Germany megathread

[President Johnson]

Right now it is very hot in Germany and tomorrow it will be even hotter. This is why I just are three scoops of ice for 1.50 a piece... which is still an okayish price under the Putinflation, I guess, considering I recently had a scoop for 2.00 too.

Yeah, 40°C were broken today. I have a feeling these heat periods occur with increasing frequency and tend to be longer than even 15-20 years ago.

Today could have been the hottest day of the year. I guess I've done the best possible, driving back from a work-related field-trip in Bavaria over 250 kilometers after having spent most of the previous night drunk with my boss and colleagues. Lmao.

[goin bezerk]

https://mobile.twitter.com/Klaus_Arminius/status/1504964033904099328

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

Right now it is very hot in Germany and tomorrow it will be even hotter. This is why I just are three scoops of ice for 1.50 a piece... which is still an okayish price under the Putinflation, I guess, considering I recently had a scoop for 2.00 too.

https://twitter.com/JamesMelville/status/1550237013252734976

[CumbrianLefty]

Hasn't that set of images been confirmed as fake?

[Middle-aged Europe]

Hasn't that set of images been confirmed as fake?

Even with that question raised it's a bit unclear what point, if any, Hades is trying to make here.

Is he saying that it wasn't really 38 degrees Celsius last Wednesday or is he saying that 38 degrees Celsius shouldn't be considered as "hot"?

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

Hasn't that set of images been confirmed as fake?

What exactly should be considered as "fake" regarding those two picture?
Perhaps you are referring to the fact that those screenshots were captured via two different newscasts, both of which, however, belong to the same tax-funded state TV network.
"Tagesschau" - the biggest and most-trusted news program of Germany by far, aired on ARD at 8 pm every day - already used that color scheme back in 2017, whereas the "third programs" (the regional tax-funded TV stations of the same ARD network) plus the ARD morning show, which I always watch before leaving for work, still refrained from highlighting weather map in color. One can criticize that the tweeter used screenshots of two different (but nevertheless related) newscasts, but they can't be treated as "fake", though.
The tweet I have embedded was on of the most liked and discussed tweets on July 21, and when I saw your post, I was totally reminded of said tweet, and since MAE and the parochial Swiss adore Twitter so much, I thought I'd bring this material into this "discussion".

Even with that question raised it's a bit unclear what point, if any, Hades is trying to make here.

Is he saying that it wasn't really 38 degrees Celsius last Wednesday or is he saying that 38 degrees Celsius shouldn't be considered as "hot"?

No. I think Hades posted that tweet in order to signify that all those doom and gloom scenarios that Middle-aged Europe's beloved tax-funded state TV has been trying to paint by use of various hellfire colors and hues for years annoy the heck out of him and his fellow Germans. Even the 22 °C (≙ 71.6 °F) areas look like the entry to hell, whereas on the 2017 weather map, when it was much hotter than on the same date five later, the lack of indoctrination made the whole of Germany seem pleasant and paradisaic.

[NewYorkExpress]

Apparently Gerhard Schroeder met with Putin on holiday in Moscow last week.

The former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder has come under fire for a private meeting held with the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, after he travelled on holiday to Moscow to meet him.

Schröder told German media in a lengthy interview he had nothing to apologise for over his friendship with Putin, whom he met last week during a visit to the Russian capital.

....

In a five-hour long interview with the magazine Stern and the broadcaster RTL he gave no direct insight into the mindset of the Russian leader. However, he said after his discussions with Putin he thought the conflict with Russia was “resolvable” but required more negotiations – which Germany and France should lead – and a greater display of sensitivity by the west towards Russia’s “real fears of being hemmed in” by hostile countries, which “feed off historical events” and were “unfortunately also valid”.

Looking to the future, Schröder recommended an Austria-style neutrality status for Ukraine, and a Swiss-style arrangement of cantons for what he referred to as the “more complicated” Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. He said that both sides needed to show a willingness to compromise.

[Estrella]

Mayors on Rügen [the terminus of Nord Stream] demand: open Nord Stream 2!

They consider the non-approved Nord Stream 2 pipeline to be necessary as an "additional gas supply". Both are important for "long-term" energy security. At the same time, the mayors speak out against the expansion of wind power closer to residential buildings as an alternative, calling it a health hazard. The Rügen local politicians want "a general rethinking of the solution to the current problems in relations with Russia". A diplomatic route must be taken.

I was about to say something about how reunification was a mistake, but I shudder to think what the Tal der Ahnungslosen would do without adult supervision.

[Helsinkian]

Germans are starting to realise how foolish it was to give up nuclear power:

https://twitter.com/energybants/status/1555508616882540545

[Middle-aged Europe]

Germans are starting to realise how foolish it was to give up nuclear power:

https://twitter.com/energybants/status/1555508616882540545

The tweet contains misleading information though. 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.

[NewYorkExpress]

A diplomat in Rio De Janerio was arrested and charged with the murder of his husband.

A German diplomat in Rio de Janeiro, Uwe Herbert Hahn, was arrested on Saturday night in connection with the death of his Belgian husband, police said.

Hahn said that his husband, Walter Biot, had died on Friday when he fell from their apartment in the Ipanema neighborhood after suffering a sudden illness.

