Over the weekend, Bavaria's state minister on economics.....Ilse Aigner....came out with a comment on the need for German legislation to ban burqas and niqabs in German society.
The trigger? She made a trip to Iran recently and apparently 'forced' to wear a headscarf as part of the Iranian rules for women to be in public or around government officials.
As Aigner said: "It does not fit into our culture to hide. And it contradicts our idea of equality of women."
As you read through her text....she doesn't just mean for the immigrant crowd....she means for foreign tourists as well.
The odds of getting this passed in the current Bundestag? Zero percent, because of the numbers of SPD members, Green Party enthusiasm for Muslims, and Linke Party objectives. State-by-state? It might be possible in two or three German states to find enough votes and get legislation passed. Whether it would survive a Constitutional Court challenge is unknown.
I've made this observation on several occasion....if you go back ten years ago in Germany....in a city like Wiesbaden....you might have seen one or two such ladies in a niqab in a single day. I'd note in 2015 that on a typical summer afternoon in the shopping district....you might see between seventy and a hundred such women. Whether they are tourists or immigrants....is unknown.
Monday, November 30, 2015
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Another Refugee Center Episode
From what the cops out of Munich say this morning.....they got a phone call to come out to a refugee center near Berg am Laim around noon on Saturday. It was one of those personnel available calls and they responded with approximately twenty cars....or so says a couple of different news sources.
A woman dead.....one gunshot wound. Eastern European.....not a Syrian or Eritrean.
Their original idea was that the husband was the shooter....so they've collected this guy and gone to questions at the station. However, they still say it might have been a suicide event. The gun? Well, that's the odd thing....they can't find the gun. The suggestion of the suicide? It apparently comes from the husband.
I have my doubts that cops will buy this suicide suggestion as long as there is no gun around.....it sounds too much like a murder.
Trouble from the crowd at the center? No. Folks were respectful and there was no other event other than the shot fired and a woman dead.
A woman dead.....one gunshot wound. Eastern European.....not a Syrian or Eritrean.
Their original idea was that the husband was the shooter....so they've collected this guy and gone to questions at the station. However, they still say it might have been a suicide event. The gun? Well, that's the odd thing....they can't find the gun. The suggestion of the suicide? It apparently comes from the husband.
I have my doubts that cops will buy this suicide suggestion as long as there is no gun around.....it sounds too much like a murder.
Trouble from the crowd at the center? No. Folks were respectful and there was no other event other than the shot fired and a woman dead.
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Germany - 83 Viewing
Last night, I sat and watched two episodes of the new German series on RTL (my commercial German network), entitled Germany - 83. It's a short series....I think between eight and ten episodes. I have to admit.....it's fairly interesting and they ought to go forward and do another dozen at least.
It's historically based in 1983.....in the heart of the Cold War period. A East Germany (DDR) kid has been drafted by his government to go and replace a West German military officer and become a spy. The kid is not that thrilled about the job and he half-way bumbles his way around.
At one point, he's entered a grocery store, and there are all these aisles and aisles of food.....fresh fruit from across the globe, and he's standing there in shock. Back in DDR.....you had meager offerings and had to accept what they offered. For the typical German watching the show today.....it's a big reminder about the difference in reality for east and west.
They built the segments into 50-minute pieces, with commercials.....so I'd take a guess each segment is about 40 minutes at best.
I would highly recommend it if you have a chance to watch it (Germany - 83).
It's historically based in 1983.....in the heart of the Cold War period. A East Germany (DDR) kid has been drafted by his government to go and replace a West German military officer and become a spy. The kid is not that thrilled about the job and he half-way bumbles his way around.
At one point, he's entered a grocery store, and there are all these aisles and aisles of food.....fresh fruit from across the globe, and he's standing there in shock. Back in DDR.....you had meager offerings and had to accept what they offered. For the typical German watching the show today.....it's a big reminder about the difference in reality for east and west.
They built the segments into 50-minute pieces, with commercials.....so I'd take a guess each segment is about 40 minutes at best.
I would highly recommend it if you have a chance to watch it (Germany - 83).
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
The Captagon Gang
The German news folks at Focus put the update up this morning. As the French cops have gone and done a fairly extensive investigation over the hours prior to the Paris attack....they've come to the hotel room where the 'boys' were staying.
There, they found syringes and needles. The drug used? Captagon.
I've bogged on this topic two or three times in the last ten days. This is a German-developed drug out of the 1960s.....a amphetamine that will hype you up for hours and hours....feeling invincible and powerful.
Yeah, it's mostly illegal in western countries now because of the potential of abuse. But the stuff is made to a great extent in garage-like labs (the Breaking Bad-like scenario) in Syria.
The one comment that I've noticed over and over by the French folks who survived the attack.....the attackers all acted like zombies....with a detached view of reality.
If you use enough Captagon.....you don't suffer from hunger pains, fear, lack of courage, or any actual wounds or injuries that might occur.....well, until the high wears off.
What'll happen now? Mostly nothing. A few people will ponder upon this usage and ask if most all jihadists use Captagon, and they will eventually realize that most all jihadists use it and it's been a problem throughout the Middle East for more than thirty years. Even in Saudi Arabia, where some folks claim up to 50,000 individuals a year are pushed into rehab over the drug.....there's a problem.
Drugged up loser thugs on some combination amphetamine and religious high? Man, who imagine that scenario?
There, they found syringes and needles. The drug used? Captagon.
I've bogged on this topic two or three times in the last ten days. This is a German-developed drug out of the 1960s.....a amphetamine that will hype you up for hours and hours....feeling invincible and powerful.
Yeah, it's mostly illegal in western countries now because of the potential of abuse. But the stuff is made to a great extent in garage-like labs (the Breaking Bad-like scenario) in Syria.
The one comment that I've noticed over and over by the French folks who survived the attack.....the attackers all acted like zombies....with a detached view of reality.
If you use enough Captagon.....you don't suffer from hunger pains, fear, lack of courage, or any actual wounds or injuries that might occur.....well, until the high wears off.
What'll happen now? Mostly nothing. A few people will ponder upon this usage and ask if most all jihadists use Captagon, and they will eventually realize that most all jihadists use it and it's been a problem throughout the Middle East for more than thirty years. Even in Saudi Arabia, where some folks claim up to 50,000 individuals a year are pushed into rehab over the drug.....there's a problem.
Drugged up loser thugs on some combination amphetamine and religious high? Man, who imagine that scenario?
The 991.55 Euro Guy
My regional press covered it.....Nassauische Neue Presse.
Once upon a time.....there were these bad Nazis. Not the good Nazis, or the political Nazis, or the historically misinterpreted Nazis.....but just plain bad Nazis.
So, to be a first-rate and recognized organization.....you needed a symbol. It needed to represent something historic in nature and be something that was easily to graphically display.
Thus came the original symbol of the Nationalists Socialists Party.
After 1945, just about everybody and their brother made the swastika an illegal symbol. Well....except in the United States.
Here in Germany.....you can use the Swastika for movie sets and a handful of things.....but otherwise, it's all illegal.
So there came this ethical guy.....a German....a local teacher.....pretty fired up with negative Nazi temperament, walking along the public streets of Limburg.
Limburg is about twenty kilometers away from my residence and is mostly known for a mental hospital that killed patients (pre-dating the Nazi period) and a major Catholic Church. It's a sizable town.....33,000 people. They have people today....of walks of life, from immigrants to Jehovah's Witnesses, to Neo-Nazi characters.
So our guy, the ethically fired up teacher....came up on this Nazi sticker or two on the street and tried to get some city interest or street department interest in clearing these off local light-poles. No one says much over how many there were to start with, but our guy apparently met little success on this terrible eyesore affecting the poor youth of the city.
Plan B apparently went into effect with our guy.....with him carrying some paint around and just painting over the 'canker' of society.
One day....after he'd painted a number of these Swastikas around town.....the authorities came up. No one has said much over the conversation or what was talked about on this initial episode......but they weren't exactly there to give the civic-minded guy a medal. No.....in fact.....he had used paint in some way and been noted defacing fourteen total traffic signs, posts or garbage cans.....with black paint.
Why he chose black over blue, or not using the pleasing green color, or a weeply-yellow stain.....well....it's beyond me. Maybe it was on sale that day when he walked into the store.
They basically charged him with a crime. Now I admit.....part of the bigger issue is that he didn't exactly spray a small black covering over the Swastika. The authorities claim and I can't vouch for this comment.....that he made an awful big black-out of the offending symbol. Yes, awful big.
So this all leads to charges, a crime, and a fine.
I think after this all got out in public comments.....the city took the 3,000 Euro (roughly $4,000) fine and lowered a good bit......down to 991 Euro and a few cents. They figured.....maybe he'd just understand and just accept his punishment like a good German. Note, yeah.....a good German would just fall on their sword and admit guilt when they've done something wrong.
But in this case.....our mortal hero.....as enthusiast as he is.....won't admit guilt and told them to drag him into court. In the last couple of days.....they reached their verdict in the district court.....guilty. He's supposed to pay the fine....no jail-time involved.
Well....he says....no, he'll take it all the way up and will refuse to pay. He's dragging the city into a battle where no matter how they twist this or explain it in public.....they look stupid.
His claim is that he's a teacher and a role model.....so just allowing the Nazi symbol to stand....as is.....won't happen with him around.
Naturally, all of this brings out the suggestion that there must be a bunch of Nazis in Limburg. Well....to this date, no one has established this fact, and the symbols involved might just be a fad from some creative kids who want to get people to talking.
Legally, in costs......by the time this gets to the German Constitutional Court.....all sides probably will have spent at least 150,000 Euro....over a 991 Euro fine. That's the silly thing about this whole story.
I would generally respect the guy because he's doing it for the right reasons. As for the act? It would not have taken a rocket-scientist to sit and think over this.....inventing a sticker of a different variety (gay-rights, a Halloween pumpkin, Batman, or some local soccer club) and just walk around at night to toss your own creation over the stupid swastika symbol. You'd avoid identifying yourself.....avoid the hassle of the authorities.....and being dragged around in court. But, that's just me speaking.
So, when you hear about the 991.55 Euro guy in Limburg.....you know the basic story.
Once upon a time.....there were these bad Nazis. Not the good Nazis, or the political Nazis, or the historically misinterpreted Nazis.....but just plain bad Nazis.
So, to be a first-rate and recognized organization.....you needed a symbol. It needed to represent something historic in nature and be something that was easily to graphically display.
Thus came the original symbol of the Nationalists Socialists Party.
After 1945, just about everybody and their brother made the swastika an illegal symbol. Well....except in the United States.
Here in Germany.....you can use the Swastika for movie sets and a handful of things.....but otherwise, it's all illegal.
So there came this ethical guy.....a German....a local teacher.....pretty fired up with negative Nazi temperament, walking along the public streets of Limburg.
Limburg is about twenty kilometers away from my residence and is mostly known for a mental hospital that killed patients (pre-dating the Nazi period) and a major Catholic Church. It's a sizable town.....33,000 people. They have people today....of walks of life, from immigrants to Jehovah's Witnesses, to Neo-Nazi characters.
So our guy, the ethically fired up teacher....came up on this Nazi sticker or two on the street and tried to get some city interest or street department interest in clearing these off local light-poles. No one says much over how many there were to start with, but our guy apparently met little success on this terrible eyesore affecting the poor youth of the city.
Plan B apparently went into effect with our guy.....with him carrying some paint around and just painting over the 'canker' of society.
One day....after he'd painted a number of these Swastikas around town.....the authorities came up. No one has said much over the conversation or what was talked about on this initial episode......but they weren't exactly there to give the civic-minded guy a medal. No.....in fact.....he had used paint in some way and been noted defacing fourteen total traffic signs, posts or garbage cans.....with black paint.
Why he chose black over blue, or not using the pleasing green color, or a weeply-yellow stain.....well....it's beyond me. Maybe it was on sale that day when he walked into the store.
They basically charged him with a crime. Now I admit.....part of the bigger issue is that he didn't exactly spray a small black covering over the Swastika. The authorities claim and I can't vouch for this comment.....that he made an awful big black-out of the offending symbol. Yes, awful big.
So this all leads to charges, a crime, and a fine.
I think after this all got out in public comments.....the city took the 3,000 Euro (roughly $4,000) fine and lowered a good bit......down to 991 Euro and a few cents. They figured.....maybe he'd just understand and just accept his punishment like a good German. Note, yeah.....a good German would just fall on their sword and admit guilt when they've done something wrong.
But in this case.....our mortal hero.....as enthusiast as he is.....won't admit guilt and told them to drag him into court. In the last couple of days.....they reached their verdict in the district court.....guilty. He's supposed to pay the fine....no jail-time involved.
Well....he says....no, he'll take it all the way up and will refuse to pay. He's dragging the city into a battle where no matter how they twist this or explain it in public.....they look stupid.
His claim is that he's a teacher and a role model.....so just allowing the Nazi symbol to stand....as is.....won't happen with him around.
Naturally, all of this brings out the suggestion that there must be a bunch of Nazis in Limburg. Well....to this date, no one has established this fact, and the symbols involved might just be a fad from some creative kids who want to get people to talking.
Legally, in costs......by the time this gets to the German Constitutional Court.....all sides probably will have spent at least 150,000 Euro....over a 991 Euro fine. That's the silly thing about this whole story.
I would generally respect the guy because he's doing it for the right reasons. As for the act? It would not have taken a rocket-scientist to sit and think over this.....inventing a sticker of a different variety (gay-rights, a Halloween pumpkin, Batman, or some local soccer club) and just walk around at night to toss your own creation over the stupid swastika symbol. You'd avoid identifying yourself.....avoid the hassle of the authorities.....and being dragged around in court. But, that's just me speaking.
So, when you hear about the 991.55 Euro guy in Limburg.....you know the basic story.
The Getting Defensive Story
Generally, any German can apply for a weapons permit. There's a list of thing required to complete the application (the class itself being the last item). Generally, because of the hassle.....you just don't have that many Germans who want to apply themselves for the paperwork, class, etc.
So, plan "B" tends to fall into place.
I noticed a comment in the news from the VDB (German Association of German Gunsmiths and Arms Dealers). Over the past year, their chief spokesperson noted that pepper spray purchases have doubled.
The neat thing about pepper spray.....unlike about ninety-percent of the alternate measures....is that there is no permit, no application, and no classes required. Well, at least presently.
The other potential defensive measure that is legal and without paperwork? Tasers.
So, in most significant German towns.....there's a knife or gun type shop, and you can find either the taser or pepper-spray device for sale.
Oddly, what the experts say is that presently.....there are two things in Germany which are drawing attention to defensive weapons. One of course is the Paris attack and growing terrorism trend. The second one is a curious one.....an increasing number of wolves noted in rural areas of Germany. The public is told (almost weekly via regional news commentators) that wolves are not a threat to the human population. It's believed to some degree.....but farmers and hunters debate the message and the safe angle to wolves being in a public area.
All of this is simply adding up to more interest and more willing nature to accept the paperwork and classes required.....to have a weapon, or go to the plan "B" measure.
The idea that Germans may give you in a public forum that they don't allow weapons into private hands or the public has accepted absolute control?
Well, here's the simplicity of this. No one is denied a weapon, unless they apply and there's some crime history, some mental health issue, or there's a physical or mental impairment which makes it all but impossible for you to handle the weapon.
A regular guy, with no arrests, no mental issues, and competent enough to take the class? He gets to the end.....gets the permit.....and buys his first weapon. This big threshold that Germans like to brag about in their public forums? If you have an arrest or two, alcohol issues, or a mental stress condition with drug history? You will be denied a weapon.
To be kinda honest.....if one were to take Mainz as an example and Memphis as a counter-example.....one could walk around Mainz twenty-four hours a day....seven days a week....and never feel threatened within any neighborhood of the city (within city limits). In Memphis, there are various areas of town where upon sundown.....you really ought not be walking around, period. In some areas of Memphis....it's not safe to drive a car around after 10PM....unless you have a weapon in the car.
