German Of The Day: Was wir wissen

May 23, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hate, Helplessness Tags: German, ISIS, Islamist Terror, Language, Manchester, Media, Terror, Terrorists 1 Comment

That means what we know. You know, as in what we know and what we don’t know about the attack?

We know everything already, of course (it was the Buddhists again). And we’ve heard all the reactions before. What will the hash tag be this time? It’s a ritual now. So why be so careful with formulations like that? We don’t want to jump to conclusions, or what? That’s just part of the ritual, I guess.

Der mutmaßliche Täter ist tot. Sein Motiv für den Anschlag auf ein Popkonzert in Manchester ist weiterhin unklar, die Polizei sucht nach möglichen Komplizen.

German Of The Day: Vortex

May 21, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Humor, Hurt Feelings, Hysteria Tags: Donald Trump, Germans, Germany, Grman, Media, Polls, Surveys 5 Comments

That means vortex. And Germans are terrified by vortexes, you know.

But they shouldn’t be terrified by that one. According to this article, few Germans even expect President Trump to finish his four-year term in the White House anyway. So like sit back and relax already. And let the vortex be with you.

Less than 25 percent of Germans think US President Donald Trump will complete his four-year term in office, according to a public opinion poll released Saturday. More than two-thirds of those surveyed said categorically that they believe Trump will be out of office before his term expires in January 2021. The survey was conducted by Civey, an opinion research group, for the daily newspaper Die Welt.

The Turnaround Has Been Achieved

May 14, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Helplessness, High Art, Home Cooking, Humor, Hurt Feelings Tags: Eurovision 2017, German, Germans, Germany, Kiev, Music Leave a comment

I didn’t think I would be seeing this in my lifetime, folks, but Germany did NOT get last place at the Eurovision song competition last night in Kiev – a century-long Eurovision tradition, as you know.

They came in second to last (thank you, Spain). I can hardly wait for next year’s show!

Ja! Deutschland ist nicht Letzter. Trotz der leichten Verbesserung ist es ein Debakel für die deutsche Delegation, die in unendlicher Arroganz mal wieder alles falsch gemacht hat, was man falsch machen konnte.

German Of The Day: Spitzensteuersatz

May 10, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: German, Germans, Germany, Language, Tax Rates, Taxation Leave a comment

That means maximum tax rate. In Germany that’s 42 percent at the moment – and climbing.

But the cool thing about the maximum tax rate in Germany is that you don’t have to be a maximum earner to have to pay it. More and more regular folks are permitted to pay this killer rate – some 3.7 million Germans at the moment – and climbing. In 2004 it was 1.2 million taxpayers. Now that’s what I call Fortschritt (progress).

Unter Berücksichtigung der Zusammenveranlagung von Eheleuten betrifft dies damit 3,73 Millionen einkommensteuerpflichtige Personen. Damit unterliegen 6,4 Prozent aller Steuerpflichtigen dem Spitzensteuersatz von 42 Prozent, wie es in einer Antwort des Bundesregierung auf eine Anfrage der Linken im Bundestag heißt. 2004 fielen noch gut 1,2 Millionen Steuerpflichtige in diese Kategorie.

Germany’s Green Planners Confident That Growing Wind And Solar Power Will Lead To Even Higher Power Costs

May 9, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hurt Feelings Tags: Electricity, Energy, German, Germans, Germany, Green Power, Nuclear power, Solar Power, Wind Energy Leave a comment

But who cares, right? There’ still Luft nach oben (room for improvement). Germans are only number two when it comes to paying the highest electricity bills in Europe (only the Danes pay more).

Germans already footing the second-highest electricity bills in Europe may face even higher costs from the country’s decision to exit nuclear power early next decade. While there’s no risk of blackouts, costs could rise if transmission gaps emerge, according to Germany’s Bnetza regulator. Europe’s biggest power market is closing its last atomic plants in 2022 and is counting on a mix of mothballed lignite plants, wind and solar power expansion and grid stability measures to keep outages down…

Consumers this year may pay about 24 billion euros ($26.4 billion) in compulsory clean-energy-support fees, levies that are added directly to power bills.

“The lights will stay on. Yet there are two risks in bridging power gaps, namely redispatch and intervention in the market to drive generation up or down that may be cost factors.”

