politik - 17.3.2005 - 6.7.2005

Social welfare fraud intensified

To make it clear what it would mean if Black/Yellow instead of Red/Green ruled: CDU Minister wants relatives to pay for ALG II:

The Hessian Minister of Social Affairs spoke out in favor of reintroducing the so-called maintenance recourse for unemployment benefit II (ALG II) according to the "Berliner Zeitung" on Wednesday. As already with the social benefit, non-cohabiting parents or adult children would then also be held liable for the maintenance of an unemployed person before he receives state support.

This would then not only destroy the life of the unemployed person through unemployment, but also introduce collective punishment. Where all this is heading is also clear. And the minister does not hide this:

The election program of the Union will make it clear, "that we want to revive the low-wage sector," Lautenschläger continued.

The Union presumably envisions something like India in Germany. Are there real prospects for the citizens of the Federal Republic ...

Then to the Bundestag

And he would have my vote. But of course, the established politicians have something to complain about and demand that he give up his acting career. Meanwhile, the opposite - that professional politicians should face the realities of life - would be much more desirable.

Furthermore, with his social commitment and dedication to his theater, he has shown that he has far more answers than the great prolethicians in Berlin. So give the man a chance. At worst, we have someone in the Bundestag whose demeanor is much more human and who still knows what the little people on the street really are.

Update: Peter Sodann has withdrawn his candidacy. Since I really like him as Kommissar Ehrlicher in Tatort, I don't even know if I should be sad about it.

Entanglements of the March Hare?

The Proletarians in Berlin are upset, but of course nothing is said about the farce of the occupation of the supervisory board of the German Stock Exchange. And this despite the fact that clear conflicts are evident:

In his main job, Merz is a lawyer and represents the CEO of the British hedge fund TCI, Christopher Hohn, as a legal advisor. The hedge fund manager had prevented the planned takeover of the London Stock Exchange (London Stock Exchange/LSE) by the German Stock Exchange.

And then the March Hare is supposed to be something in the Merkel cabinet soon. Great idea, great future.

Further Dismantling of the Right to Education

The time about the withdrawal of the federal states from free teaching materials - because the tuition fees are not sufficient to protect the citizens' sons and daughters from the dirty worker children. It could be that one of them is so good that they receive one of the few scholarships - so we make sure in advance that they don't even get the chance to come that far.

Education is our highest good - and it is increasingly restricted. The prices for specialist literature have risen sharply and will be problematic for many parents. I know from my own family environment (and also from my own experience of my school days) how restricted pupils become when their parents cannot always bring in the money as the school expects - this is further exacerbated by the purchase of school books. Some parents will certainly consider whether to send their children to grammar school or rather let them skip the three additional years of schooling - with an even greater workload of necessary textbooks than in the previous stages.

The direction taken here is fundamentally wrong. This cannot simply be explained by a false understanding of savings; in some cases, intent must be assumed, as the parts that were once introduced to ensure equal opportunities for workers and their families are now being dismantled so massively.

For today's charades game

Rabenhorst doesn't like the confidence vote fake either. And he links to Werner Schulz's speech as a Word file. I was so bold and made a PDF file out of it.

It's really a tragedy what's going on there and how these Prolethikers are patting themselves on the back as if they've achieved something. The cowards have been given a four-year mandate to overthrow the government - and the only thing they're throwing are the pieces - and that's it.

Sorry, but that was really no masterpiece. One would almost wish that Köhler showed backbone and common sense just once and threw the whole nonsense in the trash. Or that the complaints against the mummers before the Constitutional Court are successful.

Especially absurd is the alleged reason: they want to let the voters decide and expect chances in new elections - sorry, what? What kind of reality loss is that? The state parliaments are not composed differently just because the SPD shirks its responsibility. If the SPD were re-elected, it would have the same state parliaments and thus the same Federal Council in front of it as now.

The Special Democrats can blabber around as they want, what they are doing here is nothing more than shirking their responsibility. They don't want to be re-elected. And the mandate given to them by the voters in the last federal election doesn't interest them either.

Schily considers data protection to be scaremongering

Privacy advocates' concerns are fear-mongering - at least according to Otto Orwell:

Concerns about biometric passports, RFID technology, and tele-surveillance, expressed for example by privacy advocates, are fear-mongering that one should not fall for, said Federal Interior Minister Otto Schily at the symposium "Computers in everyday life - opportunities for Germany" in Berlin. The mentioned technologies are not used to monitor or suppress citizens, but to increase their security.

