Germany megathread

[Middle-aged Europe]

Economy Minister Robert Habeck rules out extending the lifespan of Germany's three remaining nuclear power plants to save gas.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck ruled out on Sunday extending the lifespan of the country's three remaining nuclear power plants in order to save gas, saying it would save at most 2 percent of gas use.

These savings were not sufficient to be worth reopening the debate about the exit from nuclear energy given the consensus on the topic, he said during a discussion with citizens at the government's open-door day.

Well, um, technically, strictly speaking, he didn't rule it out per se...
 he ruled it out as a measure "to save gas". What he didn't rule out is nuclear energy as a measure to ensure "the stablity of the power grid" in the winter. This is however, he added, subject to the result of an ongoing stress test of the three remaining power plants.

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At yesterday's open house of the Bundestag, two lovely ladies tried to persuade Olaf into placing a total embargo on Russian gas. Perhaps their knock-down arguments convinced him... 😂

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Well, um, technically, strictly speaking, he didn't rule it out per se...
he ruled it out as a measure "to save gas". What he didn't rule out is nuclear energy as a measure to ensure "the stablity of the power grid" in the winter. This is however, he added, subject to the result of an ongoing stress test of the three remaining power plants.

According the poll, 61% (not 68%) of the Green voters say to keep nuclear temporarily, while 7% of the Green voters say they want to keep it on a long-term basis.

What's "Schadenfreude" in English? 🤣

Btw, when I once used the preposition "subject to" in a post of mine, MAE's ally PUTP asked me what that expression is supposed to mean, and that I ought to improve my nOn-UnDeRsTaNdAbLe PrOsE™ instead of making up neologisms.

[Boobs]

What's "Schadenfreude" in English? 🤣

It doesn’t translate perfectly but one English-language semi-equivalent is “Roman holiday”. “Epicaricacy” is a literal equivalent but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it actually used.

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What's "Schadenfreude" in English? 🤣

It doesn’t translate perfectly but one English-language semi-equivalent is “Roman holiday”. “Epicaricacy” is a literal equivalent but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it actually used.

Considering your display name I thought you'd replied to the other comment of mine... 😁

And my question was of rhetorical nature, of course, as "Schadenfreude" simply translates as "schadenfreude" in English.

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Back to the topic of this thread: Take a guess at where Olaf and Vice-Olaf are currently prowling about? Usually, official visits to a foreign country are not a big deal, but in this case it is, since it's a huge state that German chancellors only very seldom visit and whose impact on world politics will start to grow in the near future.

[President Johnson]

Wolfgang Kubicki, what an enigma. Is he a master populist who will try to exploit any opportunity to cast himself as a fighter against the system, or does he just need to stop sniffing glue?

Activate Nord Stream 2 ASAP, says German parliament vice president

Wolfgang Kubicki has always been a "maverick" (TM) in addition to being a "loose cannon" (TM).

His general contrarianism on both COVID measures and Ukraine/Russia, his well-cultivated macho persona and his involvement in some shady business deals are bringing him rather close to Trumpist territory, actually.

In any case, his party chair Christian Lindner has called Kubicki's Nord Stream remarks "wrong and absurd".

More often it just feels like his actions are blatant attention seeking and not of any real substance. Especially his personal attacks on Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Wolfgang Kubicki, what an enigma. Is he a master populist who will try to exploit any opportunity to cast himself as a fighter against the system, or does he just need to stop sniffing glue?

Activate Nord Stream 2 ASAP, says German parliament vice president

Wolfgang Kubicki has always been a "maverick" (TM) in addition to being a "loose cannon" (TM).

His general contrarianism on both COVID measures and Ukraine/Russia, his well-cultivated macho persona and his involvement in some shady business deals are bringing him rather close to Trumpist territory, actually.

In any case, his party chair Christian Lindner has called Kubicki's Nord Stream remarks "wrong and absurd".

More often it just feels like his actions are blatant attention seeking and not of any real substance. Especially his personal attacks on Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.

Well, I guess Kubicki knows that his schtick is resonating well with certain, however small segment of the population: men (and with that I do indeed mean men) who are too "distinguished" to hold their noses and vote AfD.

[Omega21]

DIW President Fratzscher warns of a permanent loss of prosperity

BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The President of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), Marcel Fratzscher, sees Germany facing a long dry spell in view of rapidly rising prices and a collapse in consumer sentiment. The "price shock" is causing a permanent loss of prosperity in large parts of the population, Fratzscher told the "Spiegel". The bottom 40 percent of society is particularly affected, who spend almost their entire income on their livelihood and hardly save anything. "You will consume everything that is not absolutely essential in the future much more hesitantly or not at all," said the economist.

https://www.finanzen.net/nachricht/aktien/diw-praesident-fratzscher-warnt-vor-permanentem-wohlstandsverlust-11646868


https://twitter.com/Schuldensuehner/status/1561697025749557248

[Continential]

Pseudo-libertarian Astatine once asked me about similarities between the NSDAP and their Green brethren. Now we have yet another aspect that proves the kindred spirit between those two parties: Bücherverbrennung 2.0

Congratulations, PUTP, PJ and MAE! You killed Winnetou! 👏🏻

Who is PJ and MAE?

