Category Archives: Helplessness

German of the day: La malignità

November 23, 2023 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Actually, that’s Italian. Meaning Schadenfreude, which is German. Meaning schadenfreude in English. Meaning malicious glee, of course. It’s complicated.

Meloni’s Italy Tastes Schadenfreude Over German Fiscal Fiasco – Stable ratings for Rome contrast with Germany’s fiscal pickle.

“Germans make mistakes too,” says professor at Bocconi.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni could be forgiven for feeling any schadenfreude this week while looking on at Germany’s unfolding budget debacle.

A string of fiscal wins for Rome has just coincided with a crisis rocking Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition in Berlin after a calamitous court judgment cast doubt on its financing plans.

German of the day: Loser

November 22, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means loser. It also means losers (in plural).

US and Germany risk owning Ukraine’s stalling war effort – The onus is on European allies to step up support and chart a path for Kyiv towards Nato and EU membership.

More than 50 countries are supporting Ukraine in its defence against Russia’s full-scale invasion. Yet Ukraine’s existential struggle in Europe’s largest war since 1945 currently hinges mainly on two countries. US leadership, as well as financial and material support for Kyiv, have been essential to Ukraine’s survival. Germany is its second largest supplier of weapons and money, far ahead of the rest of the field. 

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle…

November 21, 2023 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Let’s watch them squirm.

We… must… spend… more… money we don’t have! There just has to be a way around this debt brake!

Germany freezes spending as budget crisis deepens – As Germany’s financial woes grow more acute, there are growing calls to suspend the country’s damned debt brake.

Germany’s finance ministry has imposed a spending freeze on all federal ministries, deepening a budget crisis that has rocked the ruling coalition since a bombshell ruling by the country’s top court last week.

The finance ministry decision, which halts most new spending authorizations, followed a ruling by the constitutional court last week that blew a €60 billion hole in the government’s coffers.

The Germans ban everything else

November 19, 2023 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

So where’s the Taliban ban?

Outrage after Taliban member speaks at German mosque – German politicians have demanded answers after the head of Afghanistan’s food and drug body spoke at a mosque in Cologne. Abdul Bari Omar was previously in the Netherlands for a World Health Organization event.

Videos shared on social media show Abdul Bari Omar, the director of Afghanistan’s food and drug authority, speaking at the mosque on Thursday.

It Can’t Happen Here

November 17, 2023 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , Leave a comment

So it didn’t. Even though it did. And does. And even is, happening as we speak.

Pay close attention: This report will be diligently ignored by the powers that be.

BKA Report: Sharp Uptick in Violent Crime Committed by Migrants Against Germans – New figures from Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) that detail the demographic makeup of serious violent crime suspects in 2022 have been called “frightening” by the chief of the Federal Police Union, who urged both state and federal authorities to take swift action to put an end to the problem.

The BKA’s 2022 “Federal situation report on crime in the context of immigration” revealed that 47,923 German citizens fell victim to violent crimes carried out by immigrants—defined by the office as foreigners who came to the country as refugees or asylum seekers—last year, up 18% from 2021, BILD reports.

“What many have always suspected is now proven.”

Po’ Folks

November 16, 2023 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

That face you make when you can’t spend as much of other people’s money as you’d planned.

German court deals 60 billion euro budget blow to Scholz government – The German government froze major spending pledges focused on green initiatives and industry support on Wednesday after a constitutional court ruling on unused pandemic emergency funds blew a 60 billion euro ($65 billion) hole in its finances.

The decision threw into disarray budget negotiations taking place this week within Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-way ruling coalition, whose popularity has slumped as Europe’s biggest economy teeters close to another recession.

Are you serious?

November 15, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

About getting serious?

Don’t take that nonsense seriously, folks. I’m serious.

Wind of change: Germany gets serious about plans to make military ‘fit for war’ – The return of full-scale armed conflict to Europe has Germany dramatically reframing its security policy.

With Russia and Ukraine still locked in combat after nearly two years and a major Israeli-Palestinian conflict underway, the European Union and NATO are feeling their way into a chaotic new world security order – and Europe’s largest economy is shaking up decades-old ideas on what its military is actually for.

It’s not like we’d ever use the money for our own defense…

November 12, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

You know. To get “fit for war?”

Germany Set to Double Its Ukraine Military Aid Under Scholz Plan – SPD-led coalition parties agree on funding boost to €8 billion. Germany is Ukraine’s biggest military backer in Europe.

If approved by the parliament in Berlin where Scholz’s parties hold a majority, the boost would lift Germany’s defense spending beyond the 2% of gross domestic product target pledged by all North Atlantic Treaty Organization members, according to the people.

“War” is the past tense of is

November 11, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hustle (Hoax), Hypochondria Tags: , , , , , 1 Comment

In German. “Was,” in English.

So that headline down there doesn’t make much sense – in my mind. The German army was never “was ready” and never will be.

Germany aims for a ‘war-ready’ military – It’s the most momentous shift in German defense priorities since 2011.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is forcing Germany to turn its military into a powerful and well-financed fighting force focused on defending the country and NATO allies, Germany’s chancellor said on Friday.

“Today, nobody can seriously doubt what we in Germany have been avoiding for a long time, namely that we need a powerful Bundeswehr,” Olaf Scholz said on the second day of a political-military conference presenting the deep change in Berlin’s strategic thinking.

“Our peace order is in danger,” he warned, also mentioning the war between Hamas and Israel and adding that Germany needs “a long-term, permanent change of course.”

It sure is a catchy little phrase

November 10, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Higher Education, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Has a nice ring to it. It’s kind of cute, even.

Sure glad we displayed it on Brandenburg Gate so everyone could see that we displayed it on Brandenburg Gate.

But now it’s back to business. Now it’s time to accuse Israel of genocide. You know, for, well, letting Hamas attack it like that? How dare they fight for survival. Damned Jewish Nazis.

‘Never again is now’: 1938 Nazi pogrom anniversary marked in Germany – ‘Antisemitism is poisoning our society’ says Olaf Scholz at Berlin synagogue that was destroyed 85 years ago and is again target of firebombing.