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The mega-tabloid Bild goes after "Wowi" on Tuesday with a two-page spread prominently featuring a large picture of the Berlin mayor right next to a cuffed leather boy wearing a gas mask and ready for -- well -- for the Folsom Fest, of course. The accompanying editorial lambasts Wowereit for spending too much time issuing invitations to masters and their sex slaves and too little addressing high unemployment and the city's €60 billion debt.

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Mayor Wowereit has a similar attitude. "I like to compare Berlin to London in the swinging 1980s," he told Time. "London was in a bad economic situation but had a great deal of creativity and positive mood.... Promotion is part of my personality, but it's also important to show the savoir vivre you can feel that makes the city so attractive internationally."