[President Johnson]

snip

Who is PJ and MAE?

Me and Old Europe. Lmao, I don't even support removing these books from the stores.

But not much of surprise from the orginal poster, who's (the only one) on my ignore list anyway.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Pseudo-libertarian Astatine once asked me about similarities between the NSDAP and their Green brethren. Now we have yet another aspect that proves the kindred spirit between those two parties: Bücherverbrennung 2.0

Congratulations, PUTP, PJ and MAE! You killed Winnetou! 👏🏻

Bücherverbrennung=book burnings in 1933
Winnetou=Indian (as in Native American) hero in some books by Karl May

that's the gist of this.
I can see what Hades is saying here...I can't consider myself hostile to the greviance underlying it.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Pseudo-libertarian Astatine once asked me about similarities between the NSDAP and their Green brethren. Now we have yet another aspect that proves the kindred spirit between those two parties: Bücherverbrennung 2.0

Congratulations, PUTP, PJ and MAE! You killed Winnetou! 👏🏻

Bücherverbrennung=book burnings in 1933
Winnetou=Indian (as in Native American) hero in some books by Karl May

that's the gist of this.
I can see what Hades is saying here...I can't consider myself hostile to the greviance underlying it.

The decision to pull the Winnetou book was made by the publishing company. I'm not aware of any Green Party offcial having come out in favour of the move (but considering that Hades lets his brain rot away 24/7 on Twitter he may have been successful in locating the co-leader of a local Green Party chapter in rural Bavaria who did such a thing). But even if a Green Party offical had done so, that wouldn't warrant a comparison with the friggin Nazi Party. And even if it had warranted a comparison with the friggin Nazi Party it still hasn't anything to do with me personally, let alone President Johnson as a SPD member.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Pseudo-libertarian Astatine once asked me about similarities between the NSDAP and their Green brethren. Now we have yet another aspect that proves the kindred spirit between those two parties: Bücherverbrennung 2.0

Congratulations, PUTP, PJ and MAE! You killed Winnetou! 👏🏻

Bücherverbrennung=book burnings in 1933
Winnetou=Indian (as in Native American) hero in some books by Karl May

that's the gist of this.
I can see what Hades is saying here...I can't consider myself hostile to the greviance underlying it.

The decision to pull the Winnetou book was made by the publishing company. I'm not aware of any Green Party offcial having come out in favour of the move (but considering that Hades lets his brain rot away 24/7 on Twitter he may have been successful in locating the co-leader of a local Green Party chapter in rural Bavaria who did such a thing). But even if a Green Party offical had done so, that wouldn't warrant a comparison with the friggin Nazi Party. And even if it had warranted a comparison with the friggin Nazi Party it still hasn't anything to do with me personally, let alone President Johnson as a SPD member.

It was very misdirected to name any forumites in that post, but the hostility towards American "woke" culture being exported being something I can sympathize with, is the broader implication I sought to express. Iirc, isn't the Greens the political party closest to that school of thought? Even if blaming the Greens directly at least potentially is a bit much...
EDIT: I should have prefaced this by noting that I don't hate the Greens and my personal politics are quite different from Hades, overall.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Pseudo-libertarian Astatine once asked me about similarities between the NSDAP and their Green brethren. Now we have yet another aspect that proves the kindred spirit between those two parties: Bücherverbrennung 2.0

Congratulations, PUTP, PJ and MAE! You killed Winnetou! 👏🏻

Bücherverbrennung=book burnings in 1933
Winnetou=Indian (as in Native American) hero in some books by Karl May

that's the gist of this.
I can see what Hades is saying here...I can't consider myself hostile to the greviance underlying it.

The decision to pull the Winnetou book was made by the publishing company. I'm not aware of any Green Party offcial having come out in favour of the move (but considering that Hades lets his brain rot away 24/7 on Twitter he may have been successful in locating the co-leader of a local Green Party chapter in rural Bavaria who did such a thing). But even if a Green Party offical had done so, that wouldn't warrant a comparison with the friggin Nazi Party. And even if it had warranted a comparison with the friggin Nazi Party it still hasn't anything to do with me personally, let alone President Johnson as a SPD member.

It was very misdirected to name any forumites in that post, but the hostility towards American "woke" culture being exported being something I can sympathize with, is the broader implication I sought to express. Iirc, isn't the Greens the political party closest to that school of thought? Even if blaming the Greens directly at least potentially is a bit much...
EDIT: I should have prefaced this by noting that I don't hate the Greens and my personal politics are quite different from Hades, overall.