For me? The wolf problem is probably a bigger issue....since I am one of those enthusiasts who walk the trails around Wiesbaden. No one within two hundred kilometers of my village has reported seeing a wolf.....so I'm kinda feeling safe. Maybe two or three years into the future.....things might change, and a wolf report or two....might convince me to carry a pepper-spray container as a minimum.
Things changing on pepper-spray? This is a curious thing. I've noticed in the local news on a dozen occasions in the past year.....where some harsh discussion started up between two parties.....and one guy or gal used pepper-spray against the other. It wasn't really a life or death situation.....just where someone got provoked and decided 'enough was enough'. I expect the political folks to get all disturbed eventually, and make up some stupid permit for pepper-spray......along with a class....and try to educate people not to use the stuff unless absolutely necessary.
So, being defensive in Germany isn't illegal.....at least not yet.
So, plan "B" tends to fall into place.
I noticed a comment in the news from the VDB (German Association of German Gunsmiths and Arms Dealers). Over the past year, their chief spokesperson noted that pepper spray purchases have doubled.
The neat thing about pepper spray.....unlike about ninety-percent of the alternate measures....is that there is no permit, no application, and no classes required. Well, at least presently.
The other potential defensive measure that is legal and without paperwork? Tasers.
So, in most significant German towns.....there's a knife or gun type shop, and you can find either the taser or pepper-spray device for sale.
Oddly, what the experts say is that presently.....there are two things in Germany which are drawing attention to defensive weapons. One of course is the Paris attack and growing terrorism trend. The second one is a curious one.....an increasing number of wolves noted in rural areas of Germany. The public is told (almost weekly via regional news commentators) that wolves are not a threat to the human population. It's believed to some degree.....but farmers and hunters debate the message and the safe angle to wolves being in a public area.
All of this is simply adding up to more interest and more willing nature to accept the paperwork and classes required.....to have a weapon, or go to the plan "B" measure.
The idea that Germans may give you in a public forum that they don't allow weapons into private hands or the public has accepted absolute control?
Well, here's the simplicity of this. No one is denied a weapon, unless they apply and there's some crime history, some mental health issue, or there's a physical or mental impairment which makes it all but impossible for you to handle the weapon.
A regular guy, with no arrests, no mental issues, and competent enough to take the class? He gets to the end.....gets the permit.....and buys his first weapon. This big threshold that Germans like to brag about in their public forums? If you have an arrest or two, alcohol issues, or a mental stress condition with drug history? You will be denied a weapon.
To be kinda honest.....if one were to take Mainz as an example and Memphis as a counter-example.....one could walk around Mainz twenty-four hours a day....seven days a week....and never feel threatened within any neighborhood of the city (within city limits). In Memphis, there are various areas of town where upon sundown.....you really ought not be walking around, period. In some areas of Memphis....it's not safe to drive a car around after 10PM....unless you have a weapon in the car.
For me? The wolf problem is probably a bigger issue....since I am one of those enthusiasts who walk the trails around Wiesbaden. No one within two hundred kilometers of my village has reported seeing a wolf.....so I'm kinda feeling safe. Maybe two or three years into the future.....things might change, and a wolf report or two....might convince me to carry a pepper-spray container as a minimum.
Things changing on pepper-spray? This is a curious thing. I've noticed in the local news on a dozen occasions in the past year.....where some harsh discussion started up between two parties.....and one guy or gal used pepper-spray against the other. It wasn't really a life or death situation.....just where someone got provoked and decided 'enough was enough'. I expect the political folks to get all disturbed eventually, and make up some stupid permit for pepper-spray......along with a class....and try to educate people not to use the stuff unless absolutely necessary.
So, being defensive in Germany isn't illegal.....at least not yet.
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Another Fight
In regional news around Germany, cops got called out to old Spinelli Barracks (Mannehim)....which is now being used as a refugee center.
What was said via SWR (one of the regional TV networks) was that some fight started up between a hundred immigrants. The chief weapon being used? Broomsticks.
This was mostly a fight a fight between Afghans, Algerians and Moroccans on one side.....and Syrians and Kurds on the other side.
Around eight police cars were called upon and put down the riot.....using pepper spray.
Cause? Mostly unknown. The cops say one of the Algerians started this fight and he suffered a fair amount during the fight.
I noted at the bottom of the story.....the day prior....at this same former barracks.....doctors had gotten called out and fifty-odd people had a major attack of diarrhea. Medical folks ended up treating at least fifteen with some healthy dosage of anti-diarrhea medication.
My humble guess is that there might be some tough talk going back and forth over sanitary habits and cleanliness.....which triggered a comment or two over diarrhea.....which typically gets people all frustrated and upset.
The thing is.....in this type of compound or center operation.....diseases get passed around rather quickly and you could have a dozen-odd characters with poor hygiene habits causing problems for everyone in the camp. It would not be hard to get people upset.....if all they do is sit around for hours and hours.....blaming each other for various problems or ailments.
What was said via SWR (one of the regional TV networks) was that some fight started up between a hundred immigrants. The chief weapon being used? Broomsticks.
This was mostly a fight a fight between Afghans, Algerians and Moroccans on one side.....and Syrians and Kurds on the other side.
Around eight police cars were called upon and put down the riot.....using pepper spray.
Cause? Mostly unknown. The cops say one of the Algerians started this fight and he suffered a fair amount during the fight.
I noted at the bottom of the story.....the day prior....at this same former barracks.....doctors had gotten called out and fifty-odd people had a major attack of diarrhea. Medical folks ended up treating at least fifteen with some healthy dosage of anti-diarrhea medication.
My humble guess is that there might be some tough talk going back and forth over sanitary habits and cleanliness.....which triggered a comment or two over diarrhea.....which typically gets people all frustrated and upset.
The thing is.....in this type of compound or center operation.....diseases get passed around rather quickly and you could have a dozen-odd characters with poor hygiene habits causing problems for everyone in the camp. It would not be hard to get people upset.....if all they do is sit around for hours and hours.....blaming each other for various problems or ailments.
A fight over diarrhea? Yeah....more or less.
Bufdis Jobs?
The term "Bufdis" came up in the German news today. It's not a simple word to define.....basically it means a federalized volunteer worker who gets paid roughly 360 to 380 Euro a month....with an additional allowance possible for food and accommodations.
What the German government said (via news media reports) is that they are creating an additional 10,000 Bufdis jobs over the next year for immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.....well.....meaning those who passed and got a visa but in some pattern of waiting.
The cost to this? A pot of fifty million Euro has been set aside for the the next three years. You, as a city or municipality or federalized agency helping the refugee mission.....could ask for funding and get people temporarily approved for the volunteer work.
Jobs? You could be used as domestic helpers in old-folks homes or in refugee camps/centers.
It's not meant to be any kind of career move and I think a number of people will feel insulted because it's work beneath them or their prior position in life. Lets face it.....it is absolute minimum wage, with your accommodations covered. It's pure pocket money until the Arbeitsamt (job-center) comes up with a 'real' job.....which might be months and months away.
I should note.....the 2016 Bundestag budget also passed this morning.....317 billion Euro total. Of that, ONLY 7.5 billion Euro has been tasked for the asylum, immigration and refugee episode. My humble guess is that the states will have depleted that by mid-summer of 2016 and will have to find another 7.5 billion by that point. The positive is that the Bundestag only has to admit this lesser money to the news media and public now and everyone will feel great that it's not an overwhelming amount of money (like that twenty billion that was discussed in August by a private foundation guessing the 2016 requirement for immigrants).
What the German government said (via news media reports) is that they are creating an additional 10,000 Bufdis jobs over the next year for immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.....well.....meaning those who passed and got a visa but in some pattern of waiting.
The cost to this? A pot of fifty million Euro has been set aside for the the next three years. You, as a city or municipality or federalized agency helping the refugee mission.....could ask for funding and get people temporarily approved for the volunteer work.
Jobs? You could be used as domestic helpers in old-folks homes or in refugee camps/centers.
It's not meant to be any kind of career move and I think a number of people will feel insulted because it's work beneath them or their prior position in life. Lets face it.....it is absolute minimum wage, with your accommodations covered. It's pure pocket money until the Arbeitsamt (job-center) comes up with a 'real' job.....which might be months and months away.
I should note.....the 2016 Bundestag budget also passed this morning.....317 billion Euro total. Of that, ONLY 7.5 billion Euro has been tasked for the asylum, immigration and refugee episode. My humble guess is that the states will have depleted that by mid-summer of 2016 and will have to find another 7.5 billion by that point. The positive is that the Bundestag only has to admit this lesser money to the news media and public now and everyone will feel great that it's not an overwhelming amount of money (like that twenty billion that was discussed in August by a private foundation guessing the 2016 requirement for immigrants).
Monday, November 23, 2015
Bringing Cat Pictures into the Fight
Yesterday, a significant amount of activity took place around Belgium, with cops and soldiers acting on tips and arresting sixteen individuals. Raids were conducted on almost twenty locations.
While all of this was being carried out.....the city is basically shut down and no public transportation working. The authorities realized that reports of the raids would warn other individuals.....so they asked for public support....basically to flood Twitter with non-essential information and keep individuals guessing on what was really going on.
In a matter of minutes.....people went into action....with cat pictures. Thousands upon thousands of cat pictures. The Twitter universe that hung over Brussels was filled with tens of thousands of reports with cat pictures.
Hashtags were created....#Brusselslockdown, #Brusselsundersiege, etc. And cat pictures were attached.
If you were a bad guy and looking for updates about what the cops were doing....you weren't going to get it from social media.
By the end of the day.....a number of bad guys were taken off the street.....relative calm continued in Brussels.....and a bunch of social media freaks could proudly say that they did their piece.....with cat pictures.
While all of this was being carried out.....the city is basically shut down and no public transportation working. The authorities realized that reports of the raids would warn other individuals.....so they asked for public support....basically to flood Twitter with non-essential information and keep individuals guessing on what was really going on.
In a matter of minutes.....people went into action....with cat pictures. Thousands upon thousands of cat pictures. The Twitter universe that hung over Brussels was filled with tens of thousands of reports with cat pictures.
Hashtags were created....#Brusselslockdown, #Brusselsundersiege, etc. And cat pictures were attached.
If you were a bad guy and looking for updates about what the cops were doing....you weren't going to get it from social media.
By the end of the day.....a number of bad guys were taken off the street.....relative calm continued in Brussels.....and a bunch of social media freaks could proudly say that they did their piece.....with cat pictures.
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Germans and Alcohol
One of the dozen-odd things about German society that an American comes to grasp after a couple of months of German living....is that Germans have a fairly open view of alcohol consumption. For any American southerner to walk in and admit they were from a dry-county, and the German would almost want to treat them as an alien from another planet.
From my local beverage shop in the next village over.....there are around 200 different beers to choose from and at least 200 different stronger beverages (cognac, bourbon, rum, etc). Wine? Oh my....he's probably got at least three hundred wines on the shelf (from Germany, Europe, Africa, Australia, and even the US). Because this is Hessen, he'll even have twenty different apple wines which the locals tend to favor as their sipping choice on hot afternoons. Here in the approaching Christmas season, there will likely be at least thirty beverages which tend to fit into the heated-beverage routine (gluhwine for example) on the shelf.
Germans being heavy drinkers? No. That would not be a fair characteristic to dump on them. If you went looking around the neighborhood.....out of a hundred adults....you might classify two-percent as serious and heavy drinkers. The rest would all fit into different categories.
German cooks tend use tons of wine within sauces or stews. They use cheap stuff (the three-Euro option) and they use the expensive stuff (over fifteen-Euro). Walk into any German kitchen....open up the refrigerator and there's better than fifty-percent odds that there will be a wine sitting there for cooking purposes.
If you go to a Greek restaurant in Germany.....toward the end of the dinner....the German-Greek waiter will always come up and offer you an Ouzo.....sometimes free of charge.....to help settle your stomach before you leave.
Beer gardens are popular in small villages, towns, and cities across Germany. From early spring to late fall.....people frequent these....sipping beer and engaged in conversation.
As much as people may falsely think that Germany is a beer nation.....it's more of a multiple selection nation. There are over 1,200 different breweries in operation in Germany today. There are reportedly near 70,000 wineries in the nation, and over one-third of them are noted as "professional", while the rest are hobbyists. Toss in the serious producers of hard alcohol, and you've got a wide variety of choices.
Germans aren't heavy pushers of alcohol. You could show up at some German house and they'd offer you some refreshments, and you could say mineral water, and they'd bring out the bottle and serve you (minus ice-cubes......don't ever think the cubes will be offered unless you ask for them). Of course, don't be shocked when your birthday comes up and your co-worker gives you a little bottle of peach cognac or honey-flavored liquor. If the neighbor invites you over for a birthday garden party deal.....you can expect at least a dozen different offerings of alcohol, along with a couple of sodas or waters.
Acceptance of this open cultural thing? Well.....yeah, there's not much choice and you kinda have to accept this German attitude. On the positive side? This is the interesting part of the story. If you were talking about five-star beer production.....Germans know how to brew. If you were talking about five-star wine-production.....Germans know how to grow the grape and age the wine. If you were talking about cognac....Germans have made cognac production into a science. Wanting to sit and discuss types of glasses for each single wine, beer or cognac? There are probably twenty-thousand varieties in Germany today and it would require a four-volume series of books to explain all the details and characteristics.
So, my general advice is that you need an open mind on Germans and alcohol. They've had several thousand years to reach this stage, and to be honest.....they might know something about the topic.
From my local beverage shop in the next village over.....there are around 200 different beers to choose from and at least 200 different stronger beverages (cognac, bourbon, rum, etc). Wine? Oh my....he's probably got at least three hundred wines on the shelf (from Germany, Europe, Africa, Australia, and even the US). Because this is Hessen, he'll even have twenty different apple wines which the locals tend to favor as their sipping choice on hot afternoons. Here in the approaching Christmas season, there will likely be at least thirty beverages which tend to fit into the heated-beverage routine (gluhwine for example) on the shelf.
Germans being heavy drinkers? No. That would not be a fair characteristic to dump on them. If you went looking around the neighborhood.....out of a hundred adults....you might classify two-percent as serious and heavy drinkers. The rest would all fit into different categories.
German cooks tend use tons of wine within sauces or stews. They use cheap stuff (the three-Euro option) and they use the expensive stuff (over fifteen-Euro). Walk into any German kitchen....open up the refrigerator and there's better than fifty-percent odds that there will be a wine sitting there for cooking purposes.
If you go to a Greek restaurant in Germany.....toward the end of the dinner....the German-Greek waiter will always come up and offer you an Ouzo.....sometimes free of charge.....to help settle your stomach before you leave.
Beer gardens are popular in small villages, towns, and cities across Germany. From early spring to late fall.....people frequent these....sipping beer and engaged in conversation.
As much as people may falsely think that Germany is a beer nation.....it's more of a multiple selection nation. There are over 1,200 different breweries in operation in Germany today. There are reportedly near 70,000 wineries in the nation, and over one-third of them are noted as "professional", while the rest are hobbyists. Toss in the serious producers of hard alcohol, and you've got a wide variety of choices.
Germans aren't heavy pushers of alcohol. You could show up at some German house and they'd offer you some refreshments, and you could say mineral water, and they'd bring out the bottle and serve you (minus ice-cubes......don't ever think the cubes will be offered unless you ask for them). Of course, don't be shocked when your birthday comes up and your co-worker gives you a little bottle of peach cognac or honey-flavored liquor. If the neighbor invites you over for a birthday garden party deal.....you can expect at least a dozen different offerings of alcohol, along with a couple of sodas or waters.
Acceptance of this open cultural thing? Well.....yeah, there's not much choice and you kinda have to accept this German attitude. On the positive side? This is the interesting part of the story. If you were talking about five-star beer production.....Germans know how to brew. If you were talking about five-star wine-production.....Germans know how to grow the grape and age the wine. If you were talking about cognac....Germans have made cognac production into a science. Wanting to sit and discuss types of glasses for each single wine, beer or cognac? There are probably twenty-thousand varieties in Germany today and it would require a four-volume series of books to explain all the details and characteristics.