But police arrested him on suspicion of murder after their forensics found bloodstains in the apartment and the autopsy of Biot's body showed multiple wounds. Television images showed police taking Hahn away in a police car.

[Orange is back]

https://mobile.twitter.com/ReduxxMag/status/1556310621163061252?cxt=HHwWiIC86fSQ...

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

Schröder just emerged victorious before the arbitration committee.

[Estrella]

Schröder just emerged victorious before the arbitration committee.

(not that this particular Rettung is much better, but it beats the trashfire currently in power)

[Oryxslayer]

Schröder just emerged victorious before the arbitration committee.

Now's a good time to note that in the approximately 55+ National polls released since June, the SPD has been in third place in approximately 50 of them.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

Schröder just emerged victorious before the arbitration committee.

(not that this particular Rettung is much better, but it beats the trashfire currently in power)

The same painters who created that election poster had created propaganda placards for the Nazis only few years ago where the growing menace of communism was depicted similarly.
I must confess they were quite creative in degrading Soviets; the creature looks like a hybrid of a Russian, a Chinese and a dog.

A little more subtle is this masterwork:

[NewYorkExpress]

Gerhard Schroeder has sued to get the perks he enjoyed as a former Chancellor back.

Former German leader Gerhard Schroeder is suing to restore the perks he enjoyed as ex-chancellor after he was stripped of them by parliament following criticism over his ties with Russia.

Schroeder, who was chancellor from 1998 to 2005, has long had a close relationship with Russian energy companies and President Vladimir Putin. Those links came under heightened scrutiny following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly six months ago.

German news agency dpa quoted Schroeder’s lawyer, Michael Nagel, saying Friday that his client had filed a suit with Berlin’s administrative court to restore the necessary funding he previously received for his office and staff.

The Bundestag had changed the rules in May to link some privileges former chancellors receive to their actual duties. In their decision, lawmakers didn’t explicitly state Schroeder’s ties to Russia. But Nagel told dpa that the reasons for the change were obvious and wouldn’t withstand legal challenge.

[President Johnson]

An environmental disaster is happening at the Oder River, with the exact cause for thousands of fish dying still unclear.

https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/1558770439459115009

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Germany plans to delay the closure of its last three nuclear power plants: https://www.wsj.com/articles/germany-to-keep-last-three-nuclear-power-plants-running-in-policy-u-turn-11660661914

There's no mention of the three recently closed plants in the earl which certain industry figures argued could be reactivated (in March, IIRC).

Remaining hurdles:
 - Formal adoption by Scholz' cabinet
 - Vote in Bundestag
 - Delay while waiting for an energy needs assessment a few weeks away (but a Cabinet source says this part a foregone conclusion)
 - The delay of the closure is said to be temporary. No plant lives forever so it's not clear what that means - but perhaps they only plan to keep it open until their new gas terminals are up and running

[palandio]

An environmental disaster is happening at the Oder River, with the exact cause for thousands of fish dying still unclear.

https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/1558770439459115009

A likely cause could be the toxin prymnesin produced by the alga Prymnesium parvum that normally doesn't grow in freshwater, but may have been able to grow because of elevated salt depositions.

[Estrella]

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

[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".

[AZdude]

I've seen tweets talking about how Scholz's popularity in Germany has plummeted, with unhappiness about the Russia situation among the factors.  But for German posters, is it because they want stiffer sanctions, or they want them removed?

A huge fear that I have is that Russia will simply declare the war won at some point, and try to de facto annex the land they've taken.  At that point, will Europe still back Ukraine?  I hate to say this and hope with all my heart I'm wrong, but Germany has seem primed to stab Ukraine in the back since day one.

[Middle-aged Europe]

I've seen tweets talking about how Scholz's popularity in Germany has plummeted, with unhappiness about the Russia situation among the factors.  But for German posters, is it because they want stiffer sanctions, or they want them removed?

A huge fear that I have is that Russia will simply declare the war won at some point, and try to de facto annex the land they've taken.  At that point, will Europe still back Ukraine?  I hate to say this and hope with all my heart I'm wrong, but Germany has seem primed to stab Ukraine in the back since day one.

Scholz' popularity has plummeted due to him being seen as a bad communicator and an ineffectual leader - someone who doesn't like making decisions or explaning them to the population and who is most of the time being driven into action by pressure from his two governing partners, the CDU/CSU opposition, the German media, NATO allies, and/or the Ukrainian government. Add to that the recent developments with his pre-Chancellorship "Cum-Ex" scandal.

In contrast, the popularity of economics minister Robert Habeck and foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has increased during the Ukraine crisis - not because they happen to be softer on Russia (they're certainly the opposite), but because they're not regarded as bad communicators who are too scared to take a stance on anything.

Public support for sanctions against Russia and military aid for Ukraine remains quite high despite the Putinflation, although the German government tends to get bad grades when it comes to the fnancial relieve the population has received so far. The latter of which is more of the FDP's fault though due to their small government/balanced budget stance, regularly vetoing more ambitious proposals from SPD or Greens.

That being said, we've certainly entered a new phase in which we are more occupied with our own internal problems (like solutions to inflation, future of nuclear power) than the problems of Ukraine. That doesn't actually change Germany's stance on Ukraine, so far. What has changed is that the Ukraine issue isn't front and center anymore.

[NewYorkExpress]

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.