Funny. I rather believe that Otto Orwell's talk is simply fear-mongering - what security is increased by massive and widespread spying on citizens? Certainly not the citizens' security - but they are being fed pseudo-risks and alleged solutions for them, just like the Bush administration, to reduce their civil rights in Germany. Without regard for facts, without regard for proportionality.

The ignorance he attributes to the critics is probably on his side. Because he may still be considered competent as a lawyer (I can't judge his competence there), he has no clue about cryptography and its risks - as they come into play, for example, in the context of passports valid for 10 years.

Who wants to make statements about the security of cryptographic methods today if they have to make this statement for a point in time 10 years from now? Yes, I know, Otto Orwell does - as I said, he simply has no idea what he is talking about. SHA1 was once described as a secure alternative to MD5 signatures - and has essentially failed. MD5 signatures are now completely unusable - as scientists have proven when they produced two real texts with meaningful content and identical MD5 signatures. I've had enough of pathetic politicians with brains too small, who want to impose their alleged doctrines on citizens with absurd claims. And I've long had enough of their idiotic argumentation loops with which they want to sell total surveillance as a security feature to citizens.

Americans and Logic

Apparently, a majority of Americans are dissatisfied with Bush - Kids, just as info: 59 million of you voted for him.

Strucki apparently has damage from the stroke after all

After all, this would explain his latest idea - which I found on the Schockwellenreiter - to want to use unemployed people as training material for the Bundeswehr.

On the other hand: with this, he could then practice armed house combat and storming of civilian fortifications again. Really nicely with hand flamethrower cartridges, battering rams, fragmentation grenades ...

Hey, according to the argumentation of various politicians (if I hear this dehumanizing "fördern und fordern" already), the unemployed are anyway the last dirt, so it doesn't matter if the Bundeswehr freaks - whose gentle manners are proverbial - then nicely heat up the opponent.

Well, it is probably true: you can't be stupid enough to become a federal minister.

Scatman Eddy as an outsider - we are lost.

Merkel muzzle

Merkel imposes gag order on Union regarding VAT increase:

CDU leader Angela Merkel has reportedly imposed a gag order on her party and faction regarding the topic of VAT increases.

Of course not because the Union does not want to implement a VAT increase - but because voters should not be given the idea that they are firmly planning a VAT increase and then possibly vote for other parties.

The frightening thing about so much stupidity in the strategy? It will probably work with the German voter ...

Cash Registers: Dispute Over the Use of the Special Contribution

During the health care reform, the employee is being robbed again:

The revenues from the additional contribution rate flow to the health insurance funds. There is no link to individual services.

This is an absolute audacity. First, they lie that the contribution rates are being lowered through the health care reform. Then, employees are asked to pay separately to secure benefits that are no longer secured. And the Minister of Health still claims that her idiotic reform is the best thing since sliced bread.

Above all, the reason why the link to the benefits for the special payments was removed from the law text in the first place is an audacity:

In the law text from autumn 2004, the two benefits were not mentioned for constitutional reasons. Background: Retirees, for example, could have sued for a special contribution for sick pay before the Constitutional Court because they cannot receive sick pay at all.

Ultimately, this turns a rather dubious maneuver to avoid lawsuits into a direct reach into the pockets of employees - because the benefits will probably be cut in the long run anyway, or they will reach in again. Of course, the whole thing could have been implemented in a legally compliant and correct manner. Or one could have come up with the idea that the equal burden on employees and employers makes sense. But the competence in the Ministry of Health probably does not suffice for that ...

In this way, employees whose salaries are high enough are literally driven out of the statutory health insurance - because nobody likes to be taken for a ride like that. And if all the high earners opt out, the health system will be even more strained and there will be even less money available.

The proletarians in Berlin couldn't care less. They are all privately insured ...

Of all places, NRW ...

WASG: Lafontaine wants to be number one in NRW - oh Menno, does the stun grenade have to be placed in NRW? I wouldn't have anything against the WASG, but sorry, Lafontaine is simply unacceptable. Too many have forgotten his actions against the unions in the 80s, too many his hollow populism. He doesn't offer solutions for NRW or the federal government - only empty slogans.

