Category Archives: Helplessness

German Of The Day: Verstaatlichung

September 15, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means nationalization.

Sound familiar? Ever more “We’re from the government, and we’re here to help” from the people who created the problem in the first place.

Gas importer Uniper in nationalisation talks with German government – Terms under discussion include increasing state’s holding to 50% as pressure on supplies continues.

The German state took a 30% stake in the group in a rescue package in July, amounting to about €15bn. Credit lines were further extended by about €4bn last month but the situation has worsened since Russia severed gas supplies to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, forcing Uniper to find alternatives.

The Next Berlin Airlift?

September 14, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, History, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Only without the allies flying everything in. What could possibly go wrong?

Scholz channels Berlin Airlift spirit to gird Germans for winter – Chancellor Olaf Scholz invoked the spirit of the Berlin Airlift on Tuesday to implore Germans that “the seemingly impossible can succeed”, urging them to brace for a tough winter and to rise to the challenge of a shift in energy supply away from Russian gas.

He spoke to business leaders at Tempelhof Airport, which was the focal point of the Airlift between 1948 and 1949, when Western forces flew hundreds of thousands of tonnes of supplies into divided Berlin after the Soviets blocked rail and street access to the city’s Western-occupied sectors.

How Many More Times Does The German Forest Need To Be “Rescued?”

September 11, 2022 By in Habitudes, Helplessness, Hideology, Hypochondria, Hysteria Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

Before it gets rescued for good, I mean.

It gets rescued regularly every few years (Waldsterben, acid rain, bark beetles, etc.) and it’s really starting to get tedious, you know?

How to rescue the German forest – Climate change and drought are threatening the existence of Germany’s forests, which are at the very core of the country’s sociocultural identity. But the most famous forest ranger says there is hope.

Germans Thinking About Reducing Their Dependency On China

September 9, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Why on earth for? It worked great with Russia.

German economy ministry reviews measures to curb China business – Germany’s economy ministry is considering a raft of measures to make business with China less attractive as it seeks to reduce its dependency on Asia’s economic superpower, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The measures could include reducing or even scrapping investment and export guarantees for China and no longer promoting trade fairs and manager training there, those people said. Loans from state lender KfW could be re-directed to projects in other Asian countries, such as Indonesia, in line with attempts to diversify trade and increase business with democracies.

German Companies Just Aren’t Green Enough

September 8, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Otherwise they wouldn’t be going broke like that.

Get with the plan and get back to nature already. Let them eat green cake or something.

German economy minister under fire as German companies sound alarm on energy prices – German Economy Minister Robert Habeck faced a backlash on Wednesday for saying he could imagine parts of the economy stopping production due to rising energy prices that German firms say are threatening their existence.

Asked whether he expected a wave of insolvencies at the end of this winter due to companies’ rising energy bills, Habeck said “No, I don’t. I can imagine that certain industries will simply stop producing for the time being.”

German Of The Day: Treppenwitz

September 7, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Humor Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

This means “staircase wit,” or a story with peculiar irony.

Like the latest German Green Treppenwitz: When two nuclear power plants are allowed to continue running but not allowed to produce electricity.

Germany to keep two nuclear plants available as a backup and burn coal as it faces an energy crisis brought on by war and climate change – The German government announced its plans to keep the Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim nuclear power plants, both of which are located in the southern part of the country, on a kind of backup status, available only if the country has no other option.

This Gives “Cold War” A Whole New Meaning

September 6, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, History Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

German government policy has led to the cold (the energy “turnaround,” dependency on Russian gas, etc.) and the German people have been left out in the cold (inflation).

Germans revive Cold War Monday demonstrations amid inflation – Protesters from Germany’s left and the right have called for regular Monday protests against the rising cost of living. These evoke the peaceful revolution in East Germany but also of recent anti-immigrant rallies.

Parties on both the left and right of the political spectrum in Germany have announced a “hot autumn” with regular Monday demonstrations.

Germany Finally Unleashes Its Mighty Military Machine

September 5, 2022 By in Habitudes, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

In… Australia?

Makes sense, if you think about it. That’s about as far away from Ukraine as you can get. It’s called deterrence or something.

Germany’s military ramps up presence in Indo-Pacific – Germany’s Bundeswehr is increasing its military presence in the Indo-Pacific — at a time when war rages closer to home, in Ukraine.

A war is raging in Europe. This has put a spotlight on Germany’s Bundeswehr and its shortcomings, with leading officers deploring a dramatic shortage of functional equipment.

And yet, Germany’s air force is currently participating in a military exercise on the other side of the globe, in Australia, where it has sent six Eurofighter jets.

Germans Already Pay More For Their Energy Than Anybody Else

September 1, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

And now prices will be rising dramatically? Well, maybe they’re doing something wrong. Maybe it’s, I dunno, political or something? Nah.

Spanish Electricity Costs 67% Less German Power – Spanish electricity cost less than half of what German power did in the market in August as it benefited from a cap on natural gas prices, according to Spain’s association of large energy users.

The average price for electricity in Spain’s wholesale market in August was 154.89 euros ($156) per megawatt-hour, without including a cost related to the cap, the AEGE group said. That was 67% less than in the German market and 69% less than in the French market, it said in a survey released Wednesday. Spanish prices are still significantly lower when the cap is added.

German Of The Day: Bittere Realität

August 30, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means bitter reality. You know, like the bitter reality others have been warning Germans about for many years now?

German economy minister says ‘bitter reality’ is Russia will not resume gas supply – Germany faces the “bitter reality” that Russia will not restore gas supplies to the country, the German economy minister said on Monday, ahead of planned halt by state energy giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) of exports to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

“It won’t come back … It is the bitter reality,” Robert Habeck said in a panel with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.