The Inquisitr » Germany

German Court Denies Buddhist Bank Robber’s Request To Visit With Cat

AHN — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:31:58 +0000

Whirl, Germany (AHN) – A Buddhist bank robber’s plea to have his cat visit him in jail was turned down by a German court-even with the caveat that the cat is the reincarnation of his mother.

Peter Keonig, 46, doesn’t want to spend the five years he was sentenced for armed robberies without seeing his cat, Gisela, England’ The Daily Telegraph reported.

He told the court the cat should be allowed to visit him because he’s certain she’s the reincarnation of his deceased mother. Buddhists believe that people return to the Earth as animals after they die.

In turning down the kitty-plea, the court said they respected religious freedom, but that there’s no proof that cat is in fact Keonig’s mother reborn, the Telegraph reported.

The court did note he would be able to write the cat, but there’s no indication his mother retained her reading skills after transitioning to feline form.

Snipers Using New Cars As Target Practice On German Highways

AHN — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:00:46 +0000

Wiesbaden, Germany (AHN) – German police report that one or more unknown snipers have been shooting into new cars that are being transported. Law enforcement officials reveal that the incidents have been occurring on transporters throughout Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Between July 2008 and now German police have identified 225 incidents in their country alone. Thankfully no one has been injured in the shooting.

Investigators say there appears to be no pattern to the attacks and they are also left wondering what caliber of weapon is being employed in the attacks. Most of the shootings damage the doors and windows of vehicles being transported on German highways. Detectives working on the case are also unsure if there is one shooter or multiple.

In published reports an investigator is quoted as saying, “All the cars that have been hit are brand new, but there is no recognizable preference for a particular brand, style or value.”

German authorities have enlisted the help of other countries in their hunt for those responsible.

The damage to the vehicles isn’t noticed until truck drivers begin unloading their cargo off the transporters. However at that time it is far too late to recall when or if they heard noises which could have been a gun discharge or damage to the vehicles.

Michael Jackson’s Father Refused Entry To German Beer Fest

AHN — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:30:25 +0000

Michael Jackson’s father has been banned from a German beer festival because he should not be partying after his “child has passed away.” Music mogul Joe Jackson requested access to a VIP marquee at Oktoberfest – an annual event which runs for 16 days in Munich – but was refused entry by events organizer Sepp Kratz because he thinks Joe should be mourning the death of his son, who passed away in June.

Sepp, who has run the Hippodrum tent for 15 years, told German magazine Stern: “Michael Jackson’s father was desperate to have a seat reserved. I rejected his request immediately. I was really shocked. The man has just buried his son. It’s totally inappropriate to celebrate happily just after your child passed away. That’s just not right. In short, anyone who has no sense of decency isn’t welcome at our place.”

Although Sepp isn’t a fan of Joe, one celebrity he did enjoy having in his tent was Paris Hilton.

Sepp revealed: “Paris came three years ago. She was lucky, she was allowed to enter. She really behaved herself, but I do think she has an ice cold heart.”

Oktoberfest kicked off on September 19 and ends on October 4.

Joe – who the “Billie Jean” singer claimed beat him throughout his childhood – was criticized in the immediate aftermath of Michael’s death for publicizing new business ventures while speaking about he loss of his son.

German school principal: Videogames create “homicidal maniacs”

Chris Greenhough — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:07:27 +0000

Oh, Germany. You know I love you. Your currywurst rocks my world. I giggle at your upside-down houses. Oktoberfest is close to my heart. But please, how about doing something about that loony anti-gaming brigade of yours?

Late last week, a German teenager ran amok at his school with an axe, knives, and molotov cocktails. Mercifully, nobody was injured, but now the school’s principal wants to make sure his students are banned from playing so-called “killergames,” a policy he hopes will eventually extend to a whole network of German schools. Bernd Denning also thinks that games end up playing “a major part in turning minors into homicidal maniacs.” Eh?

I can sort of accept that Denning needs to be seen to be doing something right now, and that this is the kind of traumatic incident that not many of us have direct experience of.

But then games are such an easy target nowadays (particularly in Germany) that it’s hard not to be cynical about these reactions, particularly when sensationalist terms like “homicidal” get thrown about.

Indeed, there seems to be an air of agenda-setting about this case. After all, police have yet to confirm that the teenager responsible was even a gamer, but already Denning doesn’t just want violent games banned within the school – he wants to make sure his pupils are banned from playing them at home. Hopefully, some of the parents are a little more level-headed than poor old Bernd.

