GER politics thread

[Skybird]

For those not knowing what the 9 Euro ticket is about:
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/artic...ket/index.html

[Catfish]

^ yeah this was what's missing

[Skybird]

Hurrah...! After thirty years as a reasonably adult, reasonably independent thinking being, I can only despair of my compatriots.


The NZZ again:

Now Beijing is pulling the strings - Germany is naively stumbling from one energy dependency to the next.

After the Fukushima nuclear accident, a hasty energy turnaround drove Germany into the clutches of Putin's gas geopolitics. Now Berlin is making itself dependent on Chinese wind rotors and solar panels. That is not smart.

"After City Hall, you're smarter," the popular saying instructs those who want to have foreseen all evils with the benefit of hindsight. Today, it is standard wisdom that Germany has recklessly become dependent on Russian gas (55 percent) and oil (42 percent) and has self-importantly thrown all warnings to the wind. The accusation that German prosperity is based on the import of relatively cheap energy from the east is also cheap. Some people even accuse the Social Democrats in particular of mafia-like chumminess with Putin's filthy rich cronies.

The most convincing evidence for this thesis is the close ties between the former German chancellor and the Russian president. Gerhard Schröder not only paved the way for the new Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, but also awarded three of the five refineries to the Kremlin-controlled oil companies. An oil boycott, as decided by the EU in its umpteenth sanctions package, would not only endanger the existence of these refining plants, but also dry up the energy infrastructure, especially in northern and eastern Germany. The supply of kerosene to Berlin Airport (BER), for example, would be acutely threatened.

However, two aspects are neglected in the debate about self-inflicted energy dependency. First, Germany - like other countries - has been co-financing pipelines from Siberia since the 1980s, and not just out of self-interest. Secretly, the strategy of "change through trade" was linked to the ulterior motive of making Moscow dependent on Western foreign currency in this way.

This worked even in the coldest Cold War. Not only did the Soviet Union always honor its supply contracts, but it also imposed moderation on itself so as not to jeopardize the flow of money from energy sales (in 2020, 71 percent of all revenues). The rulers in the Kremlin were also naïve, contenting themselves with the convenient sale of raw materials instead of building up a competitive industry themselves. That, too, was a Western calculation.

The fact that Germany, even under CDU Chancellor Merkel, held on to Nord Stream 2 for so long was the result of this thinking: Russia would not risk letting the secure flow of foreign currency via this additional gas pipeline dry up. This dependence would prevent even an aggressive Putin from crossing red lines, who would have to be granted certain territorial interests, such as the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Germany's dependence also has its deeper cause in a naïve energy turnaround: The hasty exit from both nuclear energy and coal-fired power generation has virtually driven Germany into Putin's arms. Eighty new gas-fired power plants were supposed to fill the electricity gaps as a "bridging technology" when the many wind turbines were once again at a standstill or bad weather paralyzed the solar plantations.

But while other countries took note of the reality early on and are now revising their nuclear phase-out plans or even building new nuclear reactors, Germany is stubbornly sticking to its plan to shut down the last three remaining nuclear reactors by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Economics and Climate Minister Habeck of the Green Party is fomenting the belief that replacements can be found immediately through much more expensive fracking gas (the extraction of which is banned in Germany) or vague "energy partnerships" with the less democratic Qatar, for example. At the same time, Germany does not yet have any ports where the liquefied gas could be unloaded. The "green hydrogen" that is being touted as a replacement technology would initially require a lot of electricity to produce, which is likely to become even scarcer and more expensive anyway due to the push for heat pumps and electromobility.

The promises of a "green job miracle" through the energy turnaround have also been dashed: The German solar industry is in the doldrums, as is the wind power sector. Siemens Energy is in the red. And with Nordex AG, the last wind turbine manufacturer is threatened with extinction, because Chinese (state-owned) corporations have completely leveraged the German market with dumping prices here as well.

Germany is thus slipping from one dependency into another: without massive imports from China, the "green" and CO2-free economy is not possible. This also strengthens a power that not only has Putin's back politically, but also compensates for Moscow's financial shortfalls. China (like India) is taking advantage of the situation to buy energy from Russia at low prices. This enables it to produce even more competitively.

