The Natives Are Getting Restless

Germans, of all people, are slowly but surely losing patience with rules, regulations and restrictions – of the Coronavirus lockdown kind, I mean.

Demo

Demonstrations are now taking place throughout the country in which demonstrators are openly expressing their frustration with the false information and mixed signals coming from the politicians and medical experts who continue to curtail their fundamental rights. In other words, there ain’t gonna be a second lockdown, people.

3000 statt 80 Teilnehmer – Demo gegen Corona-Regeln. Die Demonstranten warfen der Politik und Medizinern vor, im Zusammenhang mit der Corona-Pandemie Panik zu verbreiten und die Grundrechte der Menschen zu beschneiden.

Official Holiday In Berlin – “What Are We Celebrating On May 8?”

Officially, it’s the 75th anniversary of the city’s “liberation” (Befreiung) as World War II ended. They couldn’t call it “Boy Did We Ever Get Our Ass Kicked Day,” I suppose.

Liberation

Or  maybe you could say it’s a day to commemorate the biggest daylight savings time reset ever. It’s when all the clocks in Germany were set to “zero hour.”

May 8, 1945, was ‘zero hour’ for Germany in multiple ways – Adolf Hitler was merely ash among the rubble when World War II ended in Europe. The desolate aftermath was dubbed “zero hour” by Germans — a more prescient term than they realized, for it also paved the way to rebirth.

Feiertag in Berlin – Was feiern wir am 8. Mai?

Semblance Of Normal Life Beginning In Germany

I mean, it’s beginning to look like the semblance of normal life that was normal life here in Germany before cornavirus hit. That kind of normal.

Covid19

It may only be a semblance but that’s about all you can hope for here, people.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel set out plans Wednesday for the gradual reopening of the country after weeks-long restrictions imposed to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Limits on social contact will remain in place until June 5, she said, but Germans can now meet with members of one other household as well as their own. People must still remain 1.5 meters apart and cover their mouths and noses in public.

Shops can reopen but with additional hygiene measures, Merkel said, speaking at a news conference following a video meeting with the prime ministers of Germany’s 16 states.

„Wir können uns ein Stück Mut leisten, aber wir müssen vorsichtig bleiben.“

German Of The Day: Antikörper

That means antibodies. You know, like antibodies that block coronavirus from spreading further?

Corona

German scientists have detected an antibody that blocks the coronavirus from entering cells, providing a much-needed shield for severely ill patients. While not a cure or vaccine, it is still a significant development.

“This is clearly a breakthrough that shows that we are on the right track for the development of a drug against Covid-19,” said virologist Professor Luka Cicin-Sain.

“In repeated experiments, we were able to show that this result is sustainable.”

Deutsche Forscher finden Corona-Blocker.

I Got Your Quantitative Easing For You Right Here, Pal

Imagine that. A nation state (member state) ought to have a say in how its money is spent. What a radical new concept.

Court

Germany’s top court has ruled that the European Central Bank’s mass bond-buying to stabilise the eurozone partly violates the German constitution.

The ruling relates to government debt worth €2.1 trillion (£2tn; $2.3tn) bought by the ECB since 2015, but not purchases in the coronavirus crisis.

The Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe says there is not enough German political oversight in the purchases…

The plaintiffs are a group of German academics, including a former leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Bernd Lucke. They argue that the purchases violate the EU ban on one eurozone member subsidising the debts of another.

It is now up to the ECB to explain how its mass bond-buying programme is “proportionate”. The Bundesbank could pull out if it is not satisfied, in three months’ time – which would be a big blow to the eurozone.

Attack On Journalists Already Long Forgotten

No self-righteous outrage here. The attackers who did the attacking were the wrong kind of attackers to attack.

Attack

They were leftist extremists and not right-wing extremists – as one is expected to expect here. And that’s harmless or cute or something. Germans in general and German media in particular are “blind in the left eye,” as the saying goes. This isn’t supposed to happen. So it doesn’t.

Authorities confirmed on Saturday that they are investigating the political motives behind an attack on the camera team of popular German satirical news show the heute-show [Today Show].

While filming on May Day, several members of the crew were attacked while filming in Berlin. Four members of the team sustained injuries severe enough to be sent to hospital. Five men and one woman were arrested.

Well, That Was Like Pulling Zähne

As in teeth. Better late than never, I guess.

Hisbollah

German government bans Hezbollah — Interior Ministry – Authorities have designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization and banned its activity on German soil. Police are currently conducting raids on four associations linked to the Islamist group…

Banning Hezbollah could strain relations between Germany and Iran. However, Iran is dependent on good relations with Germany and the European Union, exemplified most recently by the use of Instex, an EU-Iran trading mechanism designed to skirt US-imposed sanctions and export medical supplies to the pandemic-hit country. 

“Police measures are underway in several federal states concurrently. In times of crisis, the rule of law is able to act.”

Germans Now Testing On Human Subjects

Despite hearing every five minutes in the German media that a coronavirus vaccine won’t be availble anytime even remotely soon so forget about it already, a German pharmaceutical company has begun testing a potential vaccine on human beings THEMSELVES.

Frankenstein

If things go really bad they might receive regulatory approval really soon and begin trials in the United States too.

“We are leaving no stone unturned as we explore every option to help provide society with a treatment or cure.”

German Of The Day: Maskenpflicht

That means the mandatory wearing of face masks. No. Not like the batman ones. These down here.

Maskenpflicht

This in a country that 1) made a big deal about them not being necessary just a few weeks ago and 2) failed abysmally in providing them for their citizens (I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a very strong connection between numbers 1 and 2 here). Hey, just do it yourself, folks. Ha, ha, ha.

On Monday, new regulations went into effect across Germany requiring residents to cover their noses and mouths while traveling with public transportation or while shopping.

Each of Germany’s 16 states, which are entitled to make their own decisions under Germany’s federal system, drew up their own set of regulations — meaning that the rules are slightly different depending on the region.

Maskenpflicht im Einzelhandel gilt jetzt bundesweit.

The Offer Came From Donald Trump

So it must be EVIL. What’s the REAL reason for him doing such a thing?

Trump

The anti-Trump obsession (or degree of Trump Derangement Syndrome) in Germany is so extreme that even offers of help are looked upon with the greatest suspicion. The American President just offered the Germans ventilators to help confront the Corona Crisis, “if they want them,” and this caught them completely off guard. After some quick research, however,  it has now been determined that these ventilators actually do more harm than good  – at least the ones being offered by Donald Trump. Thank goodness. That was a close call.

Höchst brisant ist allerdings der Zeitpunkt, den Trump wählt. Soeben erschien in den USA eine neue Studie, die zur Annahme verleitet, dass die Nutzung von Beatmungsgeräten bei der Corona-Pandemie schädlich ist und nicht nützlich.