A regional Berlin court on Friday sentenced a 42-year-old woman to eight years in prison for manslaughter after she admitted to smothering her newborn infant. The woman was found guilty of killing the one-day-old baby boy in her apartment building's cellar in March. The baby's body was discovered in... Another tragic case where innocent children suffer at the hands of the people who are supposed to protect them. WTF does "his birth came at an inconvenient time" mean.... Where was the father in all this? Where were the authorities in all this? She tried to kill/abandon an earlier baby - does that not ring alarm bells when she becomes pregnant again?... I am enraged. Not only about these women but at the German...

Transportation Minister Peter Ramsauer sparked a row over the introduction of road tolls in Germany on Thursday, flagging higher charges for car drivers then quickly backing off as the debate heated up. Ramsauer, from Bavaria's conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), told daily [i]Passauer Neue Presse[/i]... The bit about users to bear a greater burden of the cost really grates. Every single vehicle pays an astounding amount in tax, road tax, tax on fuel, tax on the tax on fuel etc... Drivers are actually still pretty heavily subsidised, if you measure the true costs of motoring. That's not just filling in potholes; it stretches as far as the healthcare costs... If you are going to count negative side effects then...

General Motors' shock decision to back out of selling its Opel unit sparked a mix of fury and fear in Germany on Wednesday, as thousands of auto workers faced an uncertain future. German Economy Minister Rainer Brüderle slammed GM's about-turn as "totally unacceptable" and the powerful labour... So let me get this straight. The original owner who's owned the whole thing since 1929 trial balloons the idea of spinning the division out, citing bankruptcy. This is viewed... Let me get this straight. It's OK for the state to control a company, but not so good if it's another state that controls the entity? If this means Opel would prefer a free-market,... The first situation was a catastrophe until pre-election...

Daily life in Germany's formerly communist eastern half has changed dramatically in the 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. David Sharp turns back the clock in Eisenhüttenstadt. The train glides southeast from Berlin through seemingly endless miles of forest, finally emerging from a long corridor... We should really be grateful for all the advances we have as americans. Electric Cigarette... Ha ! I remember those classroom chairs :-D At least the two in the middle. That brings a lot of schooltime memories back. :-)... It's so backwards here.. Don't ever go to the East!... If you go, they don't let you leave. And they only are allowed to cook with Jägdwurst.... The east german experience really clicked for...

As thousands of people celebrated the opening of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, Victor Grossman feared he might be arrested. [b]Brett Neely[/b] meets the American defector who fled to communist East Germany after deserting from the US Army. Appropriately for a lifetime leftist, Victor Grossman... Move to North Korea then pal.... No attempt to be German after so long? Over stayed his 'welcome' a long time ago.... This guy, not Demjanjuk, should be on trial.... This guy joined left wing organizations, then lies about it when they want to question him. He deserts his own country and then hides in what was then considered the enemy and... In his defense, he's a Yankee.... According to the article, the US Army has forgiven...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel used a historic address to the US Congress on Tuesday to issue a heartfelt plea to combat climate change, likening the problem to a second Berlin Wall. "I'm convinced, just as we found the strength in the 20th century to bring about the fall of a wall made of concrete... Interesting, since she, as well as other politicians, have deflected yet another string of pre-existing social and economic problems by blaming the US for them, thus planting even... Germany needs all the unity it can get, and many Americans are of German origins, so it was a no-brainer, really. I'm happy for the Germans. But they should be careful, as self-interest... Perhaps she and her party could be grateful enough...

An obese man is dead after he refused to have an X-ray taken in a machine for zoo animals because he was too large for one at a Hamburg hospital, daily [i]Bild[/i] reported on Tuesday. Thomas Lessmann, who weighed 230 kilos (507 pounds), had not been feeling well and had lost consciousness several times... Darwin is rubbing his hands.... THEN he felt too humiliated?!!! THEN! Maybe if the guy felt humiliated, say 15 years ago, he might have been motivated to do something about it at that point. "Suddenly"... "Darwin is rubbing his hands." Haha, lol. I find incredible how some feels "insulted" when *they* do not fit in standard measures or roles. That old man had... Why so much contempt?......

