Germany

[Endovelico]

Last-Minute Win for Germany's SPD and Greens

It was a neck-and-neck race in the German state of Lower Saxony, but ultimately Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives lost. The center-left Social Democrats and environmentalist Green Party have scored an upset victory.

In an upset victory, Germany's center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Greens won a pivotal state election in Lower Saxony on Sunday, ousting the incumbent conservative government with a one-seat advantage in the regional parliament.

Although Governor David McAllister's conservative Christian Democratic Union scored the most votes as a single party, at 36 percent, it still failed to gain enough ballots together with its junior coalition partner, the Free Democratic Party (FDP), to remain in government. The center-left Social Democratic Party (SDP), garnered 32.6 percent of the votes and the environmentalist Greens 13.7 percent.

The Social Democrats, with their leading candidate Stephan Weil, and the Greens are now expected to form a government. Both the Left Party, which attracted only 3.1 percent of votes, and the Pirates, which ultimately got only 1.5 percent of votes, failed to clear the 5-percent hurdle required for seats in parliament.

Weil will now became the state's next governor, but his victory is largely attributable to significant gains made by the Greens, who scored their best-ever result in the state.

For Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose CDU party has now suffered defeats in the last 13 state elections, Sunday's vote represents another dent in her chances at re-election in September.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/ger ... 78690.html

Let's hope Merkel loses also the national elections in September. Europe urgently needs to get rid of her and her anachronistic ideas...

[Endovelico]

Will they ever learn...? Now Berlin’s schools tsar is accused of plagiarism

Annette Schavan could become second senior German politician to be stripped of doctorate

Tony Paterson - Wednesday, 23 January 2013

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s veteran Education Minister was fighting for her political life today after the university which awarded her a doctorate more than 30 years ago took steps to take it away amid allegations that parts of her academic thesis were plagiarised.

Annette Schavan, one of Ms Merkel’s closest Christian Democrat allies and her Education Minister since 2005, faces charges that she intentionally inserted borrowed passages into her doctoral arts thesis, Character and Conscience, without properly attributing them.

Düsseldorf University, which awarded the 57-year-old minister the title in 1980, announced on Tuesday that it had begun an investigation which could lead to her being stripped of her doctorate. A committee of academics concluded that her thesis contained evidence suggesting a “deliberate intent to deceive”.

Ms Schavan has flatly denied the allegations. Today she launched an angry counter-offensive demanding that a group of “external” academics be called in to conduct an independent assessment of her work. “This intensive involvement with the text of my dissertation only strengthens my conviction that it is not plagiarism,” she insisted.

Düsseldorf University maintains that it has reached no final conclusion and the result of its investigation into Ms Schavan’s dissertation remains “open”. But political commentators concluded unanimously today that if she was found guilty she would have to resign and that even a lengthy investigation would put pressure on her to step down.

Such an outcome would come as an embarrassing blow to Ms Merkel, who faces a general election in September. She is already smarting from a painful defeat by the opposition Social Democrats and Greens during polling in the state of Lower Saxony last weekend and her hopes of an automatic autumn victory have dimmed.

Ms Merkel has insisted that she has full confidence in her Education Minister, but if Ms Schavan is found guilty, she too will appear compromised. Today another leading conservative, the Employment Minister Ursula von der Leyen, leapt to Ms Schavan’s defence and insisted that she was an “excellent Education Minister”.

Ms Schavan’s case follows the ignominious fall from grace of Germany’s former Defence Minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. The conservative aristocrat was found to have plagiarised large sections of his Bayreuth University doctoral thesis. Previously rated Germany’s most popular politician, he was forced to resign over the affair in 2011. He now lives in America.

Mr zu Guttenberg was tracked down and exposed by so-called “plagiarist hunters” – direct action campaigners who make it their business to check up on politicians. Ms Schavan is their latest victim.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/educa ... 3932.html#

Two German ministers guilty of plagiarism? My, my. And Germans claim Greeks are dishonest...

[Heracleum Persicum]

.

Endo , enemy of Europe is not Merkel, it is Cameron

Poor Germans payin and payin and payin

Germans and french did nor want Britain in the union .. Brits negotiated a deal that Germans could pay for all British contribution to EU, Germans payin since .. and now Brits want out

was a mistake, Europe should have rejected Thatcher


.

[Endovelico]

Poor Germans payin and payin and payin.

"Poor" Germans are gaining and gaining and gaining, with an EU which allows them an enormous trade surplus... The desirable state of affairs for any country is a trade balance. If there is a trade surplus the difference should be channeled back through investment in the deficit countries until an overall balance is obtained. That's how an union based on solidarity and common interest should function. Otherwise you will end up killing the goose laying the golden eggs... Trouble is Germans are not smart enough to understand this...

[Alexis]

"Poor" Germans are gaining and gaining and gaining, with an EU which allows them an enormous trade surplus... The desirable state of affairs for any country is a trade balance. If there is a trade surplus the difference should be channeled back through investment in the deficit countries until an overall balance is obtained. That's how an union based on solidarity and common interest should function. Otherwise you will end up killing the goose laying the golden eggs... Trouble is Germans are not smart enough to understand this...

Actually many understand (from conversations with various German engineers, colleagues within the company I work in) that the present difficult European sovereign debt situation is not the product of "bad" Southerners behaving irresponsibly, but a shared responsibility of all European countries.

