I’m No Joe Biden

August 21, 2022 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: German, Germans, Germany, Joe Biden, Olaf Scholz, Polls, Popularity, Surveys Leave a comment

But I’m pretty damned unpopular all the same.

Over 60% of Germans are Dissatisfied with the Work of Chancellor Olaf Scholz – Currently, only 25% of Germans are satisfied with Scholz’s performance as chancellor, and as many as 62% are dissatisfied – a record low during his tenure.

If the chancellor had been elected directly, Scholz would have taken only third place. According to the survey, 25 percent would choose current Economy Minister Robert Habeck as Germany’s chancellor, 19 percent would choose CDU leader Friedrich Merz and only 18 percent would choose Scholz of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

German Of The Day: Existenzielle Bedrohung

August 19, 2022 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: Bureaucracy, Energy, Gas, German Language, Germany, Industry, Inflation, Oil, Prices, Putin Leave a comment

That means existential threat. Like: “The existence of many companies is being threatened by the increased prices.”

German companies are supposed to save gas. But the switch to oil, for example, is being held back by bureaucracy and legal uncertainty.

The German government is calling for gas savings, with the Federal Minister of Economics leading the way – and yet, from the point of view of companies, the government is preventing exactly what it is calling for. Several associations say that it is very difficult for companies to obtain approval for retrofits.

Ahead Of Schedule

August 18, 2022 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Hideology Tags: Energy, Gas, Germany, Greens, Putin Leave a comment

When you’ve got less than three months of gas for the coming winter.

Hang in there. You’ll have enough for four months in no time, Germany. Or maybe you won’t. But still. Self-imposed dependency rocks.

Stocks are rising fast, but still not enough, regulator says.

German Of The Day: Atomstrom

August 17, 2022 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: Dependency, Energy, Gas, German, Germans, Germany, Language, Nuclear energy, Pipelines, Putin Leave a comment

Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? That means nuclear power.

The real world has a way of biting you in your ideological ass from time to time.

Germany to Keep Last Three Nuclear-Power Plants Running in Policy U-Turn – Move prompted by the mounting economic war with Russia marks the first departure from a two-decade policy to abandon nuclear energy.

Germany plans to postpone the closure of the countr’s last three nuclear power plants as it braces for a possible shortage of energy this winter after Russia throttled gas supplies to the country, said German government officials.

Electricity prices in Germany:

Google Searches for ”firewood” in Germany:

Gas Price Already Unaffordable?

August 16, 2022 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: Energy, Gas, German Language, Germans, Germany, Greens, Pipelines, Putin, Taxation, Ukraine Leave a comment

You won’t be able to pay for your heating this winter as it is? We’ll help out by adding an additional tax to that. Only we won’t call it a tax, of course. We’ll call it an Umlage. That means contribution, share, levy.

It’s what we do here in Green Germany. It’s for the greater good or something.

Germany Slaps Levy on Households to Spread Pain of Gas Surge – Government allows industry to pass on prices to consumers.

Germany’s government said households will face additional annual costs of about 290 euros ($296) to pay for natural gas as the burden of Russia’s squeeze on energy flows to Europe is redistributed.

German Of The Day: Ende Gelände

August 14, 2022 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Coal, Dependency, Energy, Gas, Greens, LNG, Pipelines, Protests, Renewables, Russia, Ukrain Leave a comment

That means, literally, the end of the terrain. You know, as in the end of the line, end of the story, the buck stops here? That’s the name of that leftist climate activist group down there.

They’re trying to blockade the port of Hamburg (because of that bad LNG stuff coming from Amerika) and a coal-fired power plant in order to save the planet.

Now, I’m no climate activist expert here, but if you’re going to block a train shouldn’t you be on the tracks and not between them? Just saying. And they’re not even glued to anything yet. A little more quality control here, people.

Scam? What Scam? Me?

August 12, 2022 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helections, Hideology, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: Banking, Corruption, German, Germans, Germany, Olaf Scholz, Politicians, Scams, Social Democracy, SPD, Tax evasion Leave a comment

How could I have played a role? I don’t remember anything. I know nothing, nothing!

And German state media does its duty and doesn’t know anything either. Scholz is one of the good guys, you see (SPD).

Germany: Pressure grows on Scholz over tax scam ties – Germany’s main opposition party has called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to explain his role in a large-scale tax evasion scam while he was mayor of Hamburg.

Germany’s main opposition party has called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to explain his role in a large-scale tax evasion scam while he was mayor of Hamburg.

Scholz has been dogged by questions about meetings he had with private bank M.M. Warburg in 2016 and 2017. Hamburg officials later dropped demands for the bank to repay millions of euros in tax refunds it had wrongly claimed for share trades.

Germany Absolutely Desperate

August 10, 2022 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: Dependency, Energy, Germans, Germany, Greens, Pipelines, Putin, Russia, Ukraine Leave a comment

The Germans are now even willing to accept sour crude (its sulfur content exceeds 0.5%) from US-Amerika ITSELF.

How impure or something.

A tanker of U.S. sour crude was delivered at Germany’s port of Rostock last week for the first time ever, according to sources, analysts and vessel tracking data, as local refiners test alternatives to Russian oil.

Germany Finally Waking Up To Smell The Nuclear Coffee?

August 9, 2022 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: Energy, Energy Crisis, Europe, Germans, Germany, Greens, Putin, Renewables Leave a comment

“It’s as if the pope were suddenly advocating the use of birth control pills.”

For years, despite bemusement of many outside Germany, the country seemed set on its nuclear exit course. This year, as Europe began its sanctions on Russian fossil fuels, Germany’s Green energy minister seemed more willing to turn on carbon-intensive coal plants rather than reopening the issue of nuclear power.

“This is painful for all of us.”

Yeah. Reality can be that way.

Social Unrest?

August 8, 2022 By Hermann Observer in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: Energy, Gas, Germans, Germany, Inflation, Media, Nuclear, Oil, Pipelines, Putin, Renewables, Russia, Ukraine Leave a comment

In Germany? Uh, the same Germany in which the Germans always do precisely whatever the Media Brain Police tell them to do?

Germany braces for social unrest over energy prices – German officials have expressed fears that a worst-case winter of energy problems could prompt an extremist backlash. How bad things get may depend on how well they manage the crisis – in policy and perception.

Observing Hermann

“Was interessiert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern?”

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