[gulli, via Negative Gamer]

Keep it up says Crytek to Germany and we’ll leave

Steven Hodson — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:09:27 +0000

For those that might not recognize the name Crytek is a German video game software developer best known for their Crysis game as well the CryEngine a well respected gaming engine. Anyway it seems that Germany is threatening to ban all action games in the country and as a result the companies would no longer be able to develop them either.

Well this isn’t sitting to well with Cevat Yerli the president and co-founder of Crytek who has said publicly that if Germany goes ahead with this ban he will move the company out of Germany.

"A ban on action games in Germany is concerning us because it is essentially like banning the German artists that create them," he told PC Games Germany. "If the German creative community can’t effectively participate in one of the most important cultural mediums of our future, we will be forced to relocate to other countries.

"The current political discussion will deprive German talent of its place on the global game development stage, and deprive German consumers of entertainment that is considered safe and fun around the world."

Source: GamesIndustry.biz :: Yerli: Crytek will leave Germany if country bans action games

Other than the fact that Yerli wouldn’t have any other choice but to move the company if he wanted to keep on creating games like Crysis it is nice to see standing up and saying how stupid this idea is in the first place

Sentient house will grope your tatas

Kim LaCapria — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:19:02 +0000

Urbanscreen, a German group of artists and architects, has created a scarily active building using projection and… uh, nighttime.

The video below is titled, very teutonically, ”How it would be, if a house was dreaming.” And judging by the first few seconds of the video, screencapped above, it’s pretty obvious what we caught the house dreaming about. At the risk of sounding puerile, that is totally boobies, isn’t it? In any event, the about-to-rise-and-kill-us structure happens to be O.M. Ungers’ Galerie der Gegenwart in Hamburg, Germany.

Freshhome described the project all official-like:

Resultant permeabilty of the solid facade uncovers different interpretations of conception, geometry and aesthetics expressed through graphics and movement. A situation of reflexivity evolves – describing the constitution and spacious perception of this location by means of the building itself.

Even if the above sentence makes absolutely no sense to you, you will appreciate the piece- view it below.

[Freshome via Engadget]

Lady GaGa reveals Kermit the frog fetish in Germany

Paul Short — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:16:22 +0000

Never one to go unnoticed, pint-sized pop sensation, Lady GaGa showed up for an interview on a German TV show wearing a top made out of green Kermit the frog puppets. Check out the video below.

Germany bans Sprite ad: wait till you see why

Duncan Riley — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:00:09 +0000

An TV ad made for Sprite in Germany has been allegedly banned after a Government watchdog found that the content was not suitable for television.

Before you say “WTF, a Sprite commercial” let me explain: the commercial shows a women offering oral sex to a man, with the bottle of Sprite…well, I won’t spoil it.

The banned Sprite commercial as follow. Although the ad shows no actual body parts, consider it NSFW none the less.

UPDATE: the original was pulled by YouTube due to a complaint from Coca Cola…here’s the edited version without any mention of Sprite…but you can work out where Sprite was originally meant to be.

Naming a baby monkey Obama not the smartest PR move

Steven Hodson — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 19:47:18 +0000

One of the advantages, or disadvantages, of becoming famous famous is that everyone what wants to start naming things after you. From airports, to roadways, to children and even zoo animals. However in some cases as the zoo in Dresden, Germany, found out there are some animals that shouldn’t be named after famous people – especially if that person is President Obama.

While I am sure its intentions were good the idea of naming a baby Mandrill monkey after the freshly inaugurated President of the United States it turned out that naming the monkey Obama set off a bit of a firestorm among German blacks.

“It’s a catastrophe,” director of the Initiative for Black Germans (ISD) Tahir Della said. “Black people continue to be confronted by associations with the animal kingdom and primitivity.”

The baby mandrill, which belongs to a species closely related to the baboon, was born on March 23, Manuela Collmar, zookeeper at the zoo’s “Afrika Haus,” said. Each year the zoo names all newborn animals beginning with the same letter.

“This year they all begin with ‘O,’ and one of the zookeepers chose ‘Obama’ – it was meant to be positive and an honour in light of his visit to Dresden in June,” Collmar said, adding that neither she nor her colleagues were aware of the history of using monkeys to caricature and ethnically stereotype black people.

Source: The Local :: Zoo forced to rename primate called ‘Obama’

Following up on the public pressure to change the name the zoo finally relented and its cute baby Mandrill monkey is now known as Okeke – which apparently means ‘he who was born on a marked day’.

