The old way of doing politics is increasingly leaving a lot of people disenchanted and disengaged. Low election turnouts and the apathy of voters often comes down to the conviction that it makes little difference who you elect because the mainstream parties play the same old game by the same old rules.

This in part explains the appeal of Pirate politics. Pirate Parties have been started in over 40 countries. They bring new energy and a new political vision into play that directly addresses the need for a new type of participatory politics.

The pirate party idea got its start when the Swedish Piratpartiet was founded in 2006.

In 2009 European Pirate Parties agreed on a common declaration of goals:

- reform of copyright, exemption of non-commercial activity from copyright regulation, reduction of the duration of copyright protections; banning of DRM technologies, opposition to media or hardware levies;

- reform of patent law, particularly stating that patents on life (including patents on seeds and on genes) and software should not be allowed;

- strengthening civil rights, transparent government, speedy and fair trial and freedom of speech; expansion of the right to anonymity in communication.

Wikipedia:

In the European Parliament election of 2009 the Swedish Pirate Party received 7.1 percent of the votes, winning two seats and achieving the first major success of a Pirate Party in an election. The German Pirate Party managed to win 8.9 percent of the votes in the Berlin state election, 2011.

The German Pirate Party is self-described as the "party of the information society." In common with Pirate Parties elsewhere, it wants to see greater emphasis placed on transparency and civic participation.

Der Spiegel:

Take, for example, "LiquidFeedback," the Pirate Party's Internet voting software, which can give a greater voice to the individual than other parties have done until now. Or "Mumble," a voice conference program that allows Pirates to participate in discussions with just about anyone from the comfort of their own homes -- as long as they have a computer, an Internet connection, a microphone and loudspeakers.

The German Pirates surprised a lot of people with their showing in parliamentary elections in the Berlin state election in 2011 when they got 8.9% of the vote. In upcoming parliamentary elections in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein the Pirates stand to take between 6 to 8% of the vote based on poll projections.

In Canada the Pirate Party was registered with Elections Canada in 2010. The Canadian Party advocates intellectual property reform, privacy protection, network neutrality and greater government openness.

A German clothing retailer popular with far-right extremists has sparked outrage in Germany with a controversial store opening in Saxony.

A new Thor Steinar store in the city of Chemnitz has opened with the name "Brevik." This is considered by many Germans to be a tribute to Anders Breivik, the Norwegian mass killer.


Anders Behring Breivik has become a hero in some far-right quarters in Germany. He was responsible for the massacre of 69 people at a camp of the Norwegian Workers Youth League on the island of Utøya. Breivik also staged bombing attacks on government buildings in Oslo resulting in the deaths of eight people.

I've been following some of the fall-out since the massacre, including a proposed play about Breivik. It's no surprise that there are those on the far-right who view his criminal assault as "heroic."

Thor Steinar claims the store name "Brevik" really refers to a town south-east of Oslo, but few people buy their explanation. The name also shows up in the window of their central store festooned with Norwegian flags.

The citizens of Chemnitz are outraged by the presence of the store.

Der Spiegel reports:

On Monday, several thousand Chemnitz residents gathered to protest against right-wing extremism and neo-Nazis in the city. The city's mayor, Barbara Ludwig, told the local Freie Presse newspaper that 2,000 people had gathered in the inner city, to send a "message of a peaceful, cosmopolitan, diverse and tolerant Chemnitz in which there is no place for Nazis."

The German graffiti artist Mathias Koehler aka Loomit has been working in India under the aegis of the year of "Germany in India". Graffiti artists Zebster, Tasso and Wok have also been involved with the project.

Here's part of the statement put out by Infinite Opportunities that describes some of the aims of "Germany and India 2011-2012":

Eligible projects have to be in accordance with the overall theme and focus of “Germany and India 2011-2012: Infinite Opportunities”. The project should be relevant to both Germany and India and fall under the thematic focus of “StadtRäume — CitySpaces”, which addresses relevant transformation processes in India and the various challenges regarding rapid urban development.

Later this month the German Film Orchestra will perform works by the Indian composer A.R. Rahman aka "the Mozart of Madras". In another much anticipated event the legendary German football club Bayern Munich took on team India at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.

Loomit has been working in Delhi. One of his projects took him to the Malviya Nagar area. Below are some examples of Loomit's work in India.








Check out the video beneath of a collaborative musical event featuring German percussionist and drummer Christoph Haberer and Indian percussionist Sivamani.





Read more about Germany in India 2011-2012 here.

A cover of the German magazine Focus that shows the Venus de Milo holding up a middle finger accompanied by the words 'Cheater of the Euro family' continues to provoke outrage in Greece. The cover and accompanying article in Focus triggered a dissing match between German and Greek tabloids.

Now it seems a lawsuit may be involved.

