#helmut brandt

[rwpohl]

tatort 154: freiwild, wolfgang staudte 1984

[sarascarletmodel]

Photo & post processing by Helmut Brandt Removing credits and links will result in legal action  All my links: https://linktr.ee/sarascarlet

[bbb12play]

also war früher alles besser ?

Nein, von allen Dingen, die ich zu den 1970er und 1980er und auch 1990er sagen würde ist, dass es nicht besser war. Einfacher definitiv und auch leichter um einen guten Lebensstandard zu erreichen und eine Familie zu gründen. Es spielen unzählige Faktoren rein, weshalb es heute so läuft wie es läuft. Leider muss man aber ziemlich direkt mit dem Finger auf die Generation der Babyboomer zeigen, da diese Generation zum einen auch heute noch die größte einzelne Wählergruppe darstellt, die jemals existiert hat. Das liest sich auch recht einfach an den politischen Programmen der Parteien ab, wenn man weiß, worauf man achten muss. Ein Beispiel dazu:

Als die Babyboomer ins Arbeitsalter kamen, bekamen die linken Parteien extremen Aufwind, vor allem die SPD wo das Sinnbild dafür Willy Brandt und die 68er-Bewegung ist. Die Hippiebewegung und dem ganzen bla was damit einher geht, ist mehr oder weniger ein Erzeugnis der Babyboomer und deren Ausdruck für den Wandel der Gesellschaft mit Free Love und Peace und Frieden und dem Zeug. Kurzer Fact dazu, die Babyboomer Generation ist auch die Generation, welche mit ganz weitem Abstand am häufigsten Sex hatte, heutige Generationen haben trotz Sexualisierung durch Social Media weniger als 1/3 der Menge Sex als diese Generation. Jedenfalls, um auf das Thema zurückzukommen, in den späten 1960er bekam die Gewerkschaften dramatisch mehr Mitglieder und damit eine dicke Schlagkraft, das zeigte sich in den deutlich höheren Löhnen und vor allem in den gewerkschaftlichen Forderungen der Mitbestimmung im Management. Dem Druck nachgebend haben sich dann die Unternehmensverbände entschieden, mehr junge Menschen in die höheren Etagen zu holen, was sich mit den ersten Studien zu Beginn der 1970er zeigte. Der Anteil von unter 35-Jährigen in Positionen ab Team/Gruppenleitung der höchste jemals, diverse große Unternehmen, vor allem VW hatten von der Gewerkschaft sogar eine Auflage, dass Schichtleiter auch eine Altservertretung benötigen, was so viel heißt wie das die der Schichtleiter selbst oder sein Stellvertreter aus der Altersklasse der dominierenden Altersgruppe kommen muss, so wurden Beförderungen stark beschleunigt. Das Ganze war aber von Anfang an umstritten und hat sich nur in Unternehmen durchgesetzt, die besonders aggressive Geschwerkschaftsführer hatten. Beim Thema Raumgestaltung und Flächenausweisung wurde durch die Kommunen auch ungewöhnlich viel Wert darauf gelegt, dass grundlegend neue Flächen ausgeschrieben werden und diese auch durch erleichterte Bauanträge zugewiesen werden konnten. Kurzum, die Politik war, wenn man es heute betrachtet, extrem vorteilhaft für die Generation Babyboomer. Allerdings muss man auch einige Punkte im Kontrast sagen. die 1970er waren zwar an und für sich mit dem richtigen Eintritt der Boomer ins Arbeitsleben zu betrachten, doch die weltweite Wirtschaft war in einer Stagflation und es gab Action in Israel und die Ölkrise 1974 ist seine eigene Story. Allerding war die Arbeitslosigkeit durch den starken Binnenmarkt innerhalb Europas relativ niedrig (~4%) und die Nachfrage nach Industriegütern war auf einem Allzeithoch. Die olympischen Spiele 1972 sind da auch ein trauriges Sinnbild und die Nummer der Palästinenser dort. Die RAF (durch die Russen gesponsort, wie man heute weiß) hat auch für gut Action gesorgt und die Menschen in Atem gehalten.

