Renovare necesse est

I took the title of this blog from a dictum handed down by Plutarch (around 45-125 AD), "Navigare necesse est, vivere non est necesse (seafaring is necessary, living is not). "

The first half of the sentence is well-known and supported; the second, the gruesome part, I learned while writing this blog. In quotations, the second half is often omitted. 

Pompey, the Roman commander Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (106-48 BC), who was responsible for Rome's grain supply, shouted these words to his sailors when they refused to jump into their boat because of a storm.

In the New Testament, John (15:13) superelevated the idea behind Pompey's dictum, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. "

These days we must not forget those who lost and still risk their lives for the freedom of many at Kabul airport.

I digress. Renovare stands here for "to boost," referring to my imminent third vaccination. Here are the reasons:

As a person of age, my immune system is weak. I only had mild vaccination reactions following my two initial jabs, although, according to the experts, this does not necessarily indicate a low antibody concentration.

©Phoenix

My last and second shot was on January 27. Since then, the protective effect of the vaccination has decreased from 90% to less than 80%.

 
In Baden-Württemberg, a third, a booster vaccination, is recommended for those at risk and over 80. The vaccination center in Freiburg, still open until September 15, will offer inoculations starting September 1. 

Red Baron will try to get his third jab early to be well-protected on his way to Hamburg for his annual class reunion during the third weekend in September.

©Das Erste

The development of the pandemic worldwide due to the aggressive Delta variant is worrying. Although 60% of the people in Germany are fully vaccinated, the Corona incidence is on the rise, increasing the likelihood of infection further. Luckily breakthrough infections are still rare, and so far when infected. fully vaccinated persons only show mild disease progressions.

With the cold season arriving, the fourth wave will not ebb away. Those who are still unvaccinated are likely to infect themselves. If these people recover, they will eventually be happy to join the 2G crowd, those who are geimpft or genesen.

The state of Hamburg has allowed owners of restaurants, discos, and nightclubs to apply the 2G rule, i.e., accepting only people who are proven fully vaccinated or recovered. It is suitable to exempt those people from regulations for which there is no longer any medical justification. Those anti-vaxxers complaining about an alleged two-class society are discussing equality in misery.

It remains the fundamental right of every citizen to refuse corona vaccination because there is a right to be unreasonable. Still, these people should not be entitled to spoil the party for others.

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The Normative Project

On July 8, President Biden stated in a press conference, "As I said in April, the United States did what we went to do in Afghanistan: to get the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 and to deliver justice to Osama Bin Laden, and to degrade the terrorist threat to keep Afghanistan from becoming a base from which attacks could be continued against the United States. We achieved those objectives. That's why we went."

"We did not go to Afghanistan to nation-build. And it's the Afghan people's right and responsibility alone to decide their future and how they want to run their country."

"Together, with our NATO Allies and partners, we have trained and equipped nearly 300,000 current serving members of the military of the Afghan National Security Force and many beyond that who are no longer serving. Add to that hundreds of thousands more Afghan National Defense and Security Forces trained over the last two decades."

US mission accomplished? NATO's mission achieved? German mission in shambles?

In Afghanistan, the German Bundeswehr never regarded the eradication of Al-Qaida as its primary goal. Germany instead followed the States in their deep-rooted "normative project" of firstly adhering to one's values, human rights, freedom, and democracy. And secondly, to strive to implement these values throughout the world. Heinrich August Winkler, one of the most renowned German historians, stated, "This normative project of the West has reached a dead end with the Afghan catastrophe."

Deep disappointment spreads in Germany over President Biden's remarks. Not so much that the US tries to cover up NATO's defeat, but they seem to brush off the Western values, the normative project.

In today's debate at the Bundestag, the Speaker of the House Wolfgang Schäuble tried to console the deputies and a few Afghanistan veterans present, "It is a loss of authority of the West, but the seeds of freedom have been sown." Red Baron regards the seeds falling among thorns, which will grow with them and choke the seedlings (Luke 8:7).

In her government declaration to the Bundestag, Chancellor Angela Merkel too emphasized that the mission in Afghanistan has not been in vain, saying, "Child mortality has been halved in the past 20 years, 70 percent of Afghans now have access to drinking water, and more than 90 percent have access to electricity," nevertheless ending with one of her convoluted sentences, "What is clear is that the Taliban are now a reality in Afghanistan."

Propaganda stamp of the
German School Association
from the time of the First World War
(©Deutscher Schulverein/Wikipedia)

In the desire to escape the curse of its guilt-ridden past through a policy that meets high moral standards, Germany and its mentality received a terrible blow. 

Weren't we on the right track during the refugee crisis in 2015 when the former Minister of Labor, Norbert Blüm, stated, "Precisely because we Germans committed such terrible crimes; it would be wonderful if we were now recognized around the world as a country that strives for remarkable humanity?"

