I'm german and i agree totally with you. Unfortunately a lot of people didn't know anything about the reasons for greek crisis, so the media coverage about the "lazy greeks" is working for a lot of stupid people...
stirling engines are also known as hot air engines. there are different models and systems but i have one that already works with the temperature difference between room temperature and my hand temperature. Awesome. There is a german manufacturer under www.boehm-stirling.com that makes really nice stirling motors in different forms like cars, machines and so on.