Egyptian Woes in Germany

For about one hundred years....Germany has held this fine Egyptian antiquities piece.....the statue of Queen Nefertiti.

The guys in Berlin have built this fine museum to house it....which if you are ever in Berlin....this is one of the top five things in the city to go and see.

There has always been this discussion over ownership of the 3,400 year old statue.

The German guy in 1913....who made the discovery of the statue....worked up a fine agreement of sorts with the government of Egypt at the time. Basically, he described the piece as a discovery...made of plaster and just depicting a royal princess....nothing more.

It would come out later that this was a limestone statue of Queen Nefertiti....and the Egyptians figuring out a major lie occurred with the agreement.

This past week....a new effort has been mounted to recover what the Egyptians consider to be their own property.

As the media has dragged up the topic over the past decade....Germany has continually said it acquired the statue legally and just won’t even discuss ownership....or even a loan because moving the “fragile” bust might be dangerous.

I sat there and pondered upon the German argument....and if this were a piece of plaster....they’d be actually right about the danger in moving it. But strangely enough....since it is limestone....there just isn’t any danger. Course, maybe they are still in the stupid mode from 1913, and still believe they hold just a plaster statue....of some princess....and nothing more.

The more you ponder on this issue....you see some folks who made up a deal that was kinda underhanded and involved some trickery of sorts. It wasn’t a legitimate contract between the two countries in 1913 because of the false claim on the German’s part.

The problem is that there are thousands of pieces of art in German, British, French and Italian museums....which were gained through questionable methods. If you open up the door to this episode....then you start to question alot of stuff gained from Greece, Turkey, Syria, and Egypt. The bottom line is that if you took out thirty percent of the current holdings and handed them back over...then what? Could you even run a 4-star museum with a 3-star collection? That’s what this really comes down to.

Taxes in Germany

TV taxes are often a part subject to bring up with Germans. This past week....we had a tax court episode of sorts....to seriously affect the TV tax folks.

There had been a strong push about seven years ago....to include computers into this “media” tax situation. The TV tax folks at the time....thought this was a nifty way to grow the tax revenue bucket without stomping on too many folks.

The case that came up involved a professional translator....who had declared the computer at home with her TV and radios....and had been paying the legal amount of taxes on those. Somewhere in the process of things....as a translator....she had added a second computer (I will assume a laptop)....to carry back and forth. The TV tax folks came acalling to her house and asked to do an inspection. She didn’t think much about it and allowed them in. They counted, and then recounted.....and came to say that the second computer was not being calculated and they wanted taxes on it.

The court viewed the whole episode.....and said that the work computer was a totally different issue and not part of the taxation episode. So she is off the hook....at least until they can convince the government guys to change the rules yet again.

My advice for anyone visited by the plain clothed TV tax folks.....smile and refuse entry. To enter....they have to show court order or be invited in. To gain a court order....they have to present evidence that seems to prove that you are violating the rules. Frankly, most judges won’t agree to such a court order without massive proof.

It all simply adds onto the hostile nature of folks now over state-run TV. The costs escalate each and every year. There are still competitive folks in the state-run TV system....buying and pumping up prices for shows or sports projects. The salary level is way beyond reason.....and their long-term projects all seem to show growth. We now have one channel designed and built for the 15-30 year old crowd....that barely gets 200,000 viewers on average a week (out of 80 million). So the state-run TV guys are buying up shows to run on this network and paying an entire staff.....with few if any folks watching.

A Word of Advice

This is my top ten list of German things to avoid wasting time or money on....with no real priority.

German cuckoo clocks. Frankly, it's a fair amount of money you pay...for a clock that ends up as a wall dust collector. Accuracy? Well...you will continually have to adjust it as each year goes by. It's hard to find any German family in existence today...that has a clock. Folks with a full-up den and library....might have one...as a show piece....but that's about it. For $1k to $2k....which is what they typically want....it is a questionable purchase. And if you do buy it....keep the box for shipping later.

Roman coins. I worked with people at Bitburg...that got into this collection business. Roman coins are found up there a good bit and the locals make a business out of selling these. The curious thing is that you could end up with a fake....which I knew a guy who paid $300 for a coin....which later turned out to be a fake.

German or Russian war medals. Ok, this is what you must realize....that guy at the flea market with a "real" iron cross for $150....is selling a fake medal. The same way for the Russian medals that he keeps under the table. For the most part, you tend to end up with fakes.

Russian military uniforms. There was this glory period in the 1970s...when collectors would show up at flea markets with Soviet uniforms and American GI's would pay $100 for a uniform. Some are real....and some were simply made in a garage operation for less than $10, which aren't authentic uniforms. I knew a guy once that paid $200 for a Soviet officer's 'bus drivers hat'. I asked him how he knew it was authentic....and he just looked at me (don't spoil the moment).

Significant paintings. You can walk across a BX area here in Germany....and always find a painting sales guy...who has a wonderful painting of some Bavarian valley scene....for $300. That's about as authentic as you can get. When you get invited to a wine tasting episode....and the painting guy starts to show you 'treasured paintings'...from the 1930s....for $2k....the odds are they are fake.

Nazi copies of Hitler's Mein Kampf. There are copies around for sale. You can go to EBay and find them. Typically....the real authentic copies from the 1930s....go for a substantial amount of money. When you have a guy standing in front of you.....offering to part with his copy for $500....it's likely fake.

Lederhosen. Ok, so when you travel to Bavaria, and here are these silly guys standing there in leather pants that end halfway to the ankle....and have fancy embroidery on them....this is lederhosen. If you go to a professional shop, you end up paying around $300 for a top notch pair of the paints. They are all authentic, but the truth is...where the hell are you going to wear these later in life? Ninety percent of all German men...DO NOT own a pair. That should say something about wasting money on a piece of clothing you might never wear.

Beer Machen outfits. This is the typical garb of a beer hostess down at the Octoberfest. You could go cheap and get something for around $150....but a real outfit will run $400. First, if you got boobs....it's designed to maximize the view. If you don't have boobs....it's not for you. Frankly ladies, you tend to look silly and unless you have some weird uniform fetish for the bedroom....it's best to skip this outfit. However, if your guy is into this...use the five-inch heels to accent the outfit but don't be carrying around eight beer steins while wearing the heels.

Beer Steins. There are two basic types of beer stein. The one you regularly would drink from...and the one that sits on some shelf which acts as some show-piece. The show-piece one....often costing $100 to $400...is worthless (my own humble opinion). The one you drink from....is actually used and worth twice its weight in gold.

Christmas cake. For the months of November and December....you can walk around through a German grocery or bakery and buy stollen. This is a cake of sorts....often chewy...that is loaded with calories. The bakeries typically make it in October and ship it out in a sealed package. For some odd reason, its stays fresh for three months. The typical problem is that they sell you a huge cake....and you barely eat half...and then it gets rock hard. It's not a four-star cake...by any means...and you must drink coffee with it.

I hope I didn't upset any of you...but after fifteen years here...you come to realize the tourist trend of buying stuff...without real value or questionable value.

Kunduz

For the past month, Kunduz has been a nightly topic for the German news folks. It’s a curious episode, which most Germans don’t grasp the entire story or simplicity.

Basically, off in Afghanistan....the German Army had a camp set up.....with a couple of large-scale military fuel trucks. With questionable security....some Taliban guys walk in and steal two of these....making off in the middle of the night.
Somehow, a couple of German special forces guys quietly track these....and within an hour or two....know precisely where they are. They notify the commander, and then await instructions.

What occurs next is kinda interesting. At the truck point....near a creek....around eighty people gather in the middle of the night....supposedly to steal fuel from the two stolen trucks. Taliban members? Well....no one can say now. Off on the German side....no one wants to mount an assault on the area....in fear of being shot at. So the German general calls in for a US air strike.

The US fighter pulls up and starts to question alot of this intended target. The German general wants all six bombs dropped....the pilot says ‘no’....he only needs to drop two max. This goes back and forth.

Finally, the US pilot drops his two bombs and hits the two trucks....with a fine explosion. As for the number of dead? Well....the Red Cross gives one number. The Afghan government gives another number. And the NATO guys give another number. The key feature to the Red Cross story is that they were all innocent poor locals just stealing gas from the vehicles.

So back in Germany....within two or three days....the opposition parties have taken up this mess. They wanted names and stories. Merkel and the generals were left standing there and trying to figure what all happen that evening.

In the weeks that passed....two generals have been fired....for holding information on the episode, at least that's what the government now says.

The opposition parties are still upset and want various other folks fired....to hinder political progress of the new Merkel government.

The curious thing....is that German military folks are furious over the entire mess. They view the opposition position on this mess to be detrimental to the morale of the whole military.

Afghan lawyers are now pursuing a legal case to get tens of millions out of the German government....over the sixty to one hundred dead folks at the site.
So allow for me to lay out three simple observations.