Der Spiegel:

... six Greek citizens who felt particularly offended are taking legal action against the journalists involved, including Helmut Markwort, the magazine's founder who was also editor in chief of Focus at the time of publication.

According to reports in the Wednesday editions of the German newspapers Handelsblatt and Tagesspiegel, Markwort and nine other Focus employees are due to appear in an Athens court on June 29. The newspapers reported that public prosecutor Ourania Stathea is looking into accusations of defamation, libel and the denigration of Greek national symbols.

In the offending Focus edition the question is posed - "will the Greeks make off with our money?" Greece is presented as a country burdened with debt that cheated its way into the Eurozone.

The magazine broadside has opened old wounds and ignited buried resentments. Anti-German videos have been showing up on YouTube containing the most extreme images from Nazi-era concentration camps. Insults include the claim that when Greek civilization was at its zenith the ancestors of the Germans were little more than barbarians.

An Athens daily responded in kind to the Focus' graphic by publishing a doctored image of the Victory column in Berlin. The goddess Victoria atop the Siegessaeule is shown holding a swastika. There is a warning of 'financial Nazism.'

Greek politicians haven't exactly been going out of their way to cool the rhetoric. Vice-President Theodoros Pangalos made references recently to Nazi looting of Greek wealth. He said: "They [the Nazis] took away the Greek gold that was in the Bank of Greece, they took away the Greek money and they never gave it back…!". PM Papandreou has also weighed in on the debate with the claim that Germany has never paid compensation for WW2 crimes.

Markwort's defence is that the cover was satirical. He said "It was legitimate, satirical commentary... After all, the Greeks invented satire."

Focus lowered the finger on the cover of a recent edition. It shows the Venus de Milo with hand extended as though begging for a handout, accompanied by the words “Griechenland – und unser Geld” (Greece and our money)... guaranteed to stoke further indignation.

In his role as Archbishop of Munich (1977-1982), how much did Joseph Ratzinger know about the sexual abuse that was clearly a serious problem in the German church at that time. More to the point, what was his precise role in the case of a priest named Peter Hullerman - a serial abuser of boys? Did church officials attempt to shield the pope by essentially scapegoating Ratzinger's former Munich deputy, vicar-general Gerhard Gruber?

In 1979 Peter Hullerman admitted to sexually abusing boys. In one case he reportedly fed an 11-year old boy alcohol before coaxing the child to engage in oral sex. This being the Roman Catholic church such crimes were kept in the closet and dealt with internally.

While receiving psychiatric treatment, Hullerman lived in a parish house in Ratzinger's Munich diocese. Even though his psychiatrist warned church authorities that the priest should not be allowed to work with children, Hullerman was assigned to unrestricted pastoral ministry in the parish of St. Johannes Evangelist.

We know Ratzinger was aware of Hullerman and his criminal history because he (Ratzinger) chaired a meeting on January 15, 1980, during which Hullerman's living arrangements and therapy were discussed. Despite the pope's knowledge of the case the diocese has been turning cartwheels in an effort to distance the pope from the affair.

A Der Spiegel article describes events following Hullerman's reassignment :

In the town of Grafing near Munich, H. again sexually abused several pupils. In 1986, a local court in Ebersberg in Bavaria handed out an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a 4,000 deutsche mark fine to H. He was also convicted of distributing pornographic materials.

Church officials then simply transferred the pedophile from Grafing to Garching -- but apparently without informing the parish there of his history. Once again, children at his new place of work complained that their priest always kissed them on the mouth -- a practice they found disgusting. Mothers complained to the parish council, but nothing happened. Wilfried Fesselmann, 41, was 11 at the time of the alleged abuse. The priest was transferred again, this time to his current place of residence in the town of Bad Tölz. Once again no warning was issued to the new parish, where the priest was able to conduct church services with the young people of the area. And it was not until last week that H. was finally suspended from priestly service.

The Hullerman case became a hot topic earlier in the year especially as it was becoming clear that the scandal was getting close to the pope. Der Spiegel cited a letter written by Gerhard Gruber in which he claimed that he had been made the target of telephone badgering by the archdiocese "begging" him to take full responsibility for the affair. He was even faxed a prepared statement to sign.

The diocese has admitted that Ratzinger was partly responsible for the decisions involving Hullerman, but has attempted to deflect the bulk of responsibility onto Gruber. The statement released by the archdiocese states that "Gruber accepts full responsibility for the incorrect decisions". A spokesman for the archdiocese also said that Gruber had "acted on his own authority".

Gruber says the statement that he "acted on his own authority" was never discussed with him - a claim he has challenged in an open letter. In the letter he also said he was "very upset" about the way in which "incidents were portrayed" by the archdiocese.

A while back I posted on a sermon delivered by the bishop of Augsburg, Walter Mixa. He made an attempt to smear free thinkers by tying atheism to the crimes of the Nazis.
The bishop is back in the news again. Five former residents of the St Josef's orphanage in Bavaria have submitted written statements to Germany's Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper claiming the bishop hit and degraded them.