Unfortunately, German manufacturers are losing important market shares due to higher raw material prices and the sanctions blockade. So an actionist policy is cutting into the country's own flesh twice over. In Beijing, which has long since stopped hiding its hegemonic claims, people are rubbing their hands. Meanwhile, in Berlin, they are stumbling from one naiveté to the next. The town hall that heralds the "turnaround" to realistic pragmatism proclaimed by the German traffic light government has yet to be built.


Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[Skybird]

From FOCUS. I rest my case.


The Deutsche Umwelthilfe

[Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V. (DUH, using the English name Environmental Action Germany) is a non-profit environmental and consumer protection association, supported by public and private project grants and donations. It is a member of the European Environmental Bureau, in Brussels. It has the legal right to represent group claims in court against projects that it considers a threat to the environment.]
has lodged an objection to the first planned liquefied natural gas terminal. The war in Ukraine is bad. But not so bad that German approval procedures can be shortened because of it.
[That brainfree group is extremely infuential and powerful and has caused plenty of legal troubles in Germany, Skybird]
Olaf Scholz was in Brandenburg two months ago to inaugurate the Tesla factory in Grünheide with Elon Musk. It took 730 days from the groundbreaking ceremony to the moment when the first cars rolled off the production line. A German record. Scholz was thrilled.

He would like to transfer that to the energy supply. We now need four liquefied gas terminals very quickly. Unfortunately, it takes eight years to build such a terminal if you go through all the approval procedures properly. That could be eight very cold years, since climate change is not coming fast enough to compensate for the loss of Russian gas. So: Tesla speed! Says the Chancellor.

The next thing I heard on the subject was Robert Habeck imploring environmental associations to refrain from filing lawsuits against the terminal in Wilhelmshaven, for which planning is furthest along. Immediate outrage from the "taz" [superleft newspaper, Skybird] to the "Süddeutsche" [left newspaper, Sky]: This was sending the completely wrong signal. The war is bad. But just because Putin had invaded Ukraine, there was no reason to abandon the tried and tested approval procedures.

At the beginning of the month, Deutsche Umwelthilfe filed an objection. Especially in times of crisis, the principles of the rule of law must be upheld, and this applies in particular to climate protection and environmental law, the executive director explained.

The association fears that the construction would irreversibly destroy the underwater biotope near Wilhelmshaven. In addition, harbor porpoises are sighted off the coast. Who knows what effects the terminal construction would have on the whales? There is always some animal that speaks against an intervention in nature. It is the nature of nature, if you will, that it stands in the way of any construction project.

Incidentally, Deutsche Umwelthilfe is the association that had rows and rows of German city centers paralyzed before Corona because the nitrogen oxide concentration in the air was allegedly too high. Did you know when the highest nitrogen oxide values ever recorded were then measured at measuring stations? In the spring of 2020 during the first lockdown, when road traffic in Germany came to a virtual standstill. If you now think that would make Deutsche Umwelthilfe appear a bit more modest: of course not!

The word of the hour is "turn of the times." Everything would have to be rethought and reassessed. Let's call it a déformation professionelle, but whenever I hear that everything is really going to be very, very different now, I think: Let's have a look.

Do you remember the first Corona months? The pandemic would open the door to a new world in which the "we" and no longer the "I" would be in the foreground. It was written almost word for word in the progressive-minded papers.

Or take the refugee crisis: We had to fundamentally question ourselves, the Chancellor declared in one of her first press conferences, when thousands were crossing the border every day. German thoroughness was super, she said, but in a crisis everything had to be put to the test, including German thoroughness.

There was even a law against too much thoroughness, the "Standard Deviation Law. If we are going to take action against thoroughness, then let's do it thoroughly. Without the appropriate regulation, nothing works in Germany.

I would be the last person to object if we were to part with a few regulations. I would be happy if we could find our way back to more freedom and less paternalism. Unfortunately, things usually go in the other direction.