Some understand further that the euro will need to be dropped and new national currencies be created for stability to be able to resume. Even as dropping the unitary currency will be at Germany's disadvantage.

Meanwhile, within the high spheres of power, the leaderships of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Greece...... and also Portugal agree to have a long protracted economic crisis / depression devastate the economies of Greece, Spain, Portugal, more and more Italy, soon France then Germany.

Everything, but recognizing they were wrong supporting the establishment of unitary currency.

Let the price be paid by all those who are pushed towards poverty, all the youngsters who cannot find a work during years who cares whether their small numbers as a result of European demographic collapse makes them all the more precious.

Après l'euro, le déluge

And déluge (flood) it may well be.

[Sparky]

Poor Germans payin and payin and payin.

"Poor" Germans are gaining and gaining and gaining, with an EU which allows them an enormous trade surplus... The desirable state of affairs for any country is a trade balance. If there is a trade surplus the difference should be channeled back through investment in the deficit countries until an overall balance is obtained. That's how an union based on solidarity and common interest should function. Otherwise you will end up killing the goose laying the golden eggs... Trouble is Germans are not smart enough to understand this...

warbling AssPersians about the UK aside:

1/ Solidarity begins and ends at home. Expect no more sympathy from socialist Jerries than you got from the Merkel crowd. They'll spend more money on cool socialist stuff for Germans, and it'll be the same ride for foreign types. More of a human nature thing than a German thing.

I can't imagine Portuguese politicians giving away a similar advantage if the tables were turned - and since they signed up for the Euro with giddy enthusiasm in the first place, we can safely assume they're no brighter than their German counterparts.

2/ The set of overlapping state's common interests should form the boundary of such a union's integration. Just enough is far preferable to ever closer.

[Endovelico]

Poor Germans payin and payin and payin.

"Poor" Germans are gaining and gaining and gaining, with an EU which allows them an enormous trade surplus... The desirable state of affairs for any country is a trade balance. If there is a trade surplus the difference should be channeled back through investment in the deficit countries until an overall balance is obtained. That's how an union based on solidarity and common interest should function. Otherwise you will end up killing the goose laying the golden eggs... Trouble is Germans are not smart enough to understand this...

warbling AssPersians about the UK aside:

1/ Solidarity begins and ends at home. Expect no more sympathy from socialist Jerries than you got from the Merkel crowd. They'll spend more money on cool socialist stuff for Germans, and it'll be the same ride for foreign types. More of a human nature thing than a German thing.

I can't imagine Portuguese politicians giving away a similar advantage if the tables were turned - and since they signed up for the Euro with giddy enthusiasm in the first place, we can safely assume they're no brighter than their German counterparts.

2/ The set of overlapping state's common interests should form the boundary of such a union's integration. Just enough is far preferable to ever closer.

If you go back and reread the Preamble to the Treaty of Rome you will see that the original intention was to pool resources to the overall benefit, as compensation for freeing trade. That's what we all signed for, in the first place. If the hidden idea was for the rich to steal from the poor, than we all made a mistake, and we should correct it. Either by going back to the initial intent, or by getting rid of the whole thing. Again, I don't think that Germans are smart enough to realize how much they will lose by continuing on the fake austerity/punishment path.

[Endovelico]

"Poor" Germans are gaining and gaining and gaining, with an EU which allows them an enormous trade surplus... The desirable state of affairs for any country is a trade balance. If there is a trade surplus the difference should be channeled back through investment in the deficit countries until an overall balance is obtained. That's how an union based on solidarity and common interest should function. Otherwise you will end up killing the goose laying the golden eggs... Trouble is Germans are not smart enough to understand this...

Actually many understand (from conversations with various German engineers, colleagues within the company I work in) that the present difficult European sovereign debt situation is not the product of "bad" Southerners behaving irresponsibly, but a shared responsibility of all European countries.

Some understand further that the euro will need to be dropped and new national currencies be created for stability to be able to resume. Even as dropping the unitary currency will be at Germany's disadvantage.

Meanwhile, within the high spheres of power, the leaderships of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Greece...... and also Portugal agree to have a long protracted economic crisis / depression devastate the economies of Greece, Spain, Portugal, more and more Italy, soon France then Germany.

Everything, but recognizing they were wrong supporting the establishment of unitary currency.

Let the price be paid by all those who are pushed towards poverty, all the youngsters who cannot find a work during years who cares whether their small numbers as a result of European demographic collapse makes them all the more precious.

Après l'euro, le déluge

And déluge (flood) it may well be.

Alexis,

We should be able to keep the euro, provided:

1. We all keep an even balance of trade.
2. We all keep a balanced budget OR make sure we can finance any deficit on the home market.
3. We are willing to assist the less competitive countries becoming more competitive.

None of which is very hard to achieve, as long as there is a will to do it.

[Alexis]

The solution for Germany's depopulation problem?

Germany is experiencing a well-documented boom in immigrants from countries hard-hit by the euro crisis. Less visible, however, are their children. They rarely have any knowledge of German, and schools are struggling to meet their needs.
(...)
"We can sense the economic weakness of a country right here by the number of students in this class," says the school's principal, Philipp Steinle. The more students from any one country, the worse shape that country is in.
(...)
Zacharias's father ended up finding work in the municipal snow removal services department, and he's been in Germany for a full year. Zacharias says Greece seems like a far-off country now, despite its nearly constant presence in the headlines. Ask him about German Chancellor Angela Merkel's austerity policies, and he responds with fury.

