German Of The Day: Gepard

That means cheetah. Leopards can’t change their spots, of course, but maybe German cheetahs can.

Anti-aircraft tank Gepard of the German Armed Forces during a demonstration. The anti-aircraft tank Gepard, short Flak Panzer Gepard, is armed with two 35mm cannons. The main task is the fight against aircraft. Through the radar on the turret, the Flak Panzer Gepard can independently locate aircraft.

Support for Ukraine.

Germany wants to supply Gepard tanks – The German government now wants to allow the supply of tanks from industry stocks to Ukraine.

German Of The Day: Hörig

That means to be obedient, servile, to be in bondage or a slave, etc.

You know, as in “Germany is in bondage to Putin?”

For weeks, Olaf Scholz (63, SPD) has been hesitant to supply Ukraine with heavy weapons. In an interview on Friday, he spoke about his reasons: Concern about World War III and a nuclear conflict.

This has met with sharp criticism not only in Germany, but also in Europe. And in the U.S., too, people are reacting with displeasure to the chancellor’s lurching course. “What must happen for Germany to finally stand up to Russia?” the Los Angeles Times now asks in a commentary.

German Howitzers Are Being Shipped To Ukraine

By the Dutch. Well, it’s not like you could ever expect the Germans to do it.

Germany is a nation of peace and love. With an alibi army that doesn’t work because it’s intentionally designed not to work. While being the world’s third largest weapons exporter. So, you do the math. I never could figure that one out.

The Netherlands is transferring some of its German-built Panzerhaubitze 2000 long-range armored howitzers to Ukraine. Also known as the Pzh 2000, these hulking 61.5-ton tracked vehicles are arguably the heaviest land-warfare systems a Western ally has transferred to Ukraine so far.

Germany itself has so far refrained from giving heavy weapons to Ukraine as German Chancellor Scholze claims it risks depleting the reserves of the Bundeswehr or excessively provoking Russia.

German Of The Day: Umweltschädlich

That means environmentally harmful.

And Green Germans, of all Green people everywhere, are now allowing gas drilling to proceed in one of Germany’s most controversial territories. This is odd. Even rätselhaft (puzzling), as Green Germans normally preach to the rest of the world how humanity should follow their example as they bravely march down the renewable road to the coming Green utopian future.

Something serious most have happened. Something very serious must have brought about this change of Green heart. Something real-world-like. I bet you dollars to solar panels it was something real-world-like. The real world always raises its ugly little head eventually. Reality just ain’t fair, in other words. Much less Green.

Germany To Drill For Gas In North Sea To Reduce Reliance On Russia – In a concerted move to move away from its heavy reliance on Russia amid the Ukraine crisis, Germany authorities have finally given in and allowed gas drilling to proceed in one of its most controversial territories.

On Wednesday, a German regional authority responsible for the Wadden Sea Islands gave the green light to a Dutch company to drill for gas in the North Sea above the Wadden Islands.

SPD

Socialists Pretending to like Democracy? Sleazy Politicians in Denial? Shallow, Phony and Dishonest?

Yes to all three, I’d say. And the WC on the picture rocks too.

The SPD is the Reason Germany is always afraid – Berlin hesitates on everything because of its ruling party’s identity problems.

How Germany Pays For Refugees?

It’s something they call “Steuerzahler” here.

That means taxpayer.

It’s a crazy new German concept the rest of the world ought to look into, I guess: The ever-expanding state taking on ever-expanding functions it finances by extorting a population ever-willing to pay up.

Ukraine war: How Germany pays for refugees – German leaders recently agreed on a €2 billion package helping states accommodate and integrate Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia’s war. But money is not the only problem.

“Overall, we have found an acceptable compromise on the distribution of financial responsibility.”

German Of The Day: Zwickmühle

To be in the Zwickmuhle is to be in a predicament, to be on the horns of a dilemma.

As in Germany’s neighbors (see Ukraine and Poland) despising the pro-Russian policy it has been following forever, bypassing and ignoring them in the process. The punch line: Now the Germans are surprised, even offended that everyone is so upset about it. But it’s not much of a “dilemma,” if you ask me. It’s quite straightforward, really: The Germans went it alone, yet again, placed all their money on Putin & Co., and lost.

The reason for the rejection (for German President Steinmeier being unwelcome in Ukraine) is clearly Steinmeier’s course in recent years, which Kiev considers too Russia-friendly. As foreign minister, he had, among other things, always pushed for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. “The warnings, it’s true, from our Eastern European partners we should have taken more seriously. Especially as far as the period after 2014 was concerned and the expansion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. And that’s why holding on was certainly a mistake,” Steinmeier had admitted last week. But despite the admission of mistakes and errors: The extent to which Germany’s Russia policy in recent years has caused disquiet and upset in Kiev is only now becoming really clear.

The Steinmeier Formula

Otherwise known as the SPD Formula. It’s quite simple: Take a loaded handgun, point it at your foot, and then fire.

Angela Merkel HERSELF adopted the formula HERSELF. But her “conservative” CDU/CSU was more SPD than the SPD ITSELF so it’s quite understandable why she would have. Sort of.

Ukraine snubs German president over past ‘close ties to Russia’ – Volodymyr Zelenskiy rejects request by Frank-Walter Steinmeier for meeting in Kyiv, Bild reports.

“My sticking to [the Baltic Sea pipeline project] Nord Stream 2, that was definitely a mistake,” he said in Berlin on 4 April. “We held on to bridges that Russia no longer believed in, and of which our partners warned us.”

He added: “We failed to build a common European house. I did not believe Vladimir Putin would embrace his country’s complete economic, political and moral ruin for the sake of his imperial madness.”

Back To The Future

Or is it more like escape to the future? Because your plans aren’t panning out now?

Germany unveils plans to accelerate green energy expansion – The package envisages green energy accounting for 80% of the power mix in Europe’s biggest economy by 2030, up from about 40% now and a previous target of 65%.

Sure. It’s easy to set future deadlines for things you haven’t been able to do yet. The tricky part is setting these deadlines for things you’ll never be able to do. Like creating a Renewable German Green Utopia. Here just a few fun facts that nobody here wants to look at:

  • Renewables in Germany contributed to electricity prices rising 50 percent since 2007. Electricity prices here are 45 percent higher than the European average and the highest in Europe. Now. And in that Brave New Future?
  • Wind and solar renewables are unreliable, requiring 100% backup (you need two expensive energy systems, coal and gas in this case because nuclear is still verboten). They are also energy-dilute, that is, not -dense, meaning they require huge tracts of land, transmission lines, mining, etc.
  • An example: If the U.S. was to generate all the energy it uses with renewables, 25% to 50% of all land in the U.S. would be needed. Today’s energy system needs just 0.5 percent of land in the U.S. (Smil, Power Density: A Key to Understanding Energy Sources and Uses).

In other words, running Germany on renewable energy ain’t never gonna happen.

“Ill-Prepared?”

That’s the nice word for it.

Take Berlin, for instance. Practically all of it’s energy is produced using Russian gas. It took the German government(s) many, many years of hard work and the steadfast disregard of warnings from its partners in the West to become this dependent on Russian gas, coal and oil (50%). Now deal with it. Too bad I’m going to have to live/freeze through it, though. Stock up on warm clothing for next winter while the supplies still last, people!

What if the Gas Is Cut Off? – German Industry Prepares for Worst-Case Scenario – German industry and the government in Berlin are ill-prepared for a possible halt in supplies of natural gas from Russia. A new emergency plan is being developed to prevent an economic meltdown if deliveries cease.