It Would Almost Be Cute

If it wasn’t so pitiful.

Police

As reported earlier, although they detest us (just like everybody else), Germans also blindly copy anything and everything braindead Americans do. Here’s a prime example. Their profile neurosis has got so out of hand that they are now trying to manufacture some kind of German George Floyd event. In Germany. With German cops. In the year 2020. Unbelievable.

Germany: Outrage grows over footage of police violence – 2 videos recorded in a month, showing police officers kneeling on suspects’ necks, likened to George Floyd.

Erschrocken und empört.

Numbers, Numbers Everywhere

And not a drop to drink. I mean think. Absolute numbers can be absolutely worthless. But who’s counting?

Covid-19

Read an interesting observation yesterday while going through an article by journalist Jürgen Kunze at the Swiss nzz.

Is the USA going to get the pandemic under control? Looking at absolute numbers can be spectacular but being that it was the expected number of deaths that got politicians to act we must concentrate on that: Per 100,000 inhabitants, the death rate list is led by Belgium with 86, followed by Great Britain with 70, then Peru 67, Spain 61, Italy 58, Sweden 56, Chile 54, USA 50, Brazil 48, France 46. Germany lands at place 36 with 11. Consequently, the USA is in the upper middle range. Shouldn’t one be asking why Belgium can’t get the pandemic under control!

Bekommen die USA die Seuche nicht in den Griff? Der Blick auf absolute Zahlen kann spektakulär sein, aber da ja die erwarteten Sterbefälle die Politik zum Handeln zwang, müssen wir auch dabei bleiben: Pro 100000 Einwohner führt die Todesratenliste (alles gerundet) Belgien mit 86 Toten an, gefolgt von Großbritannien mit 70, dann Peru 67, Spanien 61, Italien 58, Schweden 56, Chile 54, USA 50, Brasilien 48, Frankreich 46 und an 36. Stelle Deutschland mit 11 Verstorbenen. Somit befinden sich die USA noch im oberen Mittelfeld. Man müsste eigentlich fragen, warum Belgien die Seuche nicht richtig in den Griff bekommen hat!

 

Schools Reopen In Germany

“But the coronavirus is not gone.”

Schools

Politicians are agreed on the need to avoid large-scale closures. But the coronavirus is not gone.

Schools are considered lower-risk and many doctors favor a return to the normal schoolday. But the coronavirus is not gone.

In May and June, 2,600 students and teachers were tested as part of a pilot project and not a single acute infection was found. But the coronavirus is not gone.

Fewer than 20 of those tested had antibodies in their blood, which usually indicates an infection in the past. But the coronavirus is not gone.

Experts say a new lockdown would have negative psychological and physical repercussions for young people. But the coronavirus is not gone.

The German teacher’s union doesn’t want the schools to open, however. Because the coronavirus is not gone.

The Swedes Are All Dying From Corona!

Or so we’ve been hearing in the German media for months (the Swedes weren’t terribly strict about contact restrictions so they were BAD).

Sweden

But Germany just lifted its travel ban to Sweden? I detect a certain dissonance here.

Coronavirus: Germany lifts travel ban on Sweden – Sweden was the last EU country with a travel ban from the German Foreign Ministry.

Germany has lifted a travel ban on Sweden as the number of COVID-19 cases in the Scandinavian country has dropped in July after spiking in June.

Other Than Bars…

Clubs, discotheques, theaters, opera houses, museums, casinos, trade fairs, zoos, arcades, betting offices, brothels, churches and fifty or sixty other places for social and anti-social interaction, lots of other stuff in Germany is still open. Sort of. For now.

Corona

Corona ain’t no big deal here either.

Die Bundesregierung vereinbarte am Montag mit den Ministerpräsidenten der Länder, dass zahlreiche Geschäfte und Einrichtungen geschlossen werden sollen.

But Don’t Panic

When it comes to the coronavirus, Angela Merkel tells her fellow Germans.

Merkel

The population has no immunity, she points out. There is no therapy. 60 to 70% of you will be infected with it. BUT DON’T PANIC!!!

So, there. I said it. Now it’s back to the bunker for me. You promised.

The German daily Bild recently slammed her for what it called “the corona chaos,” claiming “No appearances, no speech, no leadership in the crisis.”

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, Reuters reported, was later asked about Merkel’s comments. “I don’t want to comment on the situation in Germany, although I believe that such statements rather cause panic,” he said. “In any case, we have adopted strong measures for such worst-case scenarios to be out of the question.”

German Of The Day: Hamsterschlacht

You already know about Hamsterkauf (panic buying). Now the Germans have upped the ante and are doing “the battle of the hamsters.”

Hamsterschlacht

Aldi customers are getting up early in the morning to get in line so they can fight each other  to purchase disinfectant. Only three products per customer may be purchased, however (doesn’t sound like much of a hamster battle to me). Everybody’s doing it these days. It’s that coronavirus kinda feeling!

Sie stehen dicht an dicht. Dutzende Kunden warten morgens an einer Aldi-Filiale auf die Eröffnung des Ladens. Der Grund: Desinfektionsmittel!

German Of The Day: Hamsterkauf

“Hamster buying” means hoarding or panic buying.

Hamster

You know. Like in oh my God we’re all gonna die?

Germans taking part in coronavirus panic-hoarding are doing a “Hamsterkauf” – There are even empty supermarket shelves in Germany amid the coronavirus outbreak, and of course there’s a German word to describe the act of panic hoarding.

The word Hamsterkauf, a noun made up of [the German words for] “hoarding” (hamstern) and “buy” (kaufen) has been trending on social media as people share photos of store shelves cleared out of food and other household items. The word “hamstern” comes from the hamster, which stores food in its cheeks.

Just Like That Japanese Reactor

Not quite as dramatic, granted, but just like how Fukushima took down the nuclear power industry in Germany, all it takes is a collapsed highway bridge in Italy to suddenly put Germany’s bridge infrastructure in full tilt crisis mode. You gotta worry about something, after all.

Bridges

The latest reminder of the risks of aging infrastructure came Tuesday, when a highway bridge in Italy collapsed, killing at least 35 people. Germany is also exposed. Its once-envied network of roads, bridges and railways are decaying due to decades of underspending. The country has fallen to 15th in road quality behind Oman and Portugal, according to the World Economic Forum’s competitiveness rankings.

Autobahnbrücken in Deutschland – Jede achte Brücke in schlechtem Zustand.

Write This Down

Let’s do some science and write this down.

Insects

New study suggests insect populations have declined by 75% over 3 decades…

A new scientific study has found “dramatic” and “alarming” declines in insect populations in areas in Germany, which researchers say could have far-reaching consequences for the world’s crop production and natural ecosystems.

The science will consist of getting back to me in a year or two, maybe three, if we’re all still around, that is, and reminding me to check into the current numbers about the status of this dramatic decline. You know, just to see how dramatic the dramatic decline was after all? This clearly has the ozone hole, acid rain, Waldsterben (dying forests), BSE (mad cow disease), bird flu, SARS, Elektrosmog (mobile phone radiation), killer bee invasion, drowning polar bears, Ebola pandemic, creepy clowns, chemtrails, creepy clown chemtrails, C02, C02, C02 and Area freakin’ 51 written all over it. If you know what I mean. And you do.

“There’s no reason to think this isn’t happening everywhere.”