Breaking a long-standing semantic taboo in Berlin, German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said on Tuesday that Taliban forces are waging a "war" against the international community. "Our engagement in Afghanistan has for years been a combat operation. But the feeling is - and... Unless it's a misquote or mistranslation by The Local, my Webster's dictionary disagrees with Herrn Guttenberg and/or "the law" and defines war not as "a conflict... Maybe they think it's a "Police Action" ala Korea.... "War is the continuation of politics by other means." -Clausewitz... Thats one of the reasons why Jung was replaced by Guttenberg. Jung's reputation in NATO worsened...

I am down with a cold after some travel abroad (luckily, not the dreaded Hamthrax) so I'm staying home from work today. I kept noticing it was getting colder and colder in the apartment after my girlfriend left for work. I knew the heat was off but I figured sweats and a blanket would keep me warm--I... Maybe she thought that you having a cold (or is it manflu?) you would be running a temperature anyway so why waste the opportunity to give the house a good airing as you wouldn't... No I reckon it makes sense to bring in fresh air when the weather is okay. The fashion of wearing scarves even on a hot day is unbelievably stupid though.... [quote name='Steven192' date=' 2.Nov.2009, 3:31pm' timestamp='1257172285' post='1816346']...

The recent placid mix of foggy and sunny weather conditions over much of Germany will be gradually replaced with heavy rain and sometimes stormy winds, the German Weather Service said on Saturday. At least on Sunday, in the east and south-east parts of the country, regional fog will be initially chased... Cute Llama!!! or is it an alpaca? don't get too close with that camera. He'll spit that leaf at you! ;)... Sure enough.. I already can't stand winter..... This isn't winter, it's November. It always rains in November in Germany.... not where we are STB. There is almost twice as much rain in the months of June, July and August than in November. November just feels more miserable cos you get the cold and short... In summer...

A organization representing German police officers has called for a ban on biker gangs, following a weekend of violence between the Hells Angels and Bandidos, daily [i]Rheinische Post[/i] reported. "The incidences in Duisburg, Solingen and Essen specifically involve conflicts between organised crime... What??!! crime experts suggest ban on biker gangs?? what a great move! this country keeps getting it wrong on crime because they never deal with issues that are most important!... Is membership of the mafia a criminal offence in Germany? If they make it a criminal offence to be a member of a biker gang, shouldn't they do it to all crime organisations? Stupid... All I have to say is Good Luck… You can try to infiltrate,...

Dear readers, I've several questions regarding with A/H1N1 vaccine. 1. Is A/H1N1 vaccine available in Germany? If not when will it sold in drug stores? 2. Is it possible to buy it without prescription? Because I wanna send it to my family who are in my homeland. 3. I heard rumour about poor quality of... You cannot buy the vaccine. You can go to a doctor and get your vaccination. You cannot take the vaccine with you or send it to your family.... DO NOT TAKE ANY SUCH VACCINES!!! Just google the words "swine flu thimerosal" Thimerosal is mercury… If you do the smallest bit of research you will... Why are you telling people to ignore .gov sites?... Because 1 of the 2 vaccines contains Mercury.....

A row has broken out over a photograph of Chancellor Angela Merkel slicing a kebab, which is being used to promote a restaurant in Odessa. The restaurant owner has told Russian newspapers he was given the idea by an advertising company. "We actually have had more guests," he told the [i]Kosomolskaya... Between which parties has this alleged "row" broken out?... Phew! I feared the worst when I read, "Merkel's kebab". [sub] A beef sandwich pictured earlier.[/sub]... Merkel showing Blair's last hope of becoming EU president.... This [i]report[/i] is wee bit confusing: [quote][b][b]A row has broken out[/b] [/b][/quote] Between whom? [quote]No one has made an official complaint[/quote]...

The biggest clearance sale in German history started with a whimper rather than a bang on Sunday, when the website of bankrupt mail-order giant Quelle collapsed. The best that could be wrung from the address www.quelle.de on Sunday was a note saying "Error: network exceeded," as the expected... I´ve just tried, and they still don´t seem to have got the website up and running… it´s very sad!... For a company that is going bust I don't really think a 30% sale is anything to get excited about. There are shops in the UK such as Dorothy perkins who are having sales of 70%... [quote name='The Local' date=' 1.Nov.2009, 10:50am' timestamp='1257069000' post='1815133'] Around half [b]it's[/b] remaining stocks...

