Kafka in Vienna

Josef S. was sentenced yesterday by the Vienna Criminal Court to a prison sentence of one year (eight months of which are conditional on a three-year probation) for breach of peace (as ringleader), attempted aggravated assault and aggravated criminal property damage. [Update: The verdict is not final and may be appealed.] The prosecution against Josef was an attack on the rights of free speech and free assembly. His conviction is a disgusting perversion of law and justice. Continue reading

Ten Years with Type 1 Diabetes

Ten years ago, I returned from my student exchange year in Texas. When I got out of the plane in Vienna, I had lost a lot of weight compared to the time I boarded my US-bound plane a year earlier (this is very unusual for exchange students – especially those in the USA). Immediately after my arrival, my family and I went on a two-week holiday in southern France. There, I drank up to nine liters of water or juice a day and went to the bathroom accordingly often. I ate loads of food but still lost weight. I was tired, quiet and glum. Reading books was hard because my eyesight was strangely distorted.

After our return home, we called my uncle, a doctor. He told us to go to the hospital immediately.

Florian shooting a shotgun.

Clay shooting a few days before my return to Austria. I was really skinny; fortunately the recoil still did not knock me over.

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