Joker

Witze auf Englisch 5 (9)

Beitragsfoto: Joker | © Siggy Nowak auf Pixabay

Wenn die Lage wieder einmal völlig hoffnungslos und das Wetter entsprechend war, kam es immer gut, wenn man als für Ersteres verantwortlich, wenigstens einen guten Witz parat hatte.

Da ich mich des öfteren in solchen Situationen befand, hatte ich auch stets ein paar Witze zur Hand, die die Stimmung wenigstens ein wenig aufbessern konnten.

Hier finden Sie jene, die mir bis heute in guter Erinnerung blieben.

At the golf course one Sunday, a golfer is about to putt, when a funeral procession turns the corner just off the course and begins to roll by. The golfer straightens up from his putter, takes his hat off, and holds it over his heart. He stands there silently like that, facing the procession until it passes. Then he bends over again and makes his putt.
“That was a very thoughtful gesture,” a member of his foursome says to him as they walk towards the next tee. “You are one compassionate guy.”
“Thank you,” replies the golfer. “We would have been married 25 years next Tuesday.”

A little old man shuffled slowly into an ice cream parlor and pulled himself slowly, painfully, up onto a stool.
After catching his breath, he ordered a banana split.
The waitress asked kindly, “Crushed nuts?”
“No,” he replied, “Arthritis.”

What do you call a woman who knows where her husband is every night?
*
*
A widow

Did you hear about the wine that they are marketing to guys with prostate problems?
*
*
It’s called Pinot More.

Standing in front of a shredder with a piece of paper in his hand, “Listen,” said the CEO, “this is a very sensitive and important document, and my secretary has left. Can you make this thing work?” 
“Certainly,” said the young executive.
He turned the machine on, inserted the paper, and pressed the start button.
“Excellent, excellent!” said the CEO as his paper disappeared inside the shredder machine. “I just need one copy.”

A man walks into a bar. He sees a good looking, smartly dressed woman perched on a bar stool.
He walks up behind her and says: “Hi there good looking, how’s it going?” 
She turns around, faces him, looks him straight in the eyes and says: “Listen, I’ll screw anybody, anytime, anywhere, your place, my place, it doesn’t matter. I’ve been doing it ever since I got out of college. I just flat out love it.” 
He says: “No kidding?, I’m a lawyer too! What firm are you with?”

I was visiting my son and daughter-in-law last night when I asked if I could borrow a newspaper.
“This is the 21st century, old man,” he said. “We don’t waste money on newspapers. Here, you can borrow my iPad.”
I can tell you, that friggin’ fly never knew what hit it …

A preacher was walking down the street when he came upon a group of boys, all between 10 and 12 years of age. The group surrounded a dog. Concerned that the boys were hurting the dog, he went over and asked, “What are you doing to that dog?”
One of the boys replied, “He’s just an old neighborhood dog. He doesn’t have an owner. We all want him, but only one of us can take him home. So we’ve decided that whoever can tell the biggest fib will get to keep the dog.”
The reverend was shocked. “You boys shouldn’t be having a contest to see who can tell the biggest fib!” he exclaimed. “Don’t you boys know that’s a sin? When I was your age, I never fibbed!”
There was dead silence for about a minute. Just as the preacher thought the boys understood the virtues of telling the truth, the smallest boy gave a deep sigh and said:
“All right, give him the dog.”

My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table.
My wife asked, “Do you know her?”
“Yes,” I sighed, “She’s my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn’t been sober since.”
“My God!” said my wife, “who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?”

Wife: “There’s trouble with the car. It has water in the carburetor.”
Husband: “Water in the carburetor? That’s ridiculous.”
Wife: “I tell you the car has water in the carburetor.”
Husband: “You don’t even know what a carburetor is. I’ll check it out. Where’s the car?”
Wife: “In the pool.”

How do you call a beautiful lady in London?
 *
*
A tourist

One day a housework-challenged husband decided to wash his sweatshirt.
Seconds after he stepped into the laundry room, he shouted to his wife, “What setting do I use on the washing machine?”
“It depends,” she replied. “What does it say on your shirt?”
He yelled back, “OHIO STATE!”

What do you call an Italian with his hands in his pockets?
*
*
A mute

“You wouldn’t sleep with Angelina Jolie for a million dollars, would you?”, asked his wife.
“Don’t be ridiculous”, answered her husband. “How am I gonna raise a million dollars?” 