First, if you were the German military now....observing this entire mess....and any incident of any type arises....I won’t react except to protect myself. If the Afghans want to steal every vehicle in the compound....let them. Don’t fire on anyone unless they shoot at you. When the political figures get furious...let them know that they started this attitude and you have no intention of reacting to anything.

Second, German military morale can only get lower.

Third and final....if you were PM Merkel....why keep troops in a US-led war? I’d call up the plans folks and then announce a withdrawal within 90 days from Afghanistan. I’d refuse to donate a single dollar for the Afghanistan government and I’d then tell the entire Bundestag (Parliament) that we are finished with all military operations outside of Germany.

Passau Update

A long while ago....I blogged up abou the stabbing of the Passau police chief, Alois Mannichl. At the time....the police chief said it was a Nazi who did it. But issues developed...and the case went into limbo. The knife used....came to be identified by the press as a cake knife. The Nazi stabber? The chief said he had a funny snake tattoo on his neck, but the cops can't any Nazi listed in their database with such a tattoo.

So this past week....the DA finally came out and said that significant problems lie in the story that the Police Chief told....and it's changed a bit each time that the guy is asked to repeat some part.

Most folks are confident that it was the wife or girlfriend who did it. The local folks would like for him to fess up but he won't do it.

As for the Nazi angle....it's starting to become apparent that the answer is always the Nazis....but it doesn't always solve the question asked.

There's This Little German Law

There’s this little law that got passed in Germany in 2008....that requires every telephone and provider company to “store” all numbers called and all web sites visited...for six months. So they keep this log of your IP and then attach every single site to that log. Yes, it could go into the tens of thousands.

The consolidated government at the time....thought this would be great for getting people caught by the cops eventually. The telephone and providers hated it....because it means they have to track this information and then store it. It adds up.

There are presently....over sixty separate legal questions now pending on the law....and it’s at the Supreme Court of Germany.

Most folks think that eventually....the Supreme Court will throw out the law but some media folks have voiced the idea that the Court might view this as a moment to change the perception of privacy. If they say sites visited and phone numbers called....are not private....then a vast and mighty door gets opened.

The curious thing that I see....is that the phone companies and providers.....are sitting there with a vast treasure trove of data on people. All I need to do...is hack into it....and then start to track down some critical people to ask if they’d like numbers they called to be released. I could probably make a million a week....with such a list.

How much protection is being offered to this “list”? No one is sure.

How much protection was required by the law? That never was specified.

How much pain could one guy with 50,000 pages of copied lists create?

For some reason, I’m thinking this really wasn’t thought much about or conceived.

The TV Tax

There is a debate underway in Germany....over TV taxes. For those who are curious....an average house now pumps in around $400 per year....for their media tax.

The guys who run the state-run operation....kinda need more money. So you can see where this debate is going.

The folks on one side....have spoken up and say that we should now include laptops, internet devices, and cellphones.....in the method where we count and add up the tax. The neat thing about this method is that any house with four folks (two adults and two kids over ten)....has four cellphones typically. The growth of laptops and PC's in homes? Well...that adds up too....because in the same house with the four folks....they likely have two PC's/laptops as a minimum.

Naturally.....the opposition is upset about this because it allows the government to ASK and get data....to assemble the fee. Why would anyone tell the truth? Everyone would admit one cellphone and one CPU....just to look legal.

Then you have the crowd who are fixated back on the state-run networks.....asking why we need so many channels across the whole country. They also are asking why so many state-run radio channels still exist and if half couldn't go commercial. Even others are asking questions now about the salary level of the folks who manage the state-run networks.

The curious about this entire mess is that there is no citizen committee to stand over the state-run TV folks....and ask stupid questions. The TV management folks come up to the national level....lay out their costs...and then ask for a 3 percent or 5 percent plus-up. And the political figures have some fear in denying them.....because they might turn the investigative reporters loose on them. It's like a friendly mafia operation running your local grocery....and you simply have to accept it.

German Movies

This is my list...of ten great German movies to watch. Bear in mind...sometimes, I don't select artistic movies or intellectual movies.

- Run Lola, Run. It is a great written movie...with a twist of science fiction to it. From 1999.

- Das Boot. It's a five-star German war movie....over submarine warfare. The thing about it is that it has a great 3.5 hour version, and it's really around eight hours in length, if you went for the full version. If it's the two-hour version that you are watching...forget it.

- Barfuss. It is a tidy comedy from 2005. It has Til Schweiger and a fairly interesting script.

- Good-bye Lenin. Frankly, its the best written script that any German has come up with in years. The family grew up in East Germany, and mom has been in a coma since the wall came down. Now Moma comes out of the coma but the family has to act like they are still in the old East Germany days. It is a five-star comedy.

- Das Wunder Von Bern. It's the true football story of how the Germans came to win their first world cup in the 1950s. Worth watching, absolutely true, and a feel-good movie at the end.

- Comedian Harmonists. True story from WW II....centers around a band. The music is great and it's a good positive ending.

- Rosenstrasse. 2004....excellent movie.

- Krabat. Dark movie....over a kid who yearns to learn magic. Excellent story, and 5-star graphics.

- Baader Meinhof Complex. True and extremely violent movie.

Germans & Fear

Someone did a survey with Germans….and three out of four…fear the upswing of the Muslim religion in Germany.

The curious thing…is that they used the word “fear”. When I walk around and this topic comes up with a handful of Germans….they translate it more to mean that they really can’t allow Germany to become some state of full acceptance of Islamic traditions.

It was ok, when Spaniards came and worked themselves into German society back in the 1400/1500 period. It was ok when Italians came after WW II and began to own restaurants and pubs. It was ok when Americans came and stayed after their military service. To some degree….they don’t have problems with Africans who come in and actually instill themselves into society…learning the language and becoming businessmen.

But the folks associated with the Islamic traditions….haven’t really fitted into German society. And the lack of acceptance has touched on a massive number of Germans.

The curious thing….as I watch things develop….you start to see “players” who instigate feelings on the Islamic side. They pretend to be leaders in their community. They say one thing but then to say the opposite to their crowd. They try to voice objections over German rules….when it was the German rules that made life nicer here and business opportunities better than the old country.

After the fire in Mannheim this year…with the Turks killed….and the insistence of bad evil Germans or Nazis at the heart of the fire….and Turkish leadership strongly domineering the local scene there in Mannheim….then we came to find out via the cops that it was Turkish kids playing with matches…and not Nazis involved.

I’ve come to view this Islamic opera playing out in Germany as an instrument of people with an agenda. I’ve often wanted to ask these people what made them leave their old Islamic country and resettle in such a terrible place….but I doubt that they have much of an answer.

The curious thing is that the Jews played in a game similar to this in the 1930s. It was never started by the Jews….they simply ended up as the folks blamed for issues. Then I look at today’s environment….and can see a simple ten-year period where the whole 1930s experience is repeated. Germans are in some ways…naïve. They reach a point where they accept something as “facts” even if it isn’t a fact. Then they move to a conclusion….which ends up as a tragic opera of sorts.

Then…..the fat lady finally sings.

You Might be Educated....Maybe

For anyone whose been in Germany for a long time....and educated....you always come across educated Germans who immediately let you know that you just aren’t in their category of “educated and certified”. Yes, you might have a four-year degree, or even a master’s degree....but you simply don’t measure up.

Part of this revolves around the rules or standards that the German federal government uses....but’s also a general mental note that they make of auslanders....they are less....no matter how educated they are.

This week...the German government announced that they plan to make acceptance of foreign academic qualifications easier for immigrants. There will be a legal process where external documents and degrees are examined....and then given a “stamp” of sorts.

Reasoning? Well....they are becoming very focused on the shortage of high technology skills and abilities that the German university system simply can’t churn out. If you want just a good basic degree in history....it’s no problem. If you want just a good basic degree in computer science principals....it’s no problem. Beyond that....with a fast paced technology world....the university system of Germany can’t stay up to par.

An issue occurs now with nursing......where so many German nurses are leaving the country.....for better pay....and the German hospitals are recruiting nurses from third world countries to make up for the problem of limited nurses in the country.

The curious thing about this....while the government might change....people don’t. So if you are standing there....with a doctoral degree....chatting with Germans and hand out a business card with it listed....you get a smirk of sorts. Even if you spent eight years at Harvard....you really don't have the same doctoral degree as Germans.

Some things will never change.

The Cake Knife Episode

About a year ago….there was a funny story in Germany, with serious overtones at the beginning….but then became a joke.

The Passau police chief…..Alois Mannichl….came to be stabbed on the front porch of his house. He said it was a neo-Nazi. Alois is fiercely known in the region for attacking Nazis left and right….so it made sense at the time. The guy doing it? He was described by Alois as 30 years old….about six foot tall….and had a snake tatto on his neck.

The cops were all over this. Their chief had been stabbed severely…..and attacker had said "You leftist pig cop, you won't trample on the graves of our comrades anymore."

