bananenrepublik - 15.10.2005 - 26.1.2006

Brain Farts from Former Ministers

Former Minister Scholz will discuss German nuclear weapons - hopefully no one else. There are already far too many nuclear weapons in the world, we certainly don't need German atomic bombs. Sometimes you really wonder what kind of idiots are running around in politics. There is no other appropriate response to nuclear threats than total nuclear disarmament. If someone drops atomic bombs on a country, it is completely irrelevant for survival whether the attacked state also has atomic bombs - and no, the threat scenario is complete nonsense if you are not also willing to use these monstrosities. And that's where the madness begins.

GVU allegedly sponsored pirates

With so much audacity from the rights extortionists, one can hardly think of any further comment:

After joint research by the computer magazine c't and the news portal onlinekosten.de, indications suggest that the GVU may have overstepped the bounds of what is permissible in its investigations against copyright infringers. The editorial teams received hints from a GVU-affiliated informant some time ago, which have since been confirmed by a second source. According to these reports, the GVU regularly paid at least one administrator of a central exchange server in the warez scene. In this way, they obtained log files and thus access IP addresses of this so-called "box." In addition, they are said to have contributed hardware to equip the platform.

Jean-Remy von Matt unnerved - envious for that

It's quite amusing when an alleged communications professional lets his envy show so clearly:

Many of you write that I scored an own goal with my email. Okay, maybe one. But how many own goals are you scoring right now by picking up my buzzword "Toilet Walls of the Internet" in part indignantly, in part gleefully, spreading it in the sense of agenda setting? At Technorati.com, the search term was temporarily ranked 3rd!

Well, that's just the way it is - there are also others who can exploit a term. And in the blogs, the toilet wall is simply more popular than the you-are-German-language nonsense.

And about the alleged "apology" - sorry, but that is an apology that you can also read from politicians - meaningless, vague, and the only statement you can derive from it at best is a defiant "but I'm right!" Tja, Marketinghansel. Big mouth up front, but only a sensitive soul and no clue behind it.

Cover up, deny and ignore

Here's how the Bundeswehr, the BND, and the Foreign Office are handling the secret Bundeswehr report on the abduction of six people to Guantanamo:

Despite the facts and a transcript of the report, which has now been handed over to the Ministry of Defense, the official conclusion is that there is no conclusive evidence of the incident and the hints contained in the secret document in question.

The report itself is gone. Allegedly deleted because no long-term archiving was planned (yes, of course, I believe that immediately - it certainly wasn't like that during my time in the Bundeswehr, when every document was filed and archived, that's just my imagination). And of course, no one knows anything about it. And the embarrassing evidence - such as the confession of the author of the report and photos on the computer that belong to the report - are simply ignored.

What is absolutely not funny about this: six people are sitting in Guantanamo - without conclusive evidence. But no one cares, no one is advocating for them. These people were abducted with the knowledge of the Bundeswehr. No one cares about that either. All that matters is keeping one's own record clean.

Monitor: Vorwürfe gegen Ratiopharm - In case anyone is wondering where all the money for the healthcare system goes ...

Cute Advertising Guys

The ad guys behind this stupid DBD campaign are sulking - at least one of them is complaining in a round-robin email about the unwashed bloggers, the annoying journalists and the stupid colleagues. His mother taught him that one should thank people for gifts and he thinks DBD is a great gift. My mother taught me not to give people useless junk. And in the case of broad disagreement with my opinion, to consider whether maybe the rest of humanity might be right. My mother is smarter than his mother ...

FDP stands up to the music industry

Even though the FDP is in opposition - when it comes to copyrights they are just as supportive of the music industry as the current government:

Hans-Joachim Otto, media expert of the FDP parliamentary group, sees in a cultural flat rate a "disregard for copyright". "Whoever wants to effectively legalize the mass production of illegal copies on the Internet through a lump sum payment has not understood the principles of European copyright and disregards the necessity of effective protection of creative achievements," reads a statement from the FDP parliamentary group. The FDP supports all efforts that serve to further strengthen copyright in the digital context and to promote respect for intellectual property.

