I have a thing about German customer service. Oh, I admit that I am cynical and a bit harsh about customer service....it doesn't matter if we are talking about a German bureaucratic thing, a private company, or some tire shop.
Around fifteen years ago, I had to go and deal with Telekom. It was a simple issue and should have taken four minutes. The clerk gave me a bogus story, which I stood there and tried in a nice way to correct her and let her know that yes.....she could perform the action I required. I was quietly entertained by someone who absolutely knew nothing about their services or how to handle a customer. I finally said fine.....walked out of the shop....drove over to the next town which had a Telekom shop and that clerk took ninety seconds to fix my problem.
I also had the episode where some German county clerks determined that not only did I need to pay a garbage tax....but the seven-year-old kid also needed to pay for a can as well. That phone conversation didn't go well, and I ended up taking the yearly garbage bill, the kid, and myself down to the county office.....where "Huns" the clerk came to finally agree that the kid was accidentally added into the system as an adult. That was a waste of an hour of my time to get them to reach that conclusion.
Today, I was sitting and reading over German news and they related this Bahn (the German railway folks) episode with a customer.
An older guy.....sixty-two.....was on the ICE (the speedier of trains) going toward Munich. He was riding second-class.
At some point, he needed to use the toilet....only to discover that in his car....it was broke. So he walked into the next car.....which happened to be the first class section. There as he entered....are these free copies of a couple of regional newspapers....ONLY for first class customers.
He apparently does his business in the toilet, and takes the paper back to read.
Well....the conductor comes around.....kinda peeved and accusing him stealing the papers. The guy was surprised but went ahead and said 'sure'.....he was sorry and everything.
The conductor leaves.....then returns a few minutes later with a cop. They want him off the train.....at the very next stop (Augsburg). The deal is either he gets off nicely or the cop gets involved and there's a citation or summons to be drawn up (for stealing a newspaper). It's hard to imagine a Bahn lawyer standing there in a court, and a judge not laughing over the accusation.
He gets off.....mostly because he probably didn't want a court appearance and legal crap over the accusation of stealing a newspaper. Oddly, his ticket is still valid (they didn't confiscate it). He could have stood there for a while (probably six hours) and another ICE would have come by. But there was a regional train leaving within the hour and continued the 68-kilometer trip.
He calls up the Bahn folks, and lays into them (probably in a nice way)....which they come to find out that his story is completely valid. Eventually.....the Bahn folks get to feeling pretty stupid and realize the story will get out....so they offer up 'compensation'. No one says the amount of the compensation....I'd take a guess that it's a minimum of 500 Euro for Bahn tickets.
You can look over the story.....standing on a train....reading a newspaper that you pick up....some conductor coming up.....threatening legal action and dragging a cop along.....and you just shaking your head that it's a pretty screwed up customer service routine.
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Fireworks and Germans
We are advancing toward the 31st of December in Germany, and that means that fireworks are on sale. There are ten general things to remember about this.
1. Personal use of fireworks are authorized only on the evening of the 31st of December. At no time for the remaining 364 days of the year.....can you light fireworks up....unless it's a city-sponsored or state-sponsored event and done by a professional team.
2. About three work days prior to the 31st.....groceries across Germany will open and have various selections of fireworks on sale. No roadside stands like you'd see in the US.
3. Saving fireworks from this sale and using them in March or May? Don't think about it. If you bring some out and fire them off in July.....your neighbor will likely call the cops and you get a visit. There are various state laws on the books where they could charge you with some minor law violation.
4. Generally, with only a few small exceptions.....you have to be sixteen years old to buy any fireworks. Groceries are pretty particular about this and will ask for an ID if you appear to be under sixteen.
5. The official time for fireworks use on the 31st? Generally, it's a minute before midnight of the 31st, and for the next hour or two.
6. If you stand in the middle of a 10,000 resident town....usually within ten minutes of midnight passing....you start to hear a firetruck somewhere in the distance. Fires start up at a higher rate during this time period.
7. The walking wounded.....are the biggest issue on the morning of the 1st of January. Emergency rooms expect a dozen-odd people to stroll in with various fireworks injuries.
8. The 'BIG' explosives like you'd buy in the US? Well....it doesn't sell in Germany unless you are buying off some illegal sales guy.
9. Clean-up. By mid-day on the 1st of January, you will typically notice Germans out in the yard or in the street....cleaning up. It's a Germany thing....ensuring the tidiness and order of their living area.
10. The deal behind the fireworks? If you go back in German history....it was to chase off the evil spirits. If you made enough noise.....they left. It's a tradition left over from roughly a thousand years ago in Germany.
1. Personal use of fireworks are authorized only on the evening of the 31st of December. At no time for the remaining 364 days of the year.....can you light fireworks up....unless it's a city-sponsored or state-sponsored event and done by a professional team.
2. About three work days prior to the 31st.....groceries across Germany will open and have various selections of fireworks on sale. No roadside stands like you'd see in the US.
3. Saving fireworks from this sale and using them in March or May? Don't think about it. If you bring some out and fire them off in July.....your neighbor will likely call the cops and you get a visit. There are various state laws on the books where they could charge you with some minor law violation.
4. Generally, with only a few small exceptions.....you have to be sixteen years old to buy any fireworks. Groceries are pretty particular about this and will ask for an ID if you appear to be under sixteen.
5. The official time for fireworks use on the 31st? Generally, it's a minute before midnight of the 31st, and for the next hour or two.
6. If you stand in the middle of a 10,000 resident town....usually within ten minutes of midnight passing....you start to hear a firetruck somewhere in the distance. Fires start up at a higher rate during this time period.
7. The walking wounded.....are the biggest issue on the morning of the 1st of January. Emergency rooms expect a dozen-odd people to stroll in with various fireworks injuries.
8. The 'BIG' explosives like you'd buy in the US? Well....it doesn't sell in Germany unless you are buying off some illegal sales guy.
9. Clean-up. By mid-day on the 1st of January, you will typically notice Germans out in the yard or in the street....cleaning up. It's a Germany thing....ensuring the tidiness and order of their living area.
10. The deal behind the fireworks? If you go back in German history....it was to chase off the evil spirits. If you made enough noise.....they left. It's a tradition left over from roughly a thousand years ago in Germany.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
German Smoker News
I would naturally want to admit up front.....I'm not a smoker, but I've tended to view smoking in Germany as one of those thousand-odd things worth reviewing.
When I arrived in Germany back in 1978.....one of the first weird experiences was standing on a train platform and sniffing through the various scents of German tobacco and cigarettes. At that point, some Turks living in the Frankfurt area were smoking some awful cheap Turkish-related brands imported into Germany, and it was the kind of scent that you just couldn't stand.
After a while, I came to note the hundred-odd brands that you might come across.....some from Turkey....some from Germany.....some from the US.....some from other European countries.
I noticed in German news this morning that a dozen-odd brand names are going to be retired in January. There's a new EU standard coming.....with massive warnings on the cover of each pack and images (cancerous lungs I assume). Some niche brands who barely had one-percent of the smoker sales.....are giving up.
Some of the brands giving up? Winfield. Golden American. Lux. Crown. Peer 100. Route 66. Fair Wind. Juno. Cornerstone.
The anti-smoking crowd will probably applaud but these smokers who lost their brand will simply shift over to another or flip to the vapor world.
When I arrived in Germany back in 1978.....one of the first weird experiences was standing on a train platform and sniffing through the various scents of German tobacco and cigarettes. At that point, some Turks living in the Frankfurt area were smoking some awful cheap Turkish-related brands imported into Germany, and it was the kind of scent that you just couldn't stand.
After a while, I came to note the hundred-odd brands that you might come across.....some from Turkey....some from Germany.....some from the US.....some from other European countries.
I noticed in German news this morning that a dozen-odd brand names are going to be retired in January. There's a new EU standard coming.....with massive warnings on the cover of each pack and images (cancerous lungs I assume). Some niche brands who barely had one-percent of the smoker sales.....are giving up.
Some of the brands giving up? Winfield. Golden American. Lux. Crown. Peer 100. Route 66. Fair Wind. Juno. Cornerstone.
The anti-smoking crowd will probably applaud but these smokers who lost their brand will simply shift over to another or flip to the vapor world.
Monday, December 28, 2015
Germans: The Natural Cynics
First, lets define a cynic or their nature. These are typical people who are mistrusting or discredit the motives of people around them. It doesn't matter if we are talking bankers, political figures, journalists, businessmen, taxi-drivers, school-teachers, or even priests. Added to this definition....ridicule or mockery of others over the general standards of morality of one's life. If you kept saying that you were living a very high-standard life and moral code, then it comes out that you were cheating on your wife or robbing customers left and right....well...it just proves the reason why people need to mock moral codes.
All of this leads to some pessimistic attitude about the nature of life. Nothing is free....nothing lasts forever....nothing is repaired on-time....nothing tastes as good as Grandma's apple pie.....nothing works precisely as advertised. It's a harsh standard but Germans fall into this pessimistic attitude.
Yes, Germans are natural cynics. They've probably been this way for over two thousand years and there's nothing much you can say or do.....to change their flare for life.
When a German walks into a government office and has a requirement that needs to be fulfilled....he's standing there in anticipation of a foul-up or screw-up occurring. He's expecting some marginal government worker to be there and give them the expected two-star service deal. He's expecting a six-page form which requires thirty minutes to fill out....when there's only four simple fields of information required for his problem.
When a German walks into a car sales room.....he's expecting a dizzy and long-winded affair by the car sales guy.....with some brief and bare mention of a 'discount' this month which is the only hint of a better price possibly coming out of this deal. The sales guy will stall and talk over the double-triple design of the newly developed ABS brakes....which are designed to save you in a fantastic ice storm from certain death. The German is cynical over such new technology and definitely cynical over him driving in the middle of a ice storm.
When a German sits through a political forum and gets warm and hyped up....he'll eventually retreat and ask stupid questions about why the BER (the Berlin airport) is open since 2012 but hasn't been functional and won't be functional until 2017. Or he'll ask why the Greens got him hyped up in Stuttgart over the Stuttgart-21 project then failed to really do much to change or alter the project after they were elected into office. Or he'll ask why no one from Volkswagen has been arrested over the diesel affair. Or he'll ask why the Limburg Catholic bishop never spent a day in jail over his 31 million Euro renovation project.
When a German sits through a talk forum and gets charmed by some political group over a new direction ahead and various reforms needed to fix this or that....eventually he'll come back home....sit a while, and ask stupid questions. Where will the money come from to fix this, and are you really fixing it or just changing one problem for another?
Then the German will watch some state prosecutor spends months working on a fantastic case of greed and crime (so he is told by the local media)....then one day, the judge comes to say the case is tossed because there's no real evidence to proceed or convict the accused.....so the German stands there and asks what the heck was this state prosecutor talking about for an entire year?
It doesn't matter if we talk over kindergarten care, car safety features, twenty-page regulations over bio-food, natural park enthusiasts, the wind-mill enthusiasts versus the anti-wind-mill enthusiasts, left-wing anti-nuke campaigns, right-wing anti-immigrant campaigns, or soccer ethics over the World Cup.....Germans are natural cynics.
My humble belief is that this probably goes back two thousand years ago and might even relate to the Romans as they arrived in the community....proclaiming they were there to "help" the Germanic peoples, introduce trade and commercialization, and bring peace. It might have taken a few years, but eventually, the typical German just sat there....grinned in a grim way....and figured that was this element of dishonesty which existed in the real world and they'd have to get used to it.
Oh, I'd agree that most other cultures and societies in Europe have some level of cynicism existing.....but the Germans live and breathe in this way of thinking. A ten-year old kid is sitting on the bus and already contemplates a cynical nature with the bus-driver, the school-teacher, and the parents. The sixty-five year old guy who is retiring in six weeks at the company where he's been for thirty-two years.....still reserves a ton of cynical nature with the boss, the company product, and co-workers. The tour company operator has to whack herself in the head each morning, and pretend that the three-star hotel chain she is hyping is a four-star resort, and that continually looks at the list of twenty-nine positive comments referred to her in the advertising literature to get people signed up for two lousy weeks at a mediocre beach resort with cockroach problems, cheap and watered-down but free booze, and a pool referred by many visitors as the 'pool from hell'.
So, if you are the non-German and happen to be standing there one afternoon, and there's this wit or moment of expression by your German associate....being a bit cynical and lacking trust in something....you don't need to ask a lot of questions or challenge them. It's a strong element of their character and they are relying upon this to survive. After all of the nukes, global warming, devastation, and meteor strikes upon this planet....with absolute collapse of the ecosystem...there will still be cockroaches around, and a handful of German cynics who promptly declare that they've seen worse, and they just didn't believe that end-of-the-Earth talk by journalists.
All of this leads to some pessimistic attitude about the nature of life. Nothing is free....nothing lasts forever....nothing is repaired on-time....nothing tastes as good as Grandma's apple pie.....nothing works precisely as advertised. It's a harsh standard but Germans fall into this pessimistic attitude.
Yes, Germans are natural cynics. They've probably been this way for over two thousand years and there's nothing much you can say or do.....to change their flare for life.
When a German walks into a government office and has a requirement that needs to be fulfilled....he's standing there in anticipation of a foul-up or screw-up occurring. He's expecting some marginal government worker to be there and give them the expected two-star service deal. He's expecting a six-page form which requires thirty minutes to fill out....when there's only four simple fields of information required for his problem.
When a German walks into a car sales room.....he's expecting a dizzy and long-winded affair by the car sales guy.....with some brief and bare mention of a 'discount' this month which is the only hint of a better price possibly coming out of this deal. The sales guy will stall and talk over the double-triple design of the newly developed ABS brakes....which are designed to save you in a fantastic ice storm from certain death. The German is cynical over such new technology and definitely cynical over him driving in the middle of a ice storm.
When a German sits through a political forum and gets warm and hyped up....he'll eventually retreat and ask stupid questions about why the BER (the Berlin airport) is open since 2012 but hasn't been functional and won't be functional until 2017. Or he'll ask why the Greens got him hyped up in Stuttgart over the Stuttgart-21 project then failed to really do much to change or alter the project after they were elected into office. Or he'll ask why no one from Volkswagen has been arrested over the diesel affair. Or he'll ask why the Limburg Catholic bishop never spent a day in jail over his 31 million Euro renovation project.
When a German sits through a talk forum and gets charmed by some political group over a new direction ahead and various reforms needed to fix this or that....eventually he'll come back home....sit a while, and ask stupid questions. Where will the money come from to fix this, and are you really fixing it or just changing one problem for another?
Then the German will watch some state prosecutor spends months working on a fantastic case of greed and crime (so he is told by the local media)....then one day, the judge comes to say the case is tossed because there's no real evidence to proceed or convict the accused.....so the German stands there and asks what the heck was this state prosecutor talking about for an entire year?
It doesn't matter if we talk over kindergarten care, car safety features, twenty-page regulations over bio-food, natural park enthusiasts, the wind-mill enthusiasts versus the anti-wind-mill enthusiasts, left-wing anti-nuke campaigns, right-wing anti-immigrant campaigns, or soccer ethics over the World Cup.....Germans are natural cynics.
My humble belief is that this probably goes back two thousand years ago and might even relate to the Romans as they arrived in the community....proclaiming they were there to "help" the Germanic peoples, introduce trade and commercialization, and bring peace. It might have taken a few years, but eventually, the typical German just sat there....grinned in a grim way....and figured that was this element of dishonesty which existed in the real world and they'd have to get used to it.
Oh, I'd agree that most other cultures and societies in Europe have some level of cynicism existing.....but the Germans live and breathe in this way of thinking. A ten-year old kid is sitting on the bus and already contemplates a cynical nature with the bus-driver, the school-teacher, and the parents. The sixty-five year old guy who is retiring in six weeks at the company where he's been for thirty-two years.....still reserves a ton of cynical nature with the boss, the company product, and co-workers. The tour company operator has to whack herself in the head each morning, and pretend that the three-star hotel chain she is hyping is a four-star resort, and that continually looks at the list of twenty-nine positive comments referred to her in the advertising literature to get people signed up for two lousy weeks at a mediocre beach resort with cockroach problems, cheap and watered-down but free booze, and a pool referred by many visitors as the 'pool from hell'.