So as days passed….an interesting thing occurred. The chief started to recover in the hospital. The wound was examined and strangely didn’t fit your typical attacker knife….but more so….a cake-knife. Yeah….a cake-knife.

Based on a number of minor problems with the story….the detectives around this case began to see this as a domestic dispute where thing went wrong.

The police chief was furious…..how dare anyone suggest such.

Then they ran into a fascinating problem. The massive database that they keep on all Nazis…..was scanned. NOT one single character came up with a snake tatto on the neck. Yeah, it’s a curious thing….not one single Nazi.

So the local paper did a one-year update on the story this week.

There are 430 open leads in the case. Ten investigators still work on this case….and have examined a total of 3,000 clues. They also have interviewed well over 2,000 people.

An amusing side note to this story is that the cops are still today…offering $25k as a reward. And yet, they still can’t find anyone in the region of Passau….with a snake tattoo on his neck.

The chief? He’s still the chief….and still readily claims Nazis are hard at work…threatening the lives of locals.

After fifteen years in Germany….and watching all the various comments and negativity over Nazis in Germany….you start to wonder if a real threat exists or a bunch of folks simply pump up a bunch of pretenders.

Anarchists

This year...several major riots occurred in Germany...which the media will kindly report they were anarchists at work. The chief locations? Mostly in Hamburg....a handful in Berlin.

This week....a "coordinated" attack of sorts occurred in both cities on politce stations and political offices. The German cops are highly upset. In fact, they even used the phrase "declaration of war" in their statements after the attacks. Several police cars were attacked with Molotov cocktails.

So far, the anarchists have been careful....no injuries have been reported. It simply looks like an escalation of some sorts.

What the cops want....based on actions taken so far....are major prison sentences when they apprehend these guys. So far, the state interior ministers and the judges have frowned on this. My guess is that they will let the mess continue until local political pressure becomes too much...and then...it'll too late to control this mess.

There are several observations here.

First, the amount of coordination involved? The timing? Well...the boys have to be using technology to communicate. Twitter? Yeah....I'd be guessing it might be the tool...but they've got a dozen possible ways of chatting back and forth.

A repeat of the RAF methods of the late 1960s? Yes, in some fashion....some smart guys are leading the lesser intelligent herd toward confrontations. There is a strategy involved.

The idea of ensuring no injuries in these attacks? I would think that this is a strategy to build up the confidence of the troops involved and to get some front-line newspaper coverage for their cause.

It's hard for a guy from Bama to view an anarchist. In the entire state of Bama....we don't have a single anarchist. I think it's mostly because we've got better things to do....but the other note here is that if we went looking for trouble....we just might find it, and it might not be a simple arrest.

In this case...you've got a bunch of folks with time on their hands and a support cell behind them. I would suggest that as you arrest them....I'd move them as far as possible into Bavaria...to the most remote town with a jail. Let them simmer there for a week or two...without friends or associates around.

For the cops? They need to start monitoring Twitter and forums....and getting smarter. These guys aren't going away, and I suspect this is merely the beginning of a long period of anarchists.

The Swiss Vote On Minarets

The Swiss had a vote today....kind of an interesting vote. It concerned the continued building or banning of Islamic Minarets.

Fifty-eight percent of the vote today....said to ban further construction of Minarets. You can still build a Mosque but the tower-like Minarets are now out.

It was a shocker. On Friday....it was pretty much settled with pre-polling data that this wouldn't take more than twenty-five percent of the national vote. Somewhere in their analysis...the poll guys screwed by over thirty percent. Typically....that would be impossible.

The Swiss...for those pondering the situation....are a fairly relaxed, calm and conservative crowd. They have national health care, lots of free education, and some of the best roads in Europe.

Lately...there's been this fear amongst the Swiss that Muslims are taking a strong bit of control over local events. Over the past decade...construction of Mosques over all of Europe has been on the rise. Currently, there are four of these Minarets in Switzerland and I'm guessing they probably had plans for another dozen.

Do you absolutely need a Minaret? No....a Mosque could be built without the tower-like building out front. If you go and check out the rules for Minarets...there are at least ten different styles that various Muslims consider "official".

The curious thing...almost five percent of the 7.8 million folks in Switzerland....are Muslims. This adds up to almost 400,000 Islamic folks.

The vote has unsettled a number of folks there. There were a couple of folks out there commenting on their blog sites that the EU courts would take up this matter quickly and settle it. The curious thing...is that Switzerland never approved the EU application. So there's no court action to occur here...it's basically final.

Muslim feelings? Well...they probably are wondering what the big deal is and why they are being picked on. If I were a Muslim sitting in Switzerland...I might start pondering about relations with my neighbors and what kind of problems exist.

A Gun Story

It is a short note here...prosecutors down in the German state of Baden-Württemberg...have finally decided to put manslaughter charges against the father of a 17-year-old boy who killed 15 people earlier this year.

The father had a gun collection....which was all kept locked and secure (as the law mandates)...except for one pistol...which he kept in the open area of the house. We can only imagine that it was for protection.

The problem here...is that the law is very clear...ALL weapons are supposed to be locked and secured. As you take the class on weapons...it's spelled out very clearly. No one else in the house is supposed to have access to your weapons...not even your wife...unless they go through the same course.

If the cops ever suspect you are being stupid on gun control...they merely show up and ask to see all of your registered weapons. You will take the key from your pocket (you must have full control of that key)...and take them to the gun cabinet. All of your weapons must be inside of the cabinet...no exception.

The general feeling is that this charge is a pretty drastic episode to take...considering the guy's own son...the shooter...is dead. Punishment, if convicted...probably around two or three years in prison. Remember this is Germany, where murder barely gets you twenty years.

I paused over this argument here. I feel sorry for the guy and certainly hate to see him punished in this fashion. But the problem is...he contributed to the entire act by failing to control his gun collection. The kid only needed one weapon...and that was the one kept out in the open.

So I'm guessing the court case will proceed....the guy will be declared guilty...and my best guess is that he barely gets twelve months in jail. The relatives of those killed will be furious...but this is the German way of punishing folks. In the end....it may not have really mattered. A year or two in the future, had none of this occurred in 2009....his son would have taken the same gun control course....acquired his own weapons....and done the same act anyway.

A Guy Lost in Frankfurt

So this is what we know. Devon Hollahan is a young gentleman who is a English instructor in Prague. Devon came up to Frankfurt a week ago...to attend a concert. Somewhere, after the concert, near 3AM and a couple of beers...he and a friend ended up over near the Hotel Luxor and were walking toward the Taunusalange metro station. The friend stopped to ask directions and turned away from Devon for about two minutes. When he turned back around....Devon was gone. Seven days have passed now...and Davon hasn't shown up anywhere.

Devon's dad....Jeff Hollahan, a respected stock analyst out in Arizona is pretty concerned over the situation...even possibly thinking it was a kidnapping.

The family has now gone into turbo...trying to generate media attention in Frankfurt to get people out looking for Devon.

It is curious to note that Devon had a cellphone...and none of the text messages or phone calls have been answered since that evening.

I sat there....pondering over the episode. I know Frankfurt. I was stationed there in 1978/1979. I even went back a few times in the 1984 and 1985 period.

Frankfurt is a metropolitan city with several dimensions.

First, up until the mid-1980s...it was completely safe to walk around the middle of town at night. The drug scene in the midst of town....down around the train station...now makes it a bit questionable to walk there after dark unless with a group.

Second...the real party district of Frankfurt...is just across the river in Sachsenhausen. Typically...this is where folks go to party and get drunk. The trolley cars run just by the area up until 1AM and then shuts down until around 4:30AM. This explains why the guys were using a taxi at 3AM in the morning.

The Hotel Luxor? It's just about 1,500 feet from the river...where three bridges lie within easy walking distance of each other. It would have taken less than twenty minutes for some drunk guy to walk the 1,500 feet and end up at the river's edge.

The redlight district angle to this story? Well....the guys are at least fifteen minutes walking from beginnings of the zone. I would probably relabel the redlight district as the heroin/redlight district because of the significant amount of drugs in the zone. The weirdos though....would have been much closer to the train station, and not 6,000 feet away at the Hotel Luxor area.

I don't buy the kidnapping story because the kidnappers would have reacted quickly and made the parents aware of not involving the cops. Seven days have passed....nothing in the way of a note from any kidnappers. So I'm discarding this threat.

My belief? If the locals are searching for this kid....get the friend to point out the last spot he remembered seeing him and then identify every construction site within 1,000 feet in any direction. Go through all of the construction sites...especially in basements or pits. The guy was drunk, and he could have easily fallen into a hidden place.

The other likelihood is the river. He might have made it to the river and simply fallen in. Eventually...his body would turn up somewhere...down the river.

