Went to my first demo (do they shorten it that way in English, too?) today at the instigation of an old friend, who picked me up and drove me there. We stood a bit in the rain but the skies soon cleared. I think about one hundred people were there. The mayor of Pegnitz (assumed: whoever it was, he obviously needed no introduction) spoke very passionately about the FIGHT -- for real renewable energy, for the beauty of Oberfranken, for the economic viability of the city, against the devaluation of our houses' economic worth, against big corporations who make a profit on the back of the taxpayer, against the health risks of such huge power lines. Very stirring. The Landrat, Hermann Hübner, introduced the idea of Northern Bavaria being 'verarscht' (i.e. exploited) by the rich south, and with that an element of class warfare and regional nationalism into the mix. The execrable band 'Bieramisu' could hardly contain their greed at perhaps being able to sell a few copies of the world's most badly composed protest song and gave TWO performances of the SAME song. Between the two performances, the president of the regional Bund Naturschutz poured a lot of cold water on the idea of ever being listened to in Berlin. Left at the beginning of Bieramisu's 'encore' and had a coffee at the pizzaria on the square. When we came out, the protesters had dispersed and