So, my general advice is that you need an open mind on Germans and alcohol. They've had several thousand years to reach this stage, and to be honest.....they might know something about the topic.
This Berlin Bike Path Idea
There are occasions that you admire the innovation and vision of Germans.
There's a project underway in Berlin which will draw people to rethink bicycle limits in urban areas.
On the books as a potential project.....not approved yet I should add....is this idea of a covered cycle bike path under (emphasize the word "under" from the Zoo Bahnof to the Warsaw Bridge. In essence, it would connect the 'burbs' of Charlottenburg, Schoneberg, Fredrichshain and Kruzberg. A nine-kilometer bike path.
You have to use your imagination to some degree. This train line already exists and is elevated as it crosses the city. It's straight and level for the most part. All the planners would do is add a structure hanging off this elevated train area where a bike trail (likely made out of steel) would be wide enough for two bikes to comfortably pass each other.
Cost? Unknown. That was the curious piece to the story. The planners had spent a year looking at the idea.....working the diagrams and space required....but never getting to a price? My guess is that for 9 kilometers of hanging trails and the entry-exit points.....it's probably over 100 million Euro.
The planners did a curious thing at the end.....they publicized this to the absolute maximum. Since we are a year away from the Berlin-state election.....they've effectively made this bike trail idea a key part of the campaign episode. Green Party enthusiasts might be able to get another five-percent of the vote if this was widely talked about.
The negative? Some people have looked at the width of the trail and questioned the safety wisdom of the width.
Here in my local region (Wiesbaden-Mainz), we have a railway bridge (the Kaiser Brucke) which also has a bike trail on it (along the side, not under). The trail is roughly 1.5 meters wide as it utilizes the side of the bridge. It's wide enough that a walker and a biker can pass along at the same time. It's safe for two bikers to safely pass at a slow speed. I could see the safety questions being legit and limiting this idea.
Bottom line? There is a slow progression toward a bike-friendly urban situation in Germany. I admit, it might take a couple of decades.
There's a project underway in Berlin which will draw people to rethink bicycle limits in urban areas.
On the books as a potential project.....not approved yet I should add....is this idea of a covered cycle bike path under (emphasize the word "under" from the Zoo Bahnof to the Warsaw Bridge. In essence, it would connect the 'burbs' of Charlottenburg, Schoneberg, Fredrichshain and Kruzberg. A nine-kilometer bike path.
You have to use your imagination to some degree. This train line already exists and is elevated as it crosses the city. It's straight and level for the most part. All the planners would do is add a structure hanging off this elevated train area where a bike trail (likely made out of steel) would be wide enough for two bikes to comfortably pass each other.
Cost? Unknown. That was the curious piece to the story. The planners had spent a year looking at the idea.....working the diagrams and space required....but never getting to a price? My guess is that for 9 kilometers of hanging trails and the entry-exit points.....it's probably over 100 million Euro.
The planners did a curious thing at the end.....they publicized this to the absolute maximum. Since we are a year away from the Berlin-state election.....they've effectively made this bike trail idea a key part of the campaign episode. Green Party enthusiasts might be able to get another five-percent of the vote if this was widely talked about.
The negative? Some people have looked at the width of the trail and questioned the safety wisdom of the width.
Here in my local region (Wiesbaden-Mainz), we have a railway bridge (the Kaiser Brucke) which also has a bike trail on it (along the side, not under). The trail is roughly 1.5 meters wide as it utilizes the side of the bridge. It's wide enough that a walker and a biker can pass along at the same time. It's safe for two bikers to safely pass at a slow speed. I could see the safety questions being legit and limiting this idea.
Bottom line? There is a slow progression toward a bike-friendly urban situation in Germany. I admit, it might take a couple of decades.
Saturday, November 21, 2015
Two Updates
First, about two weeks ago, I commented on Deso Dogg, a German Islamic ISIS rapper....who was said to finally be dead from some US attack. At the time, I just didn't believe the story. No body....just talk.
Well, over the past couple of days....I've noticed various German news media sources commenting that no one believes the story.....a lot of people believe Deso Dogg still lives but might be hiding out from both the west and from ISIS.
Second, this week I talked up about Xavier Naidoo who'd been picked by the public-run network for the Euro Vision Song Contest for next year......without any competition involved. Various people had issues with Naidoo because of past comments that might have been anti-social in nature. Well....after forty-eight hours.....Naidoo stepped back and said no....he won't perform.
Well, over the past couple of days....I've noticed various German news media sources commenting that no one believes the story.....a lot of people believe Deso Dogg still lives but might be hiding out from both the west and from ISIS.
Second, this week I talked up about Xavier Naidoo who'd been picked by the public-run network for the Euro Vision Song Contest for next year......without any competition involved. Various people had issues with Naidoo because of past comments that might have been anti-social in nature. Well....after forty-eight hours.....Naidoo stepped back and said no....he won't perform.
The Thing About Fairness and Unfairness
If you follow Channel One (ARD) or Channel Two (ZDF) news (our public-run package in Germany), there's been this reporting angle going on for several months on refugees and status.
If you are an asylum seeker, immigrant, or refugee.....trying to get a visa or permission to stay in Germany....it helps to be mostly Syrian or to a lesser degree Iraqi or Afghan. Beyond that, if you are from Eritrea....it helps to some degree. But then you come to forty-odd countries where you just don't get much status or statistical help in passing.
In other words.....you walk for weeks and weeks to reach the promised land, and sit in some refugee camp for six to eight months.....to discover that because you aren't from land X.....you didn't get permission to stay....but someone else did get permission. Anger, frustration and resentment follow.
I noticed last night on ARD....a short piece which hinted that the Balkans countries (Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, and Serbia) have put up fences and limiting who passes through. Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis pass.....everyone else is refused. It was an angry crowd standing there.
There are various people who watched the crowds surge through in July, August and September....got all hyped up in their original country and left in October to find themselves now at the border of some country and refused access to continue the 'walk'.
If you follow the weekly reporting of various sites in Germany.....there are increasing numbers of fistfights that occur between Syrians and other nationalities.....over perceived favored treatment. Syrians stay in the camps or centers for a shorter time, and other nationalities stay for a much longer time. It doesn't take an idiot to figure out the gimmick.
As they stand there at some border point and get denied....you just can't see anything positive coming out of this confrontational period. At some point, these groups denied the chance to continue their hike to Germany.....will go and attack the Syrian groups. The news media will jump in....hype the attacks and assign some type of blame out for the out-of-control situation.
The thing about criticism over this thing....is that there were no rules at the beginning of this episode and everyone mostly grinned as things were hyped up positive for months and months.....then discovered that it's a rather unfair world. Sadly, you can't make this stuff up.
If you are an asylum seeker, immigrant, or refugee.....trying to get a visa or permission to stay in Germany....it helps to be mostly Syrian or to a lesser degree Iraqi or Afghan. Beyond that, if you are from Eritrea....it helps to some degree. But then you come to forty-odd countries where you just don't get much status or statistical help in passing.
In other words.....you walk for weeks and weeks to reach the promised land, and sit in some refugee camp for six to eight months.....to discover that because you aren't from land X.....you didn't get permission to stay....but someone else did get permission. Anger, frustration and resentment follow.
I noticed last night on ARD....a short piece which hinted that the Balkans countries (Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, and Serbia) have put up fences and limiting who passes through. Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis pass.....everyone else is refused. It was an angry crowd standing there.
There are various people who watched the crowds surge through in July, August and September....got all hyped up in their original country and left in October to find themselves now at the border of some country and refused access to continue the 'walk'.
If you follow the weekly reporting of various sites in Germany.....there are increasing numbers of fistfights that occur between Syrians and other nationalities.....over perceived favored treatment. Syrians stay in the camps or centers for a shorter time, and other nationalities stay for a much longer time. It doesn't take an idiot to figure out the gimmick.
As they stand there at some border point and get denied....you just can't see anything positive coming out of this confrontational period. At some point, these groups denied the chance to continue their hike to Germany.....will go and attack the Syrian groups. The news media will jump in....hype the attacks and assign some type of blame out for the out-of-control situation.
The thing about criticism over this thing....is that there were no rules at the beginning of this episode and everyone mostly grinned as things were hyped up positive for months and months.....then discovered that it's a rather unfair world. Sadly, you can't make this stuff up.
Berlin State Politics
As I've mentioned a couple of times.....there are five state elections (the national election isn't until the fall of 2017) for Germany in 2016. One of those five elections is the Berlin-state election. RBB, the regional public-run network did a review of the present numbers for Berlin residents.
There's a public dissatisfaction with the present CDU-SPD majority government which runs the Berlin state government.
Presently, the CDU is at 23-percent and the SPD is sitting around 27-percent.
The Greens have 17-percent. The Linke Party sits at 14-percent, and the AfD Party has moved up to control 9-percent.
For the sake of the argument.....the AfD has doubled their percentage over the past year....with most support coming from the CDU.
The rest of the votes? Going to minor parties in the area.....FDP, the Pirate Party and a host of parties that will take less than a thousand votes from any election.
It's pointed out that there are regions of Berlin where the AfD is pulling 12-percent and areas where it's down near 3-percent. AfD is hyped up and advertised as the party that will oppose the Merkel immigration plan and standing against refugees in Germany.
There's roughly a year now between today and the next Berlin state election. In between this time.....three other state elections will occur and there will be a fair amount of forum opportunity for AfD to appeal to more voters or the CDU to explain their strategy.
One might look at the scenarios and project out that the CDU probably won't be a major winner in the 2016 state election in Berlin.....perhaps even getting less than 20-percent of the vote. All of this will be a blunt point for the SPD to call for early elections except nationally.....they may have a problem in explaining their policy on the refugees as well. I could even see a scenario where the CDU loses half it's voting base to the AfD and you end up with the SPD in some leadership role but hooked up to the Linke Party and Greens to run some government, with a large segment of the public frustrated with this type of partnership.
There's a public dissatisfaction with the present CDU-SPD majority government which runs the Berlin state government.
Presently, the CDU is at 23-percent and the SPD is sitting around 27-percent.
The Greens have 17-percent. The Linke Party sits at 14-percent, and the AfD Party has moved up to control 9-percent.
For the sake of the argument.....the AfD has doubled their percentage over the past year....with most support coming from the CDU.
The rest of the votes? Going to minor parties in the area.....FDP, the Pirate Party and a host of parties that will take less than a thousand votes from any election.
It's pointed out that there are regions of Berlin where the AfD is pulling 12-percent and areas where it's down near 3-percent. AfD is hyped up and advertised as the party that will oppose the Merkel immigration plan and standing against refugees in Germany.
There's roughly a year now between today and the next Berlin state election. In between this time.....three other state elections will occur and there will be a fair amount of forum opportunity for AfD to appeal to more voters or the CDU to explain their strategy.
One might look at the scenarios and project out that the CDU probably won't be a major winner in the 2016 state election in Berlin.....perhaps even getting less than 20-percent of the vote. All of this will be a blunt point for the SPD to call for early elections except nationally.....they may have a problem in explaining their policy on the refugees as well. I could even see a scenario where the CDU loses half it's voting base to the AfD and you end up with the SPD in some leadership role but hooked up to the Linke Party and Greens to run some government, with a large segment of the public frustrated with this type of partnership.
The Second Property Tax
One of the other things that came out of the local city hall announcements this week in my town (Wiesbaden).....they've decided to go forward with the 'second-house-tax'.
Non-Germans aren't that familiar with the concept so I'll lay out the basics.
Huns is a German who has done good in life.....attended university.....got hooked with a great 'trophy-wife'.....bought a fine house in a great small town in the middle of nowhere....and come to find at the age of thirty-five this great opportunity in life to work at a better job as a manager and pull a better pay-scale. But there's this one problem.....the job is anywhere from 90 minutes to three hours away. The wife doesn't want to move....the kids are happy in the quiet country life....and the house payment is perfect.
Huns makes this decision.....he'll take some of the great extra pay that he's now making and rent or buy a condo near the second job.....driving over on Monday morning and return to the real house on Friday night.
The city of Wiesbaden now estimates over twenty-five thousand people in the area (roughly 280,000 in population) are living the second-house situation. These are people who work in Wiesbaden, or people who work elsewhere and commute back to Wiesbaden each weekend. In some ways, it's created a housing issue because there are numerous apartments or condos in the area.....which are second residences in some fashion.
The city? It's looking for various new ways of creating taxation, and this angle fits easily. If you aren't happy with the situation? Well.....you could move to any of a dozen fine communities outside of Wiesbaden for a residence and thus be outside of the zone of taxation influence.
An American might look at this.....buy an RV and just find a local RV park to house his trailer while working in the local area from Monday through Friday, and just try to stay under the radar of the second-property tax.
Non-Germans aren't that familiar with the concept so I'll lay out the basics.
Huns is a German who has done good in life.....attended university.....got hooked with a great 'trophy-wife'.....bought a fine house in a great small town in the middle of nowhere....and come to find at the age of thirty-five this great opportunity in life to work at a better job as a manager and pull a better pay-scale. But there's this one problem.....the job is anywhere from 90 minutes to three hours away. The wife doesn't want to move....the kids are happy in the quiet country life....and the house payment is perfect.
Huns makes this decision.....he'll take some of the great extra pay that he's now making and rent or buy a condo near the second job.....driving over on Monday morning and return to the real house on Friday night.
The city of Wiesbaden now estimates over twenty-five thousand people in the area (roughly 280,000 in population) are living the second-house situation. These are people who work in Wiesbaden, or people who work elsewhere and commute back to Wiesbaden each weekend. In some ways, it's created a housing issue because there are numerous apartments or condos in the area.....which are second residences in some fashion.
The city? It's looking for various new ways of creating taxation, and this angle fits easily. If you aren't happy with the situation? Well.....you could move to any of a dozen fine communities outside of Wiesbaden for a residence and thus be outside of the zone of taxation influence.
An American might look at this.....buy an RV and just find a local RV park to house his trailer while working in the local area from Monday through Friday, and just try to stay under the radar of the second-property tax.
Unregistered Dogs Too?
I read a fair amount over my regional area of Hessen. This week.....within my local town of Wiesbaden....the news came out that the dog tax will escalate (roughly double). It was 96 Euro (2015) and it will go to 180 Euro for 2016.
I've written over this topic recently. Various communities are stepping up the tax and simply say that it's about the dogs and that to have a dog is an element of wealth.
It is a comical way of viewing a dog. Some people would argue that having a gold fish, a cat or a bird....would also be an element of wealth.
A waiver for those who make minimum wage? No. A waiver for those over sixty-five? No.
Inspections to confirm compliance? Well, the region network HR commented upon this. Within Wiesbaden last year....roughly 850 dogs were checked. Almost 160 dogs were found to be unregistered or untaxed. A problem like the asylum crowd or refugees? Well, yeah.
What the authorities can say is that you got caught with an unregistered dog.....you need to register the dog, pay the normal tax, and they could jerk you around by asking how many years the dog has been with you and assess you for the extra years of tax that they missed.
Of the twenty-odd things that I generally shake my head over.....the dog tax makes the list. Looking at 180 Euro (roughly $200) for one single dog is a serious impact item. Sadly, it could actually be more of a yearly tax than I'd have to pay on a small engined Smart car. How this tax makes logical sense and not taxing cat owners....is beyond me.
The comical side to this is that the claim is that street-cleaning is attached to the collection of the dog tax. But when you go and look at the number of streets throughout Wiesbaden, and the fact that over half of them are not cleaned one single day out of the year by the city....it makes no logical sense. It is reminiscent of the cost-add-on that a Air Force general in Europe put on gas sold via the BX gas stations.....and this nickel add-on deal went to finance baby diapers and lessen their cost to US military customer using the BX. When this finally went public and people asked of the logic....it didn't make a lot of sense.
Bottom line? Go CAT! Cheat the government out of their loot..