Als Willy Brandt dann 1974 zurücktrat und ein energischer Helmut Schmidt das Heft in die Hand nahm, zeigte sich auch darin das Wahlverhalten, dieser versprach unter anderem eine Reform des Kreditwesens, was sich in den Folgejahren darin äußern sollte, dass Kredite für Hauskäufe den Dominanten Teil der Bankgeschäfte ausmachen sollte und der Sollzins für diese war unter anderem auch durch staatliche Garantien äußerst gering bei ~2% - 4%. Das Ende der 1970er war dann recht stabil und die Grundlöhne in der Industrie waren drei Jahre in Folge von der Gewerkschaft hochgepusht worden.

Als Helmut Schmidt dann ebenfalls kassiert wurde, übernahm Helmut Kohl, auch dieser hat ein gewisses Sinnbild. Natürlich erstmal und grundsätzlich als Kanzler der Einheit sehr viel später, doch ist auch spannend, wenn man sich anschaut, was der so in den ersten Jahren seines Amtes gemacht hat, denn 1983/84 hat dieser eine "kleine" Reform für Gewerkschaften verabschiedet, die vorsah, dass Gewerkschaftsfunktionäre auch Einnahmen erzielen dürfen und das nicht mehr grundsätzlich ein Ehrenamt ist. (Korruption war sehr weit verbreitet bis dahin) Infolgedessen stiegen die Beträge, welche Gewerkschaftsmitglieder zahlen mussten, wer dann, was in dieser zu sagen hatte, bekam einige Hundert Mark zusätzlich im Monat. Stand 2023 entsprach, das einem bereinigten Gegenwert von minimal 550€ umgerechnet, netto im Übrigen und steuerfrei, pro Monat. Kurz zu Gewerkschaftsstrukturen damals: Pro 15 Mitglieder, gab es eine "Vertrauensperson". Ab dieser Position war es erlaubt, diese benannten Zuwendungen zu erhalten…zufall ne? Zu der Zeit war die Gewerkschaft auf ihrem höchsten Stand und 30.2% aller Arbeitnehmer waren in einer Vertreten, heute sind wir bei 18.7% und das Ganze ist seit 2003 wieder ein reines Ehrenamt und nur noch die Top-Gewerkschaftsführer haben die Erlaubnis, für diese Tätigkeit ein Entgelt zu erhalten(kein Gewerkschaftsführer ist unter 55). Kurz dazu, der Chef bei IG Metall kriegt 260k.

Jedenfalls waren die frühen und mittleren 1980er geprägt durch Stärken der Gewerkschaften und Betriebe verloren bis 1989 die Möglichkeit für betriebsbedingte Kündigungen ohne Abfindung. Zudem waren Familiengesetze eine größere Nummer in Kohls ersten Jahren, unter anderem wurden Kinderfreibeträge verdoppelt und Banken zur Einlagensicherung auch von kleinen Vermögen verpflichtet, damals ab 250k. (heute 100k)

Ich fasse bis hierhin also mal zusammen, die 1970er waren politisch sehr vorteilhaft für all jene, die in die Arbeitswelt gekommen sind und Löhne sind mit der Produktivität gewachsen, sowie der Lebensstandard. Die 1980er waren durch Jobsicherung und höhere Sozialleistungen geprägt sowie die höhere gesellschaftliche Verantwortung für Schulden.

Um ehrlich zu sein, ich würde auch über die 1990er Schreiben wollen und was dann so passiert ist und was meiner Ansicht nach zu der jetzigen Lage geführt hat, aber wenn ich so hochscrolle, ist das schon scheiße viel und es wäre safe nochmal die gleiche Länge Text bevor ich überhaupt beim Jahr 2000 angekommen wäre.

[korrektheiten]

Unerwünschte Expertin: Sachsen-SPD mauert gegen Gabriele Krone-Schmalz

Zuerst:»Dresden. Die SPD, die unter Willy Brandt, Helmut Schmidt und Gerhard Schröder für eine erfolgreiche Aussöhnungspolitik mit dem Ostblock und stabile Beziehungen insbesondere zu Rußland […] Der Beitrag Unerwünschte Expertin: Sachsen-SPD mauert gegen Gabriele Krone-Schmalz erschien zuerst auf ZUERST!. http://dlvr.it/T772d2 «

[projazznet]

Lucky Thompson & Barney Wilen – Four Brothers

“Previously unreleased studio concert from Hamburg in 1960, featuring four jazz saxophone legends: Lucky Thompson (ss/ ts), Barney Wilen (ss/ ts), Helmut Brandt (bars) and Bent Jaedig (ts), recorded with the quartet of Dr. Roland Kovac (p) in a unique workshop. Excellent blend of Modern, Bebop, Cool and Progressive: Eighty minutes of full ensemble pieces in a sound made famous by Giuffre`s “Four Brothers”, plus musical essays in small groups. Superb session produced by Hans Gertberg, mastered in 2015, including vintage cover artwork by designer Guenther Kieser.” – Sonorama Records.

