While in the United States merely hinting that a presidential candidate might have once worn a turban is enough to mount a smear campaign, Germany is labouring mightily on the ground for real progress in Euro-Muslim relations—liberal Europe's battle for hearts and minds, if you will. Surely, having a proportionately higher population of devout Muslims in the EU adds necessity to improved integration, but looking at the evidence, the US has plenty to learn.

The rage of Muslim offense at the sacreligious West reared its head last week in Germany in two high profile cases: (1) Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble drew Islam ire when he told the German weekly Die Zeit, referring to Danish papers' republishing of Mohammed "All European newspapers should print the [Mohammed] caricatures. We also think they're pathetic, but the use of press freedom is no reason to resort to violence."—a quote he later revised, affirming the importance of religion to all people in the 21st century. (2) A Berlin art exhibition temporarily closed after receiving threats of violence from Islamist groups for displaying a poster, one of 22 other religion-critical works, with the words "stupid stone" written above the sacred mosque in Mecca. It is unclear if or when the exhibit will be re-opened.

Alexa Dvorson with the BBC reports on the Berlin-based rescue organisation, Hatun Surucu, named after a Kurdish woman shot to death three years ago in an honour killing organized by her three brothers. She has a chilling conversation with three youths on the streets of Berlin—Turkish, Kurdish and Palestinian—who tell Dvorson they wouldn't hesitate to kill their sister either should she have premarital relations and bring shame to her family. The podcast of Dvorson's story, featured on Radio 4's weekly From Our Own Correspondent, can be heard here; it starts at 6:30.

One clear way to foster inter-cultural understanding is through dialog. The Germany-based site Qantara ('bridge' in Arabic)—a joint effort of Germany's Federal Center for Political Education, Deutsche Welle, the Goethe Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations and the German Foreign Office—has been conceived for just that purpose. With a broad offering of multi-media, including thought-provoking essays, forums and slide shows, the site is at the forefront of steps toward a moderate Islam, such as that developing in Turkey, and seeking common ground between sacred and secular.

Finally, Berlin-based conceptual designer, Markus Kison, has devised a gadget he calls the CharmingBurka (pictured). The burka-imbedded chip allows a veiled Muslim woman to voluntarily transmit a photo of herself via Bluetooth without breaking the Sharia law of the Koran. No one seems to know exactly what to make of it (is he serious? would a Muslim woman ever use it? it's a joke, right?) but one thing is certain: it's inspiring all kinds of dialog. Could an artist ask for anything more?

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The cavalcade of Australasian artists continues with Henry Thomson, a singer-songwriter poised to issue his debut... is it this month? He's been hitting the Berlin circuit rather staunchly over the summer, so Anglofritz was stoked to finally hear his studio work: a collection of raw, angular songs about people, ghosts, lost time. As Henry himself notes, there's no unified theme in the mix, but the songs themselves are simple and intimate, bearing the pastoral gentility that one associates with his live shows.

We caught up with Henry in his Kreuzberg lair, where he talked to us about playing on the South Arm and in South Berlin, integrating with German "systems," and how New Zealanders have benefited from the Law of the Jungle.

p.s. Henry's got some gigs coming up next month.

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What is it about Australia that invokes the Terpsichorean muse in its children? I'd like to avoid insult by not speculating, but Anglofritz has noticed more than a few musicians of note are from Lucky Country. To wit: the Berlin-based Justine Electra, whose new album, Soft Rock, stands out amongst the glut of singer-songwriter releases by virtue of its exquisite compositions and her own haunting, powerful voice. I was able to corner Justine after her show Friday at Golden Gate, and pick her brain about DJing in Berlin, surviving the major labels, and why the Rolling Stones and Foghat are going at live shows all wrong.

You can find out more about Justine on her website, or check out some of her songs on Myspace.

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When the guava power drink is drained and the crispness has left the collar of your football jersey , you got to get together with your boys and remember just what it is that you had together: an orgiastic, amorphous beast running ragged through Deutschland, consuming everything it could not convert. The World Cup. Ben and Christy recount their experiences watching games in the epicenter of football action, and reach for the grandest metaphors imaginable to explain the pageantry and pathos of the Final.

THANXXX FOR STAYING WITH US TO THE BITTERSWEET END, ANGLOFRITZERS! CONGRATULATIONS TO ITALY FOR A FINE VICTORY, AND TO GERMANY, FOR HOSTING THE GAMES WITH UNMATCHABLE GRACE!!!!!!!!!!!!

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As of yesterday, the USA got booted out of World Cup competition. There were tears, issues, and a little transmigrated loyalty, as expats can now root for their home team (Germany, duh) without distraction. We hit the pubs and gardens to talk to Americans -- and Americans only -- about how their wild, untamable emotions could possibly intermingle with the intellectual understanding that we weren't exactly favorites for the final any damn way. Listen to the sonic salt we pour in the still-fresh wounds from the Ghana game! Can we pick ourselves up off the floor and start working for 2010?