The position of the FDP as an alleged freedom party is also quite logical: rather criminalize all users, patronize and nag them, than force an industry that is managed to ruin to deal with realities. For the FDP, freedom is only the freedom of companies, not of citizens.

Suddenly Protestant

Isn't it great how the church beautifully helps to dispose of annoying works councils? Really fascinating method. After all, churches have nothing in common with a democratic society. And in the end, they are even democracy-hostile in their structure. I find the approach of the hospital management particularly exciting:

A week later, the manager explained to the staff that the hospital was now evangelical. The released works council members were instructed to return to their old workplaces. When Altenschmidt and Tobias Michel, who was also released, did not comply, a warning followed. Last Friday, the locks of the works council office were changed. However, the files of the employees' representatives, which contained partly confidential information, could be brought to safety beforehand, according to Altenschmidt.

Certainly, the church itself will then present the whole thing again in a great way, because after all, one has gained a bit more influence - no matter how absurd the designation as "church carrier" is. After all, most of the money still comes from public funds. You can also see this nicely in Münster, where far too many schools and kindergartens have an allegedly church carrier - but the financial main burden still lies with the city.

For me, the church with this absurd church law - according to which employees and especially also employee representatives must be in the church and disputes between employee representation and management can only be represented before the equally absurd church jurisdiction - is simply unconstitutional.

What does our Basic Law, Article 3, Paragraph 3, say?

No one may be disadvantaged or favored because of their gender, their descent, their race, their language, their homeland and origin, their beliefs, their religious or political views. No one may be disadvantaged because of their disability.

Apparently, this does not apply to churches. And for hospital managers who quickly give the hospital to the church just to get rid of the works council.

You Are Stupid

You're making stupid ads - and you don't even ask all participants if they really want to participate. And you take action against critics with the trademark law. You're just a PR disaster ...

In Schily's Footsteps

Following Schily's footsteps is the Interior Minister of Schleswig-Holstein. And once again, he resorts to polemics because the arguments are lacking.

The way in which the Interior Minister reacts to criticism from data protection authorities is increasingly disregarding a factual assessment and is limited to granting absolute priority to the police and law enforcement or general security. Data protection is thus equated with hindering law enforcement, and there is no interest in balancing the two. The maxim "Germany should become safe and free" is followed in such a way that there is no doubt which characteristic prevails here. Even if this security can only ever represent a false sense of security.

And this does not only affect Schleswig-Holstein; it can be felt throughout the federal territory - and in the idiotic attempts at the European level. It is not about accusing individual police officers of being scoundrels who only want to spy on their fellow citizens. It is not about accusing the police of not responsibly handling their means.

It is about the state having a position of power vis-à-vis the citizen, which is controlled and limited for very conscious reasons - and the legislative initiatives within the framework of the expansion of police powers lift this control and limitation. The police are not just any service provider - they are the executive arm of the executive - one of the three powers in our system. We already have far too close a connection between the legislature and the executive - every time the government arrogates itself the legislative power, I feel sick. The Bundestag is the legislature, not just the government (not even just the government coalition).

The control of the possibilities of the powers and the limitation of their power is a very essential aspect of a healthy state. A state in which the executive gains too much power moves away from this ideal line, develops sooner or later into a police state, into a surveillance state. It is not just about banal claims like "data protection = perpetrator protection" - that is ridiculous and polemical. It is about the rights of the individual citizen, about the possibility of shaping one's own life without a big brother constantly looking over one's shoulder. But exactly that is being done more and more in recent times - the installation of the big brother.

Data protection advocates and warning voices are not just world-remote cranks who don't want to see the problem - they are simply those who can already see today what is coming our way tomorrow. And it is frightening that we are only inadequately protected by the highest constitutional court - inadequately because even their decisions are attacked and ignored by politicians.

The warning against the all-powerful state is not paranoia, it is realism. We have had the all-powerful state quite often - and we have recently incorporated an incarnation of it. None of these all-powerful states really worked, all of them collapsed. But the people in these states had to suffer under them.

What to do with the unemployed

Currently on display in Mainz: Mützen auf und durch:

In the fact that the new service staff of the MVG are also supposed to wear a yellow cap and a name tag, he sees a discrimination of the affected parties, who are already in a difficult situation and are then forced to publicly "out" themselves as Hartz IV victims.