A cleaning lady working at a cinema got the fright of her life when she picked up a paper napkin from a seat and found it was wrapped around a hand grenade. The authorities evacuated around 800 guests still watching films in other parts of the Düsseldorf multiplex cinema after the cleaning lady and... Oh gee when your in germany a country that welcomes middleastern terroist in loving arms, why whould finding something like this be such a surprise.... Is that a photo of the actual grenade? The writing looks Russian… perhaps some Russian mafia goon left it behind.... They just want the film to go off with a bang.... The grenade pictured is a Yugoslavian M52P3 "Fragmentation" grenade. This could have injured/killed...

France and Germany will join forces to choose a new-look European Union's first big boss, President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday, sweeping Tony Blair towards the Brussels exit. The French head of state said he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had agreed to back "the same candidate," adding... just as long as they don't select another comatose eurocrat from Benelux …... Love that photo! Sarkozy: "First I grab zee little Limey by zee neck, like so… " Merkel: "Ja, I like da vay you tink! Let us go get heem."... It is bad enough that some lunatics have wanted Tony Blair as president of the EU. At least some people are taking a stand against that. See, http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stopblair/signatures.html.How......

I have a cupcake recipe that I've been using since I was about 10 years old that sadly does not translate particularly well to german products. In Oz they come out light, spongey and fluffy, and practically melted in your mouth. Here, they come out more like a very heavy muffin, almost like a semi-sweet... Here is my favourite recipe: 200 g frozen raspberries 120 g soft butter 120 g sugar 1 egg 300 g sour cream 250 g flour 2,5 Tsp baking powder ½ Tsp Kaiser's Natron 1.... Your problem is that you can't get self raising flour here. I imagine if you use some baking powder (Backpulver - available at any grocery store) your recipe will work just fine.... [quote name='Eleanor Rigby' date='30.Oct.2009, 10:46pm' timestamp='1256939165'...

[url="http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,658287,00.html"]Article from Der Spiegel[/url] Lawyer Jürgen Rieger, one of the leading NPD strategists and financiers - who tried and failed several times to establish "training centers" for right-wing youth - dies of stroke... [url="http://www.thelocal.de/national/20091030-22933.html"]The Local published the story at 3:30[/url], but not on TT.... Interesting that the Local didn't mention that on TT, is this a strategy to keep the one post Nazi nutjobs away?... Not only did they not mention it on TT, they didn't enable comments on the article at all. You may be on to something there, Chocky.... [quote name='JeffZ' date='30.Oct.2009,...

Germany plans to cut off millions of euros in foreign aid to emerging economic giant China, the new development minister Dirk Niebel told daily [i]Bild[/i] on Friday. The controversial first move by Niebel, who was appointed despite having been a vocal critic of foreign development aid in the past, has... Can't see this as being controversial, why give aid to states which already have Nuclear Weapons?... The irony, economic aid to a country that has one of the biggest armed forces in the world!!... No complaints about the German government doing that. Didn't realise they were getting aid in the first place and I must say it surprises me. They are not exactly like Ethiopia... China has loaned America billions of dollars....

German national railway Deutsche Bahn is bracing for a "bloody battle" with French peer SNCF, which has said it intends to compete on major European routes, a Bahn director said on Friday in an interview. "It will be a bloody battle that will leave deep scars in the balance sheets,"... I think the question should be.. Passengers will obtain benefit from SNCF offering its services.. This kind of thing is happening all the time with airlines from other countries... Well I certainly won't be using SNCF, ICEs are much nicer than TGVs... The comments from the DB people are a bit melodramatic… comparing competition to war. DB has a strong tie-in to the German travelling public through the Bahn card...

Okay, I have searched through the topics and didn't find anything quite like this. I am a single American girl studying German at my hometown's university. There, we have a service where people who are studying language can go for homework help, tutoring, or just to converse with native speakers to improve... [quote name='Isabet' date='29.Oct.2009, 7:07pm' timestamp='1256839669' post='1812905'] I searched the topics and didn't find anything like this. … How can I know if he is... Chirst cakes. He is human, so are you. Kiss him and let it go from there. EDIT: Keydeck beat me too it. At least Keydeck and I agree .... This guys probably a flamer. You should hang around the train station and look for dudes standing...