So, if you are the non-German and happen to be standing there one afternoon, and there's this wit or moment of expression by your German associate....being a bit cynical and lacking trust in something....you don't need to ask a lot of questions or challenge them. It's a strong element of their character and they are relying upon this to survive. After all of the nukes, global warming, devastation, and meteor strikes upon this planet....with absolute collapse of the ecosystem...there will still be cockroaches around, and a handful of German cynics who promptly declare that they've seen worse, and they just didn't believe that end-of-the-Earth talk by journalists.
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Sometimes, You Can't Fix a Problem
Having traveled around through various European airports (especially Frankfurt) over the past decade....one of the little complaints that I generally have is availability and cost of H20 (water). Once you cross the line through security....you get stuck with only water via the airport staff themselves, and you just start laughing when you stand at some case and they want three Euro for a small bottle of water.
Well....it's come to pass that the European Commission has observed the same trend, and they want to write European codes to force airport operators to offer a bottle of plain water for one Euro....making it a mandated thing.
The comical side of this is that currently.....there's actual water on sale in most airports....which runs more than a liter of gasoline would cost for your car. I'm not talking about the cheap stuff....from the deep wells of Grunstadt (one of my cheap water producers who simply takes city water and puts it into a cheap plastic container). I'm talking about French glacier water, or Icelandic ancient glacier water, or Fiji pure water (it demands the question of what unpure tastes like). I'm talking about just plain regular water.
When you travel via a German airport, you tend to notice absolutely no water coolers along the concourse like you'd see in Nashville, Atlanta or Orlando.
At some stand beyond the airport security point in Frankfurt this year.....I observed a bottle of Fiji water for roughly five Euro. I stood there shaking my head. They had basically the expensive Fiji water, some high-label end water for around three Euro fifty (3.5) and then there was the 2.75 regional water. You'd naturally go for the cheaper stuff but you were probably paying three times what the water would cost at the local grocery store.
Ever since the stringent security rules went into effect....the possibility of you buying your own water cheaply at some gas station while on the way to the airport has gone out the window.
This act by the EU? Once in a while....the EU picks up one single sour topic with the public and actually tries to fix it with a common sense approach. The trouble is that they end up writing a four-page piece of a directive, which has various sub-paragraphs and ends up requiring a lawyer to define what they mean or require. What you might see is a water offered beyond the secure line.....from Turkey or Greece (having been trucked half-way across Europe) as offered as the cheapo one Euro option water.....which most Germans would look at and question if it was 'clean' or 'without a funny taste', then opt to buy the three or four Euro water despite the good intentions of the EU.
Well....it's come to pass that the European Commission has observed the same trend, and they want to write European codes to force airport operators to offer a bottle of plain water for one Euro....making it a mandated thing.
The comical side of this is that currently.....there's actual water on sale in most airports....which runs more than a liter of gasoline would cost for your car. I'm not talking about the cheap stuff....from the deep wells of Grunstadt (one of my cheap water producers who simply takes city water and puts it into a cheap plastic container). I'm talking about French glacier water, or Icelandic ancient glacier water, or Fiji pure water (it demands the question of what unpure tastes like). I'm talking about just plain regular water.
When you travel via a German airport, you tend to notice absolutely no water coolers along the concourse like you'd see in Nashville, Atlanta or Orlando.
At some stand beyond the airport security point in Frankfurt this year.....I observed a bottle of Fiji water for roughly five Euro. I stood there shaking my head. They had basically the expensive Fiji water, some high-label end water for around three Euro fifty (3.5) and then there was the 2.75 regional water. You'd naturally go for the cheaper stuff but you were probably paying three times what the water would cost at the local grocery store.
Ever since the stringent security rules went into effect....the possibility of you buying your own water cheaply at some gas station while on the way to the airport has gone out the window.
This act by the EU? Once in a while....the EU picks up one single sour topic with the public and actually tries to fix it with a common sense approach. The trouble is that they end up writing a four-page piece of a directive, which has various sub-paragraphs and ends up requiring a lawyer to define what they mean or require. What you might see is a water offered beyond the secure line.....from Turkey or Greece (having been trucked half-way across Europe) as offered as the cheapo one Euro option water.....which most Germans would look at and question if it was 'clean' or 'without a funny taste', then opt to buy the three or four Euro water despite the good intentions of the EU.
Saturday, December 26, 2015
The D-Mark Story
It got brought up this week in German news that after fourteen years of having the Euro around in Germany.....there's still a large amount of money (roughly 6.6 billion Euro worth) that remains in the old D-Marks.
When they made the big switch over in 2001.....they made a law that said that the national bank has to accept D-Marks.....for trade-in purposes, with no time-limit. The exchange rate? Oh, that stayed the same....1.95 D-Marks to one Euro.
I read through all the numbers and the one shocking number is the number of coins estimated to still be out there and surviving in boxes, vaults, or basements.....twenty-four billion coins, all total. In my place, there's probably five or six such coins....kept for memory purposes.
Where is the six billion Euro? It's hard to say. I'm guessing that some of it rests outside of Germany and held by the owner as still of value....since there is no deadline on changing the money over. Let's face it.....if you were a black-market trader and held twenty-million in D-Marks....you couldn't just walk in and flip the money to Euro without answering some questions. No one says what amount draws questions but I'd take a guess that after you show up with 10,000 D-Marks....someone would ask how you came across the money and your best answer is Uncle Johan left you a mysterious box when he died. That's good for one single usage but you couldn't show up next month with another 10,000 D-Marks and claim a second mysterious box answer.
The fact that money still gets exchanged yearly.....means that the policy will be held in place to continue the exchange program. When we finally reach a year where not a single coin or bill is exchanged....that'll probably be the year that they consider ending the exchanges.
As for the twenty-four billion coins? I'd take a guess that every single German over forty years old has a dozen-odd coins in their house and keep them as a reminder of the D-Mark days.
When they made the big switch over in 2001.....they made a law that said that the national bank has to accept D-Marks.....for trade-in purposes, with no time-limit. The exchange rate? Oh, that stayed the same....1.95 D-Marks to one Euro.
I read through all the numbers and the one shocking number is the number of coins estimated to still be out there and surviving in boxes, vaults, or basements.....twenty-four billion coins, all total. In my place, there's probably five or six such coins....kept for memory purposes.
Where is the six billion Euro? It's hard to say. I'm guessing that some of it rests outside of Germany and held by the owner as still of value....since there is no deadline on changing the money over. Let's face it.....if you were a black-market trader and held twenty-million in D-Marks....you couldn't just walk in and flip the money to Euro without answering some questions. No one says what amount draws questions but I'd take a guess that after you show up with 10,000 D-Marks....someone would ask how you came across the money and your best answer is Uncle Johan left you a mysterious box when he died. That's good for one single usage but you couldn't show up next month with another 10,000 D-Marks and claim a second mysterious box answer.
The fact that money still gets exchanged yearly.....means that the policy will be held in place to continue the exchange program. When we finally reach a year where not a single coin or bill is exchanged....that'll probably be the year that they consider ending the exchanges.
As for the twenty-four billion coins? I'd take a guess that every single German over forty years old has a dozen-odd coins in their house and keep them as a reminder of the D-Mark days.
Friday, December 25, 2015
The Sub-Titles Story
There's a delivered speech by the German Chancellor every year on the 31st of December. It's supposed to be this reassuring dialogue that reflects Germans upon the past year, their triumphs, their losses, their achievements, and the year ahead.
To be kinda honest, it's mostly people over the age of thirty that watch the speech.....and I have my belief that of the population of eighty million residents....there might be ten million that actually watch it. Toss in the fact that it's on state-run TV, which most teenagers would never watch....it has a limited audience.
The German Commissioner of Integration (Aydan Ozoguz) has spoke up and suggests that the Chancellor's speech ought to have sub-titles added.....in Arabic.
There is some logic to this. If you take in the group of immigrants from 2013, 2014 and 2015....there's almost two million in the country. Although one must be honest and admit that of the million for 2015.....at least half aren't Arabic (southeastern Europe, Africa, and a dozen countries other than Syria or Iraq).
Aggravating a segment of German society? If you were looking for a campaign theme for the three states that March elections coming up.....this would fire up the opposition to the both the CDU and SPD and give them a jump-start on the campaign period.
No one from Merkel's staff have said anything about the sub-titles suggestion and my humble guess is that they don't mind it being recorded and replayed, with sub-titles later, for a lesser seen public situation. They might still have some ability to see a controversial problem in doing this.
The humor side of this is that no one in Germany ever took the Chancellors speech to be more than a slight bit of reassurance about the future. A ten-minute pep talk....some talk over the problems faced, and the great strides toward fixing issues. Germans have become a bit cynical over the past decade and it might take some patience to feel the "pep".
To be kinda honest, it's mostly people over the age of thirty that watch the speech.....and I have my belief that of the population of eighty million residents....there might be ten million that actually watch it. Toss in the fact that it's on state-run TV, which most teenagers would never watch....it has a limited audience.
The German Commissioner of Integration (Aydan Ozoguz) has spoke up and suggests that the Chancellor's speech ought to have sub-titles added.....in Arabic.
There is some logic to this. If you take in the group of immigrants from 2013, 2014 and 2015....there's almost two million in the country. Although one must be honest and admit that of the million for 2015.....at least half aren't Arabic (southeastern Europe, Africa, and a dozen countries other than Syria or Iraq).
Aggravating a segment of German society? If you were looking for a campaign theme for the three states that March elections coming up.....this would fire up the opposition to the both the CDU and SPD and give them a jump-start on the campaign period.
No one from Merkel's staff have said anything about the sub-titles suggestion and my humble guess is that they don't mind it being recorded and replayed, with sub-titles later, for a lesser seen public situation. They might still have some ability to see a controversial problem in doing this.
The humor side of this is that no one in Germany ever took the Chancellors speech to be more than a slight bit of reassurance about the future. A ten-minute pep talk....some talk over the problems faced, and the great strides toward fixing issues. Germans have become a bit cynical over the past decade and it might take some patience to feel the "pep".
Thursday, December 24, 2015
The Lost Cats (Plural)
Back in March....we had some family in the village who owned a Maine Coon cat, and he'd wandered off. They put up an ad.....listing the four kids of the family....and their great desire for this 'family-member' to return (with a reward). The ad was posted around a dozen places in the village (we have around 4,000 residents in the village).
I figured after a week.....he'd show back up and the episode would end. Well.....he never came back, and no one noted his presence anywhere in the village.
Well....eventually, they got another Maine Coon cat.
This week, I noted in the local grocery.....another lost ad.....for another Maine Coon cat, and I looked at the fine print and picture.
Yep, same family....new Maine Coon cat.....11 months old. Two cats lost in one year? Yeah.
They are offering a fifty-Euro fee if you fine 'Momo'.
The odds of two cats just getting up and walking off in a space of twelve months? Statistically, it's a problem.
We are a village with a thick forest on one end....a decent hill on the second side.....and farm land on the remaining two sides. If you chose to walk to the next village....it'd be a good twenty-five minute walk....at least for a human to make. I have my doubts that this cat or the previous just left or wandered off into the woods.
A third cat in 2016? Well.....yeah, it's pretty likely if you ask me. And his potential of wandering away? Since Coonies have a heft tag attached to the purchase.....I might take a precaution or two, but that's just me saying that.
I figured after a week.....he'd show back up and the episode would end. Well.....he never came back, and no one noted his presence anywhere in the village.
Well....eventually, they got another Maine Coon cat.
This week, I noted in the local grocery.....another lost ad.....for another Maine Coon cat, and I looked at the fine print and picture.
Yep, same family....new Maine Coon cat.....11 months old. Two cats lost in one year? Yeah.
They are offering a fifty-Euro fee if you fine 'Momo'.
The odds of two cats just getting up and walking off in a space of twelve months? Statistically, it's a problem.
We are a village with a thick forest on one end....a decent hill on the second side.....and farm land on the remaining two sides. If you chose to walk to the next village....it'd be a good twenty-five minute walk....at least for a human to make. I have my doubts that this cat or the previous just left or wandered off into the woods.
A third cat in 2016? Well.....yeah, it's pretty likely if you ask me. And his potential of wandering away? Since Coonies have a heft tag attached to the purchase.....I might take a precaution or two, but that's just me saying that.
The Nomads of Germany
About every six months in Germany....you will come across one of these stories of a person who died.....months ago....but just got discovered in their house or apartment in the last week.
This episode that came up yesterday revolves around a eighty-seven-year-old gal.....who died eighteen months ago and was just discovered in the last couple of days dead. It occurred in Lohfelden (here in Hessen).
What the cops say is that the woman lived alone, and had very little contact with anyone in the neighborhood. Everything from electricity to rent.....was set to automatic payments, so there was no hint of trouble.
The postman? Well....he kept delivering the mail and simply put it up on the window outside of the apartment.
No one would have figured out any issue except there was a water leak in the building and suspected damage, so the landlord had the door opened and here was the body.
Living relatives? None. The cops found absolutely no living relatives.
It is one of those odd phenomenons of Germany.....people living in an urban environment as a nomad. Quiet lives, unattached to metropolitan identification. They can go weeks without anyone in the neighborhood noticing them. Even when they pass from this Earth....their lives are designed in a way to continue the image of existing....paying bills for weeks, months, and possibly years.
The only hurdle they can't get around is simple accidents like a broken water-pipe.
This episode that came up yesterday revolves around a eighty-seven-year-old gal.....who died eighteen months ago and was just discovered in the last couple of days dead. It occurred in Lohfelden (here in Hessen).
What the cops say is that the woman lived alone, and had very little contact with anyone in the neighborhood. Everything from electricity to rent.....was set to automatic payments, so there was no hint of trouble.
The postman? Well....he kept delivering the mail and simply put it up on the window outside of the apartment.
No one would have figured out any issue except there was a water leak in the building and suspected damage, so the landlord had the door opened and here was the body.
Living relatives? None. The cops found absolutely no living relatives.
It is one of those odd phenomenons of Germany.....people living in an urban environment as a nomad. Quiet lives, unattached to metropolitan identification. They can go weeks without anyone in the neighborhood noticing them. Even when they pass from this Earth....their lives are designed in a way to continue the image of existing....paying bills for weeks, months, and possibly years.
The only hurdle they can't get around is simple accidents like a broken water-pipe.
Conclusion of the Wiesbaden Terrorist Alert
My local press (HR) reports that this terrorist alert in Wiesbaden from a couple of days ago.....has now been solved.
The initial alert concerned what someone heard aboard the S8 train heading toward Wiesbaden from two Arab-looking guys. The person felt there was an actual threat and reported it. Cops swarmed at least two areas of Wiesbaden, and at the time.....could not locate the two guys.
Well....the two guys were found, and they were in some stage of joking around (for entertainment purposes), and didn't think someone would take them serious. I should note.....they are refugees who hang out in Russelsheim for a German class.
I'm guessing that the cops sat down and let both guys know that the Germans aren't taking this type of joke as entertainment.
The initial alert concerned what someone heard aboard the S8 train heading toward Wiesbaden from two Arab-looking guys. The person felt there was an actual threat and reported it. Cops swarmed at least two areas of Wiesbaden, and at the time.....could not locate the two guys.
Well....the two guys were found, and they were in some stage of joking around (for entertainment purposes), and didn't think someone would take them serious. I should note.....they are refugees who hang out in Russelsheim for a German class.
I'm guessing that the cops sat down and let both guys know that the Germans aren't taking this type of joke as entertainment.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
The Firemen Story
I sat last night and watched public-run news on Channel One (ARD).
So, there's this odd episode. Up in the northern part of Germany (Ahrensfelde).....there's this local volunteer fire department.
They had a couple of fires to attend to....mostly involving hay which caught on fire. It didn't make any sense to the locals. An investigation occurred, and eventually....they came to suspect members of the volunteer fire department.
The court case wrapped up and there's some probation and fines handed out via the court to the fire department members.
Fines ranged for four members to somewhere between three-hundred to a thousand Euro. One of them got 18 months of prison but all on probation.....as long as he doesn't repeat anything....he stays out of jail.
