Germany Needs More Windmills

And pronto!

But until then, just in case you were wondering:

Germany to continue buying Russian-provided oil, gas, coal – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday again dismissed calls to boycott Russian energy supplies in the wake of the attack on Ukraine.

Scholz said sanctions already imposed on Russia were hitting its economy “and this will only get more dramatic every day.”

At the same time, Scholz said the sanctions were designed to be “tolerable” for those imposing them, including in the long term.

“That is why Germany’s position on this question (of an energy boycott) remains unchanged,” he said.

German Of The Day: Endlich

That means finally. You know, like in “Finally! German anxiety is growing again.”

As if it had ever stopped.

Sales of “pop-up panic rooms” are booming.

German anxieties grow as Ukraine war continues – War has returned in Europe — and with it strong fears for the future. Germans are preparing for an emergency.

How Far Is Der Spiegel Willing To Go?

Will “Putin’s Apocalypse” be enough?

Or should they try “Russian racist ideology” and “Russian death camps” first? “World War III” is getting a little tiresome, don’t you think? I just don’t know. It must be tough being a balanced and objective journalist these days.

How Far Is the Russian President Willing To Go? – The West has expressed shock over Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. But the Kremlin boss has been speaking openly for years about his vision of a Russian empire. This is the escalation he has been seeking for 20 years.

Germany

Beautiful German weapons sale of the week.

Because somebody has to admire them.

Thanks, Russia! Germany will now be selling tons of weapons to Germany for once.

Sensing a feeding frenzy, German arms makers jockey for position – Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Feb. 27 proposal to ramp up defense expenditures by tens of billions of euros, spurred by Russia’s war on Ukraine, has defense officials in Berlin scrambling to identify spending opportunities that promise fast results, according to several company officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

In A Quandary?

Germany is in a quandary over its dependency on Russian energy?

Quandary: a state of perplexity or uncertainty, especially as to what to do; dilemma.

When 50% of your oil, gas and coal comes from Russia, that’s no quandary at all. That just means you’re screwed.

Germany in a quandary over Russian energy – Germany has rejected a complete ban on Russian gas and oil imports over Russia invading Ukraine, but voices are growing louder for Berlin to ditch its economic imperative to take a moral stand.

50% Is Pretty Dependent

I’d say. But maybe that’s just me.

Hey, the Germans couldn’t have done it without Angela Merkel.

Factbox: How dependent is Germany on Russian gas?

Russia has warned it may shut off its main Nord Stream gas pipeline to Germany after Berlin halted approval of a second line across the Baltic Sea in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The German Culture Cult Thinks War Is Bad

And that it should be stopped immediately. And the rest of us need to know that they think war is bad and that we, the less-cultured, should think it is bad too. War ain’t got no culture, in other words.

I know!, the cultured say after brainstorming. We’ll hold a “Concert for Peace.” That’s never been tried before. We will also make paintings of doves holding olive branches. That ought to have the desired effect. Anti-war books are also in the process of being written. Once they are published and airlifted to those making war, and read by them, this will definitely stop the war, provided it hasn’t been stopped already by, I dunno, all the cultured people of the world holding hands together and singing “Imagine” while waving Ukrainian flags with “No war!” on them to “express solidarity” or “make a statement” or “set a sign” and bring an end to this awful, culture-less conflict.*

But be warned, you war mongers out there: If none of this works, the culture may escalate. And you don’t want that.

*Yes, it’s true. Cultured people can hold hands together and wave a flag at the same time.

The Long And Winding Road

Of German bureaucracy. Has it finally come to an end for Tesla?

I still wouldn’t bet on it.

Tesla to win approval for $5.5 billion Berlin gigafactory on Friday – The German state of Brandenburg has called a news conference for Friday at which it is widely expected to approve Tesla’s (TSLA.O) 5 billion euro ($5.5 billion) gigafactory near Berlin if certain conditions are met.

“The approval procedure for the e-car and battery factory of the U.S. company Tesla in Gruenheide in Brandenburg is nearing completion,” the state government said in a statement.

Any Other Country Could

And would, of course. But Germany? Planet Germany? German Renewable Energy Disneyland itself? Do NOT place any bets on that one.

Explainer: Could Germany keep its nuclear plants running?

Of the 17 nuclear power plants Germany had at the time, only three remain in operation now: Isar 2, Emsland and Neckarwestheim 2, which are operated by German energy firms E.ON (EONGn.DE), RWE (RWEG.DE) and EnBW (EBKG.DE), respectively.

Under current plans, the plants, with combined capacity of 4,200 gigawatts (GW), will be shut down by the end of 2022.

Tough As Nails

Or as Jell-O, at least. Here’s the latest “Money Makes The World Go Around” going around in Germany (some still refer to it as “the EU”).

Cutting off Russia from the SWIFT global interbank payment system should not be part of the second EU sanctions package against Russia that EU leaders will decide upon at a meeting on Thursday in Brussels, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

He’s right, of course. Doing that would be one of the only things that would actually hurt Putin & Co. and that would be counterproductive.

Die Swift-Keule kommt nicht zum Einsatz.