There’s An App For That

Not that anybody has installed it. But still.

After the German Deluge, a Flood of Political Recriminations – The Federal Office for Citizen Protection and Disaster Assistance did issue alerts on its app about coming floods, say officials. But critics say that a very small fraction of the German population has downloaded the app on their smartphones and that a much louder warning should have been sounded to allow local communities to better prepare for the deluge of midweek rain.

“For so many people to die in floods in Europe in 2021 represents a monumental failure of the system.”

German Of The Day: Kriegsgebiet

That means war zone.

‘Like a war zone’: Stunned Germans count cost of floods – Residents of one small village wander through its ruins looking shell-shocked, scared and exhausted.

At 11:30 p.m., there was only a little water, 1:00 am, everything was underwater.”

“We Don’t Have The Money For It”

But you do, German taxpayer. So we’ll take it from you.

As you may have noticed, Angela Merkel’s CDU became the SPD (Social Democrats) long ago and Armin Laschet, her designated mini-me survivor, is holding that red flag high. As you also may have noticed, the only thing socialists do well (or Social Democrats – or Democrats, for that matter) is spend other people’s money.

Armin Laschet, Germany’s leading candidate to replace Chancellor Angela Merkel, has created a rift between German conservative parties over his comments that now is not the time for tax relief.

Laschet, representing Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), on Sunday categorically rejected a proposal for new tax cuts as Germans emerge from the pandemic. “The core message is no tax cuts right now — we don’t have the money for it,” he said in a televised interview.

German Of The Day: Weltraumkommando

That means space command.

Germany establishes new military space command – The German military has announced the creation of a separate command dedicated to space, becoming the latest of a handful of nations prioritizing more resources and missions among the stars.

“The military is responding to the increasing significance of space for our state’s ability to function, the prosperity of our population, and the increasing dependency of the armed forces on space-supported data, SERVICES and PRODUCTS.”

PS: For some strange reason this wasn’t covered in the German news yesterday.

Electric Cars Made In Germany

Shanghai, Germany.

Tesla is expected to start European deliveries of its China-built Model Y SUVs in a few weeks.

The first vehicles will be handed over to customers in Germany in August, the German news agency dpa reported, citing an official Tesla communication.

The vehicles will be exported from Tesla’s factory in Shanghai.

Tesla originally planned to start production of the Model Y in July at its new European factory in Gruenheide near Berlin, with deliveries scheduled to begin in the third quarter, but the plant’s production start has been delayed to the end of this year or early next year.

Red Alert!

Germany’s COVID19 incidence rate — the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants over a seven-day period — rose for a fifth day in a row, coming in at 6.2 compared to 5.8 on Saturday.

The incidence rate a week ago was 5, according to the RKI.

That means, well, what does that mean? Other than who cares? Just a few weeks ago German health officials were dreaming of one day reaching an incidence rate below 50. Then the world would be in order again.

But that was then and this is now so I guess we’re heading for the next big lockdown. Cool.

German Of The Day: Schwarzfahren

That means “riding black.” That is, using public transportation without having a ticket.

Or at least that’s what it used to mean before the Woke Folk took control of Berlin’s public transport operator. There are no racial connotations with this word unless you want there to be so now there are and that’s why its use has been verboten.

Berlin public transport operator BVG will stop using the German term “schwarzfahren” (or “blackriding”) to describe travelling without a valid ticket, it said on Friday.

The decision to discontinue using the expression, which is common in colloquial speech, implements a recommendation from the Berlin Senate’s diversity programme, a spokesperson told broadcaster rbb.