Category Archives: Hypocrisy

A Positive Development

November 29, 2019 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Hideology, Home Cooking, Humility, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

But nowhere near what the Germans pledged to do long, long ago.

NATO

Germany to match US contribution to NATO budget – From 2021, Germany will increase its contribution to the NATO budget to be in line with what the US pays. NATO officials hope the move will diffuse tensions surrounding the cost of maintaining the military alliance.

Gee. I wonder what – or who? – finally got the Germans to act?

Starting in 2021, the share of the NATO budget covered by Germany will increase from 14.8% to 16.35%, while the share covered by the US will decrease from 22.1% to 16.35%…

NATO officials hope the new agreement will alleviate some of the tension around the topic of NATO financing. US President Donald Trump has complained that the US covers more than its fair share of the costs for the alliance. He has demanded that other member states make good on their pledges to increase their NATO contribution to 2% of GDP by 2024 (pledged nearly twenty years ago), a goal that Germany will not reach.

Merkel on Wednesday vowed to reach the 2% mark by the “early 2030s.”

No Difference Between China And The USA

November 27, 2019 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hi-tech, Hideology, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Right? Not in Germany there isn’t.

China

To understand any German position on any international theme or issue you must understand that US-Amerika is somehow, in some way, in some form, a, if not the, negative factor in it. Once you understand and accept this, everything German politicians and diplomats say starts making sense. Take China and 5G for instance. Please.

The US ambassador to Berlin has sharply criticised German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier for suggesting a parallel between Chinese and US spying.

The row flared up over Germany’s decision not to ban Chinese tech giant Huawei from participation in the German 5G mobile phone network…

Meanwhile, a new opinion poll suggests a wide gap between the views of Americans and Germans on US-German relations.

Three-quarters of Americans surveyed were positive. But nearly two-thirds of Germans felt relations were bad, the Pew Research Center/Körber-Stiftung poll found.

“There is no moral equivalency between China and the United States and anyone suggesting it ignores history.”

German Of The Day: Späti

November 24, 2019 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means the late-night stores of Berlin. And we should have smelled this rat coming long ago.

Späti

How could these popular local convenience stores be allowed to continue running without being inconvenienced by the Berlin city government? They were allowed to open when they saw fit, depending entirely on supply and demand. You know, like in capitalism? Spätis are one of the few things that actually work in this town, by the way. Obviously, somebody had to step in here. Spätis are crying out for government regulation – for our own good.

Since a May ruling by the Administrative Court of Berlin, city authorities have fastidiously targeted family-run convenience stores such as Abels’ if they’re open on Sundays. The crackdown is part of a broader debate that’s erupting over the future of these stores — known as Spätis — that have over the decades emerged as cultural symbols of Berlin.

“Spätis are to Berlin like cafés are to Paris. It’s where all forms of life come together.”

No Suspicion Here

November 20, 2019 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Humility, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Yesterday’s German of the day was Terrorverdact (suspicion of terror) but there was never any suspicion in my mind as to who the Germans got their intelligence from.

Terror

Who else? From evil US-Amerika itself.

US tips off Germany to ‘radical Islamist’ from Syria suspected of planning devastating attack – Police in Germany arrested a “radical Islamist” from Syria on Tuesday after receiving a tip from U.S. intelligence officials that the man was planning an attack.

Prosecutors said the 26-year-old man was planning an attack designed to “kill and injure a maximum number of people,” according to reports.

Erste Hinweise durch ausländischen Geheimdienst?

China

November 18, 2019 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Beautiful German weapon sale of the week.

China

Because somebody has to admire them.

OK, it’s not exactly a weapon sale this time. The Germans just plan to train 11 Chinese soldiers so they can, you know, better use their weapons in places like, I dunno, Hong Kong or some place like that.

In addition, one soldier is to be provided with special training in “press and public relations.”

Tesla Must Fail

November 14, 2019 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hi-tech, Hideology, Home Cooking, Humility, Humor, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Right? At least that’s what I’ve been reading in the German media for many years now.

Musk

But some things you just can’t ignore away. And times change, or something. Looks to me like the German automobile industry just ain’t what she used to be.

Elon Musk’s German Factory Started With Love Letter From Berlin – Musk is taking his fight for the future of transport into the heartland of the combustion engine, where the established players long laughed off Tesla as an upstart on feeble financial footing that couldn’t compete with their rich engineering heritage. But Musk has captured the imagination of the think-different consumer, putting pressure on the Germans to respond.

“We definitely need to move faster than the airport.”

Ausland

November 13, 2019 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Foreign countries. Name about any country you want.

Beautiful German weapon sale of the week.

Deutschland

Because somebody has to admire them.

In the first ten months of this year the German federal government has given its OK to the sale of arms valued at 7.42 billion euros, nearing an all-time record.

Die Welt verlangt nach deutschen Waffen: Die Bundesregierung hat in den ersten zehn Monaten des laufenden Jahres Rüstungsexporte im Wert von 7,42 Milliarden Euro genehmigt. Die Summe erreicht damit schon fast das Ausmaß des bisherigen Rekordjahres 2015, als die Große Koalition Ausfuhren von Waffen und anderen Rüstungsgütern für 7,86 Milliarden Euro freigab.

Limits?

November 12, 2019 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Who places the limits and where?

Limits

There are no limits. Germany, of all countries, must understand that. Others placed limits on them in the past. On at least two occasions. The results were sub-optimal.

Germany Struggles To Define Limits of What Can Be Said – A debate over the limits of free speech is exploding in Germany, with the left and the right seeking to outdo each other. The political debate has grown intense in this polarized country, but it’s also more vital than ever.

Two-Thirds of Germans Afraid to Say What They Think?

Nobody Had Any Intention Of Building A Wall

November 10, 2019 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Higher Education, History, Home Cooking, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Right. And nobody had any intention of tearing it down twenty-eight years later either.

Walter Ulbricht

But, you know, stuff happens.

In his lack of preparation, he mistakenly insinuated that the checkpoints in the Berlin Wall — which up until then were guarded by soldiers with orders to shoot anyone trying to cross — were now open. They weren’t, but that announcement was all East Berliners needed to storm the wall and demand they be allowed to cross into West Berlin. After that, the wall became obsolete, and soon fell.

More Like A Stepfather

November 8, 2019 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypochondria, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Who beat you like a red-headed stepchild.

For Germans, Losing the U.S. to Trump Is Like Losing a Father – The 30th-anniversary celebration of the Berlin Wall’s collapse comes with grief over the end of a special relationship.

Trump

I don’t know if I can hold back the tears but give me a second or two. There. I’m much better now. Thanks. But this massive output of cheap emotion has a heavy taste of déjà-vu in it for me, folks. The Germans already had their hearts broken and lost their special relationship back with W., didn’t they? And we don’t even want to talk about how heartbroken they were with Ronald Reagan HIMSELF. They don’t even want to have to think about him today. Some thirty years later. You know, thirty years after he made possible the fall of the Berlin Wall? Wait a minute. I’m chocking up again…

Berlin gets unwanted Ronald Reagan statue – Ronald Reagan is already an honorary citizen of Berlin, so city authorities have always deemed a statue inappropriate. Nonetheless, a bronze replica of the former president is set to be inaugurated at the US Embassy.

Reagan