Experts at the Federal Ministry of Justice have recounted and come up with 246,944 federal regulations that citizens have to comply with. And that doesn't even include the regulations of the states, municipalities and public corporations.

German bureaucracy is an inexhaustible subject. During research, our colleague Alexander Neubacher came across the regulation for maintenance work on offshore wind turbines. This regulation not only stipulates that the fitters find sleeping bags and cookies if they once have to endure longer on the wind turbine than planned due to bad weather.

No, it also stipulates that a deck of cards must be kept on hand at every wind turbine so that the maintenance workers don't get too bored while they are holding out at lofty heights. Is the regulation still in effect? Despite Corona? Despite the war? Despite the standard deviation law? Of course it is.

As long as everything moves along familiar lines, you can get along with 246,944 federal regulations. It's just that nothing unforeseen can get in the way. Like a pandemic. Or a war in Europe.

Last week I met a lawyer who runs wind farms in Schleswig-Holstein. What he reported from practice did not sound as if we would soon be beating the Russians at their game with our own energy. First, he had to wait twelve years before he was allowed to repower his wind turbines. That's what it's called when old wind turbines are replaced with new ones. It's actually a good thing, because the wind turbine then has twice as much power as before. Unfortunately, the distance rules had changed in the meantime. Now it's bat season. Everything is running at half power because it cannot be ruled out that a bat will get lost in the rotor blades.

The lawyer is pinning his hopes on the Greens. If any party can get it right, it's the Greens, he says. It's like Hartz IV. The only ones who were able to modernize the labor market were the Social Democrats.

I'm not so sure about that. It would also be obvious to think again about the use of nuclear power. We have three remaining nuclear power plants that could still provide us with useful services if the gas fails. But in December, we are supposed to finally call it a day. The veto of the Green Minister for the Environment, Steffi Lemke, is ironclad. The German nuclear phase-out is being adhered to, even if the lights are beginning to flicker because electricity is running out.

The green German would rather sit at home by candlelight than draw nuclear power one day longer. Let them continue to rely on nuclear power in Finland and France and Great Britain and Sweden and Belgium. We know better than anyone what a devilish thing it is!

Societies are amazingly tough and inert entities. One can certainly see something comforting in this. Revolutions only work at gunpoint. But a little movement would be desirable, don't you think?

Perhaps we could start by withdrawing the non-profit status of the German Environmental Aid Association. That would be a measure whose beneficial effect would unfold immediately.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[Skybird]

A draft list for what the military will/should get with the additional money rain. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:



New fighter jets, modern warships, extensive modernization and digitization of the armed forces - all of this is to be financed in the coming years from an extraordinary special fund that the Bundestag and Bundesrat intend to approve as early as next Friday. However, there are no details or even a conceptual plan for the future equipment of the armed forces.

After taking office, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) had suspended a comprehensive modernization project of her predecessor Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU), but in the past six months she has failed to formulate her own ideas or even to present a coherent plan for the future armed forces. Two days before the Bundestag is now to decide on the largest and most expensive investment project in the history of the Federal Republic as part of a change of era, neither the members of parliament nor the public have a conceptual presentation from the federal government on national and alliance defense.

Instead, individual projects have been compiled in the ministry and in the branches of the armed forces, to which defense, budget and economic policymakers have each added their own projects, some of which have regional policy implications. According to the available data, therefore, this is a hodgepodge of acquisitions, most of which had long since been decided but not financed. For example, shortly before the election, the Bundestag, with majorities from the CDU/CSU and SPD, had approved orders worth more than seven billion euros, but most of these were not backed by budget funds.

Since the "special fund," announced at the end of February by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), is accompanied by a so-called "economic plan," the public can now see from lists drawn up by the budget committee what spending is planned for the coming years. The list envisages around 41 billion euros for the air force, 19 billion for the navy, the army is to receive around 16.5 billion, and a further 20 billion is planned for digitization projects that will benefit all branches of the armed forces.