Reading Blüm's sentence, I asked myself, "Doesn't this smell of Emanuel Geibel's "Und es mag* am deutschen Wesen, einmal noch die Welt genesen (Once again, the world may recover by German nature)?"
*There are several versions of Geibel's verse: Mag (may) is the original, wird (will) wishful thinking, and soll (shall) is the chauvinist spelling.

Former Federal President Theodor Heuß did he not insist already in 1952, "No nation is better than the other; there are such and such in each. America is not 'God's own country,' and the harmless Emanuel Geibel has caused some subaltern mischief with the word that the world will once again be healed by German nature?"

Professor Winkler refines, "You already find the idea of a German mission among the founding fathers of German nationalism. In 1810, in his manifesto' Deutsches Volkstum (German folklore)' ‚Turnvater' Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, son of a Protestant pastor, ascribed to the Germans a role as' Weltbeglücker (benefactor)' and' Heiland (savior)' of the world.

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Taliban Rule

Nato governments are shocked about the Taliban blitz and their takeover of Afghanistan.

In the aftermath of the debacle, Late Show host Stephen Colbert showed a video clip taken on July 8 with President Biden stating in front of journalists, "The likelihood there is going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely."

Stephen's reaction is, "Wow, this is the most inaccurate prediction of a president since Abraham Lincoln said:"

©CBS/Stephen Colbert

Well, I am neither a prophet nor a forecaster, but here is what I wrote on July 9:

 
It was clear to me from the beginning: The semi-democratic Afghan government stands on feet of clay. Once the alliance of 36 western nations leaves the country to the present rulers, the Taliban will take over in no time. Now it is just a question of a few weeks* until they have the full command …

and …

To sum up the failure: The Afghan army of an impressive 300,000 men and women will and cannot resist the Taliban fighters, and all educational efforts will soon be nullified.
*I am counting six weeks

Wow, 823 people flown out on a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster
(©US Air Force)

Only 180 people seated on a Bundesluftwaffe Airbus A400M
(©Marc Tessensohn/Bundeswehr)

If possible, western countries frantically try to evacuate their countrymen/women and their local Afghan helpers. The latter are fearing for their lives despite Taliban assurances of a grand amnesty for collaborators.

It is easy to say nobody understood Afghanistan, qualifying this statement by Afterward, one is always wiser. I just read; Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, now 90, who pulled the Soviets out of Afghanistan, says the U.S. campaign was doomed from the start. Before the Russians failed, the British were forced to leave the country marked by tribal structures and small territories held by warlords. The central government in Kabul controls just the capital and its surroundings.

Why did western secret services not see and report that Afghanistan's strong army of 300,000 existed partly on paper and the rest had no fighting morale? 

A Bundeswehr veteran who served three missions in Afghanistan explains, "Many men did not join the Afghan army voluntarily; they needed the pay to survive. They did not want to die for the government in Kabul."

The situation reminds me of a pacifist movement in France at the outbreak of the Second World War with its slogan, "Mourir pour Dantzig?" referring to the French assistant treaty with Poland when this country was invaded by the German army. 

The Afghani troops had the assignment to fight for a somewhat corrupt central government, while the Taliban had a strong theocratic goal: creating an Islamic caliphate.

The withdrawal of the United States meant a significant blow to the morale of the Afghan army. They no longer had U.S. air and logistical support; they lost combat power and felt abandoned.

Initially, the NATO mission that started 20 years ago aimed to eradicate the terrorist group Al-Qaeda who had found shelter in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. From the beginning, Germany followed its NATO allies providing the second-largest troop contingent. They concentrated on training Afghani troops and building an infrastructure for girl schooling. So the present debacle is a particular blow for the Bundeswehr veterans, "The Afghanistan mission was pointless and in vain." Some former soldiers claim, "Germany lives its Vietnam."

As NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, "We went in together, we adjusted our presence together, and now we leave together after close consultations among all 30 allies." The last part of his statement is a whitewash.

Why does Germany send troops to Mali? The aim is, in particular, to stabilize Mali and the Sahel. Sounds familiar.

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Corona in the Fall of 2021

Autumn is incuming in, and temperatures are getting low. While Red Baron was going to Kieser this morning, the sky was overcast with a mere 15 ⁰C (59 ⁰F).

Occasionally following my training on my way home, I walk into a Pfeifle bakery shop, buy my Wurzelbrot, have a coffee, and enjoy an Oberlindenhörnle.

In Baden-Württemberg, since Monday, life with Corona has become more complicated as a new Coronalandesverordnung (state directive on Corona) came into force. This new directive is no longer based on the Covid-19 incidence rate but on stricter control of people in confined spaces.