The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden has been ranked as the best international place for scientists to work in academia. The Scientist, a magazine devoted to the life sciences, surveyed 2,350 people at 119 institutions to evaluate the qualities of a successful work... Only in the life sciences area.... It says "Max Planck Institute of [b]Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics[/b]", doesn't it?... The first sentence ends "in academia" which is very misleading as it leads to assumptions that it has been compared across all disciplines. Clearly untrue.... Read it again, monkey boy: scientists in academia. Stop being so pedantic.... yes, "academia" is very...

hi, I'll be moving to Berlin for a few months to explore and (hopefully) learn some German. I'm arriving on the 8th of January. After reading these forums I've come to believe, and hopefully mistakenly, that jobs are really hard to come by in Berlin particularly if you don't speak the language. Am I... Did you really "read these forums"?? There is a thread [b]two topics[/b] below yours that should give you an overview of the situation here - people may not be arsed... [quote name='uxiizo' date='29.Oct.2009, 3:45am' timestamp='1256784333' post='1811932'] After reading these forums I've come to believe that jobs are really hard to come by in Berlin... Matthew: If you want any chance to make it in Berlin or anywhere...

One of Germany's last Nazi war crime trials began on Wednesday in Aachen against 88-year-old Heinrich Boere, a Dutch-born former SS hit man accused of killing three of his countrymen. Boere allegedly shot and killed three resistance fighters in the Nazi occupied Netherlands in 1944. A Dutch court sentenced... Isn't killing the opposition what people are supposed to do in a war?... yes. No if you lose the war.... Very little information on that story. He killed 3 people who were accused of being resistance fighters/terrorists. Seems on the surface to be much the same sort of thing that... According to the BBC… Heinrich Boere is charged with killing three men: Fritz Bicknese, a chemist and father of 12; bicycle seller...

Superstars U2 announced Wednesday they will perform a free concert at Germany's Brandenburg Gate to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Irish rockers will perform in front of the landmark in the German capital on November 5 as part of the MTV Europe Music Awards, the group announced... Nooo. The most overrated band in history! Why not a German band? Bonehead stinks with his arrogance.... Ticket booking with Eventim only worked if you already had a membership with them, and the English site wouldn't even work… so it was a waste of time even trying to get tickets…... : not true I bagged 2 tickets and wasn't registered (I got cookie errors on trying to complete the order but managed to...

Since the global financial crisis began a year ago, one out of every nine Germans have lost their jobs, according to a trade union study cited by daily [i]Rheinische Post[/i] on Wednesday. Research by the German Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB) found that some 3.258 million people had been laid off... Utterly reporting from the Local, as ever. If one in nine Germans were out of work, then there would be almost 9 million unemployed people, since there are about 80 Million people... Can't find the article on The Local.... have to agree wizh Owain. We spend many hours talking to Praktikanten, Auszubildilendende usw. which is fine. I work in Corporate IT in a huge company in germany. English has to... This claim is statistically...

Heinz Buschkowsky, the mayor of Berlin's multicultural Neukölln district, tells Sandra Dassler from Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel why he thinks the German government's plans to introduce a new "home-care" subsidy for children opting out of day care could have disastrous repercussions. One... I would guess that no small amount of children will not be allowed to goto kindergarden because the parents would rather spend the money on fags and other stuff utterly useless... Yea, those pesky voters who can't be trusted with money and decision-making. [/extreme irritation and incredulity]... How many fags can you buy with 150€ ? Dont be naive MrNosey. This well just leave more room for tampering with a childhood...

Germany's hated GEZ public broadcasting licence fees - required of everyone who owns a television or radio - may be changing soon, daily [i]Handelsblatt[/i] reported on Tuesday. The premiers of Germany's 16 federal states are planning a meeting to discuss reforming the fees scheme that includes a per-household... Title: [quote]may pull the plug on GEZ fees[/quote] I had my hopes up, but then: [quote]meeting to discuss a reform to the fees[/quote] Dashed to smithereens my hopes are!... I'll go with eurovol on this, just a bunch of humbug. Theres a real industry behind this and a lot of jobs in the public broadcast sector. GEZ can probably only be killed by the... As far as I can see, they are not planning on killing...

I have a few questions about the ideea of opening a brothel: 1. is it complicated to open a brothel … do you have to get a lot of papers and aprovals? 2. are this things alowed only in designated areas? 3. are the number of brothels limited by rule (lest say no more than 10 in a city) ? 4. what... Ask your local council, not a bunch of English-speaking ex-pats. I assume that the number of ex-pats on this forum managing a brothel tends very much towards zero.... I just pretty well convinced myself it was Friday.... is just an ideea yet … and i was just asking... It's a stupid idea. Grow up and open a strip club.... The very fact you have to ask shows that you don't know enough about this kind of business to...

