German Of The Day: Diktieren

September 16, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: Do-Gooders, German, Germans, Germany, Herbert Grönemeyer, Language, Leftists, Right-Wing, Totalitarianism 1 Comment

That means to dictate. You know, like dictators do?

When Gutmenschen (do-gooders) go bad. Like all left-leaning artists everywhere, German singer Herbert Grönemeyer routinely goes out of his way to demonstrate how he is on the right side of history by being on the left side of history. But unlike many of his anti-right-wing friends, he actually comes right out and admits on stage that if the populace doesn’t think the right way (namely left) then “it’s up to us to dictate what society must look like.” Sounds vaguely familiar, doesn’t it? Think Germany 1933.

Grönemeyer: „dann liegt es an uns, zu diktieren, wie ‘ne Gesellschaft auszusehen hat.”

German Of The Day: Strafzins

September 15, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Central Banks, ECB, EU, Euro, European Central Bank, German, Germans, Germany, Interest Rates, Language, Mario Draghi, Negative Interest Leave a comment

That means “punitive interest rate” and refers to a rates below zero.

It’s an accurate word invention. The ECB has cut rates again and those who save are punished.

The German term “Strafzins”, or “punishment rate” is widely used in the country’s media to refer to interest rates below zero. And a day after the ECB cut rates for the first time since the spring of 2016, it is back in the news.

This is despite the fact there is an alternative German word for negative rates: negativzins (as Michael Steen, formerly of the FT and ECB global media chief, pointed out on Twitter).

Admittedly negativ also has . . . negative connotations. But the use of “straf”, or “punitive”, reflects a widespread perception across Germany that the ECB is penalising savers through its monetary policy.

“They want to pump us up with the credit drug.”

It Can’t Happen Here

September 11, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Habeas Corpus, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Assassination, Berlin, German, Germans, Germany, Murder, Russia 1 Comment

Or at least we’ll pretend that it can’t.

Russia was behind the murder last month of a former Chechen rebel in Germany, U.S. officials said on Tuesday, rekindling concerns that Moscow is ramping up an assassination campaign against the country’s perceived enemies abroad…

The absence of a German government reaction to Mr. Khangoshvili’s murder has sparked criticism from opposition parties that Berlin is eager to avoid a confrontation with Russia. A spokesman for the German government declined to comment and said the investigation was continuing.

“The United States believes that Russia is responsible for this assassination.”

German Of The Day: Respektlosigkeit

September 10, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Higher Education, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Angela Merkel, China, German, Germans, Germany, Heiko Maas, Hong Kong, Joshua Wong, Language Leave a comment

That means disrespect. I don’t know what it means in Chinese, though. Failing to kowtow?

German foreign minister meeting with Joshua Wong ‘disrespectful’: China – Beijing has slammed democracy activist Joshua Wong’s meeting with Germany’s foreign minister as “disrespectful.” Wong has urged countries to stand by Hong Kong protesters against the long arm of China in the city.

Don’t worry, China. Angela Merkel is already cowering in a back office of the chancellery somewhere and has already made it clear that she won’t meet with him. She knows it would be Wong for her to do that.

“It is extremely wrong for German media and politicians to attempt to tap into the anti-China separatist wave.”

At Least He’s Not With The AfD

September 9, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, High Art, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: AfD, German, Germans, Germany, Neo-Nazis, NPD, Political Parties Leave a comment

The AfD or Alternative for Germany is the main far-right opposition party in Germany these days and is a potential danger because its ranks are most likely filled with neo-Nazis, one reads time and time and time again. None of the other parties will work with them.

This guy, on the other hand, is a real neo-Nazi from the National Democratic Party (NPD) so the danger is real and therefore less, I dunno, dangerous, I guess. The same parties just elected him mayor of a small town in Hesse.

Senior politicians in Germany’s ruling parties have voiced anger at the election of a neo-Nazi as mayor of a town in the central state of Hesse.

Local councillors representing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), its governing partner the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) all voted for Mr Jagsch.

“The NPD candidate filled the vacuum.”