People are first of all forced to do a job. This job consists of providing service - which is actually a normal task for the transport companies and should be handled with normal workers. It is therefore definitely competition for the normal labor market, which is actually not allowed with one-euro workers. And then these workers are also given a visual stamp so that they are visible from afar. Do some people ever think about what they are doing?

Germany has had experience with the visible labeling of people who are considered "inferior" before ...

Only the Best Intentions ...

... the German government is tightening immigration law:

According to the plans, spouses should only receive a residence permit from the age of 21 to "protect young foreigners from forced marriages". Residence permits are explicitly prohibited in case of sham marriages. The German government wants to counter abuse "particularly for illegal purposes such as forced prostitution" in this way.

From personal experience, I can say that the interpretation of the authorities is much more concrete. A sham marriage is simply assumed - in an attempt to get rid of the annoying foreigner. Even direct biological children from the marriage are not automatically considered proof of a genuine marriage. But of course, it's not about deporting annoying foreigners, it's only about limiting sham marriages and forced marriages.

The changes in tax law are not about giving those who already have a lot even more, but only about promoting tax honesty. And the Hartz IV changes with the attached impudence towards the unemployed are not about harassing and bullying those who already have nothing, but only about motivating long-term unemployed people.

Of course. And pigs can fly.

Reintroduction of the Debtors' Prison

Recipients of unemployment benefits must prove their need - because the mere fact that they may have paid into the system once and are now unemployed is not sufficient.

The State Secretary in the Bavarian Ministry of Social Affairs, Jürgen Heike, supported Clever's initiative. "Those who want benefits from the state should prove that they are entitled to them," Heike said in "Focus". This would have the side effect that obtaining payments through false statements would constitute fraud. "These people can then be sentenced to repay the money and pay a fine," he said. Those who have no money must "expect to serve a prison sentence".

Exactly. Throw them in jail. Or put them on the pillory, as the Bild newspaper likes to suggest from time to time. What kind of perverse society are we supposed to live in?

How is a recipient of unemployment benefits supposed to pay for the lawyer they will soon need to assert their claims?

Freedom of Information Act and its Implementation

What does a state do that gives itself an Information Freedom Act (the name is already laughable) according to which it grants citizens rights to inspect files? It hides behind fees.

Even before the consultation on the Information Freedom Act, it was already clear that authorities would be able to charge fees of up to 500 euros for satisfying the citizens' interest. However, a clause has now surprised, according to which even the inspection of files directly at an office should result in fees between 15 and 500 euros.

Because that's the easiest way, at least you can still make money from the curious and annoying citizens. A general obligation to publish and store in publicly accessible digital archives would have been much too sensible, but this is much more German.

Baden-Württemberg, the slightly more German Germany?

I would be in favor of extending the naturalization test for Muslims to politicians in general:

One question, for example, is: "How do you feel about the statement that a woman should obey her husband and that he is allowed to beat her if she is not obedient?" Another one: "Imagine your adult son comes to you and tells you he is homosexual and would like to live with another man. How do you react?" However, there is no passing score for the test. According to the Interior Ministry, the overall impression from the conversation is decisive.

When it comes to questions about homosexuality and the role of women, presumably quite a few Union politicians would fail, right?

Sometimes you really wonder how politicians manage to implement every absurd and ridiculous idea and then still find it to be a great idea. I mean, at some point the reptilian brain must crawl out of the politician's ears in desperation at the evolutionary regression and strangle him ...

CSU can't tell gas and electricity apart

Once again, a current crisis is being used as an excuse for stupid remarks:

Söder called for consequences from the gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine. Possibly, the Russian gas company Gazprom will one day also blackmail Germany.

I mean - everyone has now realized that there is not even any intention of blackmailing Europe. Not even the action against Ukraine is - from a capitalist perspective - unusual, after all Gazprom is only demanding the world market price for gas from Ukraine. Shouldn't the Union politicians now quickly perk up and applaud? But when they are on the receiving end of capitalism, they scream and squeal like stuck pigs.