Here's the thing about Frankfurt. At one point, there were around 10,000 American GI's who lived within easy distance of the city and partied every Friday and Saturday night there. No one ever disappeared. It's not one of those cities where you'd expect a guy to just totally disappear (Moscow, Rio, Chicago). There's bad things that happen in the city...that's the sad advancing truth of the town.

Finally...alot of guys go and get drunk in Frankfurt....and then end up doing some drugs...of a more drastic nature. The friend's story is limited...he has no one to really back up portions of it. It may be in the end...that the two were partying with another group...drugs came out...the two were drunk enough to do some....Devon reacted badly...and died there. The body got dumped somewhere else....not to raise suspicions. I say this....only because of the Aruba episode and the Bama gal.

So this weekend...there will likely be a effort taken to find Devon. I wish the group luck in this endeavor...but I think it's probably too late.

GM's Stumble

The GM dudes have been busy for the past week in Germany....trying to mend fences with Opel and the German government. Things haven't worked that well.

There was this 1-star press conference yesterday. The GM guy was gushing and acting like a hooker at a VFW convention....everything is working out and GM is surging ahead. He wanted everyone to know that the Kaiserslautern plant is to absolutely stay open....and to become a state-of-the-art complex....worldly development.....blah...blah....blah.

I sat there laughing. It was the crap you'd hear in Detroit and Newsweek would report it with a fantastic car in the background.

No one is truly believing much of anything that GM says.

Today, we learn that the Saab deal....a core part of GM in Europe.....has fallen through. The Saab guys.....losing money left and right because of the high cost of building the typical cars they make.....were supposed to be sold off to a Swedish company that makes luxury cars. This company....Koenigsegg.....is apparently backed by China's Beijing Automotive Industrial Holding Ltd (BAIC). It would be safe to say that BAIC has the real money in this deal and wants technology from SAAB. Apparently, the safe view of SAAB surviving is zero.

A basic word on SAABs....for those of you who've never driven the vehicle. It is a high-class car, with great handling in snow and ice. You can't find a single model for less than $25k....which tends to make this unaffordable for the common guy. In my entire village....there might be one. I worked with a guy who bought one....took out the rear seat entirely.....and basically had this huge tank-like vehicle with tons of room for taking cargo. The neat thing is that they make diesel versions and the car can last forever....but when it does break....where the heck do you get parts? Sweden?

So sit back and watch GM sweat in Europe.

Brits Out

There are twenty-five thousand British soldiers in Germany today.....all in the region around Dusseldorf. It's part of the effort left over from the cold war.

Today, the right-wing folks in the UK.....said in the run-up of the election....where Gordon Brown is expected to lose....that they intend to draw down all of the twenty-five thousand troops. Altogether....with their families....it's maybe forty thousand Brits in the region.....and another fifteen thousand retirees.

For the region....it's a major financial loss. The Germans will sit there and fret over this for the next year or two....until it finally occurs. It'll likely take four years for the Brits to figure out where to put these guys and build the barracks.

The question will be if the Obama administration views this in some downsizing fashion as well....by 2012....announces it's own version of this....to pull out of Germany finally.

An Undeserving Bill

So, last summer, in Berlin….a fair came to town. Naturally, they had some outstanding rides…..which one was identified as the “Star Gate”.

At some point in the ride….it suddenly stopped, and got stuck.

Folks got fearful, and then called the fire department….who naturally came out within twenty minutes….and over the next half-an-hour…..brought down all of the participants in the ride. The folks were upside down, and you can imagine your stress level at that point….asking for help and just thanking God for those great firemen.

Well…time has passed, and the fire department sent out bills. Yep….281 Euro or $420 for each person rescued.

The Star Gate ride folks said that they were fully capable of rescuing the folks and were in the process of doing so…when these firemen arrived and barged right in. So they’ve declined paying.

So the fire department went to the obvious number two choice….the riders. So these folks are getting their bills, and it’s pretty much a “don’t you dare bill me for this” routine.

The fire department isn’t sorry at all….they just want their money. They claim that the riders can sue the operator or their own insurance companies for the rescue.

I sat there for a while….looking at this. The idea of being upside down for forty-five minutes….just ain’t exciting for me at all. I would have wanted the rescue by anyone….even midget firemen from Red Bay or female wrestlers from Montgomery. But you know….as soon as I got off the dang ride….I would have ran as fast as possible to my car and driven away. I wouldn’t have given these idiots my name or address.

The minute you start to hand rescue folks your name, your address, your phone, your email address….you more or less just start inviting trouble down the line.

The curious thing is that the fire department will hand this over to a collection company after a couple of months of effort….and they will come to your house to collect a TV, a stero, a computer….or whatever it takes….to render the $420 back to the fire department. That’s the German way.

So what those pitiful folks do now? If I were a rescued guy….I’d park my car in front of the fire department with a bucket and a sign (“Rescue me from these fools”). I’d let the local newspaper know and ask for donations. Every time a fire occurs….go behind the guys and sit up another bucket donation with the sign out in front of the whole operation. I’d make the fire department feel like “whores” in this whole episode.

The funny thing? The state pays them every single minute they are on duty. They get paid to sit around the fire department, and they get paid to put out fires. It’s the same pay…every single day. If they rescue forty folks in one month or one dog in one month….it’s the same pay. So where exactly does this $420 fit into this? Yes…..that would be a curious question to pose.

To Forget or Not

To lay out this story....two German guys...were in Canada...and at some point in 1990...they killed a guy (he was an actor, if it matters).

The two German guys end up in court....get sentenced....and then get released by 2008.

Someone out there....decided to write up a Wiki article, and they created this entire event. They wrote the two names, and gave all the facts.

This past week...the two German guys...now free men and out of jail....set up a lawsuit against the "charity" behind Wikipedia....saying that its inclusion of detail of their life and crime infringes upon their right to privacy.

It is a test of sorts.

"He who controls the past, controls the future"....is a wonderful quote to toss into this mess.

If the case concludes and Wiki has to delete the entire record or at least delete their names....then the entire value of Wiki comes into play. (Frankly, the value of Wiki is currently marginal and barely a plus-point, but that's an entirely different story to write).

Lots of folks could come up and claim that their privacy has been messed with and then demand Wiki remove them. Why not the Google guys next, or newspapers?

The court is given a juicy case in this episode. The guys are afforded certain rights....erasing history on their event is what makes this different from previous cases.

I hate to defend Wiki....because their incompetence in general....but I'd like to see history remain available for folks. Erasing history...brings up lots of potential episodes...all to be forgotten in a decade or two.

The Dresden Case

A number of months ago...over in Dresden....there was a court case. Basically, some Russian-German guy had charges laid up against him and the chief witness was an Egyptian woman. At some point in the trial....the Russian-German guy....in court...pulls out a knife and begins stabbing the Egyptian woman. Don't ask how he got into the courthouse with the knife or his rational.....none of that matters now.

The husband of the Egyptian woman came to her aide. He gets stabbed a time or two. Meanwhile, a cop or two arrive....in the midst of this entire mess....they end up shooting the husband in the leg severely. The mess stops at this point. The Russian-German guy who started this mess....never got shot, interestingly enough. The Egyptian wife? Dead.

Alot of Muslims in Germany got all upset over this. They blamed the German government for the entire event.

The murder case took a very short period of time to rig up and concluded this past week. The Russian-German will spend most of his life behind bars.

What now develops are two interesting episodes. One, the family is now suing the judge of the original episode for not providing adequate protection in his courtroom. They want the German government to compensate them for a death that was unnecessary. The second part of this.....is that the husband who was shot.....was a compensation. We are likely talking about a lifetime retirement deal via the German government.

Frankly, it'll be hard to see how these will develop. There are so few cases like this to compare against. Normally, once you get into a German courthouse, it's fairly safe. In most court cases, there's always a cop in the court room.

I've come to agree about the husband and the compensation. The cops owe this guy something. Whether it's a simple "gift" of $250k or a yearly pension of $30k....doesn't matter. They basically shot him while he was defending his wife in their courtroom. He maintains that he's crippled for life, and his doctor agrees that he will never walk correctly again. Based on videos I've seen....he walks with an extreme limp and a cane.

It's a weird case....even for Germany.

The Panther

Somewhere, along the German-Belgium border....there is a panther on the loose. Well....folks think....there's a panther on the loose.

The thing is....several residents have seen the big cat...which they described as black and huge....and then a couple of hikers said the same thing.

The odds? I'm betting on some guy in the area who got into exotic cats....bought some panther kitten and tried raising it in his basement or garage. The cat eventually attacked him and escaped via a door....and has been on the run ever since. The guy won't dare admit this in public, and he probably got the cat from some Russian mafia guy or circus owner.

The thing is....everyone wants the cat caught alive. This kinda puts a crimp into any type of logical planning. Some folks are a bit scared now in this region....because this is the one animal that could hunt humans. The thing is...without any mate...it won't reproduce and we might just be talking about a twelve year period of activity.

The odds of catching it alive? I'd say less than ten percent chance. Most hunters are going to be more prone to use a real rifle and not take chances on being attacked.