"The Greeks hate the Germans, Merkel is too harsh," Zacharias blurts out. "Greece will be dead soon, saved to death." He sees his future even further away from his homeland. He wants to go to university in Germany, then on to the United States. But first, he says, he has to finish high school.

[Endovelico]

'The Chancellor Will Have To Reshuffle Her Cabinet'

On Tuesday, a committee at the University of Düsseldorf announced Education Minister Annette Schavan had plagiarized passages of her doctoral thesis over 30 years ago and that her Ph.d. title was deemed invalid. German commentators say the Merkel confidant has little choice but to resign.

The announcement that the doctoral title of German Education Minister Annette Shavan would be revoked came as no great surprise to the German public. Schavan, a close confidant of Chancellor Angela Merkel, has long dodged accusations that she plagiarized parts of her doctoral thesis, which she submitted in 1980. Based on an internal analysis of the thesis -- as well as on her own statement regarding her work -- a committee at the University of Düsseldorf voted 12 to 2 to invalidate her academic title.

Bruno Bleckmann, a professor of ancient history at the university, announced the decision at a press conference on Tuesday evening. "As a doctoral candidate, she systematically and deliberately presented intellectual efforts throughout her entire dissertation that were not her own," he said.

It was a matter of hours before the first calls for her resignation were ringing out from opposition political camps, including the Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens, the Left Party and the Pirates. The unanimous consensus was that the politician, a member of Merkel's cabinet and her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, is no longer acceptable as the figurehead of Germany's academic community. Shavan must "face her consequences," SPD General Secretary Andrea Nahles told the conservative daily Die Welt. A minister of the sciences, "who demonstrates a gross disrespect for scientific rules, is no longer sustainable," said senior Green Party leader Renate Kunäst.

Suspicions about the academic integrity of Shavan's doctoral work were first raised last spring and intensified in October when a blogger released detailed findings of citation shortcomings he had found in the education minister's dissertation. She has consistently denied the charges, admitting merely to "oversights."

Schavan appears prepared to put up a strong fight to defend her Ph.D. "I will not accept the decision by the University of Düsseldorf and I will sue," the education minister said on Wednesday in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she is currently traveling for five days. "With regard to the legal dispute, please understand that I will not be providing any additional statements today."

One day earlier, Schavan's lawyer Bleckmann released a statement saying, "There was no cheating involved."

Several members of the CDU and their coalition partner, the FDP, came forward to defend her, with CDU Deputy Floor Leader Michael Kretschmer calling the process a "politically motivated campaign" against the minister.

Through her spokesman, Merkel expressed her "full confidence" in Schavan on Wednesday, saying the two would have the opportunity to "speak in peace with each other" when Schavan returns from South Africa. The chancellor added that she valued Schavan's work as a minister extraordinarily. But many are questioning how long that support will last as the chancellor heads into what could be a tough re-election battle.

The chancellor already lost one minister to a plagiarism scandal: Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg stepped down in the spring of 2011 after it was determined that he had plagiarized large sections of his Ph.D. thesis.

And statements made by Schavan at the time of the Guttenberg scandal will in no way strengthen her case, as some detractors have already pointed out. "As someone who wrote a doctorate myself 31 years ago and has worked in a professional capacity with many Ph.D. candidates," she said at the time, "I am ashamed, not only privately."

Some are now asking if Schavan is applying double standards between her work and that of Guttenberg. Still, German news agency DPA is reporting sources stating she doesn't plan to resign, although, some members of her party are questioning whether the minister can survive the political pressure in the long term.

The German press report the story widely on Wednesday. Though commentators across the political spectrum express the sentiment that the revocation seems unfair, there is also widespread consensus that, given the ruling, Schavan may have no choice but to step down.

(...)

http://www.spiegel.de/international/ger ... 81783.html

We are faced with the extraordinary situation of TWO German ministers having plagiarized their PhD thesis. That is 12.5% of all cabinet ministers of Frau Merkel's government. In accordance to the usual Nordic practice, in Europe, we should now consider Germans as a whole as untrustworthy and corrupt. Which is what has been done in respect of Southern European peoples, widely seen by Northern Europeans as lazy, dishonest and incompetent, on the basis of some of them being precisely that. If we find it acceptable to generalize to whole peoples the shortcomings of a few, then the same principle should now be applied to Germans. It goes without saying that I would find such a generalization a complete idiocy, but that applies as well to generalizations in respect of Southern Europeans, so common among our Northern neighbours.

[noddy]

what if its not about southern europe and its about germany staying competitve against china and south korea et all.

[monster_gardener]

'The Chancellor Will Have To Reshuffle Her Cabinet'

On Tuesday, a committee at the University of Düsseldorf announced Education Minister Annette Schavan had plagiarized passages of her doctoral thesis over 30 years ago and that her Ph.d. title was deemed invalid. German commentators say the Merkel confidant has little choice but to resign.

The announcement that the doctoral title of German Education Minister Annette Shavan would be revoked came as no great surprise to the German public. Schavan, a close confidant of Chancellor Angela Merkel, has long dodged accusations that she plagiarized parts of her doctoral thesis, which she submitted in 1980. Based on an internal analysis of the thesis -- as well as on her own statement regarding her work -- a committee at the University of Düsseldorf voted 12 to 2 to invalidate her academic title.