Many German companies are struggling through tough economic times and have forced workers to put in fewer hours, but some firms warn that qualified staff are hard to find as they recruit ahead of an anticipated rebound. At Trumpf, a family-owned company near Stuttgart in southwestern Germany, 80 percent... As Quoted from the article on thelocal - [url="http://www.thelocal.de/national/20091025-22799.html"]Labour crunch likely to follow recession[/url] " The worst of... They just want an excuse to have an H1B visa program like in the US, so they can hire in Indian engineers at 1/2 the price of a native worker. The H1B workers live 12 to a house,... From what I see from my self-employed perspective, I for...

An Egyptian man told a German court Monday how his pregnant wife was murdered before his eyes in a frenzied anti-Islamic attack, in a case that has inflamed tempers in the Muslim world. On the first day of the trial of Russian-born German defendant Alex Wiens in the eastern city of Dresden amid tight... [quote]After Sherbini testified and left the witness stand, he allegedly pulled the knife he had smuggled into the courtroom and stabbed her and then Okaz, who was shot in the... I think in reality things don't quite happen as in Hollywood movies. Just saw a report on it on CNN. I guess now we can look forward to burning German flags around the Muslim world,... This is a terrible crime, and would be in any country involving...

The notorious German biker gang and organised criminal organisation the Bandidos was the target of a nationwide police operation which caught 15 suspected drug-dealers and smugglers. Raids across Germany in recent weeks have resulted in the arrest of several suspected members of the gang, and the confiscation... Comment: What the?? " a nationwide police operation which caught 15 suspected drug-dealers and smugglers" ONLY 15? that was a waste of man power & money to catch... If you find a member of the Bandido's in Sweden or denmark who is not a drug dealer, highlight that. It will be a first. The fact they arrested only 15 bikers, implies that the... That is all that the police could spare manpower for...

Around 300 abandoned guinea pigs were rescued from a filthy flat in Aachen over the weekend, according to the police. The authorities had to break into the ground-floor apartment after the neighbours reported a horrible stink emanating from the place. The renter was not at home, but she had left hundreds... People really think they can treat animals like this? Disgusting and heartbreaking. I hope they don't even think about giving them back.... Authorites later determined that the flat owner had not been to work in nearly one month. Nor had she been heard from since paying her October rent. Detectives working the began... This article is not what I would consider news in the real sense of the word. To the editor of The...

Trade unions, opposition leaders and the press savaged German Chancellor Angela Merkel's new-look government Sunday over what they called a fiscally reckless and socially unjust plan for the next term. The conservative Merkel won re-election last month and dumped her partners, the Social Democrats, for... Surprise, surprise. "Trade unions, opposition leaders and the [lefty] press savaged German Chancellor Angela Merkel's new-look government." Who would have thought? Shocking... This will be the same unions who call members out on strike asking for 8% to 20% wage increases. That did they just say, "fiscally reckless"??... They can say just about anything they want… but they never sold the public...

The clocks will be turned back one hour in the night from Saturday to Sunday, with more and more young people baffled about the purpose and annoyed by the consequences of daylight savings time. The Free Democrats have even made it a political issue. Stories of the hassles caused by the bi-annual one-hour... "Other statistics show that the time shifts have led to an increase in road accidents, particularly involving wild animals, who suddenly find cars racing through their territories... Yes, it is very difficult to explain to children why the clocks "have to" change twice yearly, but apparently it could be worse - my Mother used to tell me that they... [url="http://www.toytowngermany.com/forum/index.php?act=findpost&pid=1804868"]Another...

I find that being a straight, midget porn loving, heterosexual male I am a bit perturbed by the front page showing of candy panties. Not so much because of my judeo christian values and up bringing because i sold those years ago. More like I cannot stop looking at them. I find myself rereading Crabfishing... No! It has my name, first word in the little paragraph next to it. I'M FAMOUS, FAMOUS I TELL YOU!!!... I suggest this one: [attachment=116400:bachelorette-dot-com_2075_169538261.jpg]... [quote name='bohemka' date='24.Oct.2009, 6:04pm' timestamp='1256400252' post='1807000'] Relax dude. Make yourself a drink and enjoy your Saturday. May I suggest this vessel for... Ok - who was it? Who pinched my Liquorice...