Category Archives: Hypocrisy

Restraining ignorance?

October 9, 2009 By in Hypocrisy Tags: 2 Comments

Yeah, there sure is a lot of that out there, everywhere you look. Nothing against Herta Müller, I’m sure she does great work, it’s just that practically no one has ever heard of, much less read her. Nope, not even over here in Germany (of course YOU have, sorry, I’m just being ignorant again).

Herta Müller

If the Nobel Prize literature circle’s only claim to fame is being predictable in making unpredictable choices, that’s fine. But if that also includes removing entire nations from the selection process (in this case the one that happens to lie between the borders of Canada and Mexico), then it doesn’t really have anything to do with literature anymore. But, then again, maybe this prize never did have anything to do with literature (ignorant, like I said).

“The winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature isn’t always a bolt-out-of-the-blue surprise, a writer whose work is known only to an elite fraction of American readers. It only seems that way.”

“There is powerful literature in all big cultures, but you can’t get away from the fact that Europe still is the center of the literary world, not the United States. The U.S. is too isolated, too insular. They don’t translate enough and don’t really participate in the big dialogue of literature. That ignorance is restraining.”

Steinbrück’s Swan Song

September 24, 2009 By in Hypocrisy Tags: 2 Comments

Clearly pissed off about being out of work after Sunday’s election, German finance minister Peer Steinbrück (SPD) has decided to put in one last really annoying punch and declare war on Britain. 

One more Steinbrück for the road.

Economic war, but still.

“Every assertion that he made about Britain in his interview with Stern is either factually wrong, or such a serious distortion of events that it amounts to a smear. Furthermore, it was quite threatening.”

“What he said, in effect, is that Germany will marshal its forces to ensure that a chunk of the British economy is shut down – whatever the social consequences. This is the closest thing I have seen to a declaration of economic warfare in Western Europe in my lifetime.”

I say just ignore him and he’ll go away, Britain. Turn the other stiff upper cheek and all that. Even if you don’t ignore him he’ll be going away, so you might as well just ignore him. We’re all going to miss him, though, or at least I am. Thanks for the memories, Peer.

“We must resist Schadenfreude when that moment comes.”

So this is what you wanted?

September 15, 2009 By in Hypocrisy Tags: 1 Comment

Europe this, Europe that, but when it comes to jobs and number one… The main thing is that of the 10,500 people who are about to get fired at Opel 1) they won’t be getting fired by that awful American GM company (it will be Magna and Russia and Co. instead), and 2) most of those getting fired will be in Belgium and England.

The money that came in from the cold.

Oh yeah, and now it comes out that tons of German government support money involved in “the deal” will be flowing off to Russia with love. The technology too, of course, but that’s another story.

“Dass etliche Jobs wegfallen war schon vorher klar, dass es so viele sein werden allerdings nicht.”

Mud is thicker than blood

September 8, 2009 By in Hypocrisy Tags: Leave a comment

“Clearly, for the Obama administration, pushing the reset button on Russia did not include dumping a major GM asset to suit a German grand coalition notion for pocketing election campaign fillips for ‘saving’ Opel from GM with investment money from ‘strategic partners’ Moscow.

As scrupulously as the administration in Washington has said nothing about it, an American official, who asked that his name not be used, told me, ‘I think in general we’ve come to the point where the Germans feel they can take the United States for granted and do.’”

“Priorities are as clear as mud in Germany.”

Where have all the clunkers gone?

August 6, 2009 By in Hypocrisy Tags: Leave a comment

Why they’ve been shipped off to Africa, of course. The German cash for clunkers plan, the so-called Abwrackpämie, was also a roaring success over here, you see.

Geez, the junkyard smells today.

Not only could anybody with an old car help stimulate the German economy by trading it in for a big rebate to purchase a new, more environmentally-friendly model, he or she could then rest more soundly at night knowing that their old CO2-spewing wreck had been taken out of service for good and that they had done their part to help save the world’s climate as we know it.

But now it turns out that up to 50,000 old German cars which had been declared wrecked were in fact later sold to Eastern European countries or shipped off to Africa. I know this sounds bad at first, ex-clunker owner, but I would not worry my little worried head about it and continue to keep on sleeping soundly through the night if I were you (and we both know that you will). This unfortunate “massive scrapping bonus betrayal” is in fact, well, unfortunate, but it will eventually only encourage the Eastern Europeans and Africans to initiate cash for clunkers programs of their own.

And the best part of all of this? This program only cost the German government (that means the German taxpayers) eighty zillion quadrillion bazillion euros (nobody does billion anymore). Government programs rule.

“By taking clunkers of the road, the thinking went, Germany’s carbon footprint could also be reduced.”

The Renaissance Men are coming

July 29, 2009 By in Hypocrisy Tags: Leave a comment

No, not The Transformers or The Watchmen or the whoever else out there on your movie screens is coming these days, the German left-wing terror renaissance types. In real life, here in Berlin, wherever that is (the real life part of Berlin, I mean).

But we started out peaceful, OK?

