Germany About To Get Its Way

After Russia gets its way, of course. And Sleepy Joe will just sleep right through it.

U.S., Germany to announce deal on Nord Stream 2 pipeline in coming days – The United States and Germany are expected to announce in coming days a deal resolving their long-standing dispute over Russia’s $11 billion Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.

President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel failed to settle their differences over the undersea pipeline when they met last week, but agreed Moscow must not be allowed to use energy as a weapon against its neighbors.

“We Don’t Have The Money For It”

But you do, German taxpayer. So we’ll take it from you.

As you may have noticed, Angela Merkel’s CDU became the SPD (Social Democrats) long ago and Armin Laschet, her designated mini-me survivor, is holding that red flag high. As you also may have noticed, the only thing socialists do well (or Social Democrats – or Democrats, for that matter) is spend other people’s money.

Armin Laschet, Germany’s leading candidate to replace Chancellor Angela Merkel, has created a rift between German conservative parties over his comments that now is not the time for tax relief.

Laschet, representing Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), on Sunday categorically rejected a proposal for new tax cuts as Germans emerge from the pandemic. “The core message is no tax cuts right now — we don’t have the money for it,” he said in a televised interview.

German Of The Day: Weltraumkommando

That means space command.

Germany establishes new military space command – The German military has announced the creation of a separate command dedicated to space, becoming the latest of a handful of nations prioritizing more resources and missions among the stars.

“The military is responding to the increasing significance of space for our state’s ability to function, the prosperity of our population, and the increasing dependency of the armed forces on space-supported data, SERVICES and PRODUCTS.”

PS: For some strange reason this wasn’t covered in the German news yesterday.

Electric Cars Made In Germany

Shanghai, Germany.

Tesla is expected to start European deliveries of its China-built Model Y SUVs in a few weeks.

The first vehicles will be handed over to customers in Germany in August, the German news agency dpa reported, citing an official Tesla communication.

The vehicles will be exported from Tesla’s factory in Shanghai.

Tesla originally planned to start production of the Model Y in July at its new European factory in Gruenheide near Berlin, with deliveries scheduled to begin in the third quarter, but the plant’s production start has been delayed to the end of this year or early next year.

Red Alert!

Germany’s COVID19 incidence rate — the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants over a seven-day period — rose for a fifth day in a row, coming in at 6.2 compared to 5.8 on Saturday.

The incidence rate a week ago was 5, according to the RKI.

That means, well, what does that mean? Other than who cares? Just a few weeks ago German health officials were dreaming of one day reaching an incidence rate below 50. Then the world would be in order again.

But that was then and this is now so I guess we’re heading for the next big lockdown. Cool.

How Generous

Not.

After systematically badmouthing the AstraZeneca vaccine and spooking those in a vaccine-skeptical population who would have otherwise been willing to take it, the German government has now graciously decided to donate the remaining doses of this coronavirus vaccine to less developed countries in August.

AstraZeneca is, after all, developed and used in Brexit England, recently divorced from the German-run European Union.

Most Germans prefer the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine due to concerns over the side effects and efficacy of AstraZeneca.

German Of The Day: Hoffnung Stirbt Zuletzt

That means hope dies last.

Tesla Giga Berlin: Minister still hopeful for 2021 launch despite final approval delay – Tesla Giga Berlin is still waiting for final environmental approval from Brandenburg’s State Office for the Environment (LfU). Despite this, the state’s Minister of Economics, Jörg Steinbach, remains hopeful that Tesla will produce its first vehicle in Giga Berlin by the end of this year.

Bureaucracy is the key. The key to stopping anything from ever getting done. And German bureaucracy is made in Germany, after all. There is a reputation to keep up.

Mass Corona-Testing Fraud

Everybody’s doing it!

Highly inaacurate for those being tested and highly expensive for the taxpayers (and the taxpayers’ children, and their children, etc.) who are financing it, these tests are at least “free,” if you get my drift.

A number of high-profile cases of fraud, and enduring questions over the accuracy of antigen (also known as lateral-flow) tests, have prompted criticism of health minister Jens Spahn’s scheme for triggering a free-market free-for-all, something Die Welt newspaper called a “testing gold-rush”.

“It’s an absurd system, and very atypical for Germany”, said Matthias Orth, of the Institute of Laboratory Medicine at Stuttgart’s Marienhospital. Earlier this year, Germany’s disease control agency reported that one commonly used antigen test – which only detects Covid-19 cases on days the viral load is highest – had missed 61% of asymptomatic infections at the emergency ward of a Stuttgart’s Katharinenhospital clinic.

German Of The Day: Plagiat

That means plagiarism.

Ask Green candidate Annalena Baerbock. She’ll give you a better definition. After copying it out of somebody elses’s book somewhere, that is. Plagiarism is the practice of using or copying someone else’s idea or work and pretending that you thought of it or created it. A plagiarism is an idea or a piece of writing or music that has been secretly copied from someone else’s work. This is a very popular pastime with German politicians these days. A real craze.

German Greens say plagiarism claims are ‘character assassination’ – Party hires prominent libel lawyer to defend its lead candidate, Annalena Baerbock, against allegations.

Kneel Down Before Me

“All of these kingdoms I will give to you, if only you will kneel down before me and worship me.”

Euro 2020: Germany to join England in kneeling protest – Germany intends to join England in a kneeling protest before their Euro 2020 last 16 match. The captains of both teams are also set to wear special armbands for the game.