News Flashes

Things I heard this morning:

•  Johnny Depp will be playing in a fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie, the “Mad Hatter” in a Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland, and the movie version of the wonderful book “Shantaram” (by Gregory David Roberts). Can’t wait.
• John McCain crashed and said he will be “postponing” the presidential campaign until the financial crisis is solved and asked that Obama do the same. Barack said he would not, because it is important for the people to know about how the person who will be in charge of the mess is handling it. Besides, isn’t kind of a necessary qualification for a president to be able to handle several things at once?
• George Dubya Bush invited both presidential candidates to debate about the 700 billion $ “save the banks” plan at the white house. It ended in chaos because the reps couldn’t unify their opinion. The discussion is currently “on a break”. Yeah, they’re ready to lead a country.

Last but not least, some german headlines:

New York (dpa) – Die US-Finanzmarktkrise hat einen neuen dramatischen Höhepunkt erreicht. Jetzt ist die einst führende amerikanische Sparkasse Washington Mutual zusammengebrochen. In einem Notverkauf wird sie zu weiten Teilen vom Finanzkonzern J.P. Morgan Chase übernommen. Das teilte die US-Sparkassenaufsicht in New York mit. Die Sparkasse hatte in der Kreditkrise Milliardenverluste erlitten und mehr als 90 Prozent ihres Börsenwerts eingebüßt.

Berlin (dpa) – Der Bundestag will heute das Gesetz zum Ausbau der Kleinkinderbetreuung verabschieden. Die Zahl der Krippenplätze soll damit bis 2013 verdreifacht werden. Familienministerin Ursula von der Leyen sprach von einem “gewaltigen Schritt vorwärts” für die Kinderbetreuung in Deutschland. In kaum mehr als eineinhalb Jahren sei es gelungen, gesetzliche Grundlage und Finanzierungsrahmen für 750 000 Kitaplätze zu schaffen. Das Gesetz regelt auch einen Rechtsanspruch auf einen Kitaplatz vom Jahr 2013 an.

Yay!

Brought to you by one of my three personalities

To start off, I’d like to specify: there is no official diagnosis of a “multiple personality disorder”. Experts are not sure it truly exists. And even though the two are used synonymously, it is not (at all) the same as schizophrenia. But this isn’t the subject, so more to that some other time.

People who are bicultural and speak two languages may actually shift their personalities when they switch from one language to another, according to new research in the Journal of Consumer Research. Three studies show that language-triggered frame switching (i.e., switching from one set of mental frames to another) occurs only with biculturals, not with bilinguals who are not bicultural.

In one of the studies, a group of bilingual U.S. Hispanic women viewed ads that featured women in different scenarios. The participants saw the ads in one language (English or Spanish) and then, six months later, they viewed the same ads in the other language. Their perceptions of themselves and the women in the ads shifted depending on the language. “One respondent, for example, saw an ad’s main character as a risk-taking, independent woman in the Spanish version of the ad, but as a hopeless, lonely, confused woman in the English version,” write the authors.

The shift in perception seems to happen unconsciously, and may have broad implications for consumer behavior and political choices among biculturals.

You can read the whole article here (but it’s not for free). I find this very interesting, because I can speak three languages and have lived in three different countries. Which according to them means I have (at least) three different personalities. Frankly, I’m not surprised. I have heard people tell me before that my voice sounds differently depending on what language I’m speaking and I also believe I react differently to things according to which cultural mind-frame I’m currently in. But I’ll still be a feminist and politically left-minded in any case. As for the consumer behavior… I don’t know.

Does anyone else have experience with this phenomena? Or does anyone think I seem to have a different personality here on my english-speaking blog than in my german-speaking everyday life?

For those worried about my blood pressure

I’m fine, I work it all off at the gym . Besides, I read this morning:

Washington (dpa) – Der demokratische US-Präsidentschaftskandidat Barack Obama liegt neuesten Umfragen zufolge wieder vor seinem republikanischen Gegner John McCain. Nach einem vom TV-Sender CNN errechneten Durchschnitt der derzeit vorliegenden Umfragen erhält Obama 49 Prozent der Wählerstimmen. Auf McCain entfallen demnach lediglich 44 Prozent, berichtete der Sender. Sieben Prozent seien unentschlossen.

Ok, so CNN might not be the best source, but at least it’s something! I guess at one point it just shifted and I had a hard time believing that everything would be ok. But now, if this keeps up, I will be able to sleep soundly again!

To those who don’t understand why I get so fed up: it’s because I want to be informed and I don’t like what I’m hearing. It’s frustrating not being able to change anything, even though I have such a strong conviction about what would be right for the country and the answer seems so clear to me, yet (seemingly) so many Americans don’t get it. And then there’s the lying.

IN YOUR FACE, REPS!