of loot to certain Politicians.
Sir, the robot we have designed to run Germany is almost ready.
I heard there were some occasional problems with the software Dr Vikram.
Oh, that jittering? That is really rare and we have a work around.
Go on...
Well sir, in movies, android robots which are a subclass of robot which looks Human...
Dr Vikram! We all know what an android is!
In movies, they always make them look hyper sexual. So we made the Chancellorbot, as we call her, a dowdy middle aged woman.
Nobody will suspect she is a machine.
An anti-native sentiment, and placing Germans second, will have that effect.
The Poles are probably getting nervous.
I love her. She was Harvard’s commencement speaker this year and she worked it
I think the old hymns are a rich intellectual source of stirring poetic exegesis of the Lord's word.
I doubt it.
From that hymn " Grace, which like the Lord, the giver, never fails age to age". And i might add it never fails whether you are dumb or you are smart, tall or short, black or white, rich or poor , liberal or conservative, American or Russian, etc.
That's not true either. The song is boring, predictable and plodding, no backbeat.
Ann what is an atheist like you doing singing a hymn and saying it is beautiful?
What is a primitive person like you doing questioning the statements of more enlightened beings?
Maybe she was over her limit of Schnitzengruben.
Trump did it. Just the thought of Trump made Crooked Hillary collapse and be thrown into a van like a side of beef that had it's sell date expire. Is there anything that this man cannot do?
Merkel's sell date was like last year.
> She was Harvard’s commencement speaker this year
Tarred with the Harvard brush. Needless to say, I share your low opinion of Merkel.
Since she's in the Ukraine, she'll probably want to take in some of the tourist attractions. Oh, like Babi Yar. You remember, Frau Merkel, a lotta Germans did some stuff there, particularly in September & October, 1941.
"I think that might just be the way Germans dance."
Quoted for truth.
The Poles are probably getting nervous.
Didn't they invent Pole Dancing?
He's probably still in shock over Titleist Pro V1x Gate. I know I am.
My wife shakes like that. I recognize it as an orgasm, and she thanks...when she is able. Sometimes asks politely for another.
Insulin shock would be my barely informed guess. A snort of schnapps, a scoop of ice cream and she should be good as new.
Oh, sorry, iowan. I meant the Chancellor — not your happy healthy lovely wife.
"The Poles are probably getting nervous."
Poland is not yet dead.
Dobrowski March (or Mazurka)
hhardin said...
Breaking news: Rush thinks that the womb and the uterus are different things.
I heard that, too. Maybe he caught himself thinking maybe not all listeners know what a uterus is.
Germany, Germany above all else,
Above all else in the world,
When, for protection and defense,
It always stands brotherly together.
From the Meuse to the Memel,
From the Adige to the Belt,
Germany, Germany above all else,
Above all else in the world!
Really, German language/ethnicity in the 19th century. The Meuse would be the western border, the Memel (now Neman, Lithuania) the eastern. Adige in South Tyrol is the southern border, the Belt (Denmark) the northern.
Damn, I just watched and heard the march at the end. Hohenfriedberger Marsch?
Narr
Hohenfriedberger Marsch?
The uterus is an anatomical feature of females. The womb is an incubator and safe haven in a pregnant women for her developing baby.
I think it is safe to assume the MSM news readers will withhold this video from their viewers?
As Vox said, it is obviously Kuru.
This is a more modern soon to be German classic - Deutschland by Rammstein. Incredible video
https://vimeo.com/327327187
So I can't insult a foreign shithead w/o provoking some comment about Trump.
As for those snide-sniping about the German past, just know (since you apparently haven't learned it yet) that the Nazis had eager, more-than-eager, help from some of the locals whenever and wherever they showed up.
Narr
So it goes
Any other atheists out there that like belting out a nice Feste Burg?
Personally, I'm awed by, and moved by, for instance, Schubert's Ave Maria, and Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, and Brahms' German Requiem. Good thing they don't check personal beliefs when I get to the hall.
Narr
Cultural appropriator
I have had this happen to me twice. Each time relieved by a saline IV. The first probably initiated by a UTI. The second, unknown. Since those times I have been gifted a S'welll water bottle that I use with more regularity.
She had Hillary pneumonia. The kind that comes and goes in a few hours.
Gatorade would do if no Brawndo was available.
What plants crave?
frau merkel does need to get Felonia von Pantsuit's instant cure for extreme dehydration/parkinson's--
forget the hospital a mile away-- go to your daughter's apartment** 3 miles away,
and an hour later-- bingo!
back on the street working the crowd.
A medical miracle.
**wasnt that space a clinic before it was purchased??
One of the composer Strausses (Richard, the best one in my view) was German.
Germany’s worst chancellor and second worst chancellor share the tremors.
What's the German equivalent of the 25th Amendment?
What's the German equivalent of the 25th Amendment?
Didn't we just celebrate that a few days ago?
Didn’t Hillary have the shakes, too?
"Didn’t Hillary have the shakes, too?"
For certain, along with lots and lots of fries. Getting the scale to read >200lbs takes a lot of effort. But, she persisted.
As you have observed, and Dennis Prager has often stated, Germany hasn't made a smart move in over a century. Merkel gave it away, what a legacy.
Maybe Zelensky told a joke that she was slow to understand.
Despite what some here say, Merkel is in no danger of ever being named Germany's worst leader. Hitler has retired that title for the next thousand years......Bismarck was probably Germany's best leader. Kissinger claimed that Bismarck had instituted a system of government in Germany that would only work if a man of genius such as Bismarck was in charge. The wheels started to call off when the Kaiser removed him from office and started being a hands on king......Bismarck opposed taking Alsace-Lorraine at the end of the Franco-Prussian War. He claimed that it would lead to lasting enmity with France and that France might make a useful ally at a future date.....At the end of WWII, Stalin ceded large chunks of eastern Germany to Poland. I think the idea was to cause eternal enmity between the Poles and the Germans. So far the Germans haven't taken the bait, but who knows.