In addition to military requirements, the list also represents economic interests and the need to accommodate the opposition in the negotiations. In contrast to what has long been suspected, ammunition purchases are almost entirely absent. They are to be financed from the current regular budget. It is also not clear what system the list follows.

At the top of the list is the aircraft industry, with Airbus, a company with considerable production capacity in Bavaria and traditionally strong support from the CSU, in first place. Accordingly, the development and purchase of Eurofighters with electronic warfare capability is planned first and foremost. According to earlier plans, this billion-euro contract was to be awarded to American industry. After a revision, probably decided in the Chancellor's Office, the new German government had already decided otherwise a few months ago. The assets are also to be used to purchase American F-35 fighter aircraft, the most modern currently available.

As yet unfunded, but already recognized for several years as a potentially lethal shortfall, is the modernization of ground-based air defense and especially air defense. This was decommissioned as a weapon category in 2012 under Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière (CDU) at the Army. The planned projects also include some 60 new transport helicopters to replace the existing and worn-out fleet of CH-53 helicopters from the 1970s.

There are also plans to acquire light support helicopters for the Army, aircraft for electronic maritime reconnaissance and other various early warning and reconnaissance systems. The list of materials also includes the project for a joint Franco-German combat aircraft of the future (FCAS), which has been very quiet recently due to internal disputes.

Financially not decisive, but militarily necessary and politically finally pushed through after years of blockade by the SPD is the arming of the Heron TP drones in the Bundeswehr. As the short war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the summer of 2020 and now even more so the Ukrainian defensive struggle against the Russian invaders showed, these weapons have become decisive means of successful warfare. Due to a morally charged discussion, in particular by SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich, Germany had so far refrained from equipping its soldiers with

The Bundeswehr is also currently hardly able to defend itself against hostile drone attacks. This is set to change. The air force chapter of the special fund also includes the further expansion of space surveillance and an associated situation center. Overall, the air force projects account for about 40 percent of the total package.

For the Navy, which is to receive 19 billion euros from the special fund, the main projects are modernized corvettes and at least one additional F126 frigate. This is a combat ship that is to supplement the 125 frigates that have been languishing in the introductory phase for years. These are intended more for peacekeeping missions in distant waters than for high-intensity combat with a maritime counterforce in the Baltic Sea. Conversion of the Baden-Württemberg-class peacetime frigates, unit price around 900 million euros, is unlikely to be considered. Like other armament projects of recent years, they could prove to be an expensive mistake. In addition, modern anti-ship missiles (FNSM) will be procured, which can sink large warships at low cost, as recently demonstrated by Ukraine using the Russian Moskva as an example.

They are an interesting alternative to expensive ships, especially in the comparatively small Baltic Sea. Estonia, for example, does not have a large navy of its own, but has ordered and received such anti-ship missiles for some time. Also planned, according to the list of materials from the budget committee, are the acquisition of anti-aircraft missiles for submarines, underwater sonars and the German-Norwegian submarine U212 CD. Each is expected to cost about a billion. The project has been in the planning stages for five years; Norway would like to buy four of the boats, Germany two so far. But there has been a lack of money to do so.

Finally, the Navy has planned to purchase multi-purpose combat boats, which are small, heavily powered and extremely maneuverable boats. They are under 20 meters long and can accommodate, for example, 20 soldiers of the naval battalion. For years, the Navy has been trying in vain to acquire such boats, of which more than 130 exist under the type designation CB90 in the Swedish Navy, for example.

The Army also has long lists of deficiencies and wants to close at least some of the gaps in the land forces from the 100-billion-euro budget. Numerous individual projects are being presented to the budget committee. However, neither the Army nor Minister Lambrecht have specified how many brigades or divisions are to be equipped with the equipment and by when.

The procurement projects indicate that Army Chief of Staff Alfons Mais will probably continue to pursue the goal of establishing a "medium forces" brigade. This combat unit is to be based on the American model and concentrate on armored and armed wheeled vehicles that, unlike the tank and armored infantry battalions with their heavy tracked vehicles, can be deployed quickly.

