Tag Archives: Russia

World War 3 just ain’t what it used to be

January 16, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Yawn. Another “secret report” has been “discovered” somewhere. I hate public secret reports.

Especially when public secret reports like these are nothing other than plans. Normal military plans. Armies plan for everything, that’s what they’re supposed to do. Even when they aren’t real armies, like the Bundeswehr.

Germany ‘preparing for war’ as conflict between NATO and Russia ‘imminent’ – One of the founding principles of NATO is collective defence, which sees all members leaping to the defence of another country part of the alliance if it invokes Article 5.

Referring to a secret Bundeswehr document, a source told German daily Bild that an escalation between Moscow and the Western alliance could start as early as next month.

The confidential document details how the war may erupt, with events and incidents happening month after month.

German of the day: Wehrpflicht

December 29, 2023 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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.

Just in the nick of time!

December 19, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Hang in there, Lithuania.

German cavalry is on its way.

German brigade to be combat ready in Lithuania, on Russian border, in 2027.

A permanent German brigade of about 4,800 soldiers in Lithuania, on the Russian border, will be combat-ready in 2027, defence ministers of both NATO members said on Monday after signing an agreement on German troops’ first permanent foreign deployment since World War Two.

It sounds too good to be true

November 25, 2023 By in Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

So, it probably isn’t.

US and Germany ‘plan to force Zelenskyy to negotiate’ through choking off arms supplies.

While outwardly expressing full support for Ukraine, behind closed doors in Berlin and Washington plans are being hatched to force Ukraine into talks with Russia to freeze the war on its current front lines, German newspaper BILD said in a report published on Nov. 24.

German of the day: Loser

November 22, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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. 

The lack of Russian gas isn’t your problem, Germany

August 30, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

It was your willing dependency on it. And your systematic shutdown of reliable energy sources at home.

Green ideology got you here. Now sit back and enjoy it. And remember: You’re setting an example for the rest of the world.

Energy fears spur German industrials to seek investments abroad – Annual business survey finds concern over country’s future without Russian gas.

Nearly a third of German industrial companies are planning to boost production abroad rather than at home amid increasing concern over the country’s future without Russian gas, according to a closely watched annual survey.

The annual “Energy Transition Barometer” by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) found that 32 per cent of companies surveyed favoured investment abroad over domestic expansion. The figure was double the 16 per cent in last year’s survey.

Englisch of the Day: Guarantee

August 25, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

This is an assurance that another’s obligation will be fulfilled, or something presented as such security; guaranty. In this case, they mean with taxpayer money.

And the guarantee is that the Germany economy is guaranteed to fall flat on its face if the German government continues its odd obsession with remaining dependent on China as a business partner. It’s recent dependency on Russan gas was just that much fun, I guess.

German guarantees for China investments plummet -document.

The volume of investment guarantees provided by the German government to companies investing in China has collapsed this year, a government document showed, highlighting the impact of Berlin’s efforts to end over-reliance on the country.

Only 51.9 million euros ($56.26 million) in guarantees have been issued so far this year, according to the document seen by Reuters, less than a tenth of the 745.9 million euros in guarantees issued over the whole of last year.

The homes of pro-Ukraine activists will be raided next…

August 21, 2023 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Right?

All homes of those who “violate a law that regulates the production and transfer of war weapons” need to be.

German prosecutors raid home of pro-Kremlin activists – German prosecutors said on Monday they searched the home of two pro-Kremlin activists under suspicion that they violated a law that regulates the production and transfer of war weapons.

The activists – Max Schlund and his romantic partner Elena Kolbasnikova – have organised multiple rallies protesting Germany’s support of Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion last year.

Reuters reported in January that Schlund and Kolbasnikova donated funds collected from supporters in Germany to a Russian army division fighting in Ukraine, and the money was used to purchase walkie-talkie radios, headphones and telephones.

German prosecutors searched the couple’s home in March as they looked for evidence to corroborate Reuters’ reporting.

Ulf Willuhn, a representative of the Cologne public prosecutors, confirmed on Monday the raid was conducted over suspicions of a violation of the War Weapons Control Act, but denied it was connected to their aid for Donbas in eastern Ukraine.

More German De-Escalation

August 12, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , 1 Comment

The German government is still doing everything it can to prevent the war in Ukraine from escalating.

This time by sending Taurus cruise missiles.

Germany, a leading arms supplier to Ukraine, could soon supply Kyiv with Taurus cruise missiles. But differences between Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius could delay delivery, as could potential modifications to the system.

Berlin doing everything it can to prevent war escalation by sending more German tanks to Ukraine

August 11, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

These are tanks of peace or something.

Well, tanks for nothing.

Germany pursues a responsible policy in providing military aid to Ukraine and ensures that the war remains the one between Ukraine and Russia. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said this on Thursday as he spoke with residents of Erfurt, Thuringia, Ukrinform reports.

“With all the decisions we make, we prevent escalation, the war between Russia and NATO; we make sure that the war remains the one between Russia and Ukraine. But we support Ukraine, which is defending itself,” said Scholz.