The Ukrainian is hot
HR people are filth.
I havent seen a human shake that uncontrollably since obama sent a tingle up LLR Chuck's leg and inner thigh.
Not that there is anything wrong with that.
LOL
@buwaya:
German unification (of the 19th century) was a mistake.
It was a romantic delusion leveraged by ambitious Prussians.
Indeed. The unification of Germany was the most consequential events of the modern era. The effects of Germany giving Austro-Hungary the greenlight to launch a military assault on Serbia live with us today.
Its usually a mistake, for the general good, to permit such centralization of power.
Agree as well. The concentration of power in a centralized US federal state has been extremely destructive towards peace and liberty. Ideally, the US should be broken up into more manageable regional governments with a centralized government more akin to the Articles of Confederation than the Constitution. The antifederalists were right.
Merkel betrayed her county by opening up the borders, but she is no Hillary. Hillary is a power-desperate un-indicted felon power-obsessed money whore.
Bumble Bee:
As you have observed, and Dennis Prager has often stated, Germany hasn't made a smart move in over a century. Merkel gave it away, what a legacy.
Well, during the second half of the 20th century, Germany managed to make France and the UK subordinate members of a German-dominated superstate on the continent. And all without firing a shot. That said, Germany's throwing open of the gates to African and Middle Eastern immigrants was a gargantuan mistake. That places like the UK, France, or Germany would look at America's racial situation and think, "Hey, looks great, let's have that here" is mindboggling. "Diversity is our strength" is one of the most poisonous political slogans ever conceived. In addition to being a load of bull.
JFarmer@626: Irony abounds.
Hitler had an idealized image of 19th C. America that he modeled his eastern empire on--we'll just take the land like the Europeans did to the Indians, fill up the continent, and build a civilization.
Merkel has an idealized image of 19th C. America that she models her Germany on--we'll just welcome all and sundry, as if there is a continent to fill up, and we need help with civilization.
Narr
How German is it
Are you dehydrated?
1 -
2 -- < Hydrated
3 ---
4 ----
5 ----- < Dehydrated - you need to drink more water
6 ------
7 -------
8 -------- < Severely Dehydrated - you are severely dehydrated and need to see a doctor
9 ---------
(Seen today posted over the top of the urinal)
Ideally, the US should be broken up into more manageable regional governments with a centralized government more akin to the Articles of Confederation than the Constitution. The antifederalists were right.
I've made the same argument. Problem is, who stands up to Nazi Germany during WW2 or Soviet Russia afterwards? A decentralized confederacy of states could not have done it.
I wonder if Hitler would have stopped at the Atlantic?
Although, we already had National Socialist movement here. I think led by Bernie.
"Diversity is our strength" is one of the most poisonous political slogans ever conceived. In addition to being a load of bull.
Bingo ! It was working slowly until the race hustlers and pimps like Sharpton and Jackson got some power. Johnson destroyed the black family. I knew some in the 1940s and 50s. I still know a few, probably on the right tail of the IQ distribution.
Ideally, the US should be broken up into more manageable regional governments with a centralized government more akin to the Articles of Confederation than the Constitution. The antifederalists were right.
Yes, it may still be accomplished but not by the peaceful means described in "America 3.0"
More along the lines of Kurt Schlicter's novels.
Farmer: "Diversity is our strength" is one of the most poisonous political slogans ever conceived. In addition to being a load of bull."
Needs to be repeated.
TREMORS!
multiple sclerosis
stroke
traumatic brain injury
neurodegenerative diseases that affect parts of the brain (e.g., Parkinson's disease).
the use of certain medicines (particular asthma medication, amphetamines, caffeine, corticosteroids, and drugs used for certain psychiatric and neurological disorders)
alcohol abuse or withdrawal
mercury poisoning
overactive thyroid
liver or kidney failure
anxiety or panic
giant subterranean worms
@Fen:
Problem is, who stands up to Nazi Germany during WW2 or Soviet Russia afterwards? A decentralized confederacy of states could not have done it.
Nothing would prevent those smaller regional governments from forming an alliance and pulling their resources if a collective security problem emerged that warranted it.
Being a collection of duchies and small principalities surrounded by much larger states didn't always work out for Germany. See the Thirty Years War. Some German towns lost 70 to 80% of their population. By lost I don't mean that they moved away. I mean that that percentage of their population was killed. Of course, you can't really say that being a unified state really worked out for Germany either. Maybe they'll have better luck this century.......Nothing is fated or over determined. It was just a quirk of odd circumstances that men like Hitler or Lenin achieved power. Merkel is probably wrong about a lot of things, but her mistakes are within normal limits.
Michael K said...
The run of Austrian composers is really quite remarkable, so many out of such as small population.
A favorite.
Dr. K; that was a great performance, but it reminded me WAY TOO MUCH of
tommorow belongs to me
"Diversity is our strength" is one of the most poisonous political slogans ever conceived. In addition to being a load of bull."
Whereas diversity breeds adversity, assimilated and integrated promotes the general Welfare.
I don't think I've ever shaken quite like that, but I do shake when my blood sugar plummets.
Michael K said..."Sorry. Beethoven was born in Bonn."
I forget the exact line, but there is a joke that German speakers occasionally tell about how the Austrians have managed to trick the world into believing that Beethoven was Austrian and that Hitler was German.
Time to spend time with the family Ang.
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