Bruno Bleckmann, a professor of ancient history at the university, announced the decision at a press conference on Tuesday evening. "As a doctoral candidate, she systematically and deliberately presented intellectual efforts throughout her entire dissertation that were not her own," he said.

It was a matter of hours before the first calls for her resignation were ringing out from opposition political camps, including the Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens, the Left Party and the Pirates. The unanimous consensus was that the politician, a member of Merkel's cabinet and her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, is no longer acceptable as the figurehead of Germany's academic community. Shavan must "face her consequences," SPD General Secretary Andrea Nahles told the conservative daily Die Welt. A minister of the sciences, "who demonstrates a gross disrespect for scientific rules, is no longer sustainable," said senior Green Party leader Renate Kunäst.

Suspicions about the academic integrity of Shavan's doctoral work were first raised last spring and intensified in October when a blogger released detailed findings of citation shortcomings he had found in the education minister's dissertation. She has consistently denied the charges, admitting merely to "oversights."

Schavan appears prepared to put up a strong fight to defend her Ph.D. "I will not accept the decision by the University of Düsseldorf and I will sue," the education minister said on Wednesday in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she is currently traveling for five days. "With regard to the legal dispute, please understand that I will not be providing any additional statements today."

One day earlier, Schavan's lawyer Bleckmann released a statement saying, "There was no cheating involved."

Several members of the CDU and their coalition partner, the FDP, came forward to defend her, with CDU Deputy Floor Leader Michael Kretschmer calling the process a "politically motivated campaign" against the minister.

Through her spokesman, Merkel expressed her "full confidence" in Schavan on Wednesday, saying the two would have the opportunity to "speak in peace with each other" when Schavan returns from South Africa. The chancellor added that she valued Schavan's work as a minister extraordinarily. But many are questioning how long that support will last as the chancellor heads into what could be a tough re-election battle.

The chancellor already lost one minister to a plagiarism scandal: Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg stepped down in the spring of 2011 after it was determined that he had plagiarized large sections of his Ph.D. thesis.

And statements made by Schavan at the time of the Guttenberg scandal will in no way strengthen her case, as some detractors have already pointed out. "As someone who wrote a doctorate myself 31 years ago and has worked in a professional capacity with many Ph.D. candidates," she said at the time, "I am ashamed, not only privately."

Some are now asking if Schavan is applying double standards between her work and that of Guttenberg. Still, German news agency DPA is reporting sources stating she doesn't plan to resign, although, some members of her party are questioning whether the minister can survive the political pressure in the long term.

The German press report the story widely on Wednesday. Though commentators across the political spectrum express the sentiment that the revocation seems unfair, there is also widespread consensus that, given the ruling, Schavan may have no choice but to step down.

(...)

http://www.spiegel.de/international/ger ... 81783.html

We are faced with the extraordinary situation of TWO German ministers having plagiarized their PhD thesis. That is 12.5% of all cabinet ministers of Frau Merkel's government. In accordance to the usual Nordic practice, in Europe, we should now consider Germans as a whole as untrustworthy and corrupt. Which is what has been done in respect of Southern European peoples, widely seen by Northern Europeans as lazy, dishonest and incompetent, on the basis of some of them being precisely that. If we find it acceptable to generalize to whole peoples the shortcomings of a few, then the same principle should now be applied to Germans. It goes without saying that I would find such a generalization a complete idiocy, but that applies as well to generalizations in respect of Southern Europeans, so common among our Northern neighbours.

Thank You Very MUCH for your post, Endo...........

Southern European peoples, widely seen by Northern Europeans as lazy, dishonest and incompetent,

Perhaps true but that can be an advantage....

A joke illustrates this.......

A man on arriving at the Pearly Gates is informed by St. Peter that he still has to expiate some sins and has to spend a day in Hell being tied to a stake, doused with gasoline and burned but that he has the option of going to the German Hell or the Italian Hell to have this done........ The man wisely asks St. Peter for advice who advises him to choose the Italian Hell because better than half the time, the Italian Devils forget the gasoline or the matches or don't show up at all.......

Modern Germans sometimes remind me of this poem......

There was a little girl
With a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead
When she was Good,
She was VERY Good
But when she was Bad,
She was HORRID.......

I think the meaning is obvious...... Near Mid Twentieth Century German nastiness which makes the current problems seem more comical than Italian Hell.........

My blessing on you.......
If you end up in Hell when you die......
May your choice be between the Italian Hell and the Modern Greek and/or Spanish Hells where the Devils are reputed to be orders of magnitude more incompetent than the Italian ones...... May it be so.........

Think of Cardinal Fang and the others on Monty Python's No One Expects the Spanish Inquisition........

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spanis ... _Python%29

CSe38dzJYkY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spanis ... _Python%29

[Alexis]

Steinbrück in Athens: SPD Chancellor Candidate Tests Waters in Europe

Peer Steinbrück ended his European tour in Athens this week with a remarkably clear statement of solidarity with Greece, seemingly undermining Chancellor Merkel, his opponent in this year's election.

