German Of The Day: Abstürzen

That means to fall, plummet, crash.

And as noted repeatedly in the past, that’s what the German Greens love to do, right before any big election comes along. There will be one here in the Fall.

It has become a real tradition with them. Whenever they are doing well in the polls, and they were up until a few weeks ago, they do one or two stupid things to remind the electorate about how clueless they are. Now their numbers are plummeting big time.

Their front woman (it seems the Greens believe it is finally time for Germany to have a woman chancellor) got caught failing to report her 25,000 euro “Corona bonus” to the taxman. Her CV doesn’t stand up to objective scrutiny either. Meanwhile, their resentful male number two has been stumbling around in Ukraine demonstrating to the German voter how naive he is. Or green behind the ears, if you prefer. Bring on the elections! Now. Bitte.

Der eine stolpert mit Stahlhelm durch die Ukraine und offenbart seine außenpolitische Unbedarftheit. Die andere vergisst, dem Bundestag Sonderzahlungen von mehr als 25.000 Euro zu melden, und kämpft mit ihrem eigenen Lebenslauf, der offenkundig nicht nur lückenhaft, sondern auch geschönt war.

Germany Still Explaining To The Banana Republic What To Do Next

To help them with their Russian Nord Stream 2 deal.

The Americans are new to knuckling under with a wave of a feather and still need a lot of coaching.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that Germany was cooperating to mitigate effects of major pipeline from Russia after a US decision to waive sanctions drew wide criticism.

President Joe Biden’s administration last month decided not to enforce sanctions against the builder of Nord Stream 2, which will supply energy-hungry Germany, drawing praise from Moscow ahead of his summit with President Vladimir Putin on June 16.

Do The Biden Bounce

It’s just like the Dead Rat Bounce. I mean Cat. Only smellier. And not as bouncy.

On the eve of President Joe Biden’s trip to Europe, the survey by the German Marshall Fund and the Bertelsmann Foundation said he had not won back the standing of the United States as it was before COVID-19 struck. China’s reputation had risen slightly…

Only 51% of Germans see the United States as a reliable partner, rising to 60% in France, 67% in Britain and 76% in Poland. Fewer than a quarter of Turks trust the United States. Most Americans regard the European Union as a reliable partner, the study said.

More Of Germany’s Ever Stricter Gun Control Laws In Action

Sheesh. It’s almost as if only criminals and crazy people have guns in Germany these days. And one or two cops.

Germany: Man shoots woman then himself in court. Like, duh. How’s he going to shoot himself first and then the woman?

A man shot a woman and then himself on the grounds of a district court in northern Germany. The incident is under investigation…

“Attention, we have a police situation on Mühlenstraße. We are on site. Please refrain from asking questions for the time being.”

Berlin Instructing Washington On How It Will Get Its Way

But they are doing so in a way that will help create the illusion that the current Banana Republican administration in Washington has something to say in the matter.

Germany, U.S. hold talks in Washington on Nord Stream 2, Berlin says – Germany and the United States are holding talks in Washington to try to resolve a row over the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Tuesday…

Russia’s Gazprom (GAZP.MM) and its Western partners are racing to finish the Nord Stream 2 pipeline under the Baltic Sea. The project, now about 95% complete, would bypass Ukraine, potentially depriving it of lucrative transit fees and undermining its struggle against Russian aggression.

Artificial Outrage

And they’re not very good at it either. The Germans, this time along with the French, are doing their “friends don’t spy on friends” routine again.

France and Germany are “seeking full clarity” on a report claiming that one of Denmark’s intelligence agencies helped the United States spy on several senior European officials, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday.

Just so you know who you’re dealing with, here are just a handful of the German cases of friends spying on friends I’ve collected over the years:

NSA May Possibly Not Have Been The Very First Intelligence Agency Ever To Spy On Other Government Officials

N-S-A, B-N-D, Spy-On-You-And-Me

“Spying Among Friends Is Never Acceptable”

“Friends Don’t Spy On Friends”

More “Friends Don’t Spy On Friends”

German Spies Don’t Spy On Friends

More Friends Don’t Spy On Friends Again

More Friends Don’t Spy On Friends Stuff

German Of The Day: Betrug

That means fraud.

This is what happens when the government gives something “for free” to the citizens of a country who pride themselves on not being corrupt.

Germany will introduce stricter controls on the administering of coronavirus tests, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Saturday, after local media reports accused some centres of accounting fraud.

“There will be more random checks,” Spahn said on Twitter. “Pragmatism is necessary these days. Those who exploit that must not be allowed to get away with it.”

Germany offers its citizens at least one free coronavirus test per week, with several federal states providing one free test a day. The state pays 18 euros ($21.94) per test. Many private test centres have been set up in recent weeks.

“Mit etwas krimineller Energie ist gerade sehr viel möglich.” Die Corona-Testzentren sind ein Paradies für Betrüger, sagt der Experte Gunter Lescher. Eine effektive Kontrolle sei derzeit kaum machbar.

German Naturalisations Fall As British Nationals Realize Just How Much Europe Sucks

Sorry. I meant as the “Brexit effect” fades, of course.

German ‘naturalisations’ fall as Brexit effect fades – The number of foreigners who obtained German nationality last year fell by 15% to 109,900, and half the decline was due to fewer British nationals becoming citizens of Germany, the Federal Statistics Office said on Wednesday…

In the five years since the 2016 Brexit referendum, a total of 36,500 Britons have naturalised in Germany, the Office added. In 2020, the number fell to 4,900 from a peak of 14,600 in 2019.

Let Me Take A Guess

Because they plagiarize?

Why do German politicians so often stumble over Ph.D. plagiarism allegations?

Yet another German politician has resigned over allegedly plagiarizing their doctoral thesis. Who catches them out, and why is this a big deal in Germany?

“They copy from everywhere. Other Ph.Ds, Wikipedia, club newsletters, product information leaflets — I’ve seen the strangest things.”

Is This The Shot In The Foot?

The German Greens are notorious for this. Whenever they are doing well in the polls, which is the case at the moment, they say something so revealing, that is, so ridiculous about their policies, that they single-handedly manage to turn this trend around.

This time the shot may have come from Robert Habeck, the Green boy boss who was edged out of the running as head honcho by the Green girl boss Annalena Baerbock. How much he resents this we’ll probably never know but in a talk show last night the possibility of raising the price of gasoline as high as 60 euros per liter (per liter, not gallon) was addressed. You know, to make the world a greener place and save humanity and all that? Under her leadership, of course.

I’m not sure but I can’t imagine even the greenest of German Green going along with that one. Unless they’re really green behind the ears.

„Der klimawirksame Gewinn ist nicht so besonders hoch. Das muss man einfach zugeben. Es ist eher ein Beispiel dafür, was man alles machen kann, was niemandem wirklich weh tut. Die ökonomische Frage, wie teuer Fliegen wird, ist davon zu trennen.“