I've written over this topic recently. Various communities are stepping up the tax and simply say that it's about the dogs and that to have a dog is an element of wealth.
It is a comical way of viewing a dog. Some people would argue that having a gold fish, a cat or a bird....would also be an element of wealth.
A waiver for those who make minimum wage? No. A waiver for those over sixty-five? No.
Inspections to confirm compliance? Well, the region network HR commented upon this. Within Wiesbaden last year....roughly 850 dogs were checked. Almost 160 dogs were found to be unregistered or untaxed. A problem like the asylum crowd or refugees? Well, yeah.
What the authorities can say is that you got caught with an unregistered dog.....you need to register the dog, pay the normal tax, and they could jerk you around by asking how many years the dog has been with you and assess you for the extra years of tax that they missed.
Of the twenty-odd things that I generally shake my head over.....the dog tax makes the list. Looking at 180 Euro (roughly $200) for one single dog is a serious impact item. Sadly, it could actually be more of a yearly tax than I'd have to pay on a small engined Smart car. How this tax makes logical sense and not taxing cat owners....is beyond me.
The comical side to this is that the claim is that street-cleaning is attached to the collection of the dog tax. But when you go and look at the number of streets throughout Wiesbaden, and the fact that over half of them are not cleaned one single day out of the year by the city....it makes no logical sense. It is reminiscent of the cost-add-on that a Air Force general in Europe put on gas sold via the BX gas stations.....and this nickel add-on deal went to finance baby diapers and lessen their cost to US military customer using the BX. When this finally went public and people asked of the logic....it didn't make a lot of sense.
Bottom line? Go CAT! Cheat the government out of their loot..
Dopers, Zombies, and Jihadists?
Earlier this week, I essayed a piece on the use of a amphetamine pill within the Syrian War on my other blog site.
The drug is fueling energy and a false sense of reality among the users.....mostly all Jihadists participating in the Syrian conflict.
Well, it was reported yesterday that Turkish cops got into a illegal shipment of the amphetamine tablets.....bound for two locations (one was the Gulf States region). The total? Four thousand pounds, or roughly ten million tablets. The Turks hint.....all of the pills were manufactured in Syria. It might make you think that part of the income for ISIS is drug production and export to neighboring countries.
Face value goes up and down on these amphetamines.....you might be able to get some for $5, but the general going price is closer to $20 per pill. Total income on the shipments ($200 million), if it'd gone through.
Captagon.....the commercial name for the pill.....has been a heavily used pill in Saudi Arabia for a number of years. I read one piece where the Saudi state has to operate a rehab program and there's near fifty-thousand individuals who have to go onto the program yearly.
I have doubts that anyone will drug-test the dead bodies from the terrorists in Paris, or the handful arrested in Belgium and Germany. But my humble opinion is that if you did drug-test them.....they'd all have evidence of Captagon in them.
The French magazine "Le Point" wrote a comment into one of their articles from comments of eyewitnesses to the attack.....that the terrorists behaved like "zombies". From the few comments written up.....you would have to reach some conclusion that these guys were doped up on something and had no ability to reason or think.
Mumbai 2008 attack? There's been talk that amphetamine evidence came out of that attack.
Some kind of Quran rule against drug usage? Well, it would be argued that they would have written such a rule had there been drugs in 630 AD. But basically you are left with one verse that says you should avoid things which would bring harm to the body. Some enthusiast might reach an opposite conclusion by saying that for you to reach maximum capacity in achieving the mission in life.....you need some Captagon to conclude a successful purpose.
Dopers? Zombies? Jihadists? It's a chilling scenario.
The drug is fueling energy and a false sense of reality among the users.....mostly all Jihadists participating in the Syrian conflict.
Well, it was reported yesterday that Turkish cops got into a illegal shipment of the amphetamine tablets.....bound for two locations (one was the Gulf States region). The total? Four thousand pounds, or roughly ten million tablets. The Turks hint.....all of the pills were manufactured in Syria. It might make you think that part of the income for ISIS is drug production and export to neighboring countries.
Face value goes up and down on these amphetamines.....you might be able to get some for $5, but the general going price is closer to $20 per pill. Total income on the shipments ($200 million), if it'd gone through.
Captagon.....the commercial name for the pill.....has been a heavily used pill in Saudi Arabia for a number of years. I read one piece where the Saudi state has to operate a rehab program and there's near fifty-thousand individuals who have to go onto the program yearly.
I have doubts that anyone will drug-test the dead bodies from the terrorists in Paris, or the handful arrested in Belgium and Germany. But my humble opinion is that if you did drug-test them.....they'd all have evidence of Captagon in them.
The French magazine "Le Point" wrote a comment into one of their articles from comments of eyewitnesses to the attack.....that the terrorists behaved like "zombies". From the few comments written up.....you would have to reach some conclusion that these guys were doped up on something and had no ability to reason or think.
Mumbai 2008 attack? There's been talk that amphetamine evidence came out of that attack.
Some kind of Quran rule against drug usage? Well, it would be argued that they would have written such a rule had there been drugs in 630 AD. But basically you are left with one verse that says you should avoid things which would bring harm to the body. Some enthusiast might reach an opposite conclusion by saying that for you to reach maximum capacity in achieving the mission in life.....you need some Captagon to conclude a successful purpose.
Dopers? Zombies? Jihadists? It's a chilling scenario.
Overview of the French Changes
In a week's time, France has literally moved mountains in terms of control measures related to the Paris attack.
A 90-day waiver was granted by the French Parliament which enables a couple of extensive features.
First, cops may now search the homes of individuals (except for politicians, journalists, or lawyers) without a judge's order. If four cops come up and suspect you have someone of terrorist significance in the house.....they will simply arrive and demand entry, and if you deny them....they will knock the door down.
If you were connected to some guy that the cops caught on terrorism charges....no judge's order is required for them to search your house.
Some people may suspect a judicial review later and say that by wavering the politicians, journalists and lawyers......it was unfairly written.
The second interesting aspect of the laws passed is the ability for the government to block any website that is deemed a problem. If the authorities find a site that was used for communication between groups.....it'll be shut down.
The third aspect concerns house arrest. They can detain you and simply hand you a written notice that says you must remain in your house except for work or medical purposes. Written into this law was a feature that you could be lifted out of the house arrest but be told not to meet or mingle with certain people (Salafist folks for example).
Electronic tagging of people? Well, yeah, that was written into the law too. So if you showed that you weren't reliable at taking a court order serious......they'd put the electronic device on you, and monitor you via it. If that didn't work.....well, you'd likely be taken to the local jail until you seemed to grasp the significance of the laws.
In ninety days, these will end. Or people may think they will end. Some features....like the house arrest and electronic tagging.....I suspect will continue on and become part of some national trend of acceptance.
I should note that another announcement came from the French President....in that he was hiring roughly 8,000 new police, investigators or customs officials over the next year. Sadly, by the time you figure training and orientation....it'll be two years before these people really fit into the French security picture.
Implementation into Germany? For the time being....no. After a successful attack or two.....some elements of this French effort will be considered. The warrantless entry into houses would freak out most German intellectuals and politicians.
A 90-day waiver was granted by the French Parliament which enables a couple of extensive features.
First, cops may now search the homes of individuals (except for politicians, journalists, or lawyers) without a judge's order. If four cops come up and suspect you have someone of terrorist significance in the house.....they will simply arrive and demand entry, and if you deny them....they will knock the door down.
If you were connected to some guy that the cops caught on terrorism charges....no judge's order is required for them to search your house.
Some people may suspect a judicial review later and say that by wavering the politicians, journalists and lawyers......it was unfairly written.
The second interesting aspect of the laws passed is the ability for the government to block any website that is deemed a problem. If the authorities find a site that was used for communication between groups.....it'll be shut down.
The third aspect concerns house arrest. They can detain you and simply hand you a written notice that says you must remain in your house except for work or medical purposes. Written into this law was a feature that you could be lifted out of the house arrest but be told not to meet or mingle with certain people (Salafist folks for example).
Electronic tagging of people? Well, yeah, that was written into the law too. So if you showed that you weren't reliable at taking a court order serious......they'd put the electronic device on you, and monitor you via it. If that didn't work.....well, you'd likely be taken to the local jail until you seemed to grasp the significance of the laws.
In ninety days, these will end. Or people may think they will end. Some features....like the house arrest and electronic tagging.....I suspect will continue on and become part of some national trend of acceptance.
I should note that another announcement came from the French President....in that he was hiring roughly 8,000 new police, investigators or customs officials over the next year. Sadly, by the time you figure training and orientation....it'll be two years before these people really fit into the French security picture.
Implementation into Germany? For the time being....no. After a successful attack or two.....some elements of this French effort will be considered. The warrantless entry into houses would freak out most German intellectuals and politicians.
Friday, November 20, 2015
The 900,000 Number
The head of Bavaria's Interior Ministry (Joachim Herrmann) made an announcement late yesterday......on the night prior, they hit 900,000 registered refugees, immigrants, or asylum seekers for 2015.
We are of course at the third week of November and there's probably enough time....even in this winter season.....to see another 50,000 arrive by the end point.
Now, before you get excited and that's great compared to the 1.2 million that was talked about in September, there's this one little note that you ought to sit and ponder about.
Ever since September's leadership decision in Germany that Syrians are the only ones with the golden ticket (most likely to be accepted), there's been numerous comments made by the German authorities that various incoming refugees aren't registering. Why would you even bother registering and showing up at their refugee centers or camps......if your odds of being accepted are less than 10-percent?
So, these people skip the registration step and just continue into the country.....find a cousin or friend who has papers.....and stay with them. They will eventually work up false papers or just work on the 'black' (under the table) and create a secondary problem that the Berlin crowd will discover within twelve months.
As happy as the news moderator from the state-run network might be over this number news, it doesn't mean very much because of people skipping registration. How many people really came in 2015? You will never know. It might be 950,000 at this point.....it might be one-million.....it might be 1.2 million. You just don't know.
We are of course at the third week of November and there's probably enough time....even in this winter season.....to see another 50,000 arrive by the end point.
Now, before you get excited and that's great compared to the 1.2 million that was talked about in September, there's this one little note that you ought to sit and ponder about.
Ever since September's leadership decision in Germany that Syrians are the only ones with the golden ticket (most likely to be accepted), there's been numerous comments made by the German authorities that various incoming refugees aren't registering. Why would you even bother registering and showing up at their refugee centers or camps......if your odds of being accepted are less than 10-percent?
So, these people skip the registration step and just continue into the country.....find a cousin or friend who has papers.....and stay with them. They will eventually work up false papers or just work on the 'black' (under the table) and create a secondary problem that the Berlin crowd will discover within twelve months.
As happy as the news moderator from the state-run network might be over this number news, it doesn't mean very much because of people skipping registration. How many people really came in 2015? You will never know. It might be 950,000 at this point.....it might be one-million.....it might be 1.2 million. You just don't know.
Fight at Local Refugee Camp
Regional public-run news media (HR) is reporting a big fight occurred last night at a regional refugee center (Homberg).
What is generally known......fifty members of the center (mostly Syrians and a handful of Afghans) got into an intense discussion.....which led onto a fist fight (no weapons or knives noted). In the end, six people required medical attention, and two got totted off to the hospital.
What caused the fight? Unknown.
From my military years, the one key thing you noted as a camp went up and you were there for a long stretch of time.....people started to get on each other's nerves. You'd have someone start a discussion to get others upset, and if you were lucky.....one dynamic individual would stand up and clear the air and settle folks back down. Otherwise, it'd end up in a fistfight.
Guys who don't have nothing to do.....sit around and do stupid things. They argue about non-existent things. They worry about things that may never occur. They will insult other members of their group just for entertainment purposes.
This is one of the big negatives of this German creation....the refugee camp. You could be sitting in such a camp for six months, and each single evening.....a fight might occur.
What is generally known......fifty members of the center (mostly Syrians and a handful of Afghans) got into an intense discussion.....which led onto a fist fight (no weapons or knives noted). In the end, six people required medical attention, and two got totted off to the hospital.
What caused the fight? Unknown.
From my military years, the one key thing you noted as a camp went up and you were there for a long stretch of time.....people started to get on each other's nerves. You'd have someone start a discussion to get others upset, and if you were lucky.....one dynamic individual would stand up and clear the air and settle folks back down. Otherwise, it'd end up in a fistfight.
Guys who don't have nothing to do.....sit around and do stupid things. They argue about non-existent things. They worry about things that may never occur. They will insult other members of their group just for entertainment purposes.
This is one of the big negatives of this German creation....the refugee camp. You could be sitting in such a camp for six months, and each single evening.....a fight might occur.
Munich Planned Attack?
Late last night (Thursday) cops in Munich reacted and found a possible planned terrorist operation underway.
What is generally said off Focus this morning is that the maid came to service a couple of rooms....found cop uniforms on the bed....being suspicious, she went back to the front desk. They called the cops and they arrived fairly quickly.
Four of the eight suspects were arrested....the other four fled in BMWs.
Fake cop uniforms and gas-type canisters were found in the hotel rooms. No weapons have been mentioned yet.
The eternal curiosity of Germans and their vigilant view of life stopped this act.
As for the four? There's apparently a bulletin out for them in Bavaria. I would guess that they've called up their connection and are looking for a safe house to regroup and replan the operation. Where the cop uniforms came from? That might be curious to know.....but it might be a costume party business.
What is generally said off Focus this morning is that the maid came to service a couple of rooms....found cop uniforms on the bed....being suspicious, she went back to the front desk. They called the cops and they arrived fairly quickly.
Four of the eight suspects were arrested....the other four fled in BMWs.
Fake cop uniforms and gas-type canisters were found in the hotel rooms. No weapons have been mentioned yet.
The eternal curiosity of Germans and their vigilant view of life stopped this act.
As for the four? There's apparently a bulletin out for them in Bavaria. I would guess that they've called up their connection and are looking for a safe house to regroup and replan the operation. Where the cop uniforms came from? That might be curious to know.....but it might be a costume party business.
Thursday, November 19, 2015
The Problem About Aggression
"Today, we are developing faster than ever. Our knowledge is growing exponentially and therefore our technologies. But as humans, we still have the instincts, especially the aggressive impulses that we had as a caveman. "
-- Stephen Hawking, the Physicist
It was a comment that he made today. The central theme to his conversation is that it is an oversight of society to counter violence and aggression.....with violence and aggression while speaking toward the Paris attack.
How would one respond to aggression?
If you were talking to some PhD chemist who was holding a gun on five students and talking crazy.....there's this brief moment when the security guy or cop will give them a brief moment to reflect, use logical deduction, review all variables, judge the consequences, and then come to the best hypothesis of the end-result.
If you were talking to a business man who had a masters from Columbia University.....but is holding ten hostages at gunpoint in the central lab.....there would be this brief moment when the security guy or cop would put up a brief diagram of the various scenarios of success, the options of a positive or negative outcome, and then a brief pause to consider there is only way to end the mess.
If you were talking to an engineer with a degree with a real college (even a NCAA college)....holding a dozen people at gun-point.....the cops would go over the layout, potential breaking points, and weight variables of success....hoping that a logical outcome might occur.
But here's this odd thing.
When you hold an authority-figure, with possibly a fair amount of THC in their system, hyped up over non-science topics, obsessing over the lack of status among his prisoners and the prescribed sentence required from the year 640AD, and the lack of any intelligent conversation possible....then Professor Hawking's dynamic intellectural value is worthless.
The world needs brilliant men, rocket-scientists, worthy intellectuals and Einstein-like thinkers. But we need them for the tasks they were educated to perform. The world also needs some rough characters of the type who walk in the shadows and take on thugs with no values or morals. In the end, we need them to lessen the violence and threats upon society.
In some ways I admire Doctor Hawking. But in this case......he wasted a few moments of his thinking talents on something best left to others.
-- Stephen Hawking, the Physicist
It was a comment that he made today. The central theme to his conversation is that it is an oversight of society to counter violence and aggression.....with violence and aggression while speaking toward the Paris attack.
How would one respond to aggression?