On Wednesday morning, Peer Steinbrück sounded like this: "We have to be careful that the savings measures don't come at a lethal dose." At midday like this: "We sometimes forget what this crisis means for the people." And in the afternoon: "This country deserves trust." In total, there would be three appearances, but one message: At some point the demands dictated by Brussels will have gone far enough -- even now, a bit more leniency would be in order.
(...)
It's a course not without risk. The SPD politician knows that the woman from whom he'd like to inherit the Chancellery takes a much different tack. Since the beginning of the crisis, Angela Merkel has styled herself as the iron chancellor. Whenever she discusses the future of Greece, she insists on the country's compliance with conditions set by Brussels in exchange for its bailouts and on its success in implementing massive social reforms and getting the deficit under control. In other words: No money without getting something in return. So far, this has kept her in good stead with voters in Germany.
(...)
"This is not something that has nothing to do with us," he says. If Greece were to implode, something "that looks and feels like 'Alice in Wonderland' could easily spread to our country."
(...)
Steinbrück's attitude is not likely to be popular domestically, so it would be wrong to say his position is a ploy to ingratiate himself with voters.
After one of his many appointments, he is asked whether he doesn't worry about the the effect it may have on voters if he appears too friendly with Greece. No, says Steinbrück. Greece must be stabilized. "German voters have to be told: That is going to cost something," he adds.

1) Steinbrück has understood that the economic crisis is not restricted to the most economically fragile members of the EU, that ultimately this crisis could engulf the whole of European countries, even Germany, and he proposes to adapt the crisis reaction policy accordingly.

Even without as of yet not having given details about the change of course he would like, that is already much more than Merkel has understood.

2) In addition, showing sensibility with regard to social consequences of the crisis, even when the victims are not Germans, is not only the right thing to do, it is also in the interests of all European countries, Germany included, so as to avoid or to limit the grudges between nations resulting of the crisis.

Smarter than Merkel on a second count, therefore.

[Heracleum Persicum]

.


At one point, a major debate erupted in the tabloid media over whether government-run job centers could force women into prostitution.
In 2004, however, the job centers issued a voluntary regulation that women who refused job offers as prostitutes would not have their unemployment benefits curtailed.

.. job center officials argued they would not do placements for prostitution "as long as there is no clear moral position on prostitution in Germany." However, they continued, if there were a moral consensus that it was an acceptable position, they would be required to treat it as a "normal profession -- without any fussing or quibbling."

.

[Miss_Faucie_Fishtits]

This is sorta interesting. In the process of 'reviewing' a book, the blog writer got around to drawing a comparison between norse raiders of the viking age and Islamic terrorists...... have fun:

http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2013/02/03 ... t-of-love/

Odin and Allah both seemed to have a major problem with Christians. Before the Viking age of the Norse started with the attack on the Lindisfame Monastery, the pagan followers of Odin persecuted and purged Norway of Christians. This started in late 772 or early 773 AD. The Quran (as the inspired word of Allah) also shows an intolerance for Christians and Jews.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... 0%20%C2%A0

[Typhoon]

.

At one point, a major debate erupted in the tabloid media over whether government-run job centers could force women into prostitution.
In 2004, however, the job centers issued a voluntary regulation that women who refused job offers as prostitutes would not have their unemployment benefits curtailed.

.. job center officials argued they would not do placements for prostitution "as long as there is no clear moral position on prostitution in Germany." However, they continued, if there were a moral consensus that it was an acceptable position, they would be required to treat it as a "normal profession -- without any fussing or quibbling."

As the lady muttered to herself after she no money to pay for the taxi, "after all, it's only fare."

[Typhoon]

This is sorta interesting. In the process of 'reviewing' a book, the blog writer got around to drawing a comparison between norse raiders of the viking age and Islamic terrorists...... have fun:

http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2013/02/03 ... t-of-love/

Odin and Allah both seemed to have a major problem with Christians. Before the Viking age of the Norse started with the attack on the Lindisfame Monastery, the pagan followers of Odin persecuted and purged Norway of Christians. This started in late 772 or early 773 AD. The Quran (as the inspired word of Allah) also shows an intolerance for Christians and Jews.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... 0%20%C2%A0

Don't think that there is much to debate, if the blog writer starts with assumption that

In fact, the God of the Bible is unique in the history of the world’s religions. From Baal to Zeus, from Jupiter to Allah and Odin, the gods of paganism are capricious masters, not loving fathers. Control is their goal — when they think of humans at all — not justice or peace.

Looking up the ten commandments, and considering the first three

1. I am the LORD your God:
you shall not have
strange Gods before me.

2. You shall not take
the name of the LORD your God in vain.

3. Remember to keep holy the LORD'S Day.

[RC version]

before moving on the basics of civil behaviour

would suggest a controlling father, no?

Then there is the view from those on the receiving end . . .

"The Jews are a nervous people.
Nineteen centuries of Christian love have taken a toll."

~ Benjamin Disraeli

The point is not to single out Christianity, simply point out that the blog writer is engaging in the type of special pleading common to all ideologues.

[Miss_Faucie_Fishtits]

Well, yuh...... just thinking you were maybe nostalgic for those epic Christian vs Pagan threads on the Spengler board.....;p.....

[noddy]

[Typhoon]

Well, yuh...... just thinking you were maybe nostalgic for those epic Christian vs Pagan threads on the Spengler board.....;p.....

It was fun at the time, if only to deconstruct and take the p*ss out of Spenglerman and his pontifications.

He clearly didn't see it that way as he had me banned from both the ATOL Spenglerman forum and PJ Media.

[Endovelico]

Europe Is Right to Doubt German Euro Leadership
A Commentary by Jakob Augstein

The drama over Cyprus has made clear that the euro-zone crisis is developing into a struggle over German hegemony in Europe. On the surface, Merkel and Schäuble seem to be working to stabilize the economy. In actuality, they're binding other nations with the shackles of debt.

