That means: “What causes the extreme winter weather?”
In January. In Germany.
This was a real question asked and addressed by Germany’s ARD state TV channel. And they were serious. It wasn’t meant to be a joke. But it certainly is.
“Climate crisis” hysteria has brought us to the point where perfectly natural seasonal weather is now seen as a threat in need of an explanation and a solution.
That means horn concert.
Horn concert wakes up the capital: Thousands of farmers demonstrate in Berlin.
Before the planned protest demonstration by farmers at the Brandenburg Gate, participants with their tractors headed toward Berlin city center on Monday morning. Loud honking could be heard in several parts of the city in the early morning hours and also during the night.
That means railway strike.
Pro tip: When you’re the guy giving the order to strike, make sure you catch the last train back to your headquarters in Berlin before the strike begins.
More German of the day: Dumm gelaufen. That means shit happens.
Train drivers’ strike – GDL boss Weselsky misses last train to Berlin.
Claus Weselsky has a problem: due to the train drivers’ strike, the head of the train drivers’ union (GDL) said he missed the last train to Berlin on Tuesday evening.
Courts in Frankfurt rejected the injunction issued by Deutsche Bahn against the strike action on Tuesday evening but after that, things went less well for the union leader, as the hearing lasted longer than initially expected.
That means to paralyze.
For example: Bauernproteste legen Städte und Autobahnen lahm means farmers’ protests paralyze cities and freeways.
The week of rage – What’s in store for us tomorrow?
Starting tomorrow, farmers all over Germany will be taking to the barricades to demonstrate against the government’s (subvention-cutting) policy. Expected are highway blockades, rallies, protest camps and rallies all over the country. The farmers’ association expects “tens of thousands of tractors” to take part.
That means conscription.
Germany mulls reintroduction of compulsory military service – The Bundeswehr is facing a dramatic shortage in personnel. Now Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has rekindled the debate over reintroducing conscription.
At the end of October, the Bundeswehr said it counted 181,383 soldiers in its ranks — that’s still some distance from the target of 203,000 that the German military hopes to reach by 2025. This has given rise to concern in times of Russia’s war against Ukraine, which has once again reminded Germans how quickly conflicts can erupt in Europe.
Since taking office at the beginning of 2023, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has been thinking about ways to make the Bundeswehr more attractive as a career. He said he has received 65 concrete proposals from his ministry on recruitment and reforming training methods.
Even conscription, something Germany ended in 2011, is also up for debate. “There were reasons at the time to suspend compulsory military service. In retrospect, however, it was a mistake,” Pistorius told newspaper Die Welt earlier in December.
German of the day: Anschlag. That means attack.
It’s the Islamist way to say Merry Christmas!
Security hiked at Cologne Cathedral for Christmas amid attack threat – German police said on Saturday they were heightening security at Cologne Cathedral following indications of an attack planned for New Year’s Eve and in the wake of government warnings in recent weeks about the rising threat of Islamist violence.
The police said in a statement they would use tracker dogs to check the cathedral after evening mass and then close it off. On Sunday, Christmas Eve, they would carry out a security check on all visitors, and recommended they get to services early.
That means those who refuse to listen shall feel the consequences.
The established, traditional political parties in Germany are still refusing to listen to the electorate. Their voters have had it. With the migrant madness, for one thing. And with crazy Green utopia (highest energy prices in Europe and climbing), for another. And if these parties won’t listen, then voters have no other choice but to vote for a party that will.
Alice Weidel’s hard-right politics is winning over Germans.
Our Berlin bureau chief sits down with the increasingly popular co-leader of the Alternative for Germany, the furthest-right of the country’s seven main political parties.
That means insurrection.
The Germans just had to have one of their own, of course. And I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but their insurrection was even more ridiculous than ours was. 27 old farts were going to “overthrow the German government.” Silly old farts too, They didn’t even know that Germany doesn’t have a government. Or that when it does it just overthrows itself.
Germany charges 27 suspects over Reichsbürger coup plot – German prosecutors have charged 27 suspects after carrying out raids against the far-right Reichsbürger movement last year.
For the first time after a series of raids last year, federal prosecutors in Germany on Tuesday brought charges linked to an alleged coup plot hatched by members of the far-right “Reichsbürger” movement… Also charged was the entrepreneur and aristocrat Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, who is alleged to have been the ringleader.
That means heat pump.
You know, the warming device that needs government subsidies to get anyone to install it (promised subsidies that will now no longer be offered)?
German heat pump rollout at risk as government suspends climate subsidies – Move could also undermine nine funding programmes, covering schemes from energy efficient homes to cargo bikes provision.
Nine funding programmes, covering everything from energy efficient homes to cargo bikes for commercial use, are now on hold as Olaf Scholz’s coalition government seeks to make savings of about €17bn (£15bn).
The government was thrown into a quandary last month over how to finance its ambitious environmental and industrial transformation programme (KTF) when the country’s highest court blocked its attempts to switch €60bn of pandemic-era borrowing to pay for it.
That means loser. It also means losers (in plural).
US and Germany risk owning Ukraine’s stalling war effort – The onus is on European allies to step up support and chart a path for Kyiv towards Nato and EU membership.
More than 50 countries are supporting Ukraine in its defence against Russia’s full-scale invasion. Yet Ukraine’s existential struggle in Europe’s largest war since 1945 currently hinges mainly on two countries. US leadership, as well as financial and material support for Kyiv, have been essential to Ukraine’s survival. Germany is its second largest supplier of weapons and money, far ahead of the rest of the field.
Observing Hermann 