German of the day: Überwiegend friedliche Proteste

That means mostly peaceful protests.

I’m not kidding. That’s the international media language, I guess. Does somebody press a button somewhere to distribute this nonsense because they all mimic the same thing.

Mostly peaceful protests in LA: Trump warns of “city on fire” – and sends more soldiers.

According to city officials, the predominantly peaceful protests only affect a very small area. Nevertheless, Trump is sending another 2000 National Guard soldiers.

German of the day: “Fast die Hälfte”

That means almost half.

As in “almost half of Germans are in favor of banning the AfD, according to a survey.” And this means, of course, that the majority of Germans are against banning the AfD.

Almost half of Germans in favor of banning the AfD, according to survey – 61% of Germans consider the AfD to be a right-wing extremist party. According to a representative survey, 48% want it to be banned.

Thought Crime and Punishment

Watch your step in Germany.

The British news magazine “Economist”, which is read by decision-makers worldwide, sounds the alarm: in Germany, freedom of opinion is increasingly under threat – from laws, court judgments and a way of dealing with criticism that raises questions in a liberal democracy.

The report focuses on the case of journalist David Bendels. The editor-in-chief of the right-wing populist “Deutschland-Kurier” had published a manipulated photo of Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser holding a sign saying “I hate freedom of expression.” The Economist notes: “Such images are commonplace on social media.” However, Faeser filed a criminal complaint – and a court sentenced Bendels to a seven-month suspended sentence, a heavy fine and an apology.

But what about all those protesters in the news?

All those hundreds of thousands protesting against the “CDU-AfD collaboration?” That must have been a misunderstanding or something.

German election: CDU still leads in the polls – The conservative Christian Democrats haven’t sustained major damage despite having accepted support from the Alternative for Germany. But fewer people now trust chancellor hopeful Friedrich Merz not to veer to the right.

Fake is what fake does

Uh-oh. If “Russian disinformation is growing in Germany…”

Then German state media disinformation providers are going to have to crank it up a notch. No prob. We’re on it already.

Russian disinformation is growing in Germany – Russia is flooding Germany with more disinformation than ever, officials warn. Analysts say this tactic is helping pro-Kremlin narratives increasingly seep into the country’s politics.

“We see that this strategy is gradually achieving its goals, and the public debate in Germany is increasingly shifting in a direction that serves the Kremlin’s interests.”

New measures “reflect widespread nervousness”

They reflect the widespread nervousness caused by the somewhat older new measures created to increase this widespread nervousness, a widespread nervousness that was increased by other new measures before them that much, much older new measures created in the first place.

You know the routine. Ritual, actually. “Right-wing extremism” is on the rise in Germany. It’s always been on the rise, of course. It’s been on the rise for decades and decades yet it never seems to rise quite high enough to satisfy those worrying about its rising. These are, at the moment, those politicians in the established parties being threatened by the AfD, a party that actually claims to be interested in addressing the migrant madness German voters want them to address, something these established parties refuse to do. They’re plotting to ban the AfD, in other words, because they are incapable of addressing the problems the electorate wants them to address.

Germany bolsters gun curbs, financial policing to rein in far right – German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Tuesday unveiled measures ranging from stronger financial policing and earlier detection of so-called botnets to tightened firearms controls to tackle a far-right surge that has spooked the country.

The measures reflect widespread nervousness that the far-right Alternative for Germany party could end up the largest party in several state parliaments later this year, propelled by a gloomy economy and overburdened public services.

“On the rise”

Always on the rise. For as long as I or anyone else here can remember, on the rise.

Right-wing extremism. It’s always on the rise. Everywhere, but in Germany in particular. Geez. You’d think they would have finally risen to the top by now already. Good thing these warnings are not a classic political/journalistic device used to generate alarm for votes and higher ratings.

Germany’s Scholz says dark neo-Nazi networks are on the rise – Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday voiced concern over the rise of extreme-right tendencies in his country 79 years after the Auschwitz extermination camp was liberated.

It’s not an “on the rise” problem in Germany. It’s an “on the run” problem. The established political parties are slowly getting choked to death. Or, more accurately, slowly choking themselves to death.

No Media Manipulation Here

German mainstream media (state TV) doesn’t even try to hide it.

A woman they interviewed as a random customer in a supermarket to get the “correct” response to a question about “justified” higher grocery prices was one of the channel’s own regional news presenters. This was kept secret from TV viewers, of course. TV viewers who are forced to pay a TV tax to view such high-quality, non-biased news reporting, I might add, whether they actually view it (or even own a TV) or not.

We’re from the government and we’re here to help.

Journalists Have Been Automated Consensus Machines (Robots) For Years

Why should editors get off the hook?

German tabloid Bild to replace range of editorial jobs with AI – Hundreds of redundancies expected as Axel Springer tells staff certain roles will ‘no longer exist as they do today.’

Germany’s Bild tabloid, the biggest-selling newspaper in Europe, is to replace a range of editorial jobs with artificial intelligence as part of a €100m costcutting programme expected to lead to hundreds of redundancies.

The newspaper would “unfortunately be parting ways with colleagues who have tasks that in the digital world are performed by AI and/or automated processes”, its owner, Europe’s largest media publisher, Axel Springer SE, said in an email to staff.

They Sure Look Echt To Me

Not.

German of the day: Echt. That means genuine.

But there’s no fake news out there, right? Trust the media. The news experts.

Fake Hitler diaries to go on public display in Germany – Forged papers that caused a scandal when they were published as real in 1983 will be given to national archive.