The material for such a force of about 5,000 men currently does not exist, nor do sufficient tanks and armored personnel carriers for the Army's existing eight brigades. Accordingly, for the land forces, in addition to new infantry fighting vehicles, vehicles designated as "heavy weapon carriers infantry" are to be ordered. According to experts, this includes the Boxer armored transport vehicle, which will then be equipped by Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann with the same automatic cannon as the Puma infantry fighting vehicle and designated as a "wheeled infantry fighting vehicle.

In addition, there will be new acquisitions or retrofit programs for the Army's approximately 300 ill-reputed Puma. A successor to the Fuchs armored transport vehicle is also on the wish list. Experts are puzzling over what is meant by this, because the Army already has a passable vehicle in the form of the Boxer model. Tracked vehicles that can drive in or over snow and armored vehicles that are flown in the Air Force's A400M transporter, for example, are also on the Army's list.

The planned acquisitions for digitization are very expensive and very complicated. In the current draft economic plan, they alone account for around twenty billion euros. Of this amount, the project "Digitization of Land-Based Operations," which has been jolting for years, is to be advanced, and command posts, radios and satellite communications are to be procured. The procurement of PRC-117G radios is one of those things that had long been projected but apparently not funded in sufficient numbers. Earlier reports had stated that the Bundeswehr had to have thousands of old-style analog radios rebuilt for its vehicles because of inadequate digitization, investing about a billion euros in technology from the 1960s.

What is conspicuous about the list, apart from the absence of any figures and prices, is the clear weighting to the detriment of the Army, even if it is consoled by the fact that some projects, such as the personal equipment package (2.4 billion euros), or the helicopter purchases and ground-based air defense, would predominantly benefit the land forces.

Nevertheless, the aircraft industry, which is active in CSU-ruled Bavaria, and the shipyards on the coast, which are always in dire straits, are apparently receiving particularly lavish benefits. The air force and the numerically small navy receive a total of 60 billion euros, more than three times as much as the army, although two thirds of all soldiers serve in the land forces with around 66,000 people and the army would probably have to bear the brunt of the battle in the event of war. Moreover, in the event of tension on NATO's eastern flank, U.S. fighter aircraft and allied fleets would be much quicker to mobilize than heavily armed land forces. There is currently no military justification for the currently planned weighting, for example by the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, Eberhard Zorn.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[Skybird]

Under the motto "80 million together for the energy transition", consumption is to be reduced with the help of advertising posters, series of events as well as support programs and advisory services, as Economics Minister Robert Habeck said.

This is necessary for climate protection and also because of the dependence on Russian oil and gas supplies. "Only with more renewable energies and more energy efficiency will we strengthen our independence." In addition, one could benefit oneself: "Not only to get one over on Putin, but also to be in a better position oneself," said Habeck, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The campaign will include posters, tips and guides, as well as new funding programs and advisory services. The Ministry of Economics is also participating in the campaign itself with energy-saving measures for heating, cooling and lighting. In all offices, air conditioning will be turned up to 26 degrees Celsius, and in winter the heating temperature will be lowered, it said.

The campaign is supported by associations such as the Federation of German Industries (BDI), the Association of Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), the German Federation of Trade Unions (DGB) and the Nature Conservation Ring. Messages such as "Dear shower fans, an energy-saving shower head saves 30 percent heating energy" or "Dear 80 million, whoever saves energy strengthens Germany's independence" are intended to reach people.


Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
-----------
One can only despair over so much infantile, stupid claptrap at the head of state. "To get one over on Putin...?" "To be in a better position yourself...?" "Saving shower heads?" "Turn up the air conditioning to 26°, turn down the heating?" Tell me, you minister for idiocy and childishness - is that all for the day or is somehtign else on your mind...?

Shortage management and planned economy, that's what they used to call it in GDR times.

[Catfish]

Physics will of course bow to the wants of the wisecracks

[Skybird]

Are there correlations between performance and preferences in school, and party affiliation? Apparently so. For example, the Greens at school sucked in Maths, and history, and like dsocial studies. Well, their politics showe. What a surprise!

https://www-welt-de.translate.goog/debatte/kommentare/article239380457/Allensbach-Umfrage-Gruenen-Waehler-waren-frueher-schlecht-in-Mathe.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=de&_x_tr_hl=de&_ x_tr_pto=wapp


Let me know whether or not that link works. I have technical issues with Google.

