Three things up front:
1) The Ukraine/NATO/Russia situation is accelerating and is starting to get a real July 1914 vibe to it.
2) Turkey has seemed almost as supportive of Russia as it is of its NATO allies.
3) For now we are continuing to spell the country like the bird. Much as we love umlauts and diacritics, typing the unicode ü in "Türkiye" is a pain.*
From Turkey's 19.11.2024, 13:51
In Germany, preparations appear to be underway for a potential conflict that could directly impact the Federal Republic much more than before. According to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), the Bundeswehr has initiated training programs for companies based on the newly approved German Operational Plan. This classified strategy document reportedly spans 1,000 pages and outlines critical infrastructure and buildings deemed essential for military protection.
The report highlights plan to address a potential Russian threat, focusing on defense strategies and escalation scenarios. Among the measures discussed are steps to ensure the resilience of the civilian economy during crises.
Civil servants ‘train’ companies in HamburgOne notable aspect of the strategy involves collaboration with businesses. A recent event hosted by the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce showcased this approach, where Lieutenant Colonel Jörn Plischke offered concrete recommendations.
“For every hundred employees, train at least five additional truck drivers that you do not need,” Plischke suggested, citing the high reliance on Eastern European drivers—70% of all trucks in Germany are driven by workers from this region. He raised concerns about a potential labor shortage should war break out in Eastern Europe.
Chamber of Commerce stresses ‘resilient economy’The Bundeswehr advises businesses to create detailed crisis management plans, including assigning specific roles to employees. Self-sufficiency measures, such as installing diesel generators or wind turbines, are also recommended. The Bundeswehr has called for similar training events to be conducted nationwide, with implementation overseen by state commands.
Malte Heyne, General Manager of the Chamber of Commerce, emphasized the importance of these initiatives, stating:
“A well-prepared and resilient economy is essential for Germany’s civil and military defense.”
Greens propose special funding for armed forcesAs early elections approach, debates surrounding Germany’s military spending are intensifying. Green Economy Minister Robert Habeck is advocating for a new “special fund” to bolster military capabilities before the elections, fearing that a two-thirds majority may be unattainable if the AfD and BSW gain more seats in the Bundestag....
The character ü (Latin Small Letter U With Diaeresis) is represented by the Unicode codepoint U+00FC. It is encoded in the Latin-1 Supplement block, which belongs to the Basic Multilingual Plane. It was added to Unicode in version 1.1 (June, 1993). It is HTML encoded as ü.
