Political? The Berlin Film Festival?

That’s all we’ve ever been. It’s never been about film.

But we’re not just Crappy-Movies-R-Us anymore. Now we’re openly anti-Israeli. Wait. We’ve always been openly anti-Israel. But now we’re openly openly anti-Israeli.

Germany launches probe over Berlin film festival anti-Israel row – German officials will investigate how Berlin film festival winners were able to make “one-sided” comments condemning Israel’s war in Gaza at the event’s finale, a government spokeswoman says.

At Saturday’s awards ceremony, several winners were accused of making biased remarks on stage in relation to Israel’s war against Hamas, which began after the October 7 assault by the terror group that killed some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw 253 taken hostage.

US filmmaker Ben Russell, wearing a Palestinian scarf, accused Israel of committing “genocide.”

It just keeps getting wackier…

Europe’s largest emitter of CO2 wants to start burying it in the ocean.

Do you have any idea how much dirt that would take?

OK, they want to bury it in sub-seabed storage. But still.

Germany to allow carbon capture, underwater storage – German Economy Minister Robert Habeck says Berlin will need to allow sub-seabed storage of CO2 produced in certain industries in order to reach its goal to be carbon neutral by 2045.

Recreation time!

I’ll see you down at the cannabis club.

Germany’s Parliament to Debate and Vote on Liberalizing Cannabis Rules – German lawmakers are expected to vote on a government plan to liberalize rules on cannabis, which would decriminalize limited amounts of marijuana and allow members of “cannabis clubs” to buy it for recreational purposes.

But look on the bright side…

Maybe destroying all low-Earth orbit satellite communication forever might be a good thing.

Just saying. It would give us the opportunity to get back to the basics again. Back to the roots. And the nuts and the berries.

RUSSIA’S SPACE NUKE COULD DESTROY ORBIT FOR WHOLE PLANET, GERMANS WARN – “NOBODY WOULD SURVIVE AN ACTION LIKE THAT — NO SATELLITE, EITHER CHINESE OR RUSSIAN AND AMERICAN OR EUROPEAN.”

The anti-satellite space weapon Russia is said to be developing could potentially destroy low-Earth orbit for everyone.

“If somebody dares to explode a nuclear weapon in high atmosphere or even space, this would be more or less the end of the usability of that global commons,”

Predictably unpredictable

What do expect from a coalition government of three consisting of Green utopians, spendthrift social democratic regulation freaks and free-market capitalists (true liberals, in other words)?

This is how Germans vote. Remember: “Every country has the government it deserves.” Just look at the Banana Republic itself, if you don’t believe me.

EU partners lose trust in Berlin after policy U-turns – Lawmakers and diplomats in Brussels express frustration at Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s unpredictable coalition.

For years Germany was seen as a rock of stability and predictability in the EU. These days, its partners wonder what curveball Berlin will throw at them next. 

Last week the German government sent shockwaves through Brussels by withdrawing its support for a piece of legislation that it had long appeared to back: the EU’s new supply chain law.

“Off to a political start?”

There seems to be some misunderstanding here. The Berlin Film Festival has never not gotten off to a political start.

It moves on from there to a politcal midway point and then to a political end, for some political end, politically. It’s never been any different. That’s why the films they show here are always so crappy.

Berlin Film Festival Off to a Political Start as Three Protests Precede Opening Ceremony – After kicking off with a feisty press conference, the Berlin Film Festival got even more political as three groups of protesters descended on Potsdamer Platz before the start of opening night festivities.

German of the day: Na also, es geht doch

That means, more or less: “Well, what do you know? It’s possible after all.”

Germany hits 2% NATO spending target for first time since end of Cold War – Germany has met a NATO alliance target to spend 2% of its gross domestic product on defence for the first time since the early 1990s, a defence ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday, as spending ramped up after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The German government is allocating the equivalent of 71.8 billion euros ($76.8 billion) for defence spending in the current year through regular and special budget outlays. However, the sum of its total defence spending is classified.

New measures “reflect widespread nervousness”

They reflect the widespread nervousness caused by the somewhat older new measures created to increase this widespread nervousness, a widespread nervousness that was increased by other new measures before them that much, much older new measures created in the first place.

You know the routine. Ritual, actually. “Right-wing extremism” is on the rise in Germany. It’s always been on the rise, of course. It’s been on the rise for decades and decades yet it never seems to rise quite high enough to satisfy those worrying about its rising. These are, at the moment, those politicians in the established parties being threatened by the AfD, a party that actually claims to be interested in addressing the migrant madness German voters want them to address, something these established parties refuse to do. They’re plotting to ban the AfD, in other words, because they are incapable of addressing the problems the electorate wants them to address.

Germany bolsters gun curbs, financial policing to rein in far right – German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Tuesday unveiled measures ranging from stronger financial policing and earlier detection of so-called botnets to tightened firearms controls to tackle a far-right surge that has spooked the country.

The measures reflect widespread nervousness that the far-right Alternative for Germany party could end up the largest party in several state parliaments later this year, propelled by a gloomy economy and overburdened public services.

German of the day: Ausladung and Ausgrenzung

Ausladung means to cancel an invitation.

Ausgrenzung means exclusion, marginalisation.

Co-head of the Berlinale justifies the cancellation with high pressure – The managing director of the Berlinale, Mariette Rissenbeek, has defended the decision to exclude AfD politicians from the opening gala. In the face of widespread criticism, it was “a very difficult gesture to say: ‘You are welcome!

AfD parliamentary group leader Brinker criticizes Berlinale decision as “exclusion.”