German Of The Day: Mangelhaft

April 25, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Higher Education, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Energy, Germany, Imports, Language, Oil, Pipelines, Poland, Russia Leave a comment

That means deficient. As in the deficient quality of the oil being imported to Europe via a Russian pipeline – this import having now been suspended by Poland?

That means Germany can’t get the oil, either. It’s not like Germany’s dependency on Russian gas and oil is deficient, however. That’s as high a quality dependency as you can get.

Germany and Poland have suspended imports of Russian oil amid contamination concerns, prompting a rare crisis over supply from the world’s second-largest exporter.

The sudden suspension of imports from the Soviet-built Druzhba pipeline, which runs from Russia via Belarus to central Europe, risks starving major European refineries of their major source of crude.

Händler großer Ölkonzerne, die Raffinerien in Deutschland betreiben, bestätigten dies: Die Versorgung über die noch von der Sowjetunion gebauten “Druschba”, auf Deutsch “Freundschaft”, sei gestoppt.

German Of The Day: Verfolgung

April 23, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Habeas Corpus, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Christianity, Christians, German, Germans, Germany, Language, Persecution, Politicians, Religion, Sri Lanka Leave a comment

That means persecution.

German politicians denounce growing violence against Christians. Wow. That took a lot of bravery. And it will be long forgotten tomorrow.

German politicians across the political spectrum said the persecution of Christians worldwide is growing. Their statements came after a spate of bomb attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.

Not that anybody cares but Christianity remains the most persecuted religion in the world. In recent years, scores of Christians observing Easter and Christmas services have been killed by Islamist terrorists in churches in Egypt, Pakistan, Nigeria and now Sri Lanka.

German Of The Day: Bildungsurlaub

April 17, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Health, Hideology, Higher Education, Home Cooking, Humor Tags: Berlin, Court Rulings, Courts, Education, German, Germans, Germany, Language, Profession, Training, Vocational Training, Work, Yoga Leave a comment

That means educational or vocational training leave. You know, like that yoga course you took for your job?

What? Your boss freaked out at the suggestion? Well, everybody does it here in Berlin. Yoga to go with the times, people.

A yoga course can be considered vocational training, a Berlin court has ruled, paving the way to doing the “Downward-facing Dog” or “Greet the Sun” on company time in Germany’s capital.

The state labour court for Berlin-Brandenburg has ruled a worker has the right to paid leave so they can attend a five-day adult education course entitled “Yoga I – successful and relaxed at work with yoga and meditation”.

The judge ruled that under Berlin’s Educational Leave Act, even a yoga course fulfills the far-reaching criteria of “professional development” which would promote an individual’s “adaptability and self-assertion”.

“Yoga I – erfolgreich und entspannt im Beruf mit Yoga und Meditation.”

German Of The Day: Naivität

April 14, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Aggression, Brexit, Brussels, Business, China, EU, Europe, Expansion, German, Germans, Germany, Industry, Language, Migrants, Trade Leave a comment

That means naivete, as in being gullible or simple-minded.

Here’s an example: Industry Leaders Accuse Europe of Naivete with Respect to China – China’s aggressive approach in extending its economic power is causing concern among European companies. They demand a tougher approach from Brussels – and a convincing vision.

Good luck with that, European industry leaders. “Europe” doesn’t have time to deal with little issues like that at the moment, nor will it have any time in the near future. It is too occupied with self-inflicted problems like uncontrolled migration and Brexit (and the ensuing financial crisis) and placing the next batch of non-elected and unaccountable EU eurocrats in power. But once all that is taken care of, who knows? That little Chinese issue might just get tackled, too.

Die aggressive Vorgehensweise Chinas bei der Ausdehnung seiner Wirtschaftsmacht bereitet europäischen Unternehmern Sorgen. Sie fordern eine härtere Gangart von Brüssel – und eine überzeugende Vision.

German Of The Day: Unsicherheit

April 8, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Hurt Feelings Tags: Economy, Exports, German, Germans, Germany, Language, Trade Leave a comment

That means uncertainty. You know, like economic uncertainty?

German exports fell by 1.3% in February compared with the month before, the Federal Statistics Office said on Monday. The figure represents the biggest drop in export revenue for a year…

Economists say that uncertainties surrounding Britain’s exit from the EU, the ongoing trade dispute between the US and China as well as weakening demand for industrial products are weighing on economies across the world.

“Die Ungewissheit aufgrund der vielen ungelösten Konflikte schlägt sich in den Auftragsbüchern nieder.”

