Germany - Deutschland, but in English

Der8auer ist machtbesessen geworden. Kühlkörperherstellung | Hergestellt in Deutschland

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cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/43307501

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Sinan Selen, head of Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), said in Berlin that Germany is under particular scrutiny from Moscow, as the country serves as a key NATO logistics hub and is a strong supporter of Ukraine.

He emphasized that Russia could exploit elections as a platform to influence public opinion and political processes.

In an interview with AFP, Selen noted that several state elections will take place in Germany next year, making the country vulnerable to disinformation campaigns.

According to him, Russian intelligence agencies have already actively carried out cyberattacks, sabotage, and online operations across Europe, which have intensified since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"We are being attacked here and now in Europe," Selen said in a speech marking 75 years since the founding of the BfV.

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It`s important to note that Russian election interference has become a consistent and established tactic for Moscow in neighboring countries.

In September 2025, Russia reportedly invested nearly €400 million in efforts to influence Moldova’s parliamentary elections and secure a victory for pro-Kremlin forces, according to parliamentary speaker Igor Grosu. The campaign included voter bribery, large-scale AI-driven disinformation, coordinated cyberattacks, and attempts to provoke street protests.

Despite Kremlin pressure, Moldovan voters elected the pro-European PAS party, which won a parliamentary majority.

Beyond financial operations, Russia also leveraged religious institutions to shape public opinion. Moldovan Orthodox priests received funding for pilgrimages to Moscow and, upon returning home, created Telegram channels for their parishes to spread anti-European narratives.

The Kremlin’s use of such legitimate platforms for political influence demonstrates that the threat of foreign election interference is systemic and widespread.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/53998064

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/42655760

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the western German city of Giessen on Saturday as the far-right Alternative for Germany’s new youth organization was set to kick off its founding convention.

Groups of protesters blocked or tried to block roads in and around the city of some 93,000 people in the early morning. Police said they used pepper spray after stones were thrown at officers at one location.

The new youth organization of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is to be set up in a meeting at Giessen’s convention center. Its predecessor, the Young Alternative — a largely autonomous group with relatively loose links to the party — was dissolved at the end of March after AfD decided to formally cut ties with it.

More in the article.

So, first, my tattoo is covered by long sleeves, and I will rarely walk around without sleeves. However:

I am on my way to Germany in a few days (Blue card and all!) to start work, and I have a Klingon Trefoil tattoo on my left forearm (It was the first of many planned Star Trek tattoos on that forearm, with the IDIC and the Starfleet Delta coming soon). I have been working myself into a frenzy worried that people will immediately think I am some sort of fascist for having this tattoo either because it's Klingon or because they won't know what it is...

Do I actually have anything to worry about? Or should I just get it removed/covered?

Schweitzer is a lawyer and member of the Global Sumud Flotilla. The aggressors appear to be using a genuine personal profile to send the threats. Original post here https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNdwtNCm2/ but I will add more screenshots in the comments.

Reformation Day is on October 31, and November 1 is All Saints' Day. It is up to each federal state to decide whether one or neither of these days is an official holiday. (Further information without guarantee).

Berlin and Hesse come away empty-handed.

Reformation Day is a public holiday in Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia.

In Baden-Württemberg, schools are probably closed.

All Saints' Day is a public holiday in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland. It is also a public holiday in Austria, Liechtenstein, and parts (?) of Switzerland.

Expect the usual chaos on the day before a public holiday, but multiplied by the traffic from neighboring states and federal states, where people feel compelled to go shopping elsewhere on their "day off".

And if you're residing in an area with small(er) children: Halloween is also celebrated by some people but on a way smaller scale than in the US. You might get small spooky visitors trick or treating but as it's not as common you might wait with a box of candy and nobody's showing up.

Betteridge's law doesn't really apply to this article. They don't answer the question though.

Nice. Side fact: "(die) Reiche" is the German feminine singular for "(the) rich/wealthy".

Little sun and wind mean little renewable electricity. In such cases, Economics And Climate Protection Minister Reiche wanted to build gas-fired power plants. But Brussels' rules on this are strict. Also one company fears distortion of competition.

My dear German brothers & sisters. The politicians you keep electing are headed backwards through history. They keep acting more... totalitarian. Just as Trump got re-elected in the US, you are making the same mistakes. Many in the party claimed to be fighting fascism while seeking their own version.

I wish we could have learned sooner, and you didn't have to go down this road. The politicians used your people like puppets — insisting you must hate & fear your opponents & neighbors — saying, "if you don't vote for us, you may never get to vote again!"

They demanded you ignore their corruption & said they're morally pure. They argued, "we're more educated & intellectually superior — we have better ideas", while defending genocide.

Many of you pointed fingers. You called those expressing legitimate concerns the problem. You convinced yourselves that those merely questioning were traitors.

Instead of demanding accountability & change from within, you attacked viciously. Now as you lose seats & your party briefly pretends they knew it was a genocide all along, will you let them get away with it? Will you let them keep guilt-tripping you for something you didn't do. Will you keep supporting what they're doing now?

Abstract
To be able to fulfil the Paris Climate Agreement and keep global warming with reasonable confidence at a maximum of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, Germany must set an end to all greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. At the core of this task is the switch to 100% renewables across all sectors on the same time horizon. Conventional technologies fueled by fossil and nuclear energies are, according to the vast majority of current cost calculations, energetically inefficient, too expensive, and too slow in expansion to be able to deliver a substantial contribution to rapid climate protection. We present the first comprehensive energy scenario that shows the way to 100% renewable energy for all energy sectors by 2030. The result of the calculations is a cost-effective energy system that is compatible with the German share of necessary greenhouse gas reduction. This study shows a target system of generation, conversion, and storage technologies that can achieve the transformation to 100% renewable energy in all energy sectors—electricity, heat, and mobility—in time and at competitive costs below the costs of the current system. Moreover, we demonstrate the huge cost effect that arises if southern Germany renounces its onshore wind resources and find that this would substantially increase the need for high-voltage direct-current transmission capacity.