Instead of drawing sensible conclusions and, for example, strengthening renewable and locally producible energy sources, they are calling for nuclear power. But what would that cause? A stronger bondage and blackmailability of German society by the people who already repeatedly attract attention through blackmail: the energy companies. Who make a fortune at the expense of society, but still increase prices. Who pocket millions from the state for the construction of their facilities, but then complain that everything is so expensive and therefore the citizen should pay again. But of course, jobs must be cut at the same time, because one wants to make record profits again next year.

In addition, it makes us more dependent on foreign sources for the fuel rods and the reprocessing and disposal - and creates massive problems through the still unsolved problem of final storage (and no, selling the problem to others will not bring us anything in the long run).

Regardless of the consequences for the environment and health - the decision for nuclear power is purely economically a complete nonsense. Apart from the fact that you can operate gas heating systems very poorly with electricity, the whole fuss in the context of gas deliveries from Russia should only be considered as stupid populist propaganda.

How to Shirk Responsibility

Shows the recommendation to public prosecutors on the triviality rule for mass criminal complaints due to copyright infringements:

In all cases known to heise online so far, the criminal complaints have been about the offer of a single file. According to the new regulation, these suspects will therefore probably no longer face any criminal consequences in most cases. However, since the public prosecutors are advised to determine the personal details of the suspect in each case, the Karlsruhe law firm will also continue to receive the desired information upon inspection of the files in order to be able to proceed civilly.

Means in German: the public prosecutor does nothing more than request the provider to identify the user - probably a form letter in which only the specific data is entered. The providers still have to look up the data - even if it's just about a trivial file. The users are still identified and entered into the record - and then have trouble with the law firm because of the warning. The law firm continues to make a fortune.

Great solution.

If a procedure is to be closed directly, there is also no reason to determine personal details and play into the hands of the law firm. But here it was not about the citizens, it was only about avoiding work for the public prosecutors.

Constitutional Complaint Against Customs' Eavesdropping Powers

We hope that the constitutional complaint against unrestricted customs sniffing in Karlsruhe is successful:

The Humanist Union, a journalist from the Berliner Zeitung and a lawyer with procedural authority before the Federal Constitutional Court have filed a lawsuit in Karlsruhe against the controversial Customs Investigation Service Act. The Bundestag had extended the associated powers of the Federal Customs Criminal Office for the preventive monitoring of mail and telecommunications for 18 months in mid-December despite strong objections from the opposition and civil rights organizations with the votes of the grand coalition. It could thus initially come into force again on December 31, 2005. At the same time as the constitutional complaint was filed, the civil rights activists also applied to declare the law unenforceable until a decision by the Federal Constitutional Court.

It is already quite absurd how the federal government - and the Bundestag through its approval - simply ignores the demands from Karlsruhe. One really starts to wonder what the point of a Basic Law is if any gathering of prolethikers can just trample over it ...

Whinnying Bureaucratic Horses

Send official mail to Shopblogger - the Social Court of Bremen thinks you are not allowed to have websites with "Social Court of Bremen" in the title. There is more information at LawBlog.

One thing is clear - as long as civil servants at courts can waste time with such nonsense, they cannot expect anyone to take their "we are overloaded" seriously.

Susanne Osthoff - and the press and politics

Archaeologist: "Osthoff's work is of immense importance" - but why is she then put under so much pressure? Possibly this is the reason:

There is a financially powerful lobby behind this, which makes money from looted goods from illegal excavations and openly threatens the loss of German jobs if the laws become stricter.

Archaeology is just not in vogue, so you can't motivate anyone - so go for it. Does someone say that the Red Cross should stay away from Iraq? Does anyone demand that other aid organizations withdraw? No. Susanne Osthoff has - in addition to her commitment against looting and thus the destruction of invaluable archaeological finds - also provided humanitarian aid. She knows her risk - which she is willing to take. In Germany, it is too easy for politicians to distance themselves from this. No one will cause a scandal because of a crazy archaeologist ...

Further information on the topic (and a series of links) can be found at sagichdoch.

Who is the hate preacher here now?

Schünemann demands ankle bracelets for Islamists - and receives applause from Bavaria. The electronic muzzle demanded by Mc-Pomms Innenseppel, on the other hand, I have long advocated for prolethics. At least Timm noticed that there must be a legally binding conviction before the forced ankle bracelet. Remarkable that a prolethic even notices something like that ...

