Even “Kevin” Will Do

September 1, 2021 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Humility, Humor, Hurt Feelings Tags: Afghanistan, German, Germans, Germany, Immigrants, Integration, Language, Migrants, Names, Turkey Leave a comment

But you don’t have to name your kid Kevin. Don’t get me wrong. I’m just sayin’.

You can be German even if your name is not ‘Klaus’ or ‘Erika’ -Merkel.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday migrants who settle in Germany are German even if they have foreign-sounding names, making a subtle dig at a widespread habit among white Germans of asking Turks born on German soil where they come from.

“Integration cannot be a seven-generation endeavour that never ends just because one isn’t called Klaus or Erika,” Merkel said with a wry smile during a ceremony to mark 60 years since Germany signed a treaty with Turkey to bring in hundreds of thousands of Turkish men to fill labour shortages in the 1960s.

Meanwhile… Germany’s Merkel says some 10-40,000 left in Afghanistan with right to German residence.

But German Green EnvironMENTALism Isn’t About Control

August 31, 2021 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Higher Education, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: Control, Diets, Environmentalists, Greens, Meat, Restrictions, Universities, Vegans, Vegetarians Leave a comment

We just tell you what we will permit you to eat.

As a first step. There will soon be new measures to follow. Remember: We’re only doing this for your own good.

Berlin’s university canteens go almost meat-free as students prioritise climate – The 34 outlets catering to students at four universities will offer only a single meat option four days a week.

The 34 canteens and cafes catering to Berlin’s sizeable student population at four different universities will offer from October a menu that is 68% vegan, 28% vegetarian, and 2% fish-based, with a single meat option offered four days a week.

Inflation Is Taxation Without Legislation

August 30, 2021 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: German, Germans, Germany, Government, Inflation, Taxation Leave a comment

Or: “By a continuing process of inflation, government can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens.”

German inflation hits fresh 13-year high in August – Germany’s annual consumer price inflation accelerated to a fresh 13-year high in August, data showed on Monday, underlining growing price pressures as Europe’s largest economy recovers from the pandemic and companies struggle with supply shortages.

Consumer prices, harmonised to make them comparable with inflation data from other European Union countries (HICP), rose 3.4% compared with 3.1% in July, preliminary figures from the Federal Statistics Office showed.

Marchers = Nazis

August 29, 2021 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hostility, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: Coronavirus, Courts, COVID-19, Demonstrations, Germany, Lockdowns, Masks, Media, Protests, Restrictions, Vaccinations Leave a comment

That’s the “correct” way to view those who question placing restrictions on the unvaccinated in Germany.

They have to be Nazis, you see. Otherwise they might be rational human beings with reasonable arguments against these government restrictions. Then one would have to address these arguments. And then the government restrictions wouldn’t make any sense. And we can’t have the government looking like its restrictive policies don’t make any sense now, can we?

Germany: Thousands march in Berlin against COVID rules – Marchers rallied through the streets of the German capital, with thousands of police officers on standby in case of violence. A court had allowed only one rally to go ahead.

Sunflowers And Cargo Bikes

August 27, 2021 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helections, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: Environmentalists, German, Germans, Germany, Greens, Political Parties Leave a comment

That’s what the German voter wants. Or at least that’w what the German Greens think they want.

I knew they’d shoot themselves in the foot before the upcoming election but that they could shoot themselves three or four times was beyond my wildest dreams.

German Greens under fire over 19th-century folk song in election ad – Greens go for wide appeal with reworked campfire song with no mention of devastating floods.

The original song, Kein Schöner Land in dieser Zeit (there is no country more beautiful than ours at this time) – still a popular campfire song and widely sung by scouts – celebrates the gathering of friends in nature one summer’s evening. They declare that with God’s grace they will continue to meet in this way in the future.

German Of The Day: Kapitulationserklärung

August 26, 2021 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Afghanistan, Angela Merkel, Bundeswehr, German, Germany, Kabul, Language, Surrender, Taliban Leave a comment

That means declaration of surrender.