Schily is still struggling with democracy

Schily accuses data protection officer of abuse of office - sure, we've already had that, nothing new. But somehow it becomes even creepier through constant repetition. I mean, from any halfway intelligent person I would expect to learn from stupid mistakes and think next time before leaning out of the window. But Otto Orwell is pain- and oblivious ...

So-called experts ...

... then bring such absurd suggestions in the value-added tax discussion:

Such a step was recommended by the head of the Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI), Thomas Straubhaar. According to his ideas, the value-added tax should be raised to 20 percent. The reduced tax rate of seven percent - which currently applies to food, among other things - should be completely abolished.

Clear, super idea. 20% value-added tax and abolishing the reduced rates (which would immediately be an increase in the value-added tax on staple foods and books by 13 points!) - these are the ideal suggestions to stimulate the ailing domestic consumption.

It is completely absurd - everyone seems to only have the goal of taking even more from those who have little. Or has anyone ever heard in the context of such proposals that in the course of a value-added tax increase - especially one as drastic as 13 points - unemployment benefits, minimum wages (where they exist in some industries), the amount of salaries still tax-free for employees, social assistance rates, and pensions must be increased by at least the same rate so that they can still afford a normal life?

Reducing payroll taxes is nice - but this only affects companies and employees (only if the payroll taxes for employers are not to be reduced again). Those who do not have payroll taxes (because they are not employees, or fall below the minimum rate) do not benefit from the reduction in payroll taxes. Quite apart from the fact that even with small salaries, the total payroll taxes are lower than an increase in the value-added tax on food by 13 points.

According to the opinion of such great economic experts, pensioners, the unemployed, social assistance recipients, and low-wage earners are probably just supposed to die socially acceptable ...

Your inhuman attitude disgusts me, you pseudo-experts.

Expanding Surveillance is the Goal

Federal Data Protection Commissioner criticizes eavesdropping compromise

"This contradicts the spirit of the judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court of March 3, 2004, which, emphasizing an absolutely protected core area of private life, declared significant parts of the previous provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure on the major eavesdropping to be unconstitutional," emphasized Schaar.

Well, the government, which is not even interested in the cross-party vote of the Bundestag against software patents, will probably not be interested in a judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court either - if it runs counter to their interests. And the Union - should the change take place - is not even satisfied with the measures and wants even more surveillance, even fewer rights for citizens, and even more data collection. While no criminals will be caught, political activism certainly advances one's career in politics - no matter how nonsensical the activism is.

The fatal aspect: our rights are not just being eroded - things that were hard and painstakingly achieved are being dismantled. These are damages that will probably not be repaired quickly - because once the data is available and the access possibilities are there, the state and the investigative apparatus will not want to back down. All this in the name of a pretended and alleged security for which there is no evidence.

Probably a seat in the government will soon be available

The Federal Government's Commissioner for Human Rights criticizes Russia and China in his human rights report - and yet the Chancellor of Industry has just kissed Wladimir and wants to do business with China ...

Black-Yellow breaks election promises even before the formation of the government

GEW criticizes Schwarz-Gelb's plans for elementary school policy:

The unionist's conclusion: "Anything that costs money: no sign of it." The points announced before the election - e.g. more teacher positions, smaller classes, teaching guarantee - are no longer a topic, instead "old conservative educational policy patterns are being served."

They probably even believe themselves ...

Clement and Eichel campaign for higher wages - let's wait for the protests from the Union and the economy. Pavlov sends his regards. I would naturally prefer it if they just drooled in response to external stimuli ...

The Audacity is Hard to Surpass

What the Minister of Justice is saying: only minor corrections needed to the software patent directive. Yes, great, shopping carts for web shops are already patented - and it is exactly these trivial patents that are criticized in this nonsense. But Zypries continues to lie.

Kritik an Köhler

Um es mal festzuhalten: Köhler ist ein Schmierenkomödiant. Und politisch nicht neutral. Wer daran rumdiskutiert macht sich lächerlich. Wirklich politisch neutral waren die wenigsten deutschen Bundespräsidenten - und Schmierenkomödianten waren durchaus mehr als nur Köhler und Carstens. Es ist allerdings unzweifelhaft, das die Wahl und die Amtszeit von Köhler an Peinlichkeit nur schwer zu übertreffen ist - was aber beileibe nicht nur an Köhler liegt.