What's up with the Glos?

Glos advocates for more income - because then people would have more money to spend and thus boost domestic demand. Which is why, of course, employers are demanding more work without wage compensation. It's quite amusing when even a Union politician finally understands after many years how consumption works, but the employers' representatives prove that stinginess knows no reason.

Just have some understanding now!

Altruistic impulses of the retail sector

Changes are mainly to be expected due to the planned increase in value-added tax as of January 1, 2007. "Anyone who only raises prices at the turn of the year is to blame themselves," said Rolf Pangels from the BAG retail association to the news agency AP. It is important to create enough leeway in the calculation beforehand, so that one can say on January 1, 2007, that one is keeping prices stable. The spokesman for the German Retail Federation, Hubertus Pellengahr, said that a price increase at this date "would not be accepted by consumers."

Exactly. The wonderfully selfless retail sector is raising prices in anticipation of the tax increase only for us consumers, because we wouldn't accept it otherwise. We are so to speak forcing our money onto the retail sector, we are compelling the poor, misunderstood retail sector to raise prices. We should be ashamed.

Reich Labor Service

made by SPD:

The German government wants to deploy more unemployed people as seasonal agricultural workers. The cabinet decided in Berlin on a proposal by Federal Labor Minister Franz Müntefering, according to which ten percent of seasonal workers from abroad should be replaced by unemployed people in the future.

Also important are the concerns of the Farmers' Association:

The Farmers' Association criticized that growth effects would be lost as a result. Even if it is proven that no German workers can be found, no additional foreign seasonal workers would be placed. In this case, the federal government remains silent on the question of what should happen to asparagus, strawberries, or apples that are ready for harvest.

Exactly. What happens to the asparagus and strawberries? Nobody is interested in the people anyway.

Wretched Swindlers

Gas prices to become even more expensive in 2006

A spokesperson for the long-distance gas company VNG confirmed Weyand's prognosis and added: "According to our findings, this will be in the double-digit percentage range."

But the whole privatization bullshit is just so great. And the market will take care of it. It's just strange that energy prices for consumers only go up and the profits of energy suppliers rise to utopian levels. Great market that regulates itself ...

Bundestag extends customs powers

How the Bundestag continues to trample on the decisions from Karlsruhe:

Sharp protests also come from the Humanist Union (HU): "The majority of the Bundestag has once again duped the Federal Constitutional Court," indignant is their deputy federal chairman Fredrik Roggan. The argumentation of the Black-Red coalition is an affront: "First, parliament and government let an entire year pass idly by, in which they could have created a constitutionally compliant regulation, only to then refer to time constraints just before the deadline." It is scandalous that Karlsruhe increasingly has to stop the lawmaker who has gotten out of control. The HU announced that it will file a constitutional complaint against the law and apply for interim legal protection to prevent the regulations on customs powers from taking effect.

It is already highly absurd how meanwhile even the clearly understandable judgments from Karlsruhe apparently do not find their way into the minds of the proletarians. As a result, the restriction of the large-scale eavesdropping has now been reduced to absurdity - one can simply have the customs listen in, instead of the somewhat restricted police ...

Gen-Food-Trash soon in Germany?

Nobody wants GMO food, but Seehofer doesn't care:

There should be no preferential treatment for organic farming under his watch. "Conventional farmers are just as important to me as organic farmers," he said.

Unlike Künast, Seehofer also wants to promote the cultivation of genetically modified plants. These play an increasingly important role worldwide - "this must also be possible in Germany". So far, farmers have been almost prevented from cultivating them by the strict liability rules. He will change the biotechnology law decided by the Red-Green coalition. However, the protection of humans and the environment will remain guaranteed.

Oh really - for him, organic farming and conventional farmers are equally important? Of course, both are screwed with the genetically modified plants. It's getting harder and harder for organic farmers to farm biologically - don't tell me that wind pollinators suddenly aren't anymore, just because they've been genetically modified. And the conventional farmers? They will only be more strongly tied to the corporations that want to bring this crap to market.

