Tag Archives: Spies

German of the day: Geheimes Waffendepot

August 21, 2026 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means secret weapons depot.

Secret Weapons Depot Discovered Near Berlin – According to reports from WDR, NDR, and SZ, security authorities have discovered a hideout containing two loaded weapons on the outskirts of Berlin. Authorities believe it was a depot used by Russian agents for potential attacks.

It must have been like a scene from a spy thriller when German officials made an explosive discovery in late summer of last year in a wooded area on the state border between Brandenburg and Berlin. According to reports from WDR, NDR, and the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), they found a professionally constructed hideout containing two loaded firearms in the capital’s affluent suburban belt.

“Spying rules?”

August 13, 2026 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

Rules for spies?

Like a “friends don’t spy on friends” kinda rule?

German cabinet approves new spying rules – Germany’s cabinet approved new rules for its spies Wednesday to lift World War II-era restrictions on offensive cyber operations, sabotage, and espionage.

The changes augur a “revolution” in Berlin’s intelligence infrastructure, the German interior minister said, fueled by a growing perception across Europe that the threat of Russian sabotage and influence operations is increasing as Moscow’s battlefield position deteriorates.

Hee Spie Yoo arrested in Germany

May 22, 2026 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Shi Spie Yoo too.

German authorities arrest 2 on China espionage allegations – Two Munich residents have been arrested on suspicion of working for a Chinese intelligence service, seeking to obtain and pass on high-tech information with “military applications.”

“In order to obtain access to scientific information about high-tech technologies with military applications, they built up contacts with numerous scientists at German universities and research institutes. Some scientists were lured to China on the premise of delivering lectures to the civilian audiences for remuneration,” prosecutors alleged. “In reality, these presentations then took place in front of associates of state-run weapons companies.”

We don’t need your Palantir

May 15, 2026 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

We’ll just keep getting our tip-offs from the CIA and the NSA directly.

They’re already using Palantir. Why pay twice?

German intelligence offices snub US-owned Palantir software – Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has reportedly chosen a data analysis system from France, instead of US-based Palantir. Civil society has welcomed the move, but says more must be done.

Palantir has long divided opinions. In the eyes of its proponents and opponents, the analysis tools made by the publicly traded US company which are in-demand worldwide are either a silver bullet or the devil’s work. Against this backdrop, a media report has emerged in Germany: according to information from the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, as well as public broadcasters NDR and WDR, the country’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, BfV) has decided against using Palantir.

There are fireworks…

January 1, 2026 By in Hard Facts, History Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Then there are fireworks.

German Spies Detonated 2 Million Pounds of Explosives in New York Harbor in 1916: The Statue of Liberty’s Torch Has Been Closed Ever Since – Just after 2 a.m. on July 30, 1916, a freight car loaded with TNT exploded at a munitions depot on Black Tom Island in New York Harbor. The blast registered as a 5.5 magnitude earthquake and was felt 90 miles away in Philadelphia. Windows shattered from Times Square to Brooklyn. The Statue of Liberty took shrapnel damage. Firefighters were blown out of their boots.

FSB, DGSI, FBI…

December 28, 2025 By in Hard Facts, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

It’s all BfV to me.

Recruiting for Germany’s Secret Police – Like almost any other country – the Russian Tsar’s Okhrana (later: NKVD and now: FSB), Iran’s feared SAVAK, Pinochet’s torturing DINA, South Africa’s BOSS and NIS, Franco’s BSI, Mussolini’s OVRA, and Hoover’s FBI – Germany too has a secret police that today is no longer called Gestapo or Stasi. Yet Germany’s agency is distinctively different from, for example, France’s DGSI.

Deceptively labelled the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, or BfV), it spies on people. It operates in the shadows, in secret and by stealth. Being unnoticed and silent is of the essence.

German of the day: Russische Wegwerf-Agenten

October 31, 2025 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means disposable Russian agents.

You know, low-level agents who are not not professional spies but hired for small sums to carry out minor acts of sabotage, then “discarded?”

Things like photographing military sites, setting vehicles and facilities on fire, spray-painting political slogans, spreading pro-Russian content and conspiracy theories, etc. They would normally also sabotage rail lines and other forms of strategic infrastructure but the Germans have already beat them to it.

Putin’s secret terror in Germany – Russia’s “disposable agents” pose a threat to internal and external security. It is difficult to expose them. That is why German politicians are puzzling over how to defend the country against them. Now, for the first time, a strategy is taking shape.

How did they gather all that information without everybody carrying handheld surveillance monitors?

August 3, 2025 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, History, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

You know, like we do now?

Very impressive.

Stasi: How the GDR kept its citizens under surveillance – Do all intelligence agents live like James Bond? Not those who worked for East Germany’s Ministry for State Security (Stasi). A new book reveals the mundane lives of the agents.

“Comrades, we must know everything!”

German of the day: Verdeckte Tyrannei

May 3, 2025 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means covert tyranny.

Following the classification of the AfD as “verified right-wing extremist” by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, US Secretary of State Rubio has described the classification as “covert tyranny,” while US Vice President Vance even draws historical comparisons.

Both US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Vice President J.D. Vance have criticized the new classification of the AfD by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution with vigorous words. The Federal Foreign Office responded to the X-word battle and countered: “That’s democracy.”

“Germany just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the opposition. That’s not democracy — it’s tyranny. What is truly extremist is not the popular AfD, but rather the establishment’s deadly open border immigration policies that the AfD opposes.”

Drones come seldom alone

December 14, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness Tags: , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Myterious drones. They’re not just for New Jersey anymore.

Everybody’s doing it. It’s Drone-o-mania!

Germany: Drones spotted over US air base in Ramstein – Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine said drones were also seen over facilities belonging to the Rheinmetall arms maker. It comes after US authorities said there was no evidence of a threat over drone sightings in New Jersey.