politik - 4.12.2005 - 21.4.2006

Outrage over Schäuble - oh kids, now you're suddenly outraged about him. Do you really think he only came up with his ideas today?

SPD insists on de minimis clause for copies - "The SPD" probably does not include the federal justice incompetence. Maybe they should hand in their party membership?

Educational Goal: Myth Instead of Knowledge!

The Prolethicians in Düsseldorf have finally lost their minds, as they are advocating for a reference to God in the education law:

A draft law by the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia intends the following reformulation for §2 of the school law: "To awaken reverence for God, respect for the dignity of man, and willingness for social action is the highest goal of education."

As an atheist, I feel personally attacked and offended by such nonsense. We have a separation of state and religion in Germany - and it should stay that way. The demand for reverence towards a superstitious institution is an absurdity and an insult to every atheist and has simply no place there.

Münte sends agreement on protection against dismissal back to the coalition committee - is his rudimentary conscience speaking up, or is it all just show again?

SPD-Fraktion lehnt neues Urheberrecht ab - they will probably flip-flop again. Or will simply be ignored, as with software patents.

Federal Minister of Justice without Insight

This federal windbag is really starting to get on my nerves. Is it now a prerequisite for a ministerial position to be completely brainless and not understand anything at all? The impact on private individuals is not the lawsuits of the public prosecutor's office - but the collection of personal data by the public prosecutor's office (which they still have to do even if they do not file a lawsuit themselves). That's what the mass claimants are after - so that they can then sue on a private basis. Where private individuals are left alone because copyright issues are not covered by many legal protection insurances.

A real blockbuster, how in Berlin once again the interests of citizens are traded for a dilapidated and money-greedy industry and their legal apparatus ...

Outrage over impending death sentence against ex-Muslim

The outrage of politicians over the impending death sentence against an ex-Muslim is already a bit absurd - what did you actually believe would emerge as a legal system in Afghanistan? Fiddled around for decades, then bombed to pieces, and now you're outraged about the madness they're pulling off there?

Not that I wanted to defend the verdict - any religiously motivated verdict is an audacity to me, because religion has no place in the state. But the outrage is quite hypocritical. Do they really believe that a great democracy has suddenly emerged there?

The current development was long foreseeable, but no one cared back then. Now there's outrage. But taking action against the madness won't happen anyway.

What to do if you are sued?

So, for example, the complaints of the Guantanamo detainees? Quite simple in the USofAbsurdity: one simply forbids the detainees from filing complaints.

Protesters ride down ...

... will soon be back in NRW again. Although in 2003 all units were abolished due to the far too high costs.

Merkel's New Buddy?

So completely crazy as Kaczynski is Merkel should be able to handle this well after her experiences with the American counterpart ...

Land of the Stupid and Unfree

Remember this for the next discussion with the America lovers who always tell you how free and great life is there. Because the Americans have just thrown away not entirely unimportant parts of their constitution.

Bush and Nuclear Power

Bush calls for increased use of nuclear power:

"Our plan is to increase the use of safer and cleaner nuclear energy," said Bush, who a few weeks ago called for a reduction in oil dependence. The development and use of new technologies for solar and wind energy are also to be intensified.

But the fact that the raw material uranium is also limited, meaning that it is not a real alternative to oil at all, and that the issue of the final disposal of nuclear waste is not solved at all in the case of nuclear power, all this does not interest him at all.

The patent solution of the complete idiots - instead of relying on oil as a slowly depleting raw material, one chooses another depleting raw material that is much more dangerous and dirtier. Great strategy.

Of course, he also doesn't care that he just had his crisis with Iran because the nuclear program there may not be used solely for power generation. And that in the USA, for good reasons (costs and dangers), nuclear power has not been actively promoted and expanded since the 70s.

The actually more obvious vision for the future - the increased use of renewable energy sources - is once again completely ignored. It would be too simple if one were to address the problem of non-renewable energy sources, namely the non-renewability ...

