We Germans Would Never Twist Words Around Like That

So you sneaky Russkies better stop accusing us of doing so.

After all, just because our foreign minister said “we are fighting a war against Russia” doesn’t mean that we are fighting a war against Russia. Quit twisting her words around like that already. She’s a diplomat. And a Green one too (in more ways than one). And now you’ve offended us.

Germany accuses Russia of twisting minister’s war comments for ‘propaganda’ – Russia has twisted comments by Germany’s foreign minister about the war in Ukraine for propaganda purposes, a German foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday, stressing Berlin’s position that NATO must not become party to the conflict.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock riled Moscow with comments at an event in Strasbourg on Tuesday, when, speaking in English, she said that “we are fighting a war against Russia, and not against each other.”

Sean Penn’s Ukraine Doc Won’t Be Competing!

It’s that good. Just like the Berlin International Film Festival itself. They’re both so good they’re for the greater good.

Too bad their films are always so no good.

The Berlin International Film Festival unveiled the competition lineup for its 2023 edition on Monday morning, naming the 18 movies that will compete for the coveted Gold and Silver Bears at the 73rd Berlinale…

Berlin 2023, taking place a year after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, will have a major focus on Ukraine. Even the festival’s official pin will be in the Ukraine colors of blue and yellow…

In a late addition, Superpower, Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman’s documentary on Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Russian invasion of the country and the ongoing war, will have its world premiere in Berlin’s out-of-competition Berlinale Special section.

Hamburg, An Islamist Hotbed?

Ausgeschlossen (no way)! German authorities would never allow such a thing.

Hamburg Mosque Reportedly a Hotbed for Iranian Propaganda – The Hamburg Islamic Center is considered the most important outpost of the Iranian regime in Germany. But since it is also reportedly used to spread the mullahs’ propaganda across Europe, calls are growing for its work to be restricted.

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which is charged with keeping tabs on all forms of extremism, has been observing the IZH community for many years and describes it, besides the Iranian Embassy, as “Iran’s most important representation in Germany and a significant center of propaganda” in Europe.

German State Broadcasters Take Russian State Broadcaster Off The Air

They have enough state broadcasting to do on their own as it is, thank you.

The Russian state broadcasters will retaliate by taking the German state broadcaster off the air, of course. Oh why oh why can’t we learn to state broadcast together in peace?

Russia to target German media in response to German ban on RT TV – Russia will retaliate against Germany for banning the German-language service of Russian broadcaster RT, and the response will impact German media accredited in Russia and internet “intermediaries”, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

“Public Broadcaster?”

Why does everyone insist on giving state news channels euphemisms like “public broadcaster?”

Another one the Germans like is “öffentlich-rechtlich,” meaning something like “run by public authorities.” Why do they confuse things? A taxpayer-funded channel is a state-run channel that broadcasts the party line. Like down here:

Lebanese TV Station’s Antisemitic Propaganda Creates New Headache for German Public Broadcaster’s Extensive Arab Media Ties – Germany’s public broadcaster was under renewed pressure again this week over its content partners in the Arab world as evidence emerged of yet another partner channel spreading antisemitic propaganda.

Deutsche Welle (DW) — a taxpayer-funded international channel broadcasting in more than 30 languages — had already experienced sustained criticism for its links with Roya TV, a Jordanian station whose antisemitic social media posts were the subject of an investigative piece on Vice’s German language site. Those revelations quickly followed the news that several journalists and editors working for DW’s Arabic service had tracks records of making virulently antisemitic remarks — a scandal that is now the subject of an external investigation.

German Of The Day: Gegenteil

That means the opposite.

German state TV in action: An Islamist fires a machine gun in Israel, killing one Israeli and injuring others. Israeli security forces kill the attacker.

What does German state news channel ZDF do? They broadcast: “Israel: Palestinian Shot.”

This is nothing new in “journalism,” of course, whether in Germany or anywhere else. But here you can’t “switch the dail.” Germans are taxed to support these state channels, whether they support them or not.

German Collusion

I mean, Russian collusion. YouTube collusion? I dunno. There must be some kind of collusion in there somewhere, right?

Russia threatens to block YouTube after suspension of German RT channels – Moscow warns of retaliation against video-sharing platform after RT channels blocked over Covid disinformation…

YouTube on Tuesday told German media that it had issued a warning to RT for violating its coronavirus disinformation guidelines and then shuttered two channels for breaching user terms.

On Wednesday, Russia’s foreign ministry accused YouTube of an “unprecedented act of media aggression” which it said was likely aided by German authorities – a claim Berlin denied.

The Russian ministry said the adoption of retaliatory measures against German media “seems not only appropriate but also necessary.”

German Of The Day: Trendwende

That means trend reversal. It goes like this: As soon as the numbers of Covid-19 infections clearly begin rising again – and that’s what they’re doing –  the head virologist what’s in charge announces this as great news. That is, he spins it as if the numbers are actually dropping.

Trend

That’s just how virologists work, I guess. If you ever doubted that nobody knows what the hell is going on with this pandemic here in Germany, doubt no more.

In Schottland habe man gesehen, dass der Impfstoff von AstraZeneca das Hospitalisierungsrisiko dramatisch senke. Die Rate sei um 94 Prozent zurückgegangen. „Das ist fantastisch“, sagte Wieler.

But China Is Germany’s Friend

And can do no wrong. And friends don’t intimidate Hong Kong activists on other friend’s soil.

China

And all that.

China has tried to intimidate Hong Kong residents living in Germany since pro-democracy protests broke out in the city two years ago, the German interior ministry said in a letter to a lawmaker published on Tuesday.

The letter, sent to the head of parliament’s human rights committee, Gyde Jensen, in response to a request for information on the subject, could add to pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel to take a firmer line toward China over human rights.

“Since the start of the protests in Hong Kong, increasing attempts by Chinese state actors in Germany to influence public opinion in favour of the Chinese government as well as actions against supporters of the protests have been identified,” the ministry said in the letter, first published in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper and reviewed on Tuesday by Reuters.

“I am unfortunately sceptical that the mechanisms used by our security agencies are sufficient to effectively protect those affected.”

PS: By the way, there is no Chinese virus in Germany either. There is a “British mutation” of the Chinese virus that came from China but isn’t a Chinese virus but there is no Chinese virus per se.

 

The Polls Have Never Been Wrong Before

So don’t hesitate to believe these results.

Merkel

And if you’re interested, I’ve got some wonderful Florida swampland I can get you for a real steal. But seriously folks, the wording below is very important. “Germany’s leadership has never been higher in many countries…” The country of Germany was clearly not among those polled.

Merkel Set to Leave Office With Germany on Top of the World – As German Chancellor Angela Merkel prepares to leave office after nearly two decades in power, approval of Germany’s leadership has never been higher in many countries.

Across the 29 countries and areas that Gallup has surveyed so far in 2020, a median 62% approves of Germany’s leadership, up slightly from a median of 59% for this same group in 2019. Approval ratings are at, or top, previous record highs in 18 of the 29 countries.