Time to brush up on my German...

There are two stories catching my eye this morning:

• The dollar is falling fast
• A thread on DKos about the new culture war (Europe vs. the US, and Europe is winning)

The latter is particularly interesting:

The European Union is now, arguably, the world's largest superpower. Militarily, the US is the undisputed champ. But in eceonomic terms, and in notions of freedom, the welfare of its citizens, and in human rights, we've been lapped.
Much of American "productivity," Rifkin suggests, is accounted for by economic activity that might be better described as wasteful: military spending; the endlessly expanding police and prison bureaucracies; the spiraling cost of healthcare; suburban sprawl; the fast-food industry and its inevitable corollary, the weight-loss craze. Meaningful comparisons of living standards, he says, consistently favor the Europeans. In France, for instance, the work week is 35 hours and most employees take 10 to 12 weeks off every year, factors that clearly depress GDP. Yet it takes a John Locke heart of stone to say that France is worse off as a nation for all that time people spend in the countryside downing du vin rouge et du Camembert with friends and family [...]

European children are consistently better educated; the United States would rank ninth in the EU in reading, ninth in scientific literacy, and 13th in math. Twenty-two percent of American children grow up in poverty, which means that our country ranks 22nd out of the 23 industrialized nations, ahead of only Mexico and behind all 15 of the pre-2004 EU countries. What's more horrifying: the statistic itself or the fact that no American politician to the right of Dennis Kucinich would ever address it?

It looks like T.R. Reid has a new book out about Europe. I am a tremendous fan of his book Confucious Lives Next Door, an account of living in Tokyo as bureau chief for the Washington Post. In that book, he explains some of the cultural reasons Japan emerged from the ashes of the second World War to become an economic and entertainment powerhouse. The reviews of The United States of Europe are promising--it may go into the pile after Don't Think of an Elephant.

First, I have to finish the Baroque Cycle. And then maybe study some vocabulary. We were in a store yesterday, and two guys next to us were discussing German. While my grammar hasn't degraded totally, my vocabulary certainly has. I think I got maybe one word in three. Ugh.