An elderly couple was sitting on their rocking chairs rocking back and forth. The woman whacked her husband as hard as she could right off his chair. 
Surprised and disorientated he said: “Now why did you do that?!” 
She replied: “That is for 50 years of horrible sex”. 
He sits back down and thinks about it for a while, and pretty soon you hear another whack.
This time the wife falls off the chair, and gets back up and asks, “What was that for?” 
He replied, “that is for knowing the difference.”

A magician on a cruise liner had a parrot, who’d seen all the magician’s tricks a jillion times, long ago having figured out the magic behind the magician’s disappearing acts.
The parrot got bored, his owner growing stale and not developing any new tricks that the parrot couldn’t figure out.
One night in the middle of the magician’s performance, the ship hit an iceberg and sank. Everyone drowned except the magician and the parrot. The magician managed to swim to a piece of wreckage and climb aboard, immediately collapsing from exhaustion.
Soon afterward, the parrot flew to the magician, perched on the edge of the makeshift raft and stared at the magician. And stared. And stared.
For a whole day the magician was unconscious, and all this time the parrot didn’t take his eyes off him. Eventually the magician started to stir. Looking up, he saw the parrot, still eyeing him intently, not even blinking.
Another hour goes by, and finally the parrot squawks, “All right, I give up. What did you do with the ship?”

A Scot came back from work earlier than usual and saw a plumber’s car in the front of his house.
His first thought was: “Oh my God, I hope it is her lover!”

Two old actors are sitting on a bench. One asks: “How long has it been since you had a job?”
The other actor says, “Thirty two years – how about you?”
The first actor says, “That’s nothing. I haven’t had a job in forty years!” 
The other says, “One of these days we’ve got to get out of this business!”

Another crisis in Africa. The EU decides to sent out a so called Fact Finding Team.
Right after arrival the team consisting of a French, a German, and a Spanish officer gets caught by a local war lord and is sentenced to death right away.
“Since I was educated and trained in Great Britain, I will each of you grant a last wish”, says the war lord.
“I commited my whole life for my military carreer and never dated a lady”, says the Spanish officer. “So I would like to have a marvelous diner together with a good looking lady”.
“This I can absolutely understand – your wish is granted”, answers the war lord.
“I had not much time to see your country”, the German says. “But it is enough to give you a briefing about how you will be able to improve the over all situation of your country.”
“That sounds really strange to me, but I heard about you guys already, and as it is your last wish it will be granted”, says the war lord.
“And what is your last wish, Frenchman?” the war lord asks.
“Just shoot me before the German gives his briefing”, the French officer replies.

Ireland’s worst air disaster occurred early this morning when a small two-seater Cessna plane crashed into a cemetery.
Irish search and rescue workers have recovered 1826 bodies so far and expect that number to climb as digging continues into the night.

While on a car trip, an elderly couple stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch. After finishing their meal, the elderly woman left her glasses on the table, but she didn’t miss them until they were back on the highway. By then, they had to travel quite a distance before they could find a place to turn around.
The elderly man fussed and complained all the way back to the restaurant. He called his wife every bad name he could think of. When they finally arrived at the restaurant, and the woman got out of the car to retrieve her glasses, the man yelled to her,
“And while you’re in there, you might as well get my hat, too.”

A sign posted on the wall of an Army mess hall read: “Don’t Waste Food – Food Will Win the War.”
Beneath these words someone had scrawled: “That’s fine, but how do we get the enemy to eat here?”

How a British gentleman found out that his wife truly loved and fully understood him.
*
*
Coming back home from office earlier to spent his birthday together with his wife, he found a huge, naked black dude in his wardrobe.

Why do they bury Germans 20 metres under?
*
*
Because deep down they are really nice.

The photographer for a national magazine was assigned to get photos of a great forest fire. Smoke at the scene was too thick to get any good shots, so he frantically called his home office to hire a plane.
“It will be waiting for you at the airport!” he was assured by his editor.
As soon as he got to the small, rural airport, sure enough, a plane was warming up near the runway. He jumped in with his equipment and yelled, “Let’s go! Let’s go!” The pilot swung the plane into the wind and soon they were in the air.
“Fly over the north side of the fire,” said the photographer, “and make three or four low level passes.”
“Why?” asked the pilot.
“Because I’m going to take pictures! I’m a photographer, and photographers take pictures!” said the photographer with great exasperation.
After a long pause the pilot said, “You mean you’re not my flying instructor.”