German Of The Day: Enteignung

April 7, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Habeas Corpus, Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: Apartments, Berlin, Building, Construction, Gentrification, German, Germans, Germany, Greens, Language, Political Parties, Property, Property Rights, Rents, SPD Leave a comment

That means confiscation or dispossession. You know, like confiscating private property?

And the German Greens hold this to be denkbar – another cool German word meaning conceivable or possible.

After all, the world must be fair and if rising property rents in cities like Berlin – caused by city governments like Berlin (Social Democrats and Greens for decades) – are creating hardship for the 85 percent (!) of Berliners who don’t own property – the government does everything it can to discourage owning property here – then the government that created this mess will simply confiscate the private property of those currently developing new housing and… And what? Give it to the poor? Been there, done that. We all know how that turns out. And who foots the bill. Robin Hoodlums never learn. They have no intention of learning.

Thousands took to the streets of Berlin on Saturday in protest against rising property rents and called for properties of large-scale landlords with more than 3,000 houses to be taken over by the government.

“Das Grundgesetz sieht Enteignungen zum Allgemeinwohl ausdrücklich vor.”

German Of The Day: Abkühlung

April 5, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Economy, German, Germans, Germany, Language, Recession 1 Comment

That means cooling or cooling off.

You know, like German growth predicted to stall during 2019 in significant Abkühlung?

Germany’s economy could experience a “significant cooling” in 2019 and could see sharply lower growth this year, the country’s leading economic institutes have warned in a report compiled for Germany’s economics ministry.

Forecasts for German growth were revised significantly downwards in a ‘Joint Economic Forecast’ collated by several prominent German economic research institutes and published Thursday, with economists predicting a meager 0.8% this year.

This is more than one percentage point lower than a prediction for 1.9% made in a joint economic forecast in fall 2018.

“The long-term upswing of the German economy has come to an end.”

Germany Is NATO’s Biggest Freeloader

April 4, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Anniversaries, Defense, Defense Spending, Freeloading, German, Germans, Germany, Language, Military, NATO Leave a comment

That was a Washington Post headline, not mine.

There’s a German word for freeloader, by the way. Sounds worse in German, too.

As Nato commemorates its 70th anniversary in Washington this week, Germany seems to be labouring mightily to reassure the 29-member alliance that it will never threaten anyone militarily again — because it is in fact its own worst enemy.

How else can you qualify an ally that has announced it won’t be meeting its own pledge to increase defence spending to 1.5 per cent of gross domestic product by 2024, even when it has formally committed to a target of 2 per cent, like everybody else?

Eines kann man Donald Trump nicht vorwerfen: Dass er mit seiner Meinung hinter dem Berg halten würde.

German Of The Day: Litfaßsäule

April 2, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Hi-tech, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Advertising, Berlin, German, Germans, Germany, Language, Progress, Tradition Leave a comment

That means advertising column.

Take a good look. They won’t be around much longer. They’re going to a better place – the same place the LPs, dial phones, typewriters and carrier pigeons went.

They have been an integral part of the city’s furniture for so long, Berliners admit to taking them for granted.

But concrete advertising pillars, known as Litfaßsäule – or Litfaß columns – after the man who invented them, around 3,000 of which dot the German capital, are under threat. A low-key, grassroots protest has sprung up in an effort to save them from destruction and sparked a trend involving writing messages on the pillars, as well as poems and heart felt tributes.

It takes two or three people to group hug a Litfaßsäule, and that has also become another way of highlighting the reluctance to let them go.

“I’m certainly still more drawn to a catchy poster on the Litfaßsäule, than I am to something that flashes up on my mobile phone which I’m likely to swipe away in annoyance.”

German Of The Day: Migrationshintergrund

March 31, 2019 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Angela Merkel, Borders, German, Germans, Germany, Immigrants, Immigration, Integration, Language, Migrants, Unemployment Leave a comment

That means migrant or immigration background.

You know, like almost half of the unemployed in Germany have Migrationshintergrund? 46 percent, to be exact, sort of (answering this question at the employment office is not mandatory so the number will actually be higher). Back in 2013 it was 36 percent. Kind of a high percentage, don’t you think? But the talking heads in government and media don’t worry about something like this turning into a larger problem than it already is because they have been told, officially like, that “they can do it.”

Die entsprechende Quote liegt demnach bei 46 Prozent. Ende 2013, vor Beginn der verstärkten Migration nach Deutschland, hatte der Wert noch bei 36 Prozent gelegen.

Observing Hermann

“Was interessiert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern?”

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