Using a flame thrower to kill weeds is a bad idea

Duncan Riley — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:00:29 +0000

A German man weeding his garden with a flame thrower managed to burn his house down Friday.

Things started to go wrong for the 54 year old man when he managed to set his hedge alight. The flames spread to his garden shed, before eventually finding some excellent fuel in the form of his house.

If this story isn’t bizarre enough, AFP reports that in Germany flame-throwers are used widely in agriculture and also in gardening, but “generally only for removing weeds from between cracks in paving in driveways and patios.” Remind me to be very, very careful the next time I’m visiting Germany then, because turns out they still take eradicating perceived problems very seriously.

Hero: German MP joins Pirate Party over internet censorship

Duncan Riley — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:30:33 +0000

A German MP from the ruling Social Democrats (SDP) has resigned from the party and joined the Pirate Party in response to new censorship laws in the country.

Jörg Tauss was one of only four members of the Bundestag to vote against the censorship legislation. The German laws, unlike those from other totalitarian regimes like Iran, China and Australia, are focused strictly on child pornography, however there are deep concerns in Germany that once implemented the laws could easily be extended to other areas.

While Tauss has become the first member of the Pirate Party in the German Parliament, he has indicated that he won’t be standing for reelection in September. Germany’s election system makes it difficult for stand alone candidates to be elected or re-elected.

Germany getting ready to ban all violent video games

Steven Hodson — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:40:00 +0000

There’s nothing like a few rounds of Doom 3 or a bit of mayhem in GTA to ease the stress of the day. Sure there’s a lot of nonsense about violent video games being responsible for people committing violent acts but to date there has been no (reputable) conclusive studies that have proven that argument.

This fact apparently hasn’t stopped the German government from moving forward with a plan to ban all violent video games, which they define as “where the main part is to realistically play the killing of people or other cruel or inhuman acts of violence against humans or manlike characters”. Not only that but the ban would be applicable to video game companies operating in Germany making it illegal to even create such games.

Well that pretty well means about 90% of the games on the market today as well as the majority of games that are created every year. Plus let’s not forget that Crysis from Crytek – a German based company – would no longer be able to see any future versions being created.

The government’s reasoning for this ban? As usual it stems from some teenager going on a killing spree and blaming on playing some video game for hours on end prior to thinking they could do it for real.

Why all the panic over video games? The usual stuff, really: Their potential link to violence, particularly among youths. Earlier this year a German teenager killed more than a dozen people while dressed in black camouflage, purportedly copying moves learned in the terrorism-focused Counter-Strike. Such links are extremely controversial, but Germany has been at the forefront of lambasting violent games for years as causing these incidents.

Source: Yahoo Tech News

Missing shoes in Germany? You might want to talk to this Fox

Duncan Riley — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 07:00:54 +0000

The mystery behind a spate shoe thefts in a German town has been solved: a local fox had been stealing them.

Locals in the German town of Föhren had wondered for over one year why shoes kept disappearing from doorsteps and garden terraces at night. The mystery was solved by accident, when a forestry worker discovered 120 shoes in a fox’s den in woods just outside the town.

The collection, which German media claimed would have given Imelda Marcos a run for her money, included over 100 hiking shoes, Wellingtons, steel-capped workman’s boots, flipflops and old slippers.

The unnamed Fox with the shoe fetish is believed to be a vixen with a family of cubs, and continues to remain at large. The shoes have been returned to their rightful owners.

Hooked on Red Bull? Its been banned in parts of Germany for containing Cocaine

Duncan Riley — Mon, 25 May 2009 11:39:33 +0000

Any regular drinker of Red Bull knows that the stuff is addictive, but apparently it’s not just the caffeine that’s causing addiction.

Authorities in the German states of Hesse and North-Rhine Westphalia have banned Red Bull Cola (a cola flavored version of Red Bull) after testing found that one ingredient not disclosed on the side of the can was cocaine.

Unfortunately for people looking for a legal high, the amount of cocaine is so small that it doesn’t pose any health risk (well, as long as you don’t drink two dozen a day), but likewise is not a permitted ingredient under local law.

According to local reports, the cocaine comes from a process of de-cocainized extract of coca leaf in the drink, which despite its name, doesn’t actually take all the cocaine out. The process also means that Red Bull Cola has to be classified as a narcotic and needs a special license for sale.

