Fifteen Will Get You Eight And A Half In Germany

Which is really more like three or four, but still. German math is einfach kompliziert (simply complicated). The German justice system is pretty straightforward, though.

Mia

A German court has sentenced a migrant to eight and a half years for murdering his 15-year-old ex-girlfriend.

Abdul D, believed to be Afghan, admitted stabbing Mia V in December in the south-western town of Kandel.

Prosecutors believe he acted out of jealousy and revenge after Mia, a German citizen, broke up with him…

The accused said he was 15 at the time of the crime but an expert medical assessment ordered by prosecutors said that he was more likely to be between 17 and 20 years old.

 „Mein Mandant verzichtet auf Rechtsmittel und ist mit dem Strafmaß einverstanden.”

Riots? Havoc?

The Riots in Chemnitz and Their Aftermath.” Strange. I must live in another Germany than the one Der Spiegel is reporting about. I can’t find any serious reports about riots or havoc having taken place in Chemnitz. But what can you call “serious reports” these days, anyway?

Chemnitz

Maybe, just maybe, these riots and this havoc stuff is going on in another parallel universe we are all familiar with: The parallel universe of the Brain Police mind. As usual, the story one wants to tell depends entirely upon what one insists on looking at.

In Chemnitz, refugees find themselves under threat by neo-Nazis and hooligans. Politicians have pledged to take a hard line against right-wing extremist violence, but they look helpless nonetheless. Meanwhile, the right wing seems to have the upper hand in Saxony.

Ruhige Nacht in Chemnitz. (That means “peaceful night in Chemnitz,” as another report put it).

Another German Initiative Bites The Dust

Although they moan the loudest about it, Germans and other vocal continental moaners have finally succeeded in doing away with that awful, terrible and truly horrible daylight savings time nonsense – an idea that they introduced in the first place.

Time

The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30, 1916. Many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s.

A European Union online survey has concluded that a vast majority of the bloc’s citizens are against switching between summer and winter time. All signs point towards the EU now putting a stop to changing the clocks.

More than 80% of respondents to the largest online survey in EU history are in favour of abolishing changing the clocks in summer and winter, German newspaper Westfalenpost reports, citing well-informed sources in Brussels.

Es wäre sinnlos, die Bevölkerung erst zu einem Thema zu befragen, und dann, wenn es einem nicht passe, dem nicht zu folgen.

PS: Of the roughly five million Europeans who actually took part on the online survey over three million of them were German.

Germans Confused By Erdogan Statue

What’s there to be confused about? It’s a golden statue of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In front of the fire department in freakin’ Wiesbaden, Germany. Or it least it used to be there.

Erdogan

The 4-meter (13-foot) statue of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had been erected in Wiesbaden on Monday much to the surprise and confusion of the residents of the southwestern German city.

The larger-than-life effigy installed in the city’s Platz der Deutschen Einheit (German Unity Square) depicts Erdogan with a raised right arm, a pose reminiscent of the famous statue of the late former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, which American forces tore down in 2003 during the Iraq invasion…

It was an art installation, part of the Wiesbaden Biennale for Contemporary Art, but was erected without the knowledge of city officials, a Wiesbaden spokesperson told German news agency dpa on Tuesday. This year’s art festival is taking place under the motto “bad news.”

“Wir haben eine Reihe von irritierten Bürgern, die bei uns anrufen. Es ist für viele nicht erkennbar, dass es im Rahmen der Biennale läuft.”

“Police And Politicians Lack Empathy”

I couldn’t agree more. A lack of empathy for the guy who was just murdered.

Protest 2

But even more lacking in empathy here is the German media. It’s all about the threat from “right-wing mobs,” as usual. Whether they are an actual threat or not. We get it already: Hitler and the Nazis were really, really bad but these people aren’t those people, distasteful as some might be – and Hitler salute or not. We’re tired of your ritual obsession with the past (or at least I am) and by pretending that these people are those people you are elegantly ignoring the real issue, the thing that got this guy killed. You can pretend it’s not there and that it’s not happening but it is. And pretending it isn’t happening is what the people back then did to help Hitler get to power. Please move on already.