Genetically modified plant and seed material is not in the interest of consumers or agriculture. It is solely in the interest of large corporations, which patent this crap and thereby gain even stronger control over the means used. Seehofer is selling out agriculture and consumers - and in doing so, he actually treats all parts equally badly.

However, I don't quite understand why the crackpot then calls himself Minister of Agriculture and Consumer Protection - just call him Corporate Minister, that's closer to the truth.

Nobody is talking about control again

Zypries will Dateitauschbörsen bekämpfen:

The Minister of Justice wants to help protect copyright and trademarks better. On the Internet, this primarily affects file-sharing networks.

Disclosure of names. Fixed compensation claims. Right to demand bank and business records. But she doesn't talk about how all this mess should be controlled so that it is not further abused, does she, the Federal Incompetence.

Oh Man, with such judges we don't need criminals anymore ...

I'm sorry, but the judge at the Hamburg Regional Court apparently interpreted the current legal situation in a very strange way:

The panel explained that it was convinced that the publisher could be held liable for the contents expressed in the forum solely through dissemination, even without knowledge. After all, he could check the texts automatically or manually beforehand. The way the publisher operates the forum so far even potentially incites infringements, emphasized a judge. It was unacceptable that "those whose rights are violated have to chase after you". The publisher's objection that automatic filtering had proven not to work and that manual checking of each contribution was simply not feasible given over 200,000 postings per month was not accepted by the panel.

It's strange that the legislator wrote something completely different into the law - which explicitly only requires knowledge for action. And this absurd belief in technology, that something like this can be automatically filtered out - the judge certainly did not demonstrate technical competence.

Hopefully Heise will defend itself appropriately against this and hopefully fare better than, for example, in the "Link to Brenner Software" story ...

Off with the barriers

To those involved in the investigations by federal authorities:

As Schäuble explained, currently, for example, the Federal Criminal Police Office can only intervene if there is a "criminal procedural initial suspicion." This condition is to be abolished. Schäuble justified this by saying that the path from the intelligence service's findings via the state police to the BKA is too cumbersome.

And what do you think, will these special rights be used only for combating terrorism? Or are the control functions that still exist in the executive gradually being lost?

It's nice how the Union and the SPD agree on the curtailment of civil rights and the curtailment of control functions ...

Is it finally Otto Orwell's turn?

At least Schily knew about the CIA renditions:

The "Washington Post" reports that the US government informed Schily in May 2004 about the illegal rendition of the German Khaled al Masri. The then US ambassador Daniel Coats personally visited Schily, the newspaper writes, citing several intelligence sources.

It would be nice if one of the SPD's biggest agitators against data protection, civil rights, and common sense were to be politically held accountable, even if he is already out.

EU will Telefondaten sechs Monate speichern - and the sheer incompetence (some call her Federal Minister of Justice) is so busy patting herself on the back that she completely misses the mark. That this minimal consensus is a total disaster for data protection and privacy is, of course, completely irrelevant ...

Does the FDP have to pay a million fine? - the Möllemann time bomb continues to tick.

Data Non-Protection Declarations in Insurance

Because I'm currently interested in dental supplementary insurance (and my health insurance is trying to sell me a private insurance), I've read through the hints and explanations. In doing so, I came across the following nice paragraph under the title "Release from confidentiality clause":

I am aware that the insurer verifies information about my state of health before concluding the contract, to the extent that this is necessary for assessing the risks to be insured in the case of the contract conclusion I am applying for and my statements give cause for it. For this purpose, I release doctors, dentists, members of other healing professions as well as employees in hospitals and health authorities from their confidentiality, to the extent that I have been examined, advised and treated in the last 10 years prior to the application. This declaration is valid beyond my death.

It gets even worse - but I'll spare you the details. Great - the legislator is cutting back on the benefits of the statutory health insurance. Ultimately, the insured person is forced to take out supplementary insurance, at least if they cannot afford the treatments on their own and need to plan ahead. For this, however, they must then simply waive any confidentiality obligations towards the private insurance company - and even permanently, as death does not apply. Now, let's put all this into perspective - I pay a multiple of the measly 6.42 euros that the supplementary insurance would cost me to the statutory insurance. But there, I don't need to waive my confidentiality so drastically and unrestrictedly for dental services (in the above paragraph, the type of request is not even limited to the medical field of the insurance!) - but for the private insurance, I have to give up all rights to my data.