If you were talking to some PhD chemist who was holding a gun on five students and talking crazy.....there's this brief moment when the security guy or cop will give them a brief moment to reflect, use logical deduction, review all variables, judge the consequences, and then come to the best hypothesis of the end-result.
If you were talking to a business man who had a masters from Columbia University.....but is holding ten hostages at gunpoint in the central lab.....there would be this brief moment when the security guy or cop would put up a brief diagram of the various scenarios of success, the options of a positive or negative outcome, and then a brief pause to consider there is only way to end the mess.
If you were talking to an engineer with a degree with a real college (even a NCAA college)....holding a dozen people at gun-point.....the cops would go over the layout, potential breaking points, and weight variables of success....hoping that a logical outcome might occur.
But here's this odd thing.
When you hold an authority-figure, with possibly a fair amount of THC in their system, hyped up over non-science topics, obsessing over the lack of status among his prisoners and the prescribed sentence required from the year 640AD, and the lack of any intelligent conversation possible....then Professor Hawking's dynamic intellectural value is worthless.
The world needs brilliant men, rocket-scientists, worthy intellectuals and Einstein-like thinkers. But we need them for the tasks they were educated to perform. The world also needs some rough characters of the type who walk in the shadows and take on thugs with no values or morals. In the end, we need them to lessen the violence and threats upon society.
In some ways I admire Doctor Hawking. But in this case......he wasted a few moments of his thinking talents on something best left to others.
Being Watched
It got brought up by HR....my local regional public-run news media here in Hessen, today.....that there are a bunch of folks that the cops are watching.
From the Muslim Salafists? The state says they have roughly 1,650 folks who they generally watch.
From the right-wing extremists? There's roughly 500 folks who they generally watch.
From the left-wing extremists? There's roughly 2,300 folks who they generally watch.
You can do the math.....there's around six million residents in Hessen and 4,500 of them are on some kinda watch list.
What they say is that folks go onto the list.....folks come off the list. It would be curious to know how you get onto this list, and how you get off. I assume.....some folks pack up and move to another state, and that'd help to take you off one list. Some folks pass on.....some folks probably clean up their act after a period of stupidity.
For locals who look over safety and security.....it would be a worrisome number. These are simply people who haven't done anything illegal yet and they are simply being observed on an occasional or daily basis.
Why four times more leftists than rightists? This would be a great question to ask. Maybe there are more anti-capitalists around.....maybe there's still some university radicals around. Maybe there just aren't that many right-wing thugs in Hessen to start with.
If you went to the average German guy on the street and said that the state cops are watching 4,500 folks in the state.....I think it'd bother them to some degree. The thing is.....you could be on this list for thirty years and never detained or arrested. In some ways, it's a status symbol I guess.
From the Muslim Salafists? The state says they have roughly 1,650 folks who they generally watch.
From the right-wing extremists? There's roughly 500 folks who they generally watch.
From the left-wing extremists? There's roughly 2,300 folks who they generally watch.
You can do the math.....there's around six million residents in Hessen and 4,500 of them are on some kinda watch list.
What they say is that folks go onto the list.....folks come off the list. It would be curious to know how you get onto this list, and how you get off. I assume.....some folks pack up and move to another state, and that'd help to take you off one list. Some folks pass on.....some folks probably clean up their act after a period of stupidity.
For locals who look over safety and security.....it would be a worrisome number. These are simply people who haven't done anything illegal yet and they are simply being observed on an occasional or daily basis.
Why four times more leftists than rightists? This would be a great question to ask. Maybe there are more anti-capitalists around.....maybe there's still some university radicals around. Maybe there just aren't that many right-wing thugs in Hessen to start with.
If you went to the average German guy on the street and said that the state cops are watching 4,500 folks in the state.....I think it'd bother them to some degree. The thing is.....you could be on this list for thirty years and never detained or arrested. In some ways, it's a status symbol I guess.
The German Sh**storm?
There's a term which Germans use.....when some episode has unfolded and massive stupidity or incompetence in the planning is obvious. The term is Sh**storm.
Today, Sh**storm got thrown around a good bit, over a subject that most non-Germans really don't have a view into. So, I'll introduce this.
There is a yearly song contest which has competition among all the European countries. There's a contest in each country to pick the artist and his/her song to represent the nation at this gala event. Whoever wins.....gets the show for next year (country-wise)..
If you asked most Germans under the age of twenty-one....the Euro Vision Song Contest is bogus and nobody watches it. If you ask Germans who are between twenty-five and sixty.....about a quarter will admit some interest and they watch it.
A big deal? Well....thirty years ago, yes. Around twelve years ago.....Germans started to just laugh over the contest and they sent for two or three years in a row, via a voting process.....some loser singers with loser songs. It was absolutely intentional.
Maybe it was to prove a point, but a number of people got disturbed by the trend.
So for the past three or four years......there's been a significant attempt to change that pattern and pick winners and decent songs.
All of this revolved around a contest which was totally open for any singer and any song.
Today, ARD (my state-run Channel One) announced (they control the business for this 2016 contest).....there will be NO contest for the singer. They've already picked the guy...Xavier Naidoo. There will be some type of song-music contest in Germany for several songs to be presented to Naidoo, and a contest of sorts as he accepts that song and goes onto the European Euro vision song contest.
Now, the fact that there was no competition and ARD just picked the guy.....got a bunch of people disturbed.
The fact that the song shuffle might be underhanded and Naidoo will pick what he thinks is best.....is out in the middle of the public perception.
The fact that Naidoo spoke a number racists comments around three years ago, and it's been said publicly that he might be homophobic bothers some people.
All of this on the negative side....what ARD has said is that they want someone to go into the big contest and win the prize to bring home. No bogus attempts.....no comedy songs or acts pretending to be serious.....this will all be done to reshuffle the deck and do it the right way.
A public storm over nothing? It's a public relations episode which might go sour or might get more attention on Germany in terms of the contest. I doubt if having the Naidoo-effect will change much on voting, and if he does come close to the bottom.....well.....that's generally where they've been for several years in the voting results, so no one will cry much over that.
Today, Sh**storm got thrown around a good bit, over a subject that most non-Germans really don't have a view into. So, I'll introduce this.
There is a yearly song contest which has competition among all the European countries. There's a contest in each country to pick the artist and his/her song to represent the nation at this gala event. Whoever wins.....gets the show for next year (country-wise)..
If you asked most Germans under the age of twenty-one....the Euro Vision Song Contest is bogus and nobody watches it. If you ask Germans who are between twenty-five and sixty.....about a quarter will admit some interest and they watch it.
A big deal? Well....thirty years ago, yes. Around twelve years ago.....Germans started to just laugh over the contest and they sent for two or three years in a row, via a voting process.....some loser singers with loser songs. It was absolutely intentional.
Maybe it was to prove a point, but a number of people got disturbed by the trend.
So for the past three or four years......there's been a significant attempt to change that pattern and pick winners and decent songs.
All of this revolved around a contest which was totally open for any singer and any song.
Today, ARD (my state-run Channel One) announced (they control the business for this 2016 contest).....there will be NO contest for the singer. They've already picked the guy...Xavier Naidoo. There will be some type of song-music contest in Germany for several songs to be presented to Naidoo, and a contest of sorts as he accepts that song and goes onto the European Euro vision song contest.
Now, the fact that there was no competition and ARD just picked the guy.....got a bunch of people disturbed.
The fact that the song shuffle might be underhanded and Naidoo will pick what he thinks is best.....is out in the middle of the public perception.
The fact that Naidoo spoke a number racists comments around three years ago, and it's been said publicly that he might be homophobic bothers some people.
All of this on the negative side....what ARD has said is that they want someone to go into the big contest and win the prize to bring home. No bogus attempts.....no comedy songs or acts pretending to be serious.....this will all be done to reshuffle the deck and do it the right way.
A public storm over nothing? It's a public relations episode which might go sour or might get more attention on Germany in terms of the contest. I doubt if having the Naidoo-effect will change much on voting, and if he does come close to the bottom.....well.....that's generally where they've been for several years in the voting results, so no one will cry much over that.
On the Bundeswehr Topic
There was a short piece on ARD (Channel One of German public-run media) on connecting the German Army (the Bundeswehr) to the security apparatus of Germany.
If you watch enough of the video from France.....French soldiers are out in public, armed, part of the national security mechanism. The French public readily accepts this and approves. There's no conflict and no laws to prevent the French government from doing this.
In Germany? Well, it's not that accepted and they built laws into place after 1945 to hinder the Bundeswehr being part of the national security structure.
When you go back to the early 1960s and the Hamburg Flood episode.....this was the first occasion that the nation asked itself about the laws preventing the German Army from helping the German people. Legally, by the Basic Law (the German Constitution), it was not in a position to do much. The Basic Law says that the Bundeswehr is built for the defense of the nation from outside threats, and the police are there for the interior protection.
However, there is this short paragraph in the Basic Law.....Article 35, paragraph 2.....has a very simple reading that says disaster relief is one area where the Bundeswehr can be asked to help. There's a second area left to help as well....Article 87a, paragraph 4....where an internal emergency could exist and the Bundeswehr would assist as directed.
The disaster relief angle came up in the mid-1960s and probably results greatly from lessons learned from the flood episode. The internal emergency angle comes up after 9-11 in Germany.
All of this leads to conflict over how the military could fit into internal security of Germany today, with the escalation of terror. The intellectual argument is that police will protect the rights of the citizen and are better suited for the requirement. The intellectual argument would even go a step further and state that they've funded and established various SWAT teams around Germany today for serious confrontational requirements....so let them handle that.
All of this is true, but when you start talking about a "presence" at public structures, for weeks and weeks, the cops simply don't have the manpower to extend out and cover that much territory. Even if you put the cops on a 60-hour a week schedule....there are thousands of public areas that you simply won't be able to cover with adequate security.
At some point, I would suspect that the political players will meet and have a very long discussion about the future and how they could quietly fit the Bundeswehr into national security during events like this.
A lot has happened since 1945 and public sentiment over the Germany Army is awful high and positive. It would be hard to find anyone in Germany who has some fear of the Bundeswehr.
Quietly one day....you will find changes occurring and then observe Bundeswehr members on German streets, and just accept it.
If you watch enough of the video from France.....French soldiers are out in public, armed, part of the national security mechanism. The French public readily accepts this and approves. There's no conflict and no laws to prevent the French government from doing this.
In Germany? Well, it's not that accepted and they built laws into place after 1945 to hinder the Bundeswehr being part of the national security structure.
When you go back to the early 1960s and the Hamburg Flood episode.....this was the first occasion that the nation asked itself about the laws preventing the German Army from helping the German people. Legally, by the Basic Law (the German Constitution), it was not in a position to do much. The Basic Law says that the Bundeswehr is built for the defense of the nation from outside threats, and the police are there for the interior protection.
However, there is this short paragraph in the Basic Law.....Article 35, paragraph 2.....has a very simple reading that says disaster relief is one area where the Bundeswehr can be asked to help. There's a second area left to help as well....Article 87a, paragraph 4....where an internal emergency could exist and the Bundeswehr would assist as directed.
The disaster relief angle came up in the mid-1960s and probably results greatly from lessons learned from the flood episode. The internal emergency angle comes up after 9-11 in Germany.
All of this leads to conflict over how the military could fit into internal security of Germany today, with the escalation of terror. The intellectual argument is that police will protect the rights of the citizen and are better suited for the requirement. The intellectual argument would even go a step further and state that they've funded and established various SWAT teams around Germany today for serious confrontational requirements....so let them handle that.
All of this is true, but when you start talking about a "presence" at public structures, for weeks and weeks, the cops simply don't have the manpower to extend out and cover that much territory. Even if you put the cops on a 60-hour a week schedule....there are thousands of public areas that you simply won't be able to cover with adequate security.
At some point, I would suspect that the political players will meet and have a very long discussion about the future and how they could quietly fit the Bundeswehr into national security during events like this.
A lot has happened since 1945 and public sentiment over the Germany Army is awful high and positive. It would be hard to find anyone in Germany who has some fear of the Bundeswehr.
Quietly one day....you will find changes occurring and then observe Bundeswehr members on German streets, and just accept it.
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
The Consequence of Problem-Solving
If you sit and watch through the news media (ARD and ZDF) of Germany, there's this odd conversation over the past couple of days over Paris, ISIS, terror, threats, and the future.
It's difficult for the intellectual geeks, the journalists, and the political folks to sit there and relate some form of calm to the 'storm'.....because you can't really predict where this will conclude. Nor can you really explain how this jihadist group of guys and gals think in the relative world. Disconnecting the jihadist group from the regular Muslim group.....then you have to explain group A fits into a round-hole and group B can only fit in a square-hole, and each operates with the same operator's manual. For the normal German sitting at home.....it might as well be nuclear physics because nothing makes much sense.
Huns, the German, will sit there for hours and keep hoping some slow-speaking but witty political guy emerges and carves this up into bit-sized pieces of logic and dictates four easy steps of 'recovery' for the 'bad' guys. Eventually.....Huns will realize that the normal solution segment that Channel One or Channel Two news media folks prescribe.....doesn't exist and can't exist in this type of 'mad' world.
So you reach this German phenomenon of existence for this problem with five simplistic segments.
First, whatever God these radical guys have....is apparently not the same God as most everyone else. It'll be hard to explain anything, unless you throw this fact up front and just admit in one big broad swipe....these jihad guys are on some profound religious experience with a pretty cruel, savage, and homicidal deity.
Second, after you generally ask everyone who knows any of these wild characters (from the last decade), you generally have a list of nice comments spoken by friends, relatives and associates.....then they generally note that the guy or gal fits into one of two characteristics. They either smoke a fair amount of marijuana, or they fit easily into "LOSER" status.
The LOSER status comes up because none of them have real trades, crafts, property ownership, family connections that are important, etc.
The pothead thing? Well, it's hard to say if it's just a trend, or if it's a end-result of burned-out brain cells.
Third, it's generally laid out with most all of the participants in this group....they've reached some point where they need to get ahead, feel part of some big mass movement, or feel part of some dynamic cause on the verge of something big. Oddly, there's some entry-ticket into some dead-zone or heaven that comes up with participation in this behavior.
A German usually doesn't want to do something unless there's some ticket or built-in reward at the end. It's like paying more taxes, and knowing some distribution will occur and the underachievers will get lifted up. If there was no free ticket or entry deal for the after-life, well, it'd kinda make you ask stupid questions.
Fourth, in an odd way.....you can't talk about this conversion that you had in life with anyone who matters. You are told over and over.....well....those folks just won't understand so it's best to just keep quiet and let them be shocked later. It's a generally successful brain-washing technique that works as long as the case-worker, brain-washer, or head-dimwit can control your actions.
Fifth and most critical of all the gimmicks here....God can't do nothing, so you need to act in God's big plan and carry out his personal wishes and desires. Obviously, if you were thinking for just a minute.....you'd ask why God can't just throw some disease at some crowd, or dream up a meteor to hit the middle of Minneapolis or Wales, or just knock them dead with a plain old vanilla lightning bolt (the kind that always seems to work in the middle of a good five-star storm).
Free-thinking or reflection of the big picture or rationalizing consequences.....the typical German behavior that you'd always expect? Well.....it's none existent. A German would think over a bunch of things in his garage or on the balcony.....ask stupid questions, and eventually tell the imbecile religious instructor that he can't find the logic in those statements.
If these jihadists just stayed off in their own land or area, and just worked on making their place better....Germans really wouldn't care, and things would work to some degree.
But in the case, the German is stuck with some thug-like religious hooligans who can't handle reality, their religion, and certainly don't care about living. The rest of this story is that the German is also stuck with political figures, intellectuals and journalists that mostly talk, and talk, and talk. A discussion group usually goes nowhere and the viewer reaches a level where they think they should have watched that Bee Gees special on the ARTE network or watched a pelican documentary on one of the state-run networks.
