1.
The idiotic situation of national importance
A few weeks ago, Corona seemed far away.
The pandemic wasn't over, but it looked like it could be controlled.
That was a mistake.
Vaccinated, recovered, failed.
The number of infections is skyrocketing, and intensive care beds are becoming scarce in some hospitals.
It hits people who believed they were protected.
How could it come to this?
Who failed?
Enlarge image
Corona intensive care unit in the Dresden University Hospital
Photo: Robert Michael / dpa
Our new SPIEGEL cover story provides the answers.
The biggest problem, to be clear, is some of us.
Unreasonable citizens ignore the danger and absolutely do not want to be vaccinated.
The precarious situation in the intensive care units is mainly due to this group.
But there was also political fault.
At first, Health Minister Jens Spahn recommended booster vaccinations only for the elderly, immunosuppressed and caregivers, then suddenly for everyone.
The result was a hopeless confusion in the practices.
General practitioners report of insecure patients who blocked the telephone lines and stormed the consulting room - and that of all things in the beginning cold and flu season.
Vaccination centers could step in.
But in many places they no longer exist.
Several federal states prefer to rely on mobile teams or smaller vaccination centers.
Too small, as it turns out now.
It was also a mistake to cancel the reimbursement for the rapid tests.
It was a mistake that one could motivate the stubborn to vaccinate as hoped.
And couldn't politicians have done more to reach the nearly 15 million vaccine opponents and skeptics?
Germany has a much lower vaccination rate than Spain, Portugal or Denmark.
There are no sweeping vaccination campaigns.
Personally, it is absolutely puzzling to me how one can play down an infectious disease from which almost 100,000 people have already died in Germany alone.
But there are these people, say my colleagues Steffen Winter and Jan Friedmann, who have looked around hospitals in Eastern and Southern Germany: "Some people deny their corona disease to the point of death."
Read the full story here: Some deny their corona disease to the point of death
Follow all current developments in the Corona news blog
2.
"Golden Eye" secret file: SAP with a license to steal?
The software giant SAP is not only the most valuable German company.
He is also considered a kind of brand ambassador for modern Germany.
The only corporation that can keep up with the big ones in Silicon Valley.
Innovation made in Germany.
The SAP founders Hasso Plattner and Dietmar Hopp are also honored for their generosity.
Hopp finances projects against childhood cancer and climate change, educational poverty and a lack of exercise.
Plattner lets Potsdam shine in the old Prussian splendor, promotes the university, castles, museums.
Enlarge image
SAP veterans Hopp, Plattner, Oswald
Photo: [M] DER SPIEGEL;
Sports photo pack / IMAGO;
Eventpress / IMAGO;
Tanja Kernweiss;
Bert Bostelmann / picture portfolio;
Heinrich Hecht / ullstein picture;
Jack Hardway / picture alliance / dpa
But now Tim Bartz and Christian Bergmann have come across an internal document.
It shows a different picture of the alleged super company, its methods and its corporate culture.
It shows how SAP has evidently tricked its way into the world's best with unfair methods, especially theft of intellectual property.
The document is from 2010, comprises 61 pages and has the beautiful name "Golden Eye".
"Personal / Confidential" is written in bold on the title page.
It was written by Linklaters, one of the most renowned commercial law firms in the country, on behalf of SAP.
The document has been locked up to this day, and SAP vehemently opposed its publication.
The group even moved to the Federal Constitutional Court to dampen its explosive power.
There are numerous indications in the document that top SAP executives knew of serious copyright infringements.
Even at the top.
The experts come to the conclusion that the then SAP board of directors under CEO Henning Kagermann approved everything.
An intellectual property theft, with a blessing from the leadership circle?
In cooperation with the ARD magazine “Fakt”, my colleagues report on other dubious events.
For example through a cooperation with the University of Mannheim from 1997. The official aim was to have competing software examined by an independent institute.
In fact, SAP employees would have spied on the competition under the guise of cooperation.
Tim and Christian's report is a thriller set at Germany's finest business address.
SAP rejects all allegations.
Not very credible, I think.
See for yourself.
3.
The heart of the CDU
The CDU members are looking for a new chairman.
Who should be your sweetheart?
Helge Braun, the good-natured chuckle from the Merkel staff with the qualification of anesthetist?
Norbert Röttgen, the man with the beautiful suits, long praised as "Mutti's smartest" until he messed up a state election in North Rhine-Westphalia so that he could no longer be mediated as Federal Minister?
Ralph Brinkhaus, who, as an alleged opponent of Merkel, had himself elected as parliamentary group chairman in order to then give the good government messenger?
Enlarge image
CDU politician Merz: The alternative to Scholz
Photo:
Julia Steinigeweg
My colleague Veit Medick believes that another man would be a better fit: Friedrich Merz.
"If you analyze the situation of the CDU soberly and leave certain clichés aside, there is some evidence that Merz could be the right person to take over the party in the crisis and possibly even revive it," writes Veit.
That sounds surprising.
Many consider Merz to be too old, too vain, hopelessly out of time.
In any case, this is the opinion of almost all other CDU observers in the media, especially those who have probably never voted for the CDU themselves.
Veit, on the other hand, says: Merz, an experienced opposition politician, dominates the big stage.
He embodies the opposite of Scholz, habitually, culturally, linguistically.
He comes as an outsider and cannot be held responsible for the Merkel era.
With his political convictions he can make the FDP and Christian Lindner sweat.
And he appears just as wide-legged as Markus Söder from the nasty sister CSU.
I am curious to see how many CDU members share Veit's analysis.
The application round at the CDU will officially open from tomorrow.
Read the full story here: The opposite of Scholz, poison for the FDP
(Would you like to receive the »Situation in the evening« conveniently by email in your inbox? Here you can order the daily briefing as a newsletter.)
