Category Archives: History

Volunteers of America, OK

August 13, 2010 By in Helplessness, History Tags: , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

But volunteers of Germany? Good luck.

German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg is moving ahead with reform plans to reduce the Bundeswehr to 165,000 soldiers, effectively turning it into a volunteer army.

This is a controversial move in Germany because, well, every move in Germany is a controversial move. OK, OK. At least the ones that have to do with the military are.

But like who cares? It’s not as if this new professional German army is ever going to be used for military purposes either. Not unless everybody volunteers to, that is. And how likely is that?

Künftig sollen nur noch freiwillige Rekruten eingezogen werden: Die Planer rechnen mit 7500 Freiwilligen pro Jahr.

German rapid response team closes down 9/11 mosque

August 9, 2010 By in Habitudes, History Tags: , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Well that’s a relatively rapid response by German standards if you ask me, OK?

That’s right, this is the same mosque which was frequented by the the suicide hijackers from the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. And now, some ten years later, after what appears to have been some very, very thorough deliberation indeed, Hamburg authorities have determined that the guys running this place might pose a threat to society – and have shut their puppy down.

Germans are known for their thoroughness, get it?

“Recent events have again shown that instructional courses, sermons and seminars held by the organization and texts published on its website are not only aimed against constitutional regularity, but also seek to radicalize their listeners and readers,” the town statement said.

This blame game is lame

August 1, 2010 By in Habeas Corpus, History, Hysteria Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

What a shame.

Ever wonder about blame? About the need to find someone or something to blame for tragic incidents that just plain happen in what some might claim to be an indifferent world?

Finding blame is very important in Germany for some inexplicable reason (not all that inexplicable really, if you stop and think about it for a bit). It’s not a terribly productive process, however. Especially when the individual being sought out for blame this time can in no way be held responsible for the awful thing that happened.

Like I said, what a shame, whoever or whatever to blame or not. As one Stoic philosopher has written:

“Small-minded people habitually reproach others for their own misfortunes. Average people reproach themselves. Those who are dedicated to a life of wisdom understand that the impulse to blame something or someone is foolishness, that there is nothing to be gained in blaming, whether it be others or oneself.”

But hey, impulse is impulse and this impulse is pulsing quiet strongly in Germany right now.

Maybe they ought to do it like the old Israelites did and symbolically load up a goat (or a wild boar in this case?) with these particular sins and let him loose in the German wilderness for atonement. Oh, you’re right. They already are. Sort of.

Now he is a pariah, holed up in his office and protected day and night by the police. Mr. Sauerland no longer sleeps at home; he has received several death threats and members of his family members, fearing for their safety, have left town.

Women and elephants and…

June 28, 2010 By in History, Hysteria Tags: , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Fußball fans never forget.

“Some (Germans) have even got religious about it, praising the god of football for handing down divine justice in the form of a blatant referee error that robbed England of a crystal-clear goal on Sunday. At last, commentators say, Germany has been avenged for 1966, when England had a goal wrongly allowed in the legendary World Cup final at London’s Wembley stadium, which England won 4:2.”

Tod und Verklärung

June 24, 2010 By in Hard Facts, History Tags: , , , , , , , 5 Comments

Death and transfiguration, although glorification is probably the more accurate term. Nothing new here, folks. Just move along now and go about your business.

Death as in the GDR, of course, as in dead as a doornail, long, long ago. Transfiguration/glorification as in the twenty-five percent of East Germans (or Germans of the East, if you prefer) that still thinks old communist Germany wasn’t such a bad place to live after all.

This wouldn’t be so bad if these were all just old communists thinking this, of course, but that’s clearly not the case.

Eine Studie der Linkspartei.

Glück muss man haben

June 20, 2010 By in Hi-tech, History Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Ya gotta have luck (no, not that old GDR gameshow).

Seven crew and passengers were injured when a DC3 “raisin bomber” that takes tourists on flights commemorating the Berlin Airlift had to make an emergency landing on a street leading to a construction site at Berlin’s Schoenefeld airport.

„Wir waren vielleicht 15 Meter über dem Boden, da fing das linke Propeller-Triebwerk zu stottern an.“

Athletes are dumb

June 15, 2010 By in Habitudes, Helplessness, History Tags: , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

We knew that already, right? But sports commentators can be pretty dumb too, you know.

Nobody knows what this lady was thinking when she said it, least of all herself I’m sure, but after Germany’s Miroslav Klose shot this beautiful goal against Australia the other night (and ended a long dry spell everybody had been ragging him about), she said “That’s a real inner Reichsparteitag (Nuremberg Rally) for Miroslav Klose, that he scores a goal like that here today.”

Huh? That’s a new one for me – although it’s clearly not a new one for a bunch of other folks around here. Dict.cc just told me that it’s an idiom meaning “a feeling of deep satisfaction over the outcome of something.” Oh. That makes it, uh, better, I guess.

“Es war eine sprachliche Entgleisung im Eifer der Halbzeitpause.”

Go for the Gauck

June 8, 2010 By in History Tags: , , , , , , 4 Comments

Grassroots political activism in action – again.

Not particularly interested in Christian Wulff, the presidential candidate the current ruling coalation is pushing through, German internet activists are activating the Internet for Mr. No Chance in Hell Joachim Gauck instead.

More power to ya, folks, but he’s just too impartial and unconnected and doesn’t have a chance, like I said. But hey, do the right thing. You never know. Like the German saying goes: You don’t have a chance, so use it.

“Gauck has a rich life story shaped by the Cold War. At the age of 11, his father was arrested by communist authorities and sent to the Gulag in Siberia. After the Berlin Wall fell, Gauck ran the state-run archives on the Stasi, earning recognition for exposing the crimes of the dreaded East German secret police.”

Zentral Park it ain’t

May 10, 2010 By in History Tags: , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Although it’s about the same size. Tempelhof was a pretty cool airport though.

 But the bulldozers aren’t finished with Tempelhof just yet. Starting in 2013, the new park will undergo a four-year, 60-million-euro ($48 million) facelift to become the home of the 2017 International Garden Exhibition. By then, it should look a lot more like its storied New York counterpart.