[Skybird]

FOCUS:

The ban on fracking in Germany is once again being called into question - especially by the FDP. Economics Minister Robert Habeck, however, wants to stick to it. He prefers to get gas from abroad rather than draw on his own resources. Will the gas treasure be lifted after all?

It is one of the strictest fracking laws in the world that the Bundestag and Bundesrat passed for Germany little more than five years ago. The Fracking Prohibition Act of 2017 bans commercial unconventional fracking projects. The aim is to protect the environment and health from the risks of this technology. And that means the roughly 2.3 trillion cubic meters of gas in Germany's shale rock will remain untouched - for now.

Because now the debate about the law is flaring up anew. The Federal Republic is in the midst of an energy crisis due to the war against Ukraine started by Russia. Gas is becoming an increasingly scarce commodity. The problem is that Germany gets around half of the natural gas it needs from aggressor Russia. This now needs to be replaced, as a quarter of the energy required here is produced with natural gas.

The agreement reached by the Bundestag and Bundesrat provided for a ban on fracking until at least 2021. After five years, the Bundestag was then to decide whether the regulations should remain in place. If the Bundestag does nothing after this time, the ban will continue to apply, it was said at the time. To date, nothing has happened in this regard and the law stands.

Most recently, CSU leader Markus Söder and NRW Economics Minister Andreas Pinkwart (FDP), as well as the head of the Institute of the German Economy (IW), Michael Hüther, called for an open-ended review of fracking. According to " Welt am Sonntag ", the Professional Association of German Geoscientists (BDG) is also in favor of considering fracking in view of the energy crisis.

The FDP now wants to go ahead and, in view of the energy crisis, put the ban on natural gas extraction by fracking to the test. "As scientific studies show, fracking does not cause any relevant environmental damage under modern safety standards," argues Torsten Herbst, parliamentary director of the FDP, in the "Welt am Sonntag" newspaper. Those who import fracked gas from the U.S. cannot be against safe fracking production in Germany, he said. "Serious consideration should therefore be given to whether major shale gas extraction is feasible in Germany from an economic and technical point of view," he said.

Michael Kruse, energy policy spokesman for the FDP in the Bundestag, tells the newspaper his party supports "the significant expansion of domestic natural gas production." All options must be examined, he said. "We have always rejected the fracking ban law of 2017 in terms of content from this straightforward position."

So the FDP sees an energy goldmine in the German shale rock that needs to be unearthed. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck, on the other hand, continues to reject the use of fracking. He points to possible negative consequences for the environment and legal hurdles.

With the help of gas imports from Qatar and the USA, Habeck is trying to solve the energy problem by other means. However, he has not yet been able to organize much gas. Liquid gas is to be shipped from the USA, but it cannot yet be stored in Germany. There is simply a lack of special port terminals. The German government is trying to build these in a hurry. Floating LNG terminals are intended to bridge the first few years. But that costs a lot of money. In addition, the imported, liquefied LNG natural gas must first be converted back into its gaseous state at high energy cost. Another of Habeck's ideas is to help Israel develop a gas field. In any case, the Economics Minister cannot be accused of refusing to work. But all his plans have one problem: they could take too long.

To save gas, Habeck also wants to take additional measures, as can be seen from a four-point paper. For example, the use of gas for power generation and industry is to be reduced and the filling of storage facilities pushed forward. The federal government is providing billions in funding for this purpose. In addition, coal-fired power plants are to be used more.
2.3 trillion cubic meters of gas: enough to supply Germany with natural gas for decades

And so the 2.3 trillion cubic meters of gas deposits in the country's own shale rock are once again coming into focus. This amount would be enough to supply the country with natural gas for decades, says Hans-Joachim Kümpel, former president of the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, to the newspaper Welt am Sonntag. As long as natural gas is needed in Germany, it is a fool's errand not to produce it, Kümpel said. "A production volume of 20 billion cubic meters annually is possible, for decades to come." The volume would be equivalent to about half of current natural gas supplies from Russia, he said. "It would significantly reduce the glaring dependence on imports," the raw materials expert emphasizes.

