I’m No Joe Biden

But I’m pretty damned unpopular all the same.

Over 60% of Germans are Dissatisfied with the Work of Chancellor Olaf Scholz – Currently, only 25% of Germans are satisfied with Scholz’s performance as chancellor, and as many as 62% are dissatisfied – a record low during his tenure.

If the chancellor had been elected directly, Scholz would have taken only third place. According to the survey, 25 percent would choose current Economy Minister Robert Habeck as Germany’s chancellor, 19 percent would choose CDU leader Friedrich Merz and only 18 percent would choose Scholz of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

German Of The Day: Atomstrom

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?

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

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.

Scam? What Scam? Me?

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

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 Absolutely Desperate

The Germans are now even willing to accept sour crude (its sulfur content exceeds 0.5%) from US-Amerika ITSELF.

How impure or something.

A tanker of U.S. sour crude was delivered at Germany’s port of Rostock last week for the first time ever, according to sources, analysts and vessel tracking data, as local refiners test alternatives to Russian oil.

Germany Finally Waking Up To Smell The Nuclear Coffee?

“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.

Social Unrest?

In Germany? Uh, the same Germany in which the Germans always do precisely whatever the Media Brain Police tell them to do?

Germany braces for social unrest over energy prices – German officials have expressed fears that a worst-case winter of energy problems could prompt an extremist backlash. How bad things get may depend on how well they manage the crisis – in policy and perception.

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

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.