The judge seemed a bit peeved about the attitudes of the four and ordered all of them to get psychological counseling. No one said much about their membership in the volunteer fire department.....I would assume they were relieved of duty and won't be allowed back. Maybe I'm wrong on that, but I just don't see how you'd trust these guys ever again.
This brings me around to my local region of Hesson....where we've seen hay-fires and barn-fires over the past year on a number of occasions, and it makes me wonder if we've got some nutcase-firemen here in this state.
For most small towns and villages in Germany.....the volunteer fire departments are a significant element of the local community. It used to be a male-only thing but you tend to notice some younger women getting into this now.
People who participate in the unit....get respect. Once they cross this line and do something stupid....it hurts the image.
So, there's this odd episode. Up in the northern part of Germany (Ahrensfelde).....there's this local volunteer fire department.
They had a couple of fires to attend to....mostly involving hay which caught on fire. It didn't make any sense to the locals. An investigation occurred, and eventually....they came to suspect members of the volunteer fire department.
The court case wrapped up and there's some probation and fines handed out via the court to the fire department members.
Fines ranged for four members to somewhere between three-hundred to a thousand Euro. One of them got 18 months of prison but all on probation.....as long as he doesn't repeat anything....he stays out of jail.
The judge seemed a bit peeved about the attitudes of the four and ordered all of them to get psychological counseling. No one said much about their membership in the volunteer fire department.....I would assume they were relieved of duty and won't be allowed back. Maybe I'm wrong on that, but I just don't see how you'd trust these guys ever again.
This brings me around to my local region of Hesson....where we've seen hay-fires and barn-fires over the past year on a number of occasions, and it makes me wonder if we've got some nutcase-firemen here in this state.
For most small towns and villages in Germany.....the volunteer fire departments are a significant element of the local community. It used to be a male-only thing but you tend to notice some younger women getting into this now.
People who participate in the unit....get respect. Once they cross this line and do something stupid....it hurts the image.
Turning "Mein Kampf" into a Class Lesson?
There was an interview between a Deutsche Welle journalist and the President of the German Teachers Association.....over Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and it's reprinting (set for January).
In the midst of the interview.....the teacher representative suggested that it'd be an wise idea to take portions of "Mein Kampf" (sixty to eighty pages) and develop a student package.....to be introduced to kids around the 8th grade of school.
Most people would be standing there and shaking their head over this suggestion. The fail-safe mechanism that the teaching representative suggested was that German schools would have professional teachers with a deep background in teaching politics, history, and ethics. They would take the material and persuade the student about the natural failures of National Socialism.
The problem I see.....out of a thousand such teachers who get this assignment and attempt to teach the lecture.....at least half will screw up and cause more trouble than the intended goal.
When you go back and look at the political platform of the Nationalist Socialists of the fall of 1932.....the twenty-five-odd items are clearly defined and attractive to a large segment of society. You could take those same platforms today....and at least a quarter of German or American societies would support them.
In a perfect world.....there might be ways of introducing the controversial topic and having a four-star teacher standing there to deliver a simple 90-minute lecture. In a imperfect world....there are ways of introducing a complicated topic like this with a two-star teacher....and jump-starting a dozen 13-year-old kids into some thug political agenda. I might question the wisdom of any introduction.
In the midst of the interview.....the teacher representative suggested that it'd be an wise idea to take portions of "Mein Kampf" (sixty to eighty pages) and develop a student package.....to be introduced to kids around the 8th grade of school.
Most people would be standing there and shaking their head over this suggestion. The fail-safe mechanism that the teaching representative suggested was that German schools would have professional teachers with a deep background in teaching politics, history, and ethics. They would take the material and persuade the student about the natural failures of National Socialism.
The problem I see.....out of a thousand such teachers who get this assignment and attempt to teach the lecture.....at least half will screw up and cause more trouble than the intended goal.
When you go back and look at the political platform of the Nationalist Socialists of the fall of 1932.....the twenty-five-odd items are clearly defined and attractive to a large segment of society. You could take those same platforms today....and at least a quarter of German or American societies would support them.
In a perfect world.....there might be ways of introducing the controversial topic and having a four-star teacher standing there to deliver a simple 90-minute lecture. In a imperfect world....there are ways of introducing a complicated topic like this with a two-star teacher....and jump-starting a dozen 13-year-old kids into some thug political agenda. I might question the wisdom of any introduction.
Back to the Frankfurt Exorcism Story
About ten days ago, I noted the violent murder in Frankfurt.....circling around exorcism and some South Korean folks. Well....the cops got around to updating the story this morning (via HR, my local state-run network news).
What they say is that the woman they found in Sulzbach.....in the garage and still barely alive....was deadly afraid of ghosts and felt there were ghosts in the house. That's why she stayed in the garage and basically dehydrated herself. She wasn't tied up, as the lead story indicated.
I know.....it's pretty strange.
As for the second group in the Frankfurt hotel with the dead South Korean gal? This South Korean gal gave some indication of being possessed (still the story), and the family was beating the devil out of her....when she expired. The family turned around and brought a South Korean minister (from the Frankfurt area) to the hotel room....where he kinda figured out what occurred and he got pretty unnerved....running off to call the police.
Beyond this....nothing much else is said. The fact that they (the South Koreans) had rented the house in Sulzbach....means they had some wealth. No one says much over the type of visa that they had or did not have.
Phasmophobia is the fear of ghosts (the phobia of such activity). There are certain societies and cultures where you have a higher percentage of believers in that particular fear. To sit in some garage in the midst of winter for two days and dehydrate yourself.....almost freezing....you'd have to have an extreme case of this. Cops haven't said much of the gal found in the garage or if she's been deported.
On the listing of weird history for Frankfurt.....this has to make the top ten of the past fifty years.
What they say is that the woman they found in Sulzbach.....in the garage and still barely alive....was deadly afraid of ghosts and felt there were ghosts in the house. That's why she stayed in the garage and basically dehydrated herself. She wasn't tied up, as the lead story indicated.
I know.....it's pretty strange.
As for the second group in the Frankfurt hotel with the dead South Korean gal? This South Korean gal gave some indication of being possessed (still the story), and the family was beating the devil out of her....when she expired. The family turned around and brought a South Korean minister (from the Frankfurt area) to the hotel room....where he kinda figured out what occurred and he got pretty unnerved....running off to call the police.
Beyond this....nothing much else is said. The fact that they (the South Koreans) had rented the house in Sulzbach....means they had some wealth. No one says much over the type of visa that they had or did not have.
Phasmophobia is the fear of ghosts (the phobia of such activity). There are certain societies and cultures where you have a higher percentage of believers in that particular fear. To sit in some garage in the midst of winter for two days and dehydrate yourself.....almost freezing....you'd have to have an extreme case of this. Cops haven't said much of the gal found in the garage or if she's been deported.
On the listing of weird history for Frankfurt.....this has to make the top ten of the past fifty years.
Monday, December 21, 2015
Renovation Project for the Frankfurt Station
Naturally, it was designed and built in 1888, and its got some limits.
Today, the management folks over the station announced a long-term project to renovate and update the station. It was kinda hinted in a serious way.....not to expect this to finish in two or three years.
Presently, the project is figured to cost 135 million Euro. Considering the present state of German construction (the BER project for example).....one might figure that it'll cost at least 200 million by the end.
450,000 people pass through some part of the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof every single day. Long distance and short distance travelers.....utilize it for various reasons. If you want to reach the Frankfurt Airport.....you'd have to pass via the train station to reach the airport.
I read over the listing of things considered for the renovation, and natural sunlight was supposed to be a high priority. If you sat down and wrote up some of the big negatives.....it's a dark place and requires electrical lighting throughout even sunny days in the midst of July. This might be one of the major pluses of things to come.....if they could swap out the panes in the place.
One of the few items of history which most people don't know about the station....is that on day one in 1888....they actually had a steam train that didn't brake in time and ran past the 'buffer-stop'.
This station was not the original station of Frankfurt. It was closer to the downtown area. The opinion of the city council was that traffic was reaching a point of affecting the everyday lives of people in the middle of town.....so a newer and larger station made sense.....on what was then the outer stretch of town. People would laugh over that comment and note that today....the train station is considered in the middle of town itself.
Effects of a Riot
One of the things I missed last week in Germany while on vacation in NY City....was a fairly dramatic protest episode in Leipzig.
This started out as a protest walk/march by 200 (at least the news media reports this number) neo-Nazi folks.
Oddly, if you were looking for hotbeds of neo-Nazi activity.....there's more in former DDR (eastern Germany) than in western Germany. Various analysts, government experts, and journalists will argue about why higher numbers exist there, and this usually comes back to the reform period of the 1960s and 1970s.....where western Germans will claim they cleaned their hostility problem up.
I don't usually buy the western Germany idea of a cleaned up hostility. My view is that there's simply more unemployment and unhappy 18-to-30 year old guys sitting around and looking for a 'gang' or 'club' to sit, talk, drink beer, and blame their problems on something (anything really).
My brother has this simplistic concept of idle people.....they tend to get into more trouble if they haven't sweated or worked enough each day to get frustrations out of their mind. In his theory of life, it doesn't matter if we are talking about California, Mexico, China or Germany....idle minds and hands end up in trouble.
In this case, the 200-odd neo-Nazi folks were met by approximately 2,500 leftists (various groups).....as reported by the local news folks of Leipzig. I have some doubts about the 2,500 number but in this case....it's a lesser part of the story.
Somewhere in the mix of things.....the German police were calling in reinforcements from the region, and met both groups.
In the aftermath of things.....sixty-nine German cops were injured, and reports indicate that fifty police cars were damaged in some way (some were literally burnt to the ground).
When you look at the sixty-nine cops injured....you have to stand and assess the impact. Each spent time in an emergency room.....reports were generated.....time-off declared....pay will occur but some of these cops will be out-of-action for days, possibly even weeks. Some might be out for a month or two in some recovery process.
Some towns or villages will likely have a couple of their cops sidelined and lesser patrols will exist for a week or two.
Leftists detained? Somewhere in the news reporting, you come to this one single line where twenty-three people were actually arrested for throwing rocks or stones at the police or destruction of public property.
These were people brought into a station....kept for a number of hours....and given notice to appear in front of judge at a later date. Each will show up and deny they were there or conducting any destructive activities. Some video will be displayed and note the guy or gal throwing rocks/stones, and the judge will grin at the youth for a minute before assessing some type of punishment or fine. German judges usually hate sending some youth off to six months in some jail, so it'll end up being a creative deal...perhaps a weekend in some jail.....a light fine....and a record created of destructive behavior.
The German public sits there and shakes their head. These riots never solve much of anything but create tensions for future episodes. Cops shake their heads because it's a manpower crisis for them after each riot as guys sit in hospitals or on home-rest. Political figures shake their head because they'd like to keep a stable and safe environment for the public, but end up having to find more money to replace or repair cop cars damaged, or renovate public structures damaged during the riots.
This started out as a protest walk/march by 200 (at least the news media reports this number) neo-Nazi folks.
Oddly, if you were looking for hotbeds of neo-Nazi activity.....there's more in former DDR (eastern Germany) than in western Germany. Various analysts, government experts, and journalists will argue about why higher numbers exist there, and this usually comes back to the reform period of the 1960s and 1970s.....where western Germans will claim they cleaned their hostility problem up.
I don't usually buy the western Germany idea of a cleaned up hostility. My view is that there's simply more unemployment and unhappy 18-to-30 year old guys sitting around and looking for a 'gang' or 'club' to sit, talk, drink beer, and blame their problems on something (anything really).
My brother has this simplistic concept of idle people.....they tend to get into more trouble if they haven't sweated or worked enough each day to get frustrations out of their mind. In his theory of life, it doesn't matter if we are talking about California, Mexico, China or Germany....idle minds and hands end up in trouble.
In this case, the 200-odd neo-Nazi folks were met by approximately 2,500 leftists (various groups).....as reported by the local news folks of Leipzig. I have some doubts about the 2,500 number but in this case....it's a lesser part of the story.
Somewhere in the mix of things.....the German police were calling in reinforcements from the region, and met both groups.
In the aftermath of things.....sixty-nine German cops were injured, and reports indicate that fifty police cars were damaged in some way (some were literally burnt to the ground).
When you look at the sixty-nine cops injured....you have to stand and assess the impact. Each spent time in an emergency room.....reports were generated.....time-off declared....pay will occur but some of these cops will be out-of-action for days, possibly even weeks. Some might be out for a month or two in some recovery process.
Some towns or villages will likely have a couple of their cops sidelined and lesser patrols will exist for a week or two.
Leftists detained? Somewhere in the news reporting, you come to this one single line where twenty-three people were actually arrested for throwing rocks or stones at the police or destruction of public property.
These were people brought into a station....kept for a number of hours....and given notice to appear in front of judge at a later date. Each will show up and deny they were there or conducting any destructive activities. Some video will be displayed and note the guy or gal throwing rocks/stones, and the judge will grin at the youth for a minute before assessing some type of punishment or fine. German judges usually hate sending some youth off to six months in some jail, so it'll end up being a creative deal...perhaps a weekend in some jail.....a light fine....and a record created of destructive behavior.
The German public sits there and shakes their head. These riots never solve much of anything but create tensions for future episodes. Cops shake their heads because it's a manpower crisis for them after each riot as guys sit in hospitals or on home-rest. Political figures shake their head because they'd like to keep a stable and safe environment for the public, but end up having to find more money to replace or repair cop cars damaged, or renovate public structures damaged during the riots.
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Reinventing the AfD?
Weeks ago, I watched AfD's number two guy/gal.....Bjorn Hocke.....on a national chat forum. He has some cleverness and can articulate to some degree.....but he comes across in the right-wing themed political party (AfD) as two steps away from some Nationalist Socialist guy from the 1930s.
When I came back from my NYC trip yesterday, I sat down to read some commentary about an internal fight going on in the past week with AfD and their current chief.....Frauke Petry....wanting Hocke to quit the AfD.
The topic centers around ideology that Petry wants the party focused on for the next 100 days....for the three German state elections in mid-March of 2016.
The problem is that AfD hopes to take voters away from both the CDU and FDP....but to do that.....they need to hustle up a theme that avoids any connection to some Nationalist Socialist agenda.
No one says much about how many people are drawn to the Hocke political talk. I would speculate that maybe ten-percent like this kind of image, and it's mostly people tired of the NSU (likely to be banned in 2016 as it looks right now).
Why all of this matters? Well.....in this odd election period....if you had bad feelings over Chancellor Merkel's immigration, asylum, and integration strategies.....it's hard to find any political party that goes against the strategy. The Linke Party, the FDP, the Greens, and the SPD Party are all supporting the policy.
Some CDU members are voicing negative talk and critical comments against the Merkel policy but it's hard to say if regular CDU members will go along with this (staying with their normal voting patterns) or try to send a frustration vote to Berlin. The vote for AfD.....would be a frustration vote. But no one really wants to vote for some radical party which Hocke might be demonstrating a 1930s-like theme.
What happens if Hocke leaves the party? I'm guessing he'll restart a political party along his themes. It's pretty simple in Germany to have a minor political party and I'd take a guess that a minimum of forty exist around the country.
Bottom line? AfD has a limited amount of time to impress people and come up with big numbers in March of 2016 (the three state elections). If they barely clear five or six percent, then it's been a wasted effort.
When I came back from my NYC trip yesterday, I sat down to read some commentary about an internal fight going on in the past week with AfD and their current chief.....Frauke Petry....wanting Hocke to quit the AfD.
The topic centers around ideology that Petry wants the party focused on for the next 100 days....for the three German state elections in mid-March of 2016.
The problem is that AfD hopes to take voters away from both the CDU and FDP....but to do that.....they need to hustle up a theme that avoids any connection to some Nationalist Socialist agenda.
No one says much about how many people are drawn to the Hocke political talk. I would speculate that maybe ten-percent like this kind of image, and it's mostly people tired of the NSU (likely to be banned in 2016 as it looks right now).
Why all of this matters? Well.....in this odd election period....if you had bad feelings over Chancellor Merkel's immigration, asylum, and integration strategies.....it's hard to find any political party that goes against the strategy. The Linke Party, the FDP, the Greens, and the SPD Party are all supporting the policy.