The Cross Episode

Ever since the European Union came along...things have kinda come down from the EU...on individual countries...and they tended to just accept what was handed down. There is some ability to challenge....but rarely have countries taken any big actions.

This week...things changed.

Some folks in Italy....got a bit upset over a ruling by the European Human Rights Court. The court ordered schools in Italy to remove crucifixes from the classrooms. This was supposed to level the playing field and give the impression that schools were totally neutral.

Folks have taken this in a very negative fashion. Pier Luigi Arnera....mayor of a small town by the name of Sezzadio....came out with a fine...for anyone in the village who removes a cross from any municipal building....to includes schools. The fine? $700.

The logic of the mayor? He says displaying of the cross in “places other than churches does not affect the dignity of anyone, because it is one of our cultural references.”

The thing about Italy....once one mayor does something like this....a bunch of small town mayors get the same ideas.

With Christmas coming up...I'd wager that nativity scenes will be doubling up and folks will carry crosses on their person...and openly display them.

I've spent around a month of my life in Italy. Italians are a different breed. First....no matter what they say....they are absolutely Catholic in nature. They might bend here and there with what the Pope says....but the bottom line is a belief in Christian values. Whatever attitude that Baptists think they have....Italians can carry a fifty pound bag of religious sand a mile further.

As you look around Europe today....various Islamic groups have been successful in different European countries. The one exception? Italy.

The odds of this cross episode being forced down on Italians? I'd give it zero chance. Italians know in the end....they are absolutely right...whether they are or not.

Simon Polt

There's a terrific Austrian series of movies (not a TV show, as you might hope)....which feature the character Simon Polt. If you were ever looking for a under-played cop movie.....with a four-star script....then these four movies would be a great choice. The movies?

Polt muss weinen (1998)
Blumen für Polt (2000)
Himmel, Polt und Hölle(2001)
Polterabend (2003)

Polt is the "Andy" of a small Austrian town....managing crimes and murder. No police car....he rides the bike everywhere. As of yet, I've never seen him pull a pistol and I don't think he ever would. He arrives at his cottage each evening....sits quietly looking out the window....petting his cat....and simply thinking. If you ever wanted a Austrian Andy Griffith show....this is it.

The catch to this is that he uses the art of persuasion on just about everyone he meets that needs it. He presents flowers to ladies. He sips a beer quietly and pondering. He's the cop that states the obvious and then gives you a slight grin.

The chance of catching this? You might have one of these show up once a year, if you were lucky. They ran all four a few weeks ago on 3SAT.

Maut (The Road Tax) Episode

I was kinda waiting for this…..the new government (the righty crowd)….had the transportation chief come out last week....and announce they are renewing a review of the introduction of road tolls in German autobahns. About twelve hours later...he came out and said it was a mis-statement and backtracked.

This is one of those ideas that revenue guys have been hyping on for a decade now. They know the invention of new methods of collecting taxes has to be extended....and this is the best “hidden” method they know of. The majority of Germans though....are against it.

About ten years ago…..the new government came in (the lefty crowd)….and decided that folks in trucks ought to pay a road toll and then determined that a technology concept of “black boxes” and satellites would be the answer. Naturally, this answer left the door open for car inclusion later.

So the boys jumped in….got around six major companies involved and figured in eighteen months they could crank up this massive program across the whole nation. The simple deal? You had a card that you “charged” up at some gas station ATM-like machine. You put the card into a “black box” within the truck….that had antenna. As the truck passed under a steel structure on the autobahn….it reads the account and then deducts the money from the account.

How far apart are these structures? It could be five miles….it could twenty miles. Each one is a different charge. You could enter one end of a town like Frankfurt….travel the entire distance on the autobahn to the other end…and never cross a single one of these readers. In my case, if I take the long route on the autobahn….I will pass one reader before I get to the base. The likely charge? Unknown at this point, but I’d guess on 50 cents….so it’d likely run a buck a day to drive quickly to work.

This charge….the “maut”….is an amusing subject. If you ask Germans who pays the charge…they tell you the trucker. Then you ask if the trucker assumes the entire burden…or passes it along to the consumer buying the item off the truck? Then they start to realize that they quietly pass this charge or tax themselves.

The selling point is that other nations that transit Germany….pay their fair share….and that’s all foreign income unrelated to Germany.

There are folks who oppose this entire idea….like the German Federation of Taxpayers….who referred to this road toll idea as "a scam."

The current selling point on this deal is that foreign cars transit the country….on vacation or business….and they could improve the current tax revenue bucket by 20 percent.
Having been in Germany for fifteen years….I can tell you a simple fact….folks will work hard to avoid paying this tax. If they find that it costs $40 a month to use the autobahn to drive to work….they will find the county or city roads to avoid the scam….and crowd up the current access roads by two hundred percent. The advantage of using the fee? Out the back door rather quickly.

Would I pay the $1 a day? I laughed as I considered this idea. I would burn up an extra twenty minutes a day if I avoid the autobahn, and probably burn an extra three gallons of gas per week….but you have to analyze this problem carefully. I work with people who would have to transit five of these readers….and maybe pay $40 a week….which would be a silly expense.

Would the current gas tax be deleted? No….the odds are zero on that. The government guy’s won’t even discuss that idea. So basically….an entire new tax would be levied across German society….emptying out another $500 a year or more….on the common guy. The bulk of folks won’t be getting a pay raise…just like last year….so they are all digging in and tossing more money to the government.

So, everyone is hoping the mis-statement made....was just that...and that these idiots won't bring this up again. My guess? Give it six months....and it'll be brought up again....just when they need more taxes.

Geothermal Story

So this is what happened. Some folks were digging a geothermal heat source in Wiesbaden (downtown). Basically, you are digging at a significant dept....and hoping to find that pocket of warm springs. The boys were down to 300 feet or so....when it erupted.

So water started spewing out of the ground at the drilling site. The boys were kinda surprised. They figured it'd just be water....not under any pressure.

This started on Thursday. It spewed all night, then through most of Friday. We've likely gone from the tens of thousands of gallons scenario to the hundreds of thousand of gallons scenario by this point.

The neat thing here...is that it's right by the Finance Ministry and some fancy hotel downtown. So both have some minor flood issues.

Based on some reports....they were apparently able on Saturday to plug this to some degree but folks still aren't one hundred percent on this plug business. It could be....that it's simply contained and the water is flowing somewhere else right now. The closeness of the hotel and Ministry buildings....makes you wonder if ground strength is now being disrupted and maybe a pit might be opening up sooner or later to swallow up things.

Naturally, you can envision this scenario. Here's Schmidt arriving at his lowly finazamt office building on Monday over at the Finance Ministry. Schmidt is amongst the lowest of the low on the management pole.....number 44 out of 52 leaders in the building. Schmidt passes a stairway, and observes this crack in the wall. He stands there....eyeballing this for a full minute. He turns around and walks out....goes home....and calls in sick (saying he has the Swine Flu).

Hours pass at the ministry building....and then.....the whole thing caves into a 300 foot pit. Everyone in the building is wiped out. The next day.....Schmidt shows up at the emergency finance headquarters to find that he's moved up 43 places and is now judged to be the next chief of the Finance Ministry....by mere survival. All due....to a crack in the wall.

Stranger things have happened....you know.

ZDFneo

There's a legendary fact about state-run TV in Germany....nobody under the age of 30 really watches it. The state TV guys may argue about this and get all pumped up over sports on their channel which might attract guys....but beyond that....it's a big zero.

So the boys woke up...in the new digital era....and created another channel (yet another expense on the TV audience via taxes).....and created ZDFneo.....a channel for the "hip" generation of Germany.

So, the ZDFneo management team went out to find really hot shows that German youth would watch....to get them addicted and willing to help continue on this TV tax game.

The boys bought the rights to broadcast 30 Rock.

Last week....with its first broadcast....they got 5,000 or less folks in Germany to watch. It was mostly a joke....and they really needed more folks to make this pay off. Well...this week....they got up to 30,000 viewers....out of 80 million folks. It would be a safe bet to say this was awful marginal and if they can't get past 250,000 viewers....they might as well give up on this idea of "hot" shows to draw new viewers.

The sad thing....is that I have to pay for this stupidity with my TV tax.

Twenty Lousy Years

On 9 November...twenty years ago...the wall came down.

This is a big topic right now...the twenty years have passed and there are various parties, celebrations and concerts (U2 in Berlin) scheduled as part of this moment.

The wall has become a curious and forgotten topic. East and West Germany united today....for better or worse.

The vast majority of folks in West Germany today...would say this was not the glory that they anticipated...and the money spent so far...appears to be going into a bottomless pit.

The Easties? Well...they will quietly tell you over a beer...that life was better in the East...than it is today.

