Photo: Barbara Klemm / Brandstätter Verlag Today, February 9, 2021, Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard would have turned 90. Our government presented him the following gifts for his birthday: Economics minister Margarete Schramböck closes the online platform "Kaufhaus Österreich" a few weeks after she had initiated it. The costs for this amount to 1.2 million euros … Continue reading Thomas Bernhard’s 90th birthday
Tag: austria
Coronavirus: The fight for Tyrol
Picture: Austrian Broadcast ORF In these days all of Europe is looking at Tyrol. The future of the pandemic is currently being decided in this Austrian state. Tyrol is the region in the world in which the South African variant of the coronavirus has now spread the most. There are currently around 300 infections of … Continue reading Coronavirus: The fight for Tyrol
Journalism in Austria
Journalism serves the public. In Austria, this service is usually dependent on other interests. There are a few exceptions. One of them is the Vienna weekly FALTER. The FALTER under its editor Armin Thurnher creates independent journalism. Some might think that Dietrich Mateschitz' RED BULL MEDIA HOUSE would also pursue such an approach, only from … Continue reading Journalism in Austria
My problem with Sebastian Kurz
Picture: Austrian Broadcast ORF The day before yesterday in the morning I learned that a deportation had taken place just before sunrise. 12-year-old Viennese girl Tina, a student at the Stubenbastei grammar school in downtown Vienna, was brought to the Vienna-Schwechat airport with her family in order to be deported from there to the Caucasus. … Continue reading My problem with Sebastian Kurz
Coronavirus: the purpose of lockdown
In Austria we are just as affected by the coronavirus as any other country in the world. It is the nature of a pandemic that it affects the whole world. But in this crisis situation Austria shows its very own character again. While we made it through the crisis reasonably well in the first lockdown … Continue reading Coronavirus: the purpose of lockdown
The future of politics
Donald Trump's presidency appears to have left political observers around the world without a clue. I would like to convey my basic ideas to this in a picture: As one can easily see, this is a world view at the beginning of the third millennium from an Austrian perspective. It tries to capture what I … Continue reading The future of politics
World politics for dummies
World politics in a nutshell. This picture explains EVERYTHING. As short as possible: And this is how Vienna reacts on it: Welcome to the New Normal! --
Coronavirus: The lockdown goal
Dear Federal Chancellor, Dear Minister of Health! In a nutshell: Why don't we define a lockdown goal? We go into (hard) lockdown until we reach (a 7-day incidence of) 50. That would be a basis for a collective national effort that everyone understands. Instead, we experience persistent, arbitrary folk idiocy. Why? Is it because of … Continue reading Coronavirus: The lockdown goal
Euthanasia in Austria
Yesterday the Austrian Constitutional Court (VfGH) decided on the law prohibiting euthanasia. It was about §77 “Killing on request” and §78 “Participation in suicide” of the Austrian Criminal Code (StGB). The two paragraphs are as follows: §77 StGB - Killing on request: "Anyone who kills another at his serious and urgent request is to be … Continue reading Euthanasia in Austria
Corruption in Austria
When the housing company of the Republic of Austria BUWOG was privatized in 2004, CA-Immo AG offered 960 million euros for it. A short time later, their competitor, a consortium of Immofinanz AG and Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich, accidentally offered exactly one million euros more, exactly 961 million euros. A short time later, the finance minister responsible … Continue reading Corruption in Austria
Vienna Calling 