Some CDU members are voicing negative talk and critical comments against the Merkel policy but it's hard to say if regular CDU members will go along with this (staying with their normal voting patterns) or try to send a frustration vote to Berlin. The vote for AfD.....would be a frustration vote. But no one really wants to vote for some radical party which Hocke might be demonstrating a 1930s-like theme.
What happens if Hocke leaves the party? I'm guessing he'll restart a political party along his themes. It's pretty simple in Germany to have a minor political party and I'd take a guess that a minimum of forty exist around the country.
Bottom line? AfD has a limited amount of time to impress people and come up with big numbers in March of 2016 (the three state elections). If they barely clear five or six percent, then it's been a wasted effort.
Forty Million Euro
I read this morning....with the NSU-Beate Zschape's trial episode concludes....it will be over forty million Euro spent (currently sitting at 38 million). No one says much over appeals (likely expected) and their cost.
Total man-hours? German journalists don't really say much about this case being watched from their prospective or the hours involved. In fact, it's hard to find any journalist who will claim that he's been in court for each and every hour of the whole thing.
If you asked a hundred German adults about the murder trial....most (probably around fifty percent) will say that it's mostly a case where the only living person left from some 'gang' has to face some kind of charges over the murders.....although it was probably the other non-living members who committed the murders. I'd say a third of the nation has no memory or knowledge of the court case underway, which says a lot about the significance or lack of significance with the public.
Total man-hours? German journalists don't really say much about this case being watched from their prospective or the hours involved. In fact, it's hard to find any journalist who will claim that he's been in court for each and every hour of the whole thing.
If you asked a hundred German adults about the murder trial....most (probably around fifty percent) will say that it's mostly a case where the only living person left from some 'gang' has to face some kind of charges over the murders.....although it was probably the other non-living members who committed the murders. I'd say a third of the nation has no memory or knowledge of the court case underway, which says a lot about the significance or lack of significance with the public.
Friday, December 11, 2015
Trouble in Leipzig
If you go and read the Leipziger Volkszeitung.....there's an interesting story from the last couple of days. They are reporting from the local area there....an attack on two refugee kids (11 and 14 years old)....by German classmates.
The school....Wurzener Pestalozzi Secondary School.....is a bit disturbed over the attack. They've apparently put up signs and intend to brief all the kids there on proper respect.
Syrians or Muslim kids? Well....no. If you read through the article.....the kids who were the victims appear to be Macedonians.
What the cops say? They hint of grievous bodily harm and potential charges. The problem is that these are mostly seventh-grade kids. They are asking for witnesses to come forward and tell the story to them.
The problem I see is that the school administrators, the local political figures, the intellectual crowd and journalists will all see some opportunity to run a be-friendly-to-immigrants program with this crowd of 13 and 14 year old kids. Personally, from what I've seen in the past.....this would be the last group in Germany that would take advice like this.
I'd compare most kids in Germany to the Southpark crew and very capable of dishing out some crud and harsh comments if necessary....even to adults or teachers.
When you look at the way that schools tend to operate.....there's X-amount of accomplishment required and if the kid doesn't get there.....the teachers either dump them or saddle them with other kids in the class to try and bring the kid up a notch. Some kids might accept a duty like this but it's not something that you typically see working in a successful way. Hence....the reason why after-school tutors are are in such demand.
One of the questionable details of the current program of immigration....revolves around immigrant kids arriving and perhaps being a year....two years....even three years behind what a German school environment might be for their age group. You see a bunch of fine educators and pro-immigration enthusiasts who get peppy and give the Merkel "we can do it all" speech. It sounds good but the practical application is questionable.
Locally, at least in Hessen.....there are several charitable groups who are doing tutor duty and trying hard to get the slower kids up a notch. If you just went by language issues only.....it's a tough experience for some kid to arrive and go through four months of German orientation.
As for what really happened here to trigger the event? No one is much sure about the fight or who said what.
The school....Wurzener Pestalozzi Secondary School.....is a bit disturbed over the attack. They've apparently put up signs and intend to brief all the kids there on proper respect.
Syrians or Muslim kids? Well....no. If you read through the article.....the kids who were the victims appear to be Macedonians.
What the cops say? They hint of grievous bodily harm and potential charges. The problem is that these are mostly seventh-grade kids. They are asking for witnesses to come forward and tell the story to them.
The problem I see is that the school administrators, the local political figures, the intellectual crowd and journalists will all see some opportunity to run a be-friendly-to-immigrants program with this crowd of 13 and 14 year old kids. Personally, from what I've seen in the past.....this would be the last group in Germany that would take advice like this.
I'd compare most kids in Germany to the Southpark crew and very capable of dishing out some crud and harsh comments if necessary....even to adults or teachers.
When you look at the way that schools tend to operate.....there's X-amount of accomplishment required and if the kid doesn't get there.....the teachers either dump them or saddle them with other kids in the class to try and bring the kid up a notch. Some kids might accept a duty like this but it's not something that you typically see working in a successful way. Hence....the reason why after-school tutors are are in such demand.
One of the questionable details of the current program of immigration....revolves around immigrant kids arriving and perhaps being a year....two years....even three years behind what a German school environment might be for their age group. You see a bunch of fine educators and pro-immigration enthusiasts who get peppy and give the Merkel "we can do it all" speech. It sounds good but the practical application is questionable.
Locally, at least in Hessen.....there are several charitable groups who are doing tutor duty and trying hard to get the slower kids up a notch. If you just went by language issues only.....it's a tough experience for some kid to arrive and go through four months of German orientation.
As for what really happened here to trigger the event? No one is much sure about the fight or who said what.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
The South Korean Exorcism?
I posted a story from Frankfurt yesterday via the Facebook Schnitzel site. Murdered South Korean gal in a Frankfurt hotel found.....five other South Koreans associated with this in a murder. Frankfurt cops are fairly amazed by the thing.....with limited comments. All they say is that the five accused are a forty-two-year old woman, her son and daughter (both in early 20's), and two fifteen-year old boys (one of which is the son of the murdered gal).
The scene is basically described as one where the five beat the one gal a fair bit and stuffed a towel into her mouth. The cops generally hint that she might have suffocated. The five eventually gave information on a 2nd woman (South Korean as well) in a house they were renting in Frankfurt, and she was tied up and half-dead (she's still alive at this point).
This morning, the Frankfurt cops admitted that the five accused here.....have been in Germany for six weeks and are here on a tourist-type visa.
All of this tied to an exorcism? Well.....here's the thing.....you just don't have too many South Koreans involved in the Catholic faith, and exorcisms generally only happen with a Priest around. So, I'm of the mind that the exorcism excuse is bogus, and there's probably some other excuse tied to the murder.
Jealousy.....maybe a debt owed.....maybe some drug deal that fell apart. Why conduct some murder deal in a upper-class hotel in Frankfurt? That might be another question to ask.
All this talk of exorcism gets Germans a bit disturbed. Germans aren't typically into the ghosts, demons, spirits, etc. Naturally, if they are members of the Catholic Church....they will ask the local priest about this episode and how the Catholics were involved in this, and the guy will deny the church was involved.
It probably will be made into a German TV movie eventually because there's just too many unusual pieces to the story.....South Korean tourists, demon-gal, exorcism, and a murder.
The scene is basically described as one where the five beat the one gal a fair bit and stuffed a towel into her mouth. The cops generally hint that she might have suffocated. The five eventually gave information on a 2nd woman (South Korean as well) in a house they were renting in Frankfurt, and she was tied up and half-dead (she's still alive at this point).
This morning, the Frankfurt cops admitted that the five accused here.....have been in Germany for six weeks and are here on a tourist-type visa.
All of this tied to an exorcism? Well.....here's the thing.....you just don't have too many South Koreans involved in the Catholic faith, and exorcisms generally only happen with a Priest around. So, I'm of the mind that the exorcism excuse is bogus, and there's probably some other excuse tied to the murder.
Jealousy.....maybe a debt owed.....maybe some drug deal that fell apart. Why conduct some murder deal in a upper-class hotel in Frankfurt? That might be another question to ask.
All this talk of exorcism gets Germans a bit disturbed. Germans aren't typically into the ghosts, demons, spirits, etc. Naturally, if they are members of the Catholic Church....they will ask the local priest about this episode and how the Catholics were involved in this, and the guy will deny the church was involved.
It probably will be made into a German TV movie eventually because there's just too many unusual pieces to the story.....South Korean tourists, demon-gal, exorcism, and a murder.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
The Beate Story
Down in Bavaria....there's a long-winded court episode over murder, Nazis, the NSU, and the one remaining gal who might have been connected to the murders. Oh, and I have to add....that the cops never did figure Nazi angle out until almost a decade after the first murder.
So today, Beate Zschape decided to provide testimony in the court. For months, this case has been going on and she's been quiet....never saying anything.
The comments today?
Generally, she says she's not involved.....she never knew why the guys murdered their victims.....and she demonstrated a fair amount of naive nature (almost child-like). With the two primary guys (they committed suicide after the cops got into the middle of this)....she had a relationship going. When she found out about all the murder business.....they threaten suicide.....and she decided that she'd just have to keep quiet because of the value of their relationship to her.
After reading through the BBC description of the comments....I'm of the mind that she's probably got the mind of a fourteen-year-old girl at best, and barely educated to any degree. The prosecution has been on some tirade to get mileage out of a court episode and only one single member alive that he can prosecute. After this comment today? I'm not sure the judges can get to any real end on this. If they question her mental stability or condition.....the case is screwed up.
So today, Beate Zschape decided to provide testimony in the court. For months, this case has been going on and she's been quiet....never saying anything.
The comments today?
Generally, she says she's not involved.....she never knew why the guys murdered their victims.....and she demonstrated a fair amount of naive nature (almost child-like). With the two primary guys (they committed suicide after the cops got into the middle of this)....she had a relationship going. When she found out about all the murder business.....they threaten suicide.....and she decided that she'd just have to keep quiet because of the value of their relationship to her.
After reading through the BBC description of the comments....I'm of the mind that she's probably got the mind of a fourteen-year-old girl at best, and barely educated to any degree. The prosecution has been on some tirade to get mileage out of a court episode and only one single member alive that he can prosecute. After this comment today? I'm not sure the judges can get to any real end on this. If they question her mental stability or condition.....the case is screwed up.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
The Bourgeois Statement
Generally, if you give German political figures enough time.....they get around to saying something pretty stupid or something to really make you mind ponder.
I noted today....that the now retired former mayor of Neukolln (a 'burb' of Berlin).....Heinz Buschkowsky....got around into an interview on N-TV. The topic was the refugee crisis in Germany.
So the Buschkowsky stood there and said that the whole thing was screwed up and planned the wrong way. The planners were allowing the immigrants and asylum seekers to be tied down in terms of housing arrangements and such.....into the cheapest areas of metropolitan areas. In essence.....they allowing "ghettoization" to occur (his word, not mine).
Bushkowsky's quote to this was: "Refugees must be distributed to civic districts." and "One would have to allocate the asylum seekers or immigrants.....even in the bourgeois neighborhoods."
Bourgeois is not one of those words that I typically use or have a great knowledge in using. The French invented the word and it was supposed to mean 'where the rich people live'. Maybe two-hundred years ago.....it was a good definition. Today? In Germany? I could drive you around Hessen and half the houses look like half-million-dollar houses. Would I classify them as bourgeois? Well....no. It'd be hard for me to even say that Audi A4 was a bourgeois car.
Buschkowsky has a point. Behind each one of the approved immigrants is this desire to live in a highly urbanized area......where jobs are plentiful and they anticipate that housing will be reasonable. Frankly, jobs may be plentiful but they will generally pay minimum wage and it may take you six months to find a marginally acceptable house in major urban areas of Germany. As you sit and watch these developments occur in the urban zones.....ghettoization is probably going to occur and city planners will sit there and shake their head over public perception and crime statistics.
Allocating into upscale neighborhoods? It won't happen. There simply aren't any housing developments that have reasonable rent elements in a highly upscale neighborhood. Even if you tried to plan this.....I think most Germans would see through the fakeness of the plan and you'd end up with strictly middle-class residents.
Bushkowsky is this SPD retired political figure who does carry on a clever conversation and represents the old SPD of the 1970s and 1980s. In some ways, he has a point. But at this point, the whole plan has such miserable intent and poor orderliness attached to it.....that you can't do much to fix it or rebuild it.
I noted today....that the now retired former mayor of Neukolln (a 'burb' of Berlin).....Heinz Buschkowsky....got around into an interview on N-TV. The topic was the refugee crisis in Germany.
So the Buschkowsky stood there and said that the whole thing was screwed up and planned the wrong way. The planners were allowing the immigrants and asylum seekers to be tied down in terms of housing arrangements and such.....into the cheapest areas of metropolitan areas. In essence.....they allowing "ghettoization" to occur (his word, not mine).
Bushkowsky's quote to this was: "Refugees must be distributed to civic districts." and "One would have to allocate the asylum seekers or immigrants.....even in the bourgeois neighborhoods."
Bourgeois is not one of those words that I typically use or have a great knowledge in using. The French invented the word and it was supposed to mean 'where the rich people live'. Maybe two-hundred years ago.....it was a good definition. Today? In Germany? I could drive you around Hessen and half the houses look like half-million-dollar houses. Would I classify them as bourgeois? Well....no. It'd be hard for me to even say that Audi A4 was a bourgeois car.
Buschkowsky has a point. Behind each one of the approved immigrants is this desire to live in a highly urbanized area......where jobs are plentiful and they anticipate that housing will be reasonable. Frankly, jobs may be plentiful but they will generally pay minimum wage and it may take you six months to find a marginally acceptable house in major urban areas of Germany. As you sit and watch these developments occur in the urban zones.....ghettoization is probably going to occur and city planners will sit there and shake their head over public perception and crime statistics.
Allocating into upscale neighborhoods? It won't happen. There simply aren't any housing developments that have reasonable rent elements in a highly upscale neighborhood. Even if you tried to plan this.....I think most Germans would see through the fakeness of the plan and you'd end up with strictly middle-class residents.
Bushkowsky is this SPD retired political figure who does carry on a clever conversation and represents the old SPD of the 1970s and 1980s. In some ways, he has a point. But at this point, the whole plan has such miserable intent and poor orderliness attached to it.....that you can't do much to fix it or rebuild it.
The Stagnant Crowd Meets the Change Crowd
In recent months, the BAMF (the German agency in charge of refugees and their paperwork/approval) has been in the news on a continual basis.
If you went back to the period prior to 2013....a refugee would arrive in Germany and it'd take around six to eight weeks for the BAMF folks to make a decision and the guy or gal would stay or go. I need to inject at this point....this was an agency with approximately six-hundred employees.
So, as more refugees started to arrive in 2013 and 2014....the amount of paperwork and process time started to lengthen. Six weeks was no longer possible. By summer of 2015, you were talking about a eight-month process. You can imagine the shock on the look of the refugee when after eight long months of sitting in a stagnant refugee center......you were told that your application didn't pass the test.
Throughout the spring and summer.....there was continual pressure put upon Manfred Schmidt who was the boss of the organization based out of Nuremberg. About three months ago.....he left and they got a new guy into the position who is under intense pressure to go back to a quicker pace.
What the Bundestag and German leadership finally did admit....was the organization needed at least a thousand more employees.....to get any type of success going.....so they approved more people. Course, it'd take months to recruit and bring people in.....then train them. It'll be late spring of 2016 by my guess before this increased manpower shows production.
Well....yesterday.....Bloomberg News came out and noted that Germany has accepted an offer by the process-change crowd.....McKinsey Company. The curious thing is that Mckinsey agreed to do the first six weeks.....free of charge. It's hard to imagine any company being welling to do this.....but I'm taking a guess that it'll be a small team....fewer than ten....and they are strictly looking at the number of processes required to pass or fail an immigrant.
Negativity? Well....yeah....that was a problem and a bitter thing for BAMF and the German bureaucracy folks to accept.
After an American has been around for a year or two, and had to mess with car inspections, car tags, the local Rathaus (city hall), and a dozen-odd things.....you start to ask if possibly they'd take a suggestion for improving their services or processes. You (the American) then get this look like you shot some guy's dog. Oh, you shouldn't have said that....will be the general comeback.
