| Thursday,
February 3, 2005
This story made quite a stir and generated a number of letters, some
suspicious of the story. I received this yesterday but in a format that made
impossible to post. I wanted to wait until I had it because it is
definitive:
Subject: RE: Unemployment benefits and prostitution
Dear Dr. Pournelle,
Like everyone, I was appalled
at the story involving the young German woman told to take a job as a
prostitute or lose her benefits. I have lived in Germany for five and a half
years now, and I know how upset people are about the recent attempts to
change the unemployment system (generally considered to be a disaster by
everyone and another major blunder by the ruling coalition that the
opposition is too ham-fisted to take advantage of). But after some
reflection, something about it just didn't ring quite true. For one thing,
in my experience German bureaucrats tend to be friendly, polite, and helpful
and the service tends to run quite smoothly (especially in the eyes of
native Southern Californian who knows all about California DMV). So I did
some checking.
This appears to be a popular topic in chat rooms and
fora all over the Internet, but every single discussion in English stems
from the same article in the Telegraph that your original correspondent
cited. Among other problems I found in the article, is the fact that "Merchtild"
is not a real name; the attorney's name is actually "Mechthild". More
suspicious is the fact that I couldn't find any sources in the German news.
This is the sort of thing that ought to have been reported, by the tabloid
press, if nothing else. After checking a few places, I finally tracked the
original source to an article in a paper called "die Tageszeitung" or TAZ.
It is important to know that the TAZ is a radical
left-wing paper founded by people with ties to the old Red Army Faction. It
is rather typical of its genre and its articles should be read with a large
helping of salt. I suppose it is slightly to the left of the old "LA Free
Press" (but I'm a little too young to have actually read that particular
journal). In any case, the article was pointing out an apparent gap in the
new employment laws that could produce a situation like this and cited the
attorney mentioned in the Telegraph article (spelling her name correctly).
They also quoted a bureaucrat saying that since prostitution is legal, it
cannot be considered offensive. Maybe, maybe not; one has to consider the
source. But most noteworthy is the fact that no actual case is mentioned in
the article at all, just a theoretical possibility.
I tried running some of the other names in the
Telegraph article through Google and did get one important hit. The
following is an article from Deutsche Welle, which is a respectable and
trustworthy institution:
www.dw-world.de/english/
0,3367,1431-184677-220493_A_951529_1_A,00.html
"A brothel owner in the historic German town of
Gvrlitz on the Polish border is preparing to open his establishment next
month but faces a one last serious problem -- he has no staff. Ulrich
Kueperkoch's adverts seeking "hostesses for erotic services" for his Golden
3 Privatclub have been rejected by Germany's Federal Labor Office even
though prostitution is legal in the country. The dispute with the labor
office stems from its refusal to allow advertising for prostitutes in the
network of job-placement agencies that it runs. A spokesperson said that the
labor office has "decided not to be active in that market sector" due to its
belief that such work could infringe on an individual's rights if he or she
is forced to take the job. Kueperkoch insists he would only employ those who
were interested and not those who felt they had no other choice."
So, the German employment services aren't taking
postings for erotic hostesses and no one is threatened with losing their
unemployment benefits for refusing to become a prostitute. What we have is
an activist lawyer and a radical newspaper pointing up an important but
probably not serious loophole in new laws. The story is picked up in a
garbled fashion (let's give the Telegraph's reporter the benefit of the
doubt) by one English language paper that doesn't check its facts properly,
and everyone has the chance to be outraged about something new for a few
days. As David Brin notes, indignation acts like a drug, releasing massive
amounts of endorphins into the system. The boomers may not be smoking as
much dope or snorting as much coke as they used to, but they're still
getting high.
David Levinson
Thank you for clearing that up. Alas, we live in
times in which it is possible to believe the story; not long ago all would
have known it was myth and propaganda. Alas. BUT SEE
BELOW.
=======
Subject: A magnificent book, gentlemen
I just finished Burning Tower. It's simply wonderful.
I liked The Burning City a lot, but this worked even better for me on
several levels-- the characters, the settings, the story, the sense of
historical context. You really outdid yourselves. Congratulations.
. png
So what are the rest of you waiting for? Get your
copies now...
And a public service of some
value:
Subject: State of the Union Address in askSam Database
As fast as we could....
The text from President Bush's State of the Union
Address is available in a free, searchable askSam database at:
http://www.asksam.com/ebooks/StateOfTheUnion/
The askSam version of the State of the Union allows
you to search, browse, and analyze the text of the speech.
There is no charge for the software or information;
it's our hope that this will be a useful tool for those researching and
analyzing the speech.
A press release with more information is available at:
http://www.asksam.com/releases.asp
We are currently working on other databases. If
there is something that would be interesting for you or your readers, please
let me know.
