Trash Pandamonium!

June 20, 2025 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness Tags: Europe, Exports, Germany, Raccoons, Tarriffs, Wildlife Leave a comment

A raccoon’s home is his Kassel.

Try putting a tarriff on this American export, Europe.

Rampaging raccoons: how the American mammals took over a German city – and are heading across Europe – Many in Kassel have embraced the animal but the EU classes it as an invasive species and ecologists are divided about what to do next.

In Kassel, everyone has a story about raccoons. Some struggle with a family of them that moved into their roof and simply will not leave. Others recount how a picnic in the park turned into an ambush as gangs of the black and white animals, known in Germany as Waschbären, raided the food. Almost everyone seems to have a neighbour who feeds them, to the annoyance of the entire street.

But nine out of ten do

June 18, 2025 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Borders, Europe, Germany, Immigrants, Immigration, Migrants Leave a comment

At least.

Germany: One in four immigrants doesn’t want to stay – Why are immigrants leaving Germany? A new study shows that other countries are more attractive to economically successful foreigners. Discrimination also plays a major role.

“Twenty-six percent, or around 2.6 million people, say that they actually considered leaving Germany last year, i.e., they thought about leaving the country,” said Yuliya Kosyakova, head of the Migration, Integration, and International Labor Market Research Division at the IAB, as she summarized the figures at the presentation of the study in Berlin. “Around 3%, or 300,000 people, already have concrete plans to leave.”

Is that from the same guy who wrote “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?”

June 11, 2025 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Debt, Economy, Europe, Germany, Government, Growth, Investment, Recession Leave a comment

“Debt and precarious stagnation in the EU and Germany” sounds like a good read too.

Europe faces mounting fiscal strain as Germany pivots toward debt-financed spending to maintain political support…

The public has now lost faith in traditional muddling through and demands drastic changes.

This report focuses on Europe, where the economic situation has worsened considerably in recent years. Several countries on the old continent have become more vulnerable to shocks, and imbalances have piled up. Moreover, leaders have demonstrated an inability or unwillingness to address structural problems, yet they are all too eager to haughtily break their electoral promises, swim with the tide and gather consensus through frantic lawmaking in the name of emergencies, fairness and social justice.

Europe to make Trump “buckle under pressure”

April 4, 2025 By Hermann Observer in High Art, Home Cooking, Humor, Hurt Feelings Tags: Donald Trump, EU, Europe, Germany, Greens, Robert Habeck, Tariffs Leave a comment

And monkeys to fly out of Europe’s butt.

Trump will ‘buckle under pressure’ if Europe bands together over tariffs, German economy minister says – U.S. President Donald Trump will “buckle under pressure” and alter his tariff policies if Europe bands together, acting German economy minister Robert Habeck said Thursday.

“That is what I see, that Donald Trump will buckle under pressure, that he corrects his announcements under pressure, but the logical consequence is that he then also needs to feel the pressure,” he said during a press conference.

The European Debt Race

March 31, 2025 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: Debt, EU, Europe, Germany, Government, Spending Leave a comment

To the bottom.

You’ll never catch us! As in U.S.

Germany’s spending push drives up borrowing costs across Eurozone – Investors warn that higher bond yields could make it harder for members of the bloc to increase defence spending.

A surge in Eurozone government borrowing costs as a result of Germany’s planned defence spending spree will intensify debt pressures on other countries in the bloc and could make it harder for them to mount borrowing campaigns of their own, investors have warned.

Let’s talk

March 27, 2025 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Automobiles, Cars, Europe, Imports, Tariffs, USA Leave a comment

Talking is always good. But action is better.

Until today, the EU imposed import tariffs on US cars five times higher than the tariffs imposed by the US on European imports.

That’s changed now.

German minister, autos lobby call for urgent EU-US talks over tariffs.

There’s just less and less demand these days…

March 26, 2025 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: Berlin, Brussels, Business, EU, Europe, nightjet, Trains, Travel Leave a comment

To go to Brussels.

Who would want anything to do with the European Parliament industrial complex if could be avoided?

Off the rails: Night train from Berlin to Brussels will stop running at the end of March – Passengers can still travel between Berlin and Brussels on an overnight train using the European Sleeper.

European Sleeper is also a much more appropriate name, I find.

German of the day: Erbärmlich, armselig und jämmerlich

March 25, 2025 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: Allies, Defense, EU, Europe, German, Germany, JD Vance, Language, Michael Waltz, NATO, Pete Hegseth Leave a comment

That means pathetic.

Trump cabinet members tear into ‘pathetic’ European allies for ‘free-loading’ in leaked messages – The messages have come to light in an extraordinary security breach after a journalist was added to a high-level messaging group by mistake.

Key members of Donald Trump’s cabinet have ripped into European allies, branding them “free-loading” and “pathetic” in extraordinary leaked messages.

The messages have come to light after The Atlantic‘s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was added to a private Signal messaging group by mistake, by Trump’s national security adviser Michael Waltz.

German of the day: Goldgrube

March 4, 2025 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness Tags: Arms, Defense, EU, Europe, Germany, Industry, Investments, Military, Stocks, Ukraine, Weapons Leave a comment

That means bonanza.

Time to invest in the German defense industry. But you knew that already.

Germany eyes swift moves on defence, investors sniff bonanza – The prospect of a military spending boom by Germany unprecedented since the Cold War sent Europe’s defence stocks soaring after Reuters reported the likely next government was mulling a fiscal sea change for Europe’s biggest economy.

Germany’s likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, did not confirm that his conservatives and the Social Democrats were considering setting up special funds worth nearly a trillion euros to finance urgent defence and infrastructure spending.

German of the day: Bedrohung von innen

February 14, 2025 By Hermann Observer in Hard Facts, Higher Education, Hurt Feelings Tags: Censorship, Defense, EU, Europe, German, Germany, JD Vance, Language, Munich Leave a comment

That means threat from within.

At Munich conference, US VP Vance warns European allies of ‘threat from within’ – Vice President JD Vance warned European allies attending the security conference in Munich, Germany, against “the threat from within,” arguing that European governments are exercising extreme censorship and have failed to adequately get a handle on “out-of-control migration.”

“The threat that I worry the most about vis a vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor,” he said Friday. “What I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.”

Observing Hermann

“Was interessiert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern?”

Tag Archives: Europe