Then there’s “very critical.”
Then there’s Germany critical.
Merz issues business SOS in letter to allies – Chancellor Merz has told coalition politicians the situation in several key German businesses is “very critical.” He said the government must prioritize improving areas like energy and labor costs in 2026.
But “hold out” until you finally figure out that nobody wants them here, EVs.
Then the German automobile industry as we knew it will be dead.
Germany holding out for ‘real boom’ on EVs despite strong 2025, EY says – Germany’s electric car market showed strong growth in 2025 but remains on unsteady footing, according to an EY analysis of registration data released on Tuesday.
The 43% year-on-year rise was largely due to a rebound in growth after a muted year in 2024, when the end of a federal subsidy for electric cars had weighed on demand, the consultancy said. The increase in 2025 compared to 2023 was just 4%.
“We haven’t seen a real boom yet – the hoped-for surge in e-mobility in Germany is proving to be much more protracted and difficult than expected,” said EY mobility specialist Constantin Gall.
Well, then do something about it.
“It is unacceptable that once again clearly left-wing extremists have attacked our power grid and thereby endangered human lives.”
Berlin power outage affecting 45,000 homes blamed on ‘politically motivated’ attack – A fire that left over 45,000 households and 2,200 businesses in southwest Berlin without electricity was a politically motivated attack by left-wing extremists, city officials have said.
Only eleven dead.
Pyrotechnics, fire, and violence: Eleven people die on New Year’s Eve – Fires, fireworks, traffic accidents, and violence claimed the lives of at least eleven people in Germany on New Year’s Eve. The sad toll of the turn of the year.
That means more than half don’t.
Let the Knaller (bangers) knallen (bang)!
Almost half of all Germans want a ban on fireworks – In Germany, it is only permitted to sell fireworks in the three days leading up to New Year’s Eve. Some line up early to buy them, but others have safety concerns and want to see them banned altogether.
Happy New Year!
American style, maybe.
I’ve seen a lot of German pancakes (in Berlin). But I’ve never seen any like these.
PS: Everybody eats these – the German German pancakes – on New Year’s Eve.
That means job cuts.
German business groups expect job cuts in 2026 as economic crisis drags on – A majority of German business associations expect job cuts in 2026 as the country’s economic crisis persists, with industry hit hardest by global protectionism and weak exports, a survey by the German Economic Institute IW showed on Monday.
Of 46 business associations surveyed, 22 anticipate workforce reductions next year. Only nine expect to increase hiring and 15 foresee stable employment levels.
It’s all BfV to me.
Recruiting for Germany’s Secret Police – Like almost any other country – the Russian Tsar’s Okhrana (later: NKVD and now: FSB), Iran’s feared SAVAK, Pinochet’s torturing DINA, South Africa’s BOSS and NIS, Franco’s BSI, Mussolini’s OVRA, and Hoover’s FBI – Germany too has a secret police that today is no longer called Gestapo or Stasi. Yet Germany’s agency is distinctively different from, for example, France’s DGSI.
Deceptively labelled the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, or BfV), it spies on people. It operates in the shadows, in secret and by stealth. Being unnoticed and silent is of the essence.
Why, that’s capitalism!
Or maybe even Raubtierkapitalismus (predatory capitalism)! Or something else like that.
People really are confused these days, don’t you think? Not that they weren’t in the past. I just think they’re better at it now. Being confused.
Berlin’s budget chain cafes attacked by mobs of hard-Left activists – Protesters in Berlin are hurling red paint at outlets for a new chain that offers drinks at nearly half the price of others.
It is at night that the group of angry Berliners hurl red paint at the coffee shop front, scrawling “Boycott LAP” on the walls.
Isn’t all that complex.
It just wants to tell you what not to think. It suppresses American viewpoints, in other words.
USA sanctions leadership of German organization HateAid – The entry ban imposed by the US government due to alleged censorship of American online platforms also affects the directors of the German organization HateAid, which is committed to combating hate online.
“For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to force American platforms to punish American viewpoints that do not suit them.”
Observing Hermann 