This is so impressive. Survival of the fittest at work.
East Germany balloon escape
111–120 of 324 posts
Re: East Germany balloon escape
#112Fascinating. Always enjoyed the near-history one can feel in east germany.
Europe is obviously very old e.g. I go to a pub back home that's 500 years old, but you can still sort of feel the concrete setting in some parts of Germany. Although saying that it might be that they haven't changed much since and I don't like the future chosen much elsewhere.
Or it's just the light temperature... In places that have kept their old street lighting I find it interesting to find angles that look the same now as they did in 1981 (or '71, etc).
Re: East Germany balloon escape
#113It amazes me that some people will somehow still have the audacity to defend communism...
"That wasn't real Communism! It's actually great when done correctly!" /s
Re: East Germany balloon escape
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
> “Are we here in the West??” Only this one question is asked by Peter Strelzyk and Günter Wetzel when they were in the early morning of the 16th. The "Handmaid's Tale" TV series has a great variation on that moment, which chokes me up every single time. (spoilers in video title) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oKZgXvpm0c
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Re: East Germany balloon escape
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
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I appreciate your concern for comment quality! but this is the kind of point that depends on how someone is using HN overall. If an account were doing this repetitively in a way that didn't feel like genuine conversation, that would be quite different than a case like this, where there's no sign of such a pattern and the account is using HN quite as intended - randomly walking through topics of curiosity. It seems mo…
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Re: East Germany balloon escape
#116The GDR was a showcase state that, much like the DPRK, being on the periphery of the communist block, was propped up by USSR so that direct comparisons with its capitalist neighbor wouldn't be so unflattering. One of the most important forms of assistance the GDR and other satellites received was cheap energy. In the case of the GDR, through the Friendship Pipeline. One only need look at the DPRK to see how vital thi…
West Berlin was also a showcase city.
Re: East Germany balloon escape
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
Remember the GDR called the Berlin Wall the "Antifascist Protection Barrier"
There were no fascists in the DDR. There are fascists in the former DDR today. So I guess it worked.
> There were no fascists in the DDR.
That was certainly the party line of the DDR at the time. Do you honestly believe it?
It’s no coincidence that Vladimir Putin, a former KGB man who served in East Germany, claims that his war in Ukraine is justified in the name of denazification. It’s an easy rhetorical trick. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinformation_in_the_Russian_...
Re: East Germany balloon escape
#118Was curious to know the calculations involved. Found them to be pretty simple.
Vibe-coded an online calculator for future escapists: https://balloon-lift-calculator.pagey.site
Re: East Germany balloon escape
#119A reminder of something much bigger, much longer, and far more tragic. People died, families split, a country divided.