Ich erinnere mich auch noch gut an die Lobhudeleien die auch aus dem SPD-Lager für ihn gekommen sind, als er vorgeschlagen und dann gewählt wurde. Ich fands ja armselig von der Union so einen Notkandidaten (nachdem sie sich fast selbst zerfleischt hat in den verkrampften Versuchen einen brauchbaren Kandidaten aufzustellen) durchzuprügeln, nur weil sie einmal mehr ihre Mehrheit ausspielen wollten - rein aus Prinzip, auch wenn es keinen Sinn machte. Aber Armseligkeit ist ja das was zur Zeit die Bundespolitik prägt - sowohl bei Koalition wie Opposition.

Von daher ist ein Schmierenkomödiant als Bundespräsident auch wieder passend ...

Off to the police state

German cabinet approves bill to expand DNA analysis:

... DNA analyses of individuals may in future also be stored if they have committed only minor offenses such as property damage or trespassing, or if it is expected that they will commit such offenses in the future. Furthermore, investigators will be granted the right to order DNA analyses in an expedited procedure without a judge having to approve them.

You participate in a demo that someone doesn't like? No problem, your data will be recorded and filed. Trespassing at a demo can happen quickly, property damage can be quickly attributed to you, and if you don't need to ask a judge, you can also move much faster. And so, a small and fine DNA database of all those unpleasant subjects will quickly be collected that a state really doesn't need - namely people who engage publicly and speak up.

What, civil rights are left behind in the process? Forget it, it doesn't interest Otto Orwell nor the combined incompetence in the Ministry of Justice.

Oh, and who believes that I am only paranoid, here is the case example cited by the Ministry of Justice:

A has been convicted because he repeatedly scratched the paint of motor vehicles with a screwdriver. The prognosis is that corresponding criminal offenses are also to be expected from him in the future.

Yes, you are a wheelchair user and you are upset about the idiotically parked drivers and have scratched the paint of one? Hey, you are still in a wheelchair and we simply assume that you will continue to get upset about the idiotic drivers - so off to the DNA file with the murderers, terrorists, and sex offenders. After all, you are at least as threatening to society as they are.

What kind of shit is this red/green puppet theater in Berlin getting us into. It is absolutely unbelievable.

And if you think it would be better with the Union:

... on the other hand, the proposed amendment to the DNA analysis by the CDU is by no means sufficient. "The bill is a step in the right direction. It is too short," said the deputy chairman of the Union faction, Wolfgang Bosbach. The Union will further tighten the existing legal situation in the event of an election victory, explained the interior and legal politician. There is no right for offenders to remain anonymous.

Who spontaneously thinks of recording every striking worker there is probably on the right track according to their idea ...

And all this from people who, under the guise of neo-liberalism, have written a reduction of the state to its core functions on their banner - and see surveillance, exploitation, and harassment of citizens as core functions.

We are moving straight towards something that can no longer be associated with a democratic society and a rule of law.

Clement will ALG-II recipients to be more strictly controlled

Clement will ALG-II-Empfänger schärfer kontrollieren and make social workers into agents. They are supposed to monitor benefit recipients more closely and snoop around after them. Because, of course, our biggest problem is not the 4.8 million missing jobs and not the thousands of further job cuts every month, but the few people who claim their household as a community of need.

And so the myth is further fueled that the problem is solely the unwilling and fraudulent unemployed. In Clement's eyes, it's all just scum, while he naturally vehemently defends himself against attacks on the economy he so loves.

And we can be sure that Clement will not have to receive unemployment benefits even after the defeat of Red/Green, because he has his share in the dry ...

How Our Government Is Lying to Us Again

"Germany" as a hype man for software patents in the EU Council - about how the concentrated incompetence - also known as Federal Minister of Justice - hitches itself up to the cart of interest groups and screws us all. Not only does the German government act against a resolution of the Bundestag, it also contradicts its own statements. We really live in a banana republic.

Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution wants to continue observing the PDS

Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution wants to continue monitoring the PDS - it's already absurd what a fuss is being made about a few remaining leftists. The hatred of and fear of communism and Marxism in Germany is still as unbroken as it was in the USA during the McCarthy era.

The fact that today the constitution and the fundamental rights guaranteed to people within it are much more endangered by neoliberalism and the influence of the economy on politics and society doesn't bother anyone.

And you can make such wonderful politics when you publicly declare that the PDS will continue to be monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Especially important before potential federal elections.

FDP will block disclosure of executive compensation - that's where you see who the FDP really represents.