And here you thought Joe Biden was good at hightailing it – and of course he’s world class, let’s face it. Just watch how he leaves a press conference if you don’t believe me. But the Germans are abandoning Kabul and the tens of thousands of Afghans who helped them TODAY. They’re not even going to wait for Joe’s deadline of August 31. Sorry, I meant of course the Taliban’s deadline. They call the shots in Washington now.

Es sollte die große Afghanistan-Rede der Kanzlerin sein – und es wurde zu einer Kapitulationserklärung! Am Mittwoch versuchte Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel (67, CDU), das Versagen der Regierung zu rechtfertigen. Sie versprach, das Land trotz Taliban-Übernahme nicht aufzugeben.

Real Bourgeois Socialists Overtake Fake Bourgeois Socialists

August 25, 2021 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: CDU, Elections, German, Germans, Germany, Language, Polls, Social Democrats, Socialism, SPD, Surveys Leave a comment

Hauptsache (the main thing) is that bourgeois socialists remain in power. More free stuff appears to be on the way.

Germany election: SPD overtakes Merkel’s CDU in polls for first time in 15 years.

Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) has moved ahead of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the polls for the first time in fifteen years.

The SPD was polling at 23% while the CDU was one point behind at 22%, according to figures released on Tuesday by Forsa.

I’m The Guy You Want To Vote For

August 22, 2021 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hostility, Hurt Feelings Tags: Angela Merkel, Armin Laschet, Campaigns, Candidates, CDU, Elections, German, Germany, Language, Political Parties, Polls, Surveys Leave a comment

Honest!

Poor Mini-Me-Merkel-Man Armin Laschet. Nobody wants him as the post-Merkel CDU chancellor candidate. Not even Mother Merkel herself, looks like to me. Begeisterung sieht anders aus – enthusiasm looks different.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s would-be successor pledged Saturday to “fight with everything that I can” for victory in Germany’s Sept. 26 election, as the long-time leader’s center-right bloc kicked off its official campaign amid a worrying sag in its poll ratings.

Merkel joined Armin Laschet, a state governor and leader of her Christian Democratic Union party, to appeal to voters to extend the party’s long run in the chancellery. Laschet is running to succeed Merkel after her 16 years in office.

Our Man In Havana

August 20, 2021 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Health, Helplessness, Hurt Feelings Tags: Attacks, Embassies, Germany, Havana Syndrome, Radiation, Russia Leave a comment

Is now in Berlin. And in China, Russia, Austria, etc.

US officials stationed in Germany developed symptoms of the Havana Syndrome, a mysterious ailment linked to suspected radiation attacks that have stricken hundreds of American spies and diplomats around the world…

The symptoms were first reported in 2016 by US diplomats in Cuba, where the suspected “sonic attacks” changed the brain structure of 40 former staffers at the US Embassy in Havana.

The attacks have also occurred in China, Russia and Austria, and have long been suspected to be connected to Russia. Many victims were intelligence officers or emissaries working on Russian-related issues.

A CIA task force headed by an official who was involved in the search for Osama Bin Laden is currently probing the cause of the hard-to-diagnose symptoms, which have reportedly afflicted as many as 200 Americans…

“It could be that the attacks were outsourced to organized crime, but it is very difficult to understand why the Russians or anyone else would do this. It seems like a campaign to hurt people for no apparent reason.”

German Of The Day: Coronamüde

August 19, 2021 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, High Art Tags: Art, Berlin, Corona, Coronavirus, COVID-19, German, Language, Lockdowns, Masks, Regulations, Restrictions Leave a comment

That means corona-tired.

And who isn’t coronamüde these days?

The never-ending game of Regulation Roulette has resulted in an array of responses across Berlin and its many different art scenes. The overall effect is a pervasive sense of coronamüde (literally “corona-tired”) but, beyond that—as gallerist Tanja Wagner put it—“everyone has a completely different take on the situation.”

Observing Hermann

“Was interessiert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern?”

Category Archives: Hard Facts