[docrotten]

THE HEAD (1959, DIE NAKTE UND DER SATAN) – Episode 164 – Decades Of Horror: The Classic Era

“The professor is a genius and it’s a pleasure to work with him. But he’s now beginning some experiments that, in my opinion, … exceed certain ethical limits.” Ethics are such a bother, don’t you agree? Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Chad Hunt, Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Doc Rotten, and Jeff Mohr – as they take in Die Nackte und der Satan (1959), also known as The Head, a German film neck-deep in head transplants.

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 164 – The Head (1959)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

ANNOUNCEMENT Decades of Horror The Classic Era is partnering with THE CLASSIC SCI-FI MOVIE CHANNEL, THE CLASSIC HORROR MOVIE CHANNEL, and WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL Which all now include video episodes of The Classic Era! Available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, Online Website. Across All OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop. https://classicscifichannel.com/; https://classichorrorchannel.com/; https://wickedhorrortv.com/

A scientist invents a serum that keeps a dog’s head alive after its body dies. When the scientist dies of a heart attack, his crazed assistant cuts off his head and, using the serum, keeps the doctor’s head alive and forces it to help him on an experiment to give a hunchbacked nun a new body.

  Writer/Director: Victor Trivas 

Music: Willy Mattes (composer); Erwin Lehn (arranger/conductor)

Weird Lab Music: Lasry-Baschet (Baschet Brothers, Yvonne and Jacques Lasry)

Cinematographer: Georg Krause

Art Director: Hermann Warm 

Makeup Department: Karl Hanoszek, Susi Krause (as Susanne Krause)

Selected Cast:

Horst Frank as Dr. Brandt – alias Dr. Ood

Karin Kernke as Schwester Irene Sander

Helmut Schmid as Bert Jaeger

Paul Dahlke as Police Commissioner Sturm

Dieter Eppler as Paul Lerner

Kurt Müller-Graf as Dr. Walter Burke

Christiane Maybach as Stella – alias Lilly

Michel Simon as Prof. Dr. Abel

Osman Ragheb as Franz – the Bartender (uncredited)

Maria Stadler as Mrs. Schneider (uncredited)

Barbara Valentin as Animierdame und Tänzerin in der ‘Tam Tam’ Bar (uncredited)

This little German sci-fi horror B-movie may have slipped past many a monster kid’s radar. In the film, one crazed scientist gets one-upped by an evil scientist who takes not only the first scientist’s life – reducing his life to a head on a plate – but also uses his discoveries to perform some head-swapping shenanigans. This film is strange, bizarre, weird, silly… yet, oddly entertaining. The Grue-Crew has so many thoughts to share regarding The Head (1959).

At the time of this writing, The Head can be found streaming from the Classic Sci-Fi Movie Channel, the Classic Horror Movie Channel, Tubi, and Dark Matter TV. The film is currently available on disc as The Head (1959) (Die Nackte und der Satan) [Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import – Germany] from Anolis. 

(NOTE: Currently, all of the streaming options are the American version with roughly five minutes cut from the runtime, music substitutions, and English dubbing as the only language option. The Blu-ray has German and English language and subtitle options, the original music, and a commentary by Tim Lucas. The German language version delivers far more emotional impact to the viewer while the English dubbing comes off as a bit flat with awkward and simplified phrasing. And since the music is one of the attractions for me, the Blu-ray is a far better experience, although a bit pricey. – JLM)

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era records a new episode every two weeks. Up next in their very flexible schedule, as chosen by Doc, is The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), Peter Cushing as the Baron in a Hammer FIlm? And of course, Michael Ripper? Yay!

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: leave them a message or leave a comment on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel, the site, or email the Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com

To each of you from each of them, “Thank you so much for watching and listening!”

