German Of The Day: Bußgeld

That means fine. As in money. As in Corona money.

Fine

Most of Germany imposes $59 fine for mask-wearing breaches – German Chancellor Angela Merkel says most of her country’s states have agreed to impose a minimum fine of 50 euros ($59) for breaching mask-wearing rules as coronavirus infections rise again

Hmmm. In theory, Germany is a federal Government and this should be left up to state governments to decide but the times, as we can see, they are a changin’.

In decentralized Germany, imposing and loosening virus-related restrictions is a matter for the 16 state governments, so a patchwork of rules has emerged in recent months. Some areas have imposed no punishment for people who don’t wear masks as required in public transport, shops and elsewhere while others have imposed high fines.

German Dogs Will Soon Be Forced To Take Better Care Of Their Owners

Dog owners are not just cuddly toys, mutts. They also have their own needs.

Dog

New Law Proposed in Germany Demands Dog Owners Take Pets on an Hour-Long Walk Twice a Day.

I’ve been told that another new proposed law would force German dogs to teach their owners to roll over and play dead every time the government asks them to but the political opposition insists that this would be unnecessary government intervention as this has already long been the case.

“They’ll be telling cat owners how often they need to change their litter trays next.”

The Natives Are Getting Restless

Germans, of all people, are slowly but surely losing patience with rules, regulations and restrictions – of the Coronavirus lockdown kind, I mean.

Demo

Demonstrations are now taking place throughout the country in which demonstrators are openly expressing their frustration with the false information and mixed signals coming from the politicians and medical experts who continue to curtail their fundamental rights. In other words, there ain’t gonna be a second lockdown, people.

3000 statt 80 Teilnehmer – Demo gegen Corona-Regeln. Die Demonstranten warfen der Politik und Medizinern vor, im Zusammenhang mit der Corona-Pandemie Panik zu verbreiten und die Grundrechte der Menschen zu beschneiden.

German Of The Day: Denunziant

The means informer. Or snitch.

Snitch

Snitching. It’s just what Germans do.

Law-abiding Germans are zealously helping police crack down on people flouting new social distancing rules aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus by reporting on strangers, neighbours and friends.

In a country where denunciation was commonplace under the Communists in East Germany and Hitler’s Nazis, police forces across the country are getting tip-offs on anything from “corona parties” to people driving to weekend cottages.

Das böse D-Wort – Der Begriff “Denunziant” erlebt in Zeiten von Covid-19 eine Wiedergeburt. Ist Deutschland durchsetzt von meldewütigen Hobbypolizisten?

First They Come For Your Fireworks

Then they introduce a speed limit on your autobahn. “Whatever is not expressly permitted is strictly forbidden” in Germany.

Fireworks

Could Germany ban personal fireworks? – Across the world, fireworks are an essential part of New Year’s Eve celebrations. Germans especially love setting off their own pyrotechnics, but some places have now imposed limited bans — for good reason…

Germany’s laissez-faire approach to pyrotechnics, however, has serious consequences. Fireworks harm the environment, and exploding pyrotechnics can startle and shock animals as well as little children…

Alles was nicht ausdrücklich erlaubt ist, ist verboten.

What’s The Password?

To get your password? And where’s your passport? How do we know you’re you?

Password

German University Forced to Hand Out 38,000 Passwords in Person – Password resets are usually pretty straightforward. But a university in Germany is requiring every student to line up and personally pick up their passwords for the school’s email system following a malware attack.

The University of Giessen is making the odd request because the school is a member of a German research network with strict rules. As a result, the university must follow legal requirements that ensure the new passwords are handed to the real owner, and not someone else, it explained in a notice.

“There is no alternative to this procedure.”

Germany To Repay Customers Of Insolvent Thomas Cook

How nice of Germany to do that. But where does Germany get the money to repay them?

Germany

It’s no Kunststück (slight of hand), folks. I could repay customers of insolvent companies all day long too as long as I had somebody else’s money to repay them with. Just milk the taxpayer again, in other words.

Germany will give financial assistance to customers hit by the insolvency of Thomas Cook because the tour operator’s insurance cover has proved insufficient, it said on Wednesday…

Insurer Zurich’s (ZURN.S) liability is capped at 110 million euros ($121 million) but it has already registered claims worth 250 million and experts estimate total claims will reach 300 million to 500 million euros, ARD said.

A legal opinion commissioned by Zurich concluded that state liability is possible because the German government inadequately implemented a 2015 EU directive meant to ensure customers get their money back in the case of the insolvency of a tour operator, the report said.

“Damages that are not compensated by other parties will be settled by the federal government.”

Europeans Submerge Emerging Technology

Yet again. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry. This wasn’t developed here in Europe, after all…

Genfood

The European Court of Justice has ruled that altering living things using the relatively new technique of genome editing counts as genetic engineering.

And genetic engineering, as we all know, is a very, very, very bad thing. We don’t know WHY that is but we do know THAT it is because that is what we have been fed. No, not the genetically modified foods, the media-modified information. Or disinformation, if you prefer. Turn on your local state TV channel if you don’t believe me. They’ll show you. Sort of.

Scientists hope this emerging technology could be used, for example, to develop crop varieties that are resistant to pests, or that produce large yields under challenging climatic conditions. They are also hoping to use it to correct genetic diseases in humans.

“The classification of genome-edited organisms as falling under the GMO Directive could slam the door shut on this revolutionary technology. This is a backward step, not progress.”

German Of The Day: Vorschriften

That means regulations. You know, like the regulations that were “intentionally” ignored 97% of the time while asylum requests were being processed at the BAMF in Bremen?

BAMF

So much for German efficiency, again. And chalk one up to German corruption, while we’re at it. Again.

Larry the lawyer and his other lawyer buddies must be having a real heyday up there. By the way, how can you tell when a lawyer is lying? Their lips are moving.

Anwälte bekamen 97 Prozent ihrer Asylfälle anerkannt.

No More Döner For Dinner?

Huh? That’s absolutely, positively my favorite German food!

Döner

Leave it up to the Enlightened Left to help protect us from ourselves again.

The EU’s Umweltausschuss (ecology committee) plans to restrict the use of phosphates in frozen meats. A loophole in their legislation had allowed frozen Döner Kebab to contain phosphates up until now. Only fresh Döner will be allowed to have phosphates in the future.

The problem here: Almost all of the Döner restaurants in Europe depend upon frozen Döner meat being delivered to them. Some 500 tons of it are eaten every day. 80% of that in Germany. Over 110,000 jobs would be affected. And please note: The same EU bureaucrats (from another EU department, of course) have declared that 4200 mg of phosphates per day does not pose a health hazard. A Döner Kebab has on average 134 mg.

What can you say? What else can you say? “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

Wegen Sozialisten und Grünen im EU-Parlament – Dem Döner droht das Aus!