King Kong Was Already Taken

September 8, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Higher Education, History, Home Cooking Tags: Activism, Angela Merkel, Berlin, Berlin Airlift, Berlin Wall, Berlin Zoo, Berliners, China, Democracy, German, Germans, Germany, Hong Kong, Panda Bears, Zoos Leave a comment

King and Kong were, I mean.

Berlin throws shade at China by voting to name panda cubs ‘Hong’ and ‘Kong’ – One of Berlin’s leading papers, Der Tagesspiegel, asked its readers to come up with name suggestions for the cubs, born Aug. 31 at the Berlin Zoo.

The cubs and their parents, Meng Meng, 6, and Jiao Qing, 9, belong to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, a Chinese research center. The Berlin Zoo pays $1 million a year to house the popular bears.

Others in the newspaper poll also suggested naming the cubs “Joshua Wong Chi-fung” and “Agnes Chow Ting” after two prominent Hong Kong democracy activists.

Sheesh. Berlin residents certainly give Hong Kong more consideration than their government leaders do. But, then again, Berliners know how important it is to show solidarity “with a city fighting for survival.”

Angela Merkel Visits Hong Kong

September 6, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hypocrisy Tags: Business, China, German, Germans, Germany, Hong Kong, Human Rights, Money, Profit, Trade Leave a comment

Just kidding. Why would she do that?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was welcomed with military honors in China on Friday with a business delegation in tow, hoping to secure an economic agreement.

China is Germany’s largest import market and, after the USA and France, and also its most important export market. In 2018 the two countries traded goods worth almost €200 billion ($221 billion).

Hong Kong protesters make plea to Chancellor Merkel.

The Case Of The Missing Monitor Station

September 5, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hurt Feelings Tags: Environmental Monitoring, German, Germans, Germany, Mystery, Observatory Leave a comment

The Russians did it.

Or maybe Nessie? Bigfoot can’t swim. Can he?

A massive environmental monitoring station off Germany’s Baltic coast has disappeared from the seabed, baffling police and researchers.

The seabed “observatory”, worth about €300,000 (£270,000), weighed more than half a tonne. It could not have been dragged off by a storm, tide or large animal, German experts say.

Divers only found a torn power cable at the site, 22m (72ft) down and 1.8km (1.2 miles) offshore.

It is a prohibited area, north of Kiel.

No boats – not even local fishing boats – are allowed into the area, called Eckernförde Bay, about 70km (44 miles) south of the Danish border..

The missing observatory, installed in late 2016, stopped sending data on 21 August.

Now This Is What I Call Equality

September 4, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helections, Helplessness, Hideology, Higher Education, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: AfD, Angela Merkel, Brandenburg, Elections, German, Germans, Germany, Political Parties, Saxony, State Elections Leave a comment

Germans know how to do this stuff. When everybody loses over here then everybody loses equally.

Everyone Loses in Germany – Voters in state elections effectively choose ‘none of the above.’

European elections these days are generally contests between a beleaguered mainstream and insurgent alternatives. Voters in two German states on Sunday chose a form of “none of the above” as the country stumbles out of the Angela Merkel era.

It Doesn’t Matter Who Replaces Merkel. Germany Is Broken.

Doubled Since 2014?

September 3, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: Angela Merkel, Asylum Seekers, Crime, German, Germans, Germany, Gun control, Guns, Migrants, Refugees, Self-Defense, Women Leave a comment

What could have brought that about?

More Germans applying for alarm gun licenses – More and more Germans are acquiring the permit they need to carry a gas pistol, a newspaper has reported. The number has more than doubled in the last five years.

The so-called Kleiner Waffenschein (“small weapons permit”) is relatively easy to acquire in Germany: they are usually available to anyone over 18 with no previous serious criminal convictions, and who is considered “physically and mentally fit.”

“At least since the events at the Cologne cathedral square on New Year’s Eve in 2015 people apparently feel more and more unsafe.”

Observing Hermann

“Was interessiert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern?”

Tag Archives: German