Check out this episode!

[antalyamemurlarcom]

Ausgerechnet bei Einwanderung geht der Kanzler locker mit Fakten um

Der Bundeskanzler nennt die Bundesrepublik ein „Hoffnungsland“. Er hat darüber sogar ein Buch mit dem gleichnamigen Titel verfasst. Seine Zuversicht, dass dies auch so bleibt, begründet Olaf Scholz mit der Einwanderung – und den historischen Erfahrungen des Landes damit: „Unser Wohlstand ist deshalb so groß, weil Menschen aus vielen Ländern seit den 50er, 60er Jahren daran gearbeitet haben. Unsere Weltoffenheit ist die Grundlage für unseren Wohlstand auch in der Zukunft.“ Angesichts der aktuellen Einwandererzahlen und deren sozialen Folgen kann man feststellen: Eine gewagte These.   Deutschland war schon ein Einwanderungsland Scholz geht relativ locker mit historischen Tatsachen um. Die Einwanderung aus den 50er und 60er Jahren, auf die sich der Kanzler bezieht, war eine kontrollierte Einwanderung von Arbeitskräften, die Deutschland wollte. Aus diesem Grund schloss der noch junge Staat mit einer Reihe von Ländern wie der Türkei, Griechenland und Portugal Anwerbeabkommen. Der 100.000ste Einwanderer, ein Portugiese, bekam sogar öffentlichkeitswirksam ein Moped geschenkt. Wenn Einwanderungsland bedeutet, dass ein Land nicht nur offen ist für Migration, sondern sich seine Einwanderer auch selbst aussucht, dann war Deutschland damals schon ein Einwanderungsland. Nur: Das änderte sich mit den Jahren. Der Wandel vom Einwanderungsland zum Einwanderungsland wider Willen begann schon im Jahr 1973.   Vor fast genau 50 Jahren beschloss Deutschland einen Anwerbestopp, und die Folgen waren überraschend: Die ungewollte Einwanderung nach Deutschland nahm erst einmal zu. Der Grund: Viele der eingewanderten Männer bewegten ihre Frauen und Kinder, nach Deutschland nachzukommen. Von da an änderten sich auch die sozialen Verhältnisse, die Schüler etwa wurden insgesamt diverser. Heute ist an mehr als 50 Schulen allein im Ruhrgebiet der Migrantenanteil bei 90 Prozent.   SPD-Kanzler erkannten Fehler In der Rückschau urteilten später beide sozialdemokratischen Bundeskanzler jener Zeit, Willy Brandt und Helmut Schmidt, es sei ein Fehler gewesen, so viele Ausländer nach Deutschland einwandern zu lassen. Auch heute findet die Einwanderung nach Deutschland kaum als Arbeitsmigration statt. Sondern überwiegend als Asyl-Migration. Das zeigen die gerade erst veröffentlichten Zahlen des Statistischen Bundesamtes. Read the full article

[my-life-fm]

»Nach Adenauer und Kohl: Höchstes Bundesverdienstkreuz für Angela Merkel. Nach dem Gründungskanzler des Separatstaats BRD, Konrad Adenauer, und dem Wiedervereinigungskanzler, Helmut Kohl, hat nun Angela Merkel die höchste Auszeichnung des deutschen Staates verliehen bekommen: Großkreuz des Verdienstordens. Nur CDU-Kanzler werden so geehrt. Sozialdemokratische Kanzler wie Willy Brandt gelten als Abweichler: Sie dürfen nicht geehrt werden. Von Werner Rügemer.«

[xtruss]

More Nord Stream ‘Bombshells’ to Come – Seymour Hersh

The legendary reporter slammed the mainstream media for ignoring his story, which pinned the act of sabotage on the US

— February 15, 2023

A Swedish Coast Guard photo shows escaping gas following the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea, September 27, 2022 © AP / Coast Guard of Sweden

Journalist Seymour Hersh has promised to reveal more incriminating information linking the US to the demolition of the Nord Stream gas pipelines. President Joe Biden ordered the lines destroyed to prevent Germany from resuming the purchase of cheap Russian gas, he claimed.

In a post to his Substack page on Wednesday, Hersh slammed the mainstream media – singling out the New York Times and Washington Post – for refusing to “run a word” on the pipeline story, and for ignoring Russia and China’s calls for an international investigation.

