I’m just writing this a bit off-the cuff, and I’ve had a hard day at work, a few bottles of Budweiser, the original, not the piss they call “Bud” in the USA. As a result, please forgive any typographical errors, or if a pattern of “Non-sequitur” occurs. Occasionally, I can just blast through a topic, and others, it takes me a few days to get through a few random thoughts before I get to the end of a topic. Most times, as in this instance, it started out as what I had thought was a topic that would be best to let go of, and move on. Sadly, with the progression of events, I could not let it go. Crap.
So…make yourself comfortable, grab your favourite beverage, and smoke ’em if you’ve got ’em.
My day started with this, it’s the third clutch in four years in a 2021 Dacia. After the second one, we suggested that the customer sell the car and get a car with an automatic transmission. Not one to let a real-life occurrence go to waste, I find this “project” a perfect analogy for what has occurred in Germany as a result of the last four administrations. Jep, I’m looking at you Mutti. You are the architect of Germany’s decline.
This is not how a clutch, even after 100K miles should look. An appropriate analogy of what Mutti and the Greens have done to the German economy. There’s no chance for “Vortrieb.” That would be the German word describing the possibility to move forward.
This clutch is a perfect example of the poor decisions of the person in power. They destroyed any chance of moving forward. As in the last two instances, the same result. Once again, we will recommend that they change cars.
Here is the third flywheel in this story. It’s there to smooth out and organise the strength of the motor, similar to the efforts of all the workers in the economy. Unfortunately, just like the owner of this vehicle has destroyed this clutch, so have the last three administrations destroyed Germany, and any hope of moving forward.
Crikey! It was quite a day, but I’m not finished with this topic yet. I need to go out with a bang.
Kudos Germany. The demolition of the cooling towers at Gundremmingen plant (once the country’s largest), on October 25, 2025. Is really something to be proud of. Fantastic.
I’ve been coming to Germany since 1979, (Wiesbaden to Heidelberg in a 911, back home with the MP’s), and I’ve seen the changes, and I don’t like them. In ’83 and ’84 I was here as a tourist. A few unplanned visits to Landstuhl later on.
I have lived in Germany since 2005, in the near to Cologne, but out on the land where it is very much like my home in PA. We have cows and sheep for neighbours, and the sheep aren’t nervous. Mohammed is not a common name out here in the hills.
What’s my point, or reason for my response to his (@eugyppius1) previous post? Here goes:
Germany was occupied after the war, and built “settlements” for the soldiers from Belgium, France, and Holland.
After the wall fell, the soldiers went home. Entire communities were impacted by the loss of consumers. I saw this firsthand in Refrath and Frankenforst where the Belgian soldiers were quartered in housing built for them at Germany’s’ expense. Expense meaning that local tradesmen built the housing using locally produced materials. The occupying forces were maintained with not only the money of the loser, but also with money from the land they originate from. Restaurants, local bars, snack shops all suffered the loss of the “foreign” funds. (A discussion of who benefited most from the Marshall Plan is a topic for another time).
I have witnessed the closing of many Corner Bars (Eckkneipen), Snack-shacks (Imbißbude) and restaurants long before the “Plandemic.”
Germany over the last few administrations has been shooting itself in both knees since Helmut Kohl. Merkel? I don’t feel safe to actually say what I think about her. “Wir schaffen das? (We can do it) No, nope and Nopers. It’s turned out to be a parody of the idiot in charge of the Job site.
I guess Mutti Merkel never realised what a clueless punter “Bob the Builder” was. Unfortunately, there was, and has since been no one able, competent or willing to step up and fix the avalanche of destruction her policies created. Quite the opposite. Not only has the administration doubled down on the CO2/Climate Change and other disastrous policies that have turned the economy into a shambles, but continued to stifle innovation with crippling energy costs and absurd regulations. In short, unless something drastically changes. German Industry is doomed.
Here’s the point. Germany can ill afford the complete withdrawal of all American bases. It would collapse over five local economies, and basically leave Germany defenseless against an enemy that no longer exists, but has been hyped through the German media as a clear and present danger. “Russia-Russia-Russia!!!!” Sorry, Charlie. The moment Putin was allowed to take over Crimea without a peep from anyone, any squawking about Ukraine is pathetic paediatric posturing. Here’s looking at you Mutti, Osama Obama, Cameron or Hollande. I could go on about the “Minsk Agreements” or the “Maiden Revolution,” but those are topics for another day. Just follow the links and draw your own conclusions.
NATO? The damn thing must go.
NATO’s reason to exist expired the day the wall came down. Instead of building bridges to welcome the fall of the USSR, economic walls were built, and NATO expanded regardless. The Military Industrial Complex overtook common-sense diplomacy.
I grew up with strong role models. One of them was Homer Bieber, a mechanic. He left school in the 8th grade to work to support the family. He went on to be a mechanic in WW2, and had his own shop in Pennsburg, PA after the war. Much later, he bought one of the first HP calculators, took it apart, and discovered functions that were not listed in the instructions. I spent 20 years growing up at his shop, and spent my free periods from school at his shop. He died ingloriously, and I was there. A story for another time.
He told me time and time again that the reason the promised progress of the Greek philosophers purported to be possible was negated due to the inability of the next generation to learn from the mistakes from the previous generation. I thought that he was only talking about love, but he meant something deeper. He’d been to war, as well as started, and struggled with his own business. What he was referring to might have been what Eisenhower was warning against. Mind you, at the time KYW 1060 gave the body counts from Vietnam daily.
What did Ike say in his farewell address? Here you go: Farewell Address.
Doggonit. I just realised that human nature is self-defeating and on the most part lazy to the point of extinction. So, for the folks who don’t click on links, here’s the “easy version.”
OH! Time to get back to the beginning. ;-D
No apologies, you were warned. Welcome to my “Abby-normal world.”
The current thread on X by eugyppius is regarding the total folderol with tariffs, treats, ego and perhaps a world ending case of narcissism due to a case of “small hands” or whatever. Has Trump ever played Chess? I doubt it. His main strength is with sorting out the best parts of a chaotic situation for his best advantage. In this instance, the best advantage is for the USA. His ego is his “Superpower.” It’s also his Kryptonite. In his first administration, he was castrated by the system. This time around, he has nothing to lose, and has a solid team. Bondi? Questionable, where are the arrests? Bessent? Wowsers, the guy is a heavy hitter. Definitely a topics for another time.
Crap. I forgot my first try at making an image/video with Grok. Yes, I have also countless balls in the air, however none of mine have global consequences, until they do. Grok “Butterfly effect.”
Oh, and the “geography” part? History? Greenland has been discussed to be a part of The USA for over 150 years. Have a look at the map. I learned this in Social Studies in the 1970s.
A bit of geography.
See you in the funny papers. Oh, and the Grok thing? I expected something better.
Had a long one and disappeared.
In a few words you’re a special person using your mind and memory to think and act on centuries of sound judgements and decisions. Now it’s egotistical individuals who have abandoned learning from the past to lead in the present.
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Had a long one and disappeared.
In a few words you’re a special person using your mind and memory to think and act on centuries of sound judgements and decisions. Now it’s egotistical individuals who have abandoned learning from the past to lead in the present.