The head of the German security firm BaySecur, Günther Schnelle, who had been contacted by the German football association DFB to look after the Germany security concerns at the World Cup, told the German sports magazine SPORT BILD:

“The possibility for the players of moving outside of the hotel boundaries should be kept to a minimum. Otherwise there must be a full escort: armed security guards and bullet-proof vests for the players.”

Because of high crime rates in the republic, the DFB are taking no risks with security, says their security boss Helmut Spahn, and are looking to recruit 20 extra security guards for the team’s stay at their five-star accommodation. Private bodyguards will protect the players both within and around the Velmore Grande hotel in Gauteng.

The outrage in South Africa was enourmous. The 2010 Committee has strongly condemned the German security fears.

The DFB reacted promptly.

First Schnelle denied ever discussing bulletproof vests and bodyguards with the journalists and said he had been dragged over the coals for what emerged in the media.

“Everything is an invention,” he maintained.

Although apologetic, he would not be drawn on sharing his feelings on South Africa and its crime situation, saying he was not allowed to make further comments, the South African Newspaper The Star quoted Schnelle.

As can be seen in the link above, the original article by Sport-Bild is still online, so the the journalists did not retract their statements. Sport-Bild is the sports daughter of Germany’s biggest tabloid, the Bild Zeitung. So these guys know what they are doing.

Then DFB media director Harald Stenger said there was no basis to the reports.

“We are aware of the reaction in South Africa, and immediately made it clear after these false reports were published that we are not considering equipping the players with bullet-proof vests,” he said.

Stenger said that on matters of security the DFB would not be taking any independent action. All security measures would be taken in conjunction with world governing body FIFA and the South African government, he said.

“No security concept has been agreed for our team,” he added.

Well, a serious denial looks differenty and fails to mention that BaySecur is reponsible for the security of VIP fans accompanying the DFB at away games and was responsible for the security of Brasil and Korea at the World Cup 2006 in Germany.

In other word,  Schnelle did say the things he was quoted as having said and the DFB is just trying to avoid the bad publicity.

Of course there will be opportunistic crime, and visitors who are naive about South Africa and who flaunt their wealth and gadgets may end up victims of crime. But please, come visit South Africa and enjoy the World Cup. Be wise, keep you reyes open, inform yourself, and take defensive measures.

But bullet proof wests? Come on Germany!

During his first press conference after the elections, Guido Westerwelle promptly refused to answer a question in English for a BBC reporter.  He was asked by the BBC reporter in English, how he would change Germany’s foreign policy;  the reporter added that he would prefer an English response.

But Westerwelle balked, stating that this was a press conference in Germany. The BBC reporter then asked whether he could ask in English and Westerwelle then answer in Germany — no chance,  just as it was common practice in Great Britain to speak English, it would go without saying that in Germany one spoke German, Westerwelle replied. Then, with the help of a translator, the BBC reporter finally garnered an answer in German. In the end, Westerwelle added that he could meet for a fabulous tea outside of a press conference and then speak only English, but this was  Germany here.

I suppose Westerwelle has a general point. But his boldness particularly in this regard comes as no surprise considering his rather less developed English language skills, as documented here …

Obama listened to Wiesel’s recollections of camp life. He laid a white rose at a memorial plaque for the camp’s more than 56,000 victims before taking a tour of its barracks and crematorium (check this photo gallery).

“Incomprehension, horror: there is no word to describe the terrible things that happened to so many people in this camp and in other concentration and death camps,” Merkel said. “I bow before all the victims.”

Obama condemned the “ignorant and hateful” rhetoric of those who deny the Holocaust (as he did in Cairo already) and added: “This place is the ultimate rebuke of those thoughts – a reminder of our duty to confront those who tell lies about our history.”

Exactly, let this fact not be forgotten. Obama’s rebuke to Holocaust denial is also a timely reminder to all those African bigwigs, who, as a result of their lingering antisemitism, have no squanders to flirt with Nazi ideology and thoughts.

For instance Mugabe, who noted in a speech in 2003 that he had been compared to the former Nazi leader in the British press, and said he was ready to embrace such a role. “This Hitler has only one objective: justice for his people, sovereignty for his people, recognition of the independence of his people and their rights over their resources,” he said. “If that is Hitler, then let me be a Hitler tenfold.”

Mugabe, you put shame on Africa.

A Kudu antelope strolls into the bar – no, this isn’t the start to a lame joke, it’s merely a normal day on the Elisenheim guest farm in Namibia.

Elsewhere, a small springbok is playing with dogs and children. Korn schnapps, beer and burgers are going down well in the Bacchus Tavern between the desert dunes and the Atlantic coast. On the lonely savanna and desert tracks, the speed limit is 100 kmh. Gleaming snowy peaks turn out to be mountains of salt.

…

The former German colony of Namibia has become an attractive destination for German tourists and expats looking for a new home offering a touch of Teutonic Gemütlichkeit – or hospitality.

…

Namibia offers many surprises to visitors and, because of its past as the colony German Southwest Africa, it to this days still bears several Germanic hallmarks. 

The country has become a worthwhile destination for tourists looking for an African adventure without the stress and mass safaris of its neighbours. But it’s also a popular choice for immigrants from Germany looking to integrate with the local German community.

…

Many Germans have made Namibia their new home in recent years. They are following in the footsteps of their fellow countrymen, who a century ago and more settled in the region when it was still a colony of the Kaiser. The territory later came under the administration of neighbouring South Africa until Namibia became independent in 1990.