Both papers, he said, published his exposés on the US military’s war crimes in Vietnam, but are now seemingly uninterested in “national security or matters of war and peace.”

Nord Stream 1 and 2, which connected Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea, were damaged in a series of underwater explosions last September. Hersh, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, released a report last week blaming the US for the attack and detailing how the Biden administration and the CIA planned the operation. The White House dismissed the allegation as “utterly false and complete fiction.”

German Statesman Slams EU Leaders' Spinelessness, Demands NATO's Dismemberment, Closure of US Bases! Oskar Lafontaine, who has worked under Willy Brandt, Helmut Schmidt, Helmut Kohl and Gerhard Schroder, and served as President of the Bundesrat, Minister President of Saarland, Minister of Finance, and Leader of Die Linke and the SPD, blasted the current crop of German and European leaders for going along with policies which have brought Berlin to the brink of disaster. (November 28, 2022)

“Of course, I also mean the conflict in Ukraine, which began with the Maidan putsch in Kiev in 2014. Since then, the US and its Western vassals have been arming Ukraine and systematically preparing it for confrontation with Russia. Ukraine thus became a de facto, if not de jure, member of NATO. This backstory has been studiously ignored by Western politicians and the mainstream media,” Lafontaine told Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten in an interview published Sunday. (November 28, 2022)

“It was a hostile act against the Federal Republic, and not only against us, and once again makes clear that we must free ourselves from American tutelage,” Lafontaine stressed. The politician pressed his country’s leaders to force the removal of all US military bases and nuclear weapons from German soil, and called for the creation of a European security architecture with France, separate from NATO, which he called an “obsolete” alliance that acts as a “tool to enforce the US’s claim to remain the sole power in the world.” (November 28, 2022)

“To use a hackneyed expression: We are experiencing the birth pangs of the transitional phase from a unipolar to a multipolar world order. And the question arises whether we will have a place of our own in this new world order, or be drawn into Washington’s conflicts with Moscow and Beijing as American vassals,” the politician emphasized. (November 28, 2022)

“On the other hand, they have not succeeded in ‘ruining Russia’, as [German Foreign Minister Annalena] Baerbock put it…overthrowing [Vladimir] Putin and installing a puppet government in Moscow to get better access to Russian raw materials, as was the case in [Boris] Yeltsin’s time,” Lafontaine said. (November 28, 2022)

The article backed up Moscow’s repeated assertions that the US carried out the strike in order to prevent rapprochement between Russia and Germany, while making Berlin dependent on more expensive American liquefied natural gas.

Germany halted certification of Nord Stream 2 in the days before Russian troops entered Ukraine, and EU sanctions throttled the flow of gas through Nord Stream 1 since late summer by impeding vital repairs. However, Hersh told Germany’s Berliner Zeitung newspaper on Tuesday that the Biden administration feared Berlin would lift these sanctions and resume gas transit as temperatures dropped over the winter.

“The President of the United States would rather see Germany freeze than [see] Germany possibly stop supporting Ukraine,” he asserted.

“There may be more to learn about Joe Biden’s decision to prevent the German government from having second thoughts about the lack of cheap gas this winter,” Hersh wrote on Wednesday. “Stay tuned,” he said. “We are only on first base…”

Nord Stream Blast Story was ‘Not Hard to Find’ – Author

Media outlets like the NYT and WaPo “don’t seem to have anyone inside” among their sources, Seymour Hersh claims

Seymour Hersh © Bernard Weil/Toronto Star via Getty Images

Legendary investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claimed on Saturday that his latest bombshell report, which suggests the CIA was responsible for the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines in September, was not a hard story to find. It was obvious that there was more to the issue than was being reported by most media outlets, Hersh said.

In his first interview since he published the story on Substack last Wednesday, the Pulitzer-prize winning journalist was asked by Radio War Nerd to comment on his source for the story, who still remains anonymous.

Hersh refused to expose any details about who he spoke to and noted that it was his job to protect his sources and take the heat when a story went live. But those within the media who criticize him for using anonymous sources should “understand the business a little better,” the journalist suggested.

“The problem is, it’s all been cheapened. Because now the New York Times and the Washington Post think an unnamed source can be a press guy, a press secretary, that whispers something to them on the side. I don’t know, they don’t seem to have anyone inside,” Hersh said.

