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.

This Will Show Them Russkies

And if lighting up stuff in the national colors of Ukraine doesn’t help, we may have to consider building a Menschenkette (a chain of people holding hands). As a last resort, we MIGHT even ask them to sing We Shall Overcome. So, like watch it, Putin. Give peace a chance, or something.

Berlin and Paris illuminate buildings in Ukrainian colours in show of unity – The German capital lit up the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin’s most famous landmark in blue and yellow, the national colours of Ukraine, on Wednesday evening in a show of unity with Kyiv as the crisis with Russia deepens.

Money Makes The World Go Around

And there’s a big demand for military machinery in Russia these days.

So German business can just jump right in to fill that gap.

Germany indicts man for sale of military machinery to Russia – Germany has indicted a businessman on suspicion of breaking arms control laws by helping Russia purchase sophisticated machinery that could be used to make chemical weapons...

Prosecutors allege that a Russian company the suspect had business relations with was a front controlled by the intelligence agency to cover up purchases by Russia’s military industry.

Bundesanwaltschaft klagt Deutschen wegen Lieferungen an russischen Geheimdienst an.