Category Archives: Habitudes

It’s deadly out there

November 29, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Climate crisis deadly.

And it’s getting deadlier all the time. Namely, whenever the temperature isn’t “just right.” Whatever “that “just right” might be.

German authorities urge people to stay home amid deadly winter weather – Authorities in western Germany on Tuesday urged residents to stay home, warning of life-threatening danger, after a burst of winter weather led to hazardous roads, leaving two people dead.

The sudden onset of winter led to several accidents and people being trapped in their vehicles due to slippery roads and fallen branches caused by snowfall in many parts of Germany.

Nothing to fear, Germans

November 28, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

You’ll never ever find yourselves in that role and everybody knows it. Like, we get it already. Yawn.

It would be nice, however, if you could maybe possibly perhaps put yourselves in the position to defend yourselves. Just saying.

Most Germans oppose military leadership role in Europe – 54% of Germans say they do not want Berlin to pursue more active foreign policy, and 71% say they are against taking on leadership role for Europe’s defense.

According to the survey, a majority of Germans are against a more militarized foreign policy, but support diplomatic efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts.

More wiggle, wiggle, wiggle

November 27, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

They’re still squirming. 1) No money but lots and lots of things to spend it on (spending voters’ taxes is how they get votes). 2) Can’t raise taxes any higher (voters are already being taxed to death).

Let’s see. 3) There’s still this debt brake thing we could tweak (except we would need to change the German constitution and the opposition won’t help us).

This adds up to… Are you serious? Do you honestly mean to tell us that we now have no choice but to set priorities and, gulp, cut spending? OMG we’re all gonna die!

Germany’s budget crisis spurs calls to change its borrowing limits – Germany’s budget crisis has given new momentum to reforming self-imposed borrowing limits even among the opposition conservatives, as hunger for sorely needed investment trumps an earlier political obsession with fiscal rectitude.

Asking a government to “fund honestly?”

November 24, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

A government with Net Zero Honesty? Good luck with that.

The truth hurts too much.

Germany Faces the Green Fiscal Truth – The constitutional court rules Berlin will have to fund net zero honestly.

Things have gone from bad to worse in Germany this week after a court ruling that’s forcing the government to do something truly shocking: level with voters about how much the net-zero energy transition will cost. Please pass the smelling salts.

German of the day: Loser

November 22, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means loser. It also means losers (in plural).

US and Germany risk owning Ukraine’s stalling war effort – The onus is on European allies to step up support and chart a path for Kyiv towards Nato and EU membership.

More than 50 countries are supporting Ukraine in its defence against Russia’s full-scale invasion. Yet Ukraine’s existential struggle in Europe’s largest war since 1945 currently hinges mainly on two countries. US leadership, as well as financial and material support for Kyiv, have been essential to Ukraine’s survival. Germany is its second largest supplier of weapons and money, far ahead of the rest of the field. 

Are you serious?

November 15, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

About getting serious?

Don’t take that nonsense seriously, folks. I’m serious.

Wind of change: Germany gets serious about plans to make military ‘fit for war’ – The return of full-scale armed conflict to Europe has Germany dramatically reframing its security policy.

With Russia and Ukraine still locked in combat after nearly two years and a major Israeli-Palestinian conflict underway, the European Union and NATO are feeling their way into a chaotic new world security order – and Europe’s largest economy is shaking up decades-old ideas on what its military is actually for.

I’ll bet you ten bucks those statistics are wrong!

November 14, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Hypochondria Tags: , , , Leave a comment

OK then. How about twenty bucks?

Germany: 4.6 million adults addicted to gambling or at risk – After a new report revealed the extent of gambling addiction in Germany, a government minister has called for measures including a ban on sports betting advertising on television before 11pm.

Approximately 1.3 million adults in Germany suffer from a gambling disorder and a further 3.3 million show initial signs of gambling addiction, according to a new report presented by the country’s Federal Drugs Commissioner Burkhard Blienert on Monday.

According to “The Gambling Atlas,” which draws on data compiled in 2021, 30% of German adults gamble. The figure represents a reduction on the 55% calculated in 2007, but the report nevertheless found that 7.7% of adults suffer financial, social or health problems associated with addition.

It’s not like we’d ever use the money for our own defense…

November 12, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

You know. To get “fit for war?”

Germany Set to Double Its Ukraine Military Aid Under Scholz Plan – SPD-led coalition parties agree on funding boost to €8 billion. Germany is Ukraine’s biggest military backer in Europe.

If approved by the parliament in Berlin where Scholz’s parties hold a majority, the boost would lift Germany’s defense spending beyond the 2% of gross domestic product target pledged by all North Atlantic Treaty Organization members, according to the people.

“War” is the past tense of is

November 11, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hustle (Hoax), Hypochondria Tags: , , , , , 1 Comment

In German. “Was,” in English.

So that headline down there doesn’t make much sense – in my mind. The German army was never “was ready” and never will be.

Germany aims for a ‘war-ready’ military – It’s the most momentous shift in German defense priorities since 2011.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is forcing Germany to turn its military into a powerful and well-financed fighting force focused on defending the country and NATO allies, Germany’s chancellor said on Friday.

“Today, nobody can seriously doubt what we in Germany have been avoiding for a long time, namely that we need a powerful Bundeswehr,” Olaf Scholz said on the second day of a political-military conference presenting the deep change in Berlin’s strategic thinking.

“Our peace order is in danger,” he warned, also mentioning the war between Hamas and Israel and adding that Germany needs “a long-term, permanent change of course.”