Well, so much for the chronicler's duty.Germany doubled the amount of its arms it sold abroad in 2004-2009, compared to that exported during the previous five-year period, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released Monday.
Germany is the world's third leading exporter of conventional weaponry.
Full article here.
The rest has already been posted on this blog.
I do recommend following the offered links, in case you are interested and willing to take the time and read this.
Now that surprises me. Interesting, thanks. My naive impression had been that Germany had become very quiet in that sort of thing. since the last disaster. I'm so busy despairing at Britain trying to bestride the world like the Colossus in isn't that I had neglected Germany. I wish I could just be my own wee country, or just be part of the big wide world with all its issues in the one forum and let's see if we can't sort everything out. Oh.... we can't? Oh well... leave me alone then and I'll leave you lot alone. All I want to do is have some peace and quiet and cuddle my lady...
ReplyDelete... the Colossus that IT isn't even...
ReplyDeleteSome little Irish gremlin keeps sending my fingers to the wrong keys. Feck off Gremlum ---- Oh, that was a delibertate error there (and that was another one), which I could perhaps have conveyed with a wee emot..... No, I will not even say the word. Feck off little symbol representing jest. Feck off! The words, the words alone, are fighting back...
March 16. 2010.
ReplyDeleteFrom Laudator Temporis Acti:
Semonides: Fragment 1 (tr:M.L.West)
.................If I had my way.
we would not cling to sorrow, or so long
torment ourselves by dwelling on our woes.
Too late for poignant, intense Paul Celan.
RIP, Holocaust poet, speaking with persistence the language of the bourreaux. You've been heard, you've been heard throughout the world.
Alas! New bourreaux have risen elsewhere.
Germany doesn't have the monopoly of death.
Sean and Andrew:
ReplyDeleteRE: Emoticons, abreviations, and all symbols the new generation has adopted to express feelings which have much more meanings when said in real words. All my long life, I have ended many messages, with a wink, and the sound of laughter. When I entered the email world, 5-6 years ago, I absolutely refused to use the little available gadgets everyone sent me to. I'm perfectly able to say what I have to say quite effectively in my own way.
But, in case you're addicted to it, I went to see what would be the proper abreviation to end your persistence in mentioning "my blog"... the one I will NEVER start. Amazingly, among the other people who made that suggestion, in the past, and would have been (they said) my faithful readers, 3 have now disappeared from the blogworld!
I guess I should be flattered by your invitation but, somehow, I'm unsure of your motivations. So please GMAFB. And, in my language, it's fucking, not fecking.
Said in all seriousness, but also, and always, with a wink, and the sound of laughter.
Be good to yourselves, and keep writing. I'll keep reading.
GMAFB Claudia? What's that? "Get Me A F...ing Blog"?
ReplyDeleteAndrew - Whatever makes you happy. Bye.
ReplyDeleteHmm a lot of dodgy states bought a lot of shiny new Leopards I take it?
ReplyDeleteAndrew & Claudia
ReplyDelete[no naughty combination of colon and bracket closed, here],
sorry for replying late. This is one of the many topics I could easier speak about while sitting vis-á-vis. Writing down all my thoughts would just take too long.
Anyway, trying to cut short what is complex a matter. Mind you, I still wear my sarcasm hat.
Easier than making war is - and that's the least German 'think-tanks should have learnt -, selling defense-goods.
After all, once the goods are sold, everything is to the buyers' responsibility, isn't it?
Of course, it would not make much sense to sell defense-goods to gentlemen who don't wish to make use of what they paid millions or even billions for.
Still, nobody could ever blame the seller(s), hm? Ask Grandfather Bush.
And now let's get a bit closer to the essential inherent interior essence which is hidden in the root of the kernel of everything, and thus to the advantages of exporting defense-goods:
Despite poverty and malnutrition, despite tiny local disputes [think of Russia und Daddy Stalin, of China, of Cambodia and Ruanda (Vietnam's not being mentioned, as this would mean to meddle into affairs of the most wonderful and peace-loving nation on this planet)] and despite earthquakes & tsunamis, birth controll pills & abortions, within the past 65 years the human population on this planet has more than quadrupled.
Now, isn't an act of humanism to trying one's best to help solving the problems of Turkey & Greece, of India & Pakistan, and of the so-called Near-East?
Of course, this would be but a tiny beginning. However, a beginning it would be, wouldn't it?
Imagine the history-books: 'Guided by deep love for mankind, countries led by humanists, by selling defense-goods, helped to preserve the human race that by proliferating like rabbits had run the risk to extinguish itself, to save its survival.'
Ah, can't cut it short!
Let's enjoy life friends. Isn't it nice to live in peace-loving countries? And isn't it said that for a life in peace one has to bring sacrifices?
So let's raise our glasses on our defense goods.
Jams,
so it is.
Let's look on the bright side, though: Those defense goods don't kill any German, but their export preserves many jobs.
Good to know in difficult times, isn't it?
Now, do you feel better, Sean?
ReplyDeleteHow are you sure that those arms will not kill German people one day?
Enjoying my hard-earned, well-deserved glass of wine...My own sacrifices paid for it, and for the few moments of peace I enjoy.
Claudia,
ReplyDeletethank you.
Do I feel better?
No. I do feel as fine as I did all the past week.
The aspect / possibility you mention is - so to speak - the cherry on the ice-cream.
There's a country, the peace-loving masters of which (world champions in exporting defense goods) could tell you some interesting stories.
Once, f.e. they fervently supported a certain Saddam Hussein; oh! and how dearly they loved a certain Osama Bin Laden ...
Enjoy your peace, Claude. And the wine. You well deserve both.
Dear Sean,
ReplyDeleteThere's not much anyone could tell me about the sins of any country in the world (including mine), that I haven't heard. I don't live in a protective vacuum.
It's a suffering world. We're called upon to speak up, to protest when needed, to teach, to shelter, to feed, to heal, to protect...
There's also beauty in this world. And we're called upon to share it when we see it, and to bring inner peace and joy to the people around us.
Whenever possible, I try to fulfill those functions in my own little circle of people. With your blog, you have done it in a larger part of the world. Thank you for Omnium, the Teaching and the Beauty.