Category Archives: Helplessness
There’s something about soccer manager nerds
Especially if they’re German.

Women just can’t resist them.
Oh Thomas Tuchel, how I love you! Unlike the last boss of the England team, Saint Gareth of Southgate, there’s no smart suit and fashionable theories about sad young men for you. You won’t write a book called ‘Anything Is Possible: Be Brave, Be Kind & Follow Your Dreams’. No one will ever write a play about you, though you are beautifully portrayed in the current series of Radio 4’s Dead Ringers, repeatedly correcting Gary Lineker’s sloppy thinking and Harry’s Kane’s flights of fancy with a kindly but firm ‘No, Gary’ and ‘No, Harry’ before explaining to them exactly what’s what. There’s always a special affection about the way the studio audience laugh at your small speeches and cheer when the sketches conclude…
Reduce Germany’s Middle East presence?
Due to the Iran war? I didn’t know Germany even had a Middle East presence.

But I guess 30 guys holed up in a camp on the edge of the Erbil airport counts.
German military to leave base in Erbil, northern Iraq by September, Spiegel reports – German troops are set to withdraw from Erbil, Iraq, by the end of September following a broader effort to reduce Germany’s Middle East presence due to the Iran war.
And then leave?
Which Germany are they talking about here?

German of the day: Märchen. That means fairy tale.
Why migrants come to Germany for work and then leave again – Germany has long attracted skilled workers to its labor market. The country has been much less successful at retaining them. So what is Germany doing wrong?
German of the day: Ladenöffnungen an Sonntagen
That means store hours on Sunday.

There are none in Germany, in case you didn’t know. Germans are very religious. Hardy, har, har.
But wait! Suddenly. In the year 2026…
Debate Over Expanding Sunday Store Hours – Following libraries and bakeries, the retail sector now also wants to fight for the right to open stores on Sundays. It has received support from the Bundestag’s Economic Committee. Churches and labor unions view the initiative critically.
Following the government’s announcement that it would extend Sunday opening hours for bakeries and pastry shops, the discussion about general store opening hours on weekends is now gaining momentum: The Bundestag’s Economic Committee has called for a significant relaxation of the current ban on Sunday openings…
German of the day: Eigentor
That means own goal.

The great German own goal – In economics, as in football, they’ve lost their edge.
Can it be a coincidence? For three World Cups in a row, Germany has failed to make it to the last 16. For the 16 previous tournaments — from 1954 until 2014 — it never failed to reach the quarter finals. You can be unlucky once, or even twice, but three times? Especially when we see a similar pattern in the Euros, this failure can’t be explained away by the glorious randomness of football.
The year of the 2018 World Cup also marked a turning point for the German economy. Until then, it was considered one the most successful in the world, a reputation it had enjoyed almost without interruption since the Second World War. I spent a lot of time back then warning that Germany’s strategy was not sustainable — even if it superficially seemed to work. From 1945 to 2018, after all, Germany was Europe’s manufacturing powerhouse. The last eight years, though, have been marked by deindustrialisation, price spikes, and persistent economic disappointment…
Penalty kick?
German of the day: “Ich möchte weitermachen”
Greens capitulate!
Air conditioning in Germany is now officially a good thing.

Greens’ Dröge calls for air conditioning push in public facilities – The co-leader of Germany’s Greens, Katharina Dröge, appeals in this week’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper for rapid moves to install air conditioning units in key public buildings.
You know. Key public buildings like the German Bundestag.
German of the day: Stellenabbau
That means job cuts. Deep cuts, in this case.

Job Cuts at VW: Auto Giant Plans to Cut Up to 100,000 Jobs – The crisis in the auto industry continues. VW is now reportedly doubling its original layoff plans – and some plants are also expected to be closed.
According to information from Manager Magazin, the Volkswagen Group plans to cut up to 100,000 jobs. Citing insider information, the publication reported that the restructuring is to be carried out over the next few years. This would effectively double the previous job-cut target. In addition, plans are reportedly in place to close four plants in Hanover, Emden, Zwickau, and Neckarsulm (Audi) in the medium term.