German Of The Day: Mediale Erfindung

May 8, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, High Art, Home Cooking, Horror, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Elections, German, Germans, Germany, Hype, Language, Martin Schulz, Media, Social Democracy, Socialism, SPD 3 Comments

That means medial invention. Take the Schulz effect, for instance. Please.

Remember the good old days when medial inventions used to last for years? You know, things like Waldsterben (the dying of the woods) or Rinderwahn (mad cow disease)? Now you’re lucky if you can get three months out of one (the Schulz effect, for instance, was created and released from the laboratory just this past February and officially died yesterday).

I dunno, I think it’s this young whippersnapper snowflake generation these days with all their wall-to-wall social media and instant gratification issues. No respect, I tell you. Well, kids, each generation gets the medial invention it deserves so this one’s for you. And you have no one else to blame but yourselves. Three months. Pitiful.

In February, Social Democratic chancellor candidate Martin Schulz was riding a wave of popularity. Now, his party has lost two state elections in a row and another state vote is looming on Sunday. Can he get his campaign back on track?

Alles ist Albigs Schuld – finden Schulz und die Bundes-SPD.

Germans Can’t Stop Laughing These Days

May 7, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Humor, Hurt Feelings Tags: German, Germans, Germany, Health, Laughter, Studies Leave a comment

This is a real shocker, folks. A new study indicates that 29 percent of Germans laugh less than five times a day or not at all.

Wow. They really seem to have made great progress here these past few years. I remember when it used to be 79 percent, or higher.

But, sadly, this is also an indication of the sorry state our troubled world is in: The study also shows that Germans are mostly amused by others’ bad luck (Schadenfreude).

Lachen ist gesund – ein Gemeinplatz. Doch wenn eine Krankenkasse jetzt 15 Minuten herzhaftes Lachen pro Tag empfiehlt, kann das sehr anstrengend sein. Dann sind wir doch lieber unlustig.

Berlin May Day Protesters Too Bourgeois For This Anti-Bourgeois Nonsense

May 1, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Berlin, Demonstrations, German, Germans, Germany, May Day, Protests, Tradition Leave a comment

And too old, I guess. Everything is “relatively calm” yet again. Boring.

In 1987, far-left rioters battled with police for 12 hours, looting shops and burning cars. They were fighting against what they called a “bourgeois” celebration of the 750th anniversary of the founding of Berlin.

Rioting on May 1 then became a regular tradition in Berlin, starting in West Berlin and spreading to the East following reunification in 1990. In 1989 protests 364 police officers were injured. In 2000 the extent of the violence led to an attempted ban on protests the following year. In 2009 after a few years of relative calm, 273 police were injured with some rioters facing attempted murder charges for throwing Molotov cocktails.

Walpurgnisnacht und 1. Mai verliefen bisher weitgehend ruhig – trotz zahlreicher Demonstrationen. Tausende Menschen sind außerdem in Kreuzberg auf dem Myfest unterwegs.

The Case Of The Missing SPD Candidate

April 26, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helections, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Horror, Hurt Feelings, Hysteria Tags: Elections, German, Germans, Germany, Hype, Martin Schulz, Media, Politicians, SPD Leave a comment

New properties of the Schulz effect have been discovered by political scientists in Germany.

Similar to the Doppler effect, the Schulz effect is also characterized by a a distinct change of pitch (in this case hype) heard when the media vehicle (in this case Schulz himself) sounds its horn when approaching, passing and then receding from the observer (preferably forever). You can hardly hear a sound from him these days, in other words. And this is a good thing.

Der Hype um Martin Schulz lässt nach, die CDU liegt in Umfragen vor der SPD, die Mehrheit in NRW wackelt. Noch muss sich Schulz nicht sorgen, aber was ist da passiert?

German Of The Day: Unmutsbekundungen

April 25, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Angela Merkel, Berlin, Donald Trump, German, Germans, Germany, Ivanka Trump, Language, Women 1 Comment

That means protest. In this particular case it means hissing, however.

But as far as I can tell, this has something to do with moving forward the cause for women or womanhood or femaleness or whatever. So it’s necessary or something.

Ivanka Trump defended her father at a women’s panel in Berlin Tuesday after attendees hissed and booed when she attempted to champion her father’s commitment to women’s issues.

„Einige Sichtweisen ihres Vaters über Frauen in der Vergangenheit lassen es fraglich erscheinen, wie er Frauen wirklich stärken will.”

Observing Hermann

“Was interessiert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern?”

Category Archives: Habitudes