It’s much more like “skullduggery,” “backstabbing” and “dealing in stolen goods.”
And it’s legal too, of course, even when the information obtained was done so by “less than legal” means.
Tag Archives: Humor
Self-intrest rates sure are high in Europe these days
Well they sure are here in Germany (see Greece).
“Germany’s heavy reliance on exports has already been controversial on the international stage, in a similar way to the Western world’s growing frustration with China over its dominance in cheap exports.”
“We can’t go back to the era where the Chinese or the Germans or other countries just are selling everything to us; we’re taking out a bunch of credit card debt or home equity loans, but we’re not selling anything to them,” Obama said.
“It’s all about how your body tolerates pain”
Anybody can run up the Empire State Building’s 1,576 stairs in roughly ten minutes and sixteen seconds.
But not many would be willing to do it twice. And like five times in a row?
Damn. That takes devotion. Or profound mental instability. Or maybe a little bit of both. But like they say, somebody’s got to do it – whoever they are.
At 10:30 a.m., a loud fog horn sounded to launch a mad dash from the lobby – where Dold grabbed an early lead and never looked down.
Privacy?
Ever see Father Knows Best? Well over here it’s the state that always knows best, especially when it comes to dealing in stolen goods.
If Big Bruder wants to buy stolen secret Swiss bank account data on 1,500 alleged tax evaders from an informant, that’s OK here (Germans have always had a Herz für Informanten – a warm spot in their hearts for informers), but with Google, let’s say, by virtue of its very success here in Germany – having reached a substantially larger market share here over its rival search engines than it has elsewhere – this very success places it under immediate suspicion. Informants aren’t even necessary. Privacy is automatically in danger.
And then Big Bruder’s lawmakers, regulators and consumer advocates will invariably come in to “fix it” (fix what isn’t broken), all in the name of privacy of course.
With Google, nobody’s dealing in stolen goods – or are they? No, that’s eBay. But in both cases, whether it’s about Swiss bank accounts or Google’s success, one always has to play it safe here. It’s always guilty until proven innocent. Father knows best.
Google’s border-straddling scale and its brash ambitions raise alarms with some European politicians.
“I’m no scapegoat”
I’m more like a Yeti, or abominable snowman, if you prefer.
“I don’t believe that the IPCC’s credibility can be damaged. If the IPCC didn’t exist, then why should anyone get worried about climate change?”
Ich glaube, die Glaubwürdigkeit des IPCC kann nicht beschädigt werden. Wenn es den IPCC nicht gäbe, warum sollte sich dann jemand Sorgen über den Klimawandel machen?
Ice not disappearing here up north either
Forget about the Himalayas. Global warming is still a big problem in Germany these days too. Or the lack of it, I should say (Rostock got creamed yesterday).
Everyone is still waiting to hear when the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is going to give an Entwarnung (all-clear signal) here too, I guess.
“The United Nations’ expert panel on climate change based claims about ice disappearing from the world’s mountain tops on a student’s dissertation and an article in a mountaineering magazine.”
The revelation will cause fresh embarrassment for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which had to issue a humiliating apology earlier this month over inaccurate statements about global warming.
Yogi and Ingo go home!
“Two German diplomats using the fictitious names of Yogi and Ingo were arrested” in Iran, Iran state television has announced.
No, not for using fictitious names (their real names are Yogi and Boo-Boo, I guess), for having had a hand in violent and deadly anti-government protests which broke out on a Shiite Muslim holy day December 27th last month.
Germans? Germans involved in violent and deadly anti-government protests? In Iran? Go figure. They don’t even protest violently or deadly when they have revolutions here, in Germany, much less during other folks’ anti-government protests far away im Ausland (overseas).
So like send them home immediately or something, Islamic Republic of Iran. The nerve.
“No German diplomats were arrested on December 27 last year,” German foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke told a Berlin news conference.
Germany’s turn?
As everybody knows, everything that “goes wrong” in Iran is a direct result of actions carried out by outside provocateurs (the United States and Britain, in other words).
But in a refreshing new turn of events, Iranian officials are now slapping around Germany for once. Germany, of all nations.
No one knows why for sure, of course, but some speculate that “The accusations followed stronger statements against Iran’s nuclear program by German officials, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, who raised the specter of new international sanctions against Iran, and an announcement on Tuesday by the Munich-based engineering giant Siemens that it would seek no new business there.”
Damn. And that’s for just raising a specter, or maybe two. What would happen if the German government ever actually “did” anything to Iran? You know, other than sell them things, I mean.
Wir waren es nicht. Yogi und Ingo sind es gewesen.
Raus already!
You just knew there had to be a rest of the story about yesterday’s post.
Very peculiar, this German Haltung (position) about sending more troops to Afghanistan. A few weeks ago the Germans were very loud and touchy about not being pushed to commit sending additional troops before the London Conference takes place.
Now – strangely two days before the London Conference begins – Germany makes a big announcement about deciding to send an additional 850 personnel after all. Less sophisticated types like myself might think that they’re speaking with a forked tongue, you know, placing everybody else before vollendete Tatsachen (a fait accompli).
Oh yeah, and the punch line here: At the same time that they announce a troop increase they also announce that they’ll begin bringing everybody home the following year.
That way everybody’s happy, I guess. Nope, no losers here. Who says you can’t please (fool?) all of the people all of the time? Even the Taliban will be pleased to hear about this one.
Afghanistan: Mehr Soldaten – und dann raus
More German troops will be sent to Afghanistan?
To do what?
“Germany may finally be ready to increase its troop contingent in Afghanistan. A news report says that Berlin might send an additional 500 troops to the war-torn country, despite widespread public opposition to the war.”
“Germany plans to shift its focus further toward training Afghan forces.”
Train them to do what? Certainly not to fight the Taliban. It’s not the number of German troops in Afghanistan that’s the problem (they’re actually going to send an additional 850), it’s the number of things German troops are refusing (or not allowed) to do.
Merkel bereitet Deutschland auf Afghanistan vor.
Observing Hermann 