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| Europe |
| Berlin archbishop backs German boycott of US goods over Iraq war |
| 2003-04-05 |
| Archbishop of Berlin Cardinal Georg Maximilian Sterzinsky voiced his support for a boycott of American and British goods as German consumer fury over the brutal US-led invasion of Iraq appears to be on the rise. Speaking in an interview with the local Berlin television station SFB, Sterzinksy said that although he believed that such limited boycott actions would not seriously affect "the powerful in the US and Great Britain," he thought it would be "good as a symbolic act." Shows which side you're on, doesn't it? Although the boycotts are mainly symbolic, the German media did report about a growing number of restaurants and coffee bars in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Frankfurt and several other cities where the owners have taken everything off their menus to protest against the war in Iraq. "I'd like a schnitzel, please." "No schnitzel. We're protesting." "How about some schweinehachsen?" "No schweinehachsen. We're protesting the war in Iraq." "Sauerbraten?" "No sauerbraten. We're..." "So why am I here?" In other related news, German bicycle manufacturer, Riese and Mueller GmbH, has cancelled a multi-million euro deal with its American spare parts suppliers as a result of the US aggression in Iraq. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #8 Recent Economist has some good articles on Germany. Apparently their unemployment rate is nearly double ours, and their recent GDP growth is absolutely pathetic even by EU standards. Schroeder has a plan but probably |
| Posted by: (lowercase) matt 2003-04-05 21:42:16 |
| #7 Maybe you should not post so much irrelevant information about Germany here, especially not from sources like IRNA. So what? Some restaurant refuse to serve Coke? Get real! Bikes? Who knows, maybe somebody needed an excuse and this one came in handy. A bishop? A sorry attempt to get more than 5 visitors for mass. Trade wars are the silliest thing to do. Nobody is starting one. Not even the idiots who flush French wine down the gutter. French wine that has been paid for already, right? I wish countries would stop acting like little children. Mummy George punched meeee. Heyyyy but Gerhard kicked meeee first! The world economy is bad enough... everywhere. It was the United States after all that "re-educated" Germans and taught them to hate war and love democracy. Now they do, and you should know that Germans always do things to perfection. Yes German economy doesn't look good but Germans have had harder times than these, they come back. But not with tanks. And I guess we are all happy about that. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-04-05 20:00:38 |
| #6 The US has a lot more flexibility for a trade war than Germany does. The US economy might slow and stagnate, but it's not likely to collapse. The German economy could shatter. |
| Posted by: Dishman 2003-04-05 18:42:24 |
| #5 Taking everything off the menus to protest a war? Isn't this just a variation on the ol' European "let's strike on a beautiful sunny day because we don't feel like working" theme?? Of course, I *do* like the fact that the bike company named their product after Germany's new best friend. When do we start moving our troops out?? |
| Posted by: Former Russian Major 2003-04-05 17:51:43 |
| #4 We can always take back Chrysler from Daimler Chrysler...hell, we can take back the Daimler part too... |
| Posted by: Brian 2003-04-05 17:13:32 |
| #3 Maybe it's time to call due all those billions in unsecured loans to Germany over the last 50 years or so. Only we don't want Euros - gold or silver only, gutter freunde. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-04-05 17:06:33 |
| #2 Riese and Mueller, they make those retarded folding bikes...here is a description of the Frog model from their web site...they are apparently boycotting the English language too, At car, train or boat, the Frog abscond in the puniest niche, and at the public traffic the slight parcel keeps a low profile. It is always thereby and waits for spontanious insets..... Bite me big time |
| Posted by: Dick Saucer 2003-04-05 13:56:10 |
| #1 Omigod, the U.S. economy is doomed! However will we make up that lost twenty dollar's worth of sales? U.S. to Germany: Bite me. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2003-04-05 09:57:15 |