The Rise And Fall Of The German-American Volksfest

August 14, 2014 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, History, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Berlin, Carnivals, German, German-American Volksfest, Germans, Germany, Tradition, West Berlin Leave a comment

And fall and fall and fall it has. It’s been falling for at least twenty years now.

They ought to just finally get it over with and pull the plug for good. Like they already have on that other German-American whatever-it-used-to-be.

…At the time, West Germany and the United States were facing the first major postwar crisis in their relations. Many West Germans were protesting against the US war in Vietnam while many others, around 500,000 annually at the time, attended the annual fair, which was then held near the barracks in Berlin’s Dahlem district. They came because they liked the United States or American music — or maybe even its beer.

German Of The Day: “Sowas sagt man nicht!”

August 13, 2014 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Helplessness, Hideology, High Art, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: Anti-War Events, CDU, DGB, German, Germans, Germany, Gitta Connemann, Hamas, Humor, Israel, Political correctness, Satire Leave a comment

That’s no way to talk!

Just ask this lady here. Her name is Gitta Connemann and she is a member of German parliament (CDU) who just got uninvited as the main speaker at an anti-war event sponsored by the big German DGB union for making Israel-friendly comments. And they were shocking as hell, too.

This broad actually had the nerve to say “Every death is one too many but Israel has been shot at since 2006 and has the right to protect itself.”

What on earth was she thinking? Political sensitivity is clearly not her cup of chai.

“Jeder Tote ist zu viel. Aber seit 2006 wird Israel beschossen und hat ein Recht auf Selbstverteidigung.”

Now That’s Entertainment!

August 12, 2014 By Hermann Observer in Health, Helplessness, High Art, Home Cooking, Humor, Hurt Feelings Tags: Chili, Currywurst, Entertainment, German, Germans, Germany, Humor, Satire, Stefan Mross, Television Leave a comment

German television style. I like this host.

He goes for the hottest hot sauce (minute 2:30) because he’s that cool and then has to have somebody else take over for him so they can drive him to the hospital.

Nachdem er sich an einem Stück Currywurst mit einer extrem scharfen Würzsauce versucht hatte, musste er die Moderation abbrechen. “Bild.de” berichtet, dass der 38-Jährige anschließend hinter der Bühne mit Kreislaufversagen zusammengebrochen sei und in ein Krankenhaus gebracht werden musste.

Germans Really Are Industrious

August 8, 2014 By Hermann Observer in Habeas Corpus, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Hi-tech, Higher Education, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: German, Germans, Germany, Industrial Plagiarism, Industry, Piracy, Plagiarism, Research Leave a comment

Even when it comes to industrial piracy.

German companies are ranked second in the world for industrial plagiarism, a global study released today has found (only China does it better). The numbers indicate that 1 in 4 plagiarized tech goods are made in Germany.

Of course the only problem with this study is that it was made by the the Federation of German Machine and Equipment Builders (or VDMA) so it may have been plagiarized itself.

And no, this wasn’t in the news tonight.

Für den Ideenklau ist oft nicht ein Produzent im fernen China, sondern der Konkurrent um die Ecke verantwortlich.

Is The Party Over?

August 6, 2014 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Hi-tech, Hurt Feelings Tags: Economy, German, Germans, Germany, Industry, Manufacturing, Russia, Sanctions, Trade, Ukraine Leave a comment

While Germany has so far led the regional recovery, it is feeling the pain of increasing political tension. The European Union agreed last week on its widest-ranging sanctions yet over Russia’s backing of rebels in eastern Ukraine. Russia counts Germany as its biggest trading partner in Europe.

“The manufacturing-sector outlook does not look encouraging.”

Die Konjunktur läuft nicht mehr rund – Industrie-Aufträge mit stärkstem Minus seit 2011

The UK Is Really Going To Have Problems With The EU Now

August 5, 2014 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Helplessness, History, Hurt Feelings Tags: England, EU, Germany, Humor, Satire, WWI Leave a comment

ENGLAND DECLARES WAR ON GERMANY!

“Great Britain declared war on Germany at 11 o’clock last night.”

From Russia To Iran With Love

August 4, 2014 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Heconomy, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Books, German, Germans, Germany, Iran, Russia, Sanctions, Trade, Ukraine Leave a comment

From Germany, I mean. It’s complicated.

German businesses are cooling on Russian investments amid anger over Russia’s role in the Ukrainian conflict, while simultaneously warming on another big country hit by Western sanctions: Iran.

According to Küntzel, German leaders have at least two other reasons for helping Iran defy the United States. The first is German resentment of defeat in the Second World War followed by foreign occupation, led by the US. The second reason is that Iran is one of the few, if not the only country, where Germans have never been looked at as “war criminals” because of Hitler.

Der Spiegel Bugs Israel Bugging Kerry Bugging Everybody Else

August 3, 2014 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hi-tech, Humor, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: Eavesdropping, Edward Snowden, Espionage, Gaza, German, Germans, Germany, Humor, Israel, NSA, Satire Leave a comment

According to secret Spiegel bugging sources, the Israeli intelligence service has bugged telephone conversations made by American Secretary of State John Kerry while he was busy bugging anyone he could find in the Middle East and elsewhere who might possibly be interested in negotiating a peaceful solution to the current Gaza crisis.

Spiegel sources refused to go into detail here but did confirm that all of these telephone calls were very short ones.

Der israelische Geheimdienst hat offenbar Telefonate von US-Außenminister Kerry abgehört. Nach SPIEGEL-Informationen nutzte die Regierung in Jerusalem die so gewonnenen Erkenntnisse bei Verhandlungen zum Nahost-Konflikt.

More Benevolent Über-Government Intervention In Action

July 31, 2014 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hysteria Tags: Employment, EU, German, Germans, Germany, Government Interference, Industry, Jobs, Osram, Regulations, SPD Leave a comment

It goes like this: An EU regulation forces Osram and the rest of the industry to shift from traditional light bulbs to light-emitting diodes. They are smaller, more energy-efficient, have longer lifespans than traditional bulbs (except that they don’t really), are very much more expensive and must therefore be forced down the consumer’s throat and, well, everybody here hates the damned things and wants their old light bulbs back.

The benevolent part? Now 8,000 Osram workers lose their jobs because of this.

„Durch die EU-Verordnung ist das traditionelle Glühbirnen-Massengeschäft von Osram weggebrochen. Dort war Osram führend.“

Why Are Filthy Super-Rich Germans So Low-Key About Their High Finance?

July 29, 2014 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: ALDI, Envy, Frugality, German, Germans, Germany, Money, Riches, Savings, Wealth 3 Comments

Well, for one thing, they know better than anyone that they live in the notorious German Neidgesellschaft.

And for another thing… The figures show that private wealth in Germany is more unevenly distributed than in any other country in the eurozone. While the richest 1% have personal wealth of just short of one million euros on average, a quarter of adult Germans have no wealth or even owe money.

ALDI schönen Sachen!

Observing Hermann

“Was interessiert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern?”

Category Archives: Hurt Feelings