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.

Couldn’t They Just Cancel It Altogether?

Please? For health reasons? And then there’s COVID too.

Berlin Shortens Film Festival, Requires Vaccination and Testing – The 2022 Berlinale hopes new COVID-19 restrictions will allow it to have in-person screenings and events in February.

The Berlin International Film Festival has cut three days off its official screening schedule for 2022 and introduced new coronavirus measures, requiring attendees to be both fully vaccinated or recently recovered from a COVID-19 infection, plus show a recent negative COVID test.

Berlin 2022 will now run Feb. 10-16, with the festival’s Gold and Silver Bear honors handed out on Wednesday, Feb. 16. The final four days of the festival, Feb. 17-20, will feature repeat screenings of festival titles in cinemas around the German capital. Traditionally, Berlin sets aside one day for these “public screenings.”

How Come The Banana Republik of Amerika Didn’t Make The List?

You can catch that Omicron cold there lickety-split there these days.

Germany has added to the list of high-risk areas the highest number of countries in over a year at once, including several European Union Member States, amid the increase of Coronavirus cases throughout the world, and in particular, the spread of the Omicron variant.

Updating the list of countries highly affected by the virus on Friday, January 7, 2022, the Robert Koch Institute, which is the German government research institute responsible for disease control and prevention, has expanded the same list by adding the following:

Angola
Argentina
Australia
The Bahamas
Bahrain
Belize
Bolivia
Cape Verde
The Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ivory Coast
Estonia
Fiji
France – the French overseas departments of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, St. Martin and St. Barthélemy

Gabon
Ghana
Grenada
Guinea
Island
Israel
Jamaica
Qatar
Kenya
Comoros
Kuwait
Luxembourg
Mali
Mauritania

The Netherlands – the overseas parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands of Aruba and Curaçao
Nigeria
Panama
Rwanda
Zambia
Sweden
Sierra Leone
South Sudan
Togo
Uganda
Uruguay
The United Arab Emirates