You will be told in a pleasant way that they know what they are doing and this is all a proven process. You the customer....cannot be part of the chain of operation or the methods used to accomplish the requirement.
In general.....at least with past accomplishments....McKinsey tends to count all the steps and processes to accomplish something and then projects them up on a board. A couple of guys....NOT rocket scientists or experts in the immigration business....will ask stupid questions.
Why this step happens or why this guy has to review something when he has no effect upon the process....will be the questions asked.
After six weeks.....McKinsey will probably come back to BAMF and try to demonstrate in two hours the whole process that they saw and the hundred-odd steps involved in the immigrant process and ask why twenty-two people have input into something that should require less than six people max.
The BAMF guys will stand there and I'm guessing there will be two reactions. First, they will say that McKinsey doesn't understand the dynamics of paperwork and approval. Second, the organizational folks will say it's difficult to find agreement on changing things.
My gut feeling is that McKinsey's experts will say that they can accomplish five simple changes and carve thirty-percent of the time required in a matter of two weeks. It'll shock the BAMF folks but they will agree to some marginal change just to show they were 'agreeable'. After two weeks....they admit that things are smoother and surprised that six weeks of work time were cut in a simplistic fashion. So, McKinsey will offer to come back.....this time on their pay-scale (which won't be cheap) and show twenty additional changes which will cut half the requirements in half.
Why all this matters? Well....here's the shocker. It is entirely possible that 2016 will present another 750,000-plus refugees and presently.....Germany has probably maxed out on good intentions and reasonable control of the process. If half of the present group of immigrants are to be failed and sent out.....real change needs to be accomplished in the next three months and a large portion of the present crowd need to be sent home if they don't qualify. Waiting eight months on a continual basis....isn't a practical solution.
It's an interesting story for obvious reasons.
If you went back to the period prior to 2013....a refugee would arrive in Germany and it'd take around six to eight weeks for the BAMF folks to make a decision and the guy or gal would stay or go. I need to inject at this point....this was an agency with approximately six-hundred employees.
So, as more refugees started to arrive in 2013 and 2014....the amount of paperwork and process time started to lengthen. Six weeks was no longer possible. By summer of 2015, you were talking about a eight-month process. You can imagine the shock on the look of the refugee when after eight long months of sitting in a stagnant refugee center......you were told that your application didn't pass the test.
Throughout the spring and summer.....there was continual pressure put upon Manfred Schmidt who was the boss of the organization based out of Nuremberg. About three months ago.....he left and they got a new guy into the position who is under intense pressure to go back to a quicker pace.
What the Bundestag and German leadership finally did admit....was the organization needed at least a thousand more employees.....to get any type of success going.....so they approved more people. Course, it'd take months to recruit and bring people in.....then train them. It'll be late spring of 2016 by my guess before this increased manpower shows production.
Well....yesterday.....Bloomberg News came out and noted that Germany has accepted an offer by the process-change crowd.....McKinsey Company. The curious thing is that Mckinsey agreed to do the first six weeks.....free of charge. It's hard to imagine any company being welling to do this.....but I'm taking a guess that it'll be a small team....fewer than ten....and they are strictly looking at the number of processes required to pass or fail an immigrant.
Negativity? Well....yeah....that was a problem and a bitter thing for BAMF and the German bureaucracy folks to accept.
After an American has been around for a year or two, and had to mess with car inspections, car tags, the local Rathaus (city hall), and a dozen-odd things.....you start to ask if possibly they'd take a suggestion for improving their services or processes. You (the American) then get this look like you shot some guy's dog. Oh, you shouldn't have said that....will be the general comeback.
You will be told in a pleasant way that they know what they are doing and this is all a proven process. You the customer....cannot be part of the chain of operation or the methods used to accomplish the requirement.
In general.....at least with past accomplishments....McKinsey tends to count all the steps and processes to accomplish something and then projects them up on a board. A couple of guys....NOT rocket scientists or experts in the immigration business....will ask stupid questions.
Why this step happens or why this guy has to review something when he has no effect upon the process....will be the questions asked.
After six weeks.....McKinsey will probably come back to BAMF and try to demonstrate in two hours the whole process that they saw and the hundred-odd steps involved in the immigrant process and ask why twenty-two people have input into something that should require less than six people max.
The BAMF guys will stand there and I'm guessing there will be two reactions. First, they will say that McKinsey doesn't understand the dynamics of paperwork and approval. Second, the organizational folks will say it's difficult to find agreement on changing things.
My gut feeling is that McKinsey's experts will say that they can accomplish five simple changes and carve thirty-percent of the time required in a matter of two weeks. It'll shock the BAMF folks but they will agree to some marginal change just to show they were 'agreeable'. After two weeks....they admit that things are smoother and surprised that six weeks of work time were cut in a simplistic fashion. So, McKinsey will offer to come back.....this time on their pay-scale (which won't be cheap) and show twenty additional changes which will cut half the requirements in half.
Why all this matters? Well....here's the shocker. It is entirely possible that 2016 will present another 750,000-plus refugees and presently.....Germany has probably maxed out on good intentions and reasonable control of the process. If half of the present group of immigrants are to be failed and sent out.....real change needs to be accomplished in the next three months and a large portion of the present crowd need to be sent home if they don't qualify. Waiting eight months on a continual basis....isn't a practical solution.
It's an interesting story for obvious reasons.
Sunday, December 6, 2015
The Old Wiesbaden Court-House Building
In the midst of Wiesbaden, there is an entire city block which took up the old city courthouse. It's located around Albrecht Strasse and Oranen Strasse.
It hasn't been functional at least a decade, and is heavily in need of either renovation or to be torn down. The building itself takes up forty-percent of the block, while a parking lot takes up the other sixty percent.
Late on Friday....the city came out and announced that they'd finally come a decision about the property.
Part of the old building will go, but the bulk of the historical building will be renovated and made into sixty student apartments. Another new building adjacent to it will be built to house roughly 100 apartments. Then, there's the grand addition to the whole block....a university building for the Fresenius University. It'll be a combination auditorium and cafeteria, with a student lecture area for approximately 1,000 students into faculties design and technology and media.
Fair amount of money involved? Yes. It's probably a four-year project and will have a serious impact on the city and it's future. My guess is.....as the American Arms Hotel-Refugee episode comes to a close....it'll also be converted over to more student housing related to the university operation.
Fresenius University is a private university....which dates back to 1848. They were a science and technology study organization in the very beginning. About twenty years ago.....for unknown reasons....they moved out of Wiesbaden, to Idstein (about a 20-minute drive up the road). There are eight branches of the university in Germany. Most deal with chemistry, healthcare, or business. Oddly, the university is part of Cognos....a publicly traded stock company in Germany.
A trend? Wiesbaden has been on a growth plan for twenty-odd years. Having the Fresenius University in town will be a magnet to draw HR recruiters and developmental organizations around the region for start-up companies. It'll likely draw not only Germans but a wide variety of international students.
It hasn't been functional at least a decade, and is heavily in need of either renovation or to be torn down. The building itself takes up forty-percent of the block, while a parking lot takes up the other sixty percent.
Late on Friday....the city came out and announced that they'd finally come a decision about the property.
Part of the old building will go, but the bulk of the historical building will be renovated and made into sixty student apartments. Another new building adjacent to it will be built to house roughly 100 apartments. Then, there's the grand addition to the whole block....a university building for the Fresenius University. It'll be a combination auditorium and cafeteria, with a student lecture area for approximately 1,000 students into faculties design and technology and media.
Fair amount of money involved? Yes. It's probably a four-year project and will have a serious impact on the city and it's future. My guess is.....as the American Arms Hotel-Refugee episode comes to a close....it'll also be converted over to more student housing related to the university operation.
Fresenius University is a private university....which dates back to 1848. They were a science and technology study organization in the very beginning. About twenty years ago.....for unknown reasons....they moved out of Wiesbaden, to Idstein (about a 20-minute drive up the road). There are eight branches of the university in Germany. Most deal with chemistry, healthcare, or business. Oddly, the university is part of Cognos....a publicly traded stock company in Germany.
A trend? Wiesbaden has been on a growth plan for twenty-odd years. Having the Fresenius University in town will be a magnet to draw HR recruiters and developmental organizations around the region for start-up companies. It'll likely draw not only Germans but a wide variety of international students.
Saturday, December 5, 2015
A Fight Over Nothing?
Last night....well....to be honest....it was 5:30 in the morning (today)....when cops got called to the far east end of Kassel (one of our bigger towns in Hessen).....near the A7 autobahn.
What the cops say....it became one of those all-cops-available calls and twenty German cops swarmed the area.
What they found were eighty people at the McDonalds parking lot area....in some form of a fight. This took about 90 minutes to get full control and establish authority.
The theme of the fight? Well.....this brawl resulted in three people hurt bad enough to require transport to a hospital. The cause? Well.....that's the interesting part to the story. No one is really saying.....the hint given was that the fight just started....and thug was fighting thug, or the cops relate the story like that.
Oh, all of the participants did come from the local nightclub just a hundred meters away (A7 Music Park). Some issue apparently came up and got a couple of guys frustrated enough.....or jealous of former girlfriends, or they all popped a few pills too many to get hyped up on something. But the end-result was this fight over......well.....nothing.
What the cops ended the story with was that everyone who was arrested.....will be asked to show up later (sometime next week) and explain the situation in a interrogation room. This will mean that dozens of folks will have to call up a lawyer.....ask for legal assistance.....pluck down some Euro to make sure they have their story straight.....and hope that nothing comes out of this mess.
That's the thing about most bar or club fights in Germany. They usually just involve some guys who get black-eyes, broken noses, and lose a couple of teeth. No one ends up dead from gunshot wounds. If this had been Birmingham or Atlanta.....eighty guys in some parking lot in a stupid fight.....shots would have been fired and five guys dead before the cops even arrived. The cops arriving at the Atlanta scene would have drawn pistols, and probably accidentally shot five more guys, and another dozen-odd bystanders who had no part in the fight, and the state would be calling in some task-force to handle twenty people dead....mostly by the cops.
Maybe the cops will accidentally come to find the reason for this fight disturbance....maybe just an insult by one guy against his former girlfriend.....maybe just two drunk guys arguing over a soccer game episode. Oddly, this will earn the McDonalds some kind of notoriety as the place where a gang war occurred, mostly over nothing.
What the cops say....it became one of those all-cops-available calls and twenty German cops swarmed the area.
What they found were eighty people at the McDonalds parking lot area....in some form of a fight. This took about 90 minutes to get full control and establish authority.
The theme of the fight? Well.....this brawl resulted in three people hurt bad enough to require transport to a hospital. The cause? Well.....that's the interesting part to the story. No one is really saying.....the hint given was that the fight just started....and thug was fighting thug, or the cops relate the story like that.
Oh, all of the participants did come from the local nightclub just a hundred meters away (A7 Music Park). Some issue apparently came up and got a couple of guys frustrated enough.....or jealous of former girlfriends, or they all popped a few pills too many to get hyped up on something. But the end-result was this fight over......well.....nothing.
What the cops ended the story with was that everyone who was arrested.....will be asked to show up later (sometime next week) and explain the situation in a interrogation room. This will mean that dozens of folks will have to call up a lawyer.....ask for legal assistance.....pluck down some Euro to make sure they have their story straight.....and hope that nothing comes out of this mess.
That's the thing about most bar or club fights in Germany. They usually just involve some guys who get black-eyes, broken noses, and lose a couple of teeth. No one ends up dead from gunshot wounds. If this had been Birmingham or Atlanta.....eighty guys in some parking lot in a stupid fight.....shots would have been fired and five guys dead before the cops even arrived. The cops arriving at the Atlanta scene would have drawn pistols, and probably accidentally shot five more guys, and another dozen-odd bystanders who had no part in the fight, and the state would be calling in some task-force to handle twenty people dead....mostly by the cops.
Maybe the cops will accidentally come to find the reason for this fight disturbance....maybe just an insult by one guy against his former girlfriend.....maybe just two drunk guys arguing over a soccer game episode. Oddly, this will earn the McDonalds some kind of notoriety as the place where a gang war occurred, mostly over nothing.
The Chocolate Calendar
So, the Lindt folks decided to make an Advent Calendar. This is the calendar that has 25 days or hidden points on a cardboard structure.....where chocolate is hidden. As each day comes.....the kid opens the hidden door and eats a chocolate.
There are probably a thousand different types of Advent Calendars made.....by various companies. There are calendars for Lego-like scenes, Santa scenes, cat and dog scenes, and even lusty scenes. So Lindt decided to make one for the three wisemen.
The drawing they chose.....was a structure from the Arabic period.....two thousand years ago.
In the eyes of some....it was a Mosque. So they chatted up with social media about the 'wrongs' done here by Lindt using a Muslim concept.
The problem is.....Mosque didn't come up for another 700 years after Christ. So there were various Arabic structures existing which had nothing to do with Mosque.
It was more or less....an argument about nothing....but Germans are so frustrated with the whole discussion of Islam and Germany today.....that they took this stupid chocolate calendar to the next level of misunderstanding.
As for sales of the calendars? Well....no one says much. My guess is that small grocery operations looked at the situation and removed it from the shelf. If they were lucky.....they only have a dozen of these. The Lindt designer team are probably discussing how they walked into this mess and will probably stick with just plain old safe German street scenes for future designs.
The Kretschmann Statement
It will be one of those statements that will burn with intensity in German public debate....when the full interview is published on Sunday with the Sunday edition of "Welt am Sonntag".
They've interviewed Baden-Wurttemberg's President.....Winfried Kretschmann....a Green Party member and head of the collation that runs the state's government.
His words? He says in a blunt way that Islam is stuck in a crisis and has to be cleaned from the inside out of violent tendencies. The hint here....is the reformation of Islam.
Yeah, it's not the typical speech you'd expect from a Green Party guy. He's at least honest about this....it can't be done by non-Islam people....it has to be done within the religion itself.
Christianity underwent a serious reformation period after the 1619 and the Thirty Years War. By the time you got around to 1700.....Christianity and the Catholic Church had been forced through various degrees of change and violence. Half the population in central Europe had dissolved away because of the war and the fanatical behavior of Christians of the era.
The odds of reformation occurring with Islam? Anyone of the religion who would suggest such....would likely be condemned and targeted by the extremists. So, there's virtually no interest in going this direction.
They've interviewed Baden-Wurttemberg's President.....Winfried Kretschmann....a Green Party member and head of the collation that runs the state's government.
His words? He says in a blunt way that Islam is stuck in a crisis and has to be cleaned from the inside out of violent tendencies. The hint here....is the reformation of Islam.
Yeah, it's not the typical speech you'd expect from a Green Party guy. He's at least honest about this....it can't be done by non-Islam people....it has to be done within the religion itself.
Christianity underwent a serious reformation period after the 1619 and the Thirty Years War. By the time you got around to 1700.....Christianity and the Catholic Church had been forced through various degrees of change and violence. Half the population in central Europe had dissolved away because of the war and the fanatical behavior of Christians of the era.
The odds of reformation occurring with Islam? Anyone of the religion who would suggest such....would likely be condemned and targeted by the extremists. So, there's virtually no interest in going this direction.
Reich Citizenship?
The German news magazine Focus brought this up this morning.....talking over the belief of some in Germany that has gone to the dark days with what some Germans now recognize as "Reich Citizenship".
What is "Reich Citizenship"? Well.....around three years into the Nazi era (Sep 1935) of the German government....a law came out to define your new rights....it probably lessen your rights in various ways, but it was made to sound better and more accepting by the public. If you were a Jew, you lost all values of citizenship by this law.
The belief at the time was that the Reich Citizenship law would help to ensure a harmonious society where things would be happy, pleasant and working in a organized fashion with one another. It assumed that everyone felt the same way.....which was the bitter harsh reality to the law.
So here in 2015, as you read through the Focus piece of this morning.....there are a small number of Germans who now perceive their lives to be in conflict with a new Reich Citizenship era. One might suggest that it's the right-wing type individuals who feel this way.