In the end, the German does the only thing left in his logical mind....he goes out and casts a vote for some radical thug folks of another extreme who will prescribe the rowdy and harsh treatment for the problem. We could probably write volumes on this solution, but it's the German vision of fixing a problem with the few marginal elements left on the table.
It's difficult for the intellectual geeks, the journalists, and the political folks to sit there and relate some form of calm to the 'storm'.....because you can't really predict where this will conclude. Nor can you really explain how this jihadist group of guys and gals think in the relative world. Disconnecting the jihadist group from the regular Muslim group.....then you have to explain group A fits into a round-hole and group B can only fit in a square-hole, and each operates with the same operator's manual. For the normal German sitting at home.....it might as well be nuclear physics because nothing makes much sense.
Huns, the German, will sit there for hours and keep hoping some slow-speaking but witty political guy emerges and carves this up into bit-sized pieces of logic and dictates four easy steps of 'recovery' for the 'bad' guys. Eventually.....Huns will realize that the normal solution segment that Channel One or Channel Two news media folks prescribe.....doesn't exist and can't exist in this type of 'mad' world.
So you reach this German phenomenon of existence for this problem with five simplistic segments.
First, whatever God these radical guys have....is apparently not the same God as most everyone else. It'll be hard to explain anything, unless you throw this fact up front and just admit in one big broad swipe....these jihad guys are on some profound religious experience with a pretty cruel, savage, and homicidal deity.
Second, after you generally ask everyone who knows any of these wild characters (from the last decade), you generally have a list of nice comments spoken by friends, relatives and associates.....then they generally note that the guy or gal fits into one of two characteristics. They either smoke a fair amount of marijuana, or they fit easily into "LOSER" status.
The LOSER status comes up because none of them have real trades, crafts, property ownership, family connections that are important, etc.
The pothead thing? Well, it's hard to say if it's just a trend, or if it's a end-result of burned-out brain cells.
Third, it's generally laid out with most all of the participants in this group....they've reached some point where they need to get ahead, feel part of some big mass movement, or feel part of some dynamic cause on the verge of something big. Oddly, there's some entry-ticket into some dead-zone or heaven that comes up with participation in this behavior.
A German usually doesn't want to do something unless there's some ticket or built-in reward at the end. It's like paying more taxes, and knowing some distribution will occur and the underachievers will get lifted up. If there was no free ticket or entry deal for the after-life, well, it'd kinda make you ask stupid questions.
Fourth, in an odd way.....you can't talk about this conversion that you had in life with anyone who matters. You are told over and over.....well....those folks just won't understand so it's best to just keep quiet and let them be shocked later. It's a generally successful brain-washing technique that works as long as the case-worker, brain-washer, or head-dimwit can control your actions.
Fifth and most critical of all the gimmicks here....God can't do nothing, so you need to act in God's big plan and carry out his personal wishes and desires. Obviously, if you were thinking for just a minute.....you'd ask why God can't just throw some disease at some crowd, or dream up a meteor to hit the middle of Minneapolis or Wales, or just knock them dead with a plain old vanilla lightning bolt (the kind that always seems to work in the middle of a good five-star storm).
Free-thinking or reflection of the big picture or rationalizing consequences.....the typical German behavior that you'd always expect? Well.....it's none existent. A German would think over a bunch of things in his garage or on the balcony.....ask stupid questions, and eventually tell the imbecile religious instructor that he can't find the logic in those statements.
If these jihadists just stayed off in their own land or area, and just worked on making their place better....Germans really wouldn't care, and things would work to some degree.
But in the case, the German is stuck with some thug-like religious hooligans who can't handle reality, their religion, and certainly don't care about living. The rest of this story is that the German is also stuck with political figures, intellectuals and journalists that mostly talk, and talk, and talk. A discussion group usually goes nowhere and the viewer reaches a level where they think they should have watched that Bee Gees special on the ARTE network or watched a pelican documentary on one of the state-run networks.
In the end, the German does the only thing left in his logical mind....he goes out and casts a vote for some radical thug folks of another extreme who will prescribe the rowdy and harsh treatment for the problem. We could probably write volumes on this solution, but it's the German vision of fixing a problem with the few marginal elements left on the table.
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
The Cancelled Game
What the German authorities generally say from the cancellation of the Germany-Netherlands soccer game.....is that some intelligence came to them from a foreign intelligence service (might be the English, might be France, might be NSA, but it's not German-derived). What I found interesting from this comment from the Bavarian Interior Minister (Joachim Herrmann) is that it would be at a sporting event in Germany within the next 48 hours.
This event.....might not be the England-Netherlands game. There's a game planned for Dortmund-Hamburg on Friday night (8:30 local). That's the next major league game in Germany. For Saturday, there are four games at the national level.
The rumor of a bomb found in an ambulance? Bogus.
So, in the end....the authorities got pretty nervous and estimated the problem to be real. The effect of the cancellation? They told everyone around the stadium (this was around one hour prior to the start of the game) to get up and leave the area.....not to waste time....get back home and avoid staying around public stations/places.
Based on interviews last night with local via state-run TV news.....they were understanding of the situation, a bit peeved, and accepting of it.
From Focus, they say....this information that got people unsettled refers to some Iraqi-ISIS sleeper agent thug who lived out of Weserbergland. Focus cites a report from "Die Welt" that the guy's name came up....referring to him as 'dangerous', and that he was in the local region.
This guy apparently has some 'gang' of North Africans and there was some belief that they were up to some attack plan.
Bottom line? The game will be discussed and possibly rescheduled. If they decided to put it back onto a schedule....that will interfere greatly with the German and Dutch soccer schedule.
The public is saddled now with this view that "they are here", in terms of ISIS terrorists on German soil. All of this is a reminder of the immigration-asylum-refugee affair and will weigh in a negative sense on German perception of the way ahead. If there were still people on the border-line of supporting the Merkel policy....this probably will interfere with their marginal support, and be a major part of the 2016 state election talk here in Germany.
This event.....might not be the England-Netherlands game. There's a game planned for Dortmund-Hamburg on Friday night (8:30 local). That's the next major league game in Germany. For Saturday, there are four games at the national level.
The rumor of a bomb found in an ambulance? Bogus.
So, in the end....the authorities got pretty nervous and estimated the problem to be real. The effect of the cancellation? They told everyone around the stadium (this was around one hour prior to the start of the game) to get up and leave the area.....not to waste time....get back home and avoid staying around public stations/places.
Based on interviews last night with local via state-run TV news.....they were understanding of the situation, a bit peeved, and accepting of it.
From Focus, they say....this information that got people unsettled refers to some Iraqi-ISIS sleeper agent thug who lived out of Weserbergland. Focus cites a report from "Die Welt" that the guy's name came up....referring to him as 'dangerous', and that he was in the local region.
This guy apparently has some 'gang' of North Africans and there was some belief that they were up to some attack plan.
Bottom line? The game will be discussed and possibly rescheduled. If they decided to put it back onto a schedule....that will interfere greatly with the German and Dutch soccer schedule.
The public is saddled now with this view that "they are here", in terms of ISIS terrorists on German soil. All of this is a reminder of the immigration-asylum-refugee affair and will weigh in a negative sense on German perception of the way ahead. If there were still people on the border-line of supporting the Merkel policy....this probably will interfere with their marginal support, and be a major part of the 2016 state election talk here in Germany.
Cancelled Game
Well, that was quick....in the past twenty minutes, they decided the Germany-Netherlands soccer game for tonight WILL NOT be played. Evacuation of the stadium started around 7:30 in the evening.
Based on Focus and their reporting....the cops in Hanover said there is a problem....suggesting there are suspects within the stadium as fans started to show up, and the cops decided enough was enough. They've told the fans to leave the stadium.
Some reports via German news media indicate that there appears to be some planning in progress for a Paris-like attack.
Probably more to come later tonight.
Based on Focus and their reporting....the cops in Hanover said there is a problem....suggesting there are suspects within the stadium as fans started to show up, and the cops decided enough was enough. They've told the fans to leave the stadium.
Some reports via German news media indicate that there appears to be some planning in progress for a Paris-like attack.
Probably more to come later tonight.
For the Germany-Netherlands Game Tonight
In order to show Germany is showing courage....Merkel directed all members of her cabinet to show up at the Germany-Netherlands game....to be held tonight. All of this.....after the Paris episode from a few days ago.
So, naturally....sometime today, someone asked the stupid question....is this smart to have Merkel and the whole cabinet there? Might something happen and they all end up six-feet under?
Well, no one has answered the question, and I doubt if the average German cares that much.
If something did happen....the two parties would meet within hours....have a quick vote, and appoint people to appoint each member. You have to remember.....in Germany, it's the party apparatus that matters....NOT the individual. The party could even meet and decide some member really screwed up and fire the guy or gal from his position or his membership in the party.
My guess is that at least a thousand cops will be around the stadium and ensure absolute security.
So, naturally....sometime today, someone asked the stupid question....is this smart to have Merkel and the whole cabinet there? Might something happen and they all end up six-feet under?
Well, no one has answered the question, and I doubt if the average German cares that much.
If something did happen....the two parties would meet within hours....have a quick vote, and appoint people to appoint each member. You have to remember.....in Germany, it's the party apparatus that matters....NOT the individual. The party could even meet and decide some member really screwed up and fire the guy or gal from his position or his membership in the party.
My guess is that at least a thousand cops will be around the stadium and ensure absolute security.
Political Trends
Bild (the German daily newspaper) had a survey/poll accomplished by INSA on the political climate today.
With the current refugee crisis trend.....nationally-speaking.....the CDU-CSU still maintains almost 35-percent of the national support. The SPD, near 23.5-percent. Sitting now in third-place is a shocker.....AFD, with 10.5-percent.
The Linke Party and the Green Party followed with 10-percent each.
Big change in public support? Bild says over the past two or three months....no. Nothing has occurred on the national scale to dislodge current perceptions. State elections in March? Well, after we clear Christmas and get into heavy political talk.....lets' check the numbers again and see if the AFD picks up more support.
Note added: If you go back to July and statistical coverage...AfD was at three-to-four percent. So, Bild's words of nothing big changing for past two months might be correct, but there's a big change since mid-summer.
With the current refugee crisis trend.....nationally-speaking.....the CDU-CSU still maintains almost 35-percent of the national support. The SPD, near 23.5-percent. Sitting now in third-place is a shocker.....AFD, with 10.5-percent.
The Linke Party and the Green Party followed with 10-percent each.
Big change in public support? Bild says over the past two or three months....no. Nothing has occurred on the national scale to dislodge current perceptions. State elections in March? Well, after we clear Christmas and get into heavy political talk.....lets' check the numbers again and see if the AFD picks up more support.
Note added: If you go back to July and statistical coverage...AfD was at three-to-four percent. So, Bild's words of nothing big changing for past two months might be correct, but there's a big change since mid-summer.
American Arms Hotel in Wiesbaden
Down on Frankfurter Strasse in Wiesbaden....was the old American Arms Hotel....used by the US Army up until five years ago (approximately).
The facility went through the turn-over process and a planning process with the city, and has now ended up as a refugee center. Based on comments in the local news, they've prepared it for occupancy starting in the middle of December.
The original discussion....if you go back two years ago, was that it'd be likely turned into student housing. That came and went.....because of the immigration crisis.
Negativity with the local residents? Yet to be seen but it'll depend on issues or problems are created by the residents of the facility. Things might go smooth and people aren't even noticed at the old hotel.
Long term usage? Unknown. I suspect as we go forward....in three to five years....this crisis period will eventually come to an end, and the city will revisit the usage or needs of the building. To meet this refugee usage.....other than pushing furniture into the building, I don't think much of anything else was done. Although I noticed last week....some water works business was going on in the front of the building (on the street). Considering the fact that the Army hadn't done much renovation over the previous decade prior to closure.....it might be in some need of work.
The facility went through the turn-over process and a planning process with the city, and has now ended up as a refugee center. Based on comments in the local news, they've prepared it for occupancy starting in the middle of December.
The original discussion....if you go back two years ago, was that it'd be likely turned into student housing. That came and went.....because of the immigration crisis.
Negativity with the local residents? Yet to be seen but it'll depend on issues or problems are created by the residents of the facility. Things might go smooth and people aren't even noticed at the old hotel.
Long term usage? Unknown. I suspect as we go forward....in three to five years....this crisis period will eventually come to an end, and the city will revisit the usage or needs of the building. To meet this refugee usage.....other than pushing furniture into the building, I don't think much of anything else was done. Although I noticed last week....some water works business was going on in the front of the building (on the street). Considering the fact that the Army hadn't done much renovation over the previous decade prior to closure.....it might be in some need of work.
Monday, November 16, 2015
That Bavarian Gun-Runner Episode
If you go and read Bavarian news.....this guy (the Montenegro guy) who got caught A8 near Rosenheim with the AK-47s in the car.....has yet to have any Muslim connection made.
Cops say that nothing from the cops back in Montenegro has him connected.
The GPS item left on the gadget indicating a trip planned for Paris? He has talked to some minor degree and just says he was going in the future to see the Eiffel Tower, period, end of story.
Charges? The state prosecutor is involved and weapons charges will stick. Subversive violence will be attached and this guy might be looking for a decade in jail if they go for the maximum. I'm guessing they'd like for him to just point a finger at someone....either in the mafia or the gun-runner trade, and they'd lessen this to just a year in jail.
It may be.....the guy had some middle-guy lined up and the middle-guy was going to sell to some Islamic group, and this Montenegro guy knows nothing of the end-customer.
Cops say that nothing from the cops back in Montenegro has him connected.
The GPS item left on the gadget indicating a trip planned for Paris? He has talked to some minor degree and just says he was going in the future to see the Eiffel Tower, period, end of story.
Charges? The state prosecutor is involved and weapons charges will stick. Subversive violence will be attached and this guy might be looking for a decade in jail if they go for the maximum. I'm guessing they'd like for him to just point a finger at someone....either in the mafia or the gun-runner trade, and they'd lessen this to just a year in jail.
It may be.....the guy had some middle-guy lined up and the middle-guy was going to sell to some Islamic group, and this Montenegro guy knows nothing of the end-customer.
Dangerous Reading Material
While Adolph Hitler sat in jail in the mid-1920s....he assembled material for his book (Mein Kampf, My Struggle). Volume one....yeah, there were two volumes, was published in 1925. Volume two....published roughly a year later.
Most will agree that Rudolph Hess did a fair amount of the assembling of the data and was the editor of both editions.
Volume one would be best described as an introduction to Hitler and his history.....as they desired the story to be told. It was the baseline to knowing Adolph Hitler.
Volume two was more of the Nationalist Socialist agenda and way ahead.
From both volumes, if you talked to historians....there are generally two things that stand out and are obvious....Hitler has a strong dislike of Jews and of Communists.
Now, one of the lesser known facts about the volumes is that they really weren't conceived for non-Nazis. These were books developed for members of the party and were to mostly educate them in the ways of Nationalist Socialists values. After about five years of publication....it was obviously being read far outside of what the original audience was supposed to be.
In fact, so many copies were being sold.....that Hitler by the early 1930s had a tax problem with the German government. This was fixed only in 1933 as a waiver for taxation was generated from within the German government.
After the war, Mein Kampf was considered 'unsafe'. It was reading material that the German government felt could not be handled in a safe fashion by the general public. Ownership of the copyright? It went to the government of Bavaria and they've forbidden re-printing of the book. In a few weeks (1 Jan 2016)....this book set will enter public domain and anyone can then print the book.
There's various talk about what may or may not happen with the volumes at that point. I bring this up because Germans evidently sat down and believed that people could not handle the material of the book, and kept it from public consumption. You could not find it in a German library. Unless you owned a copy printed prior to 1945.....that was the only way you could read the book.
A book so dangerous.....that the German government felt it unwise to allow public consumption? Yeah.
Germans have this thing about analyzing the heck out of a problem and eventually reaching the absolute solution to the problem. We may laugh about the idea but it's been an accepted way of fixing a problem.
So, this brings me to this topic of dangerous books and naive people. There are a small collection of people in life who can't handle some reading material. For various reasons....the term "dangerous books" probably is realistic.
