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magazine for culture, politics and life from a transatlantic perspective

New York in the 80ies

30 years ago New York City was a dangerous place. Especially Bushwick in Brooklyn, my neighborhood today, was one of the most poor and devastated places you could imagine. You can still see that in missing buildings, which were often burned down by their owners because they just wouldn’t sell.

Anyway, I just read a blog post on woot.com that has occasional reviews of funny used books. This one is called “Street Smart” and was written by Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa and their lawyer Murray Schwartz.

In his blog entry Jason Toon highlights the funniest and most paranoid moments of the book (including Guardian Angels fashion) and wouldn’t miss the chance to spice them up with a handful of hilarious comments. My favorite excerpt from the book is probably this one:

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American Exceptionalism

Two newly constructed palaces of liberty. One is the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, the other one its counterpart in Berlin. Can you guess which is which? The answer after the jump.

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We Hood, We Votin’, and Throwin’ it Uuuup!

Just when you thought the Dems were beginning to move in circles, looking to something as colorful as gas taxes to spike the “Donkey Punch,” Obama supporters turn the knobs and change the beat.

Following Will.I.Am’s wildly popular “Yes We Can,” featuring soul saint John Legend, basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the angelic Scarlett Johansson (just to name a few), TI$A (from the superior, but much overlooked, hip-hop/r’n'b producer/writer/super group Sa-Ra Creative Partners) drops another MTV/Hollywood gem to keep the election spectacle vibrant.

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Diversity and the city

Peter Marcuse and Margit Mayer

“The Dynamics of the City - Fragmentation and Concentration” was the topic of a keynote lecture by Columbia University Professor Peter Marcuse (if the name sounds familiar, you might have heard of his father Herbert) at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin tonight. The lecture was the opening of a conference on cultural diversity in New York and Berlin. [Read more]

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