And the cost? Within a year, the gas could be extracted from shale rock in Germany, Mohammed Amro of the Freiberg Mining Academy tells the newspaper. But for that to happen, the ban would first have to fall. In as little as five years, Germany could increase the production rate to the point where it could cover one-fifth of its natural gas needs with domestic fracked gas.

So Germany is now at a crossroads - again. Forced by a war in Europe, it must decide whether to tap its own gas resources and possibly accept damage, or to buy in expensively and import resources from faraway countries. The environmental aspect is already being torpedoed here. "The fact that we ultimately harm the climate by foregoing domestic natural gas production and accept substantial economic losses through foreign exchange payments is regrettable, if not irresponsible," Kümpel says. Experts have given up arguing against it, he says.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)


I knew that it was there. But not that it was this much.


Once again ideology trumps over reality.

[Otto Harkaman]

Germany turns to coal as Russia cuts gas supplies

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/...ity-production

[Catfish]

And the coal comes from .. Russia!

[August]

Originally Posted by Catfish

And the coal comes from .. Russia!

We got loads of coal. Why buy from them?

[Skybird]

The Greens have a run, sewem to be successful. But hiddne behidn their advertsing figures Habeck and Baerbock they still are the same Germany-hating destruction brigade that wants to erode Germany from within. That are StaSi destabilizing methods in action, and they indeed stem from the Cold War and the East's attempt to infiltrate West-Germany and destabilise its social integrity from within.
The Neue Zürcher Zeitung writes:



Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock are right to be applauded for their stance on the war in Ukraine. Their policy is consistent because it leaves no doubt about who is the perpetrator and who is the victim. At the same time, she is pragmatic because dogmas no longer apply to the question of energy supply. What a pleasant contrast to the errant duo of Scholz and Lambrecht.

What is a success in foreign policy terms is becoming a risk in domestic policy terms. While all eyes are on Ukraine, the Greens are pushing ahead with social restructuring. Whether gender issues or migration - the former environmental party is focusing all the more on identity politics, as wartime has demanded many compromises from it. For example, it is courageously replacing the lack of Russian gas supplies with coal and gas from the Gulf - in other words, it is pursuing sober realpolitik. On identity issues, however, the party polarizes and promotes extremes. The Green Party's control center for its reeducation program is the Ministry of Wokeness, formerly known as the Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.

The party's approach is illustrated by the personnel of Ferda Ataman, the designated anti-discrimination commissioner. Family Minister Lisa Paus proposes a candidate to the Bundestag for election who denigrates Germans as "potatoes."

Discrimination is fine as long as it is directed against the majority society, but satisfies left-wing foreigner politicians and activists. These believe that white Germans are generally privileged - whether they are welfare recipients or multimillionaires. Discrimination against Germans is consequently not discrimination, but only the accelerated creation of equal living conditions.

It is not about dialogue and balance, but about confrontation and window-dressing. The journalist Ataman belongs to an association that pilloried other journalists for using the allegedly xenophobic term clan crime.

In Germany, Ataman and her like-minded friends do not want it reported that Arab clans are among the dominant forces in the underworld in Berlin and other cities. What must not be, cannot be. Ideology and approval in a red-green justemilieu are more important than facts.

If the goal were to find solutions instead of left-wing populist management of an issue, the phenomenon of clan crime would lend itself to a differentiated examination. For here we can see how a short-sighted policy toward foreigners can create serious social problems.

In the 1980s, Turkish and Lebanese extended families used the GDR as a gateway to the West. The Stasi state let them in, provided they moved on immediately to the West. West Berlin could not deport the migrants, but would have liked to get rid of them. So the families received a toleration, which forbade them to work or even to go to school, and thus literally forced them into illegality. Although they were only temporarily tolerated, they never left Germany again.