The simple acts of disobedience? It's humorous in a way.....these are people who are turning their license plates upside down.....refusing to show identity cards when requested by the police....and showing doubt in German officials carrying out their duty (mostly cops now but apparently expanding out).
All of this leads to a growing movement where people doubt the German state, the Basic Law (the Constitution), and the leadership that was put into place by the voting apparatus.
You can imagine a meeting where some policeman has to get to the bottom of some incident, and some Reich Citizen-believer won't cooperate. This leads to conversation with intensity. The cop just wants the facts....the Reich Citizen doesn't trust the cop or the badge on the cop. In the US, the cop would haul the guy off to some jail and let them simmer until they cooperate. The German cop doesn't really want to accomplish that....it requires more paperwork and increases the friction at the scene to the ninth degree. The German cop just wants some basic information and perform the task at hand.
Where does this go? 2016 is an election year for five German states (three in mid-March and two toward the end of the year). It promises to be a very frictional and harsh period for the Berlin collation of the CDU/CSU and SPD.
This small group of Reich Citizenship talkers will expand out and the cops will start to talk of continuing problems when doing their duty. Non-cooperation will add stress onto the simplistic job of the nation's police and authorities. At some point, some German with a sense of humor....will probably make up a Micky Mouse-like ID with the ID name of "Number 9" (9 as in the German word of "No") and it'll probably start to be used whenever the cops ask for an ID.
In a way, we've simple gone to the next level of chaos and anarchy.
What is "Reich Citizenship"? Well.....around three years into the Nazi era (Sep 1935) of the German government....a law came out to define your new rights....it probably lessen your rights in various ways, but it was made to sound better and more accepting by the public. If you were a Jew, you lost all values of citizenship by this law.
The belief at the time was that the Reich Citizenship law would help to ensure a harmonious society where things would be happy, pleasant and working in a organized fashion with one another. It assumed that everyone felt the same way.....which was the bitter harsh reality to the law.
So here in 2015, as you read through the Focus piece of this morning.....there are a small number of Germans who now perceive their lives to be in conflict with a new Reich Citizenship era. One might suggest that it's the right-wing type individuals who feel this way.
The simple acts of disobedience? It's humorous in a way.....these are people who are turning their license plates upside down.....refusing to show identity cards when requested by the police....and showing doubt in German officials carrying out their duty (mostly cops now but apparently expanding out).
All of this leads to a growing movement where people doubt the German state, the Basic Law (the Constitution), and the leadership that was put into place by the voting apparatus.
You can imagine a meeting where some policeman has to get to the bottom of some incident, and some Reich Citizen-believer won't cooperate. This leads to conversation with intensity. The cop just wants the facts....the Reich Citizen doesn't trust the cop or the badge on the cop. In the US, the cop would haul the guy off to some jail and let them simmer until they cooperate. The German cop doesn't really want to accomplish that....it requires more paperwork and increases the friction at the scene to the ninth degree. The German cop just wants some basic information and perform the task at hand.
Where does this go? 2016 is an election year for five German states (three in mid-March and two toward the end of the year). It promises to be a very frictional and harsh period for the Berlin collation of the CDU/CSU and SPD.
This small group of Reich Citizenship talkers will expand out and the cops will start to talk of continuing problems when doing their duty. Non-cooperation will add stress onto the simplistic job of the nation's police and authorities. At some point, some German with a sense of humor....will probably make up a Micky Mouse-like ID with the ID name of "Number 9" (9 as in the German word of "No") and it'll probably start to be used whenever the cops ask for an ID.
In a way, we've simple gone to the next level of chaos and anarchy.
Friday, December 4, 2015
On German Gun Control
When you get around to talking about German 'gun-control'....it's a curious topic and there's an entire listing or law to cover the national requirements. The 'Weapons-Act' of 2002 has simplistic rules and thought put into the scope and reality of weapons in Germany.
Paragraph five concerns reliability. To get around to first base.....you cannot have been convicted of a crime or imprisoned within the past ten years.
Paragraph five also concerns your past demonstration of trust. If you've shown the tendency to improperly or carelessly store or handle weapons or ammo....you don't qualify for a permit.
Paragraph five also says that if you've shown a tendency to oppose common order in Germany over the past five years.....you cannot receive the card. If you've shown a tendency to be involved in conflicts outside of Germany over the past five years.....you cannot receive the card. If you show the tendency to support acts contrary to German foreign policy.....you won't receive the card.
All of this leads back to the local police station in your district and they have a great deal to say about your getting a card.
Paragraph six covers your personal fitness factors. If any issues exist for you to be legally incapacitated....you won't get the card. If you are dependent on alcohol or intoxicating substance (legal and illegal drugs), then you won't get the card. If you are mentally ill, you won't get the card. If you are mentally retarded, you won't get the card.
Self-endangerment? Oh, that figures into this as well.
The local cops can call upon your personal doctor, and request evidence to support the request for a card, or deny you the card because of health issues.
All of this leads eventually to the training phase. Without the final certification and testing piece.....you don't get the card.
Rights? It's more of the case that you will prove yourself worthy of the responsibility of the weapon. An American would argue that the right outweighs all other conditions. The German would argue that you need to reach a certain level before you are handed responsibility.
Under the German system.....if you are drug-user or heavy drinker.....you will never get the weapons card, period. If you behaved in public in some fashion where your trustworthiness is called into question.....the card would be in jeopardy. If you tried to apply the German method to the American public.....my general guess is that a third of the gun-owners in America would fail the drug-user issue or their drinking habits would be called into question on the platform of trustworthiness.
I should note too....as part of the application....you have to prove you have a one-million-Euro insurance package.
Finally, there is one interesting requirement when you come to apply for the card.....you need to have lived in the district or region for five years. The rule generally says that the card can be denied if you do not meet the five-year rule.....but the local folks could overlook that fact. It is an interesting piece to the whole package.....meaning you need to show some stability in your life and settled down to a degree. If you were a guy on the move and continually packing up.....well.....they could deny you the card gun just based on that fact alone.
Yeah, it's not simple if you look at the German method.
Most Americans wouldn't appreciate the details of the German package, and would say they infringe upon the rights of an individual. The German would counter that argument by saying they don't allow guns in the hands of nuts, drunks or dopers. The American would say that there's too much crime going on and he wants to feel protected. The German would probably agree with the amount of crime and say the rules ensure that scumbag threatening you and your family.....ought to be shot.....but only by a legit guy who isn't drunk, wasted, doped-up or crazy. The German would add that he'd do the job with one single bullet instead of five or six rounds that the American would fire, and if you tested the German at his local range.....you'd find that he's not joking.
Just some humble words over the idea of German gun control.
Paragraph five concerns reliability. To get around to first base.....you cannot have been convicted of a crime or imprisoned within the past ten years.
Paragraph five also concerns your past demonstration of trust. If you've shown the tendency to improperly or carelessly store or handle weapons or ammo....you don't qualify for a permit.
Paragraph five also says that if you've shown a tendency to oppose common order in Germany over the past five years.....you cannot receive the card. If you've shown a tendency to be involved in conflicts outside of Germany over the past five years.....you cannot receive the card. If you show the tendency to support acts contrary to German foreign policy.....you won't receive the card.
All of this leads back to the local police station in your district and they have a great deal to say about your getting a card.
Paragraph six covers your personal fitness factors. If any issues exist for you to be legally incapacitated....you won't get the card. If you are dependent on alcohol or intoxicating substance (legal and illegal drugs), then you won't get the card. If you are mentally ill, you won't get the card. If you are mentally retarded, you won't get the card.
Self-endangerment? Oh, that figures into this as well.
The local cops can call upon your personal doctor, and request evidence to support the request for a card, or deny you the card because of health issues.
All of this leads eventually to the training phase. Without the final certification and testing piece.....you don't get the card.
Rights? It's more of the case that you will prove yourself worthy of the responsibility of the weapon. An American would argue that the right outweighs all other conditions. The German would argue that you need to reach a certain level before you are handed responsibility.
Under the German system.....if you are drug-user or heavy drinker.....you will never get the weapons card, period. If you behaved in public in some fashion where your trustworthiness is called into question.....the card would be in jeopardy. If you tried to apply the German method to the American public.....my general guess is that a third of the gun-owners in America would fail the drug-user issue or their drinking habits would be called into question on the platform of trustworthiness.
I should note too....as part of the application....you have to prove you have a one-million-Euro insurance package.
Finally, there is one interesting requirement when you come to apply for the card.....you need to have lived in the district or region for five years. The rule generally says that the card can be denied if you do not meet the five-year rule.....but the local folks could overlook that fact. It is an interesting piece to the whole package.....meaning you need to show some stability in your life and settled down to a degree. If you were a guy on the move and continually packing up.....well.....they could deny you the card gun just based on that fact alone.
Yeah, it's not simple if you look at the German method.
Most Americans wouldn't appreciate the details of the German package, and would say they infringe upon the rights of an individual. The German would counter that argument by saying they don't allow guns in the hands of nuts, drunks or dopers. The American would say that there's too much crime going on and he wants to feel protected. The German would probably agree with the amount of crime and say the rules ensure that scumbag threatening you and your family.....ought to be shot.....but only by a legit guy who isn't drunk, wasted, doped-up or crazy. The German would add that he'd do the job with one single bullet instead of five or six rounds that the American would fire, and if you tested the German at his local range.....you'd find that he's not joking.
Just some humble words over the idea of German gun control.
Saxony-Anhalt Weapons Story
One of the regional state-run networks....NDR....put up an interesting news piece today talking over the state in Germany of Saxony-Anhalt.
As of this month, for the entire state....there are 41,450 weapons possession cards. That's a thousand more than roughly 18 months ago. It's a general trend across Germany....with more Germans enthusiastic enough to take the course and provide all the paperwork for the weapons cards.
NDR even noted that the weapon inventory for the state of Saxony-Anhalt increased from 117,800 to 118,300 over the past year.
Why the increased trend? Crime I think....has a bigger role than fear of immigrants or asylum seekers. If you follow local news, you start to notice more robberies....more assault connected to the robberies....and more weapons being displayed by the robbers. A few weeks ago here in Wiesbaden, we had a grocery operation robbed, and the kid involved in this displayed a gun (no one knows if it was a real gun, or a fake gun).
The main purpose of the weapons card? It allows you to purchase, sell, and store weapons. If you intend to hunt or go to the target range.....you will have the card on you as you travel. Just having the weapons card.....doesn't mean an automatic hunting license (some people get confused about this....especially journalists). The hunting course is totally separate and probably rated even more difficult than the weapons course itself.
As of this month, for the entire state....there are 41,450 weapons possession cards. That's a thousand more than roughly 18 months ago. It's a general trend across Germany....with more Germans enthusiastic enough to take the course and provide all the paperwork for the weapons cards.
NDR even noted that the weapon inventory for the state of Saxony-Anhalt increased from 117,800 to 118,300 over the past year.
Why the increased trend? Crime I think....has a bigger role than fear of immigrants or asylum seekers. If you follow local news, you start to notice more robberies....more assault connected to the robberies....and more weapons being displayed by the robbers. A few weeks ago here in Wiesbaden, we had a grocery operation robbed, and the kid involved in this displayed a gun (no one knows if it was a real gun, or a fake gun).
The main purpose of the weapons card? It allows you to purchase, sell, and store weapons. If you intend to hunt or go to the target range.....you will have the card on you as you travel. Just having the weapons card.....doesn't mean an automatic hunting license (some people get confused about this....especially journalists). The hunting course is totally separate and probably rated even more difficult than the weapons course itself.
Thursday, December 3, 2015
The Afghan Statement Today
There was a meeting today and a joint statement between Chancellor Merkel of Germany and the President of Afghanistan.
There's still German soldiers in Afghanistan and a fair amount of help that Germany provides. But there's this one curious element of the speech between the two leaders.
It's kinda hinted....strongly in fact....that Germany's roads aren't paved in "gold", and that Afghans who came over and will not be approved for visa.....will end up going back to Afghanistan.
It's not entirely clear over the number....some folks figure around 50,000 and some journalists have hinted 100,000....of the 950,000 for 2015....are from Afghanistan. There's some suggestion that the bulk of these people....probably over ninety-percent will be refused a visa and forced to go back to Afghanistan. In simple words, they won't be happy campers....having paid a fair sum of money and spent weeks walking across Europe to reach Germany.
I would imagine that some folks will have to be forced in some way to the plane and flown back into Afghanistan.
This brings up the topic of how many of the 950,000 (up until late November of those registered for the year).....will be approved for visa. The leadership in Berlin is always careful to avoid this topic and you kinda notice the same trend with state-run TV journalists.
It may very well end up with only 350,000 of these folks allowed to permanently stay in the country and thus become this fairly acceptable number of people (at least to the general public). For the supporters of the pro-asylum policy.....it'll beg questions on how people were turned down and why this whole thing turned into some five-star checkers-game that involved frustration, hours of debate, and hostile Germans around the country.
There's still German soldiers in Afghanistan and a fair amount of help that Germany provides. But there's this one curious element of the speech between the two leaders.
It's kinda hinted....strongly in fact....that Germany's roads aren't paved in "gold", and that Afghans who came over and will not be approved for visa.....will end up going back to Afghanistan.
It's not entirely clear over the number....some folks figure around 50,000 and some journalists have hinted 100,000....of the 950,000 for 2015....are from Afghanistan. There's some suggestion that the bulk of these people....probably over ninety-percent will be refused a visa and forced to go back to Afghanistan. In simple words, they won't be happy campers....having paid a fair sum of money and spent weeks walking across Europe to reach Germany.
I would imagine that some folks will have to be forced in some way to the plane and flown back into Afghanistan.
This brings up the topic of how many of the 950,000 (up until late November of those registered for the year).....will be approved for visa. The leadership in Berlin is always careful to avoid this topic and you kinda notice the same trend with state-run TV journalists.
It may very well end up with only 350,000 of these folks allowed to permanently stay in the country and thus become this fairly acceptable number of people (at least to the general public). For the supporters of the pro-asylum policy.....it'll beg questions on how people were turned down and why this whole thing turned into some five-star checkers-game that involved frustration, hours of debate, and hostile Germans around the country.
The Book Problem
Sometime in about four weeks.....Mein Kampf (Adoph Hitler's book) will be allowed to be printed and sold in Germany. Since 1945, it's been on the forbidden list and tightly controlled by the Bavarian government (who was given control of the book by the US Army). It would be curious how the US Army dreamed up this arrangement but they figured the Bavarian could best handle this. So a nifty copyright law protected the book from that point on.
By German law.....the copyright will have run out in 2016 and they couldn't have done much to prevent the printing from occurring.
Naturally, the Germans are fairly crafty at things like this and knew that various implications would make this all a problem. So they've done a couple of things.
First, they will use the 2015 sedition law change to limit the book to just one publisher and one type of edition. They can do this by claiming the book will incite riots....and the new sedition law will prevent any book, picture, comment, or verbal discussion from occurring.
Second, the organization who got the right to publish? They will publish a 2,000 page book. Yeah....I know....the original book was actually two volumes and had a total of 720 pages. Volume one was mostly a personalized story of Hitler himself and volume two was mostly about the movement itself.
What is hinted is that there will be approximately 1,300 pages of added material by 'social scientists' who will explain each single detail spoke about and offer their personalized analysis of Hitler and the NAZI failures or shortfalls.
The cost of this 2,000 page document? Currently, they are suggesting something between fifty and sixty Euro. At this point.....no one has said if any local bookstore will offer the book or if you have to order it on-line.
As for reading a two-thousand page document? Personally.....it'd be about the last thing on Earth that I'd take as a project. In some ways, I'm thinking that the social scientists believe that this bulky edition will be enough for most people to turn down and thus never read.
As for critical analysis of the critical analysis? Well, yeah, that's another problem because some folks will criticize how they critiqued Hitler (or his writer).
Originally, there were roughly fifty to sixty million copies of the book. No one has ever sat and estimated how many survived the war. As for how many of these special copies will be printed? There was one estimate by journalists of 2,000 copies being made.
A book for someone's coffee table? I can see some intellectual German buying this....reading six pages and then giving up....but leaving it there on the table to start some conversation with a guest who might show up and be all chatty.
