German Of The Day: Enttäuschend

That means disappointing.

Olaf Scholz goes to Washington. Hope he’s not too disappointed with all the disappointment there.

The German government’s actions to date with respect to Ukraine have been disappointing at best. All of us in NATO are doing what we can to help Ukraine. And I think many of us believe that a country of Germany’s importance and capabilities could and should do a lot. Especially at a time that will be so important for the future of the European security order. I hope the German Government will decide to do the right thing.

The Invisible Man

Impossible to find when hard decisions need to be made – concerning Russia.

Hey, once a Sozi (Social Democrat mini-Socialist pinko), always a Sozi.

Germany’s new chancellor Olaf Scholz is waving goodbye to the honeymoon period of his tenure, as his “inaudible” stance over the brewing crisis on the Ukrainian border is failing to impress not just Russia-hawks abroad but also more ambivalent voters at home.

Scholz, whose liberal-left “traffic light” coalition was sworn in less than two months ago, has been criticised by Kyiv and other east-central European capitals for sticking to his country’s restrictive stance on weapons export to crisis regions and looking slow to spell out the potential sanctions that could be triggered by a Russian invasion into Ukraine.

German State Broadcasters Take Russian State Broadcaster Off The Air

They have enough state broadcasting to do on their own as it is, thank you.

The Russian state broadcasters will retaliate by taking the German state broadcaster off the air, of course. Oh why oh why can’t we learn to state broadcast together in peace?

Russia to target German media in response to German ban on RT TV – Russia will retaliate against Germany for banning the German-language service of Russian broadcaster RT, and the response will impact German media accredited in Russia and internet “intermediaries”, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

The Wonders Never Cease

Us (as in U.S.) wondering about the Germans, the Germans wondering about us, etc. It’s a vicious circle or something.

There’s nothing to wonder about when it comes to Germany, if you ask me. But you’re not. So there. Have it your way. I won’t tell you.

Is Germany A Reliable U.S. Ally? Berlin Still Wonders the Same About Washington.

Vlad Putin Is Shaking In His Boots

Or valenki. Or whatever it is he’s wearing right now.

Germany is threatening Russia with dialogue again. That’s what moral superpowers do.

Annalena Baerbock: the German minister staring down Russia over Ukraine – New foreign minister won critics’ respect after meeting with Sergei Lavrov, but has work cut out in push for diplomacy.

German Of The Day: Peinlich

That means embarrassing or embarrassingly.

Here’s an example: Peinlich stolpert Biden durch seine Pressekonferenz. Meaning: Biden stumbles embarrassingly through his press conference.

A year after his inauguration, the U.S. president is glossing over his mediocre record. On the eve of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, of all times, he makes a serious verbal mistake.

Green Germans Can’t Enlighten The French

Thank goodness. They remain determined to not only keep using nuclear energy, but to ramp up their program.

The French, for their part, haven’t been able to make clear to the Germans a startling discovery they made a few years ago: Nuclear power is reliable because it produces day and night. The German renewables, well, aren’t, don’t and never will.

France ramps up nuclear power as Germany closes plants in the name of clean energy.

Chancellor Angela Merkel soon caved to public pressure and announced Germany would phase out all nuclear power within 10 years. Her government kept that promise. Germany’s new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, wants to speed up the phase-out of coal and eventually natural gas. He promises that by the end of this decade, 80% of Germany’s energy will be from renewables. And he doesn’t include nuclear in that category.

All Countries Other Than Germany High Risk

As for Germany, it’s super-mega-ultra high risk.

No risk, no fun.

Coronavirus digest: Germany designates all neighboring countries ‘high risk’ – Germany has put Austria on its travel warning list, meaning all of its neighbors are now designated high-risk. Meanwhile, several Latin American countries have reported record daily infections.

Omicron Everywhere!

While the number of available intensive care beds continues to rise.

Almost makes you wonder if this latest variant isn’t all that dangerous (am I allowed to wonder that?). Hey, when in doubt (and your everyday, run-of-the-mill top health official apparently always is) just increase the panic level one more notch.

Germany: Omicron wave breaks new weekly cases record – The new wave of coronavirus infections in Germany has now surpassed numbers last seen in November. Experts are warning of the threat this poses to the unvaccinated.