Take From The Rich

April 18, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Charges, Earnings, German, Germans, Germany, Levies, Redistribution, State Spending, Taxation, Wasteful Government, Wealth Leave a comment

And give it to the SPD, Left party, Greens, etc. They’ll give it to the poor later, right?

This is getting increasing more difficult to do in Germany, however, as a recent study reveals that the top ten percent of the working population (those who earn the most) already pay half of all income tax the country takes in.

And as recently reported, an average earner here already has to give up nearly half of what he earns. Sheesh. Crime just doesn’t pay anymore. If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool Robin Hoodlum kind of criminal, I mean.

Die Studie zeigt auch, wie stark Gering- und Durchschnittsverdiener durch Steuern und Sozialabgaben belastet werden. So zahle zum Beispiel ein Single mit einem Bruttogehalt von 1.940 Euro im Monat 46 Prozent Steuern und Abgaben. Ein alleinstehender Durchschnittsverdiener mit 3.250 Euro monatlich müsse 51 Prozent abführen, also mehr als jeden zweiten Euro.

German Of The Day: Verpufft

April 14, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Higher Education, Home Cooking, Humor, Hurt Feelings Tags: Elections, German, Germans, Germany, Language, Martin Schulz, Media, Newspapers, Polls, Popularity, SPD, Surveys Leave a comment

That means fizzled out.

Scientists recently hired to find traces of the mythical “Schulz Effect” in Germany are said to be busy preparing their resumes for new employment opportunities as the search for the mysterious, ethereal force has proven to be much more difficult than originally expected.

Meanwhile, German newspapers (ARD-Deutschlandtrend) are reporting that Martin Schulz’ popularity has dropped significantly behind that of his opponent Angela Merkel and even behind that of German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel, the previous SPD loser candidate he was brought here from Brussels to replace.

Verpufft or not, let us continue to wish these scientists all the best for the future because, after all, science marches on. Or in the words of Max Planck: “A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.“

German Of The Day: Netto vom Brutto

April 12, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Higher Education, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Charges, Duties, German, Germans, Germany, Language, Levies, Money, Social Security, Studies, Surveys, Taxation, Taxes Leave a comment

That means net pay from the gross. And gross is it ever. Only Belgium (think Land of the EU) does it better. Meaning worse, of course.

According to a report just published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Germany has the second biggest tax burden worldwide. And we’re talking about middle-income people here, people. Not millionaires or anything.

The OECD calculated each country’s tax wedge – the gap between what employers take home in pay and what it costs to employ them, including personal income tax and social security contributions. Germany had a tax wedge for single, childless workers of 49.4 percent, behind Belgium at 54 percent. That means nearly half of a single person’s income goes towards taxes and social security contributions in Germany.

Please remember this the next time somebody starts telling you again how wonderful everything over here in ze Europe is (“socialized medicine” and all that). There simply is no free Mittagessen (lunch). You can go broke eating free lunch over here.

„Die Belastung der Bürger ist deutlich höher, als uns bewusst war.”

Remember: Germans have more words for taxation than Eskimos have for snow.

Green With Envy

April 11, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Humor, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: CO2, German, Germans, Germany, Greens, Hybrids, Political Parties, Politicians 3 Comments

Or with hypocrisy. Take your pick. In this case it’s both.

For a political party that wants no more gas/diesel-driven cars to be produced in Germany as of 2030, their talking head types sure seem to like the ones they can still get their sweaty little hands on.

A leading green politician lady was caught on film by the CDU competition as she got out of her CO2-belching Audi A8 Dienstwagen (official car) and into one of them there more correct kind of hybrid models – before driving off to an election campaign event.

The CDU guy who posted his stuff on social media wrote: “First have yourself driven to Dusseldorf in a big honking Audi A8 and then quickly jump into your waiting environmentally friendly hybrid car in the hope that nobody notices. Here’s to Green double standards!”

If I were her I’d just plead the fifth. Or tell everybody that I was suffering from performance anxiety, a very common ailment here.

„Kleiner Tipp an Frau Löhrmann: Beim nächsten Mal das Fahrzeug vielleicht besser in der Tiefgarage wechseln.“

What’s-His-Name (SPD) Open To Coalition With Whoever

April 10, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helections, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Elections, German, Germans, Germany, Martin Schulz, SPD Leave a comment

Only whatsherface (CDU/CSU), so-and-so (FDP), whatchamacallit (the Greens) and dinglehopper (the Left) don’t really want anything to do with him. Whatever.

Schulz’s approval rating has been on the up in recent months, with opinion polls suggesting he is in with a fair chance against current Chancellor Angela Merkel.

However, the country’s recent regional election in the south-western state of Saarland, seen as something of a bellwether for the upcoming general election, saw high voter turnout and a comfortable win for Merkal’s Christian Democrats (CDU), suggesting some public aversion to a leftist leadership.

“Whoever is interested to join the government led by me is invited to join it after the election and to open a dialogue with me.”