I kinda sit there and laugh. Neither group really is happy over the mess. The taxes went up. A vast war over ownership of property in Eastern Germany erupted...with old owners from previous to the war, and those who escaped in the 1950s, 1960s or 1970s...fighting to recover what they felt they owned.

Then the Stassi secret police files continue to amaze folks. Every month or so...so noted person is found to be part of the Stassi effort. Various journalists, sports folks, and even TV stars....are all finding this Stassi label to be negative in some fashion.

I spent a weekend over past the "line" about four years ago. It was an odd feeling...crossing what was a divided country, and then noting a tremendous difference in economic standing. Structures aren't painted...brand new houses exist at one end of town...while the town itself is dark and without much life.

This twenty year period has passed and a entire generation has forgotten the division. My son knows little to nothing over the period. He has simply accepted the country as whole. Teachers don't go into this topic much...spending more time on Rome or German history before 1914.

I'm guessing in another twenty years...this entire event will be forgotten. The money tossed toward East Germany over the past two decades...will simply continue on...and maybe in four or five decades...it might actually start to make a difference. Meanwhile, everyone will grumble about the past twenty lousy years...and sip a beer long and slow while uttering this.

H1-N1 Continued

The chief of the German office for vaccinations (STIKO)...apparently came up and has told German doctors to get themselves immunized against the H1-N1 or Swine Flu virus.

This is part of the current debate going on because a number of doctors aren't taking the same view as the government. As for how legit this order might be....I'd be saying it probably is lacking in authority. There's virtually no one in Germany that can absolutely ordered to take the shot except the German military. The cops and firemen might have some kind of standing order...but so far it's not being advertised.

It's part of this debate being carried on. All of the political figures are pushing for the shot. Journalists are mostly reporting facts and leaving it to the public to decide. If I asked around my village....probably less than half are going to take the shot currently.

Just a Bust

If you ever make a trip to Berlin....there is this museum there....for Egyptian stuff, that you ought to spend a half day viewing.

The place? The Neues Museum.

This week, it got back on the map after alot of renovation and a reopening. The thing about this museum....is that they have a bust of Queen Nefertiti...which excites all the Egyptian-history wannabe experts.

This bust...is not just a $50 job...it's an original, and there in...lies a problem.

The Germans won't really get into a big discussion on this...but a German dude who was digging in Egypt....came up with the bust. The story is....he put a good bit of mud on it...walked it through the Egyptian customs folks there in the late 1800s....and they approved the exit of some old bust in bad shape. Naturally, modern Egyptian history buffs...will laugh over this...and admire it in a mega-million showroom.

The Egyptians? They have put up a pretty good argument over the return of the bust. They want the 3,500-year old bust back. They think the Germans are acting in an illegal fashion...and just ought to correct themselves.

It's a soap opera of sorts. The two groups argue back and forth. The Germans hate ethical debates on this because they lose. The Egyptians hate history lessons because they basically let hundreds of tons of stuff leave the country before they got tough in the past forty years.

Anyway.....if you got three hours to waste in Berlin....stop by the Museum. Just outside, there are five or six coffee & cake joints within five minutes walking and sip some fine German coffee afterward.

Oh, and my impression of the bust? Some dude spent an awful lot of time doing some fine work on this. It is pretty neat.

The Swine Flu Shot

For a week now....folks in Germany have been discussing this two-shot deal for swine flu. Basically, the govenrnment has one shot reserved for government workers and one shot reserved for everyone else.

Now, the government has tried to settle this...saying the "big" shot for government folks has a slightly different formula but then folks ask why, and the scientists have kinda avoided answering this....mostly I think....because they really can't say much. One company made formula A and one company made formula B.

The "A" formula? Reserved for for soldiers, police officers, and essential workers. "B" goes for the rest of the folks.

Then you have a group of experts who claim that neither shot offers much protection.

So a bunch of Germans are standing there...shaking their heads, sipping beer....and wondering if it even matters.

Just a Palace

Once upon a time...in the heart of Germany...Berlin...there stood the Stadtschloss...basically a castle of sorts. It wasn't exactly grand or a four-star establishment. It wouldn't measure up to the Bavarian scale of castles. It was a nice castle...at least for Berlin.

So the war came, and the thing was heavily damaged. After the war....sitting in the DDR section of Berlin and under Soviet control...it was eventually decided not to fix the castle...but to tear it down and build up the Palace of the Republic...some structure for East German political dudes to meet, rubber-stamp policy and gossip.

Ever since Berlin became a hub of activity again...folks kept talking about the old castle. So recently, the political players and the powers of Berlin finally got into the castle-building frame of mind. The Palace of the Republic has been torn down...and the boys want to erect a $750-odd million palace or castle (depending on your definition of things).

This site is over at Museum Island...a center point in Berlin and not a bad location. The old palace that stood there...was build in 1871...and barely lasted 75 years.

The selling point for this expensive structure...to make everyone happy...is that it will look like a palace but actually house most of the works of art and science that other city museums now hold. So it's not a real palace or castle....like you'd think.

The curious thing is that a number of folks have stood up and asked about the cost and really don't want to waste their tax revenue on such a structure. It's not like the government really needs a palace...you know.

Some folks even say it'll go at least fifty percent over budget...maybe even one hundred percent. So a billion might actually be spent on this in the end.

Others say that it's a tourist magnet from day one on. They think it'll draw fantastic crowds and pump up the economy....like that silly little castle down in Bavaria does today.

The amusing thing here...is that you would have thought that a German designer would have been hired for this...but instead, it's an Italian. This is probably another reason why some folks question this whole thing.

Merkel and the new government could cancel this project or delay it. The curious thing is that local city council is mostly SPD and they seem to be very much in the support part of this game. They actually think it's a positive thing and provides jobs for the locals. The project? It would start next October...and be done in four years...if it does start on time.

My guess is that it'll get built...it'll run to well over a billion...and be a huge magnet for the public. And in fifty years...probably need a major renovation effort to fix up problems.

The Kaiserslautern Murder

For several weeks....folks have been wondering about the murder of a local gal over at the local lake in Kaisersluatern. The murderer involved.....tried to burn the body....to hide evidence over his crime.

Yesterday, based on what's in the local paper.....the cops have arrested their man. It's a guy who lived in the same apartment house as the gal involved. It appears that they had him as their prime suspect early on in the investigation. He was a train engineer.....who had lately been working as a security guard for some local firm.

The catch on this whole thing....was the DNA. At some point after she returned to the apartment, he apparently raped her. He reasoned the burning would take care of the evidence....and he guessed wrong. When the tests came back this week....he was no longer a suspect...he was the accused.

Ten Things About Picking a Car in Germany

1. BMW’s, historically, always have electrical problems by the sixth year. Don’t ask why. It’ll be a short here....a switch there....a broke cable here....etc.

2. If you find a car that’s ten years old....owned by one owner....always stored in the garage....low mileage...buy it. These guys who garage their vehicle....take better care than the guy who keeps it on the street.

3. If you find a guy who has a convertible that he only drove in the summer months over the past ten years....it’s probably worth the extra $3k he wants beyond the blue-book value.

4. A French car is a French car. Unless you buy it new....don’t anticipate getting something of long-term value.

5. If you decide to buy a Fiat over five years old...plan on knowing your mechanic on a personal basis. He’ll travel more....thanks to you.

6. Germans tend to have high expectations on cars and maintenance. So they tend to build cars that last. The British tend to be the opposite....having a fetish for maintenance on a week by week basis.

7. Buy what you need. If you just need a car to get back and forth to work only, then a SMART might be enough to do the job.

8. Germany has this legendary plateau.....you spend $1,500 on a 15-year old Opel...put $1000 into it (tires, battery, brakes, etc) over four years....it’s still worth $1,500 at the end.

9. If you live on top of a hill or mountain....and buy a rear-wheel drive vehicle....you deserve what’s going to happen this winter.

10. Finally, when you’ve accepted the idea of a 12-year old used car....don’t worry about color. It’s the rust content that matters.

Gondwana

About thirty minutes west of Kaiserslautern, there is this museum of sorts that opened about seven months ago. Its called: Gondwana, the Pre-Historic Museum. I ended up spending the day there yesterday....well....three hours anyway.

First those curious....the web site is here.

First, I would advise you to print the map out and utilize a GPS device if at all possible. There are few signs leading to the place....even though it's the only thing within ten miles worth seeing.

Second, it's not cheap...almost $20 for an entry ticket. Kids run around $12.

Third, this town where they built the facility....is a old coal town that was fairly desperate for any kind of money-maker. I'm sure that government funds were used to a huge degree.....it has a substantial amount of parking...although barely forty cars were there when I left.

Fourth, the reproduction of events from 250 million years ago was probably a great teaching tool. If you have a kid seven to twelve years old.....it ought to be mandatory in going to the place.

Fifth, after the tour ends....there is this pub of sorts with a garden area and lots of tables and chairs. It's actually a nifty place to sit and sip a cold beer. They have cake too....but skip it....it's third rate.

