War damaging German economy almost as much as Germany is

And that’s saying a lot.

Energy bottleneck in Middle East is damaging German economy – Expensive energy, rising prices and disrupted supply chains are all bad news for economic growth. The German government is alarmed by events in the Middle East.

When the US and Israel attacked Iran, the response was not long in coming. Iran is no longer allowing ships to pass through its coastal waters. The Strait of Hormuz, the bottleneck in the Persian Gulf through which 20% of the global oil trade passes every day, is now effectively blocked.

After the attack, the price of oil immediately rose sharply. Prices for gasoline and diesel also skyrocketed at German gas stations. Depending on the region, premium gasoline even went as high €2.50 ($2.89) per liter. The average price for diesel is currently just over €2, which is €0.30 higher than before the attack on Iran.

A True German Crisis

The Iran conflict is ruining German vacation plans!

Call in the Germany military – to get German vactioners out.

Iran war: Tens of thousands of German travelers stranded – German tour operators say at least 30,000 customers have been left without travel options after thousands of flights were canceled across the Middle East because of the US-Israel war with Iran.

Tens of thousands of people on trips organized by German travel agencies have been affected by US-Israel war with Iran, a leading trade group said on Monday.

Figures from the German Travel Association suggest that some 30,000 tourists are unable to fly home amid the hostilities, which have prompted several countries in the region to close their airspace, while many airlines have put flights into and out of the crisis area on hold.

German flagship carrier Lufthansa is among those airlines. The company said that airspace over Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and the Saudi airport of Dammam will not be used by Lufthansa and its subsidiaries until at least March 8. United Arab Emirates airspace will be avoided until March 4.

What’s wrong with Germans these days?

Two-thirds of them don’t welcome killer robots.

They’re stuck in the past, man.

One in three Germans welcome killer robots, new poll says – AI-enabled technologies like drones are transforming warfare but face criticism from rights groups.

Call it “bots on the ground.”

One in three Germans think their country should allow artificial intelligence to make life-or-death decisions on the battle field, according to The POLITICO Poll.

A third of respondents in Germany said they favor AI systems to be used in weapons in place of human decision makers, even if these systems are less transparent, the poll showed.

There are fireworks…

Then there are fireworks.

German Spies Detonated 2 Million Pounds of Explosives in New York Harbor in 1916: The Statue of Liberty’s Torch Has Been Closed Ever Since – Just after 2 a.m. on July 30, 1916, a freight car loaded with TNT exploded at a munitions depot on Black Tom Island in New York Harbor. The blast registered as a 5.5 magnitude earthquake and was felt 90 miles away in Philadelphia. Windows shattered from Times Square to Brooklyn. The Statue of Liberty took shrapnel damage. Firefighters were blown out of their boots.

German of the day: Russisches Vermögen

That means Russian assets (frozen assets).

Merz also wants to use Russian assets in Germany.

Brilliant move, Germany. The Russians won’t notice and there won’t be any retaliation.

Can Russia’s assets frozen in the EU be used for Ukraine? Negotiations on this issue are gaining momentum. Germany is also making concessions.

Step 1, Page 1: Have an army.

Step 2, Page 2: No. A real army.

Germany Has Drawn Up a 1,200-page War Plan for a Russian Attack – Germany has quietly produced a 1,200-page Operational Plan for Germany that assumes a large-scale war with Russia and treats time as the key variable.

Drawn up at Julius Leber Barracks, the plan details how up to 800,000 German, U.S. and other NATO troops would flow east via ports, rivers, rail and roads—and how they’d be supplied and protected en route.

Rather than just counting tanks and troops, Berlin is betting on logistics and an “all-of-society” approach, from infrastructure to cyber. With Russian sabotage and probing already mounting, officials see a genuine race against time to be ready.

“Learn to code?”

Forget that one, right? Get a job with a German armaments firm instead.

That’s the only industry booming over here at the moment.

German Shipbuilder TKMS Reports Rise in Sales, Earnings Fueled by Europe’s Defense Spending – Results are first since spinning off from Thyssenkrupp and its Frankfurt IPO.

“I don’t want to be part of this war machine!”

“One that actually works, maybe. But not this one.”

‘I don’t want to be part of this war machine’: Young Germans protest against military service plans – Young people have taken to the streets of Berlin to protest against the German parliament’s decision to introduce voluntary military service to boost national defences after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The change means that all 18-year-olds in Germany will be sent a questionnaire from January 2026 asking if they are interested and willing to join the armed forces.

“The New German War Machine…”

Just lost half its ammunition.

After World War II, Germany embraced pacifism as a form of atonement. Now the country is arming itself again…

Thousands of rounds of German army ammunition stolen from lorry – A shipment of German ammunition has been stolen from a delivery lorry in the eastern town of Burg, the country’s defence ministry has said.

Speaking to Germany’s DPA news agency, officials did not specify how much was taken. However, other reports cited a defence spokesperson as saying it was close to 20,000 rounds.

Snipers in the subway?

Germans copying amerikanische Verhältnisse (American conditions, the American situation) again or what? Sheesh.

Snipers in the metro: German military conducts urban warfare drills in Berlin – German military forces began a five-day urban warfare training exercise in Berlin, focusing on rapid deployment and protection of critical infrastructure in a landmark event.

German military forces began five days of urban warfare training in Berlin, practising emergency deployment scenarios across the capital as Europe’s security landscape shifts following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Bundeswehr’s guard battalion launched the “Bollwerk Bärlin III” exercise on Sunday at multiple locations including Jungfernheide underground station, the Ruhleben police training ground and a former chemical plant site in Rüdersdorf.