corrente

I read one time that in John F. Kennedy's famous speech in Germany, when he gave the line "Ich bin ein Berliner!" it got a huge roar from the crowd because half of them were falling down laughing. It seems that, due to either a bad translator or a local idiom, what he was saying was "I am a jelly donut." (The proper wording would have been "Ich bin Berliner" if he meant he was a resident of the city. If the speech had been given in Copenhagen instead he would have been saying "I am a Danish" rather than "I am Danish.")

That story has nothing whatever to do with this story, I just like to tell it.

(via Reuters)

BERLIN (Reuters) - Dozens of American and German supporters of U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry rallied in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate on Sunday to mark the U.S. Fourth of July holiday.

They carried banners in the center of the German capital criticizing President Bush and handed out leaflets urging U.S. expatriates in Berlin to register to vote in November.

"More than 10,000 live in Berlin," read a leaflet, printed in German and English. "They can vote but most don't. Do you want a new American president? Then tell an American to vote."

Among the anti-Bush banners carried was a poster saying "Freedom and Democracy, U.S.-American Style - Shame!" that included a picture of a hooded Iraq prisoner being abused. "Drop Bush, not Bombs" read another poster.

How ironic is it that people can protest against Bush with impunity in the heart of Berlin, but get arrested for it in West Virginia?