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.