He also noted that major news outlets are failing to report a lot of things about the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev. “The war I know about is not the war you’re reading about,” Hersh observed.

“It’s amazing to me how they fall in line, my colleagues,” he added, lamenting that many outlets such as the NYT, WP, CNN and MSN have become a front for the White House and the Biden administration.

As for the Nord Stream expose, Hersh insisted it was “not a hard story to find” and that it was obvious that some NATO country was involved, especially after top US officials, including President Joe Biden, issued clear threats that the Russian-German project would be stopped “one way or another” if Moscow chose to send troops to Ukraine back in February 2022.

Hersh also pointed out that the entire international pipeline industry knew “who did what” and that this was a reality that “nobody thinks about.” “But I did, so there you are,” he concluded.

The White House, as well as officials from the CIA and State Department, have all vehemently dismissed Hersh’s report since it was published. Moscow, meanwhile, has called for an open international investigation into the attack, saying it was “impossible to leave this without finding the perpetrators and punishing them.”

US openly Admits It Blew up Nord Stream – Russian FM

The pipelines were sabotaged because Washington saw Russian-German cooperation as a threat, Sergey Lavrov has claimed

Sergey Lavrov, Foreign Minister of Russia

US officials are basically admitting that they were behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, which was perpetrated to prevent rapprochement between Moscow and Berlin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

“The US decided that we [Russia] have been cooperating too well with Germany over the past 20 or 30 years; or rather, the Germans cooperated with us too well,” he said in an interview published on the Foreign Ministry’s website on Sunday.

The “powerful alliance” based on Russian energy resources and German technology “began to threaten the monopoly position of many American corporations,” Lavrov explained.

So, Washington decided to destroy this alliance between Moscow and Berlin, and did it “literally” by attacking the pipelines, which were built to deliver Russian gas to Europe through Germany, he added.

“American officials are basically admitting that the explosions that occurred at Nord Stream 1 and 2 were their doing. They even speak about it with joy,” the foreign minister stated.

Lavrov was likely referring to a confession made by US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland during a Senate hearing in late January. “I am, and I think the administration is, very gratified to know that Nord Stream 2 is now... a hunk of metal at the bottom of the sea,” she said at that time.

Denis Alipov © Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Republic of India. Western diplomacy is immature and incapable of dialogue — Russian ambassador to India

'The epicenter of world politics and economic development has shifted eastwards, towards a more equal and balanced dispensation of power'

“The vileness of Western politicians is well known,” Lavrov continued, suggesting that “the plan, which is now being implemented through ‘inciting’ Ukraine against Russia and waging a war by the entire West against Russia by means of Ukraine, is to a large extent aimed at preventing a new rapprochement between Germany and Russia.”

The comments by Russia’s top diplomat come just days after iconic American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh released a bombshell report blaming Washington for sabotaging the Nord Stream pipelines last year.

According to an informed source who talked to Hersh, explosives were planted at the pipelines in the Baltic Sea back in June 2022 by US Navy divers under the guise of a NATO exercise. They were detonated in late September, rendering the key European energy infrastructure inoperable.

US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson denied the report by the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, calling it “utterly false and complete fiction.” No one among high-ranking American officials has even commented on the accusations made by Hersh.

For months, the Russian authorities have been pointing to the fact that the only side to benefit from the destruction of Nord Stream was the US, which has seen supplies of its more expensive liquefied natural gas to Europe increase massively since the explosions.

[kitsunetsuki]

Helmut Newton - Willy van Rooy Wearing Lingerie by Margit Brandt (Nova 1971)

[jakobsteffen]

Epsiode 8 des Podcasts von Thomas Lämmer-Gamp und mir beschäftigt sich passend zur Bundestagswahl mit historischen Wahlen in der Bundesrepublik: Von der sozialliberalen Wende 1969 bis zur ersten rot-grünen Bundesregierung 1998 machen wir eine Zeitreise durch bundesdeutsche Nachkriegsgeschichte und zeichnen die Linien nach, die in diesem Winter vielleicht eine Fortsetzung erfahren könnten.