Red Bull protested the decision, saying that Red Bull Cola had been deemed safe by the EU and the United States, and that it’s not as though anyone is getting high of the cocaine in each can. No, as most people know, you need to add Vodka for that to happen

New from Campbells: Extra Crunchy Soup with Boiled Cleaner

Duncan Riley — Sun, 17 May 2009 11:39:57 +0000

A worker in Germany has died after being boiled alive in an industrial soup pot.

The worker was scrubbing the inside of the 6′ 6″ (2m) soup pot when the lid closed, triggering an automatic process of adding boiling water to the pot. The worker was found cooked through thoroughly and smelling of fresh garden herbs several hours later.

The factory, a subsidiary of American soup giant Campbells, has been provisionally closed while an investigation takes place.

And remember: the secret to Campbells Soylent Green is…..

(via NST)

Woman mauled by Polar Bear at Berlin Zoo

Duncan Riley — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 01:40:38 +0000

A woman who jumped into the polar bear enclosure at the Berlin Zoo has been mauled, with the entire thing caught on camera (see pic above.)

The unnamed 32 year old woman is believed to have entered the enclosure to visit Knut, the polar bear that became world famous two years ago when authorities said they were going to put him down after he was abandoned by his mother.

To get to the bears, the woman jumped a fence then swam across a water course, directly to the bear that attacked her. Zoo keepers managed to push the bear off her, but only after it had locked its jaws around her neck. The woman was rushed to hospital where she was treated for bites.

Surprisingly this isn’t the first time someone has tried to visit Knut. A man jumped the fence last December, and was fortunate to escape unharmed.

You’ve got to love Germany when you read this

Duncan Riley — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 06:19:36 +0000

If real, this is a classic that will live in the hearts and minds of many for years:

Wikileaks associate’s home raided by police

Steven Hodson — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:42:03 +0000

In a move that smacks of political pressure being applied by one or all of the countries whose web blacklists has been published on the Wikileaks site the homes of Theodor Reppe; the owner of the German domain registration for ‘wikileaks.de’, was raided by German police. In raids on homes in Dresden and Jena purporting to be investigating the distribution of pornographic material and discovery of evidence.

Wikileaks states that Mr. Reppe has no involvement with the website other than sponsoring the domain name and mirroring a collection of Wikileaks US Congressional Research reports. As well Mr. Reppe maintains one of the most popular anonymous proxy servers in Germany.

Wikileaks told news.com.au it’s not clear whether the raid was initiated after complaints from Australia.

"The raid is over the censorship lists, but which particular list, we can not be certain, although the Australian lists are the most recent and the most prominent due to their non-voluntary status."

In the past week, Wikileaks published three lists all purporting to be the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA’s) blacklist of websites.

While ACMA and Communications Minister Stephen Conroy last week denied the list belonged to ACMA, they both warned that the Australian Federal Police (AFP) would investigate its distribution.

The lists contained apparent links to child pornography websites, gambling sites, as well as relatively innocuous sites including those of a dentist and canteen manager.

Source: News.com.au

Wi8kileaks has stated that if Mr. Conroy goes ahead with the investigation they would go after him based on current Swedish laws; which is where Wikileaks is located, which are highly protective of press confidentiality making it a chargeable offence against anyone trying to breach those rights.

For that fried chicken taste, try Obama fingers next time you’re in Germany

Duncan Riley — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:05:33 +0000

A German company is now selling fried chicken strips under the brand name of “Obama fingers.”

Before jumping to the wrong conclusion about a product from a company that’s most famous export is its army, the connotation isn’t intentional. The company behind the product said that it wasn’t aware of the stereo-type about African Americans and fried chicken, and had picked the name to cash in on Obama’s global popularity.

Just for good measure, Spiegel also explains that the fingers aren’t actual fingers, because apparently Germans don’t get that part of the name either.

Plastic water bottles may give you breasts

Duncan Riley — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 09:02:11 +0000

Scientists in Germany have found that water in many commercially sold plastic bottles is contaminated with chemicals which act like female hormones in the body.

The study found that waters in PET plastic bottles had around twice as much estrogen contamination as those in glass bottles. Before you think it may be a water processing or filtering issue in Germany only, think again: the estrogen comes from common plastic bottle ingredient bisphenol A, which leaches out of the plastic bottles.

The only bright side: only 12 out of 20 brands tested had a serious issue, indicating that it may have some relationship to how each bottle is manufactured.

A scientist told The Local that it’s not yet known whether the water contamination could present a health risk.