Category Archives: Poetry

Nachtgedanken

by Heinrich Heine

Denk ich an Deutschland in der Nacht,
Dann bin ich um den Schlaf gebracht,
Ich kann nicht mehr die Augen schließen,
Und meine heißen Thränen fließen.
 
Die Jahre kommen und vergehn!
Seit ich die Mutter nicht gesehn,
Zwölf Jahre sind schon hingegangen;
Es wächst mein Sehnen und Verlangen.
 
Mein Sehnen und Verlangen wächst.
Die alte Frau hat mich behext,
Ich denke immer an die alte,
Die alte Frau, die Gott erhalte!
 
Die alte Frau hat mich so lieb,
Und in den Briefen, die sie schrieb,
Seh’ ich wie ihre Hand gezittert,
Wie tief das Mutterherz erschüttert.
 
Die Mutter liegt mir stets im Sinn.
Zwölf lange Jahre floßen hin,
Zwölf lange Jahre sind verflossen,
Seit ich sie nicht an’s Herz geschlossen.
 
Deutschland hat ewigen Bestand,
Es ist ein kerngesundes Land,
Mit seinen Eichen, seinen Linden,
Werd’ ich es immer wiederfinden.
 
Nach Deutschland lechzt’ ich nicht so sehr,
Wenn nicht die Mutter dorten wär’;
Das Vaterland wird nie verderben,
Jedoch die alte Frau kann sterben.
 
Seit ich das Land verlassen hab’,
So viele sanken dort in’s Grab,
Die ich geliebt – wenn ich sie zähle,
So will verbluten meine Seele.
 
Und zählen muß ich – Mit der Zahl
Schwillt immer höher meine Qual,
Mir ist als wälzten sich die Leichen
Auf meine Brust – Gottlob! sie weichen!
 
Gottlob! durch meine Fenster bricht
Französisch heit’res Tageslicht;
Es kommt mein Weib, schön wie der Morgen,
Und lächelt fort die deutschen Sorgen.

Translation:

When at night I think of Germany
About to drift into rest
My eyes won’t close asleep
They flow hot tears as I weep
 

German EV Sales Dominated by DS, MG and Audi

Since I wrote a post a few weeks back — looking at the huge Fiat EV sales numbers in Germany — I’ve been curious about the Stellantis rise (Fiat is a Stellantis brand).

It seems odd that Tesla is soaking up headlines in Germany while failing to deliver, shooting itself in the foot and above all lacking innovation for the tenth year in a row. Nobody meanwhile is writing about the Stellantis revolution delivering amazing results.

The Stellantis boss plans to launch 75 new fully electric models by 2030. The group’s annual sales should double by then to around 300 billion euros – with a double-digit return on sales.

Seventy five EV models within a decade. Wow.

Another one of Stellantis’ brands dominated last month’s EV sales in Germany, for example. This time it’s the French “DS” that takes honors.

Germany’s Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA — motor transport authority) published new figures that show DS registrations in November were up 301%, followed by MG with registrations up 124%, and then Audi up 109%.

That is a huge jump.

I’ll be honest, I know very little about this DS brand even after reading the October press releases.

Looking at the “luxury” marketing I don’t immediately see the DS appeal versus a Polestar, for example.

“Only you, a wealth of attentions”?

Wat.

Why is that all-black faceless woman staring into oblivion while the “only you” is a white man in white? Is that an apparition, like he’s meant to be seaside for mourning the death of his mistress?

It must sound and look better in French, or French translated into German.

My guess is this new DS EV is an amazing feat of engineering that sells itself because the marketing is… let’s just say “schnauzer”.

Since nobody seems to be writing about the DS having huge appeal in Germany, it’s even more curious how they’re crushing very recognizable and highly curated brands like VW and Audi.

It kind of reminds me how Tesla somehow manages to splash itself into Norwegian news, while the modest Nissan LEAF like Stellantis has quietly dominated that country’s all time EV sales.

The story of Nissan’s LEAF, the world’s first mass-market EV launched a decade ago, is woven into Norway. In 2018, for example, it was the country’s most-sold passenger car. A 2020 survey of 14,000 EV drivers in Norway – thousands of them Nissan LEAF owners – showed that nearly 95% are satisfied with their cars and 66% are encouraging their friends to follow their lead. Maria is definitely one of those drivers. “For those who have not yet switched, try this car. You won’t regret it,” she says. “As soon as you drive it, you’ll see how wonderful it is to drive a Nissan LEAF.”

Seriously, there’s great EV stuff going on if you look at the real numbers instead of cooked ones from the Tesla propaganda pulpit. Let’s see some more talk about super cool Nissan innovation for Norway’s snowy roads, engineering that fundamentally changes an EV that Norwegians buy the most.

e-4ORCE offers a powerful and controlled drive with a lightning-fast response and smooth acceleration with ultra-high-precision control at 1/10000th of a second. It guarantees driver and passenger comfort and steadiness while delivering thrill and velocity matched with a sports car.

Nissan innovation is impressive, especially now that their CEO is not crazy.

Massive Disney Kids Clothing Recall: Lead Poisoning Hazard

Nearly 90,000 items immediately must be pulled away from children.

The CPSC has disclosed that popular Disney prints were made by Bentex using lead.

…recall involves Bentex children’s clothing sets in nine different Disney themed styles.

They’ve been sold for a little less than a year by large American retailers such as T.J. Maxx, Ross, Burlington, Army and Air Force Exchange Service and of course Amazon.

Bentex seems to be a portmanteau of textiles from Bentonville, AR. The area is known for its lack of safety, described by historians as a high concentration of domestic terror cells (America First).

More than a hundred secret Ku Klux Klan chapters organized across Arkansas in the early 1920s [results of President Woodrow Wilson’s “America First” platform], including ten in northwest Arkansas.

[…]

Kenneth Barnes has compiled his research into an article titled “Another Look behind the Masks: The Ku Klux Klan in Bentonville, Arkansas, 1922-1926,”

That being said, the official business address for Bentex HQ is in NYC. It’s hard to tell from their contact info when the company really was created, by who and why.

Perhaps more to the point, the CPSC recall warning suggests people go to Bentex for more details and Bentex simply tells everyone to go to the CPSC.