Spunky

On the Berlin underground, a sperm bank advertises its search for sperm donors. €80 per shot is being offered. Some of the ads are in German but some are also in English and I am curious about the decision to advertise for foreign sperm. 

Are donors of all ethnicities welcome? Would this be a way for young travellers to finance their trip to Berlin? 

And… the big question, what about all the asylum seekers, is their sperm welcome? 

Asylum seekers in Germany are not permitted to work, as long as their application is being considered, a process that can last several years. Until then, they get a basic state allowance. Doing their bit for the plight of childless German couples, could be a novel concept in the search of how to successfully integrate. 

Those worried about Islamisation of Europe, will of course be worried by racial purity…

Do not eat, drink, smoke or belong to the AfD

The photo above shows that travellers on Berlin underground trains are instructed that not only should they not smoke, drink or eat on the trains, but also that the extreme right-wing party, AfD, is prohibited. Will the sperm bank, in the adjoining ad, accept AfD voters’ sperm?   

Philip Roth

I just had lunch with some colleagues at University. When someone mentioned that Philip Roth had died, I said, “and he wasn’t even that old”. They all looked at me somewhat puzzled and I knew better than to add, “after all, he was only 85”.

German letterboxes and Policemen (not only in Germany)

Finding a post office in Berlin is not easy. Having finally found one, I bought my stamps, and then spent two days till I found a letter-box to mail my letters. When I finally found a letterbox, it came in a cluster of three.

Perhaps, dear Deutsche Post, it would be a good idea to spread the letterboxes around. They do not need to keep each other company. Nor – for that – should policemen. They are meant to walk the streets, see and be seen. They may consider chatting to their colleagues less boring than walking on their own, but less boring is not what their job is about. 

Interview at Deutsche Welle

Deutsche Welle, is a sort of German equivalent of BBC World Service.

Podcasts of Deutsche Welle’s interview with me, that was broadcast yesterday, are:

In the German original

In English (synchronised)

In Spanish (synchronised)

Jubilation in Jerusalem

Israel is jubilant because it has just won the Eurovision song contest.

Israel is also jubilant and Netanyahu is going up in the polls because Trump has torn up the nuclear agreement with Iran. Who cares that virtually the whole of Israel’s defence establishment considered the agreement to be good. Netanyahu wanted it done away with and Trump loves nothing better than reneging on a contract signed by Obama.   

And to seal it off, Israel is jubilant because the Trump regime is opening its embassy in Jerusalem this week.

So, who needs a peace agreement with Palestine, who needs to come to an understanding with Iran, we’ve got Trump and we have Ms. Eurovision 2018. The rest can go to hell.

US Ambassadors

In the past, it was only South American countries, where US ambassadors behaved as if they (or the CIA resident) owned the place.  

Under Trump the Chutzpeh of American ambassadors has spilled over to Europe and the new ambassador to Germany, a certain Richard Grenell, has two days ago, tweeted “German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately.” For this he will probably get recognition from his boss. Germany, however, should cold-shoulder him until he apologises for this outrageous communication. Who the hell does he think he is?

No such outrages from David Friedman, the US ambassador to Israel, who is an orthodox Jew espousing views that are more right-wing than those of most Israelis. Friedman’s connection to the Trump regime is having represented Trump in one of his bankruptcies. He also boasts having chaired a charity that gave money to a Jewish terrorist group. It all fits.