That means out, over. Like over and out. Like lose. Like you just got beat. Like…
Sports is a funny thing. When impossible things happen, I mean. Germany, the world champion, just got tossed out of the World Cup 2018 by South Korea.
Die Blamage ist perfekt.
That means performance art. And in one of the stupidist performances seen to date in Berlin, Greenpeace activists painted the streets around the Siegessäule (Victory Column) yellow. Greenpeace went yellow, in other words.
They stole this idea from the ancient Egyptions, I believe, as they also worshipped the sun (it kind of looks like the sun, see?). The yellow paint, I think, representing, uh, sunlight or something and thus symbolizing, well, how the hell am I supposed to know what this symbolizes? Wait, I’ve got it now. It symbolizes just how awful coal-firng power plants can be for sun-worshiping Greenpeace Germans (yellow or not) and the rest of humanity for that matter and that they need to be shut down immediately or something. Big medicine, folks. Why didn’t somebody think of doing this before?
Die Berliner Polizei ermittelt gegen Aktivisten der Umweltorganisation Greenpeace – zum einen wegen gefährlichen Eingriffs in den Straßenverkehr, zum anderen wegen eines Verstoßes gegen das Versammlungsgesetz. Greenpeace hatte am Dienstagmorgen um 7.30 Uhr auf dem Großen Stern in Tiergarten gelbe Farbe ausgekippt, insgesamt 3500 Liter.
In Germany, I mean. It certainly doesn’t bother Germany’s Family Minister Franziska Giffey of the SPD.
Letting Muslim girls wear them during swim instruction is better than not having them take part in swim instruction at all, right? It’s not like school authorities have an alternative. They couldn’t force them to take part or, Allah forbid, fail them for not doing so. And wearing them wouldn’t be the downfall of the Western World, Frau Giffey assures us.
And she’s right on the money with that one. The downfall of the Western World has already taken place (the dinosaurs didn’t know they were already extinct, either). At least in Europe. Again: Great catastrophes are often the accumulation of smaller mishaps, mistakes and omissions, etc. And they’re all around us now, folks. Wherever you look.
“Wichtig sei nur, dass der Bildungsauftrag im Vordergrund stehe und die Sache „nicht hochstilisiert wird zum Untergang des Abendlandes.”
That means “those declared dead live longer” or there’s life in the old dog yet.
Stayin’ alive is stayin’ alive. And it was quite a thing to see live.
Germany’s World Cup hopes were hanging by a thread as they stood level at 1-1 with Sweden, knowing a draw would make it very hard for them to advance out of Group F. Then Toni Kroos stepped up in the game’s dying minutes…
Make Deutschland Kroos again!
That means “those declared dead live longer” or there’s life in the old dog yet.
Sure, Angela Merkel’s approval rating has long become a disapproval rating and nearly half of Germans polled would like to see her step down now but what does that have to do with anything? There is no direct balloting for the office of Chancellor or they would have voted her out of office years ago. The parliamentary majority decides. And harmless little old Angela Merkel has spent years bumping off anyone in her party who could even remotely pose a threat to her position as boss lady. Nope, things will just keep plugging along, one painful step in the wrong direction after the other. Same procedure as last year, Miss Sophie? Same procedure as every year, James.
By the way, did you know that most great catastrophes don’t just happen suddenly, out of nowhere and overnight? They usually result after a long accumulation of smaller mishaps, mistakes and poor decisions has taken place.
Berlin. Angesichts der aktuellen Regierungskrise um die Asylpolitik ist fast jeder zweite Deutsche für eine Ablösung von Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel. In einer Umfrage des Meinungsforschungsinstituts YouGov sprachen sich 43 Prozent dafür aus, dass Merkel zurücktritt und ihr Amt an einen Nachfolger oder eine Nachfolgerin übergibt.
That means top of the class.
And that’s what Germany is when it comes to all things green and environmental and renewable and organic and… You get the picture, right? Well, that’s what I thought up until recently, too. Turns out they’re not very good at restricting the use of nitrates, though.
Germany ‘to be fined BILLIONS‘ for breaking EU environmental laws after ECJ ruling – The ECJ ruled that Germany breached a Brussels directive by failing to take enough action to tackle water pollution. The verdict by the EU’s highest court, based in Luxembourg, came after growing concerns about the levels of nitrates in German water. Nitrates are widely used as fertilisers, but the chemical can harm the environment and cause health risks through water pollution.
Der Europäische Gerichtshof in Luxemburg hat Deutschland wegen Verletzung von EU-Recht verurteilt, weil die Bundesregierung zu wenig gegen Nitrate im Grundwasser unternommen hat. Geklagt hatte die EU-Kommission.
What? That was it? No more trade war hysteria? Just when it was starting to get interesting? What Luschen (duds).
The Wall Street Journal reported that Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, has been in talks recently with the chief executives of German car makers BMW, Volkswagen and Daimler, where they pitched the idea of ending car tariffs between the U.S. and the EU.
During these talks, the executives said they would be in favor of scrapping these levies as part of a broader deal encompassing industrial goods, the Journal said.
“Germany has the right approach to resolving this trade disagreement among friends.”
What a jerk.
Worse still, he tweets awful things about German officials and the increased crime rate they have brought to their country due to the influx of migrants.
Worserer still, he’s also the reason why Germany will be missing its CO2 emissions target for 2020.
And worstest of all, he is personally responsible for Germany’s loss to Mexico in the World Cup.
And all of this on a Tuesday? They should rename it Trumpday.
Die deutsche Wirtschaft schwächelt, das stellen führende Wirtschaftsforschungsinstitute fest. Schuld ist demnach auch die Politik von US-Präsident Donald Trump.
“We will draw out lessons from this defeat and will do it better next time,” the German manager said following the defeat. “We will certainly not throw our plans overboard. It is an unusual situation for us but one we must accept.”
Go ask Angela Merkel, she’ll tell you.
Certain countries are above all that. Being located on the moral high ground like they are, you know.
Vienna has demanded an explanation from Berlin over reports that Germany’s BND agency spied on nearly 2,000 targets in Austria between 1999 and 2006. Austrian media said embassies were among the targets.
Top Austrian officials have called on Germany to clarify reports that its BND spy agency snooped on high-profile targets including embassies, international organizations, Austrian ministers and banks based in the Austrian capital…
Following revelations by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013, German Chancellor Angela Merkel slammed the US for its extensive spying on targets in Germany. “Spying among friends is not at all acceptable,” she famously said in the wake of the scandal.
Observing Hermann 