Something that I am most certainly not going to do right now is to legitimize Hades' post by trying to pretend that it can form the basis for any form of worthwhile discussion.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Well, I hope the status quo in Europe is one that does not merit alarm.
American cultural nonsense ought to be something Europe is able to resist. Our cultural influence is considerable and this is far from just a good thing in some/many cases...

[Middle-aged Europe]

Well, I hope the status quo in Europe is one that does not merit alarm.
American cultural nonsense ought to be something Europe is able to resist. Our cultural influence is considerable and this is far from just a good thing in some/many cases...

Good for you, but did I do something to give the impression that I care about something like that right now?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Well, I hope the status quo in Europe is one that does not merit alarm.
American cultural nonsense ought to be something Europe is able to resist. Our cultural influence is considerable and this is far from just a good thing in some/many cases...

Good for you, but did I do something to give the impression that I care about something like that right now?

Well, it is true there's a lot going on.
Taking everything together, this is a secondary thing: present, but more like just one thing in the background. Personally, I do hope the publisher gets serious blowback or suffers some kind of penalty, but we should not lose sight of the bigger picture either. Bombs are being dropped in Ukraine and there is an incoming potential catastrophe regarding winter energy bills...

[Middle-aged Europe]

Well, I hope the status quo in Europe is one that does not merit alarm.
American cultural nonsense ought to be something Europe is able to resist. Our cultural influence is considerable and this is far from just a good thing in some/many cases...

Good for you, but did I do something to give the impression that I care about something like that right now?

Well, it is true there's a lot going on.
Taking everything together, this is a secondary thing: present, but more in the background. Personally, I do hope the publisher gets serious blowback or suffers some kind of penalty, but we should not lose sight of the bigger picture either. Bombs are being dropped in Ukraine and there is an incoming potential catastrophe regarding winter energy bills...

You just keep babbling on endlessly, completely tone-deaf, unfazed and nonsensical, do you?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Well, I hope the status quo in Europe is one that does not merit alarm.
American cultural nonsense ought to be something Europe is able to resist. Our cultural influence is considerable and this is far from just a good thing in some/many cases...

Good for you, but did I do something to give the impression that I care about something like that right now?

Well, it is true there's a lot going on.
Taking everything together, this is a secondary thing: present, but more in the background. Personally, I do hope the publisher gets serious blowback or suffers some kind of penalty, but we should not lose sight of the bigger picture either. Bombs are being dropped in Ukraine and there is an incoming potential catastrophe regarding winter energy bills...

You just keep babbling on endlessly, completely tone-deaf, unfazed and nonsensical, do you?

I was going to leave it, then and there, but you posted a reply with an express question mark, as if you were asking me something. I felt duty-bound to express the common ground between us. If that was not to your preference, then I apologize. Considering the (likely) implied intonation with this most recent post, this will be the last reply I give in this saga. Have a nice day.

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

So the SPD is planning a new relief packet; per a draft paper, here are the proposals:

- the 9 Euro nationwide ticket will instead become a 49 Euro nationwide ticket, with the costs split 50/50 between the federal and state governments
- there will be direct payments to lower- and middle-income households to help cover energy costs, instead of the universal payment from the second package
- housing allowances and energy supports for those receiving state assistance shall also be adjusted upwards
- the gas levy that was recently implemented will be reformed to prevent free-riding from profitable energy firms
- financial supports for utility companies that are struggling are also being discussed
- there will be eviction/Inkasso protections for households who are struggling to pay ancillary costs that are included in rent payments
- a two-year suspension of the scheduled price increase in CO2 taxes
- a temporary extension of the life of nuclear power plants, but a life-time extension is ruled out

There is also a proposal for a targeted windfall profits tax on firms that profit from the spike in energy prices, but it's questionable whether the FDP will approve such a measure.

The SPD, FDP, and Greens will have a cabinet-level meeting on Wednesday and Thursday at Meseberg in Brandenburg to hash this out

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Hans-Christian Ströbele, the very first Green politician to win a direct seat in a federal election, died at age 83. He held the constituency Berlin-Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg – Prenzlauer Berg Ost from 2002 through to 2017, when he resigned his seat.
Ströbele, a renowned and influential pacifist, drew international attention in 2013 when he traveled to Moscow in order to conduct an exclusive interview with Snowden, along with two journalists. He was also famous for his fight for the legalization of several illegal drugs.
On the other hand, even within his party he was deemed controversial, as he was considered a too contentious, hard-line zealot, even for the Greens.

https://twitter.com/GrueneBundestag/status/1564917006226309121

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Good-bye, 9€-ticket!
Good-bye, Tankrabatt! 😭
R.I.P.! 🙏🏻

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https://twitter.com/mariomayl/status/1566165921810550787?s=20&t=J5hcftA0W5jH...

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https://twitter.com/DPolGHH/status/1565679165197750272