What else is important today
Habeck warns of the failure of the traffic light talks:
Actually, the SPD, FDP and Greens are on schedule, SPD General Secretary Klingbeil expects the coalition agreement to be reached before Nikolaus.
But now Greens boss Habeck expresses concerns.
Franziska Brantner wants to run as head of the Greens:
Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock step down as Greens chairmen.
So far, two names in particular have been traded for her successor.
Now, according to SPIEGEL information, there is a third applicant.
Belarus announces military exercise with Russia on the Polish border:
The situation on the EU's external border with Belarus is worsening.
Poland is gathering troops to prevent refugees from entering the country.
The government in Minsk reacts harshly - and threatens with Russian soldiers.
China censors CNN's critical report on Xi Jinping:
The Communist Party has strengthened China's head of state Xi - critical reports about it are undesirable.
An ARD correspondent documents at which word the CNN broadcast signal was cut.
My favorite story today: In praise of double standards
The World Climate Conference in Glasgow officially ends today.
But we already know this from previous events: shortly before the end, nothing is finished;
it needs an extension.
In an emergency, the clocks are stopped.
Susanne Götze and Gerald Traufetter, who are in Glasgow for SPIEGEL to observe the negotiations, believe that it will be at least 24 hours before a final declaration is available.
What is certain is that there will be compromises.
Very committed climate protectors are likely to be disappointed.
Greta Thunberg said last week that the summit "failed".
And this double standard, this hypocrisy!
Great outrage because a large number of the conference participants did not travel to Glasgow by sailboat, but by plane.
Saving the world could be so easy if it weren't for people in their lazy compromise.
Enlarge image
Ice sculpture on the Place du Panthéon in Paris 2015: "Perfection is not the goal of life"
Photo: Martin Argyroglo / Studio Olafur Eliasson
I would like to recommend a more conciliatory text on climate policy. It's about double standards. My colleague Dirk Kurbjuweit cites the example of the former Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel in his essay. Is he a hypocrite? His racing car has around 1000 hp and swallows a good 40 liters of petrol per 100 kilometers. Nevertheless, Vettel had announced before the general election that he would vote for the Greens. Because something has to change.
Dirk writes: »Vettel wants to help avert the climate catastrophe.
Then he should stop racing.
That would be an obvious recommendation.
But Vettel is not ready for it.
Instead, he made a compromise with himself.
Whenever possible, he no longer flies to his races, but takes the train or car.
A photovoltaic system catches sunlight on the roof of his house, and if possible, products from the region where Vettel and his family live are placed on the table. "
That's okay, writes Dirk.
“The double standard is a method to stop climate change.
It is the method that suits us best, the method of the West. "
Now you might be thinking: I beg your pardon?
Double standards have a very negative connotation for us, especially in the private sphere: preaching loyalty to your spouse while indulging yourself on the side of things.
That's correct.
Nevertheless, I am sure that Dirk can convince you to see it differently.
Read the full story here: Why Double Standard is a Useful Way to Stop Climate Change
All current developments at the World Climate Conference in Glasgow can be found on our topic page.
What we recommend today at SPIEGEL +
The main thing is not a bore:
he drank with Hemingway, globalized Deutsche Bank, had himself photographed on a pile of peanuts.
Hilmar Kopper has shaped the German financial scene for decades - both positively and negatively.
An obituary.
How Olaf Scholz blocked tax transparency in the EU:
Tax havens cost Germany billions of euros.
Thousands of confidential documents show for the first time how the EU is failing in the fight against harmful competition - and what role the Federal Minister of Finance plays in this.
This is how Lukashenko's perfidious people smuggling works:
Insiders reveal the Belarusian dictator's inhumane smuggling system: front companies in Damascus and Erbil, secret money transfers and soldiers as smugglers.
The situation on the border is becoming more precarious every day.
A young mother's worries:
Daughters are surefire runners, sons let you run - in the worst case to the hospital.
As the mother of a boy, you recognize many of your own needs in the new film with Anke Engelke.
Which is less important today
Enlarge image
Assange's fiancée Stella Moris in London's High Court in October 2021
Photo: Frank Augstein / AP
Love behind bars:
Julian Assange
, 50, is allowed to marry his partner Stella Moris in London's maximum security prison Belmarsh. The founder of the platform Wikileaks got the approval of the prison director after a long wait. According to the BBC, Moris and Assange met in 2011 when the South African-born attorney joined his legal team. The two began a relationship in 2015 when Assange was already sitting in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The couple now have a four-year-old and a two-year-old son. Moris was "relieved that reason has triumphed," reported the BBC. Earlier, Assange and his fiancée had accused the prison director and the British Justice Minister of deliberately complicating the procedure.
Typo of the day
, now corrected: "Paris Hilton and Carter Reum at a gala on Saturday: Page a couple at the end of 2019"
Cartoon of the day:
where is democracy going here?
And on the weekend?
Enlarge image
Lucky Luke and Jolly Jumper (1971)
Photo:
United Archives / IMAGO
75 years ago the Belgian draftsman Morris created a hero of my childhood: Lucky Luke, the lonely cowboy who shoots faster than his shadow.
The majority of my comic book collection is unfortunately lost, but I still have a copy of Volume 30, "The Daltons Prove Itself".
Wonderful!
The joke of the German version is thanks to the translator Gudrun Penndorf (who, by the way, also translated the first 29 Asterix volumes, all good ones).
For this she received the German Youth Literature Prize this October.
If you have a booklet she has translated: Take a look, it's worth it.
A lovely evening.
Sincerely,
Alexander Neubacher
Here you can order the "Lage am Abend" by email.