The Catholic Church for decades and going into hundreds of years.....considered the work of Aristotle to be potentially dangerous. The book "Uncle Tom's Cabin", while a fictional work, became a fairly dangerous book to incite a segment of American population in a certain direction. There are dozens of books today from around the world....which are deemed dangerous.
I end this essay with the question....if you had a book that could not be handled by one-percent of society.....that was wrapped up in violent suggestions and recommendations....recommending death and misery upon some element of society, and it could not be handled in some safe fashion.....would it not make sense to treat the book in some controlled fashion?
Most will agree that Rudolph Hess did a fair amount of the assembling of the data and was the editor of both editions.
Volume one would be best described as an introduction to Hitler and his history.....as they desired the story to be told. It was the baseline to knowing Adolph Hitler.
Volume two was more of the Nationalist Socialist agenda and way ahead.
From both volumes, if you talked to historians....there are generally two things that stand out and are obvious....Hitler has a strong dislike of Jews and of Communists.
Now, one of the lesser known facts about the volumes is that they really weren't conceived for non-Nazis. These were books developed for members of the party and were to mostly educate them in the ways of Nationalist Socialists values. After about five years of publication....it was obviously being read far outside of what the original audience was supposed to be.
In fact, so many copies were being sold.....that Hitler by the early 1930s had a tax problem with the German government. This was fixed only in 1933 as a waiver for taxation was generated from within the German government.
After the war, Mein Kampf was considered 'unsafe'. It was reading material that the German government felt could not be handled in a safe fashion by the general public. Ownership of the copyright? It went to the government of Bavaria and they've forbidden re-printing of the book. In a few weeks (1 Jan 2016)....this book set will enter public domain and anyone can then print the book.
There's various talk about what may or may not happen with the volumes at that point. I bring this up because Germans evidently sat down and believed that people could not handle the material of the book, and kept it from public consumption. You could not find it in a German library. Unless you owned a copy printed prior to 1945.....that was the only way you could read the book.
A book so dangerous.....that the German government felt it unwise to allow public consumption? Yeah.
Germans have this thing about analyzing the heck out of a problem and eventually reaching the absolute solution to the problem. We may laugh about the idea but it's been an accepted way of fixing a problem.
So, this brings me to this topic of dangerous books and naive people. There are a small collection of people in life who can't handle some reading material. For various reasons....the term "dangerous books" probably is realistic.
The Catholic Church for decades and going into hundreds of years.....considered the work of Aristotle to be potentially dangerous. The book "Uncle Tom's Cabin", while a fictional work, became a fairly dangerous book to incite a segment of American population in a certain direction. There are dozens of books today from around the world....which are deemed dangerous.
I end this essay with the question....if you had a book that could not be handled by one-percent of society.....that was wrapped up in violent suggestions and recommendations....recommending death and misery upon some element of society, and it could not be handled in some safe fashion.....would it not make sense to treat the book in some controlled fashion?
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Germany: How Did the Pro-Asylum, Pro-Immigration, Pro-Refugee Idea Occur
It's one of the questions that won't occur on Germany's public-run Channel One (ARD) or Channel Two (ZDF). It might be interesting to speculate upon how this all came to be in the first place. And no, it wasn't that German 'guilt-thing' that intellectuals like to attribute things over to.
1. They never saw it coming. Well, here's the thing, in an average year....they handle 200,000 refugees trying to enter and their entire system is geared toward that number. So when it edged up to 300,000 in one year (the very beginning of the episode)....no one said much. The next year....up to 450,000 and it barely got noticed. So toward the fall of 2014....it was now apparent that numbers were escalating. Reacting? The Berlin crowd still felt they could handle that number. The 850,000 number? It probably challenged them but they were thinking they had this capability. At 1.5 million.....it's hard to say they saw this coming from the summer of 2014.
2. The Berlin crowd leading the country aren't the same competent group who lived for several decades in Bonn. This has been brought up in a couple of forum discussions over the past decade. There is some feeling that Berlin has isolated the realistic side of political figures and transformed them into some cult-like group. They have no real connection back to regular people or how things work in the other 99-percent of Germany.
3. The population spiral. It's been defined and discussed a hundred times over the past decade.....the population of Germany is shrinking. By 2040....it could well be near 65-million (not the 80-million of today). Some people might have been able to convince themselves that this would help to buy them some growth and avoid the 65-million number.
4. The willingness to look through the Islamic threat and try to think of the bulk of Muslims being friendly. If you look at half the population in Germany.....they have work relationships and neighborhood relationships with Muslims. They see them daily and are readily convinced that their friend and their religion aren't a big deal. A large segment of the Green Party today (probably over ninety-percent) definitely feel pro-Islam. If you asked them about the contradictions of the Quran....on one page being the recommendation to keep peace and on the next page to assault or kill non-believers.....well....it's just not explainable in their mind.
5. The acceptance of multi-cultural values. For probably forty years within the German education sector....they've tried to establish a value with students.....from youngest years to university graduates....multi-culture is great and something to strive for. If you walked into a pub and brought this up with a dozen people....roughly half will say multi-culture values are a failure or joke. The rest will say they support this value but it's having problems.
6. The efforts of the news media to make the Syrians into victims. I would readily agree that there's been a significant amount of audio and 'chat' back in 2013 and 2014 to portray most Syrians as victims. A fair segment of German society believe in this status of victimhood assigned to Syrians. Helping them makes sense. Helping the poor Albanian unemployed guys who walked up to find work? Well....no, they aren't victims. The same problem exists with various nationalities who aren't Syrian.
7. Cheap help. Let's face it.....a quarter of all small business operations in Germany see this opportunity to bring in fresh employees and go for the cheapest wage situation possible. You can pay minimum wage for probably ten years and the guy will likely accept that.
8. Some belief in transformation. There are some intellectual types in Germany who think this will be a transformation moment. More eventual votes for non-conservative parties and the new residents will all side eventually to liberal parties (SPD, Linke Party, Green Party, etc). The fact that most of the refugees desperately want to establish themselves in urban areas.....will affect major city politics in places like Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Koln, Hamburg, Berlin, etc.
9. A belief that this attitude would shift across borders and help to get refugees in other European countries. This concept? An absolute failure. Other than some support in Austria.....there's virtually no one else in Europe who wants asylum-seekers in their country.
10. The Merkel factor. Merkel has made herself into a legend as chancellor. No real scandals, no stumbles, no mistakes, no economic problems. Merkel probably saw this as a great opportunity and could not foresee any problem......but never could see the end of this idea. Go ask how she feels over potentially two million in 2016, and she will just grin....admitting that she hopes it won't go that far.
11. The incredible economy. If Germany had suffered through the past three years with economic problems....no one would have signed up for this direction. The fact is that they've been on a full decade with great numbers and the population being mostly positive about their life and future.
Where this leads onto? It's hard to say....except the Paris attack and the March 2016 state elections (three) now could put the Merkel government into some spiral. For someone looking long-term.....you really can't go past March and those election results. They will lay out the future of Germany for the next decade.
1. They never saw it coming. Well, here's the thing, in an average year....they handle 200,000 refugees trying to enter and their entire system is geared toward that number. So when it edged up to 300,000 in one year (the very beginning of the episode)....no one said much. The next year....up to 450,000 and it barely got noticed. So toward the fall of 2014....it was now apparent that numbers were escalating. Reacting? The Berlin crowd still felt they could handle that number. The 850,000 number? It probably challenged them but they were thinking they had this capability. At 1.5 million.....it's hard to say they saw this coming from the summer of 2014.
2. The Berlin crowd leading the country aren't the same competent group who lived for several decades in Bonn. This has been brought up in a couple of forum discussions over the past decade. There is some feeling that Berlin has isolated the realistic side of political figures and transformed them into some cult-like group. They have no real connection back to regular people or how things work in the other 99-percent of Germany.
3. The population spiral. It's been defined and discussed a hundred times over the past decade.....the population of Germany is shrinking. By 2040....it could well be near 65-million (not the 80-million of today). Some people might have been able to convince themselves that this would help to buy them some growth and avoid the 65-million number.
4. The willingness to look through the Islamic threat and try to think of the bulk of Muslims being friendly. If you look at half the population in Germany.....they have work relationships and neighborhood relationships with Muslims. They see them daily and are readily convinced that their friend and their religion aren't a big deal. A large segment of the Green Party today (probably over ninety-percent) definitely feel pro-Islam. If you asked them about the contradictions of the Quran....on one page being the recommendation to keep peace and on the next page to assault or kill non-believers.....well....it's just not explainable in their mind.
5. The acceptance of multi-cultural values. For probably forty years within the German education sector....they've tried to establish a value with students.....from youngest years to university graduates....multi-culture is great and something to strive for. If you walked into a pub and brought this up with a dozen people....roughly half will say multi-culture values are a failure or joke. The rest will say they support this value but it's having problems.
6. The efforts of the news media to make the Syrians into victims. I would readily agree that there's been a significant amount of audio and 'chat' back in 2013 and 2014 to portray most Syrians as victims. A fair segment of German society believe in this status of victimhood assigned to Syrians. Helping them makes sense. Helping the poor Albanian unemployed guys who walked up to find work? Well....no, they aren't victims. The same problem exists with various nationalities who aren't Syrian.
7. Cheap help. Let's face it.....a quarter of all small business operations in Germany see this opportunity to bring in fresh employees and go for the cheapest wage situation possible. You can pay minimum wage for probably ten years and the guy will likely accept that.
8. Some belief in transformation. There are some intellectual types in Germany who think this will be a transformation moment. More eventual votes for non-conservative parties and the new residents will all side eventually to liberal parties (SPD, Linke Party, Green Party, etc). The fact that most of the refugees desperately want to establish themselves in urban areas.....will affect major city politics in places like Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Koln, Hamburg, Berlin, etc.
9. A belief that this attitude would shift across borders and help to get refugees in other European countries. This concept? An absolute failure. Other than some support in Austria.....there's virtually no one else in Europe who wants asylum-seekers in their country.
10. The Merkel factor. Merkel has made herself into a legend as chancellor. No real scandals, no stumbles, no mistakes, no economic problems. Merkel probably saw this as a great opportunity and could not foresee any problem......but never could see the end of this idea. Go ask how she feels over potentially two million in 2016, and she will just grin....admitting that she hopes it won't go that far.
11. The incredible economy. If Germany had suffered through the past three years with economic problems....no one would have signed up for this direction. The fact is that they've been on a full decade with great numbers and the population being mostly positive about their life and future.
Where this leads onto? It's hard to say....except the Paris attack and the March 2016 state elections (three) now could put the Merkel government into some spiral. For someone looking long-term.....you really can't go past March and those election results. They will lay out the future of Germany for the next decade.
ATM Story
If you follow German crime news.....over the past couple of years, there's been this trend of ATM banking machines being an issue.
The local news here in Hessen is reporting the latest episode.
A couple of guys went and stole two vehicles. They drove the two vehicles to an indoor mall entrance area, ramming through the cars through the plate-glass doors, and driving the vehicles into the interior of the mall.
There, they went to the anchored ATM machine and began to ram it. Using the two vehicles.....knocking it back and forth.....they eventually broke it from the support anchors, and tossed it onto one of the vehicles, then drove off into the night (around 1AM).
Total damage to the mall? Roughly 30,000 Euro.
Oddly, cops get a call and by 4AM....are at the burned out wreckage of the vehicles and the ATM machine sitting there (cracked open).
The bank says that the machine had roughly 10,000 Euro in it.
Over the past couple of months, there's been a number of ATM episodes....most involve explosives used on the building and the ATM. In one case, they literally destroyed the front entrance to a bank entry to get at the ATM.
Cops and success? Well. Nothing much.
The cops do say in relation to this mall ATM episode.....they've got lots of video and a handful of witnesses who watched the whole thing unfold from a restaurant from across the way. With the vehicles burnt out.....there's likely to be no fingerprints. So, unless someone comes forward with some info....I doubt if this will be solved.
All of this.....for just 10,000 Euro? Yeah.
The local news here in Hessen is reporting the latest episode.
A couple of guys went and stole two vehicles. They drove the two vehicles to an indoor mall entrance area, ramming through the cars through the plate-glass doors, and driving the vehicles into the interior of the mall.
There, they went to the anchored ATM machine and began to ram it. Using the two vehicles.....knocking it back and forth.....they eventually broke it from the support anchors, and tossed it onto one of the vehicles, then drove off into the night (around 1AM).
Total damage to the mall? Roughly 30,000 Euro.
Oddly, cops get a call and by 4AM....are at the burned out wreckage of the vehicles and the ATM machine sitting there (cracked open).
The bank says that the machine had roughly 10,000 Euro in it.
Over the past couple of months, there's been a number of ATM episodes....most involve explosives used on the building and the ATM. In one case, they literally destroyed the front entrance to a bank entry to get at the ATM.
Cops and success? Well. Nothing much.
The cops do say in relation to this mall ATM episode.....they've got lots of video and a handful of witnesses who watched the whole thing unfold from a restaurant from across the way. With the vehicles burnt out.....there's likely to be no fingerprints. So, unless someone comes forward with some info....I doubt if this will be solved.
All of this.....for just 10,000 Euro? Yeah.
Paris Fallout
It's been roughly thirty-six hours since the Paris attacks, and a bit more is known.
One of the guys found dead and noted as a terrorist....held a Syrian passport (he actually had it on his person apparently). They ran the name and he comes up having registered sometime in the first week of October....in Greece, on the isle of Leros. He made the trip across the 'bay' from Turkey....roughly a 30-kilometer trip.
Typically, the 'walk' from mainland Greece, through Macedonia and the various countries....using an occasional train...would take a minimum of two weeks, and maybe up to three weeks. So, he scooted through fairly quickly and skipped Germany....making his way to France.
The Greek authorities (the Deputy Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Toskas) noted that he was registered there and they aren't sure if the guy registered anywhere else in Europe. I would assume not.
The second interesting part of the story is that one of the bombers (there are a host of them apparently)....had the job of making his way into the stadium while the France-Germany soccer game was being played. The guy had a suicide-bombers vest, when he encountered the security guy at the entry point. He was forced to open the jacket and the security guy stepped in front to check him.....noting the vest and immediately stopped him. The French guard actually did exactly what he was supposed to do.
This bomber was denied entry and detonated his bomb somewhere in front of the stadium and doing lesser damage.
So, we come to the topic of sleeper agents. It'll end up being discussed at length over the next week. It's difficult to imagine it not being talked about in German discussion forums.
How many sleeper agents from ISIS made their way to Europe? Out of this potential 1.5 million number that often gets mentioned, it's impossible to say. There could be ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred, perhaps even 500.
How can you establish who the sleepers are? You can't. Once you admit that....it will start to worry people about this whole open-door policy.
All of this is going to generate some massive appeal from various countries to control borders. Fences will be put up and there will be at least some temporary episode to check passports more frequently at entry points. I can't see any of the EU members wanting a full-up check-point existing like it was prior to the 1990s. But public hostility will demand some type of increased security.
Political fallout in Germany? State elections in three states are roughly 120 days away. Paris will be hyped in these regional elections and the political parties with strong emphasis on pro-immigration and pro-asylum will end up suffering at the ballot box.
The one last thought.....even if you have legit refugees from Syria who aren't sleeper agents....they will be sitting around without a job for months as they go through the integration phase and language classes. They will be bored, depressed, and easily manipulated by fraudulent religious instructors. They will be easily influenced and pressed into service as future sleeper agents.
One of the guys found dead and noted as a terrorist....held a Syrian passport (he actually had it on his person apparently). They ran the name and he comes up having registered sometime in the first week of October....in Greece, on the isle of Leros. He made the trip across the 'bay' from Turkey....roughly a 30-kilometer trip.
Typically, the 'walk' from mainland Greece, through Macedonia and the various countries....using an occasional train...would take a minimum of two weeks, and maybe up to three weeks. So, he scooted through fairly quickly and skipped Germany....making his way to France.