Finally, don't have huge expectations.

Oh, you ought to know this....they actually had enough money left over at the end of the construction phase that they could afford Al Gore as the grand opening speech dude. It was Al's first visit to the Saarland....back in December of last year.

Chinese Lanterns

Looks pretty nifty, huh?

Out in the civilized world....way beyond Ripley....the Chinese developed this thing called the flying lantern. The candle inside....helps to put out enough heat, and thus the balloon rises up into the air.

Naturally, a Bama guy would look at this for a while....after being amazed....and then asks "what happens at the end"?

The guy giving the show would likely be kinda upset.....what do you mean...."at the end"?

The Bama guy would respond....well....it's going to come down sooner or later....right?

The demo guy will say "sure", after the candle burns out.

The Bama guy would respond....I'm thinking that candle might not burn out like you think.

This week in German, up in the Hessen area....this couple got married and they wanted some 4-star way of making all the guests feel special. So they got a bunch of Chinese lanterns and everybody let these go up. Looked damn fine after dark and as they rose.

At some point....one of these kinda lost some of its hot air and began to "crash".....landing on some guys porch or balcony.....then all hell broke loose. The balcony caught on fire....then the roof caught on fire.....then the next house or two was in some chaos. So presently, there is around $300k in damages involved. The cops hint that the couple may be liable.

The funny thing is that a couple of German states realized the madness in this mess and forbid the sale or use of the lanterns. Sadly, Hessen wasn't one of them.

So, one of these days....as you and Cousin Snuffy are at the flea market, and you see this trailer load of Chinese lanterns.....and you end up buying fifty of them.....sit and think about this a while. What rises.....must come down....and then what? If this lands on some guy's trailer....you might have issues.

Accidents That Happen

Generally, even in Bama....you know when you've got a bad idea. This past week....in Germany....there was this guy who had a gardener's house out back. This is typically a one-room shed. Anyway, he had weeds...and he had a flame-thrower. We don't know if it was legal or just something that he rigged up....but needless to say...things got out of control.

The gardener's house? Left burnt. Apparently there was a hedge next to this house, and that caught on fire....and then the whole dang building was on fire. He kinda tried to stop the hedge fire with a with a garden hose, but then the blaze spread to the roof of the house.

The sad thing is that the fire department got called and seven dudes showed up for this fire.

This all happened up around Tangstedt...which is pretty near Hamburg in the north.

Playtime in Germany

So this is what we know....two German kids....both six years old.....triggered a regional alert here in Germany this week.

They apparently decided that they’d play a round of pretend work on a nuclear power plant....don’t ask how this came to their mind, but it did. As part of this effort, they needed nuclear signs, to make the proper play atmosphere.

So they went to a computer and did a search for signs...to make the atmosphere more realistic....and found these neat radioactive warning signs....then printed them....in color....and put them up on the door of pretend-work center.

Noisy German neighbors then came to see the odd signs....walk up....and then go into a panic after seeing the word “nuclear”. More than ten police and fire vehicles ended up reacting to the episode (as though they didn’t have enough crime or fires in the afternoon to handle).

The cops ended up closing off the roads and area.....just to deal with the “threat”.
All of this occurred after the two punk kids walked off for a break.

Naturally, I looked at my color printer for a while....a long while....and just a mischievous bit of thought crept into my mind. I won’t say what.....but one day....in my village....folks just might find 300 “nuclear work” signs up on the doors....and the whole village might be locked down for a morning.

The Italy Bonds, Updated

The current best believed scenario on the 135-odd billion in bond deal in Italy?

The mafia did it.....and it would appear more like this as each minute goes by. The bonds are bogus and the entire script that has fallen into place suggest the Mafia wanted to make the Italian cops look like fools. Even the US government, who viewed the bonds....strongly suggested that it was no big effort to determine they were fake.

So somewhere out there this morning....a couple of Mafia guys are laughing over this "joke". Every cop they come across....they probably ask if they have any "bonds"? The whole thing ought to be made into a movie.

The Italy Bonds

The Italian bond episode that I blogged a couple of days ago?

Bogus....the US experts have examined the bonds and declared them completely bogus. In fact, they suggested that the Italian experts should have come to that conclusion very quickly, so they must not have been even good bogus bonds.

Why? No one has any idea. The two Japanese guys? No comments.

Was it a test? Was it a hoax from the first minute....intended as so? It's a curious story with still no end.

Dresden and the Damn Bridge

There is a function within the United Nations....and it's a bit confusing why they exist...but apparently....UNESCO's big mission....is to run something called "World Heritage" effort.

It's like a five-star club, and certainly expensive campaign is involved in some fashion...you just have to trust me on that.

So for a long time...Dresden here in Germany....was a world heritage site. Apparently, they are about to lose their status.

What did Dresden do to lose their status?

For about one hundred years...they've been talking about building a bridge over the Elbe River....and help fix up a traffic problem. To be honest, I don't see how it was it was a problem 100 years ago....but the experts in Dresden say it's been talked about for a long, long, long time.

Apparently, a major part of the UNESCO effort is that you don't fix nothing, improve nothing or build nothing. And if you can do this for 300 years....you get bonus points of some unknown variety.

The humorous part of this deal....is that someone within UNESCO says a new bridge "will irreversibly tear apart the historic cultural landscape.”

It's bad enough that foreigners get involved in your business...but to hold some status up above your head, and then kinda jab you and say new bridges will destroy culture...well, you have to start laughing.

The curious thing for me....is this a German guy or two in UNESCO saying all of this? The press is very careful in attributing who says what and won't come out to say who runs this function of UNESCO.

Germany: The Cop Scanner Story

This week in Germany....there was a bit of amusement. There is a weekly comic that comes out via Disney....for kids....the Micky Mouse comic. Unlike the US version....and for years....this comic is pretty upscale and more expensive....but they insert a toy or a item of interest into the magazine. So the kid is willing to pay $4 for this simple $1 comic. Don't ask me about common sense here....I just report things. So this week....it was a radio the size of two match-boxes. It was supposed to be a AM receptive radio....cheaply made of course....in China. I doubt that its worth more than $1 at the most. At some point early in the week....up in Hannover....parents began to call up the cops and report the radio also picked up police chat over their radios. Naturally, because such receptive devices are forbidden and you just can't listen into German cop talk over the radio....the police got real upset. So starts the investigation. So far, from what everyone is indicating....its only up in the Hannover area....and its pretty random when the radio picks it up. They won't admit how close they have to be.....but I'm guessing within 500 feet of the cop's radio. The Disney folks naturally are saying that this has been tested completely and meets the spec's. My guess is that there are some cop radios there....which are a bit off the normal frequency but since they are all off just a hair....no one notices. If they drove over to Bremen....they probably would have issues talking to the Bremen guys. The kid's radio's? Just a cheap toy that does what its suppose to. Everyone will get peppy about this....and eventually someone will ask why the cops don't want anyone listening in....and then we'll have thousands of these receptive radios being sold.

American Style Politics in Germany

Sunday night, came a rather unusual program on German TV. First, shockingly enough, this was a US-format town-hall meeting, with Chancellor Merkle. Then came the fact that this wasn’t on Channel One or Channel Two (the state-channels)….but rather RTL.

The responses so far? Well, publicly….folks think it came off Ok and no really knocks it. From the media? Most think it was staged and too orchestrated.

Will the SPD attend their town-hall meeting? That’s yet to be said. I suspect that RTL will give them, the FDP folks, and the Green’s….a chance to have a one-hour show. As for the Linke Party….I’d have doubts but maybe I’m wrong.

Some folks think that Germans just won’t agree to this town-hall mess and that real professional journalists are required….to get to the heart of questions. Sadly, if we could find such professional journalists….it would be a great idea….so far….we haven’t found any such folks.

The Stuttgart Shooting

There were 15 folks killed today by a 17-year old kid in Stuttgart....the majority at the Realschule....mostly kids 14 and 15 years old. The cops eventually got to the kid. Reason? None given yet.

The chat tonight over the state-run networks goes over gun-control and the likely next step.

For those who aren't familiar with the German method of gun-control....its kinda simple. You want any weapon? You register for a class in your local town....run by the gun club. You must be eighteen and with no major criminal record. You come in for 90 minutes a week, for about four months, and then you get tested. Along this class episode....you take a first-aid class, learn to take weapons apart, maintain weapons, and fire an assortment of guns. There's a test at the end....if you pass....you get a certificate.

With this certificate, you go to the local town hall and get registered. You agree to play by the rules. You can buy weapons now. But with this responsibility.....you are required to keep them locked in a steel type locker or special gun cabinet. The lock? Its specialized. Its a one-of-a-kind key for that lock. Neither the wife or kids can access to that gun locker. The key has to be on your person at all times. Neither the kids or wife can have a copy of the key. If someone suspects they have access....they can report you and you lose the weapons.

