Author Archives: Hermann Observer
So She Has To Retire Now, Right?
Isn’t that mandatory or something in Germany when you turn sixty-five? Well, it ought to be. Just sayin’.
Angela Merkel is 65 today but she’s far from the oldest world leader – Shock ages revealed…
The oldest current serving world leader is Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahathir Mohamad, who is 94-years-old and assumed office in 2018.
He is followed by Queen Elizabeth II, who celebrated her 93rd birthday in April.
German Of The Day: Bußgeld
No, that doesn’t mean bus money. It means fine or penalty.
And that’s what the parents of the kids who have been taking part in Joan of Arc’s, I mean, Greta Thunberg’s wackedelic Fridays for Future (FFF) demonstrations will now have to be paying. At least here in Germany.
German school authorities are starting to get tired of all the truancy going on or something and have begun handing out fines starting at 88.50 euros a pop. Jeepers. That might get FFF-freakin’ expensive before too long, folks.
Eltern von Klimaschutzdemonstranten müssen Bußgeld bezahlen – Seit Monaten demonstriert Fridays for Future für besseren Klimaschutz. Weil das auch während der Schulzeit geschieht, wird in Mannheim das Ordnungsamt aktiv.
Mein Kampf-Karrenbauer
I mean Mein Kramp-Karrenbauer, of course. But she is a Kampf-Karrenbauer now, you know.
Or you can just call her AKK, if you prefer, although that sounds like a machine gun, too. Or just call her Mini-Merkel if you like that better (that’s her official unofficial designation). But I dunno. Mini-Merkel just doesn’t have the punch a defense minister needs to have with his name, don’t you think? Especially when it’s a she. Again. It just doesn’t exude any shock and awe. Well, shock, maybe, but nothing this government does can awe me anymore.
Merkel protege AKK given defence job seen as poisoned chalice – Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer succeeds new EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen as German defence minister.
Angela Merkel’s favoured successor as chancellor has been appointed Germany’s new defence minister in an unexpected and potentially risky move after Ursula von der Leyen’s confirmation as European commission president…
The job of defence minister is widely seen as a poisoned chalice. Germany’s armed forces, which critics maintain have long been chronically underfunded, are consistently accused of inefficiency and of having inadequate or defective equipment.
“The World Is Crying For More Europe”
That’s odd. I live here and I can’t hear a damned thing.
Ursula von der Leyen asks MEPs to back her as first female European commission president- Ursula von der Leyen has championed gender equality in her appeal to MEPs to back her as the first female president of the European commission, telling the European parliament: “We represent half of our population. We want our fair share.”
In a related matter, please take part in this important survey.
“Die Welt schreit nach mehr Europa.”
Of Course She’s Inadequate
If she were adequate they wouldn’t have nominated her for the job in the first place.
That’s how the EU works.
EU crisis: Merkel’s coalition ally slams Ursula von der Leyen for EU chief ‘inadequate!’ – The European Parliament is due to vote next Tuesday on whether Ms von der Leyen, Germany’s defence minister and a conservative ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, should succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as head of the EU. Ms Von der Leyen’s nomination by EU leaders has infuriated the Social Democrats (SPD), Mrs Merkel’s coalition partners, who have accused leaders of ignoring the lead candidates from the main parliamentary blocs in their horse-trading over top posts…
The SPD said of her efforts to fix gaps in military readiness, Ms von der Leyen had failed to make significant improvements and that the Bundeswehr was still “in a shabby state”.
Slow Learners
The Good Germans still haven’t figured it out.
Although this became loud and clear as a bell very quickly after Angela Merkel opened up the floodgates back in 2015, many German Gutmenesch (do-gooder) politicians still believe they can convince leaders in other European countries to help them establish a “fair” distribution system for the asylum seekers who Germany unfairly invited to Europe.
More dream world thinking, in other words. Personally, I think the fairest solution would be to fly all would-be asylum seekers wishing to come to Europe directly to Germany, Berlin Airlift style.
German foreign minister calls for alliance of EU countries to take in migrants – Berlin is willing ‘to make a substantial contribution,’ says Heiko Maas…
His proposal was immediately rejected by Austria’s former and possibly future chancellor, Sebastian Kurz. Kurz, who is running to regain the chancellorship in September, described quotas as an outdated idea and declared that “the distribution of migrants across Europe has failed,” in a statement Saturday reported by dpa.
Louisa von S.
German Of The Day: Mundtot Machen
That means to make “mouth-dead,” as in to silence someone.
“Groupthink requires individuals to avoid raising controversial issues or alternative solutions, and there is loss of individual creativity, uniqueness and independent thinking.”
On its third try, Germany’s center-left Social Democrats (SPD) will be able to kick controversial anti-Islam author Thilo Sarrazinfrom its ranks, an arbitration court ruled on Thursday. The former Berlin senator intends to appeal the ruling.ConCo
“We will try to take the case to all stages of the state and the federal arbitration court of the SPD and, beyond that, if necessary, all the ordinary civil instances of the district court of Berlin, the Court of Appeals and Federal Supreme Court, then the Federal Constitutional Court,” defense lawyer Andreas Köhler said. “In the meantime Dr. Sarrazin will continue to be an astute and attentive member of the SPD.”
Who are the Brain Police?
German Of The Day: Hinterzimmer
That means backroom.
You know, like backroom deals? Like the way EU technocrats decide who runs the show despite what the electorate says? Why even hold European elections in the first place?
Von der Leyen nomination: Germans criticise ‘backroom deal’ – “What was the point of all that?” German critics are asking, after the nomination of Ursula von der Leyen, Germany’s defence minister, for the top EU job of Commission president.
There were TV debates. There were election rallies. Germany’s streets were plastered with posters showing the faces of candidates for the EU’s top jobs.
But Mrs von der Leyen’s face did not appear on any posters. Instead her nomination was suddenly announced after weeks of difficult, behind-the-scenes wrangling between EU leaders.
This is European, I mean EU democracy in action, people.
Observing Hermann 