[mycstilleblog]

IPPNW: Im Sturm den Friedenskurs halten, Hamburger Erklärung

IPPNW: Im Sturm den Friedenskurs halten, Hamburger Erklärung

Prolog zur Hamburger IPPNW-Erklärung Düstere Zeiten. Sind wir schon im dritten Weltkrieg? Mag sein. Schlimm genug, der Einmarsch der russischen Armee in die Ukraine hat einen Krieg entfacht. Menschen finden den Tod. Menschen werden schwer verletzt. Städte und Dörfer werden schwer beschädigt. Wer es wissen will, kann erfahren, dass dieser Krieg nicht erst am 24. Februar 2022 begann. Jeder Krieg…

[korrektheiten]

Der Hinterfrager

Manova: »Albrecht Müller ist der Herausgeber des Internetblogs „NachDenkSeiten“ und mittlerweile 85 Jahre alt. Über ihn, sein Leben, seine Ansichten ließe sich ein ganzes Buch schreiben. Müller war Wahlkampfleiter für Willy Brandt, verantwortete für Brandt und Helmut Schmidt die Planungsabteilung im Bundeskanzleramt bis 1982 und war selbst für zwei Legislaturperioden im Bundestag. Die neoliberale Agenda-Politik von Bundeskanzler Gerhard Schröder und die zunehmenden Schieflagen in der Berichterstattung der Medien führten 2003 zur Gründung der NachDenkSeiten, die sich seit dieser Zeit als „alternatives Medium“ mit gesellschaftlichen und politischen Themen kritisch auseinandersetzen. http://dlvr.it/T1KsZ4 «

[jonasgrossmann]

koalitionsgespräche zwischen spd und fdp (alex möller, helmut schmidt, willy brandt, walter scheel, hans-dietrich genscher), kanzlerbungalow, bonn, photo ludwig wegmann, 1972 @ bungalowgermania

[bopinion]

2022 / 15

Aperçu of the Week:

"If you don't know where you're going, you'll get the farthest."

(Shakespeare)

Bad News of the Week:

Social Democrats in Germany and Russia. One of the most interesting ambivalences of the last decades. The party color of the SPD has always been red. Long a symbol of social democracy, it was increasingly appropriated by socialism and eventually communism - see the flags of the Soviet Union (then) and China (now). The incarnation of the social democratic German hero became German Chancellor Willy Brandt in the early 1970s. In a proud tradition from Ferdinand Lasalle and August Bebel to Karl Liebknecht, Friedrich Ebert, Kurt Schumacher and Helmut Schmidt to today's Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Under the motto "change through rapprochement," Brandt abandoned West Germany's foreign policy, which until the late 1960s had been oriented toward the Hallstein Doctrine (which ultimately denied legitimacy to the East German GDR), and with his "new east politics" initiated a caesura in the confrontational climate of the Cold War. With the treaties with the East, he embarked on a course of détente and reconciliation with the Soviet Union, the GDR, Poland (the famous "Warsaw genuflection" for the Nazi victims in the ghetto), and the other Eastern Bloc countries. Brandt received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971 for this policy. Therefore, not a few see him in a row with Lech Walesa and Mikhail Gorbachev as one of the morticians of the Eastern Bloc.

During the National Socialist dictatorship, the SPD was the only party to vote against the Enabling Act and thus against Adolf Hitler's pseudo-democratic seizure of power. Chapeau! So a party with a backbone? Not really. For decades, the SPD was too soft on Russia. It always sought a balance, a plan B, a course without confrontation. With the understanding of large parts of the population. After all, they always felt condemned to defensiveness, had invented checkbook diplomacy and owed reunification to Russia. Over time, this led to increasingly difficult-to-fathom entanglements - from ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder as head of the Gazprom Supervisory Board to the establishment of an opaque lobby foundation for North Stream 2 by Manuela Schwesig, Minister President of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

And then suddenly there it was: the change of times. Paradigms that had been established for decades now no longer apply, the world is pointing fingers at Germany for being too passive, and after eternities of universally expected restraint, there is now criticism that leadership is lacking. This has led to an evacuation of fundamental positions that previously hardly seemed possible, for example, the delivery of weapons to crisis areas, as the official term goes. And yet things are moving too slowly. The Greens, of all parties, according to their self-image a basically confrontation-avoiding party - "Create peace without weapons!" - are stepping on the gas, demanding the delivery of even heavy, non-defensive weapons, are ready for tougher sanctions, and even say (according to Robert Habeck at Easter, the peace festival par excellence) that pacifism is currently "a distant dream".