Throughout Cyprus's financial crisis, German power has been on display. But Germany is pursuing the wrong ojectives, showing how it's incapable of wielding its power correctly. Cypriot leaders came up with the idea to make their own small-scale savers liable for the bankruptcy of the banks -- with the approval of Germany -- because they wanted to hold true to their principles of crime and punishment.

All of Europe, indeed the entire world, took notice. Despite deposit insurance and Chancellor Angela Merkel's own promises, in the end it's the common people who suffer? The plan was withdrawn, and now the burden is falling mostly on wealthy Russians. But the damage is done, confidence undermined. What is the chancellor's word actually worth? Cyprus has shown once again that Europe can't rely on the Germans.

Fortunately the Euro Group has now made the right move. Those with smaller deposits are safe, one bank goes bankrupt and another is downsized. But the theatrics of the past week fit well into the image Europe is projecting right now: Irresponsible bankers gamble away the money of even richer money-launderers, and the politicians help both groups to save themselves as best they can -- at the expense of the common people, who have neither the resources nor the influence to bring themselves to safety. And all of that takes place under German domination.

That was a sign. The chancellor indulges herself and the Germans in the luxury of navel-gazing. Historical memory is essentially wiped away, good for little more than cozy evenings when we wrap ourselves in blankets and ogle at the moral failures depicted in World War II TV dramas, like the recent German miniseries "Our Mothers, Our Fathers."

But this means nothing for the present. Just like twice before in our recent history, the Germans are falling deeper and deeper into conflict with their neighbors -- regardless of the cost. It's a path that could easily lead to fear of German political hegemony on the Continent. Indeed, Merkel's idea of European integration is simply that Europe should bend to Germany's political will.

Surrounded by Idiots?

As the Cyprus ordeal intensified, a truth about German politics was revealed: They are characterized by a stubbornness that Germans see as sticking to their principles, but what is in fact nothing more than self-righteousness. With her European political maneuvering, Merkel has broken all West German traditions. And she did so with less squeamishness than she had in breaking the traditions of her own party. Merkel's chief adviser for European affairs, Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, laid it out for her in the summer of 2011. Everything for which Brussels is responsible works just fine, he told her, while areas that fall to member states are in disarray. Thus it would be logical to grant Brussels more power. But Merkel decided otherwise.

Under Angela Merkel's leadership, the Europe of nation states has been revived -- a trend against which former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt issued a stark warning. "The German Federal Constitutional Court, the Bundesbank and Chancellor Merkel are acting like the center of Europe, to the exasperation of our neighbors," he said, and a portion of the public opinion is prone to a "national-egotistical view" of Germany. Schmidt, who lived through all of Nazi Germany and World War II, is not one to use these words lightly.

Nikolaus Blome, deputy editor-in-chief of the mass-circulation tabloid Bild, wrote an editorial that called Cypriot parliamentarians "Cypr-IDIOTS" because they voted against the EU plan to tax bank deposits. But if we've learned anything from the best-selling "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" children's book series, it's that those who see themselves surrounded by idiots are usually idiots themselves. Out of this euro crisis is emerging a conflict over German hegemony in Europe. It looks to be based on economics, when in fact it is based on the politics of power.

The Germans bind the European people with the shackles of debt -- an action American anthropologist and Occupy Wall Street activist David Graeber judges as pernicious. "If history shows anything, it is that there's no better way to justify relations founded on violence, to make such relations seem moral, than by reframing them in the language of debt -- above all, because it immediately makes it seem like it's the victim who's doing something wrong," he wrote in his 2011 book "Debt: The First 5,000 Years."

Germany Pays for (and Profits from) Crisis

As in the past, underdogs today are being ridiculed. Whoever has debts is guilty of their own crime.

That line of thought leaves room for both accusations and self-pity, as evidenced by conservative columnist Hugo-Müller Vogg. "Without German guarantees, there would be no bailout," he wrote in a Bild column last week. "Yet of all people, we Germans are the subject of criticism, even outright hatred, in crisis-plagued countries. The chancellor is denigrated with the Hitler moustache, German flags are torn apart and we Germans are the evil ones to be blamed for all misery." From this proceeds a conversation in bars and at dinner tables, among proletarians and professorials -- who could hand a glowing success in upcoming federal elections to the new right-wing populist party "Alternatives for Germany."

This is all a lie. Germans haven't just paid for the crisis, they've also profited from it. The savings in interest payments, which Germany have enjoyed since the beginning of the crisis, amounted to €10 billion last year alone. Plus there are the interest payments from debtor nations. The reality of the euro crisis is this: The poor of Athens are paying the rich in Germany.

Such experiments failed in the past, and they will fail in the future. Europeans will not allow it. As Germans keep cheering on their chancellor, they should mark the words of former Euro Group chief Jean-Claude Juncker: "Anyone who believes that the eternal issue of war and peace in Europe has been permanently laid to rest could be making a monumental error. The demons haven't been banished; they are merely sleeping."

http://www.spiegel.de/international/eur ... 90848.html

Clearly some Germans are more perceptive than others...

