The global import of Pearson v. Custom Cleaners was evident from the start.

Reading the coverage today about the D.C. judge who sued his dry cleaner for $65 million over a pair of lost pants, the last thing I expected to see was a connection to Germany and German news.

But, as always seems to happen, as the Soup Nazi gave Jerry Seinfeld his ‘fighting the S.S.’ moment, this D.C.-area dry cleaner was made subject to the now-cliched comparison, per the Washington Post’s Marc Fisher:

An 89-year-old woman customer “compared the owners of Custom Cleaners in open court to Nazis.

“I knew it: It’s all my fault,” said the reporter from German television who was sitting next to me.

The sad passing yesterday of Don Herbert, better known to millions as Mr. Wizard, reminded me of many a halcyon day I spent as a teenager, eyes glued to the tube for two short hours (How dare my parents limit my TV access!) after school, watching whatever was on Nickelodeon.

Mr. Wizard was certainly a good choice, though not a favorite. I loved the science experiments and explanations, but there were segments of the show that seemed to drag on. Also, I cringed whenever the Patty Duke Show came on; and felt total disdain for Wild and Crazy Kids.

Then again, if I got to watch Clarissa Explains It All, Hey Dude, or Salute You Shorts, I was a happy camper. Does anyone remember Clarissa’ friend Sam climbing in through the window? (Ok, maybe its just me.)

And crazy enough, out of those weekday shows came: Ben Stiller’s wife, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Odell from “Deadwood”, and (less famously) Vinnie from “Blossom”.

Photo: Time Mag/Wally McNamee/Corbis

Twenty years ago today, Ronald Reagan was in Berlin.

But a very different Berlin than the one I live in now, and that’s where TIME Magazine’s Romesh Ratnesar takes over:

He was scheduled to speak on the western side of the Brandenburg Gate, for years the city’s symbolic dividing line. His speechwriters had drafted an address intended as much for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, with whom Reagan was forging a close relationship, as for the 20,000 people who gathered to hear him speak.

Ron Paul, the Republican-slash-Libertarian Congressman from Texas, is the Dennis Kucinich of the right.

An idealistically-pure, but politically-flawed, presidential aspirant that gets to stand on stage with the other, more-likely presidential contenders until Iowa or New Hampshire — and then get pushed out, as the fields get whittled to legitimate candidates.

Or at least thats what the MSM thought, until news rumors began circulating this weekend that Paul has raised close to $5 million in campaign funds.

According to Free Market News, a libertarian news site:

Now observers close to the campaign are revealing – with some astonishment – that donations to the campaign in recent weeks have pushed the total up to perhaps $4 or $5 million.

Photographer Nick Ut took this photo June 8, 1972 — exactly 35 years ago Friday:

That’s news all on its own, especially considering the story Ut told about the photo, as quoted in Wikipedia:

“…an editor at the AP rejected the photo of Kim Phuc running down the road without clothing because it showed frontal nudity. Pictures of nudes of all ages and sexes, and especially frontal views were an absolute no-no at the Associated Press in 1972…Horst argued by telex with the New York head-office that an exception must be made, with the compromise that no close-up of the girl Kim Phuc alone would be transmitted. The New York photo editor, Hal Buell, agreed that the news value of the photograph overrode any reservations about nudity.”

But the scariest, saddest news of all is that Ut was actually in the news on Friday for news from Friday. He is the AP photographer who took this photo:

This photo has been spreading around Germany, as evidence that German beer is so good that it can kick recovering alcoholics off the wagon.

But a close-up image reveals that the President was drinking near beer, as in non-alcoholic beer, and in fact…wasn’t even drinking German beer at all. It’s the Dutch that get to brag.

Posting this IMG (thx: AP/DollyMix) makes me feel dirty.

Paris Hilton’s case has moved beyond being just about celebrity.

And today, the country’s major newspapers point out that her jailing (and re-jailing) actually have major legal and social implications for us — especially Angelenos.

This time, there is an even bigger issue than the valid discussion about “two tiers” of justice — celebrity and otherwise — that is always sparked by cases such as these, including O.J. Simpson. In the Paris Hilton case, the debate is even greater because its about judicial authority — and law enforcement’s prerogative.

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Per the LAT’s former mideast correspondent Megan Stack:

I spent my days in Saudi Arabia struggling unhappily between a lifetime of being taught to respect foreign cultures and the realization that this culture judged me a lesser being. I tried to draw parallels: If I went to South Africa during apartheid, would I feel compelled to be polite?

One of the most amazing, electrifying, and inspiring parts of my time here in Germany has been the level of arts funding and interest here in Germany. Specifically, arts that would be considered “high brow” — things like, opera.

And one of the things that funding and interest does is to bring some of the best artists and opera singers over here. For instance, at about the 1:00 mark of the above Youtube video, former Fulbright scholar Jennifer Porto grabs the leg of the conductor of the opera’s small orchestra. (Her performance in L’Orfeo has been in Hamburg and Berlin this year.)

Personally, I have no interest in heading up to the northern German coast for this year’s G-8 summit. I even got press credentials but decided against heading up there in order to cover it. Still, it sure could get interesting.

If you are the type of person dreading (or hoping) for Seattle-like riots — or so misinformed (and hypocritical) as to believe globalization is a malady — the Heiligendamm summit could be the most newsworthy in years.

Already, 146 police officers have been injured, 20+ seriously, and a train full of protesters has been turned back, between Hamburg and Rostock (near the summit HQ).

Spiegel Online will have updates; and I may be covering it for Marketplace.