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.

Ukraine

Beautiful German weapon sale of the week. Not.

Because somebody has to admire them. Not.

Ukraine’s foreign minister said Wednesday that he hoped allies such as Germany won’t regret turning down his country’s request for arms deliveries should Russia launch an attack.

German Greens Leap To The Future

Or hope to, if elected in the Fall. When it comes to traffic and mobility in Germany, I mean.

It will be a great leap forward, so-to-speak.

Germany: Climate activists, cyclists oppose autobahn expansion – Cyclists and climate activists across Germany have defied autobahn construction, arguing that more roading and relentless car traffic violate urgent global climate rescue goals.

German Of The Day: Missmanagement

That means mismanagement. Odd. That second S must mean it’s female here.

COVID mismanagement: German government under fire.

Right. Under a small fire. Under a teeny weeny little fire. The German government has messed everything up with this COVID mess from day one so why should there be any consequences now? There are never consequences in Germany, not even at the polls. Don’t know why that is but that’s just how Germans tick. If you do demand consequences, by the way, you will be labeled a Nazi.

‘Criminals must be punished’ – as long as they’re not government criminals.

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.

There Is A Certain Logic To It

Mutti” (Mommy) doesn’t have any children herself.

The gay Health Minister there doesn’t have any either.

COVID: Germany’s Merkel wants vaccines for children aged 12 to 15 – Children in Germany will soon be able to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, but only if the EU’s EMA approves the BioNTech-Pfizer shot for 12 to 15-year-olds.

Frank Ulrich Montgomery, chair of the World Medical Association (WMA), came out in support of StiKo’s reluctance: “Currently, we do not have enough information on the risks of a COVID vaccine for children to make a clear recommendation,” he told Rheinische Post newspaper.

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.”

Bureaucracy? In Germany?

No way.

No way this is a news item, I mean.

Tesla’s Musk blames bureaucracy for German gigafactory delays – Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk called for cuts to German red tape on Monday as he said it was unclear when exactly the first electric car would roll off the production line of its planned plant outside Berlin.

This guy really is a visionary, a dreamer. If he actually believes this could ever be possible in Germany: “There should be some kind of active process for removal of rules. Otherwise, over time, the rules will just accumulate and you get more and more rules until eventually you can’t do anything.”

First They Came For The Hate Speech

And I did not speak out because I was not a hate speaker.

Then they came for the impolite speech, and I did not speak out because I was not an impolite speaker.

Then they came for the mildly dislike and disapprove of speech (and I mildly dislike and disapprove of practically everybody and everything), and there was no one left to speak out for me.

End all unpleasant speech and everything I don’t agree with speech now! Or something.

German lawmaker confronts online hate speech, death threats – From abuse on the web to attacks on the SPD office in Wuppertal, threats of death and mutilation are a regular experience for the parliamentarian and anti-racism campaigner Helge Lindh. But giving up is not an option.