All the best from the Swamp,
Phil Schnyder President
In addition to the State of the Union, the following
are also available in searchable askSam databases:
The Transcripts from the 2004 Presidential Debates
http://www.asksam.com/debate1/
Selected Speeches from the 2004 Political Conventions
http://www.asksam.com/Convention2004/
"Agenda for America" by President Bush
http://www.asksam.com/AgendaForAmerica/
"Our Plan for America" by Senators Kerry and Edwards
http://www.asksam.com/ourplan/
The Patriot Act
http://www.asksam.com/files/downloads/patriot%20act.ask
The 9-11 Commission Report
http://www.asksam.com/911/
The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act
http://www.asksam.com/ebooks/IntelReformAct/
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act
http://www.asksam.com/ebooks/Sarbanes/
askSam Systems
Thanks!
===========
Subject:
Intelligent design...
Personally, I tend to side with the Intelligent Design
crowd.
Haldane's comment about God having an inordinate
fondness for beetles is cute and meant to signify the absurdity of the
question, but I feel he really didn't give it quite enough thought. Do
beetles serve a purpose in the world, or are they purely parasitic on the
overall ecology? Obviously they have a purpose- they eat stuff (I'm not sure
exactly what, not being an entymologist) and in the process make it into
organic substance (their bodies) which can be eaten by other creatures.
They're part of the cleaning system of the world, taking refuse and
recycling it, or maybe feeding other parts of the chain (I'm thinking of
aphids with this one). Virtually every creature has its purpose in the world
to help keep it running. Evolutionists refer to them occupying an
evolutionary niche, and say that if they were wiped out something else would
evolve to take their place. Maybe so, but is it that far fetched to think
that there might be an intelligence of some sort guiding it?
I look at it this way: I can better get to know the
nature of the Divine (insert your preferred deity's name here) by studying
His greatest work as much as possible- namely, the world around me,
including humans. I don't claim to know the true nature of the Divine, and
couldn't swear that there is a Divine intelligence out there, but it is just
as reasonable to assume that there is one as to assume that there isn't.
Atheism requires just as much faith as any other religion, and is just as
arrogant in terms of assuming that they have the one definitive answer to
the question and that all others are foolishly wrong. I prefer to state the
obvious: I don't know.
But I do like Pascal's wager.
Paul
And of course there is the Great Chain of Being.
Mosse deals with these matters in his lectures; he wasn't unsympathetic,
although not a believer. But as the King of Spain remarked on being told of
the Ptolemaic solar system and its epicycles, it would not be difficult to
simplify these matters. The real question never asked because not answerable
(at least by science) is "Intelligent Design for what? To what end is all
this in aid of?"
Haldane was of course being flip; the question is,
should he have been?
Subject: Intelligent Design
Hi Jerry
Is "Intelligent Design" something like "Creation
Science"?
I'm vain enough to consider myself moderately well
educated in both theology and geology. On the balance of probability, I
think it likely that we developed via some form of evolution, though I have
reservations about "pure Darwinism" (although there seems little agreement
on exactly what that is.)
However I cannot agree with those who would write off
some direct form of creation as impossible. (Not that I'm accusing you of
such). I believe in an all-powerful God and I don't believe that anything is
beyond His capabilities.
May I recommend a book by a friend of mine: "The
Essence of Darwinism" by Dr Kirsten Birkett. It is a detailed, and perhaps
sceptical, look at modern (and less modern) thinking on Darwinism.
There's a review at
http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/culture/reading/340a/ and the book
is available at
http://secure.fellowworkers.com/cgi-bin/mmstore/ted.html?id=X7Kx3TY
------ Michael J Smith
Clearly an Omnipotent God could do literally
anything including faking data; there is no actual way to prove the universe
wasn't created 17 minutes ago, after you sent that email (which you didn't
send because it's actually a figment of your imagination that you sent it,
and a planted memory in my computer that I received it when in fact it
existed for all time, time being 18 minutes now). And of course we all -- at
least all those reading this -- reject such absurdities.
Intelligent Design purports to be more reasonable
than "Creation Science" (whatever that was/is) in that it purports to
conform to all scientifically verifiable data without resorting to any
special hypotheses. Perhaps so. Certainly evolutionary theory as it now
exists can be asked embarrassing questions; which is not to say that it is
not extremely useful in explaining much of what goes on in the world, just
as Newtonian mechanics answered many questions but couldn't answer some.
Augustine theorized about creation in germinal
form, and it is good Catholic doctrine that Man is a Co-Creator with God and
has useful work to do in finishing the universe -- once we understand what
it is for. "Have dominion" was both a gift and a command.
Subject: Darwin
I am amused with the vigor most teachers defend Darwin
against the forces of ignorance while at the same time cramming socialism
and green Luddism into their students.
Walter E. Wallis Palo Alto
Me too...
