this other world

Preparations for G8 have entered into hectic phase as we can start counting the days to the summit that will take place in north Germany. Groups from all parts of extra-parliamentary society (help to asylum seekers, anti-racist groups, migrant groups, feminists, the whole Freedom of Sexual Orientiation gangs, agriculture groups, anti-war groups etc etc etc) are preparing marches, sit-ins, workshops, and further political activities to take place in parallel to the summit in early June. As I'm closer to such networks than to technocratic ones, I tend to forget how in spite of all protest actions the self-named leaders of the world will meet up and have garden tea parties and not really perceive any of the hectic. A look at Berny's photo album for the last G8 in St Petersburg suffices to get it all into perspective. Your life, their life, and how boring much fun being a first lady must be.

A friend of mine originally comes from near Rostock, and apparently her parents are horrified by the money lavished on demolishing national trust homes (because they are too close to the hotel where the summit will take place. Old villas, precious architecture. Worry not! An exact copy of the villa will be built again at the same spot once the summit is over! Cost: ? million Euros), renewing and widening roads that had just recently been renewed and nobody uses (cost?), setting up a gigantic fence around the kempinsky hotel (Cost estimated at around 12 million). Boy what fun.