Category Archives: Hurt Feelings

German Of The Day: Existenzielle Bedrohung

August 19, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , 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.

German Of The Day: Atomstrom

August 17, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , 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 in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , 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: Mogelpackung

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

That means deceptive packaging (smaller amounts of a product for the same price). Or shrinkflation, if you prefer.

Forget Inflation. Shrinkflation Is Sparking Fury in Germany – German shoppers are getting increasingly angry at attempts to hike goods prices by stealth.

While so-called shrinkflation — where the cost of a product stays the same though its size declines — isn’t a new phenomenon, consumer-protection authorities in Europe’s top economy are being inundated by complaints.

German Of The Day: Ende Gelände

August 14, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 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 in Hard Facts, Helections, Hideology, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 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.

German Of The Day: Schwaches Glied

August 11, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means weak link. I could also mean limp member, but let’s not go there.

Weak. You know. Like the German economy?

From Europe’s powerhouse to its weak link: Germany’s economy stutters – Economic model that depends on exports has been hit by a series of external shocks.

Germany is experiencing a squall of shocks that are darkening its economic outlook. Along with soaring inflation, persistent supply chain problems and weaker global demand are weighing heavily on its industrial sector.

“What’s most worrying is just how broad-based the weakness in the economy is,” said Clemens Fuest, head of the Ifo Institute, a think-tank. In previous downturns, services suffered but industry recovered, and vice versa. “But now we’re seeing weakness across the board.”

Germany Finally Waking Up To Smell The Nuclear Coffee?

August 9, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , 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.

German Of The Day: “Wir kriegen nichts mehr auf die Straße”

August 7, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means “we can’t get anybody out in the streets to protest anymore…” Said the puzzled anti-nuclear protester.

My, this certainly is mysterious. Somebody call Sherlock or Columbo or somebody to figure this out.

Are we having the phase-out of the phase-out yet?

Germany’s Nuclear Phase-Out Has Been a Disaster – The main justification for Germany’s nuclear shutdown is the risks associated with using nuclear energy. But these risks are exaggerated beyond measure.

German scientists are warning that the national energy transition has pushed Germany into an energy shortage. “We demand an immediate stop to the nuclear phase-out,” wrote twenty renowned technological and economic scientists in the “Stuttgart Declaration,” which is being widely discussed in Germany. The continued operation of Germany’s nuclear power plants, they said, should be guaranteed “as the third climate protection pillar” alongside solar and wind power to secure Germany’s power supply and prosperity.

German Of The Day: Sprengplatz

August 5, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means blast site.

But what do you do after your blast site blows up?

Berlin Grunewald threatened by fire and explosions – Berlin’s Grunewald has been shaken by explosions, triggering a fire that threatened to burn out of control. The site: A munitions storage facility in a tinder-dry forest.

Since 1950 this area in West Berlin has been used to store 25 metric tons of World War II ammunition and other explosive ordnance. Controlled blasts are carried out there twice a year.