Category Archives: Habitudes

German Of The Day: Vertrauensfrage

October 3, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means a question of trust – or a vote of confidence.

Happy German Unification Day or something.

Democracy thrives on trust. But especially in eastern Germany, this trust is dwindling – in politics, in the state. Why?

And it’s better in western Germany? Not really.

Only 39 percent of East Germans are satisfied with democracy as it functions in Germany. In the west, the figure is 59 percent. In the east, only about 32 percent believe that politicians care about the good of the country. In the west, the figure is 42 percent.

Gas Consumption Too High?

October 2, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Well, we’ll fix that by subsidizing its use to encourage consumers to consume even more.

No need to thank us. We’re from the government and we’re here to help.

German gas consumption too high, says energy regulator – Germany’s network regulator, whcih would be in charge of gas rationing in the event of a supply emergency, on Thursday said that household consumption was too high to be sustainable.

Bless Its Pointed Little Head

September 28, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Reality’s pointed little head, I mean. It will always get stuck up in your face, sooner or later.

Green utopia vs. the phenomenal world AKA the hard realities of life (that it’s cold in winter, for instance). Guess who wins?

Germany delays exit from nuclear power to offset energy shortfall – Two nuclear plants’ lives extended as country copes with loss of Russian gas and shortage of French electricity.

French nuclear-generated electricity, I might add.

German Of The Day: Kreislaufzusammenbruch

September 26, 2022 By in Habitudes, Health, Helplessness Tags: , , Leave a comment

That means circulatory collapse. That’s one of my favorate fake German illnesses.

Anybody here (generally women) can get it at any time under any circumstances.

12 Illnesses You Can Only Catch in German – There are illnesses that you can only catch in German. No, seriously! If you try to explain these illnesses in any other language, people are going to cock their heads in confusion or outright laugh at you.

Saudi Arabian Sleeze Not So Sleezy After All

September 25, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

When trying to wiggle your way out of your self-imposed energy dependency on Russia.

Don’t get me wrong. Germans are very concerned about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. Very concerned. Or they were. Up until very recently.

Germany’s Scholz in Saudi Arabia as Gas Crunch Bites Economy – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz looked Saturday to secure more energy supplies, meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman to discuss future cooperation, including on hydrogen imports, as Europe’s largest economy struggles with fallout from the Russia-Ukraine war.

Talks between the two leaders in Jeddah dealt with the relationship between their countries, Scholz said. Germany is seeking to import “large amounts of hydrogen” amid a push to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions, he said.

More Funds

September 23, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Are always more fun!

Give me a break, people. Look, I’m burning this money as fast as I can!

German minister call for more funds for companies as debt debate intensifies – The German economy minister (Greens) on Thursday called for more government funds to support companies as a debate intensifies on whether Berlin should suspend its debt brake next year.

German Of The Day: Widerspruch

September 21, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means contradiction. This is a word that is in constant demand in Germany.

Germany’s Energy Crisis Plan Contradicts Itself – The German government is desperately trying to conserve gas—and subsidizing its use.

Germany’s self-imposed target is to cut back gas use by 20 percent, which is roughly the shortfall caused by Russia’s discontinuation of gas supplies amid its war in Ukraine. Yet…

The federal government has said it will set price caps on gas and electricity by the end of the year. So… Contrary to the greater goal of throttling back consumption, price caps and subsidies will have a positive effect on demand. By easing the burden on consumers, they dilute the price signal to save. “This increases the risk of brownouts and blackouts over the winter,” said Toby Couture of the energy consulting firm E3 Analytics, “as citizens and businesses consume more power than the system can effectively supply.”

We’re Just The Government

September 16, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

We only create the inflation. We’re clueless when it comes to knowing how to stop it.

Anybody out there have any ideas?

German government tasks experts with proposing inflation-busting ideas – he German government will establish a committee of experts and task them with coming up with policy proposals to combat the soaring cost of heating and gas, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday.

German Of The Day: Verstaatlichung

September 15, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means nationalization.

Sound familiar? Ever more “We’re from the government, and we’re here to help” from the people who created the problem in the first place.

Gas importer Uniper in nationalisation talks with German government – Terms under discussion include increasing state’s holding to 50% as pressure on supplies continues.

The German state took a 30% stake in the group in a rescue package in July, amounting to about €15bn. Credit lines were further extended by about €4bn last month but the situation has worsened since Russia severed gas supplies to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, forcing Uniper to find alternatives.