How To Avoid Getting Scolded By A German?

June 24, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Humor, Hurt Feelings Tags: Books, Culture, eBooks, Europe, German, Germans, Germany, Humor, Oddities, Scolding, Travel Leave a comment

That’s easy. Practice very aggressive social distancing. You know. Like, move to France?

Have you ever walked on the bicycle lane? Put a refundable bottle into a regular bin? Asked a bus driver how much the ride costs? In Germany, these beginners’ mistakes might earn you a good scold. Here’s how to avoid it…

“The point is not whether they are right or not, it’s that anyone here thinks they’re allowed to educate you.”

German Oddity 177. Germany is what you might call a correcting culture. It is not uncommon for perfect strangers to publically reprimand you here if you do not abide by what is considered the societal norm. Newcomers are usually shocked when discovering that others have no qualms about telling you that you’re doing something wrong, as if you were a small child. If they don’t tell you outright there will at least be a display of disapproving headshaking.

Where On Earth Did I Put That €1.9 Billion?

June 22, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Habeas Corpus, Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hi-tech, Home Cooking, Humility, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Business, Corruption, Crime, Dishonesty, German, Germans, Germany, Industry, Wirecard Leave a comment

I didn’t leave it in my other wallet now, did I?

Remember when Germany used to have that squeaky-clean image? Yeah. Me neither. Now Wirecard has stepped up to the plate.

German payments firm Wirecard says missing €1.9bn may not exist – Company thought money was in two Asian banks but search hits dead end in Philippines.

“The management board of Wirecard assesses on the basis of further examination that there is a prevailing likelihood that the bank trust account balances in the amount of €1.9bn do not exist.”

This Is The Real Problem

June 19, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hustle (Hoax), Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: Armies, Bundeswehr, Defense, Defense Spending, Donald Trump, EU, Eurozone, German, Germans, Germany, Military, NATO, Spending, Troops, Ursula von der Leyen Leave a comment

Not Donald Trump withdrawing American troops.

The Germans want a free ride and they’re offended at having finally been caught.

The Sorry State of Germany’s Armed Forces – Trump’s calls to withdraw U.S. troops from the country are impulsive, but Germany isn’t blameless.

The German armed forces are in a sorry state, and that’s not because Germany, more important to NATO’s efficacy as a collective defense pact than any other European member state, lacks the means to fix this problem. It does not.

Germany’s gross domestic product, valued at $4 trillion, ranks fourth in the world and first in Europe. The country is also Europe’s technological powerhouse. Indeed, in 2018, the World Economic Forum hailed it as the world’s leader in technological innovation.

And yet the German military remains riddled with problems. A damning 2019 report (available in an English-language summary) issued by the Bundestag’s then commissioner for the armed forces, Hans-Peter Bartels, summed up the problem.

PS: Please note here that the woman who ran the Bundeswehr for years and years and proved to be unable to fix it is now the woman EU technocrats (voters weren’t asked) have chosen to fix Europe.

Nobody Escapes From A German Jail

June 17, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Habeas Corpus, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Humor Tags: Carlos Lehder Rivas, Cartels, Columbia, Drugs, German, Germans, Germany, Jail, Justice, Mafia, Medellín, Pablo Escobar, Prison 1 Comment

Because nobody wants to.

It’s like a nice hotel stay and they’ll kick you out long before your sentence is over anyway. We’ll be hearing from this guy soon again, I’m sure.

Medellín cartel co-founder transferred to Germany after prison sentence – Carlos Lehder Rivas ran Medellín cartel alongside Pablo Escobar that smuggled cocaine worth billions to the US in 1970s and 80s.

German Of The Day: Säumig

June 16, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Humility, Hurt Feelings Tags: Armies, Defense, German, Germans, Germany, Language, Military, NATO, Spending, Troops Leave a comment

That means delinquent.

You know, as in Donald Trump accusing Germany of being “delinquent” in its payments to Nato, and saying he would stick with the plan unless Berlin changed its course? The truth hurts, Germany. “Why does Germany pay billions to Russia for energy and then we’re supposed to protect Germany from Russia? How is that supposed to work? It doesn’t.”

Trump confirms plan to cut troops in Germany – US President Donald Trump has confirmed plans to withdraw 9,500 American troops from bases in Germany.

„Warum zahlt Deutschland Russland Milliarden Dollar für Energie, und dann sollen wir Deutschland vor Russland schützen? Wie soll das funktionieren? Es funktioniert nicht.“

What’s An Increase Of 42% Among Friends?