A Timesonline article gives the account of one Marcus Tagwerk - a pseudonym since the man is presently employed as a teacher:

"Once he [Mixa] took a wooden cooking spoon and beat me until it broke," said Markus Tagwerk, now 41, who was in the Catholic home between 1972 and 1982.

"Then he used his hand. He would shout, 'Take this punishment, child of God!' and 'I'll soon drive Satan out of you!'". The beatings were regular and always brutal.

"At least fifty times Mr Mixa pulled down my trousers and beat me on the bottom with a stick, five or six whacks each time," Mr Tagwerk added.

Other victims give their real names. Monica Bernhard, 47, says that Mixa together with the supervising nuns, created "a climate of fear". She says the assaults were always inflicted on parts of the body that could be hidden - high up on the arm and on the bottom.

Independent:

Another former St Josef's resident, named as Thomas Huber, said he was in pain for "several days" after Bishop Mixa flogged him. "I was made to bend over a bench, then Mixa hit me 35 times with a carpet beater," he said.

Three other former residents said Bishop Mixa habitually punished children with slaps to the face, punches to the arms, and beatings. The former residents claimed that Catholic nuns who ran the home also hit children with brooms and wooden shoes.

These accusations haven't only surfaced because of the climate of reporting. A long-standing member of the child charity SOS-Kinderdorf has stated that accusations against Mixa were made by pupils many years ago. She said no action was taken at the time because "...open criticism can sometimes boomerang against the accusers".

Mixa 's spokesperson dismissed the allegations as "... absurd and defamatory statements. "

Link also to Raw Story.

As the sexual abuse scandal closes in on the Vatican like a gathering storm, Pope Benedict seems isolated and out-of-touch. His recent dismissal of what he calls "petty gossip" in reference to the scandal suggests a man in denial.

The eminent Swiss theologian and author, Hans Küng, has offered some of the most compelling criticisms of the Vatican's handling of the sex abuse scandal. Küng is professor emeritus at the University of Tubingen in Germany and president of the Global Ethic Foundation. In recent years he has stated that Pope Benedict is isolated and unable to adequately address internal challenges facing the church. He warned that under Benedict: "The church risks becoming a sect. Many Catholics no longer expect anything from this Pope. It's very sad..."

With respect to the sex abuse scandal Küng has had the courage to say what many think: “No one in the whole of the Catholic Church knows as much about abuse cases as the Pope. Honesty demands that Joseph Ratzinger himself, the man who for decades has been principally responsible for the worldwide cover-up, at last pronounce his own mea culpa.”

Küng is speaking to the truth at the heart of this matter. Joseph Ratzinger is not the man to lead the church out of the moral quagmire it finds itself in as a result of decades of lies, cover-up and denial, but the Pope does need to take full responsibility for his role in the scandal - in particular the cover-up policies that in some cases enabled serial abusers to get away with their crimes for years.

Hans Küng, who taught theology alongside Ratzinger at Tubingen, Germany, is very clear about what needs to happen. He said the bishops involved, including the Pope, should not just ask for forgiveness but "should finally acknowledge their own co-responsibility" in covering up "systematic abuses". He added: "Is it not time for Pope Benedict XVI himself to acknowledge his share of responsibility, instead of whining about a campaign against his person?"

A Richard Owen article in Timesonline cites comments made by Hans Küng in the Italian paper La Repubblica:

Father Kung... noted that the Pope — the former Joseph Ratzinger — had taught theology for eight years at Regensburg, where he had been in close contact with his older brother Georg, who was choirmaster of the "Domspatzen" or "Cathedral Sparrows" in Regensburg.

Former Regensburg choirboys have come forward with allegations of sexual and physical abuse dating back decades after the growing crisis over paedophile priests spread to Germany in January this year.

"Joseph Ratzinger was perfectly well aware of the situation of the Domspatzen," Father Kung said. "And it is not a case of slaps, which unfortunately were the order of the day at the time, but of sex crimes." Monsignor Ratzinger has admitted striking choirboys but has denied all knowledge of sex abuse allegations."

In his role as Cardinal Ratzinger, the Pope was head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith. Küng notes that in this role he imposed strict "papal confidentiality" on cases of sexual abuse by priests around the world and says that in five years as Pope this hush-hush policy 'had not altered one jot'. Küng added: "In the name of truth, Joseph Ratzinger, the man who for decades was mainly responsible for the concealment of these abuses at a world level, should have pronounced a mea culpa."

Valkyrie, the movie about the WW2 plot to assassinate Hitler, had its world premier in New York after a long and difficult journey to the screen.

The sculpture has been denounced by Thomas Strobl, head of the Christian Democratic Party, as "piggish". Another Christian Democrat, Christoph Palmer, dismisses it as "cheap effect-mongering".