Bend it Like Einstein

Imagine how impressed I was by the website of the national government of Germany that prominently commemorated the centenary of Einstein's "miracle year" and was already counting down to another year of science that would celebrate the Informatikjahr. Wow, I thought, how progressive the Europeans are to highlight science rather than faith-based initiatives on their prime real estate in cyberspace.

But today Angela Merkel replaced Gerhard Schröder as Chancellor, and soccer was substituted for science on the federal German website. Now visitors are directed to the site for the 2006 World Cup, and Einstein has vanished.