Author Archives: Hermann Observer
Germans Really Are Industrious
Even when it comes to industrial piracy.
German companies are ranked second in the world for industrial plagiarism, a global study released today has found (only China does it better). The numbers indicate that 1 in 4 plagiarized tech goods are made in Germany.
Of course the only problem with this study is that it was made by the the Federation of German Machine and Equipment Builders (or VDMA) so it may have been plagiarized itself.
And no, this wasn’t in the news tonight.
Für den Ideenklau ist oft nicht ein Produzent im fernen China, sondern der Konkurrent um die Ecke verantwortlich.
German Family Father Films UFO That Turns His Kid’s Face All Weird As It Flies By
“The fact that the person blurred out the face of the kid and didn’t get the UFO in the dead center of the video is what causes me to believe this is real.”
Is The Party Over?
While Germany has so far led the regional recovery, it is feeling the pain of increasing political tension. The European Union agreed last week on its widest-ranging sanctions yet over Russia’s backing of rebels in eastern Ukraine. Russia counts Germany as its biggest trading partner in Europe.
“The manufacturing-sector outlook does not look encouraging.”
Die Konjunktur läuft nicht mehr rund – Industrie-Aufträge mit stärkstem Minus seit 2011
The UK Is Really Going To Have Problems With The EU Now
ENGLAND DECLARES WAR ON GERMANY!
“Great Britain declared war on Germany at 11 o’clock last night.”
From Russia To Iran With Love
From Germany, I mean. It’s complicated.
German businesses are cooling on Russian investments amid anger over Russia’s role in the Ukrainian conflict, while simultaneously warming on another big country hit by Western sanctions: Iran.
According to Küntzel, German leaders have at least two other reasons for helping Iran defy the United States. The first is German resentment of defeat in the Second World War followed by foreign occupation, led by the US. The second reason is that Iran is one of the few, if not the only country, where Germans have never been looked at as “war criminals” because of Hitler.
Der Spiegel Bugs Israel Bugging Kerry Bugging Everybody Else
According to secret Spiegel bugging sources, the Israeli intelligence service has bugged telephone conversations made by American Secretary of State John Kerry while he was busy bugging anyone he could find in the Middle East and elsewhere who might possibly be interested in negotiating a peaceful solution to the current Gaza crisis.
Spiegel sources refused to go into detail here but did confirm that all of these telephone calls were very short ones.
Der israelische Geheimdienst hat offenbar Telefonate von US-Außenminister Kerry abgehört. Nach SPIEGEL-Informationen nutzte die Regierung in Jerusalem die so gewonnenen Erkenntnisse bei Verhandlungen zum Nahost-Konflikt.
Anna Christiana H.
German Of The Day: “Es geht um die Wurst”
When something “is about getting the sausage” in German, that means that it’s something that really matters. You know, like when size matters?
With an estimated total 15,414 cases of the procedure worldwide, nearly one in five of all penis enlargement operations were performed in Germany.
More Benevolent Über-Government Intervention In Action
It goes like this: An EU regulation forces Osram and the rest of the industry to shift from traditional light bulbs to light-emitting diodes. They are smaller, more energy-efficient, have longer lifespans than traditional bulbs (except that they don’t really), are very much more expensive and must therefore be forced down the consumer’s throat and, well, everybody here hates the damned things and wants their old light bulbs back.
The benevolent part? Now 8,000 Osram workers lose their jobs because of this.
„Durch die EU-Verordnung ist das traditionelle Glühbirnen-Massengeschäft von Osram weggebrochen. Dort war Osram führend.“
Observing Hermann 