24%

According to a survey commissioned by the public broadcasting program “ARD Morgenmagazin”, 24% of all Germans think that the police should be allowed to use any means at their disposal to fight crime. The survey was conducted in the aftermath of the Bundesgerichtshof's decision to declare covert online searches of private computers illegal. I'm deeply skeptical about surveys in general, and more so as in this instance the exact questions and answer choices haven't been made public. But, unfortunately, I don't think that the numbers are in any way unlikely to reflect the opinion of a large part of the population. Sigh.

Eine Umfrage im Auftrag des ARD-Morgenmagazins ergab, dass 24% der Deutschen der Meinung sind, dass es der Polizei erlaubt sein sollte, zur Verbrechensbekämpfung alle ihr zur Verfügung stehenden Mittel zu nutzen. Die Umfrage wurde im Kontext der Entscheidung des Bundesgerichtshofs über die Unzulässigkeit verdeckter Online-Durchsuchungen von Privatcomputern durchgeführt. Ich bin gegenüber Umfrageergebnissen stets sehr skeptisch, vor allem, wenn wie in diesem Fall die genauen Fragen und die Antwortmöglichkeiten nicht veröffentlicht werden. Aber leider halte ich die 24% für alles andere als unwahrscheinlich. Seufz.

[reported by heise online]

I don't have friends, but I have a job

At least that's the conclusion if we believe Simon Anholt, inventor of the Nation Brand Index, and his findings about the Germans. Die Zeit, a German quality weekly, features an article about the image of Germans around the world at the eve of the Soccer World Cup (remember, you are reading the official blog!). They quote Anholt:

That the people of the country [Germany] have the reputation to be dull is no problem with respect to image. "Dullness is the neighbor of reliablity, and reliability is the neighbor of trust. Our results show that people would rather not be friends with a German. But they would give him a job."

Denk ich an Deutschland

Denk ich an Deutschland in der Nacht,
dann bin ich um den Schlaf gebracht.
(“When I think of Germany at night, I can no longer sleep”; Heinrich Heine 1843)

Why do I always have to write about bad news here? Is it my German angst, is it only natural that I, a German student, am "usually not "begeistert"? Or is it maybe the state of the world in general and of Doitschland in particular? Judge for yourself:

On April 16, an Afro-German citizen was attacked by two men and one woman in the East-German city of Potsdam. Prior to the attack, the man tried to call his wife from his cell phone, got only her mailbox, and somehow he didn't hang up. Thus we have a recording of the racist insults (e.g. "Dirty nigger") that preceded the attack. The attack left the man severly wounded and he was put in an artificial coma, now still struggling for his life. So far, so terrible.

Immediately after the racist attempted murder became public there was a large outcry of concern and politicians from all over the spectrum condemned the attack. However, several observers suspected that some people might have been more concerned with Germany's reputation than with the racist crime itself, especially only a few weeks before the soccer world-cup will begin (slogan: "The world hosted by friends"). Attacks on foreigners (or those who are believed to be non-German) are not uncommon and this case is by no means unique.

The suspicion about the motives of politicians is furthered by the disgusting remarks of the German minister of the interior, Wolfgang Schäuble (Christian Democrats). In an interview with the public broadcaster Deutschlandradio Kultur four days after the attack he proclaimed: "We don't know about the motives, we don't know the offenders. We should be a bit careful." As if this was not enough, he then fantasized about poor Aryan victims: "Blond, blue-eyed people are also victims of violent crimes, partly even by offenders that possibly don't have the German citizenship. That is no better."

I am so sick!

Deutsche Studenten

A German student is not a pleasant companion, he is unclean, eats "Blut-und-Leber Wurst" and is usually not "begeistert." On the other hand, the English Undergrad is, as a rule clean, lives healthily and learns in a healthy fashion. The aesthetic ideal, mind and body combined, is on our side.

So der britische Mathematiker Karl Pearson in einem Brief vom 16. Januar 1880 an seinen Mentor Oscar Browning. Da Pearson von der intellektuellen Überlegenheit des neugegründeten Deutschlands überzeugt war, ging er nach seinem Studium in Cambridge für mehrere Monate nach Heidelberg und Berlin -- und war, wie obiges Zitat zeigt, not impressed.