[Alexis]

Interesting collection of reactions from German press to the recent plan on Cyprus

Conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:

"The Cypriots may see themselves as victims, but their European partners aren't to blame for the mess. The case of Cyprus shows how rife alienation and anger are among Europeans: Many in the crisis-hit nations are blaming their plight not on their own corrupt elites or bad governance but on supposedly unsympathetic EU governments, meaning the supposedly neo-hegemonial Germans. The donor countries in turn feel they are the victims of blackmail who are rewarded for their help with insults. At the start of the fourth year of the debt and euro crisis, one can't help but register that trust and empathy have been eroded along the way. It doesn't inspire hope for the future of the EU."

Center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"This drastic infringement of property rights was possible due to the unique constellation in Cyprus: Cyprus is the third-smallest country of the European Union, so its political weight isn't very relevant. Cyprus set up a dubious business model that attracted dubious people; they're now being punished, so the burden isn't necessarily hitting the wrong people. The expropriation satisfied the sense of justice of most Germans, and not just them."

"Thirdly, a remarkably poor set of Cypriot politicians refused to see reason for much too long, and in the last week displayed an unpleasant gambling mentality. Anyone who manages in just four days to alienate the entire euro zone, discredit the Euro Group chief, tries to involve Russia in a circumventing maneuver and welds together the German government and opposition in an election year has failed to understand a few basic rules on transparency and policymaking in Europe."

"In this unique combination, Cyprus will remain a unique case. But Europe has changed a lot as a result of this rescue drama. The readiness to show solidarity is eroding by the minute. The euro zone has long since stopped being a brotherhood for increasing prosperity and mutual stability. It has transformed itself into a school of gladiators in which everyone fights for his own advantage and his survival."

Conservative Die Welt writes:

"The solution for Nicosia is no blueprint for dealing with other bank crises. Authorities wouldn't dare to repeat such a procedure in Italy or Spain. If a bank has obtained most of its money from other banks or financial institutions, a radical cut becomes far more complicated because the consequences would eat through the entire financial system. The collapse of Lehman Brothers made this dramatically clear."

"While the international impact of the Cypriot bank restructuring is likely to remain limited, the island nation itself will struggle. Not just rich foreigners but many Cypriot companies will lose a large part of their deposits -- which will inflict major damage on the country's economy."

"The Cypriot compromise is a big experiment. Its outcome will determine how Europe tackles future crises. And whether taxpayers will in future be able to avoid always having to foot the bill for troubled banks."

Left-wing daily Die Tageszeitung writes:

"The case of Cyprus will mean once again that billions of euros will be shifted around. Whenever there's a minor problem, investors in Portugal, Italy or Spain will hurriedly transfer their money to Germany or the Netherlands. They will all try to turn their Spanish or Italian euros into German or Dutch euros. The monetary union may still exist, but it is history nonetheless. Officially we may still have one euro, but in effect we've had 17 different euros for a long time now."

Mass circulation Bild writes:

"The washing machine for illegal Russian money has been switched off! And the Kremlin is fuming. When Cyprus needed savings, Russia didn't lift a finger. Now it's throwing dirt at the rescuers. For Russia's billionaires, Cyprus was a euro colony where they could increase their wealth. It's only fair that they and not the small savers have to pay a high price for rescuing Cyprus."

"Anyone who describes that as theft -- as the Russian prime minister did -- can't be a man of the people. He's a servant of the billionaires. And people who compare the share that the Russians now have to pay with the evil robbery of Jewish assets lack character and know no shame."

Left-wing daily Berliner Zeitung writes:

"The European Union too has been damaged. People will remember the rudeness of the German finance minister, who was more focused on public sentiment in Germany than on the welfare of the community. And the politicians have made one thing clear to all investors and savers inside and outside the currency union: If you invest your money in the euro zone, you take on enormous political risks in addition to economic ones. This loss of confidence will have lasting impact, in the crisis-hit nations and far beyond Europe's borders."

[YMix]

"Thirdly, a remarkably poor set of Cypriot politicians refused to see reason for much too long, and in the last week displayed an unpleasant gambling mentality. Anyone who manages in just four days to alienate the entire euro zone, discredit the Euro Group chief, tries to involve Russia in a circumventing maneuver and welds together the German government and opposition in an election year has failed to understand a few basic rules on transparency and policymaking in Europe."

This, yes. I have no idea why the Cypriots thought they could pull it off.

[YMix]

While reading through a rather strange blog (the author writes pretty good stuff, but likes to mention that he has high-level source, moles, hints and steers and, since he doesn't reveal said sources, he comes across as a braggart) I've come across an interesting comment to an article about Germany. Endovelico should read this.

savepenrhos.co.uk
March 13, 2013 at 2:07 pm

I’ve lived in Germany for 6 years, my daughter lives and works there and many of my friends do. The fear of what happened during the Weimar period is very very real to the Germans as many elderly people lived through it. The Germans have always considered it very unusual to buy a house before you are in your 40′s – not because of cost, but because they regard the ability to upsticks and relocate to another part of the country in a matter of weeks for work etc as fundemental. Housing policies actually control house price inflation and as areas start to heat up the government steps in and deliberately stops it – yopu will be very very lucky to make any money speculating on housing, it remains fiormly attached to regional income levels. Likewise rents (and landlords) are strictly regulated.

Very few Germans even have a credit card let alone use one nad very few use finance to buy things. If you attempt to buy a TV, white goods, or food in a supermarket and pay with a credit card you are regarded very suspiciously. My daughter was in her twenties when she bought her property and all the neighbours were highly suspicious of her as buying property that young is usually associated with crime or the ‘seedier’ side of life.