You can't really envision this....seventy years after the war.....Germans still so worried about a marginally written book with a thick dose of nationalistic socialism being in the hands of somewhat literate Germans. Just imagine how they'd freak out over the Bible or Quran if they sat and thought about the hazards or perils involved in their texts.
By German law.....the copyright will have run out in 2016 and they couldn't have done much to prevent the printing from occurring.
Naturally, the Germans are fairly crafty at things like this and knew that various implications would make this all a problem. So they've done a couple of things.
First, they will use the 2015 sedition law change to limit the book to just one publisher and one type of edition. They can do this by claiming the book will incite riots....and the new sedition law will prevent any book, picture, comment, or verbal discussion from occurring.
Second, the organization who got the right to publish? They will publish a 2,000 page book. Yeah....I know....the original book was actually two volumes and had a total of 720 pages. Volume one was mostly a personalized story of Hitler himself and volume two was mostly about the movement itself.
What is hinted is that there will be approximately 1,300 pages of added material by 'social scientists' who will explain each single detail spoke about and offer their personalized analysis of Hitler and the NAZI failures or shortfalls.
The cost of this 2,000 page document? Currently, they are suggesting something between fifty and sixty Euro. At this point.....no one has said if any local bookstore will offer the book or if you have to order it on-line.
As for reading a two-thousand page document? Personally.....it'd be about the last thing on Earth that I'd take as a project. In some ways, I'm thinking that the social scientists believe that this bulky edition will be enough for most people to turn down and thus never read.
As for critical analysis of the critical analysis? Well, yeah, that's another problem because some folks will criticize how they critiqued Hitler (or his writer).
Originally, there were roughly fifty to sixty million copies of the book. No one has ever sat and estimated how many survived the war. As for how many of these special copies will be printed? There was one estimate by journalists of 2,000 copies being made.
A book for someone's coffee table? I can see some intellectual German buying this....reading six pages and then giving up....but leaving it there on the table to start some conversation with a guest who might show up and be all chatty.
You can't really envision this....seventy years after the war.....Germans still so worried about a marginally written book with a thick dose of nationalistic socialism being in the hands of somewhat literate Germans. Just imagine how they'd freak out over the Bible or Quran if they sat and thought about the hazards or perils involved in their texts.
The Reality of Germans
In my local regional news....there was a piece on the Wiesbaden Aktuell that got onto a political disturbance in the Wiesbaden area. I won't go into detail but I came to the end of the piece where the editorial writer obviously sat and reflected.....saying:
There was this period in the 1970s where a segment of German society felt that the older generation was not in step with modern times, and what Germans would describe as a dangerous and chaotic period came to be. You couldn't open a newspaper or watch the nightly news without feeling the quasi-homogeneous political landscape in Germany had been threatened.
As we stepped into the 1990s and the Berlin Wall came to a closure.....the conflict between old DDR and FRG should have ceased entirely but people seemed to sense a chaotic and troublesome period. The quasi-homogeneous political landscape in Germany had been threatened.
As we stepped into the Euro and the expanding world of the EU zone, people sensed a chaotic and troublesome period. The quasi-homogeneous political landscape in Germany had been threatened.
As we stepped through the Greece economic fall of 2015, with the potential for EU to dissolve and the Euro to fail.....the quasi-homogeneous political landscape in Germany had been threatened.
The truth is....there just isn't this mythical quasi-homogeneous political landscape existing in Germany. I know....people sit around....sipping gluhwein, fancy liquor, and five-star beer.....talking up in some pub situation about how they love this political thing, or this soccer team, or this thrilling German krimi-show. They seem to drift around and think everyone is in agreement with them, and are shocked with their fellow buddy at the bar doesn't agree.
Germans live in a harsh fantasy world.....where they drift in and out of reality.
"The values of democracy. After years of a quasi-homogeneous political landscape in Germany, which resulted in years at federal and state level in many coalitions, which appear to serve only the personal maintaining power of the parties and their politicians, we are apparently discovering a new democracy and encountering uncomfortable opinions in dialog and argumentative."
There was this period in the 1970s where a segment of German society felt that the older generation was not in step with modern times, and what Germans would describe as a dangerous and chaotic period came to be. You couldn't open a newspaper or watch the nightly news without feeling the quasi-homogeneous political landscape in Germany had been threatened.
As we stepped into the 1990s and the Berlin Wall came to a closure.....the conflict between old DDR and FRG should have ceased entirely but people seemed to sense a chaotic and troublesome period. The quasi-homogeneous political landscape in Germany had been threatened.
As we stepped into the Euro and the expanding world of the EU zone, people sensed a chaotic and troublesome period. The quasi-homogeneous political landscape in Germany had been threatened.
As we stepped through the Greece economic fall of 2015, with the potential for EU to dissolve and the Euro to fail.....the quasi-homogeneous political landscape in Germany had been threatened.
The truth is....there just isn't this mythical quasi-homogeneous political landscape existing in Germany. I know....people sit around....sipping gluhwein, fancy liquor, and five-star beer.....talking up in some pub situation about how they love this political thing, or this soccer team, or this thrilling German krimi-show. They seem to drift around and think everyone is in agreement with them, and are shocked with their fellow buddy at the bar doesn't agree.
Germans live in a harsh fantasy world.....where they drift in and out of reality.
The CDU Guy Who Walked Away
It's not one of those things that will get much traction in the German news. Newspapers will give it ten lines....the state-run news network will probably give it a twenty-second moment, and it'll just close out.
What is generally said is that the former Saxon justice minister....Steffen Heitmann....who was currently an interim candidate for the Saxson office of president (the state governor) as a CDU member.....is no longer a CDU member. He basically sent a letter to the CDU headquarters yesterday and removed himself as a party member.
Reason? Well....the whole ill-defined-poorly-planned immigration and refugee crisis.
Heitmann was not a household name in Germany itself. He was a regional guy from Saxson and probably a fair portion of the locals in Saxson had some identification of the guy and his background.
What's interesting about Heitmann....because I sat and read up on the guy....is that he started out as a theology guy (a church minister). He lived a pretty tough life. His dad was in the German Army at the close of WW II and was captured by the Russians. His dad never returned home....dying in 1945. He was raised mostly by his grandparents in the Dresden region (far eastern side of Germany) after his mother died in the late 1950s. At some point in the mid-1970s.....after he'd become a full-up minister....he got into church-related legal education and training.
As things hyped up at the end of the 1980s.....he was part of a anti-state group envisioning a new direction and the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the 1990s....he became a lawyer and a member of the CDU Party in Saxson.
If you were looking for a respectable guy who demonstrated ethics and avoided corruption....this was the guy.
As for his letter to the party about his resignation? My guess is that he's looking at the future and the stability of the party itself. There's a fair amount of negativity within the right-leaning CDU and there are obvious members who just avoid any discussion on refugees, asylum seekers or immigrants....because if they did speak in public....it wouldn't be a charming or pleasant conversation.
The potential that Heitmann would join the AfD? Well....I can't really speculate about that. There is a state election approaching. Although I would speculate that it's too late for Heitmann to become a member, get recognized, and get onto the ballot.
So, for the most part....it's just a story about a guy who said 'enough' and walked away....while stating publicly to the Chancellor that the policy in effect won't work. And the truth is.....he might not be the last guy who resigns from the CDU.
What is generally said is that the former Saxon justice minister....Steffen Heitmann....who was currently an interim candidate for the Saxson office of president (the state governor) as a CDU member.....is no longer a CDU member. He basically sent a letter to the CDU headquarters yesterday and removed himself as a party member.
Reason? Well....the whole ill-defined-poorly-planned immigration and refugee crisis.
Heitmann was not a household name in Germany itself. He was a regional guy from Saxson and probably a fair portion of the locals in Saxson had some identification of the guy and his background.
What's interesting about Heitmann....because I sat and read up on the guy....is that he started out as a theology guy (a church minister). He lived a pretty tough life. His dad was in the German Army at the close of WW II and was captured by the Russians. His dad never returned home....dying in 1945. He was raised mostly by his grandparents in the Dresden region (far eastern side of Germany) after his mother died in the late 1950s. At some point in the mid-1970s.....after he'd become a full-up minister....he got into church-related legal education and training.
As things hyped up at the end of the 1980s.....he was part of a anti-state group envisioning a new direction and the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the 1990s....he became a lawyer and a member of the CDU Party in Saxson.
If you were looking for a respectable guy who demonstrated ethics and avoided corruption....this was the guy.
As for his letter to the party about his resignation? My guess is that he's looking at the future and the stability of the party itself. There's a fair amount of negativity within the right-leaning CDU and there are obvious members who just avoid any discussion on refugees, asylum seekers or immigrants....because if they did speak in public....it wouldn't be a charming or pleasant conversation.
The potential that Heitmann would join the AfD? Well....I can't really speculate about that. There is a state election approaching. Although I would speculate that it's too late for Heitmann to become a member, get recognized, and get onto the ballot.
So, for the most part....it's just a story about a guy who said 'enough' and walked away....while stating publicly to the Chancellor that the policy in effect won't work. And the truth is.....he might not be the last guy who resigns from the CDU.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
"Mass Shootings Don't Occur Around Europe"
This is one of those oddball quotes that the President gave in Paris in the last day or two, and it got picked up several journalists (or they were prep'ed by someone to utter the phrase and run for the mileage with it). It's a curious statement and bears some pondering and thought.
A mass shooting is defined by four people attacked and killed by someone. Now, I should note....it's not a clear definition because if the shooter kills himself.....he would count as number four if he'd shoot the other three. But facts are facts.
So, let's start with the general word that fits. If you talk around Europe.....they generally like to use the word "rampage", which is defined as someone who is showing reckless, uncontrolled, or destructive behavior. In other words.....they aren't right in the head or mind.
Now, I realize that the American news media hates that definition because obviously the guy must have know what he was doing.....but if you were to do mental tests or drug tests on every single mass killer of the past twenty years in the US.....the guys involved (oddly, it's always guys) were either mentally unfit (crazy) or drugged to the extent that they could not control themselves or emotions. I'll stand to be corrected if anyone can show a case which doesn't fit profile A or profile B, unless it a murder for hire (the Alps execution of an entire family from a coupe of years was an execution, and the killer has never been identified).
The IRA murders don't count toward this issue because almost all were under the defined number of four deaths from a single episode.....yet over 1,700 people were killed....one by one....during the thirty-odd years of the 'war'.
In Germany since 2000, there's been two mass shootings...both of which revolved a school.
In France since 1995, there's been five noted mass shootings....two in just this year.
Why the lesser numbers? I would point out three significant factors.
First, people with destructive or raging behavior in Germany.....tend to get locked up. A relative or a judge will into the middle of things and exercise social responsibility. Psychological counselors and doctors have more of an opinion that risk needs to be measured and assessed. Just handing drugs out and hoping that the drugs will keep person sedated to a degree.....well....it doesn't sell well.
The German authorities will admit that they have very special places for people who don't fit into society or possible are a threat to society. They even have a special law which can be applied in type of case....where your normal sentences has run it's course, and they decide that you are very special....and can never leave a secure facility. Your rights? You lost them once you showed violent rage tendencies.
Second, while anyone can apply for a weapon....once you look at the review process, there's paperwork involved and you will have to have a doctor say you are physically and mentally fit for the use of such a weapon. Once the doctor notes your background and possible drug or mental issues.....the doctor is on the hook. He can't commit fraud against the law unless he desires jail. So your paperwork does't get signed and you don't advance to the next step.
Third, drug usage in comparison to the US urban situation....is probably ten-percent or less. You can take an urban area like Frankfurt and compare against Baltimore.....similar in population....and find that for 2015....Baltimore had roughly 370-odd murders and I believe at the current pace....Frankfurt won't go past 20.
Even in my own neck of the woods within Wiesbaden....a city of 280,000....I doubt if the city will go past five for the year. Drug usage round Wiesbaden? Mostly Ecstasy and marijuana.....with LSD and heroin around major urban centers like Frankfurt. Meth has just started to appear in the last five years.
If you drug-tested every single guy accused of a single murder (not the mass murder types but just one single death involved).....I think the US average would involve well over ninety-percent with something in their system. Go out into the middle of Iowa and look for murder-shootings in general.....then compare against an urbanized area like DC-Philly-Baltimore. Drugs make a ton of difference in a society.
So, the President can talk on this topic all he likes....but its just not the same case. If I could clean out the drug craze in Baltimore and put the deranged folks into a secure facility for their own sake.....I could cut the 2015 murder rate of 370-plus down to twenty people. But the question....would the public want that type of enthusiasm? I kinda doubt it.
A mass shooting is defined by four people attacked and killed by someone. Now, I should note....it's not a clear definition because if the shooter kills himself.....he would count as number four if he'd shoot the other three. But facts are facts.
So, let's start with the general word that fits. If you talk around Europe.....they generally like to use the word "rampage", which is defined as someone who is showing reckless, uncontrolled, or destructive behavior. In other words.....they aren't right in the head or mind.
Now, I realize that the American news media hates that definition because obviously the guy must have know what he was doing.....but if you were to do mental tests or drug tests on every single mass killer of the past twenty years in the US.....the guys involved (oddly, it's always guys) were either mentally unfit (crazy) or drugged to the extent that they could not control themselves or emotions. I'll stand to be corrected if anyone can show a case which doesn't fit profile A or profile B, unless it a murder for hire (the Alps execution of an entire family from a coupe of years was an execution, and the killer has never been identified).
The IRA murders don't count toward this issue because almost all were under the defined number of four deaths from a single episode.....yet over 1,700 people were killed....one by one....during the thirty-odd years of the 'war'.
In Germany since 2000, there's been two mass shootings...both of which revolved a school.
In France since 1995, there's been five noted mass shootings....two in just this year.
Why the lesser numbers? I would point out three significant factors.
First, people with destructive or raging behavior in Germany.....tend to get locked up. A relative or a judge will into the middle of things and exercise social responsibility. Psychological counselors and doctors have more of an opinion that risk needs to be measured and assessed. Just handing drugs out and hoping that the drugs will keep person sedated to a degree.....well....it doesn't sell well.
The German authorities will admit that they have very special places for people who don't fit into society or possible are a threat to society. They even have a special law which can be applied in type of case....where your normal sentences has run it's course, and they decide that you are very special....and can never leave a secure facility. Your rights? You lost them once you showed violent rage tendencies.
Second, while anyone can apply for a weapon....once you look at the review process, there's paperwork involved and you will have to have a doctor say you are physically and mentally fit for the use of such a weapon. Once the doctor notes your background and possible drug or mental issues.....the doctor is on the hook. He can't commit fraud against the law unless he desires jail. So your paperwork does't get signed and you don't advance to the next step.
Third, drug usage in comparison to the US urban situation....is probably ten-percent or less. You can take an urban area like Frankfurt and compare against Baltimore.....similar in population....and find that for 2015....Baltimore had roughly 370-odd murders and I believe at the current pace....Frankfurt won't go past 20.
Even in my own neck of the woods within Wiesbaden....a city of 280,000....I doubt if the city will go past five for the year. Drug usage round Wiesbaden? Mostly Ecstasy and marijuana.....with LSD and heroin around major urban centers like Frankfurt. Meth has just started to appear in the last five years.
If you drug-tested every single guy accused of a single murder (not the mass murder types but just one single death involved).....I think the US average would involve well over ninety-percent with something in their system. Go out into the middle of Iowa and look for murder-shootings in general.....then compare against an urbanized area like DC-Philly-Baltimore. Drugs make a ton of difference in a society.
So, the President can talk on this topic all he likes....but its just not the same case. If I could clean out the drug craze in Baltimore and put the deranged folks into a secure facility for their own sake.....I could cut the 2015 murder rate of 370-plus down to twenty people. But the question....would the public want that type of enthusiasm? I kinda doubt it.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
The SPD Plan
I noticed in the morning news readings....particularly from Focus, but several German news outlets chatted about this public event.....the SPD Party has come out with their 2016 "thrust" to get active and protect their image for the 2017 election. The theme? "Restart Germany".
This theme requires the government (with the CDU supporting it) to spend an extra five billion Euro on various projects which touch upon immigrants and the nation itself. They sell this by suggesting that it benefits everyone.
