Category Archives: Habitudes

German Consumers Are An Odd Lot

June 6, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

They have this annoying tendency to not spend money they don’t have.

It has to do with something they call “debt.” Whatever that is.

Analysis: Spend the recession away? Not the thrifty Germans – A drop-off in spending by inflation-hit consumers was one of the main reasons Germany fell into recession in the first quarter, even as other countries in the region managed to avoid it.

What’s more, even with inflation starting to ease across Europe, the signs are that Germany’s famously thrifty shoppers are not ready to spend their way out of recession – meaning the region’s largest economy will have to look elsewhere for growth.

I’ve Seen German Men Do Lots Of Weird Things

June 5, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

But I’ve never seen one try to sit in one of these.

I’m calling fake news on this one.

Men shouldn’t stand to pee, but sit like Germans do, urologist says – A senior urologist claims that men should not urinate standing up but should instead sit down. Here, the Germans might have the right idea.

PS: Personally, I’ve heard nothing but disdain for men who sit when they piss, but maybe that’s just the questionable crowd I hang around with. See “sit pisser:” Sitzpisser = Sitzpinkler = Turnbeutelvergesser = Warmduscher = Nullschecker = Regenschirmmitdabeihaber…

But Violence On The Left Is OK

June 4, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Right? I mean, left?

German lefties are confused about the jail term given to a fellow lefty who attacked neo-Nazis. They have now reacted to this judicial violence against leftist violence with, well, more violence.

German row over jail term for woman who attacked neo-Nazis – A jail term for a far-left extremist who took part in violent attacks on neo-Nazis has caused uproar on both the left and right of German politics.

Lina E was given a sentence of five years and three months – but was also told she is now free pending an appeal, having been in custody since 2020.

Englisch Of The Day: Green Around The Gills

June 2, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

Definition: Looking as if you are going to be sick.

Like Blair but faster: how Germans grew sick of the Greens.

How? Let me count the ways… Nah. That would take too long. All you need to know is that the German Greens always do this. It’s a ritual, sort of. Whenever they reach the point where they actually have some power and are allowed to do something, they shoot themselves in the foot. In this particular case, the straw that broke the camel’s back is forcing, from on high, real Germans living in their real German world to pay a fortune to install heat pumps so Germany can save the world, I mean planet, once again.

A Gift From Putin’s Russia?

May 22, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Gift being German for poison.

German police said they are investigating the possible poisoning of two Russian exiles who attended a conference in Berlin at the end of April, organised by Russian Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Berlin police told Reuters “a file had been opened” after German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, citing Russian investigative media group Agentstvo, said two women reported symptoms that suggested possible poisoning.

Healing The Wounds Of German Colonialism

May 19, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Humor Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

In a country Germans never set foot in, much less colonized?

Seems like there’s just never enough guilt to go around these days. But hey, if it makes you feel good, I mean virtuous, run with any guilt you can find (or steal, or make up).

But you know, personally, I think sending Nigeria 20 Greens instead of 20 Bronzes would have been a much nicer gesture.

Germany had hoped that by returning 20 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria last year it was “healing the wounds” of colonialism and righting a historic wrong.

But when it emerged that ownership of the repatriated objects will pass to the king of Benin rather than the Nigerian state, Berlin found itself facing a PR nightmare.

“The government has recklessly consigned African world heritage to oblivion. The pieces will vanish into the private possession of a Nigerian king.”

“This should be a wake-up call to end the hyper-moralism in the whole restitution debate.”

This Gives “Lord Of The Lost” A Whole New Meaning

May 14, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

German Of The Day: Schlusslicht. That means taillight. As in last place. Again.

This has now become a tradition, I guess. It’s very strange. Russia would have received more points. With Putin singing.

This can’t be true! We got the fewest points again! We brought up the rear at the Eurovision Song Contest once again. And that despite the quite striking performance of “Lord of the Lost”.

Green Hydrogen?

May 12, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Do you mean green like in pink unicorns or like in red herrings?

I see. As in both.

How Germany’s Hydrogen Boom Stalled – Green hydrogen has the potential to heat millions of homes and keep German industry humming. So far, though, a lack of the environmentally friendly gas and the infrastructure needed to transport it have prevented its wide-scale use.

Welcome to the sobering hydrogen reality. While Germany hopes that it will soon be able to run basement gas heating systems on hydrogen, steel manufacturers are converting their production to the green gas at a cost of billions and energy companies are planning new power plants that will generate electricity from hydrogen, almost everything needed to make the climate-neutral dreams a reality in the near future is still lacking. The environmentally friendly hydrogen is missing, as are the pipeline networks to carry it across the country, not to mention reliable business models.

Talk The Talk

May 11, 2023 By in Habitudes, Helplessness, Hard Facts, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

But walk the walk? And give up one of my many annual vacations, say?

Thanks, but we’ll just stick to the talking, if you don’t mind.

This, folks, is “saving the planet” rhetoric in a nutshell.

Germans Want Climate Policy – Just Not in Their Homes. A new law about home heating reveals political constraints on the energy transition.

Polls show that Germans are earnestly worried about the climate crisis and in favor of more climate action. The fallout of global warming is one of their most pressing concerns, indeed as it is across Europe. And yet, when it comes to modifying their lifestyles or paying higher prices to curb emissions, most say they’re not willing, or only as much as it doesn’t sting.

Kanßel Kultur

May 10, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, History Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Looks like the Germans beat you to the draw on this one, cancel culture commissioners.

But chin up. The methods you use to silence the un-woke are much more effective.

Nazi book burnings in Germany – archive, May 1933 – 10 May 1933: Students in uniform around the country burn thousands of books deemed to be un-German.

Thousands of curious spectators lined the pavements this evening to watch the procession of Nazi students on their way to a gala on the Opera Square, where they burned a huge quantity of “un-German” books. The students, who were in uniform, escorted six vans of the doomed books, as well as confiscated emblems of the Jewish fraternities.