June 15, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Brexit, Budgets, Debt, EU, Europe, Eurozone, German, Germans, Germany, Government Waste, Redistribution Leave a comment

Somebody just slammed Germany in the face with a brick. I mean a Brexit.

Germany to contribute 42% more to EU budget: report – The European Commission would like to see €13 billion more per year from Europe’s largest economy. EU leaders, including Angela Merkel, are meeting Friday to discuss the bloc’s future budget.

Germany currently contributes an average of €31 billion a year to the EU budget. The proposal for the new budget would raise that contribution to €44 billion — an increase of 42%.

Brand New Cutting-Edge German Anti-Racism Technology Introduced

June 14, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hustle (Hoax), Hype, Hypochondria, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: Berlin, Corona, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Fake News, German, Germans, Germany, Human Chains, Hysteria, Language, Mass Hysteria, Media, Media Bias, Profit, Racism Leave a comment

As reported earlier, racism is suddenly and inexplicably a really, really big problem in Germany. Out of the blue like, so-to-speak. No one can figure out how this happened or why this is so but everyone is telling each other it is so so it must be so.

To combat this burning German social issue, inventive German social scientists have come up with a brand new anti-racism technology they refer to as the Menschenkette. It is in essence a “human chain” that is designed, we non-social scientist types must assume, to keep racism from “spreading” any further. You know, kind of like the Corona face masks that used to keep the virus from spreading further but apparently don’t work anymore because none of the people in the Menschenkette are wearing them?

Please pass this on to my fellow citizens in US-Amerika immediately! An innovation like this might just end racism over night.

“Unteilbar”-Demonstration: Menschenkette quer durch Berlin.

$1.5 Trillion?

June 11, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hysteria Tags: Consumers, Corona, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Debt, Government spending, Government Waste, Lobbies, Stimulus, Taxation, Taxpayers, Waste Leave a comment

There must be a better word than “stimulus” for that.

Wherever medication is given in huge and sudden doses, there’s a risk of unpleasant side effects. In Germany, and Europe generally, one of these may be a lasting shift in governing philosophy from market-friendly policies to state interventionism. That needn’t end in central planning. But even going part of the way would mean buying relief today at the price of misery tomorrow…

First, governments tend to confuse a company’s size with strength. Second, they’re usually worse than private investors at spotting winners, and always worse at pulling money out of losers. Third, they turn the economy into a big lobbying competition for businesses, which eventually hurts taxpayers and consumers.

And Way Down On Page Seven…

June 10, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: China, Corona, Coronavirus, COVID-19, German, Germans, Germany, Media, Media Bias, WHO Leave a comment

‘Europe Made Mistakes Too’ – Former WHO Head Criticizes Slow Coronavirus Response

In an interview, Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former head of the World Health Organization, is critical of China’s early management of the outbreak of the coronavirus. She also says that the Europeans were too cavalier in their initial response and warns that the next epidemic could be much worse.

There are reasons to criticize China. Those responsible there were too slow. They informed too late. Worst of all, it took them a long time to acknowledge that the infection was from human to human. This transmission was already clearly discernible on Jan. 1, as we now know, but China did not officially announce this until Jan. 20.

What A Coincidence

June 9, 2020 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: Business, FakeNews, Fascism, Hysteria, Journalism, Media, Media Bias, News, Profit, Racism Leave a comment

Imagine that. “Racism on the rise in Germany” now too.

What would be the odds that Germany discovers racism is rising in Germany at the very same time US-Amerika discovers that racism is rising there? Like, right now. Suddenly. Simultaneously. Out of the blue, so-to-speak. It’s mind-boggling, don’t you think?

Unless, of course, racism – like fascism and all those other -isms out there – is ALWAYS rising. But that can’t be true. Otherwise this wouldn’t be considered a news article. It would be an artificial construct. It would be fake. And fake news is not allowed in Germany. It’s the law or something.

Recent statistics back up the protesters’ criticism and confirm a dismal trend: Racial discrimination has increased significantly in Germany.

According to the 2019 annual report presented Tuesday by the German Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency (ADS), the number of such cases reported in Germany rose by almost 10% to 1,176. They make up 33% of the cases dealt with by the agency. That is the largest share, and not for the first time: In 2016, it was already 25%. Since 2015, when 545 reported cases were listed, the number has more than doubled.

Observing Hermann

“Was interessiert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern?”

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