The key pieces?
First, to create 80,000 new nursery/kindergarden spaces, and hire 20,000 additional pre-school educators. No one says much but you can expect all of this to be in the urbanized zones of Germany.
Second, they want growth on all-day schools in the country, with recruitment continuing for more social workers and teachers.
Third, they want the process of integration.....particularly with language courses....to be highly organized and connected to the work office of each community. Presently, language courses are part of VHS.....a non-profit adult education system, which has NO connection to any government entity. While the language instructors might like being government employees, getting various benefits out of this....the management of such schools would balk at being attached to the work office of each community.
Fourth, they are aiming for thirty percent of the refugees to have a vocational qualification very quickly. No one says precisely how quickly, and this might amount to six months in reality (this is Germany after all).
Fifth, using government funding to create jobs (out of thin air) for minimum-skilled immigrants. The number mentioned is 100,000. Landscaping crews? Well, that would be competition against various contracts that already exist. It's hard to figure how they'd use the hundred-thousand low-skill people within a city or regional government apparatus.
Sixth, to use federal funding to build 400,000 houses/apartments each year for five years. These would all meet the low cost threshold. Of the six ideas, this is the one with the most issues and problems tied to it.
Most immigrants want particular urbanized areas (Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Hamburg, etc). Just finding property within the city limits and acquiring it would have a cost attached. If you said you were acquiring a half-block area in a major city to build low-cost housing.....locals around this affected area would ask questions and want assurances about the size and expectations. Some political groups would be under intense pressure (even the SPD).
Some communities might see this funding as a cash cow and build a 100-unit apartment complex....right next to some heavily industrialized area, and find that no one really wants to live around that area.
The government went through various failures with large-scale 'cheap' housing in the 1960s and 1970s.....basically creating urbanized ghetto operations and bringing discontent with the low-cost housing 'victims'. The general idea these days is to build smaller units for ten to twenty families and spread them out as part of some neighborhood.
The SPD is hoping to separate itself from the CDU.....establish itself as the protector of the average wage-earner and hope to capture another five points over the last elections results (25.7 percent), and watch the CDU falter with public support.
As for where this five billion Euro will come from? Well.....the 'other pocket' of course. Eventually, some idiot will stand up in the crowd and ask this question and the political figure will just grin and suggest there's more money out there (meaning to tax of course). The excitement over the program will lessen a bit and the SPD folks will sweat over the whole plan.
The truth is....they have to do something to show progress and earn votes.
This theme requires the government (with the CDU supporting it) to spend an extra five billion Euro on various projects which touch upon immigrants and the nation itself. They sell this by suggesting that it benefits everyone.
The key pieces?
First, to create 80,000 new nursery/kindergarden spaces, and hire 20,000 additional pre-school educators. No one says much but you can expect all of this to be in the urbanized zones of Germany.
Second, they want growth on all-day schools in the country, with recruitment continuing for more social workers and teachers.
Third, they want the process of integration.....particularly with language courses....to be highly organized and connected to the work office of each community. Presently, language courses are part of VHS.....a non-profit adult education system, which has NO connection to any government entity. While the language instructors might like being government employees, getting various benefits out of this....the management of such schools would balk at being attached to the work office of each community.
Fourth, they are aiming for thirty percent of the refugees to have a vocational qualification very quickly. No one says precisely how quickly, and this might amount to six months in reality (this is Germany after all).
Fifth, using government funding to create jobs (out of thin air) for minimum-skilled immigrants. The number mentioned is 100,000. Landscaping crews? Well, that would be competition against various contracts that already exist. It's hard to figure how they'd use the hundred-thousand low-skill people within a city or regional government apparatus.
Sixth, to use federal funding to build 400,000 houses/apartments each year for five years. These would all meet the low cost threshold. Of the six ideas, this is the one with the most issues and problems tied to it.
Most immigrants want particular urbanized areas (Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Hamburg, etc). Just finding property within the city limits and acquiring it would have a cost attached. If you said you were acquiring a half-block area in a major city to build low-cost housing.....locals around this affected area would ask questions and want assurances about the size and expectations. Some political groups would be under intense pressure (even the SPD).
Some communities might see this funding as a cash cow and build a 100-unit apartment complex....right next to some heavily industrialized area, and find that no one really wants to live around that area.
The government went through various failures with large-scale 'cheap' housing in the 1960s and 1970s.....basically creating urbanized ghetto operations and bringing discontent with the low-cost housing 'victims'. The general idea these days is to build smaller units for ten to twenty families and spread them out as part of some neighborhood.
The SPD is hoping to separate itself from the CDU.....establish itself as the protector of the average wage-earner and hope to capture another five points over the last elections results (25.7 percent), and watch the CDU falter with public support.
As for where this five billion Euro will come from? Well.....the 'other pocket' of course. Eventually, some idiot will stand up in the crowd and ask this question and the political figure will just grin and suggest there's more money out there (meaning to tax of course). The excitement over the program will lessen a bit and the SPD folks will sweat over the whole plan.
The truth is....they have to do something to show progress and earn votes.
Monday Night's Hart Aber Fair Show
Hart Aber Fair (Tough But Fair) ran last night on Channel One (ARD) in Germany. The chat forum topic.....right-wing violence directed against refugees and asylum seekers.
They ran through a lengthy news piece (maybe fifteen minutes) where they talked about the trend, the fires, the Molotov Cocktails, guys who've had the Sedition Act applied in court, and the fear of asylum children about the threats now existing.
They ran through a lengthy news piece (maybe fifteen minutes) where they talked about the trend, the fires, the Molotov Cocktails, guys who've had the Sedition Act applied in court, and the fear of asylum children about the threats now existing.
It was a decently packaged information documentary....loaded with emotion....and should have paved the way for a deeply negative push-back from the guests (SPD's Boris Pistorius, journalist Dunja Hayali, Joachim Lenders (head of the German police union in Hamburg), Georg Mascolo (TV journalist) , and Frauke Petry (AfD Party).
It was for all practical purposes....Petry against the moderator and the guests. Even I would have admitted that after watching the lead-in video deal about the 'terrible' fires, threats, and such.
There are three observations I could make from the show. First, there are a number of people who see government as the enemy. They can't influence anything.....they can't change anything....they can't send any signal about frustrations.....so this violence angle is their form of resolution. I disagree with this and believe that a 'frustration-vote' usually sends a better message without all the violence necessary.
Second, Petry actually met the opposition head-on.....with humor sprinkled around the edges throughout the entire show. At one point......to note 'lying press' which is a theme that many in the right-wing movements discuss.....she shifted the term to a new phrase....."Pinocchiopresse" (Pinocchio Press). That got the crowd to laughing for a moment. If you asked me for a one-word phrase to describe Petrys performance on the show.....'clever' would be the word.
So, onto my third and final observation.....which came to me on the bus this morning as rode across Wiesbaden and Mainz. For anyone who is generally angry about the fires, Molotiv Cocktails, and damages being done on public property.....well.....why not the same anger and frustration when the anti-capitalists do their games? I sat and watched various cars burned and heavy damage inflicted upon Frankfurt earlier this year by the anti-capitalists. People in Frankfurt were told to stay out of this area of town and hooligans basically ran the cops into the ground for about six hours.
The news media? They talked up the theme of the anti-capitalists and made them appear with good honest convictions. These are the same type characters who did the video of the evil right-wing anti-immigrant crowd now. Why one group is evil and the one totally opposite? That's the odd thing.....there's no logical explanation for it. Either all Molotov Cocktails, public damage and fires are bad......or they aren't all bad.
In some ways, Petry and the phrase Pinocchiopresse work well for AfD.
There are a hundred days now before the mid-March election in three German states. If Petry goes out for the AfD Party and makes a hundred-odd appearances,....then public sentiment may shift toward the AfD in a significant way. I'm not predicting a twenty-five percent win in each state....but I could see two states with a fifteen-to-twenty percent win for the party....with the CDU hurting from an image problem.
The state-run TV apparatus? In some ways.....if they target Petry and continue a negative trend against the party.....they are doing them more of a favor and helping to mold public perception in favor of AfD and it's themes. Just the Pinocchio Press talk alone might be a difficult problem for the state-run news media. Imagine a hundred signs sprinkled around some protest with a Pinocchio figure in the draw and a long nose....with the state-run news media folks listed under the figure.
It was for all practical purposes....Petry against the moderator and the guests. Even I would have admitted that after watching the lead-in video deal about the 'terrible' fires, threats, and such.
There are three observations I could make from the show. First, there are a number of people who see government as the enemy. They can't influence anything.....they can't change anything....they can't send any signal about frustrations.....so this violence angle is their form of resolution. I disagree with this and believe that a 'frustration-vote' usually sends a better message without all the violence necessary.
Second, Petry actually met the opposition head-on.....with humor sprinkled around the edges throughout the entire show. At one point......to note 'lying press' which is a theme that many in the right-wing movements discuss.....she shifted the term to a new phrase....."Pinocchiopresse" (Pinocchio Press). That got the crowd to laughing for a moment. If you asked me for a one-word phrase to describe Petrys performance on the show.....'clever' would be the word.
So, onto my third and final observation.....which came to me on the bus this morning as rode across Wiesbaden and Mainz. For anyone who is generally angry about the fires, Molotiv Cocktails, and damages being done on public property.....well.....why not the same anger and frustration when the anti-capitalists do their games? I sat and watched various cars burned and heavy damage inflicted upon Frankfurt earlier this year by the anti-capitalists. People in Frankfurt were told to stay out of this area of town and hooligans basically ran the cops into the ground for about six hours.
The news media? They talked up the theme of the anti-capitalists and made them appear with good honest convictions. These are the same type characters who did the video of the evil right-wing anti-immigrant crowd now. Why one group is evil and the one totally opposite? That's the odd thing.....there's no logical explanation for it. Either all Molotov Cocktails, public damage and fires are bad......or they aren't all bad.
In some ways, Petry and the phrase Pinocchiopresse work well for AfD.
There are a hundred days now before the mid-March election in three German states. If Petry goes out for the AfD Party and makes a hundred-odd appearances,....then public sentiment may shift toward the AfD in a significant way. I'm not predicting a twenty-five percent win in each state....but I could see two states with a fifteen-to-twenty percent win for the party....with the CDU hurting from an image problem.
The state-run TV apparatus? In some ways.....if they target Petry and continue a negative trend against the party.....they are doing them more of a favor and helping to mold public perception in favor of AfD and it's themes. Just the Pinocchio Press talk alone might be a difficult problem for the state-run news media. Imagine a hundred signs sprinkled around some protest with a Pinocchio figure in the draw and a long nose....with the state-run news media folks listed under the figure.
The Fake Volunteer Story
Presently in Europe....it doesn't matter which country you are talking about.....but the Red Cross figures into a lot of refugee assistance affairs. To be honest, most governments just don't have the emergency services routine down as a primary task of the government. It'd be different if emergencies routinely occurred....like floods or hurricanes. But in most countries of the EU....it's just awful rare that you have an emergency in some region more than once or twice a year.
There's been this trend noticed in the Netherlands....which probably won't get discussed much in Germany or via the state-run TV news media. Negativity over the Red Cross mission in assisting refugees has been noticed.....so such a degree.....that they had to do an internal audit to asses how bad the situation really is.
One of the commercial news networks got ahold of the report (Nos is the network). Out of the national network of 30,000 volunteers.....they were able to survey 1,300 members. Basically....twenty-percent refuse to help in the refugee crisis.
Yep, one out of five.
In two weeks, there's supposed to be a meeting of the Red Cross leadership in the Netherlands. Right now, the main purpose of the meeting is to get the twenty-five district 'bosses' to admit how many of their people aren't willing to 'go-the-distance'.
You can imagine the assessments going on each district. Some guy will invite the 'gang' out to the Red Cross hall or some pub, and then have a neighborly and good-hearted discussion about being a volunteer and what it all means. Somewhere around the twenty-minute point.....he'll cross the line and say something negative about being a "fake-volunteer".
The "fake-volunteer" will be some character who only comes to this type of emergency or helps this type of person. He will inject at this point that he doesn't want fakes on his team.
At that point, half of the people at the table will get up and walk out the door.
The boss will sit there for a minute.....kinda consumed by the loss of half his volunteer force and turn to the number two guy for a moment of inspiration.
The number two guy will respond that it's a momentary thing. Volunteers who routinely deal with refugees....start getting a bit disturbed when they see a trend or vicious act within a refugee center. They talk about it and eventually become negative. The number two guy assures the boss....as time passes...more people will become 'fake-volunteers', and it'll continue as long as there is a full-time and ongoing crisis.
This guy goes to the big national meeting and lays out his results. Some groups were lucky and only lost five-percent of their volunteers.....some lost a quarter....some lost half. The national chief will talk about recruitment and how people need to go out into the community and look for fresh new volunteers. A year later, they will repeat this exercise again as they realize they have another round of fake-volunteers to endure.
It's a harsh reality for being a volunteer. No matter what you did on the good side for the past twenty years....once you turn some corner and reach a point of negativity about the end-point of the volunteer work....there's no rehab or 'coach-talk' to get you back onto the straight and narrow path. Once you've stood and watched enough....you get this bad taste in your mouth and it's hard to just overlook certain things.
I can understand the worried nature of the Dutch Red Cross and the fear of fake-volunteers. But the Red Cross wasn't really created as a full-time profession or to be a continual baby-sitter for adults. You'd have an emergency and then gather to assist....wrap up the emergency, and then go home. In a way, you basically now need a Red Cross to help the Red Cross. And I don't believe that being acceptable in this situation.
There's been this trend noticed in the Netherlands....which probably won't get discussed much in Germany or via the state-run TV news media. Negativity over the Red Cross mission in assisting refugees has been noticed.....so such a degree.....that they had to do an internal audit to asses how bad the situation really is.
One of the commercial news networks got ahold of the report (Nos is the network). Out of the national network of 30,000 volunteers.....they were able to survey 1,300 members. Basically....twenty-percent refuse to help in the refugee crisis.
Yep, one out of five.
In two weeks, there's supposed to be a meeting of the Red Cross leadership in the Netherlands. Right now, the main purpose of the meeting is to get the twenty-five district 'bosses' to admit how many of their people aren't willing to 'go-the-distance'.
You can imagine the assessments going on each district. Some guy will invite the 'gang' out to the Red Cross hall or some pub, and then have a neighborly and good-hearted discussion about being a volunteer and what it all means. Somewhere around the twenty-minute point.....he'll cross the line and say something negative about being a "fake-volunteer".
The "fake-volunteer" will be some character who only comes to this type of emergency or helps this type of person. He will inject at this point that he doesn't want fakes on his team.
At that point, half of the people at the table will get up and walk out the door.
The boss will sit there for a minute.....kinda consumed by the loss of half his volunteer force and turn to the number two guy for a moment of inspiration.
The number two guy will respond that it's a momentary thing. Volunteers who routinely deal with refugees....start getting a bit disturbed when they see a trend or vicious act within a refugee center. They talk about it and eventually become negative. The number two guy assures the boss....as time passes...more people will become 'fake-volunteers', and it'll continue as long as there is a full-time and ongoing crisis.
This guy goes to the big national meeting and lays out his results. Some groups were lucky and only lost five-percent of their volunteers.....some lost a quarter....some lost half. The national chief will talk about recruitment and how people need to go out into the community and look for fresh new volunteers. A year later, they will repeat this exercise again as they realize they have another round of fake-volunteers to endure.
It's a harsh reality for being a volunteer. No matter what you did on the good side for the past twenty years....once you turn some corner and reach a point of negativity about the end-point of the volunteer work....there's no rehab or 'coach-talk' to get you back onto the straight and narrow path. Once you've stood and watched enough....you get this bad taste in your mouth and it's hard to just overlook certain things.
I can understand the worried nature of the Dutch Red Cross and the fear of fake-volunteers. But the Red Cross wasn't really created as a full-time profession or to be a continual baby-sitter for adults. You'd have an emergency and then gather to assist....wrap up the emergency, and then go home. In a way, you basically now need a Red Cross to help the Red Cross. And I don't believe that being acceptable in this situation.
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