And the SPD is standing on the brakes. For a party that provides the chancellor and the defense minister, this is fatal in times of war. Even if one points to apparently good reasons - the NATO commitments must not be jeopardized right now, there are, after all, restrictions, the bureaucracy should not be forgotten, one is already doing one's utmost - the bland aftertaste of a lack of conviction remains. The population seems ready to go further ("Freeze for Ukraine!") than the government. And the economy, whose globalized orientation is closely intertwined with the basic political direction. There seems to be no silver bullet, sometimes damage limitation is already a noble goal. And without a clear compass, there is really only one thing left: courage.

Good News of the Week:

If anyone like the SPD stands for appeasement on principle, it's the Pope. Always striving for balance, never polarizing, always remaining vague, please don't scare anyone, always hovering above earthly things. So anyone looking for a strict standpoint, for a hard edge, is at the wrong address with the Vatican. Even with Francis, who, compared to his predecessors, has at least shown himself willing to admit mistakes. Thus, in current times of war, the disgruntlement became increasingly obvious why the head of the Catholic Church, does not take a clear position and call perpetrators and victims by name.

Until now. Because on Easter, Francis dared to come out of hiding, became remarkably clear in his Easter sermon, which could be celebrated this year again with tens of thousands in St. Peter's Square in Rome: "In my heart I carry all the many Ukrainian victims, the millions of refugees and internally displaced persons, the families torn apart, the elderly left alone, the lives destroyed and the cities razed to the ground. (...) may there be peace for sorrowing Ukraine, which has suffered so much from the violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it has been dragged."

Why this is so important? Because the Catholic Church, with its role in Europe that has shaped history for centuries, is a fixed star of our culture. Take Bavaria for example: even those who are not believers greet each other with "Grüß' Gott!", every village center is dominated by a church building, almost all first names go back to a saint (for me it's St. Nicholas), a cross hangs in all public buildings, religion is already on the timetable in elementary school (and not biology, history, geography or physics), almost all our holidays are Christian ones, you cringe with "Oh my God!" and sigh with relief "Thank God!".

Therefore, this old white man in Rome is also more than just folklore. And his word is not only heard by his religious followers. According to Christian lithurgy, the Messiah rose from the dead on Easter. This church festival unites diverse values such as peace, sacrifice, hope, orientation, redemption, happiness, life is stronger than death. Last but not least, Jesus Christ, ultimately God's first representative on earth, is credited with a basic statement that all well-meaning people can agree on, whether believers or not: "Love your neighbor!". Then there would be no wars at all.

Personal happy moment of the week:

Spring can no longer be stopped. Last night it had for the last time sub-zero temperatures. All birds seem to be back, everywhere it blossoms and smells. It's probably no coincidence that I feel like listening to light Italian pop music today. I don't understand the lyrics. But somehow everything sounds like sun and joy of life. Nice.

I couldn't care less...

...that Boris "The Missing Haircut" Johnson wants to promote not only offshore wind farms but also extended nuclear power plant lifetimes and (hard to believe!) even new oil drilling to ensure the UK's energy security. Someone didn't hear the shot. "Extinction rebellion", which pointed out these plans with bold actions on Saturday, has my fullest sympathy - apparently it takes a rebellion to escape extinction. Because you can't rely on the reasonableness of politics.

As I write this...

...time flies. The four-day Easter weekend is already coming to an end. Much too fast, of course. There is still so much to do. And to let go. But the best part is that tomorrow starts a work week of only four days. And spares me the hated Monday. I could get used to that. How much longer until the Pentecost weekend?

Post Scriptum:

"The Elixir of Doom" is the title of a recent column by cognitive psychologist and political commentator Christian Stöcker on spiegel.de. What do Vladimir Putin, George W. Bush, the Koch brothers, the U.S. Republicans, parts of the SPD, four Merkel governments, banks, the automotive industry and the world's stock exchanges have in common? he asks. And then relentlessly proves that the West's sheer greed for profit from Russian oil and gas has led to the Kremlin's current ruthlessness, to unprecedented political ignorance and to the endangerment of all our livelihoods. Because "the market is an idiot." And an asshole, I might add.