Berlin Tegel Airport Closing June 1, 2020

May 1, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, History, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hysteria Tags: Airports, BER, Berlin Schönefeld, Berlin Tegel, Berlin-Brandenburg Airport, Cold War, Corona, Coronavirus, COVID-19, West Berlin Leave a comment

And Berlin Brandenburg Airport opens October 31, 2020. Let’s do the math.

So, Berlin is down to just one world-class horrible airport for like five months? Until the next world-class horrible one comes along, I mean? Sheesh. Although with all this Corona going on maybe nobody will even notice.

Personally, I will miss Tegel. Maybe because it was so small and in the middle of town like that. You could walk around the entire main terminal in five minutes. Adieu, Tegel. It was in what used to be called the French Sector, after all.

This comes as the airport has seen a huge drop in passenger numbers, with passengers currently amounting to 1% of normal amounts. The company running the airport is allegedly losing one million Euros per day, so closing the airport will save costs.

German Of The Day: Maskenpflicht

April 28, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Humility, Hurt Feelings, Hysteria Tags: Corona, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Face Masks, German, Germans, Germany, Government Regulations, Language, Poor Planning Leave a comment

That means the mandatory wearing of face masks. No. Not like the batman ones. These down here.

This in a country that 1) made a big deal about them not being necessary just a few weeks ago and 2) failed abysmally in providing them for their citizens (I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a very strong connection between numbers 1 and 2 here). Hey, just do it yourself, folks. Ha, ha, ha.

On Monday, new regulations went into effect across Germany requiring residents to cover their noses and mouths while traveling with public transportation or while shopping.

Each of Germany’s 16 states, which are entitled to make their own decisions under Germany’s federal system, drew up their own set of regulations — meaning that the rules are slightly different depending on the region.

Maskenpflicht im Einzelhandel gilt jetzt bundesweit.

Dis Is Our Disinformation

April 27, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Humility, Hurt Feelings, Hypochondria, Hypocrisy Tags: Blame, Bureaucrats, China, Corona, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Disinformation, EU, European Union, Kowtow, Political Pressure, Pressure, Reports, Technocrats, Threats Leave a comment

Not China’s.

“The Chinese are already threatening with reactions if the report comes out.”

Well, we certainly don’t want that in ze Europe.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief is facing questions over allegations that a report about Chinese disinformation over Covid-19 was watered down in response to pressure from Beijing…

The report was published on the EU’s monitoring website EU vs Disinfo on Friday. A survey of disinformation and misinformation about Covid-19 around the world, the report largely summarises and analyses publicly available information. It notes a “continued and coordinated push by some actors, including Chinese sources, to deflect any blame for the outbreak of the pandemic and highlighting bilateral assistance”, as well as “significant evidence of covert Chinese operations on social media.”

EU findet Propaganda aus Peking – China will Herkunft des Coronavirus verschleiern.

No Lines, No Crowds

April 23, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hysteria Tags: Berlin, Business, Consumers, Corona, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Fear, German, Germans, Germany, Retail, Shopping, Shops, Spending, Stores Leave a comment

No customers, no purchases, no spend money, no make money, no business, no future.

‘No lines, no crowds’ — Germans stay home as stores begin to reopen after coronavirus lockdown – German consumers are counting their pennies rather than returning to shop in large numbers as stores gradually reopen after being locked down during the coronavirus crisis, the national retailers association said on Wednesday.

“Consumers are in a crisis mode, consumer sentiment is in the doldrums.”

German Of The Day: Corona-Rechnung

April 20, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hostility, Hurt Feelings Tags: Bild, Bildzeitung, Bills, China, Corona, Coronavirus, Costs, COVID-19, Free Press, German, Germans, Germany, Invoices, Language, Money Leave a comment

That means the Corona invoice or bill.

China has launched a furious war-of-words over a letter by German magazine Bild editor accusing China of being the cause of the Covid-19 outbreak and demanding massive reparations…

“What China owes us,” a provocative article in German tabloid Bild published on 15 April, put a price tag of nearly €150 billion for damages inflicted on the country by Covid-19 pandemic.

The itemized “invoice” included €24 billion in lost tourism revenue from March to April, €7.2 billion in losses for the German film industry, €1 million per hour in costs for Lufthansa, and €50 billion in lost profits for German small businesses.

China responded in anger an open letter to Bild editor Julian Reichelt pointing out that China warned the world early of the dangers of the virus, while rejecting any obligation to pay damages. It also reproached Bild “nationalism, prejudice, and hostility against China.”

Was China uns jetzt schon schuldet.