If people in the UK could see what €100K will buy you in north west Germany they would be burning MPs, bankers and estate agents in the streets. Likewise the quality and size of property you can rent for as little as €350pcm is staggering when you see the utter rubbish that landlords obver here routinely charge £500 and more for.

Germans are deeply suspicious of credit and do all they can to stop runaway house prices & rents.

savepenrhos.co.uk
March 13, 2013 at 4:44 pm

They refer to the current situation as ‘the Anglo/US banking crisis’ as opposed to how we refer to it – ‘global’. They have very little patience or sympathy for any country or individual that is struggling if it is in anyway connected to debt.

Both the German government and the man on the Berlin omnibus are quite adamant – unsecured credit is a bad thing and workers must remain able to relocate themselves and their families quickly.

It seems that the Germans are not exactly the stupid and evil monsters that Endovelico has been talking about, but rather that they see the Southern Europeans as having broken one of their great national taboos.

[YMix]

GERMAN BANKING FRAUD WORSE THAN NICOSIA’S, LUXEMBOURG BANKING SECTOR @ 24X GDP

Spiegel is reporting in its early online editions that a compromise has been reached between the Troika and Cyprus whereby small depositors are let off a haircut, but the big accounts will have 20% of their funds confiscated levied. Cyprus has been suitably neutered. And Putin’s enemies have been punished. Somehow it feels like the jigsaw is rapidly falling into place. But behind the spin is revealed a colossal act of bullying hypocrisy by Berlin and the Eurogroup.

This is what Wolfgang Schäuble told the world ten days ago:

“Cyprus lives off a banking sector with low taxes and lax regulation that is completely out of whack. As a result, Cyprus is insolvent and no one outside of Cyprus is responsible for that…We’ve taken measures in all countries to protect ourselves against contagion effects.”

The eurozone is actually entirely responsible for it, as without having their heads shaved by Draghi over Greek bonds, the Cyprus banking system would be just fine.

This is what Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg, head of the Eurogoup, said in January this year about bank debt:

“The euro zone must use its rescue fund to inject money into banks with past debts. I think there must be some degree of retroactivity in the mechanism, otherwise it will lose most of its sense.”

Both men have since said that, at three times the GDP, Cypriot banking has an unbalanced share of the economy there. Both have accused Cyrpus of money maundering and lax controls. They may be right: but let’s see how their record on this holds up.

Recent evaluation reports from the global watchdog FATF (Financial Action Task Force) that assesses money-laundering for all 17 eurozone countries shows that Germany is completely non-compliant in 5 FATF areas, ranking third from last at 14th. The FATF report on Germany says “substantial proceeds of crime are generated in Germany, estimated to be EUR 40 to EUR 60 billion, inclusive of tax evasion, annually.”

Cyprus however is completely compliant in all 12 areas and ranks 7th.

The FATF report continues:

“Cyprus also has the toughest regime in the EU for identification of beneficial ownership, with the obligation to identify ownership kicking in at 10%, instead of the obligation 25% threshold provided for in the 3rd EU anti-money-laundering directive”.

As for being ‘out of whack’, Jean-Claude Juncker’s home system runs at twenty-four times Luxembourg’s GDP.

You will also note that there has been no question here of ESM funds alone being used to achieve a Cypriot bailout at 10% of Greece’s and – to date indirectly – 7% of the money quietly poured into the Spanish banking system by The Invisible Man, Mario Draghi. Juncker ‘justified’ this by saying of the size of Cypriot bank debt last Wednesday,

“I have grave concerns that this will lead to a loss of confidence, not just from the banks, but also from the people.”

What, a €230bn Greek bailout (and counting) is OK, but a €17bn one for Nicosia isn’t? But because this is a particularly dangerous situation, er, we’ll f**k around for ten days and then arrive at where we should’ve started. Well that makes sense then. What we’ll do is steal money from those nasty black marketeers. Just not German or French ones. Take a look at the biggest banks in Luxembourg:

‘In terms of total assets, the five largest banks in 2010 were, in decreasing order, Deutschebank Luxembourg (€87.235 billion), Société Générale Bank & Trust (€42.162 billion), BNP Paribas (€39.347), Banque et Caisse d’epargne de l’etat, Luxembourg(€38.019 billion) and Credit Agricole Bank Luxembourg (€34.775 billion).’

Franco-German deposits there are in total five times larger than the State Bank of Luxembourg.

What do these banks do in such a small country?

‘…..an important activity in the banking sector is private banking….Luxembourg is one of the main jurisdictions for the establishment and distribution of investment funds. As a result, the servicing of investment funds, including custodial services, central administration and also securities trading and the distribution of fund units has developed into a thriving activity for the Luxembourg banking sector…’

So no suspicion of naughtiness there then. Just a ‘thriving’ bank sector 24 times more important than other Luxembourg activities, such as running radio stations and heading the Eurogroup.

There is no graft or money laundering in Brussels, no embezzlement, no over-employment, no German company called Siemens to be called by a Bavarian judge, “the most corrupt company in the world”, no repayments from the Bundesrepublik to Greece for corrupting Greek officials, and no evidence of Germany charging Athens for two submarines, but only ever supplying the one. Noooo, nononononono.

For we Nordeurpeanisches are squeaky clean and hard-working, we have nothing to do with black markets, tax evaders and drug barons. But while we’re talking about Belgium, let’s remember that 73% of everything Belgium does is related to EU administration. So there’s another nicely balanced economy.