That's complete nonsense.

Additionally, of course, it also bothers me that the insurance company advertises in a leaflet about dental supplementary insurance that it has been tested with "very good" by Finanz Test, for example - but not for dental supplementary insurance, but for "single room rates". Which is really very informative for the assessment of the dental supplementary insurance ...

New Health System Cuts

It's quite amusing how Schmidt continues to play incompetent doctor games with the healthcare system, and the Union complains - because they weren't allowed to participate, and because the poor pharmaceutical industry is allegedly disadvantaged.

By the way, neither of the two coalition partners talks about the patients - the real victims of this concentrated incompetence ...

Court hears case of "Bremer Taliban" right to stay - it's absurd that a foreign office actually believes that an absence due to (detention in Guantanamo, which is questionable even under US law and definitely far outside any German jurisdiction) can be considered a reason to terminate a residence permit.

In office for only a few days, but corrupt to the core?

Glos insists on the takeover of ProSieben/Sat.1 by Springer:

Federal Minister of Economics Michael Glos is counting on the planned takeover of the television company ProSiebenSat.1 by Axel Springer Verlag to proceed in a normal manner. However, he did not rule out that a so-called ministerial permit might also be discussed in this context. He hopes, however, "that everything will be resolved," said Glos in Munich.

Concerns at the Federal Cartel Office? Screw it, what does the government care ...

A prerequisite for approval is that the restriction of competition is justified by overall economic advantages of a merger or by an overriding public interest in the merger.

Likely, the private coffers of the Minister of Economics are then simply of overriding public interest, or what does he want to base it on? After the CSU supported the Kirch conglomerate in Bavaria far beyond its viability for a long time, is it now Springer's turn? It's already absurd what politicians will stoop to ...

First impending departure of the government?

It looks like Gabriel is the first candidate for ministerial departure:

A criminal complaint has already been filed against Gabriel with the Braunschweig public prosecutor's office. He is accused of concealing an illegal sham activity for VW, perjury, and a breach of the rules of procedure of the Lower Saxony state parliament. Its president, Jürgen Gansäuer, now wants to have Gabriel's secondary activity checked for compliance with the regulations.

Well, the whole story at VW is also quite cute - the top harasser Hartz gets one dent after another (and the Berlin proletarians still don't find it embarrassing to associate the unfair treatment of the unemployed with such a name). And now there are indications that VW sponsored Viagra for the works councils for sex parties. What a pathetic bunch of louts on all sides ...

Germany - Arms Dealer

First the Leopard II tanks to Turkey, now submarines to Israel - and then also with financing a part of the production by Germany itself. Quite a big action.

And no, what bothers me is not the word "Israel" - there could be any other country. What bothers me - besides the general fact of arms production and arms exports - is the part where Germany itself bears a third of the production costs ...

Disgusting ...

... the fearmongering of the agitators against data protection and privacy, when the secrecy of telecommunications threatens to be taken seriously.

e-Voting: Contesting the Bundestag Election Due to Voting Computers

Problems with voting machines in the federal election:

Wiesner criticizes in particular that the voting is indirect – via the voting machine and the software used – and it cannot be verified whether the vote is stored immediately and unchanged in the vote memory and subsequently in the electronic vote memory until the election result is determined is not changed.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he succeeds with his application, but I don't see any greater chances - because surely it will just be discussed to death again and by then the Federal Constitutional Court may decide, the current coalition will have long since gone to Orkus (they won't last 4 years) ...

And then there was ...

... the bankruptcy of the Red-Black horror coalition and the loud howling and gnashing of teeth of all the interest group arse-lickers who now think they might lose their little butter. Meanwhile, the hunt against Hartz IV recipients continues and the welfare state is dismantled, but the police state is further expanded. Any sense is left out and therefore the little conjuncture is simply murdered with a VAT increase. The whole thing is then garnished with a clear violation of the constitution in the budget for next year. And these idiots stand up and celebrate themselves and their pathetic work.