This migration story would be an ideal example to explain why the traffic light coalition is reforming the law on foreigners. Tolerated persons are to be granted permanent status after five years, provided they are well integrated. This is sensible because it avoids unnecessary suffering. The state must take action against illegal migration, but four years and 364 days is time enough to expel a person from the country.

But the prospective anti-discrimination commissioner is obviously not interested in explaining and appealing for understanding. She would rather scandalize and indoctrinate. Anyone who reports on migrant crime, which has long been ignored, is to be muzzled.

When I was still researching the topic as a correspondent 15 years ago, a criminal counselor at Berlin police headquarters told me that it would not be appreciated if she provided information on the subject. That would contradict the image of multicultural Berlin.

Multiculturalism no longer exists; today it is called diversity. Seen with common sense, this means nothing other than recognizing social diversity and living it as a matter of course. This is not enough for red-green identity politicians. They claim that true diversity and democracy will only be achieved when all people, largely independent of origin and length of residence, can have a say.

This idea represents the distorted image of a democracy that mutates into a participatory club for everyone who just feels like participating. The state would be nothing more than a random assembly, with no binding force and no duties. The individual only has rights and claims against the state for "inclusion" and "participation".

The social contract is no longer a mutual contract, but a unilateral agreement in which the individual formulates his or her wishes. Democracy is shrinking into a service agency for all those minorities who articulate their demands most loudly.
Medical risks must be discussed - even if this contradicts gender ideology.

Limitless individualization is the program of the Greens and, with some exceptions, also of the FDP. This is reflected in the coalition agreement. It promises individuals total power of disposal over their bodies, regardless of social conventions, legal or medical objections. For example, anyone over the age of 14 is to be able to change their gender by a simple declaration of intent, including chemical and surgical treatment.

Anyone who speaks out against this, for example citing the developmental psychology of teenagers, is berated in the same savage manner that degrades Germans to potatoes. The Family Ministry, the agitation center of the otherwise urbane party leaders Habeck and Baerbock, always leads the campaigns.

The state secretary in the ministry, Sven Lehmann, railed against "homophobia and transphobia" and "fake news" just because several authors had pointed out in a guest article for the "Welt" that sex reassignment surgery for pubescents can affect their health. They also warned against media coverage that downplayed the risks.

With any other treatment, it is the doctor's legal as well as ethical duty to provide information about possible side effects. Only in the case of gender reassignment do green identity ideologues turn Hippocratic truthfulness into "group-related misanthropy." No television advertisement for harmless vein ointment can do without the slogan: "Ask your doctor or pharmacist about risks and side effects. Only in the case of irreversible surgery is this not supposed to apply.

Yet a completely different kind of misanthropy is conceivable: Activists immunize a treatment method against any criticism. Media amplify the marginal phenomenon to a social trend, and unquestioning physicians do not let themselves be told twice to reach for the scalpel. Such an operation is certainly lucrative, and it would not be the first time that unscrupulous doctors put themselves at the service of a misguided zeitgeist.

When medical practitioners and scientists question the equally beneficial and sometimes terrifying miracle world of modern medicine, this deserves respect. This should be true even if one does not share their arguments. Science is based on speech and counter-speech and the willingness to falsify every hypothesis.

During the pandemic, however, "science" mutated into a creed that could be used to exclude dissenters. The Corona experience shows that verbal disarmament promotes social cohesion. Unfortunately, this realization bounces off the armor of ignorance worn by all enthusiastic right-wingers - whether on the left or the right.

The green battle brigade does not notice the paradox of its actions. It demands tolerance and equal rights for minorities, but meets all objections with intolerance. Anyone who dares to contradict Lehmann or Ataman is a potato or a misanthrope. This is the language of cultural revolutionaries, not politicians who want to take a society on the long road to change.

One thing is certain. When the Ministry of Wokeness has realized its program, the Republic will be unrecognizable in some places.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[Rockstar]

[Jimbuna]

^ Confirms what I already knew or in some instances suspected was the case.