Hardly Off The Plane…

And Joe’s misbehaving again. Put him on a leash or something.

G7 Leaders Meet in Germany – Germany welcomes the leaders of the G-7 wealthy democracies Sunday.

The summit for the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States is being held in a castle in the Bavarian Alps…

“The summit must send not only the message that NATO and the G-7 are more united than ever,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told German parliament recently, “but also that the democracies of the world stand together against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s imperialism just as they do in the fight against hunger and poverty.”

We’ll Just Jump Straight To Phase 3 Instead

Sheer panic.

Ministry denies Germany set to declare Phase 2 of emergency gas plan.

This economic minister belongs to a political party (the Greens) that won’t even consider the possibility – under Germany’s present catastrophic, self-inflicted energy situation – of extending the lives of Germany’s three remaining nuclear power plants past the end of this year. Thank goodness this has nothing to do with ideology and ideologues. He’s just from the government and he’s here to help.

Germany declared the first phase of the emergency plan on March 30, calling for crisis team meetings of energy suppliers, operators and government authorities to assess the energy security situation for Europe’s biggest economy.

In the second alert phase, the market would still be expected to handle the disruption without government market intervention.

Reality Can Be An Ugly Thing

When you’re greener than Green.

Which is a pretty hard thing to be. Unless you live in Germany. It goes like this: Turn off your nuclear energy plants and never mention that ugly n-word again (think Voldemort). Demand all coal-burning power plants be shut down ASAP too. Actually BELIEVE (not think, just believing is enough) that wind turbines and solor panels can actually power a country like Germany. While doing that, let yourself become 50% energy dependent on Russian gas and oil despite repeated warnings from your European neighbors and that awful evil US-Amerika that’s always saying mean things (or at least it used to). Then something like Ukraine comes along, get it? What’s not to like? We’re here from the German Green government and we’re here to help. We created the problem in the first place but now we’re the ones who are going to fix it. You can thank us later, voters. They’ll get re-elected, of course. You can’t make this stuff up, people. And even if you could no one would believe you.

Germany to Bring Back Old Coal Plants as Russia Cuts Gas Supply – Government to offer financing to ensure storage is increased.

Country to rely more on coal-fired power plants, minister says.

After A Slow Start…

Comes an electrifying development.

Tesla achieves production of 1,000 cars in a week at Gigafactory Berlin – Tesla announced that it has achieved production of 1,000 Model Y vehicles in a week at Gigafactory Berlin. This is an important milestone – though the automaker originally planned to achieve it in April.

Tesla is currently in the middle of ramping up production at two major new factories, Gigafactory Berlin and Gigafactory Texas, and all of that amid a major global supply chain crisis.

German Of The Day: Billig Will Ich

That means “cheap is what I want.*”

Budget startup Norse Atlantic Airways adds 2 US routes to Berlin – A week before its eagerly-anticipated launch, Norse Atlantic Airways is announcing a new destination to add to its growing route map.

The Norwegian ultra-low-cost long-haul airline will launch flights from the German capital’s new Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)…

Daily service between BER and JFK begins on Aug. 17 with one-way introductory fares of $120. Thrice-weekly service between BER and LAX begins on Aug. 19 with one-way introductory fares of $138.

* Some might translate it as Cheepnis is what I want.

What Wussies

These Germans. They’re all worried about some horrible war just a few miles down the road and ever-growing inflation that looks as though it might be spiralling out of control.

They should worry about real problems, like they used to. You know, like their plans for this year’s third vacation, their next second car, finally starting that diet, which weekend demonstration to take part in, etc.

Germans worry about war and inflation – The German government is supporting Ukraine, battling inflation, and combatting climate change. A monthly survey has asked voters how they rate the efforts.

The war is driving up energy prices, but food prices have also risen significantly. Almost half of all respondents said they already have to cut back significantly because of this. Among low-income earners, 77% say they are beginning to struggle…

A €9 Per Month Public Transport Ticket?

What a steal. From the taxpayers, as usual. But still.

Germany offers €9-a-month public transport ticket – Cut-price deal allows nationwide travel as Berlin acts to soften the impact of rising inflation and expensive fuel.

The €9 ticket opens up the entirety of Germany to many who couldn’t otherwise afford it. It’s now so easy to scramble up the Harz mountains, stroll through “Frau Holle Land” and drink a few beers on the Ruhr. You could even reenact Inglourius Basterds in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains or find out why Tom Hanks fell in love with Eisenhüttenstadt for yourself.

“We Were All Wrong”

That’s right. All you Germans were.

‘We were all wrong’: how Germany got hooked on Russian energy – Germany has been forced to admit it was a terrible mistake to become so dependent on Russian oil and gas. So why did it happen?

Why? That’s easy. Because Germans always want an Extrawurst (an extra sausage, as in special treatment). Well, they’re sure getting special treatment these days.

When Putin invaded Ukraine in February, Germany faced a particular problem. Its rejection of nuclear power and its transition away from coal meant that Germany had very few alternatives to Russian gas. Berlin has been forced to accept that it was a cataclysmic error to have made itself so dependent on Russian energy – whatever the motives behind it. The foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, says Germany failed to listen to the warnings from countries that had once suffered under Russia’s occupation, such as Poland and the Baltic states.

And then, of course, there were the warnings from EVIL US-Trump-Amerika itself. Those just had to be ignored. Well, wake up and smell the Kaffee is all I can say now.

Electric Car Man Bad

He’s bringing more jobs to us here in Germany.

When will the horror ever end?

Tesla Submits Application to Expand German Plant – Tesla has submitted an application to build on a further 100 hectares east of its plant in Germany, expanding the site’s area by a third, local newspaper rbb reported on Thursday, citing the local mayor.

The electric carmaker, which already has 300 hectares of land for its auto factory and battery plant under construction, planned to build a freight station, logistics areas and parking spaces on the additional space, Gruenheide mayor Arne Christiani told RBB.