Taking your coffee seated in a shop or cafe requires that you not only must register but also prove that you fulfill one of the three Corona Gs, i.e., being geimpft (vaccinated), genesen (recovered), or getestet (tested). For the latter, a rapid test certificate not older than 24 hours is required in most places. However, a negative PCR test is mandatory in nightclubs with enger Tuchfühlung (intimately touching distance).

Luckily, my favorite bakery Pfeifle offers registration via the Luca app, so Red Baron scanning a corresponding barcode with his iPhone did not have to sign his name and address.

New this time was that I had to present my vaccination certificate, fortunately, stored on my phone too.

Zwetschgendatschi

Another novelty today: I opted for a Zwetschgendatschi as a seasonal pastry instead of the usual Oberlindenhörnle. The plum tart was delicious.

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Weltstress

Sascha Lobo ©Der Spiegel

No weltschmerz but Weltstress. Will the neologism that Sascha Lobo coined make the world? He is one of Germany’s intelligent columnists.

Red Baron blogged about Sascha's novel words before. What does he mean by world stress?

Here are the circumstances that lead to world stress: We are still in the pandemic. Delta variant ahead. Deadly vaccination skepticism. Floods and sweltering heat. Burning forests worldwide. Radicalizations of all kinds, from Hungary to the Taliban. Plus, Germany's national classics of digitization disaster, infrastructure deficiencies, educational misery, right-wing extremism, integration problems, housing and nursing shortages, and pains with our federal structure in times when national actions would be required.

This is more than just Germans complaining at an elevated level. The present times desperately call for political solutions, i.e., understandable, plausible, powerful recipes. So, the current situation should be perfect for the German federal election campaign.

No chance! The current campaign, including the political personnel, is a disaster. We have a triumvirate of candidates for chancellor that is a complete failure: "Annalena Baerbock (Green) is unprofessional, Armin Laschet (Christian Democrat) is incompetent, and Olaf Scholz (Social Democrat) is not yet disenchanted because he does not take place."

All candidates are afraid of putting their foot into it, so our election campaign is tepid, uninspired, and irrelevant. How little even the most obvious opportunities are being used effectively. It is fashionable to think that the triumvirate of candidates has completely flopped. The polls do not depict which party is considered good but the least bad. It also explains the converging values; perhaps three parties will remain around the twenty percent mark in the end.

Sascha explains, "My thesis is that a larger part of the German population suffers from a social syndrome that I would like to call "Weltstress." Like weltschmerz, but caused by the overload due to the multitude of different catastrophes and mini apocalypses of the past months. The indifference to the election campaign is the core issue, not just its lack of quality. A year and a half of pandemic and climatic turmoil have numbed us. Paradoxically, my thesis is supported by the ludicrous excitement over trivialities and inconsequentialities that are particularly noticeable during the summer months. Getting worked up artificially is a frequent reaction to one's own dulling."

"World stress is a mixture of exhaustion, depressive mood, and disaster weariness that overcomes those who still care about the world. People mistakenly thought that the pandemic was somehow over with mass vaccinations. On the other hand, Corona had faded the undoubtedly life-threatening climate issue into the background. Now both are coming back with a vengeance."

"These world issues overshadow a multitude of domestic problems that have one thing in common. No one trusts any of the three candidates to solve them. There are ideas, concepts, and possibilities, but the election campaign is tiny, and the world's stress is great. After all, what is a Laschet embarrassment, a Baerbock blunder, a Scholz phrase against a continent on fire, or a further lost delta year? "

"World stress results from a deeply felt helplessness in the face of the turbulence of world events. It is difficult to bear that not even the most powerful people in Germany can get a grip on Corona or the climate catastrophe. No person could credibly promise that things will be all right if you elect him/her. One of the most devastating sentences of the last months, years, maybe decades, was that the climate situation will not get better if you immediately drastically reduce harmful gas emissions worldwide. It will get worse, albeit more slowly."

It still makes a big difference which party you vote for in the upcoming general elections, although it doesn't feel that way for too many people. Unfortunately, the Weltstress reinforces this wrong attitude.

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Street Food Market

While Juliette Gréco once sang, “Je hais les dimanches,” Red Baron visited the 7th Freiburg Street Food Market last Sunday. Probably because of the pandemic, this had been located far out at the fairgrounds.

So Red Baron took the streetcar along Madisonallee to the terminus at Messe Freiburg. 

Vaccine fatigue. Daily vaccinations in Germany.
Yellow: first jab; green fully vaccinated
©Deutsche Telekom

I had to walk nearly two kilometers along the exhibition halls to get to the Street Food Market. I passed a line of people who wanted to get vaccinated. Another line of people stood there for a quick test.

Vaccination on a Sunday? Yes, there was a good reason. Every vaccinated person got a voucher for the Street Food Market, which significantly boosted the languishing vaccination rate.

