Schlagwort-Archive: German

Bürgerrechte, Datenschutz, German Politics, politics, privacy

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Dieter Wiefelspütz, innenpolitischer Sprecher der SPD und einer der Hauptverhandlungspartner von Innenminister Wolfgang Schäuble in Bezug auf das nun wohl an einer fehlenden Mehrheit im Bundesrat scheiternde neue BKA-Gesetz hat laut der Süddeutschen zu Wolfang Schäubles Vorschlag, doch einfach die Abstimmungsregeln im Bundesrat zu ändern, wenn das gewünschte Ergebnis nicht zustande kommt, folgendes bemerkt –

SPD-Innenexperte Dieter Wiefelspütz erklärte dagegen, er könne sich mit dem Vorschlag “inhaltlich durchaus anfreunden”, kritisierte aber den Zeitpunkt der Veröffentlichung. “Wenn er aus tagesaktuellen Erwägungen gemacht wird, merkt jeder die Absicht dahinter”, sagte er Spiegel Online.

Nicht, daß noch irgendwer “die Absicht dahinter” erkennt…

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Clichés galore – unmistakably German.

I usually don’t remember things I read in a newspaper word by word. But I still remember the beginning of an article published in the Irish Times back in 1998. It dealt with the German act in that year’s Eurovision song contest, and my Irish friend thought I should read it.

Germans have a general, if somewhat unfair, reputation for humourlessness.

Unfair indeed… we can even lough about ourselves, and even if the jokes aren’t meant to be backhanded compliments like it’s the case in Citroen’s new C5 spot, produced by EuroRCSG for the British market, and currently available on the net and in cinemas across the British Isles. By the way, when I heard the “unmistakably German” voice over, I realised something else – the car reminded me of the Audi A4… I doubt that’s an association Citroen had in mind.

But back to the the jokes visible to everyone – here’s the youtubed version – enjoy your dose of Germanic clichés.

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music, USA

Australia will be next – ‘Tokio Hotel’ in New York.

When I had a drink with friends in Sydney’s Darling Harbour quarter, no one native to the red continent understood why I had to chuckle when I read the bar’s name – Tokio Hotel. Well, they may soon, as Kelefa Sanneh, writing in the NY Times about Tokio Hotel’s first concert in New York City (‘A wild welcome to German teen-pop band’), believes that the number of teenage girls screaming the name of the East German teen band’s singer will rise dramatically following the band’s US album release in April.

“If this concert was oddly delightful from start to finish, thank Bill Kaulitz, who should, with any luck, be thrilling and perplexing young Americans for the rest of the year.”

If the French experience is worth anything (links in German), I suppose the German foreign ministry is already busy allocating additional funds to pay for more German teachers at the Goethe Institute in New York. It seems, German is indeed getting sexy again. Even if not popularized by the likes of Grass or Jelinek, but by

“that gender-bending singer, who answers to the disappointingly unglamorous name of Bill Kaulitz.”

The New York Post’s Danica Lo even sat down with the band and, lovingly, but still true to the paper’s style, asked what their plans for world domination are. Have a look at her video report, it also features some interesting fangirl statements…

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