Schröder and Fischer regret France's vote

Schröder and Fischer regret France's vote: The outcome of the referendum is a setback for the constitutional process, but not its end - but before the referendum he said something completely different. It's great how you can rely on politicians to lie about their world - of course also against the voter. In France, the propaganda machine has failed, in the Netherlands it will probably also fail. But don't worry, the strengthening of the power of the EU Council and the EU Commission will be enforced, something like the will of the citizens will not stop the big politics ...

Scharping is no longer running for the Bundestag - if the statement came from a politician from whom one could assume that he would actually be elected, it would indeed be interesting. But Scharping?

Loud little Otto Orwells

Lower Saxony government weakens the influence of the data protection officer

In Lower Saxony, the goats will soon be gardening. It's certainly more convenient that way, especially these public reports and political proposals from the data protection officer, they are really annoying ...

Elections in NRW

Well, a change in government is quite a normal democratic thing. If the Union had come up with something like a program and statements, they would have had to fight to win - then I could even understand the whole thing. Okay, I still think it's crap, but I could understand how it happened. But to lose to that blowhard Rüttgers - sorry, but you really can't sink any lower. The blowhard hasn't presented a single concept that would actually do any good - cut coal subsidies? Great idea, we don't have enough unemployed people in NRW already. Tuition fees? Great idea, then students who can't afford to study anymore will also be pushed into the job market, and students who have to work for the fees will then fight with one-euro jobbers for the positions. Great future - at least the most populous federal state won't be on the brink of the abyss anymore. At least not after Rüttgers gave it the final push...

And just once - just one single time - I would like to experience a politician being honest after the election. Not that disgusting grin and acting as if you've set a record in the hundred-meter dash - it's about our future, you jerks!

Instead, they will now waffle again, everyone delivers explanations why it has to be this way and is right or wrong - but of course only the voter is to blame, never the politicians. Disgusting. Actually, one should refuse to turn on the TV and watch/read/listen to any news weeks before and after the election - just to not see these smug faces (by the way, it doesn't matter which party, they are all blissfully united on this point) and not to hear their selfish and voter-contemptuous attempts at explanation.

By the way, Müntefering has announced early federal elections in the fall - either he wants to finally give us voters the rest of the grinning faces, or the SPD is doing what it does best again: shirking responsibility. You can then blame everything on the voter again, who didn't understand anything - instead of thinking about your own inhuman politics for once...

Shitty day. I have a bad cold, a bad mood, and Rüttgers wins the election. Rüttgers - the dumbest piece of bread in the Union puddle! Oha. Poor NRW.

Schily will Anti-Terror-Gesetze unbegrenzt verlängern

Schily will Anti-Terror-Gesetze unbegrenzt verlängern

To the right of the Union is the Union

Already read about this in various places (Uhus Webdroppings, Schockwellenreiter), but "Instant Nirvana" sums it up best: Fascists. Oh yes, Schleswig Holstein is heading towards a glorious future if such politicians have a place in the Union there...

"There must be no party to our right" a Bavarian once declared - no problem, the Union simply overtakes DVU, Republicans, and NPD on the far right. Foreigners are out, now the long-term unemployed are being hounded. Of course, everyone knows at least one welfare fraudster who works on the side, they're all just lazy people who need to be motivated and, if necessary, locked up in a virtual prison and monitored, the scum. At least some Union politicians - and unfortunately more and more in the SPD - see the world this way.

Are there actually hiring requirements regarding contempt for humanity, brainlessness, and corruption for politicians? The word "politician" is only an insult for such representatives.

Update: The original author and Hessian Justice Minister naturally meant something completely different. So he says, or his press spokesman:

Wagner's quote should therefore be understood to mean that the ankle monitor also offers "long-term unemployed individuals sentenced to probation and treated addicts" the chance to return to a regular daily routine and be placed in a job, says Fuhrmann.

Of course. Let's just believe him now. Or? Achne, he's from Hesse - from Hetzer-Koch's brown swamp of donations and cronyism.

Barroso multiple guest on yacht

Barroso multiple guest on yacht - and the corruption carousel continues to spin. "There is no conflict of interest," Barroso's spokesperson insists. - of course there isn't, Barroso has no interests diverging from those of the economy and his cronies.

What, it's about conflicts of interest between office and person? Why, the EU Commission President is simply the officially appointed top profiteer? At least, that's the impression one has had for many years ...