The carts formed a large fenced-off circular wagon castle at the Street Food Market. The entrance control to the area was rigorous.

First of all, everyone had to register by name. I hate signing my name, so thankfully, I keep the so-called Luca app on my iPhone and had just to scan a barcode.

After that, one of the 3Gs was required geimpft, genesen, getestet. Here I showed my vaccination certificate stored on my smartphone. I finally passed the entrance control.

It was an early 11:30 a.m. At this time, only a few people populated the Street Food Market. I first walked along all the carts to find the most attractive dish for me. 

The barman serving my glass

However, I got stuck at a bar right at the entrance and decided to have an aperitif first. I chose a rosé sparkling wine and, glass in hand, walked the round of food carts.

Strolling past a beer stand reminded me of the Craftival (Freiburger Bier Festival) on the Decker grounds. That had to be canceled last year and also this year. I shed hot tears.

Finally, remembering Katz Delicatessen in New York, I decided on a pastrami sandwich. How disappointed I was when the food cart owner could not fulfill my request for a Pastrami New York Style. He was simply missing the pickles.

So I took his standard version sandwiched between two slices of white bread in a bag and sat at the proper distance from other eaters on one of the chairs provided. While eating, tears again ran down my cheeks in memory of the Katz Pastrami.

I looked for a dessert and saw a stand with the Dutch specialty poffertjes to console me. These are small pancakes, a festive holiday treat in the Netherlands, popular at summer festivals and Christmas markets.

You could choose from many servings at the food cart, nearly all with Nutella. Red Baron hates this stuff and opted for the classical variant with applesauce and cinnamon. Still, as a compromise, I had to accept the addition of whipped cream running from a cartridge.

©Thomas Kunz/BZ

When I left at 1 p.m., the place became crowded.

In conclusion, eating in my hand is not my thing.

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Dad Jokes

I just read an article about dad jokes in German and was stunned. First, I didn't know that such jokes are now categorized. Secondly, my brother and I keep bugging our environment with some of our late father's dicta.

According to an expert, dad jokes must meet three criteria:

1. They are as evident as they are never complex.

2. They are almost always worded jokes in flavors ranging from annoying to nerdy.

3. They usually have a definite cause, the so-called dad-joke trigger.

Our father's jokes met all the criteria but mostly the second one. They were puns, with a few located somewhat below the belt. That means they cannot be translated into English, while in German, they are not printable.

Here is one filthy example: “Er hinkte noch vom letzten Sturz der Fuhre.” My German readers may try to figure out the other meaning of this grammatically incorrect triple spoonerism.

In our parental home in Hamburg, Berlin wit met with Westphalian shrewdness. It is a true heritage. What is most astonishing is that we brothers, both fathers, kept the tradition.

A meta-analysis from 2017, published in the journal Advances in Physiology Education, found that humor boosts health; it ensures that learning ability is maintained and stress is reduced. 

Chill out with some dad jokes in English!

 
"Have you ever tried to catch a fog? I tried yesterday, but I mist."

"I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. It's impossible to put down!"

"What's the best-smelling insect?" "A deodorant."

"Can February March? No, but April May!"

"It's inappropriate to make a 'dad joke' if you're not a dad." "It's a faux pa."
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Mord verjährt nicht

There is no statute of limitations on murder.

A year ago, the trial of Bruno D., a 93-year-old who had been a guard at the Stutthof concentration camp near Gdansk in his younger days, came to an end. The court sentenced him to two years of juvenile detention - he was 17 in 1944 (!) - on probation.

Was it necessary to subject an aged man to a protracted trial?

He was not the last. On July 16, the prosecutor in Itzehoe opened the proceedings against a 96-year-old former secretary of the same concentration camp. She is accused of aiding and abetting more than 11,000 cases of murder.

Defendants are getting older, and more than 76 years after the end of World War II, another Nazi trial will take place in the fall. Following longish deliberations, the judiciary in Neuruppin has admitted the charges against a 100-year-old former concentration camp guard. Murder has no statute of limitations, and even older people must stand trial.

Entrance to the prisoners' camp Sachsenhausen,
nowadays, the memorial site (©dpa-infocom)

The man served in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp from January 1942 to February 1945.

The trial is scheduled for early October. Court president Frank Stark said, "The defendant should be fit to stand trial for two to two and a half hours a day."

Prisoners at roll call in Sachsenhausen concentration camp (©Bundesarchiv)

Just north of Berlin, Sachsenhausen was the setting for the Nazi leadership's delusion of rule over life and death. The lawyer of the joint plaintiffs, Thomas Walther, said, "Many of my clients are of the same age as the accused and hope for justice."

The Sachsenhausen concentration camp was the training ground for guards and camp commanders throughout the Nazi terror system. The SS, with a large contingent in the camp, held about 200,000 prisoners over the years. They murdered around 20,000 there.
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