Showing off testosterone-damaged proletarians

Isn't it cute how the defense minister puffs up about completely theoretical scenarios?

Since the Constitutional Court has overturned the so-called shoot-down paragraph, there is not even a legal basis for the shoot-down of unmanned or exclusively terrorist-occupied aircraft in the event of terrorist threats. This would only be possible in self-defense in the event of a state of emergency beyond the law. "In that case, I would also issue a corresponding order." As defense minister, he is obliged to protect citizens from such an attack.

The poor guy - so far there has not been a single terrorist attack with drones or exclusively terrorist-occupied aircraft, nor has there been any indication of plans in that direction, but it certainly sounds very manly when you let the big macho out.

What an inflated blowhard.

Bavarian Ministry of the Interior against the Basic Law

How was that about discrimination again? Bavaria wants to deny passports to those seeking naturalization who support the PDS:

In addition to the long-standing practice of routinely inquiring with the domestic intelligence agency, Bavaria plans to ask every person seeking naturalization in the future whether they are a member of or support any of the organizations classified as extremist by the Munich Interior Ministry. The basis for this is a list of all organizations monitored by the Bavarian domestic intelligence agency, which has included the PDS since 1990. In individual cases, as confirmed by the spokesperson of the Bavarian Interior Ministry, Thomas Ziegler, on Wednesday to junge Welt, non-German members of the Left Party may therefore be denied naturalization. Even purchasing publications from the Left Party.PDS or attending party events could be interpreted as "support."

Article 1, Paragraph 3: No one may be disadvantaged or privileged because of their gender, descent, race, language, homeland and origin, beliefs, religious or political views. No one may be disadvantaged because of their disability. - but Beckstein certainly wants to change that too.

Data Protection and Security Interests

A real gem from the Niedersachsen data protection dispute, which concerns the transfer of data protection functions to the Interior Ministry:

Critics fear that moving to the Interior Ministry could compromise the independence of oversight. Minister Schünemann dismissed this concern but acknowledged that security interests and data protection interests are not always aligned.

Wow, what a novel idea, who would have thought that conflicts with data protection interests might exist in the Interior Ministry? Could this perhaps be the reason why data protection officers should be independent of ministries?

Strategic Labor Market Policy

Müntefering wants to cut ALG II for young unemployed people - because if you don't want to do anything about youth unemployment and the lack of training places, then you at least want to reach into the pockets of those who have nothing. It's logical, right? No? Well, it's the SPD's idea of labor market policy ...

But no one knew anything about us

CIA asked Germans for Al-Masri information - the whole edifice of lies is slowly collapsing:

The news magazine "Der Spiegel" reports that there were contacts between US and German security authorities about the case during the abduction of the German Khaled Al Masri by the CIA. According to this, during Al Masri's captivity in Afghanistan in May 2004, two US agents contacted Bavarian and Baden-Württemberg investigators who were monitoring the Islamist scene in Al Masri's hometown of Neu-Ulm.

It all seems so familiar

CIA presents dubious evidence against Iran

A report by the ARD magazine "Report Mainz" (tonight at 21.45 on Das Erste) sheds new light on the nuclear dispute with Iran. One piece of evidence in the chain of evidence presented by the US government against Tehran's nuclear program is an Iranian laptop allegedly containing data for the construction of an atomic warhead. However, a US nuclear weapons expert found no evidence of this in the computer documents.

The US administration could really come up with new approaches, couldn't they? After all, the CIA has also served as a scapegoat later on: once is an accident, twice is stupidity ...

Send Münte into Retirement

He wants to introduce the retirement age of 67 earlier than planned. Sorry, but in times when we have record numbers of unemployed people and those over 45 are considered difficult to place and those over 55 are considered unplaceable, raising the retirement age to 67 is an absolute audacity. Especially when you look at the Hartz IV regulation with the gradual reduction of private savings and securities. Is the late retirement now supposed to guarantee that every normal employee becomes a welfare recipient before retirement?

As long as people in our country cannot actually work until retirement, it is an absolute audacity to extend this time even further.