Schily and Democracy

Well, Otto Orwell has messed up again: a Federal Data Protection Commissioner elected democratically (among others by his own faction) dares to take his role seriously and speak frankly about Otto's data collection mania. And already Otto attacks head-on, accusing him of having no political function and suggesting he should just keep quiet - what nonsense. The Federal Data Protection Commissioner has an important political function: he represents our (the citizens') interests in securing our data and upholding our right to informational self-determination. Among other things, against deranged and data-hungry interior ministers.

Great sign for a banana republic when the executive branch attacks parts of itself that have a controlling function. What's next - Eichel insults the Federal Audit Office as a bunch of bunglers who can't count?

But in the end, it probably just boils down to this: the dogs that are hit bark, of course ...

Judgment against Kanther

Judgment against Kanther: Koch should provide an explanation - well, not just an explanation would be appropriate, but what would be right won't happen anyway: Koch's resignation. Because no matter how often he claims he knew nothing, no one believes him. The judgment itself is at least not as weak as the prosecution demanded:

With the penalty of one year and six months' probation and a fine of 25,000 euros for Kanther, the Wiesbaden Regional Court went significantly beyond the prosecution's demand.

Kanther wants to appeal. Let's hope the next higher instance doesn't cave. Although personally, I would have preferred it to say "without probation" ...

Westerwelle will no longer become Chancellor - this likely aligns with the will of 95% of voters

Greens give up resistance against missile defense system

Greens drop resistance against missile defense system - the next person who asks me where the money for social system support is supposed to come from: not doing MEADS (along with many other ridiculous military projects) would be a first start.

The more than 800 million that are now being invested in the development of this military nonsense would be better spent elsewhere - and no, there are not many jobs to secure in the arms industry. The arms industry's excuse is simply wrong. Hardly any other industry is already as far rationalized as hardly any other industry.

It's also very nice to see how the big parties show unity in this regard - when it comes to spending citizens' money on nonsense and mindless trash, they quickly agree. Just as when it comes to cutting social benefits.

By the way, there is a fairly simple way to protect soldiers in foreign deployments from enemy rocket attacks: not to carry out foreign deployments ... (and don't tell me the nonsense about defending the Basic Law in the Hindu Kush now)

Lafontaine is apparently about to leave the SPD - if you have nothing else to report and rather exude a lack of concept, then at least you can still celebrate your departure. One can only hope that the left-wing alternative won't have to endure this chaotic troublemaker ...

Visa abuse already a topic in the Kohl cabinet? - the names are different, the faces the same. The slogans too. And we can be sure that this fact - that the Union government had exactly the same problems as the red-green government - will be deliberately ignored by the Union. Let's look forward to another election campaign of lies again.

Oh yes, the election campaign has begun ...

Müntefering: "Profit-seeking endangers democracy"

Government study warns of blockade by software patents

Government study warns of blockade by software patents:

The study urgently demands, in particular, a strengthening of the interoperability clause in the planned EU legal framework. Otherwise, given the still "generous" practice of the European Patent Office (EPA) in granting protection rights for computer programs, there is a risk of destabilization and partial death of the IT market in Germany and Europe.

But Clement - our super pipe of all - still claims that everything is completely made up and that we should keep the church in the village. What a charade at the expense of our own economic location.

And the German companies against software patents won't bother him much either - probably he hears nothing because his head is still up the ass of the big entrepreneurs. That puts pressure on the ear ...

On Biometrics, Data Retention, Science, and Censorship

Found via rabenhorst and IsoTopp: How a conference organized by the BSI deals with critical voices - they simply remove them from the planning.

The BSI is an institution under the BMI - and thus our beloved Otto Orwell. Has someone at the BSI gotten cold feet that they could upset the actual master of the house?

Brussels heading for a showdown over data retention - yet another case where democracy and substantive concerns are simply ignored. Otto Orwell will be pleased, the citizens will have to bear the consequences. General suspicion of all EU citizens is indeed something fine, making the whole life of the investigators much easier - "in doubt for the accused" and other presumptions of innocence simply slow down too much when you are on your way to the police state ...

Schröder: Arms Deliveries to China Even Against the Will of the Bundestag

Schröder: Arms deliveries to China even against the will of the Bundestag - where would we end up if the opinion of the Bundestag mattered at all, when you can properly export weapons to a country where political opponents - if they are lucky - disappear in prison for life, people are regularly executed and human rights are generally considered a problem for other people.

