Blogger insider is back Keith has enough work to match about 200 webloggers every two weeks who are participating in his q&a game. Therefore newcomers are not accepted anymore. John from LA asked me these excellent first questions. You can check my first questions and his answers on his blog. Btw John, there are worse addictions in the world than workaholism. 1) We're now twelve-plus after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Do you sense that Germany is truly united? If not, what work remains to be done to unite the nation? No. Germany is definitely not yet united. I guess It will take at least one generation for the Germans to become one people. East Germans ("Ossis") still have to fight with loads of prejudices West Germans ("Wessis") have against them. Wessis often think Ossis are slow, lazy and naive. Sometimes this is true as East Germany was a country where initiative and critical thinking were not valued high. I guess if you are born after 1985 it does not really make a big difference for your character if you are born in the East or West of Germany. 2) What are your opinions on the whole issue of copyright protection on recorded music and Napster and other peer-to-peer file sharing? That is a difficult subject. I like the fact that the big entertainment groups have smaller profits now due to Napster and the like. On the other hand the artists are left out as well. Therefore I think a system like emusic where the customers pay a monthly fee and can download as much as they want could be a viable compromise. 3) What is your take on the status of the American-led "War on Terrorism?" I have stopped writing on it in my weblog as I feel helpless about it (one of the things I can't change and have to accept). But if you ask me I have to say that I am very skeptical about the American policy. In a way I see the attacks as a reaction to the US foreign politics of the past. The war on terrorism just continues the arrogant and self-righteous appearance of the Americans in the world. It will not solve the problem of terrorism. It will only aggravate it. By attacking one of the poorest countries in the world the US definitely have not diminished the hatred against them. And hatred against the last superpower is the origin of the attacks. It really frightens me how the US behave in the UN or in environmental conferences. The US always do what serves them best no matter if it is humanitarian or not. Therefore I see our future on this planet endangered if we do not get a world government with all people and nations represented in there soon. The huge problems which lie ahead of us can only be solved together. Different nations, people and religions just show the huge variety of the human species and should not separate us from another anymore. 4) Does your academic study of statistics enrich your passion for music? If so, in what ways? Strange question. By chance I happen to like many bands with numbers in their names, e.g. 16 Horsepower, 22 Pistepirkko, 808 State (in moderation). Basically listening to music is a counterbalance to the dry subject of statistics for me.