Valentine’s Day is the day when ladies have dreams of a candlelight dinner, diamonds, and romance, but consider themselves lucky to get a card.

Anon

Louvre

The World Factbook 5 (2)

Beitragsfoto: Louvre | © Pierre Blaché auf Pixabay 

The World Factbook ist eine Informationsbroschüre der Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), welche regelmäßig und beständig aktualisiert wird. Sie beinhaltet inzwischen die wichtigsten Informationen zu gut 267 Ländern oder Völkern.

Seit etlichen Jahren ist sie auch im World Wide Web auf der CIA Website zu finden. Der untenstehende Artikel ist wohl einer etwas älteren Version des World Factbooks entnommen und zwischenzeitlich auch durch eine aktuellere Ausgabe ersetzt.

Ich wünsche dennoch viel Spaß beim Lesen.

France

General Overview

France is a medium-sized foreign country situated in the continent of Europe. It is an important member of the world community, though not nearly as important as it thinks. It is bounded by Germany, Spain, Switzerland and some smaller nations of no particular consequence and with not very good shopping. 

France is a very old country with many treasures, such as the Louvre and EuroDisney. Among its contributions to western civilization are champagne, Camembert cheese and the guillotine.

Although France likes to think of itself as a modern nation, air conditioning is little used and it is next to impossible to get decent Mexican food. One continuing exasperation for American visitors is that the people willfully persist in speaking French, many will speak English if shouted at. As in any foreign country, watch your change at all times.

The People

France has a population of 54 million people, most of whom drink and smoke a great deal, drive like lunatics, are dangerously oversexed, and have no concept of standing patiently in line. The French people are in general gloomy, temperamental, proud, arrogant, aloof, and undisciplined; and those are their good points. 

Most French citizens are Roman Catholic, though you would hardly guess it from their behavior. Many people are communists, and topless sunbathing is common. Men sometimes have girls’ names like Marie, and they kiss each other when they hand out medals.

American travelers are advised to travel in groups and to wear baseball caps and colorful trousers for easier mutual recognition.

Safety

In general, France is a safe destination, though travelers are advised that, from time to time, it is invaded by Germany. By tradition, the French surrender more or less at once and, apart from a temporary shortage of Scotch whisky and increased difficulty in getting baseball scores and stock market prices, life for the visitor generally goes on much as before. 

A tunnel connecting France to Britain beneath the English Channel has been opened in recent years to make it easier for the Government to flee to London.

History

France was discovered by Charlemagne in the Dark Ages. Other important historical figures are Louis XIV, the Huguenots, Joan of Arc, Jacques Cousteau and Charles de Gaulle, who was President for many years and is now an airport. 

Government

The French form of government is democratic but noisy. Elections are held more or less continuously, and always result in a run-off. For administrative purposes, the country is divided into regions, departments, districts’ municipalities, cantons, communes, villages, cafes, booths, and floor tiles. 

Parliament consists of two chambers, the Upper and Lower (though, confusingly, they are both on the ground floor), whose members are either Gaullists or communists, neither of whom is to be trusted, frankly. Parliament’s principal preoccupations are setting off atomic bombs in the South Pacific, and acting indignant when anyone complains.

According to the most current State Department intelligence, the President now is someone named Nicolas. Further information is not available at this time.

Culture

The French pride themselves on their culture, though it is not easy to see why. All their songs sound the same, and they have hardly ever made a movie that you would want to watch for anything but the nude scenes. And nothing, of course, is more boring than a French novel. 

Cuisine

Let’s face it, no matter how much garlic you put on it, a snail is just a slug with a shell on its back. Croissants, on the other hand, are excellent, though it is impossible for most Americans to pronounce this word. In general, travelers are advised to stick to cheeseburgers at leading hotels such as Sheraton and Holiday Inn. 

Economy

France has a large and diversified economy, second only to Germany’s in Europe, which is surprising because people hardly work at all. If they are not spending four hours dawdling over lunch, they are on strike and blocking the roads with their trucks and tractors. France’s principal exports, in order of importance to the economy, are wine, nuclear weapons, perfume, guided missiles, champagne, high-caliber weaponry, grenade launchers, land mines, tanks, attack aircraft, miscellaneous armaments and cheese. 