The economy must hum, and if it's only the arms industry. This does not create jobs - after all, the arms industry is rationalized like no other economic sector - but it brings money to the moneybags and that's the only thing that counts. And ultimately, it is only consistent: in one's own country, employees are sacrificed for the stock price and in China then the political opponents and other inconvenient people.

What a real industrial chancellor is, he does not care about human lives or democracy.

Response from the BMWA to my fax

On the topic of software patents, I also contacted the BMWA by fax. While the BMJ sent a polite and factual - albeit, in my opinion, somewhat dreamy and detached from reality given Minister Clement's course - response, the BMWA adopts a tone that I find somewhat snippy (annoyed?):

Dear Mr. ..., thank you for your fax dated March 06, 2005, in which you address the adoption of the directive on computer-implemented inventions in the first reading.

I do not share your criticism of the procedure at all.

The purely formal adoption of a text already decided is absolutely usual, indeed mandatory, due to the linguistic diversity in the EU. This is also the view of the Member States, which had or have substantive concerns. This has nothing to do with disregarding democratic rules of the game. The directive is, by the way, by no means adopted yet.

We are certainly in agreement on the objective. I can assure you that the positive economic development of the software industry is close to my heart. However, the often-expressed claims that patent protection for software would be newly introduced or expanded are factually incorrect. Despite all criticism in detail, one should "keep the church in the village".

The German software industry has developed economically well under the existing legal framework with computer program patents. This will not change fundamentally through international harmonization. We are explicitly not taking the path in Europe that is rather progressive and, above all, hostile to small and medium-sized enterprises, as in the USA. The two legal systems differ significantly here.

Yours sincerely on behalf of

Thomas Zuleger

Well. Suspension of democratic decisions and ignoring one's own federal parliament is for Minister Clement just mandatory. Great. Really gives me confidence that we will be well represented by this minister on this issue ...

Easier access for intelligence agencies to accounts and travel data demanded - what is a right-wing agitator against informational self-determination and data protection actually doing in the SPD? Oh yes, I forgot, Otto Orwell is also in the SPD. Strange party, calls itself "social" and has a bunch of asocial people sitting in Berlin ...

Stolpe recommends: Highways for the upswing

Stolpe recommends: Highways for the upswing, yes, very big ideas:

"There must be no more delay tactics by environmental associations. The sudden discovery of hamsters to block ongoing construction projects will no longer be possible," Stolpe told the magazine "Focus".

Of course, the evil environmental associations prevent the highway enthusiasts from being able to pave the entire republic - with even more shitty roads that no one needs, while the existing roads are rotting away because no repairs are carried out (or if they are, such botch jobs occur that they have to be repeated after a short time).

The Chancellor of Industry and the Lack of Concept

Well, the Federal Schröder really wants to blow money up the ass of big corporations through corporate tax cuts. Yes, exactly, the companies that either made huge profits and laid off large numbers of employees, or alternatively made huge losses and laid off large numbers of employees while increasing executive salaries. This will definitely boost the job market.

And the opposition? They call what the Chancellor proposes conceptless, which is correct - we already knew that. Because these are partly exactly the demands that Merkelnix and the Oberstauber themselves have made - and what the opposition is doing has been completely conceptless for quite some time ...

What I don't quite understand is how this nonsense is supposed to combat unemployment? Oh, the highways that the Federal Schröder wants to build (or whatever great traffic projects he has in mind). Well, then our tanks will soon be rolling quickly to Hindukush, where they are supposed to defend the Basic Law according to Strucki. Although this is actually much more urgently needed here in this country given Otto Orwell and the sheer incompetence of the Ministry of Justice (but perhaps it's better not to, given the rather strange attitudes in the Bundeswehr ...).

Somehow, the German politicians and their market rhetoric would be much funnier if they were governing a country other than precisely the country in which one lives ...

Basic rights without reason or ground - how citizens' basic rights are trampled on in the name of security.

After the Job Summit: Brainlessness

After the Job Summit: Agreement on Tax Cuts - great concept. We don't have any money, but we give it away to companies. Who then screw us over again and cut more jobs, which means fewer people consume even less, and in the end, the economy complains again. And everyone pats themselves on the back for the great achievement they have accomplished.

In Kiel, the prime minister has to fail at a traitor from her own ranks and is probably forced into a grand coalition. In Berlin, pure lack of planning and stupidity is enough, without any elections. But the Berlin proletarians are really good at making decisions against the citizens ...