When watching bad movies, you can always switch channels. Where is the remote control for reality, please?

SPD Sells Job Protection

To continue playing a role in the Berlin government, the SPD sells out job protection:

The experts from the Union and SPD have agreed to further relax job protection in a grand coalition. As reported by the "Bild am Sonntag," the probationary period for new hires may be extended to up to two years in the future. "This does not shake the substance of job protection," SPD labor market expert Klaus Brandner told the newspaper.

Okay, the whole thing is from Bild am Sonntag, so you can't put much stock in the truthfulness, but if it's really true, that's quite an outrageous audacity. A probationary period of two years is de facto an abolition of job protection, no matter what this SPD blowhard says - new hires then have no security at all, and the slightest disagreement and the contract is terminated. That's simply absurd.

Especially since employers already have a comparable option with fixed-term contracts today, only the employee then at least has some security for the duration of the fixed-term relationship - with the idea sketched above, there is no security at all.

And let's be honest: a boss who needs two years to determine if a new employee is suitable for the job (and that's exactly what the probationary period is for, not as a dishonest way out for the abolition of job protection), must either be a lying piece of shit, or dumb as a piece of bread in the puddle...

The lies of the SPD in recent years (with Hartz IV and all the crap from Schily) and in the current coalition negotiations is in any case a clear sign that the SPD no longer deserves its own name. It has nothing to do with social anymore. This is the sale of the welfare state purely out of power greed and obsession.

Off to the Police State Germany!

Coalition of Social Democrats and Christian Democrats to review data protection:

Under the title "Germany – a safe and free country," the fight against terrorism is described in the paper available to heise online as "a very important task for all German security authorities." In addition, a "claim" of citizens is postulated "to be protected from crime." According to the interior experts of the grand coalition, other constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties must be subordinated to this. It is necessary to examine, as stated in the eight-page contract document, "to what extent legal regulations, for example in data protection, stand in the way of effective combating of terrorism and crime" and whether the "proven security architecture" needs to be further developed.

Speechless.

Stoiber has dusted off

Stoiber is not going to Berlin - the signs of decay of the grand coalition are already evident before it even comes into being, and they are really quite amusing. On both sides, people are falling apart like cardboard boxes.

The entertainment value of this Berlin docu-soap is certainly remarkable.

Education and Prosperity - But Not for Everyone

Go together - education only for those who can afford it. The others should better stay stupid: Chances of inequality have grown further. And our state governments (on whose behalf education policy grows) will make sure that this remains the case. With certainty at least in the Union-governed countries, to which NRW unfortunately now also belongs.

For someone like me, who comes from a working-class family, this development is more than shocking. In my time, children from working-class families were not the majority in the classes at the grammar school, but there were some there. But with today's developments - school fees, teaching material fees, later tuition fees - the politicians make it very clear what they think of workers: nothing at all.

We are Germany? Up the arse. Money is Germany.

Bock: meet Gärtner

Shift of the Biotechnology Sector to the Ministry of Economic Affairs Feared - Within the Union, there is discussion about transferring responsibility for agricultural biotechnology from the Consumer Protection Ministry to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. - Umweltschutz-NEWS.de

And that with Scatman Ede as the economic miracle. Well, whether his underlings would have turned against him would be doubtful anyway. But certainly a great idea if those who are well greased by the industry are the ones to decide on the use of biotechnology ...

Eerie Alliance

When industry, union members, and the CDU join forces to prevent the nuclear phase-out.

Mannesmann trial this time without victory for Ackermann?

Anyway, that sounds like when judges express doubts about Mannesmann acquittals:

On the first day of the trial yesterday, judges had already expressed doubts about the acquittals of Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann, former Mannesmann CEO Klaus Esser, former IG Metall chairman Klaus Zwickel, and other defendants.

Dismantling the Alleged Savior

Nice when a corporate bigwig is taken down. I've always wondered why the SPD lets an HR manager from the automotive industry reform unemployment insurance (keywords Bock and Gärtner and so on - and yes, I am aware of the auto chancellor). Will his name ever be separated from this absurd unemployment policy, or will politicians in the future still be proud of the name Hartz?