Public Holidays

France has more holidays than any other nation in the world. Among its 361 national holidays are 197 saints’ days, 37 National Liberation Days, 16 Declaration of Republic Days, 54 Return of Charles de Gaulle in Triumph as if he Won the War Single-Handed Days, 18 Napoleon Sent into Exile Days, 17 Napoleon Called Back from Exile Days, and 112 France is Great and the Rest of the World is Rubbish Days. 

Other important holidays are National Nuclear Bomb Day (January 12), the Feast of St. Brigitte Bardot Day (March 1), and National Guillotine Day (November 12).

Conclusion

France enjoys a rich history, a picturesque and varied landscape, and a temperate climate. In short, it would be a very nice country if it weren’t inhabited by French people. The best thing that can be said for it is that it is not Germany. 

A Word of Warning

The consular services of the United States government are intended solely for the promotion of the interests of American businesses such as McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and the Coca-Cola Corporation. In the event that you are the victim of a crime or serious injury involving at least the loss of a limb, report to the American Embassy between the hours of 5.l5 am and 5.20 am on a Tuesday or Wednesday, and a consular official who is supremely indifferent to your plight will give you a list of qualified dentists or something similarly useless. 

Remember, no one ordered you to go abroad. Personally, we always take our holidays at Newport Beach, and you are advised to as well.

Laguna Beach im Sommer

„Ce qui sera, c’est ce qui fut.“

Anatole France, so zitiert auf einem Hinweisschild im Garten des Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc

Offizielle Flagge der EU

Fakten über die EU 5 (7)

Beitragsfoto: offizielle Flagge zur digitalen Verwendung

Die politischen Zentren der EU

Brüssel:
Luxemburg:
Straßburg
Frankfurt:
Den Haag:
  • Sitz des Europäischen Polizeiamtes (Europol)

Die Bevölkerungszahl & Größe der EU

512 710 966 Millionen Einwohner (2018)

4 383 136 Quadratkilometer (2018)

Das Motto der EU

Das Motto in allen 24 Amtssprachen der EU:

  • Bulgarisch: Обединен в многообразието
  • Dänisch: Forenet i mangfoldighed
  • Deutsch: In Vielfalt geeint
  • Englisch: United in diversity
  • Estnisch: Ühinenud mitmekesisuses
  • Finnisch: Moninaisuudessaan yhtenäinen
  • Französisch: Unie dans la diversité
  • Griechisch: Ενωμένοι στην πολυμορφία
  • Irisch: Aontaithe san éagsúlacht
  • Italienisch: Unita nella diversità
  • Kroatisch: Ujedinjeni u različitosti
  • Lettisch: Vienota dažādībā
  • Litauisch: Suvienijusi įvairovę
  • Maltesisch: Magħquda fid-diversità
  • Niederländisch: In verscheidenheid verenigd
  • Polnisch: Zjednoczona w różnorodności
  • Portugiesisch: Unida na diversidade
  • Rumänisch: Uniţi în diversitate
  • Schwedisch: Förenade i mångfalden
  • Slowakisch: Zjednotení v rozmanitosti
  • Slowenisch: Združena v raznolikosti
  • Spanisch: Unida en la diversidad
  • Tschechisch: Jednotná v rozmanitosti
  • Ungarisch: Egység a sokféleségben

und auf

  • Latein: In varietate concordia

Die Hymne der EU

Mehr über die Hymne gleich hier.

Die Flagge der EU

offizielle Flagge zur digitalen Verwendung

Die 27 Mitgliedsstaaten der EU

StaatMitglied seitHauptstadt
Belgien1957Brüssel
Bulgarien2007Sofia
Dänemark1973*Kopenhagen
Deutschland1957/1990Bonn/Berlin
Estland2004Tallinn
Finnland1995Helsinki
Frankreich1957Paris
Griechenland1981Athen
Irland1973Dublin
Italien1957Rom
Kroatien2013Zagreb
Lettland2004Riga
Litauen2004Vilnius
Luxemburg1957Luxemburg
Malta2004Valletta
Niederlande1957Amsterdam
Österreich1995Wien
Polen2004Warschau
Portugal1986Lissabon
Rumänien2007Bukarest
Schweden1995Stockholm
Slowakei2004Bratislava
Slowenien2004Ljubljana
Spanien1986Madrid
Tschechien2004Prag
Ungarn2004Budapest
Vereinigtes Königreich1973 – 2020**London
Zypern2004Nikosia
* gem. Volksentscheid v. 23.02.1982 verließ Grönland (bis dahin fester Teil von Dänemark) zum 1.01.1985 die damalige Europäische Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft (EG).