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.

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.

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.

European Backslapping at the Expense of Citizens' Rights

EU Parliamentarians Justify Massive Telecommunications Surveillance - and they can hardly see their feet due to their pride in their own great achievement. It's just funny that critics keep saying things like this:

Patrick Breyer, a jurist from Elmshorn and one of the heads of the civil rights movement against data retention, is not satisfied with the justifications. He describes the restrictions achieved by the Parliament as "worthless". According to him, the stored information could indeed be released for other purposes such as espionage by intelligence agencies, untargeted search for crimes, or marketing, by referring to another data protection directive. There is no evidence that the crime rate has decreased by referring to partly already stored traffic data. Overall, the directive represents a "serious deterioration compared to the current legal situation".

But of course, we are certainly all wrong, because after all:

Reul, meanwhile, considers all concerns of citizens about a long and non-transparent storage of their personal data to be "dispelled" with the approved draft law.

So if they see that as dispelled, then we are not allowed to object at all. Why do we elect these people if they then stab us in the back? Also amusing are the really informed comparisons:

Gebhardt justifies his approval of blanket surveillance with two comparisons: Thus, anyone who sends a letter today also discloses the associated "traffic data" in the form of sender and recipient, for example, to the postman. Every driver must also be aware that his vehicle owner data has always been stored and, for example, determined when flashing at a red light and used for an investigation. These are "exclusively legal practices" that the authorities would also use in the case of data retention.

Well. If I were to bring that to a realistic comparison: every movement of the vehicle is registered and stored at the starting point and destination. Every conversation in the pub is noted regarding the people involved. Every letter is centrally stored in a database regarding sender and recipient. And the accesses can - provided a somewhat targeted argumentation of the authorities - be used for almost any purpose. Without a court order. And the data must be retained for two years - without any suspicion.

Strangely enough, this is not even the case with letters in reality. Yes, the postal secrecy can be lifted by court order - but nevertheless, there is no two-year history there that is only recorded on suspicion. With vehicles, the owner is indeed recorded - and noted accordingly in case of violations - but not necessarily stored for two years and accessible to almost every authority. And only the violations are stored - but not every movement.

The Internet connection data goes far beyond what is associated with normal wiretapping permissions. Filesharing clients may establish connections to any computers - with which the owner may have nothing to do. Email communications, which are based only on sender and recipient, cannot always be distinguished from spam - viruses and spam, however, falsify addresses, which is why there will be endless garbage in these data swamps.

By the way, in none of the previous data collection cases are such gigantic amounts of junk data collected as in the now decided attack on privacy.

And above all: who protects the citizen from the misinterpretation of these data swamps?

A cold shudder seizes one ...

... when you look at how Blair wants to eradicate "antisocial behavior". Sounds more like a fascist state than a free democracy. I mean, it's not much: just label political leftists or environmentalists as antisocial and classify independent thinking as undesirable behavior. Surveillance and spying will soon be available:

That all this naturally also means more surveillance is made clear, among other things, by a pilot project in Shoreditch, a district of London. Here, a cable TV channel [extern] is set up that offers a broadband internet connection, a digital TV program, and numerous other services for a weekly fee of 5 euros. One of the main offers is access to the local 400 (!) surveillance cameras. Starting in March, the state-funded [extern] Shoreditch Digital Bridge will be opened for testing by 1,000 residents of two streets. Eventually, 20,000 households will be connected.

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 ...

Mexico Bars Canadian over U.S. No-Fly List

American fighter jets block a flight from Canada to Mexico - because a passenger is on the No-Fly List. The Canadian on the list has never been accused of a crime. And the flight had not a single stopover in the USA. And it was only stopped upon reaching the Mexican border. How much more idiotic can it get?

When will other states and their politicians finally realize that America, under the current administration, is anything but a normally functioning country, certainly not one with which to cooperate?

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.

Preservation of the Senate's Interests?