Yup, the subtle pink blossoms of German left-wing stupid violence Romanticism are blooming anew, predictably, in the city that keeps “drawing them in” and never seems to tire of this nonsense. Arson attacks on cars and other left-wing protests are up these days, indirectly encouraged by Berlin’s all too understanding and sympathetic Mayor Klaus Wowereit (the stress in sympathetic should be placed on pathetic here).

And this rise in violence has in fact become so noticeable that even the police up top are starting to notice it – Germany’s police union boss just put out the warning. You see Police here in Berlin, just like everywhere else in the country, pretty much have to apologize whenever they do their job properly, as attested to during the recent senseless violent outbreak at the city’s old Tempelhof Airport. They are the ones always at fault whenever “peaceful demonstrations” planned to turn violent then turn violent so violently. After all, somebody has to be held responsible.

But its yawn time again on this one I guess. The German media landscape, dominated as it is by the older but not at all wiser left-wing parents (or grandparents?) who are throwing the stones now, the same ones who started the fun back in 68 (somehow sound familiar?), will see to it that everyone continues to turn a blind left eye to the good-natured fun these well-intentioned youngsters are having as, well, they only mean well and they are actually quite idealistic and this is for a good cause in the end after all, I think, or it must be, right?

Or what do you think the public reaction here would be if the people “peacefully demonstrating” out there like this were all wearing brown shirts and Nazi regalia? There’s violence, you see, and then there is violence.

„Parts of Wowereit’s administration — the governing coalition pairs the center-left Social Democrats with the far-left Left Party — are openly sympathetic to the left-wing extremists.“

PS: Thanks for the link, Joe.

Speaking of stealth technology…

June 23, 2009 By in Hypocrisy Tags: 2 Comments

How about some way cool NSA-like spy equipment to help Iran’s mullah regime identify, locate and crackdown on Iranian Internet users? It’s German equipment by the way, or at least in part.

Siemens calling.

Joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks installed monitoring equipment in Iran’s “Telecommunication Infrastructure Co.” government-controlled telecom network a few months back, you see. And now Iranian government spook types have switched on the technology’s full capabilities and are using it to hunt down those who would not do as they are told – that handful of nasty opposition types that won’t go away and is turning out to be more of a handful than the handful calling the shots expected.

This gives the slogan “connecting people” a whole new meaning. But don’t let this type of thing bother you, Germany (I know, it isn’t and it won’t). Business is business, especially when it’s German business. German business is always business for peace and Entspannung (easing of tension) and international understanding and all that.

It just remains to be seen how much easing of tension this easing of tension business will be easing in the coming days and weeks and, well, however long it takes to come.

„Iran hat von „Tätern“ eine ganz eigene Vorstellung – und hat angeblich mit Hilfe von Nokia Siemens Networks mittlerweile eines der weltweit ausgeklügelsten Systeme zur Kontrolle und Zensur des Internets entwickelt.“

Now that’s entertainment

June 2, 2009 By in Hypocrisy Tags: 1 Comment

Nobody gets it up here, though (in the “West”). A German student being tried in Britain is said to have gone beyond lawful protest when he threw a shoe towards Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao during a lecture at Cambridge University. What a bunch of humorless sticks in the mud youz guyz.

The shoe must go on.

He just wanted to have a little fun and shake things up a little (just like somebody else wanted to do with some shoes recently somewhere some place but I can’t remember where). And the punch line: Following the arrest the student said that his action was legitimate given the crimes of the Chinese communist government. Damn I like this guy.

And I can’t wait for the next online throw-your-shoe-at-Wen-Jiabao game to come out, either.

“He was heard to say words to the effect that the university was prostituting themselves by allowing the Premier to speak and referred to the Premier as a dictator.”

Germans and their weapons issues

May 15, 2009 By in Hypocrisy Tags: 1 Comment

It’s even become peinlich (embarrassing) for German politicians now (and that takes a lot), this nutty idea about forbidding paintball. But they meant well, right? They always do.

Evil paintballer in action.

It’s all about cosmetics, I guess, and blinder Aktionismus (politicking, or doing things just for the sake of doing things). There can’t be many countries out there with stricter weapons controls than the ones Germany already has (maybe North Korea or someplace like that?), but that wackos still go nuts and kill people with guns here and elsewhere, and unfortunately always will, regardless of the local gun laws or paintball culture, well, that’s just another sad, prosaic little fact .

Why not address real weapons issues, pacifist German politicians? You know, like German weapons exports? Those seem to be completely out of control (you’re still number three in the world – go Germany!). Where’s the politicking there? I know, I know; who cares? Nobody, nobody does here. You can’t care about something you refuse to recognize, much less talk about. Getting upset for a few minutes about paintball is a whole lot easier than addressing a real issue, and less embarrassing in the end.

„Beim weltweiten Waffenhandel gehöre Deutschland zu den führenden Nationen, heißt es im Jahresbericht des Bonner Friedens- und Sicherheitsforschungsinstituts. Lieferungen gingen auch in problematische Empfängerländer wie Angola, Ägypten oder Pakistan.“