A right-wing mob has been rampaging through the eastern German city of Chemnitz. The police are on site, but authorities seem out of their depth. They lack the will to intervene, argues Hans Pfeifer.

Ausschreitungen in Chemnitz: 6000 Rechte, 1500 Gegendemonstranten, 20 Verletzte.

German Of The Day: Verschiedene Nationalitäten

That means “various nationalities.”

Stabbing

It ain’t getting prettier, folks.

The death of a 35-year-old German man drew spontaneous protests, organized by several far-right groups. Police struggled to control the rowdy crowds, some members of which allegedly chased and attacked foreigners.

A street festival in the eastern German city of Chemnitz was canceled on Sunday, hours before it was supposed to conclude, after 800 people took to the streets to protest the death of a 35-year-old man.

The victim, said to be of German origin, was stabbed during an altercation that involved 10 people, several of whom were of “various nationalities,” police sources said.

Iraker und Syrer als Tatverdächtige festgenommen – Regierung verurteilt Menschenjagd in Chemnitz.

Stray Dogs Might Be Next

Germany’s military has a manpower problem, and its solution may be foreigners and teenagers.

Bundeswehr

Germany’s long-understaffed Bundeswehr is using computer videogames in an effort to lure young people into its ranks.

During this year’s Gamescom trade fair for video games in Cologne, the German armed forces unfurled a number of “Multiplayer in Its Best” and “A More Open World Doesn’t Exist” posters with a bundeswehrkarriere.de link carefully printed underneath.

“Vor zwei Jahren hab’ ich noch mit Playmobil gespielt.”

German Budget Surplus Offers German Politicians Further Ways Not To Spend It

The dramatic growth in Germany’s public sector surplus over the first half means the government has extra room for manoeuvre, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Friday after data was released showing the surplus at a record high.

Scholz

“I’ll be looking into as many ways as possible not to spend any of it,” he said. Or could have said. And this is social democrat, too. This savings mania is a German thang.

And saving money is generally a very sound idea, I understand that. But how about considering giving that surplus back to the people you took it from in the first place? I’m just saying.

Der FDP-Politiker Dürr verlangte angesichts der hohen Überschüsse, den Solidaritätszuschlag abzuschaffen. Auch der Bund der Steuerzahler forderte eine Entlastung der Bürger.

Next Time You Go Undercover Tell Them You’re A Cop First

And behave with a little more dignity while taking part in violent demonstrations, will you?

Cop

The German justice minister (SPD) is upset that an undercover cop who had infiltrated the Pegida movement in Saxony was doing such a good job at being a right-wing prick that he hassled a camera man from the state broadcaster ZDF and caused uniformed cops to demand the camera man’s papers, preventing him and his other journalist buddies from doing their work.

Sheesh. Can’t anybody take a joke these days? Ain’t no big deal. I think I saw Laurel and Hardy do this once.

“What happened in Saxony is deeply worrying and needs to be urgently and comprehensively investigated.”

PS: They should have seen right off that he was an undercover cop because of that big pixel thingy on his face. Dumb ass journalists.

Tourists Can’t Destroy Berlin

“How Tourists Are Destroying the Places They Love,” a recent Spiegel article title goes. Well, if they love Berlin they’re in for a way big disappointment. Everything here is already kaputt.

Tourists

Nothing like putting a refreshing, positive German spin on things, I always say. Go Spiegel! And I guarantee you: The average Spiegel employee goes on vacation three times a year.

Predatory Modern Tourism…

The travel industry has begun recognizing that its own success is increasingly undermining the foundation of its business model. “Overtourism” is the buzzword currently dominating industry conferences. Discussions are taking place about how tourist flows can be directed such that they will no longer be perceived as a threat.

“Tourist Go Home!”