DUE TO COPYRIGHT PROBLEMS, LAST SUNDAY'S PODCAST WAS TAKEN DOWN. BUT HAVE NO FEAR: ANGLOFRITZ WILL BE CASTING 2x A WEEK FOR THE DURATION OF THE WORLD CUP, ON THE WORLD CUP. CATCH THE FIEBER!!!!!!!!!!!

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The frenzy continues as Ben and Christy comb the football-mad streets of Berlin to find Germans who are willing to discourse at length on the golden game. Thrill to the sounds of the Anglofritz gang translating important field analysis, including the Tight Shirt Factor, calming down the "volcanoes" that are German fans, and uncovering the true reason behind male interest in football.

ANGLOFRITZ WILL BE CASTING 2x A WEEK FOR THE DURATION OF THE WORLD CUP, ON THE WORLD CUP. CATCH THE FIEBER!!!!!!!!!!!

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Let the games begin! The World Cup kicked off on Friday, and we were down at the Kneipe to soak up the frenzy that is gripping Germany and, by waves, the world. Is anyone safe from an epidemic that leaves no man untouched -- Christy and Ben included? Listen to the Anglofritz team calm excitable Cup-maidens, troll out the sport climate in New Zealand, and pry crucial information from a dangerous British proto-hooligan.

ANGLOFRITZ WILL BE CASTING 2x A WEEK FOR THE DURATION OF THE WORLD CUP, ON THE WORLD CUP. CATCH THE FIEBER!!!!!!!!!!!

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New York, Milan, Paris... you didn't forget about Germany's entry for the fashion world, did you? Well, neither did Anglofritz, as Ben and Christy go backstage at Der Blaue Raum to get the summer line from some of Berlin's most avant-clothed hipteurs. Beautiful people, what are you wearing? And what is Berlin style? The answers might surprise you.

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The trail to the Kaleidoscope Killer has grown cold, and our heroes are taking their posse comitatus in the office, where Kompressor is intent on finishing the crazy golf course he's built there. Can Kompressor cope with his spiritual malaise? Will the Dog Prince find time for a regal audience? Can Ben finish his cucumber sandwich before a barrage of golf balls sends him to Davy Jones' locker?

This Week's Special Guest Star: international Vidal Sassoon model Paula Kwaschik as the feisty and precocious guard dog Lulu!!

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Kompressor, mind and senses ablaze, is called to the scene of another murder by the twisted Kaleidoscope Killer as Ben struggles with his personal proclivities. EPISODE 2 of the engaging Anglofritz series No Pasaran calls "better than bad art."

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The U7 through Neukölln. Night-time. Not the place you want to be.

But Berlin is about to meet ... a new kind of detective.

And a mild-mannered young Englishman is about to go through a very special coming of age.

THE FIRST OF A BRAND NEW SERIES ON ANGLOFRITZ

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PR alert: race riots, koala pogroms and John Howard do not a good reputation make. Neither does threatening Anglofritz en masse at the local watering hole (don't worry, baby, Anglofritz didn't back down). Australia, you're part of the Anglo triangle, but you're so remote that sometimes, we need to go through extreme measures just to get to you.

That's why we need Jan M. Meissner, a German expat who spent his formative years Down Under. How did he swing that, anyway? As a former expat from the country that could easily be termed the geological (spiritual?) opposite of Germany, he's harrowed the cultural gulf that needs to be addressed before any further misunderstandings happen. Ben hits hard with questions about Perth, senses of expanse, and David Beckham's kangaroo-leathers.

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Ben and Christy have translated and shall perform a sketch about a hypothetical female president -- excuse me, Chancellor -- and her struggles to be taken seriously. The action is in German, but the laffs should be universal. Listen, and tell us truly -- can even the rigors of idiomatic German translation ruin comedy gold?

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The idea is simple: the strength of a language's poetry should transcend translation. In the first of our Battle of the Languages series, English and German contend for the most vital and beautiful thought-words. Ben forces English poesy into German, while Christy shoehorns German poetry into English. It's Alexander Pope versus Goethe, strength versus pliancy, fleeting transience versus etherial timelessness. Which verse will prevail?

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Kennen Sie Kevin? He's a Berlin-based artist with an album called Slow Dudes and a movie called LOL, one of the first films to be distributed wholly over the internet. His photography, music and manifestos are gathered on his tour de force website, Geartek Corporation, on which Anglofritz has collectively whiled away far too many an hour. The difference between use and function, profundity of the mundane, the myth of ownership -- we are reeling from the mysteries...

Christy sat down with Kevin for a Radio Free Anglofritz broadcast, wherein they discussed "noiseheads," Dameon Hirst and commonplace nudity.

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Item: German bridgebuilder Angela Merkel, filled with the serene calm and beauty of a Petit Prince, heads over to the States for a two-day tussle with Texas bad-boy president G.W. Bush. Are we friends now? Will Bush screw this up somehow? What does it all mean? Let's have some coffee and ham and cheese sandwiches with moderator Ben Knight, Christy Leonardo, and Gerd Stodiek as they discuss the implications of this transcontinental summit.

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