Eike Pierstorff's Avatar

Eike Pierstorff

@eikepierstorff.bsky.social

I do not know how to make a cogent argument in 300 characters and don't really like tit-for-tat, so I am not sure what I am doing here. Also I am a lefty who likes dogs and science and home cooked food.

86 Followers  |  75 Following  |  541 Posts  |  Joined: 20.11.2024  |  2.346

Latest posts by eikepierstorff.bsky.social on Bluesky

No, it is not because we shut down nuclear power. Our minister of the economy is a fossil fuel lobbyist, our chancellor a former (?) Blackrock employee, and Germany economy depends on a car industry that has proven incapable of building a competitive electric car. Broadly, that is why.

11.09.2025 17:08 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

Darf ich das mit Geld bezahlen, das nicht wirklich Geld ist, sondern von mir gedruckt? Erstmals?

11.09.2025 09:56 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Every 20th of July, Germany honours, as examples of "the better Germany", the guys who literally planted a bomb for the head of state, so opposition to political violence does not have to be absolute but can be measured in degrees of separation to Adolf Hitler. Still, better don't shoot people.

11.09.2025 09:53 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

German writer Kurt Tucholsky observed the same about 100 years ago. In his view the leading "no" serves to dismiss whatever has been said previously, so one get can their own opinion in without having to engage with the opinion of others. Humans probably haven't changed much in the last 100 years.

10.09.2025 19:47 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

This seems to be missing an Avi Loeb joke.

09.09.2025 19:07 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I thought the ending was when we discovered we are but the germs in the giant Universe-shark, and the sea sharks are the antibodies that are out to get us.

09.09.2025 17:22 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Nothing new under the sun. Or under the sea, as it were.

09.09.2025 17:15 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

A big shark that is made from a lot of tiny sharks for more heads (but then that might just be piranhas). Or you do "The Return of Joseph Heiter - The Sharkoid Centipede" (although technically no "pede" w/o legs, but who is counting).

09.09.2025 16:24 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Social security will help with that, but only after close relatives have exhausted their funds. General healthcare offers a lot more democratic access, though - not as good as high end private healthcare in the US, but at a decent level accessible for everyone. Comparing systems is difficult.

06.09.2025 07:20 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

I'm not in disbelief and I am German. German healthcare only still works because long term care was separated out into a different system that pays completely insufficient lump sums. Copay for a nursing home is around 3000 Euro per month, which is more than the median net salary.

06.09.2025 07:20 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

I do (barely) remember there were protests when the paper id was replaced with plastic that embedded the contained information in machine readable form, but I think that is as far as opposition to id cards in Germany ever got.

04.09.2025 21:16 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

the discussion about voter id in the US, where the idea is to make an id mandatory without making it easy or at all possible to obtain one, which is a measure to exclude people). Since I have to identify myself on many occasions anyway, it's more a timesaver than anything else.

04.09.2025 21:13 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Germany has the "Personalausweis", mandatory (the Nazis made it so which is not great advertising) to own, but (mostly) not to carry. Does not look like an instrument of oppression, but then I am so used to it I wouldn't know. If you mandate an id card you should make it easy to get one (that's

04.09.2025 21:13 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Screenshot of a NYT article stating that researcher struggle to explain an alleged left wing bias in AI chatbots.

Screenshot of a NYT article stating that researcher struggle to explain an alleged left wing bias in AI chatbots.

There is no mystery here. Per conservative ideology, the world is created via an act of will by a person with a penis. Contradicting this by claiming that there are things such as facts or science or objective reality makes you in their eyes automatically a left wing radical.

02.09.2025 22:05 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Picture of a mid sized blonde dog staring upwards in expectation of some food that may or may not come.

Picture of a mid sized blonde dog staring upwards in expectation of some food that may or may not come.

I am pretty sure my dog's autobiography will be titled "I wanted food and all they gave me was love".

02.09.2025 21:58 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

That's the thing, it is not particularly MCU-ish. And while it's not particularly subtle, as someone who is in treatment himself there was something cathartic in the way the movie explained depression by way of metaphor (even if the metaphor was sometimes dished out with a ladle).

02.09.2025 18:48 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Lest you think you are the only ones, the German "Grundgesetz" has literally no requirements for the office of chancellor (head of government), not even minimum age or citizenship. It just says they have to be elected (by the parliament; we do not get to vote on our executive).

30.08.2025 20:43 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Wenn ich einen Tipp geben müsste würde ich vermuten, dass Dobrindt den Georg Maaßen vorschlÀgt.

30.08.2025 18:28 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Zum Thema KTF vermute ich, dass die Regierung EU-Strafzahlungen mittelfristig nicht für ein Problem hÀlt, weil sie (wohl mit Recht) darauf setzt, dass die Rechtsaußen-Fraktionen Klimaschutz auch auf EU-Ebene abschaffen werden und eventuelle Haushaltsfolgen sich damit erledigen.

30.08.2025 12:52 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Per the article, "Letters and personal gifts under US$100 will still technically be exempt from tariffs after Friday but some services have suspended all US postage of goods and others have suspended postage to the US entirely", so the exemption may not always help.

28.08.2025 17:05 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Ein Projekt zur Beschimpfung von Hans-Georg Maaßen finde ich gut. Haben die noch KapazitÀten, um andere Rechtsextreme zu beschimpfen? Ich hÀtte VorschlÀge.

28.08.2025 07:58 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I talk to tech support of various companies a lot, so going by experience I'd say there is a decent chance that a random relative knows more about their technology than the help desk (not even joking, first line support usually is not tech savy but reads from a script). So maybe they're just honest.

28.08.2025 07:56 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Graphic highlighting the suspension of FEMA staff who criticized Trump, featuring DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in 'Make America Great Again' hat with 'America' crossed out to say 'Disasters'.

Graphic highlighting the suspension of FEMA staff who criticized Trump, featuring DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in 'Make America Great Again' hat with 'America' crossed out to say 'Disasters'.

Noem and Trump's actions are a recipe for disaster🚨

Join us in standing up against Noem and Trump in the name of the Katrina Declaration dissenters β€” add your name to our Statement of Solidarity and Support ⬇️
www.standupforscience.net/katrina-decl...

27.08.2025 17:41 β€” πŸ‘ 119    πŸ” 37    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 3

president routinely brags about passing a dementia test (which by itself puts the test result into question). If that is what DEI previously managed to prevent, then it is a very powerful concept indeed.

26.08.2025 15:37 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Looking at this from the outside, your defense secretary is an abusive alcoholic who was fired from a previous job of destroying health insurance for vets for passing out in a strip club, health secretary is a carrion eating addict who cited brain damage as reason not to pay alimony and your

26.08.2025 15:37 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

and that (denouncing the very idea instead of just granting yourself an exception) is new IMO.

18.08.2025 07:01 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Until recently, I would have agreed with you and Zach. If the stuff in the treaties/laws would go without saying, we would not need them in the first place, so some violations are to be expected. But now major backers of the system pull out and go for "let might (not laws) make right"

18.08.2025 07:01 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Not a general solution, but for your own relief you should be able to build a browser extension for a user style sheet that lowercases elements on a given page.

17.08.2025 19:37 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I am really triggered by the fact that this is neither alphabetical nor chronological. It looks like word salad made from names.

17.08.2025 16:41 β€” πŸ‘ 216    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

expressed goal of provoking other EU countries into doing the same. That at the same time they respect the Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods by Sea or whatever is not as such a sign of respect for international law, that's just a law that hasn't been in their way yet.

17.08.2025 11:35 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

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