That means other countries other customs.
Finally, a holiday for the rest of us.
German Oddity 391. Only in Germany is Vatertag or Father’s Day commemorated by hordes of oddly dressed men pulling little wooden wagons overloaded with beer and snaps through wooded areas (or right through the middle of your town) roaring and swearing and pissing all over the place until they vomit on themselves and pass out but not before having called their wives to pick them up and drag them back home again.
That means pressing issues.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo abruptly canceled a scheduled trip to Germany where he was planning to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel “due to pressing issues,” the State Department said early Tuesday.
No specific reason was given for the cancellation. The press pool traveling with Pompeo has not been told where they are going next, and have been warned they may not be able to report from the country they are going to until after they leave…
The sudden schedule change comes two days after the Pentagon deployed a carrier and a bomber task force to the Middle East in order to send a message to Iran, which the Trump administration has recently been putting pressure on. Pompeo said Sunday night that the deployments have been in the works for “a little while” and that the US will “hold the Iranians accountable for attacks on American interests.”
US-Präsident Trump verhindert den Berlin-Besuch seines Außenministers – wegen “dringlicher Angelegenheiten”.
That means trade war.
A trade war between the United States and Europe is coming and the fallout could tip Germany into recession, according to analysts at German lender Commerzbank…
Official German statistics supplemented by the bank’s own research show that in 2018, the United States was the top export destination for German cars, accounting for about 12% of the total with a value of 27 billion euros of parts or finished vehicles.
The bank estimated that a Trump-ordered tariff increase of 25 percentage points on EU auto imports would slash that figure for Germany down to around 14 billion euros per annum.
When factoring in how much of that export figure is actual German “added value,” the bank estimated that total economic output for the country could fall by around 0.25 percentage points.
“All the more dangerous in a situation where the German economy is only just managing to avoid a recession,” it read.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.”
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.”
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.”
Observing Hermann 