That means cronyism, nepotism.
Those two are as thick as Green thieves. Or they were, at least.
Germany’s star Robert Habeck brought down to earth by cronyism and boilers – Vice-chancellor’s unpopularity contrasts with the adulation he enjoyed for many years.
The Green economy minister and vice-chancellor faced the darkest day in his 17 months in office on Wednesday when he was forced to sack one of his closest aides over a widening nepotism scandal.
Do you mean green like in pink unicorns or like in red herrings?
I see. As in both.
How Germany’s Hydrogen Boom Stalled – Green hydrogen has the potential to heat millions of homes and keep German industry humming. So far, though, a lack of the environmentally friendly gas and the infrastructure needed to transport it have prevented its wide-scale use.
Welcome to the sobering hydrogen reality. While Germany hopes that it will soon be able to run basement gas heating systems on hydrogen, steel manufacturers are converting their production to the green gas at a cost of billions and energy companies are planning new power plants that will generate electricity from hydrogen, almost everything needed to make the climate-neutral dreams a reality in the near future is still lacking. The environmentally friendly hydrogen is missing, as are the pipeline networks to carry it across the country, not to mention reliable business models.
Even “more than shocking,” if such a thing is possible. Other than for her, I mean.
And somebody somewhere needs to do something about all this more than shocking stuff real pronto, I bet she’s thinking.
Germany’s foreign minister: Parts of China trip ‘more than shocking’ – German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Wednesday described parts of her recent trip to China as “more than shocking” and said Beijing was increasingly becoming a systemic rival more than a trade partner and competitor.
The blunt remarks followed Baerbock’s visit to Beijing last week where she warned that any attempt by China to control Taiwan would be unacceptable.
Then we take Berlin.
A Syrian who arrived in Germany as a refugee in 2015 has been elected as the mayor of a village in the south-west of the country.
Ryyan Alshebl, 29, who is a member of the German Greens but stood as a non-party candidate, won an absolute majority in Sunday’s mayoral election in Ostelsheim, a small municipality of about 2,500 inhabitants in the state of Baden-Württemberg.
That means deportations. German deportations. Deportations that don’t work, in other words. Migrants deported for criminal offences just turn around and come right back to Germany again. Why, how criminal or something. That they’re able to do so, I mean.
Thousands of deported migrants reenter Germany – Nearly 6,500 people deported from Germany sneaked back to the country over the past three years, police told Bild newspaper.
Citing federal police statistics, the newspaper said 6,495 foreigners had returned or tried to return over the past three years.
During that period, the number of returnees increased by 74%.
“These numbers reveal the enormous gaps in Interior Minister Nancy Faeser‘s security policy.”
Beautiful corrupt EU socialist technocrat of the week.
Because somebody has to admire them.
European Parliament Vice President Eva Kaili has been arrested in an investigation into suspected bribery by a Gulf state…
Cash worth about €600,000 ($632,000; £515,000) was seized by Belgian police in 16 searches in Brussels on Friday. Computers and mobile phones were also taken by police in order to examine their contents.
They have another word for it. It’s called Alleingang.
That means going-it-alone, of course. Although that is something Germans regularly claim they would never ever do. Apparently, only Germans are capable of believing such nonsense.
Olaf Scholz Is Undermining Western Unity on China – The German chancellor’s go-it-alone approach has alienated domestic, EU, and international partners.
The German chancellor sought to get ahead of the pack. Scholz argued it was time to speak directly with Xi after a three-year hiatus in such bilateral meetings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The chancellor said he sought to confront issues in the Germany-China relationship precisely because it isn’t business as usual. In an op-ed in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Scholz wrote that “as China changes, so must our approach to the country.”
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.
They did everything wrong. As in we did everything wrong. So we’re warning us not to ever do it again.
A Look at the Worst Mistakes Germany Made in the Coronavirus Pandemic – From the tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths, to neglected children and a helpless vaccination campaign, German politicians deserve poor marks in many aspects of the coronavirus pandemic. Experts look back at the worst mistakes made and offer advice for the autumn.
“The ‘constituency’ of the expert is those who have a vested interest in commonly held opinions; elaborating and defining its consensus at a high level has, after all, made him an expert.”
– Henry Kissinger
That means foundation. You know, like the “climate protection foundation” SPD Prime Minister (Governor) of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Manuela Schwesig created to get around American sanctions to help Russia finish the Nord Stream 2 pipeline – which never went into operation although completed, for some strange reason.
Now that she got caught the “foundation’s” chairman of the board has stepped down so it can quietly be liquidated.
The foundation had been the subject of criticism since its establishment in January 2021 because, in addition to climate protection, its main purpose was to secure the completion of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea. Companies involved in the construction had in fact been threatened by US sanctions.
Nord Stream 2 AG paid 20 million euros into the foundation’s coffers. Nord Stream 2 was completed – with the foundation’s support. However, because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has not received an operating permit from the German authorities. Schwesig has come under criticism for her long adherence to Nord Stream 2. Accusations have been made that Russian forces pulled the strings in key areas of the foundation. Schwesig had played a key role in promoting the establishment of the foundation in 2021.
Observing Hermann 