Category Archives: Hypocrisy

Germany Needs More Windmills

March 23, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

And pronto!

But until then, just in case you were wondering:

Germany to continue buying Russian-provided oil, gas, coal – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday again dismissed calls to boycott Russian energy supplies in the wake of the attack on Ukraine.

Scholz said sanctions already imposed on Russia were hitting its economy “and this will only get more dramatic every day.”

At the same time, Scholz said the sanctions were designed to be “tolerable” for those imposing them, including in the long term.

“That is why Germany’s position on this question (of an energy boycott) remains unchanged,” he said.

There Are Walls

March 18, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Then there are walls.

Or, German of the day: Unangenehm. That means that means unpleasant.

Zelensky’s Appeal in Berlin Meets a Realpolitik Wall – President Volodymyr Zelensky would be demanding, begging, and accusing. He would appeal to the conscience of Germany’s parliament deputies to do more than they had done so far. Knowing this, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his ministers rejected attempts to add a debate on Ukraine to the agenda after Zelensky’s video appearance. Scholz, who had orchestrated nothing less than an about-face of German foreign policy weeks before, dodged the expected unpleasant grilling.

The government wanted to move on to the next item on the list, as though a speech by the embattled president of a neighboring country is just another item on the day’s agenda. Yes, there was a standing ovation—but it lasted just 60 seconds. Then Zelensky waved good-bye and ended the video transmission, leaving the applauding deputies standing and ashamed.

Is Germany’s moment of courage over before it even began?

American Big Tech Companies Bad

March 16, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Unless, of course, they create jobs in Germany.

Intel plans to build a $19 billion chip plant in Germany – Intel has confirmed plans to build a semiconductor plant in Germany as part of an investment of up to €80 billion ($88 billion) in Europe over the next decade. The initial outlay for the facility in Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt, is €17 billion ($19 billion).

Germany

March 13, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Hi-tech, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Beautiful German weapons sale of the week.

Because somebody has to admire them.

Thanks, Russia! Germany will now be selling tons of weapons to Germany for once.

Sensing a feeding frenzy, German arms makers jockey for position – Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Feb. 27 proposal to ramp up defense expenditures by tens of billions of euros, spurred by Russia’s war on Ukraine, has defense officials in Berlin scrambling to identify spending opportunities that promise fast results, according to several company officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Bad American Fracking LNG Suddenly Not That Bad After All

March 6, 2022 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

In Germany. Not nearly as bad as it was a few days ago, in fact. Just like that. It’s magic or something. It’s fracking inexplicable!

Germany Goes Ahead With First LNG Terminal to Cut Dependence on Russian Gas – Germany unveiled more details Saturday on its plan to build its first liquefied natural-gas terminals as it seeks to wean itself off its dependence on Russian gas.

The terminals are the latest step in Berlin’s diversification efforts that have been urgently ramped up in recent days following Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Germany gets around 55% of its gas from Moscow and has long been resistant to diversifying away from cheap and plentiful Russian energy supplies.

Germany last week halted the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 project, which would have doubled the capacity of an existing pipeline traveling along a similar route. The government also announced plans for gas and coal storage and commissioned its gas market trading hub to buy LNG for 1.5 billion euros, or the equivalent of $1.64 billion, from outside Russia.

Tough As Nails

February 25, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Or as Jell-O, at least. Here’s the latest “Money Makes The World Go Around” going around in Germany (some still refer to it as “the EU”).

Cutting off Russia from the SWIFT global interbank payment system should not be part of the second EU sanctions package against Russia that EU leaders will decide upon at a meeting on Thursday in Brussels, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

He’s right, of course. Doing that would be one of the only things that would actually hurt Putin & Co. and that would be counterproductive.

Die Swift-Keule kommt nicht zum Einsatz.

Money Makes The World Go Around

February 23, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

And there’s a big demand for military machinery in Russia these days.

So German business can just jump right in to fill that gap.

Germany indicts man for sale of military machinery to Russia – Germany has indicted a businessman on suspicion of breaking arms control laws by helping Russia purchase sophisticated machinery that could be used to make chemical weapons...

Prosecutors allege that a Russian company the suspect had business relations with was a front controlled by the intelligence agency to cover up purchases by Russia’s military industry.

Bundesanwaltschaft klagt Deutschen wegen Lieferungen an russischen Geheimdienst an.

After Firing Two More Arab Employees Deutsche Welle Reports That Germans Are Less Skeptical Of Immigration

February 17, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

That makes five Arab journalists fired so far. The Deutsche Welle has become much less skeptical about firing them, I guess.

Germans less skeptical of immigration – People across Germany have become more accepting of refugees and migrants since the pivotal year 2015. But the latest study by the Bertelsmann Foundation shows that reservations remain.

Germans have overall become more accepting of refugees. But over one-third of respondents (36%) believe that Germany cannot take in any more of them. In 2017, that number stood at 54%. Currently, 20% consider the refugees to be “temporary guests” who do not need to be integrated into society.

Keep Those Expectations Very, Very Low

February 14, 2022 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

And you’ll still be disappointed. See Joe frowning over there already?

Ukraine crisis: What can the US expect from Germany? – With Russian forces massing on Ukraine’s border, the White House has sharpened its rhetoric. What can Germany bring to the table?

The 350 soldiers posted to Lithuania just a few days ago were merely a symbolic effort, just like the promise of 5,000 helmets.