German Of The Day: Willkommenskultur

April 9, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Asylum Seekers, German, Germans, Germany, Language, Refugees, Studies, Surveys Leave a comment

That means “welcoming culture” and refers to the German willingness to accept refugees.

It is, of course, a Märchen (fairy tale), as a survey on Friday is now beginning to make clear and not really a great revelation for anyone who lives here, either.

A new study has revealed that a majority of Germans are unwilling to take in more asylum seekers. The country took in around 890,000 refugees in 2015. According to a representative survey conducted by the Bertelsmann foundation, 54 percent of the respondents said Germany had reached the limit as far as accepting asylum seekers was concerned. In 2015, the same survey showed 40 percent of people holding this opinion.

Let’s face it, Germans are fine and decent people but the German culture has never been a “welcoming culture” in that sense. That many Germans would like to believe that it is anyway speaks for their good will and good intentions but they know themselves that this simply isn’t true. Reality has a way of catching up with good intentions, the road to hell being paved with them, as we all know.

In einer am Freitag veröffentlichten Emnid-Umfrage im Auftrag der Bertelsmann Stiftung sieht eine knappe Mehrheit von 54 Prozent der Befragten Deutschland an seiner Belastungsgrenze angekommen. Vor zwei Jahren teilten diese Auffassung noch 40 Prozent.

Obama’s Red Line Finally Crossed

April 7, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Higher Education, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Chemical Weapons, German, Germans, Germany, Journalism, Media, Syria Leave a comment

Yesterday: “Germany welcomes Trump criticism of Assad” (Washington Post).

Today: “Trump playing the world’s policeman after all” (Welt – N24).

There’s talk and then there’s action. Talk is always cheap. Action is always, well, bad.

“I didn’t set a red line. The world set a red line.”

Als Reaktion auf den mutmaßlichen Giftgasangriff des syrischen Regimes auf den Ort Chan Scheichun haben die USA erstmals seit Beginn des Syrien-Kriegs Luftangriffe gegen das Assad-Regime geflogen.

German Of The Day: Inside Islam

March 31, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Higher Education, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Books, Extremism, German, Germans, Germany, Integration, Islam, Mosques, Preachers, Religion 1 Comment

That means Inside Islam and it’s the name of a new book by journalist Constantin Schreiber.

In it he describes his visits to 20 randomly selected “normal” mosques in Germany (he avoided anything that had to do with extremism) and how he was alarmed to discover that the preachers there were not only conservative but also undermined all German efforts directed toward equality and integration.

Believers were exhorted to live by Islamic values and to stay away from the sinful ways of the world outside. Those who do not follow Islamic rules were threatened with the hell fires of the other side.

One preacher’s statement sums it up nicely: “You can’t be both a Muslim and democrat (a supporter of democracy). There can be nothing that is both sweet and bitter.”

“Ich habe, wenn ich mit den Imamen sprechen konnte, auch immer die Frage gestellt, Denken Sie, dass Ihre Moschee ein Ort für Integration ist? Und es haben alle Imame interessanterweise gesagt, ja, unsere Moscheen sind Orte für Integration. Wenn ich dann aber zum Beispiel gefragt habe, wie lange sind Sie denn in Deutschland, dann habe ich zu hören bekommen, neun, elf oder vierzehn Jahre, dann habe ich gefragt, sprechen Sie Deutsch? Nein.”

Germans Involved In Airstrike?

March 30, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hi-tech, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Airstrike, Bundeswehr, German, Germans, Germany, ISIS, Syria, Tornados Leave a comment

What, like an airstrike for higher pay and more vacation? Or one for planes that actually fly? This must be some kind of a misunderstanding or something. German war planes (the ones that still fly) are only used on missions of goodness and niceness.

German jets reportedly passed intelligence to the anti-IS coalition for an airstrike that killed dozens of civilians in Syria. Germany only provides reconnaissance and does not carry out attacks.

“The conflict in Syria is very heavily dependent on aerial intelligence. Countries which may not be involved in the direct fighting in Syria, such as Germany, are nevertheless playing a key role in gathering crucial aerial intelligence, which then feeds into lethal strikes by others, primarily the United States.”

Maybe London’s Just Not All That Much Into You, Frankfurt

March 29, 2017 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Article 50, Brexit, EU, Finance, Frankfurt, Germany, London, LSE Leave a comment

Now that national interest rates are up, I mean.

A German bid to buy the London Stock Exchange has been sunk by the EU competition watchdog.

The Frankfurt-based German exchange Deutsche Boerse was bidding to buy the LSE in a deal that critics have warned would be against Britain’s national interest.

The Art of the Deal: Die Europäische Union, aber auch die britische Regierung betreten damit ein völlig unbekanntes Gebiet. Desintegration war bislang nicht vorgesehen.

Observing Hermann

“Was interessiert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern?”

Category Archives: Hurt Feelings