Monthly Archives: March 2012

Nominal and actual power in the parlimentary system

When the United States or even France elect a president it is big news.  The election of the German president not so much. That is, of course, because, at least in normal times, the German president doesn’t hold significant power. … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Nominal and actual power in the parlimentary system

Nothing is quite as permanent as a provisional arrangement

The German title of the German constitution is Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Literally translated, that would be the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. There is a German word for constitution (Verfassung) and previous constitutions were titled … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Constitution blogging day in view of tomorrow’s presidential election

Tomorrow (Sunday, March 18, 2012) the 15th Federal Convention will elect Joachim Gauck president of Germany. As I already threatened when there were speculations about his predecessors resignation, I’m seizing the opportunity to talk about the German constitution, the Grundgesetz. … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Constitution blogging day in view of tomorrow’s presidential election

New series: Fourier analysis and intuition

Looking at my posts so far, I haven’t been talking about math yet. So today I’m starting a new series on my favorite part of math: Fourier analysis. Now please my dear readers (both of you), don’t run away!  This … Continue reading

Posted in Math | Tagged , | Comments Off on New series: Fourier analysis and intuition