From Monday to Thursday I have been in Düsseldorf attending an industry trade show. It has been four largely uneventful days, except for one incident that was particularly disturbing. I will write about it in a separate post.

Lots of walking, trains, meetings, and random thoughts:

  • Why does the baker not let me take a picture of one of their St. Martin`s Day “Weckmann”?
  • There was a time, years ago, when I could speak some German. But thanks to lack of practice, all that is gone now
  • The Germans may excel in several things, but food is definitely not one of them
  • Winter is coming
  • Staring through the window at the Düsseldorf airport VIP lounge, while it rains outside, is quite sad… specially when you have to wait 6 hours for your flight. Time to listen to some The Cure and read newspapers
  • Nevermind the newspapers, all full of radical, visceral and populist reactions to the murders in Paris (more about that in my next post).

How brainless can you go in order to sell more? We need more Mahers, Colberts, and Krugmans and less… everything else (from the so called “left” to the extremist “right”). Where are the strong statesmen who believe in The Rule of Law when you need them? Where are the critical and truly free-thinking intellectuals when you need them? Where are WE, when we shouldn’t need anyone else?