Wondering how high the interests of the Senate are that should be preserved in the gradual sale of Hochbahn and the port to the railway:

According to the report, the paper sets the goal of "pursuing the achievement of a majority in stages while safeguarding the interests of the Senate."

Well, apart from the "turbulences":

The negotiations between the Senate and the railway are still ongoing, accompanied by severe turbulences. Not only did the federal government speak out in favor of keeping the headquarters of the railway in Berlin. Also, the employees and numerous economic representatives recently positioned themselves against a change of the main seat of the railway from the Spree to the Elbe. However, this is exactly what Beust's plan envisages, in return for the participation of the railway in HHLA and Hochbahn. The HHLA employees fear the loss of around 300 jobs.

Hey, not only are the Berlin employees being sold, but also those of Hochbahn and the port. And all this for the relocation of the railway administration to HH - which is of course strategically important for the labor market. Screw the jobs in Berlin, as long as HH gets some. For that, we'll easily sell the others.

At the beginning, I still thought that with the right SPD in Hamburg, it couldn't get much worse with a Union Senate. I admit, that was an exaggerated optimism on my part. It keeps getting worse/stupider/incompetent.

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.

Speculation about new nuclear power plants in NRW

News from the energy policy chicken coop - Nuclear power yes, but not in NRW. Or maybe yes. In any case, the decision of the federal government applies. But maybe not. And anyway - let's swap nuclear power plants for fuel cells. Or maybe the other way around? Doesn't matter, let's just keep talking, maybe no one will notice that we have no idea.

Concentrated incompetence. Don't worry, they will surely ruin NRW. It would be a laugh if we couldn't completely bankrupt ourselves among the federal states.

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.

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 ...

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 ...

Horror Competition

I had actually sworn off horror, but at the end of the year, it catches up with you: a competition of banality and nonsense among the federal officials. The federal Horsti has already let off his stack - as usual poorly intoned and so flatly delivered that even the most eager neoliberal should have fallen asleep in their chair. And what does Merkelnix come up with as a response to this? Actually manages to surpass Horsti in banality and nonsense? Perhaps even more sluggishly delivered, so that one can barely muster enough energy to switch channels?

Dismantling of NRW progresses

Dispute over cuts in the scientific sector:

On Thursday (22.12.05), SPD parliamentary group leader Hannelore Kraft criticizes that the state subsidies for the science center are to be reduced and will be reduced to zero within four to five years starting in 2006. The consequence would be the complete end for these institutes, as they need state funding to be able to raise third-party funds in the first place. Kraft considers this development "fatal". Contrary to the announcements, the black-yellow coalition is saving on important future areas.

Did anyone really expect anything different? The black-yellow government is simply consistently continuing what the SPD started before - the run-down of NRW. Without rhyme or reason, things are being done wildly, regardless of the cost. The main thing is to be in power and be able to do a lot of damage. In a few years, others will be in power anyway, so why should Prolethikers care about the future? It's only about securing a good position in the economy for the time after the government ...

Well, what now?

heise online - French deputies want to legalize private use of file-sharing networks

The dispute over the reform of French copyright law has taken a surprising turn: Contrary to the government's wishes, the deputies, after the second day of negotiations in the early hours of Thursday, have spoken out in favor of allowing the sharing of files of copyrighted works for private purposes using a "global license" with a lump-sum remuneration.

Ok, the direction is of course much better than the previous one. Let's hope it stays that way. It would be a change to see a state focusing on the legalization and sensible implementation of private copies for once. And it could really bring the idea of a cultural flat rate to the fore.

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.

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.

Data Retention is a Scandal

I can only agree with Petra Tursky-Hartmann - the way this nonsense was pushed through is terrible. Really terrible. Pure activism without any real meaning - but you feel so terribly safe when everything is properly recorded and archived. The whole data waste doesn't provide any information - on the contrary, it will cause trouble. But who cares if citizens soon get into trouble because viruses or spam with forged sender addresses are sent to random addresses, and then a citizen of Arab origin is considered a terrorism suspect. It doesn't matter, it doesn't affect good German citizens.

