Polar bear Knut senselessly murders ten carp in front of zoo visitors

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Knut, the once-cute celebrity polar bear turned vicious killer, is at the center of a controversy over his brutal slaughter of ten carp at the Berlin Zoo. The massive polar bear, who has lived at the zoo since birth, apparently fished the carp out of the moat surrounding him and ripped them to shreds in front of several disgusted zoo patrons.

One of Germany’s top newspapers, Bild, ran the headline “Knut Embroiled in Carp Scandal,” and featured an article which quoted animal rights groups who criticized zoo officials for placing live animals within Knut’s reach.

It seems that Knut, the psychopathic killer that he is, eventually chowed down on the fish, but according to the BBC, “There is speculation that hand-reared Knut killed the carp just for fun.” One German newspaper reported that Knut “senselessly murdered the carp” before leaving their remains.

I think Tyler Cowen says it best: “Umm… HE’S A POLAR BEAR!”

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Welcome to “robot” restaurant, Germany

by Iva Skoch on

What do you get when you combine fine German engineering with the restaurant business? That’s right, you get a fully automated restaurant, or a food-serving roller coaster, as some like to call it.

Yes, folks, that’s Baggers restaurant in Nuremberg for you. You don’t need waiters to order food because customers use touch-screen TVs to browse the menu and choose their meal.

There are long metal tracks criss-crossing the dining area and run from the kitchen, high up in the roof, down to the tables, twisting and turning as they go, BBC reports. And down the tracks – in little pots with wheels fixed to the bottom – speeds food. “Supersonic sausages, high-pace pancakes and wine bottles whizzing down to the customers’ tables with the help of good old gravity.”

As far as I can tell, you still have to chew your meal, but give Germany a few more years and they might come up with a robot to do that for you, too.

75 years after Dachau opened

by Jamie Rhein on

One of the most somber places I’ve been in my travels is Dachau. The first time I visited this place of atrocities against humanity was in the middle of winter. Although the day was sunny, the temperature was bitter cold. While reading Jaunted, I found out that March 22 marked the 75th anniversary of when Dachau opened.

This concentration camp was the first in Germany and is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Jews and others during the Holocaust. It doesn’t look like it did back in 1938. The barracks are gone, although, there are cement slabs to show where they were. Many other buildings are intact, including the gas chambers and crematorium.

I went back a few summers later when I was traveling with another friend of mine who wanted to go there. I don’t think I sat through the movie a second time. Like the first time, the day was sunny. Even though the temperature was several degrees higher, I remember the cold of the first time, and how strange it was to go looking for a place to eat in Munich after wards.

Munich scraps plans to build Transrapid train line

by Anna Brones on

It’s always exciting to build fast and flashy transportation, so when plans were made last fall to build a Transrapid maglev train in Munich, the celebratory champagne flowed. But according to German sources, those plans have now been scrapped, and the high-speed train which was to connect the Munich train station and airport, will no longer materialize.

The Transrapid train was to be a magnetic levitation rail link; a high-speed monorail that moves uses magnetic levitation. The only other city to have such transportation is Shanghai. But fancy transportation comes with a price tag, and the originally projected 1.85 billion euros quickly rose to 3 billion. At that price, the German government, the state of Bavaria and companies involved decided to ditch the project.

Maglev technology is exciting — Shanghai’s is the fastest train in the world — but unfortunately we will have to wait just a little longer before we see a European version.

Hamburg’s oldest brothel closing

by Iva Skoch on

I wonder what it actually means when brothels close because “business is falling.” Does it mean that German men are getting way too civilized and sophisticated to frequent brothels? Doubtful.

Yet, Hamburg’s oldest brothel, Luxor, a family-run operation in the heart of Germany’s premier red light district, is closing its doors, IHT reports.. Business, apparently isn’t what it used to be. They used to have 10 girls, now they only have 4. No word on whether they are all family members.

They are probably getting pushed out by bigger and cheaper competition, some multi-national brothel operation. What a shame. Do you have no sense of tradition and old-school values, people?

Where is Eliot when they need him?