The End Of Amerika Again

April 13, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hate, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hypochondria, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: America, Anti-Americanism, Corona, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Der Spiegel, Donald Trump, Fakes News, German, Germans, Germany, Hype, Hysteria, Journalism, Media, Media Bias, Pandemic, Psychology, USA 1 Comment

And again and again and again.

In this episode we die of coronavirus. Stay tuned for the next one.

How Trump Is Fueling a Corona Disaster – Donald Trump’s disastrous crisis management has made the United States the new epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic. The country is facing an unprecedented economic crash. Are we witnessing the implosion of a superpower?

“German schadenfreude knows no bounds, particularly when it comes to the United States. The country loves to feel superior to a superpower like America. The reasons are psychological. The criticism of America has always been a bit infantile. One is familiar with the theory from psychoanalysis, when people talk about transference, or when suppressed feelings or emotions are overcome by projecting them onto others. It may work for a while, improving one’s feeling of self-worth by devaluing an imagined adversary. But it always falls short. Which is why the ritual must be constantly carried out anew.”
– Jan Fleischhauer (a German journalist who used to work for Der Spiegel itself)

PS: The quality of Spiegel journalism should never be placed in doubt.

German Of The Day: Voraussetzungen Schaffen

April 9, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Home Cooking, Hypocrisy Tags: Airlift, Angela Merkel, Berlin, Berlin Airlift, China, Corona, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Face Masks, German, Germans, Germany, Language, Xi Jinping 3 Comments

That means to “create the conditions” or “lay the foundation” or “pay the baksheesh,” if you prefer.

That’s what Angela Merkel just did during a direct call to her Virenschleuder (virus spreading) buddy Xi Jinping. She has layed the foundation for an “airlift” of face masks and other protective clothing to be flown from China to Germany using passenger planes that are no longer in use.

You got to have friends. And money. Not necessarily in that order, though.

Mit gegenwärtig nicht genutzten Passagierflugzeugen der Lufthansa werde zudem eine “Luftbrücke” zwischen China und Deutschland eingerichtet, um die Masken zu transportieren.

It’s Only Money

March 22, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hysteria Tags: Berlin, Budgets, Corona, COVID-19, Economy, German, Germans, Germany, Government spending, Spending Leave a comment

Other people’s money. But still.

The schwarze Null or “black zero” (meaning a balanced budget) was yesterday. A supplementary budget for 2020 at about 40 percent the size of the original one will now be approved by the German cabinet to help fight the economic woe being caused by the corona pandemic.

Germany tears up fiscal rule book to counter coronavirus pandemic – Berlin to raise €150bn in new debt to bolster ailing economy.

Other Than Bars…

March 17, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hurt Feelings, Hysteria Tags: Coronavirus, COVID-19, German, Germans, Germany, Hysteria, Lockdowns, Panic, Quarantines Leave a comment

Clubs, discotheques, theaters, opera houses, museums, casinos, trade fairs, zoos, arcades, betting offices, brothels, churches and fifty or sixty other places for social and anti-social interaction, lots of other stuff in Germany is still open. Sort of. For now.

Corona ain’t no big deal here either.

Die Bundesregierung vereinbarte am Montag mit den Ministerpräsidenten der Länder, dass zahlreiche Geschäfte und Einrichtungen geschlossen werden sollen.

German Of The Day: Rodungsstopp

February 18, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Humor, Hurt Feelings, Hypochondria, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: Brandenburg, Employment, Environmentalists, German, Germans, Germany, Gigafactory, Greens, Jobs, Language, Tesla, The Green Shirts, Trees 2 Comments

That means to stop the clearing. Of trees, in this case.

That this particular Rodungsstopp could also stop the construction of Tesla’s planned Gigafactory in Brandenburg – and what could turn out to be the livelihood of 12,000 people – doesn’t seem to interest the greener than green politicians who have sought it.

Tesla has been ordered to temporarily halt preparations for a car factory in Germany after environmentalists won a court injunction on Sunday…

Protesters say the factory is a threat to local wildlife and water supplies…

According to local media reports, Tesla has promised to relocate colonies of forest ants, reptiles and bats, and is working with conservationists. Last month, authorities defused seven Second World War bombs discovered at the site.

Tesla currently has two Gigafactories in the US and one in Shanghai, China.

Der Rodungsstopp an der geplanten Tesla-Fabrik in Brandenburg alarmiert die Wirtschaft: Mehrere Verbände warnen vor Konsequenzen für den gesamten Standort Deutschland.

Observing Hermann

“Was interessiert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern?”

Category Archives: Heconomy