In this case at Stuttgart.....the kid got access to dad's gun locker. Strangly enough....in almost all of the past dozen shootings at schools....dad's locker has been accessed.

The general feeling now is that the government is about to change the rules. My guess? If you have a shotgun or single-round rifle.....you get to keep them in the house. If the weapon is automatic or semi-automatic.....you will turn the weapon over to the gun club and they will store it for you.

The number of adults in Germany who run around shooting people? That's the thing....few if any in a normal year. These school shootings all come up with kids who felt that they were treated wrong by the kids in the school and the teachers. They come back for revenge.

The Bruno Story, Part II?

In the summer of 2006….I began writing my best blogs of nature…ever….over Bruno, the German bear. For those who missed on this great reading opportunity….Bruno was a Slovian bear….young and frisky of course….who ventured across the border into Italy, and gain fame by upsetting Italian farmers. At some point….they fired enough buckshot, and forced Bruno the Bear to leave. Sadly, Bruno decided that Bavaria was the place to go. So he crossed the border.

This was the summer of the soccer world cup, and the period of Bruno’s mightiest adventures. For weeks, Bruno trudged across the wunderland of Bavaria….making a name for himself. He was friendly and welcome in the first week. The first bear back in Germany in 170-odd years. Naturally, you should have asked what happened to the last bear and then realize that he was stuffed and placed in a natural history museum in Munich.

So after two week…..Bruno began getting into farmer’s fields….upsetting the local balance of life….and killing pet bunnies of German kids. In essence….he became Bruno the unwanted and unfriendly bear.

So the mighty hunt came. For two weeks….German hunters tried to hunt Bruno down and take him in a humane manner. No luck.

Then the Bavarian political figures got involved and they contracted out some Finnish hunters. The Finns drove for two days, with their fierce hunting dogs and were to make around $35k for this bear. It was a pretty fair sum and got the local hunters all upset. Naturally, some folks wondered why Finns were picked when some American hunters volunteered to do this free? But in the scheme of things….Americans were dislike heavily at this point in time….and Finns were ok.
So on day one of the Finn episode….we came to realize two important facts. Finland is mostly flat. So as the day progressed in the hot days of June….these Finns were out of shape to be wandering around Bavarian hills and mountains. One of the guys had head stroke and another was thought to have a potential heart attack. This was not going to be a hunt in the easy woods of Finland.

Then we came to the dog episode. Their dogs were all big and hairy. Naturally…the heat and hills took a toll on the fierce dogs. By day two….they had shaved down the dogs to the point that they all looked like fierce poodles. The Finns disliked this and the dogs were fairly unhappy. Their fierceness was long-gone by now.
As time went by, we learned that Finns are unique people. They hate social settings. They drink fiercely. And they really can’t speak to another guy….eye-to-eye.

Days passed….and no successful capture or shooting.

So finally….after almost three weeks of this….the Finns were dismissed and the Germans opened this up for professional local hunters. It took four hours to track Bruno down and kill him. The environmental folks were furious and a lot of the locals felt dismayed by the legend of Bruno coming to an end.
Last year….I traveled to Bavaria and saw the stuffed Bruno in the museum there. It was quiet a sight. He was mounted in some giant glass case….with 100-watt bulbs beaming down on top of him.

He looked fierce….at least as much as you could stuff a bear and make him convincing fierce. At the same time….you looked at the time capsule of sorts that wrapped itself around the room. Most of the people in the meseum…were 12-year old kids. I felt out of place….and Bruno was just as much out of place.

I bring all of this up….because late last year, a bear was spotted some 30 kilometers from the German border between Mittenwald and Trentino in Italy. They think he’s Bruno’s half-brother,(MJ4)….yet to be named, but I like the name of Bruno II.

So far, the media is talking of this bear being much more mellower than his destructive brother. The experts admit….no pictures as of yet….and no DNA.

The problem here is that the experts expect this bear to show up in Bavaria this summer. And if things progress like the last episode….Bruno II will meet his end as well. The thing is….as we discovered…it isn’t the Bear that makes the legend….its the other characters…from the local hunters…the Finns….the potential American hunters….and the media. It’s like a 3-ring circus….and anything can happen. So 2009 promises to be one heck of a summer. And my blogging talents? They will be tested to the ninth degree. I may very well write some of the best Steinbeckish blogs ever written.

The Koln Building Collapse

What we kinda know today is that there was a north-south subway being built in Koln….intersecting in the middle at the city train station. It was a multi-year project and they’d already built the subway along this area of the street where the building collapsed. Next year, the line would have been completed and started running.

The mayor is quickly standing out and making comments over the construction and the other buildings showing some slide or structural issues. The construction involved? They are really quiet over this issue, and the insurance company associated with them is likely weeping in the shadows right now. The amount of potential damage would be into the hundreds of millions if engineers say that buildings along the subway are subject to collapse.

I’m guessing that the entire construction project will be halted for at least a year, with the company sinking quickly into bankruptcy. No company will dare pick up the slack or involve itself in the future building of the subway. So you can forget about the north-south rail line.

The curious thing about this deal is that this was the city archives building….with literally tons of data stored there. The firemen are talking about a massive covering going up today over the structure and then digging the place out….one shovel at a time….to recover most of the records. This could take months to clean the site. Rebuilding on the site? I’d have a lot of doubt over this. The city will find open areas elsewhere and toss $10 million toward the building of a new facility.

Finally….whatever happened in Koln is likely to get around to other cities in Germany as they all check out their own subway lines and the damage to other structures. This could take a decade to check and fix every single problem. We could be talking about billions to fix all these structures.

Gaststätte

A gaststätte is best described as a pub....no rooms available, no food, no snacks and its usually a neighborhood place where thirty to fifty local guys hang out once or twice a week....to stay away from their wives or play cards.

On most Monday through Friday nights...there will be a dozen German guys standing there.....avoiding going home. There will always be a four guys in the corner, usually playing cards. One guy typically runs the bar, and its usually his second job.

Its hard to say if a gaststatte actually makes much of a profit. I'm guessing most make enough to pay for the heat, electrical and cost of the place....and maybe put $200 a month profit into the bartender's pocket. Considering there is no food typically involved in a place like this....then its a particular crowd who comes to frequent. Guys typically avoid getting into serious arguments at a place like this because if they ever irratate the bartender....they get tossed out and there usually aren't any alternate places to hang out. So folks tend to stay friendly.

Du and Sie

Somewhere in the vast German way of complexity...."you" became a four-star problem. In English, "you" is simple to explain and use. It takes a minute to explain the word and its use...then you move on.

For Germans, Du and Sie....are totally different. I had a language professor try to make it simple, just by saying that you'd only use Du for people that you knew, and Sie was for everyone else. Then someone brought up that you couldn't use Du for the Butcher you visited twice a week, or the bakers wife who took care of your bread sales, or the barber you visited twelve times a year. The professor kinda agreed. You can't define the splitting point of Du and Sie.

If you are ever in a car and the German cops stop you....NEVER use the word "Du", otherwise it could be a ticket for bad language usage. Du shouldn't be used with your associates at work, unless you actually sip beer with them and swap life stories. Don't use Du for your new neighbor until you really get to know them (usually ten years after they move in). Don't use Du for bar waitress that you've known for six years unless she uses the word Du on you first.

Its stupid to have this formal and non-formal way of addressing "you". If you meet some gal at a bar, and actually ask for a real date....then you have to start wondering around the second and third date....is it appropriate to use Du? Should you hold back until the twelfth date? Should you wait until you've done some kinky stuff behind locked doors? Should you wait until you've met her parents? Should you wait until you've actually proposed?

I'm always rather harsh on Germans for their language....but they deserve it.

Word of the Day: Das is Geil!

Call it a word. Call it a phrase. It really doesn't matter. You can say the word to one guy who say it really means this. But the next guy says its something different.

By the dictionary, geil means horny. Old Germans will absolutely swear that it means this and they would never ever use the word unless they were locked up in their private place and thinking hot lusty thoughts. In their minds, its some Gothic gal...in black, giving you the "one-eye" (because the other is permanently hidden behind hair).

So you turn to a teenager and show them a neat new video game....and they automatically say "GEIL!"....which means in teen German-speak....nifty, neat, great, man o man.

Teachers tend to hate this word....because its really gotten misused now. How someone can say "horny" about some new bike or someone's haircut....just doesn't make sense.

So should you as an American ever use the phrase? Probably not. You probably would get to using it a fair amount and one day....talking to some 55-year old neighbor gal...you'd say her new hairstyle is geil.....and she'd start to smile, wink, and give you some impressions of lusty behavior.....then you'd realize you really said the wrong damn thing. And it'd be twice as bad if you were an American woman saying this to the 55-year old neighbor gal.

So as you are sitting there on the front door step....and the teenage girls walk by saying geil about your new car....its ok. If they are saying geil and gazing at you.....it might be a different meaning. Sadly, this is why the German language is so screwed up.