** gem. Volksentscheid v. 23.06.2016 hat das Vereinigte Königreich am 29.03.2017 entsprechend des Artikels 50 des Vertrags über die Europäische Union seine Absicht erklärt aus der Union auszutreten, und dann auch zum 31.01.2020 die Europäische Union verlassen.

Die 24 Amtssprachen der EU

  1. Bulgarisch (Minderheitensprache in Griechenland, Rumänien und Ungarn)
  2. Dänisch (Minderheitensprache in Deutschland und Schweden)
  3. Deutsch (Minderheitensprache in Belgien, Dänemark, Frankreich, Italien, Polen, Rumänien, der Slowakei, Slowenien, Tschechien und Ungarn)
  4. Englisch
  5. Estnisch
  6. Finnisch
  7. Französisch (Minderheitensprache in Italien)
  8. Griechisch (Minderheitensprache in Ungarn)
  9. Irisch
  10. Italienisch (Minderheitensprache in Frankreich und Kroatien)
  11. Kroatisch
  12. Lettisch
  13. Litauisch
  14. Maltesisch
  15. Niederländisch (Minderheitensprache in Frankreich)
  16. Polnisch (Minderheitensprache in Lettland, Litauen, Rumänien, Tschechien und Ungarn)
  17. Portugiesisch
  18. Rumänisch (Minderheitensprache in Bulgarien und Ungarn)
  19. Schwedisch (Minderheitensprache in Finnland)
  20. Slowakisch (Minderheitensprache in Österreich, Polen, Rumänien, Tschechien und Ungarn)
  21. Slowenisch (Minderheitensprache in Italien, Österreich und Ungarn)
  22. Spanisch
  23. Tschechisch (Minderheitsprache in Österreich und Rumänien)
  24. Ungarisch (Minderheitensprache in Österreich, Kroatien, Rumänien, der Slowakei und Slowenien)

Die drei Arbeitssprachen der EU

  1. Deutsch          (kaum noch im Gebrauch)
  2. Englisch          (Priorität 1)
  3. Französisch

Die sieben Währungen der EU

  1. Euro
  2. Dänische Krone
  3. Polnischer Zloty
  4. Rumänischer Leu
  5. Schwedische Krone
  6. Tschechische Koruna
  7. Ungarischer Forint

Wer kann Mitglied der Europäischen Union werden?

Im Vertrag über die Europäische Union heißt es, dass jedes europäische Land sich um die Mitgliedschaft bewerben kann, wenn es die demokratischen Werte der EU respektiert und sich dazu verpflichtet, sie zu fördern.

Genauer gesagt, kann aber ein Land erst dann Mitglied werden, wenn es alle Beitrittskriterien erfüllt:

  • politische Kriterien – es muss stabile Institutionen haben, die Demokratie, Rechtsstaatlichkeit und Menschenrechte gewährleisten können,
  • wirtschaftliche Kriterien – es muss über eine funktionierende Marktwirtschaft verfügen und in der Lage sein, dem Wettbewerbsdruck und den Marktkräften innerhalb der Union standzuhalten,
  • rechtliche Kriterien – es muss die geltenden EU-Rechtsvorschriften und ihre Umsetzung in die Praxis akzeptieren, vor allem die Hauptziele der politischen Union sowie der Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion.

Derzeitige Kandidatenländer

  • Albanien
  • Nordmazedonien
  • Moldau
  • Montenegro
  • Serbien
  • Türkei
  • Ukraine

Potenzielle weitere Kandidatenländer

  • Bosnien und Herzegowina
  • Kosovo

Länder, welche inzwischen wieder augetreten sind, bisher einen Beitritt abgelehnt oder ihren Antrag zurückgezogen haben

  • Grönland
  • Island
  • Norwegen
  • Schweiz
  • Vereinigtes Königreich

Auch Mitgliedsstaaten des Europarats, welche noch nicht EU-Mitglied sind, können durchaus für eine Mitgliedschaft mit in Betrachtung gezogen werden. Für weitere Staaten, z. B. rund um das Mittelmeer könnte sich eine langfristige Beitrittsperspektive positiv für beide Seiten auswirken.

Update von der Europäischen Bewegung (2025)

Weitere Informationen

Wenn Sie mehr über Europa und die Europäischen Föderalisten wissen wollen, dann empfehle ich Ihnen das Buch „Europa ist für alle da!“