Holidaying on a ranch for tourists or a hunting farm in the country is becoming more and more popular. The mix of relaxation, solitude without hardship and adventure outside of national parks and luxury camps has special appeal. Almost all livestock farmers in Namibia have now discovered tourism as a second source of income. Guests laze by swimming pools between palms and flowering hibiscus. Activities include horse riding, hikes to caves, animal tracking, meeting local peoples and desert safaris.

…

“Namibia is ideal for travelers new to Africa”, explains Ernst Sauber, a neighbour of the Schulze-Neuhoffs. “The country is stable and relatively safe. Roads, hotels and lodges are good by African standards, and the landscape and the wildlife are diverse and appealing.” The head of the neighbouring BüllsPort farm 40 kilometres away is a third-generation settler: his grandfather came from Schleswig-Holstein. 

…

Those who want to meet witnesses of German-African history and experience real German Gemütlichkeit for a couple of days are well catered for in nearby Swakopmund. The town currently has 40,000 inhabitants and was formerly an important port for immigrants from Germany and for the colonial administration. 

The sea is raw; the wind whips up waves and spray. Clean streets and neat houses, many of them in the colonial style, characterise the town centre. The desert begins at the town’s edge.

Bratwurst, smoked port and sauerkraut are savoured by locals and tourists alike in the Swakopmund Butchery, run by German-Namibian couple Katja and Gero Düvel. The two master butchers speak Afrikaans, English and German with their customers. Katja, from Meerane in Saxony, met Gero in Bavaria.

Gero has German roots, grew up on his parents’ farm near Windhoek and has also worked in Düsseldorf. Their store is in a good neighbourhood in the historic centre of the town. Nearby are the Eagle Pharmacy, Ankerplatz Supermarket and the Town Hall, in smartly renovated buildings, as well as the German doctor Rüdiger Moisel’s practice.

…

Seeing and being seen is important at Nice in Mozart Street, where the country’s elite sip prosecco and red wine or enjoy an oryx steak. The modern restaurant and bar also has a specalised school for fine cuisine, where young Namibians are trained.

“The country needs more of its own people in senior positions,” says Stephan Brückner, whose grandparents emigrated from Germany. The 43-year-old manager, who also studied in Berlin, points to the full bar and says: “More and more of the population has money. That’s very encouraging for the future of Namibia.”

Greetings to you, Mr. Islam-Fascist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad!

China’s official media and bloggers called for the makers of the advert to apologise to China. Apparently advertising agency Grey Worldwide, which made the safe sex advert for Doc Morris Pharmacies, already sent a letter of apology to the Chinese consulate in Frankfurt, as the “The Global Times” newspaper claimed.

Looking at the adverts, I wonder why.

The Chinese are mistaken to think the last motive depicts the man under whose regime between 40 and 70 million were killed.

It is just Princess Leia!

As Rene Seifert discovered yesterday, Amazon book searches have been returning amazing results for the last couple of days. For instance, if you look for the term “Sachbuch”, which is the completely harmless German word for non-fiction or general books, Amazon.de delivers the following results — and believe me, seeing is believing (and the results had to be preserved for eternity with the following screenshots):

This is preposterous, I really keeled over with laughter. The first entry, the handbook for fisting talks about pre-cautions, responsibility, and trust. Number 3 is about alcoholism, number 4 is a handbook for anal sex with tips and tricks for enjoyable anal pleasures, number 5 a book about wanking professionally. Number 7, “The power of shitting”, explains der twelve mantras of shitting, while number 8 talks about doing it for the first time — anally. Number 9 explains the details of prostate message, apparently the male G-spot!

Believe me, this is a hack — even Germans aren’t that (fucking) strange … … and so focused on having weird sex.

The mechanism of the hack are still unclear. It seems to be linked to the tagging functionality on Amazon. As you can see on the screenshots, related search terms suggested by Amazon are “PC vernetzen” (linking computers) and “Ratgeber” (guides), which deliver the same strange results. Amazon Germany still has not provided any feedback about the issue.

The connection to the recent story in the US that had contagiously spread around the Twittersphere under the hashtag #amazonfail is obvious. In what some initially speculated to be a homophobic new expurgation policy, Amazon.com had removed hundreds of gay and lesbian themed books from its sales rating system, effectively concealing these books from online shoppers. But the affair seems to have been a technical glitch.

The German Amazon fail does not seem to be a technical glitch, but more a manipulation of the social tools on Amazon, which are so important to the company and the success of Amazon in the first place. So do expect some kind of reaction by Amazon.

I will keep you posted (only after I enjoyed the power of shitting — lol).

The fashion label “Black Coffee” from Johannesburg has now been chosen as the winner for 2009. Yeah! According to the prominent jury, the works of “Black Coffee” designers Danica Lepen and Jacques van der Watt exceeded the other work submitted by far. As a special bonus, “Black Coffee” will be invited to present their spring and summer collection during the upcoming Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin in July.

The jury also gave Craig Native “honourable mention”. The young designer from the Cape Flats focuses on sports and street wear, taking into account environmental aspects. He derives his inspiration from the fashion of the townships and traditional costumes.

The eight nominated fashion designers are already presenting their showpieces in Berlin at the “Daimler Contempary” exhibition in Haus Huth in Berlin. According to the sponsors, the Berlin exhibition is the first institutional presentation in Europe of recent trends in South African Fashion, showing diverse aspects from Haute Couture based on indigenous traditions via minimal trends to recycling and sportswear. The exhibition also include pictures, graphic art and photographs and will be supplemented by lectures and discussions.