Subject: Intelligent Design
Jerry
I don't see any evidence for intelligent design in the
evolution of life, or in any other physical objects in our universe, but I
have always found it intriguing that the laws of physics look like a trail
of candy leading us from one explanation of reality to the next; possibly
eventually to a theory of everything. String theory, Brane theory, etc.
would have been inconceivable without all that went before, but we've only
got to where we are today because each earlier explanation was a good enough
approximation for the needs of the time.
Obviously our species had to evolve minds that could
make enough sense of the world to be able to survive on the African
savannah, but there's no way we could have gone from say a spear to HP's
quantum crossbar latch without lots of small scientific and technological
steps along the way. If we lived in a universe where the laws of physics
could only be logically understood on either the level of throwing spears or
on that of quantum theory, with nothing that our minds could grasp
in-between, then we'd still be throwing those spears.
Best wishes
Paul Dove
===========
====
Subject: News from the UK
<
http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1404449,00.html >--
with an unwritten constitution, the UK is effectively an elective
dictatorship. <
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1404517,00.html >--few
Labour ministers have any managerial experience, and it shows. < http://society.guardian.co.uk/asylumseekers/story/
0,7991,1404702,00.html >--interesting...
My siblings in America will find this interesting: <
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59136-2005Feb2.html >.
TANSTAAFL.
-- Harry Erwin, PhD, Senior Lecturer of Computing,
University of Sunderland. Computational neuroscientist modeling bat
bioacoustics and behavior. http://osiris.sunderland.ac.uk/~cs0her
The Crown holds unlimited power; it is exercised
through the King In Parliament, which is to say, through the House of
Commons, but legally the monarch could refuse assent to laws; and of course
the army's allegiance is to the sovereign, not to the Parliament at
Westminster. An interesting system.
Subject: Latest Nature Issue is Interesting
< http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v433/
n7025/index.html >
Lab relations sour as 'missing disk' charges are
proved false 447 Los Alamos lab's computer disks didn't go missing - they
never existed.
Cancellation e-mail shakes recipients of outer-planet
grants 447 NASA notice of grant cuts was just a 'miscommunication', agency
says.
Astronomy: Hot pursuit of missing matter 465 J.
MICHAEL SHULL Astronomers are going to extraordinary lengths in the quest to
tot up the 'ordinary' matter in the Universe. The latest initiative has
probed hot gas in intergalactic space by means of an X-ray lighthouse.
The mass of the missing baryons in the X-ray forest of
the warm–hot intergalactic medium 495 FABRIZIO NICASTRO, SMITA MATHUR,
MARTIN ELVIS, JEREMY DRAKE, TAOTAO FANG, ANTONELLA FRUSCIONE, YAIR KRONGOLD,
HERMAN MARSHALL, RIK WILLIAMS & ANDREAS ZEZAS
-- Harry Erwin, PhD, Senior Lecturer of Computing,
University of Sunderland. Computational neuroscientist modeling bat
bioacoustics and behavior. http://osiris.sunderland.ac.uk/~cs0her
============
Subject: Marine Recruiting
Sir,
earlier you had an
entry from a reader noting the Marine's success in recruiting in the
face of a seemingly unpopular war, which met some scepticism. I am
forwarding the following, as I'm sure others will as well. It's not dire
news, by any means, but does cast doubt on prior sunny estimates.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=542&ncid=
542&e=1&u=/ap/20050203/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/marines_recruiting
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer
WASHINGTON - The Marine Corps fell short of its
monthly recruiting goal in January for the first time in nearly 10 years,
officials said Thursday.
While it was only a one-month slip and the Marines say
they remain on track to meet their recruiting target for the full year, the
January numbers reflect a broader reality for the military: Recruiting is
more difficult because of the highly publicized U.S. war casualties in Iraq
(news - web sites).
"Now we're seeing parents resisting" the sales pitch
of recruiters because they worry that their son or daughter will wind up in
a war zone, said Maj. Dave Greismer, spokesman for Marine Corps Recruiting
Command.
"What we're doing is working with the parents more,"
he added. "Whereas before it may have taken one visit and they would accept,
now it may take a recruiter two, three, four" visits. In some cases parents
of 17-year-olds, who are a prime target of recruiters, are insisting that
their son or daughter wait until age 18, when recruits no longer need
parental approval to join.
In January the Marines signed up 84 fewer recruits
than their goal of 3,270. That was the first time they fell short for a
month since July 1995, which also was the last year in which the Marines
missed their full-year recruiting goal.
Greismer stressed that although the number of new
enlistment contracts in January was short of the goal, the Marines managed
to make the January quota of recruits sent to boot camp because some had
been signed up previously.
For the October-January period, the Marines sent
10,222 new recruits to boot camp, or 184 more than their target number,
Greismer said.
Bryan
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