And we are still allowed to drive faster than 130 on the highway. We are free.

Addendum: At XS4ALL there is a nice Lifecounter, which counts how many CDs are necessary for storing the email log data since September 2005 ...

Brussels now wants to meddle with the TV program as well

and then give us even more advertising junk:

"For the European Commission, improved control by the end consumer means that we need fewer legal regulations," emphasized media commissioner Viviane Reding. "Therefore, the core of our proposal for a new, modernized TV directive is a fundamental deregulation of audiovisual rules."

For the population, improved control of the elected officials through strong blows with sticks and kicks to the soft parts means that we get fewer brainless legislative proposals. Therefore, the core of my proposal for a more efficient design of European politics is the introduction of corporal punishment for members of the European Commission.

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.

Westerwelle is hardly surpassable in absurdity

His latest move: FDP will not form a coalition with the Greens at the federal level

"The Greens are a political opponent and not a strategic partner," said Westerwelle after the board meeting. Furthermore, it is not the FDP's task to lead the Greens out of their insignificance, said the FDP leader. However, Westerwelle does not see the "collegial parliamentary work" with the Greens endangered by the renunciation of the coalition option.

So, two things are really impressive about this:

• with what vehemence someone who has nothing to say in federal politics still believes that anyone cares about his statements on federal coalitions
• and the idea that someone first kicks a potentially necessary partner in the political work (after all, you are sitting together in the opposition - and the Left Party certainly won't want to have anything to do with the little citizen's gang) in the ass, but then expects to continue playing with them.

What kind of stuff is he smoking, anyway?

Climate Summit: USA Threaten Veto

The US of A, Land of the Free and the Stupid, is once again playing the top bully:

Even experienced summit participants from Western Europe are shocked behind the scenes by the boorish behavior of the American chief negotiators, who act here like John Bolton at the UN, and "hide their academic education well."

I am shocked at most by the naivety of politicians who are so surprised by America's behavior - as if the current reports do not speak a very clear language that the current US administration does not give a damn about the wishes of others and that international law does not have a particularly important status for them. Why should they behave differently at the climate summit?

Even more shocking, however, is how Merkel is constantly talking about how relations with the USA need to be improved - I would be happy about that, but please only with a next, possibly rational administration that is accessible to arguments. The current one is not coalition-capable, to use a term that is often used here for something as harmless as the PDS ... (fear of pale-red marked Ossies, but want to be with something like Bush - I call that shocking)

France wants to tighten copyright law

France is going completely crazy now:

The background is an EU copyright directive from 2001. However, the French draft law goes far beyond its approach. For example, the use of free software to play multimedia files should be prohibited, as these can also read copy-protected DVDs. Even the dissemination of information about such tools should become punishable in the future.

This is absolutely outrageous. Now France is taking the lead, and certainly others will follow - if this nonsense goes through. And this clearly shows what the whole thing is about. Against the consumer - who is only allowed to use software approved by the respective industry - and especially against open source, which is a thorn in everyone's side anyway.

File-sharing software that does not prevent infringements from the outset is also to be prohibited.

This clearly shows how little technical knowledge the responsible parties have - or who is bribing them.

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.

Geißler (and others) about his (and their) party

CDU state premiers criticize Union election campaign - Geißler is not one of them, but still part of it:

The former CDU General Secretary Heiner Geißler leveled serious accusations against his party in the same publication. The electorate had rejected the market-radical politics of the CDU just as much as the "ideologically akin Agenda 2010" of the SPD, according to the politician. Geißler called it a "historical irony of party history" that those within the party ranks who had been denouncing the alleged "social democratization of the CDU" for years and had pushed the party leadership into a neoliberal position with this argument, had thereby contributed to the SPD being able to continue governing for another four years.

I admit, I kind of like Geißler, even though he definitely belongs to the wrong political direction. Especially in recent years, he repeatedly manages to point out to his people what they are doing wrong. And since it is the Union, we can be sure that his opinion will continue to be ignored.