Berlin trauert um seinen früheren Mitbewohner David Bowie: Die Jahre 1976 bis 1978 verbrachte der am Sonntag überraschend verstorbene Brite in West-Berlin. Es wurde für ihn zum Zufluchtsort.
Tag Archives: Berlin
No “High Abstract Threat” Here
These puppies will blow your fingers clean off.
You folks have a Happy New Year anyway!
In der Hauptstadt werden mehrere Hunderttausend Menschen auf einer rund zwei Kilometer langen Feiermeile zwischen Brandenburger Tor und Siegessäule erwartet. Hinweise auf konkrete Anschlagsplanungen in Berlin gebe es nicht, betonte ein Polizeisprecher. Es herrsche aber eine hohe abstrakte Gefährdung.
The German Reputation For Efficiency?
Is that anything like the German reputation for moral integrity (see VW’s Dieselgate, Deutsche Bank’s countless crooked dealings, the ADAC “Gelber Engel” fraud, the purchase of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, to name just a few)?
So what’s all this talk about “Berlin’s refugee chaos eroding the German reputation for efficiency” here? You can say what you want about the city of Berlin, pal, but at least we Berliners are consistent. Nothing ever works here and the people of this less than fair city are damned proud of it, too (see the Airport fiasco, the S-Bahn, the city’s finances (ha, ha!), to name just a few). Just go and try, for instance, as a “normal” citizen here, to get an appointment at your local Behörde (public authority) for some important paperwork to be processed. You will have to wait months – unless, of course, you “buy” an earlier appointment online from one of the many enterprising entrepreneurs active in the Internet these days (I’m not making this up, folks). I think this is how they do it in Baghdad, too.
Why on earth then should anyone expect that the 73,000 refugees who have arrived in Berlin during these past months be treated any differently? You can expect it if you want to but your expectations will most definitely be disappointed. Welcome to poor but sexy land, people.
At least Hertha BSC seems to be working at the moment. Enjoy it while it lasts, my fellow Berliners.
Berlin’s State Office for Health and Social Affairs is the gateway to life in the German capital for thousands of asylum seekers. Refugees must register here for access to healthcare, housing and welfare support; the wait is measured in days rather than hours. But in a country that prides itself on its orderliness and moral integrity, the chaotic scenes outside this office block have proved deeply humiliating.
German Of The Day: Massenschlägerei
That means a mass brawl or free-for-all. Like the ones that took place between refugees in Berlin (and elsewhere) last weekend.
So here’s the first predictable reaction in the German media: What have we (the Germans) done wrong to have caused this?
It must get tiring always having to be in the wrong, don’t you think? My own personal theory here is that these refugees just aren’t that much into other refugees anymore.
Meanwhile… When not beating each other up in refugee centers, it appears that these folks are being singled out for recruitment by radical Islamists. Jeepers. Who would have thought that?
“You can’t put Afghans, Syrians and Eritreans in the same place because they hate each other.”
Günther Has Left The Building
You know, just like Elvis used to? Only in this case Günther has left the Gasometer. Or will have left it, a bit later tonight.
Don’t ask. This is the spaceship thingy inside Schöneberg’s Gasometer (taken out of service in 1995 – the Gasometer, not the spaceship) where Gunther Jauch has been holding his popular Sunday evening political talk show on German Channel One (Das Erste) since 2011. And he’s done a pretty good job at it, I think, Gasometer spaceship or not.
Another era has come to an end or something. He will be replaced by Anne Will whom he replaced in 2011. Don’t ask. It’s a German öffentlich-rechtlich TV (“public sector” or state TV, if you prefer) kind of thang.
So, Anne Will (her last name could be translated as “wants to,” if you wanted to): May the talk be with you.
Am Ende war es ein eher kurzes Gastspiel für Günther Jauch in der ARD: An diesem Sonntag lädt der Moderator zum letzten Mal als Polittalker ins Berliner Gasometer. Für Jauch könnte es der Einstieg in den Vorruhestand sein.
Speaking Of Heroes
Or the lack of them…
This guy seems to think there’s a lack of them, too. Ahmad Manour is a group manager at the Heroes Project in Berlin and a family counselor at Hayat, an advisory body for de-radicalization.
The degree of Islamist radicalization among the youth in Germany is underestimated. He chose the title “Generation Allah” for his recently published book because “I find that there is an incredible number of young people here who believe in things like conspiracy theories, harbor anti-Semitic thoughts and don’t think along democratic lines. The Islamic religion is the only thing they have that conveys identity for these young people.”
“It’s also important that in view of Islamic terror Muslims ask themselves how such a monster could come to life among us.”
Im politischen Raum sei eine “gewisse Planlosigkeit” im Umgang mit dem Problem erkennbar.
It’s A Dogg Eat Dogg World Out There
Germany Increases Its Pressure On China
This time by selling the Chinese 130 Airbus aircraft for $17 billion.
And two pandas were also included to sweeten the deal. For Germany, I mean.
“Generally speaking, … in all our meetings with Chinese officials, human rights, rule of law and democracy issues play a role but I won’t go into specifics here.”
China’s communist authorities have launched a crackdown on elements of the country’s burgeoning civil society, jailing dozens of activists.
Big Honking European Fence Idea Looking Better All The Time
Germany wants Austria to stop dropping off busload after busload of refugees on their common border.
Austria wants Slovenia to stop letting refugees through to Austria and is considering putting up a fence of its own, just like Hungary already has. Slovenia wants Croatia to stop doing the same, now that Hungary has put up said fence. Serbia and Macedonia are also being really rude in letting all these folks through without kindly asking them to turn around and go back where they came from, as if they would.
Greece, for its part, would really like Turkey to stop letting these refugees boat over across the short stretch from the Turkish coast to Lesbos. Turkey itself would like the over two million refugees it has in its refugee camps to go back to Syria but knows that isn’t going to happen so is letting all additional newcomers just continue on up north, like I said.
So, other than giving humanitarian aid to those who have now made it to Europe, what is there to do? Nobody appears to be interested in stopping the war in Syria – at least nobody in the White House is – so what else is there left to do?
Wir müssen an einer Festung Europa bauen.
To Boldly Go Where No Syrian Refugee Has Gone Before
To boldly go and find your way around “official” Berlin, for instance.
European refugee crisis: Berlin group create digital map of resources for new arrivals.
More power to you. The Lord helps those who help themselves, I say.
The map, “Arriving in Berlin,” which is available in English, Farsi and Arabic, shows over 250 different services, including experts in residence and asylum law, German language classes, public libraries and doctors who speak Arabic or Farsi.
Observing Hermann 