The Greek authorities (the Deputy Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Toskas) noted that he was registered there and they aren't sure if the guy registered anywhere else in Europe. I would assume not.
The second interesting part of the story is that one of the bombers (there are a host of them apparently)....had the job of making his way into the stadium while the France-Germany soccer game was being played. The guy had a suicide-bombers vest, when he encountered the security guy at the entry point. He was forced to open the jacket and the security guy stepped in front to check him.....noting the vest and immediately stopped him. The French guard actually did exactly what he was supposed to do.
This bomber was denied entry and detonated his bomb somewhere in front of the stadium and doing lesser damage.
So, we come to the topic of sleeper agents. It'll end up being discussed at length over the next week. It's difficult to imagine it not being talked about in German discussion forums.
How many sleeper agents from ISIS made their way to Europe? Out of this potential 1.5 million number that often gets mentioned, it's impossible to say. There could be ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred, perhaps even 500.
How can you establish who the sleepers are? You can't. Once you admit that....it will start to worry people about this whole open-door policy.
All of this is going to generate some massive appeal from various countries to control borders. Fences will be put up and there will be at least some temporary episode to check passports more frequently at entry points. I can't see any of the EU members wanting a full-up check-point existing like it was prior to the 1990s. But public hostility will demand some type of increased security.
Political fallout in Germany? State elections in three states are roughly 120 days away. Paris will be hyped in these regional elections and the political parties with strong emphasis on pro-immigration and pro-asylum will end up suffering at the ballot box.
The one last thought.....even if you have legit refugees from Syria who aren't sleeper agents....they will be sitting around without a job for months as they go through the integration phase and language classes. They will be bored, depressed, and easily manipulated by fraudulent religious instructors. They will be easily influenced and pressed into service as future sleeper agents.
Saturday, November 14, 2015
That Bavarian Arrest
This Bavaria connection to Paris? Well....it may or may not exist.
What the Bavarian cops say is that they stopped a VW Golf for a routine car inspection. They claim random.....it may be such or it may be some intelligence gathered which led them to that car.
The car, on A8 between Salzburg and Munich.....had this fifty-one year old guy from Montenegro. Within the car engine area were two pistols and a hand grenade. One might suspect that this was a custom's patrol review.....with cops looking for black market smokes which would typically be hid in the engine compartment.
So, the cops took the car over to a station, and did a complete review. The rest of the car? Eight AK-47s, ammo for them, several more pistols, and at least 200 grams of TNT.
What the cops say? Nothing else on the guy says what the weapons were for and he is being very uncooperative. He has no record and there is no connection yet to any Islam organization.
The odd thing which barely relates him to Paris? He has Paris noted as a point on his GPS planning. Once you make such a route.....it typically stays there unless you clear. So he had some plan either in the past or on this trip.....to visit Paris.
You'd think that he'd want to settle this and clear himself.....but let's be clear here.....he's got weapon charges facing him from Germany and potentially a couple years in prison. It's best to just stay quiet. If you were working with the Islamic characters.....your treatment would change overnight, and they'd start to talk more charges.
My perception? Gun runners are common and this low amount of TNT (less than a pound) wouldn't do much damage unless you just wanted to make a small pipe-bomb. Maybe he was just delivering to some mafia guy. Personally, even if you admit some mafia connection.....you'd be in serious trouble anyway.....so it's best to just keep quiet and refuse to talk. I have my doubts that the guy is part of the Paris episode.
What the Bavarian cops say is that they stopped a VW Golf for a routine car inspection. They claim random.....it may be such or it may be some intelligence gathered which led them to that car.
The car, on A8 between Salzburg and Munich.....had this fifty-one year old guy from Montenegro. Within the car engine area were two pistols and a hand grenade. One might suspect that this was a custom's patrol review.....with cops looking for black market smokes which would typically be hid in the engine compartment.
So, the cops took the car over to a station, and did a complete review. The rest of the car? Eight AK-47s, ammo for them, several more pistols, and at least 200 grams of TNT.
What the cops say? Nothing else on the guy says what the weapons were for and he is being very uncooperative. He has no record and there is no connection yet to any Islam organization.
The odd thing which barely relates him to Paris? He has Paris noted as a point on his GPS planning. Once you make such a route.....it typically stays there unless you clear. So he had some plan either in the past or on this trip.....to visit Paris.
You'd think that he'd want to settle this and clear himself.....but let's be clear here.....he's got weapon charges facing him from Germany and potentially a couple years in prison. It's best to just stay quiet. If you were working with the Islamic characters.....your treatment would change overnight, and they'd start to talk more charges.
My perception? Gun runners are common and this low amount of TNT (less than a pound) wouldn't do much damage unless you just wanted to make a small pipe-bomb. Maybe he was just delivering to some mafia guy. Personally, even if you admit some mafia connection.....you'd be in serious trouble anyway.....so it's best to just keep quiet and refuse to talk. I have my doubts that the guy is part of the Paris episode.
German Cops
German cops often amaze me with the amount of professionalism and common practices.
What few Americans tend to realize is that there's a fair amount of effort to control the entry point to police academies in Germany. They test guys and gals for physical standards, intelligence requirements, and stress levels. Just because a guy wants to be a cop....means absolutely nothing. There just aren't that many losers in a German cop uniform.
So after they graduate....they end up with a city, state or federal police force. When they go out on patrol....it's typically a two-man team. If you walk around Frankfurt or Wiesbaden.....you tend to notice that's the standard when you talk about walking-patrols or car-patrols. There's a back-up and someone there to ensure situations don't escalate.
If you stand there and admire their vehicles....they have newer vehicles and all the latest in terms of technology or pistols.
Generally, the only big complaints that you ever hear about with cops center on two things. The first is anti-capitalist riots or demonstrations.
The first of May is typically of those period when such riots occur. You could looking at several major cities in Germany where riots will be planned, and large groups of cops are put on extra-duty. These riots usually end up with five to ten thousand rioters who show up.....use cobblestones to throw against the cops or structures.....and use Molotov-cocktails to set cars or buildings on fire. By the time you add up injuries and the stress involved.....cops have a general hatred of May riots.
Back in March of this year, we had the ECB building open up in Frankfurt which got a major riot and demonstration going by mid-morning. A number of cops were injured and it brought up some changes in local laws for future riots in the region.
The second big episode? Soccer games. As Bundesliga games occur.....cops get called in to wear riot gear and there's always a minimum of a hundred cops for most games. For teams with hooligan action in the past.....there could be a thousand cops called for duty on game day.
Injuries from past soccer riots? Yeah.....it's happened.
Over the past year, there's been talk by several political figures that cities and states should decline to offer such protection and force the clubs to escalate ticket prices and hire their own security folks for the arena grounds or within stadiums. Fans are hyper against this idea....knowing you'd have to pay another ten to twenty Euro for every single ticket if it ever occurs. The thing is.....as you injure some cop on fan duty and he's permanently retired.....the state ends up paying this poor guy's pension for the rest of his life, which all comes off federal or state tax collection.
As innovation has come to life....it's influenced a German cop's life to a great degree. You have video collection going on in all major German cities now....no matter where you turn, the cops have a video feed.
When you have a riot or have some soccer hooligan episode unfolds....there's video to show where it started, who was involved, what trains they rode across town to reach ground-zero, and how they left some parking lot on the end of town via their personal car. The possibility of maintaining some anonymous appearance? I'm almost of the mind that we are entering an age when anonymous participation in riots won't be possible within a decade.
If the Frankfurt cops wanted to know every car tag of vehicles that enters town each day.....the technology already exists....they'd simply ask for the money and fund it. Being anonymous in life? It's rapidly coming to an end.
This all brings me to what Germans get for their money in terms of police protection. If you asked a hundred Germans.....the vast majority....probably near ninety-percent....will say they are satisfied with the police protection that they have. The hooligans or anti-capitalists? If you lined up a hundred of them....virtually ninety-nine percent would be unhappy with the German cops.
What few Americans tend to realize is that there's a fair amount of effort to control the entry point to police academies in Germany. They test guys and gals for physical standards, intelligence requirements, and stress levels. Just because a guy wants to be a cop....means absolutely nothing. There just aren't that many losers in a German cop uniform.
So after they graduate....they end up with a city, state or federal police force. When they go out on patrol....it's typically a two-man team. If you walk around Frankfurt or Wiesbaden.....you tend to notice that's the standard when you talk about walking-patrols or car-patrols. There's a back-up and someone there to ensure situations don't escalate.
If you stand there and admire their vehicles....they have newer vehicles and all the latest in terms of technology or pistols.
Generally, the only big complaints that you ever hear about with cops center on two things. The first is anti-capitalist riots or demonstrations.
The first of May is typically of those period when such riots occur. You could looking at several major cities in Germany where riots will be planned, and large groups of cops are put on extra-duty. These riots usually end up with five to ten thousand rioters who show up.....use cobblestones to throw against the cops or structures.....and use Molotov-cocktails to set cars or buildings on fire. By the time you add up injuries and the stress involved.....cops have a general hatred of May riots.
Back in March of this year, we had the ECB building open up in Frankfurt which got a major riot and demonstration going by mid-morning. A number of cops were injured and it brought up some changes in local laws for future riots in the region.
The second big episode? Soccer games. As Bundesliga games occur.....cops get called in to wear riot gear and there's always a minimum of a hundred cops for most games. For teams with hooligan action in the past.....there could be a thousand cops called for duty on game day.
Injuries from past soccer riots? Yeah.....it's happened.
Over the past year, there's been talk by several political figures that cities and states should decline to offer such protection and force the clubs to escalate ticket prices and hire their own security folks for the arena grounds or within stadiums. Fans are hyper against this idea....knowing you'd have to pay another ten to twenty Euro for every single ticket if it ever occurs. The thing is.....as you injure some cop on fan duty and he's permanently retired.....the state ends up paying this poor guy's pension for the rest of his life, which all comes off federal or state tax collection.
As innovation has come to life....it's influenced a German cop's life to a great degree. You have video collection going on in all major German cities now....no matter where you turn, the cops have a video feed.
When you have a riot or have some soccer hooligan episode unfolds....there's video to show where it started, who was involved, what trains they rode across town to reach ground-zero, and how they left some parking lot on the end of town via their personal car. The possibility of maintaining some anonymous appearance? I'm almost of the mind that we are entering an age when anonymous participation in riots won't be possible within a decade.
If the Frankfurt cops wanted to know every car tag of vehicles that enters town each day.....the technology already exists....they'd simply ask for the money and fund it. Being anonymous in life? It's rapidly coming to an end.
This all brings me to what Germans get for their money in terms of police protection. If you asked a hundred Germans.....the vast majority....probably near ninety-percent....will say they are satisfied with the police protection that they have. The hooligans or anti-capitalists? If you lined up a hundred of them....virtually ninety-nine percent would be unhappy with the German cops.
Explaining Fasching
Fasching started this week (11th minute of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month).
For Germans who live in Koln or Mainz, it's a big deal. If you live in other areas of Germany, it's lesser of a a deal. Small towns do celebrate to a minor degree.
Typically, it will be referred to as the 'foolish' season. In Mainz, they say they have five seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter, and fasching).
It will end on Ash Wednesday.....so it's a fair bit of time in this season.
The peaks are typically on 11 November, Rosenmontag (Rose Monday toward the end) and the last month.
What typically happens? Costumes and costume parties are a trend....you dress up for the parades and the parties. I'm not talking about marginal efforts here....there are people who will spend easily a thousand Euro for some costumes because of their status in the carnival season.
Drinking and partying will be hyped up. Beer, wines, and beverages will be poured in fair amounts. I won't say Germans drink to excess.....but they drink to within one step of excess. Being within the urban environment of Koln and Mainz.....that means no one is stupid to drive and they all use public transportation to get to and from the parade or party.
Dressing warm for the parades is another big deal. November is one of those periods when it rains and temperatures drop.
Satire, cynical poems, sarcastic jokes.....get brought up during the last month as various parties will occur around the city and supported by various clubs. If you wanted five star humor.....this would be the festive occasions to attend. Although for the big parties (700 people showing up), you'd have to get tickets five to ten years prior to the event (that's how much interest that people have in this).
You may end up at such a party-dinner and discover that the local clerk of the drug store in town.....actually is a comedian and for fifteen minutes.....does as good of a job as any TV comedian in the US.
There are clubs which have dozens of guys working during evening hours from November to February to ensure their party goes off without a hitch. There are probably 10,000 man-hours put into preparation for some of these parties.
Where this started? Well.....most people agree that it goes back to Roman celebrations (before the Christians came along), and was later adapted to some degree as a seasonal thing when the Roman brand of Catholic Church arrived in Germany. It was supposed to be some end of winter where spring was in the air.....you could say things that normally would get you in trouble with the authorities or the church......at least during this carnival season. Alcohol and fun figured into this event to a degree.
Generally being an American watching this unfold, I'd say that you have two versions of Germans. For most of the year.....Germans are version one.....which is ultra professional and lacking humor.
Then version two kicks in and Germans start to become witty, showing a little bit more humor, dressing a bit different and seeming just a bit more happy than normal.
I should note....one of the chief episodes that occurs on on Fastelabend or Schmutziger Donnerstag....is the day set for women to be mischievous. The historic thing that occurs is that women are allowed to cut the neckties of guys at work. So most guys.....the professional types who wear ties.....will pull out a really old and crappy tie.....wearing it on this day and expect someone (maybe the secretary) to cut the tie in the middle of the day. All is done in fun of course (so they will tell you).
The parades that occur? They will have fun themes, and some critical comments of political groups. Generally, Germans have some harsh opinions of various leaders....locally and nationally....so this is a time when you can make a float which has some commentary that would normally not be accepted. Having the Chancellor dressed up in a trampy outfit and looking like a trailer-park gal for a float decoration......would be acceptable.
If invited to a parade with Germans.....dress warm.....wear some type of costume.....and be prepared to travel via train to the parade.
If invited to a party-dinner? Wear a costume....be prepared for happy Germans.....and drink at a pace that is comfortable for you. If they seem overly happy and not normal? Don't worry....after Ash Wednesday, they will return to the normal grumpy German culture that you are used to.
For Germans who live in Koln or Mainz, it's a big deal. If you live in other areas of Germany, it's lesser of a a deal. Small towns do celebrate to a minor degree.
Typically, it will be referred to as the 'foolish' season. In Mainz, they say they have five seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter, and fasching).
It will end on Ash Wednesday.....so it's a fair bit of time in this season.
The peaks are typically on 11 November, Rosenmontag (Rose Monday toward the end) and the last month.
What typically happens? Costumes and costume parties are a trend....you dress up for the parades and the parties. I'm not talking about marginal efforts here....there are people who will spend easily a thousand Euro for some costumes because of their status in the carnival season.
Drinking and partying will be hyped up. Beer, wines, and beverages will be poured in fair amounts. I won't say Germans drink to excess.....but they drink to within one step of excess. Being within the urban environment of Koln and Mainz.....that means no one is stupid to drive and they all use public transportation to get to and from the parade or party.
Dressing warm for the parades is another big deal. November is one of those periods when it rains and temperatures drop.
Satire, cynical poems, sarcastic jokes.....get brought up during the last month as various parties will occur around the city and supported by various clubs. If you wanted five star humor.....this would be the festive occasions to attend. Although for the big parties (700 people showing up), you'd have to get tickets five to ten years prior to the event (that's how much interest that people have in this).
You may end up at such a party-dinner and discover that the local clerk of the drug store in town.....actually is a comedian and for fifteen minutes.....does as good of a job as any TV comedian in the US.
There are clubs which have dozens of guys working during evening hours from November to February to ensure their party goes off without a hitch. There are probably 10,000 man-hours put into preparation for some of these parties.
Where this started? Well.....most people agree that it goes back to Roman celebrations (before the Christians came along), and was later adapted to some degree as a seasonal thing when the Roman brand of Catholic Church arrived in Germany. It was supposed to be some end of winter where spring was in the air.....you could say things that normally would get you in trouble with the authorities or the church......at least during this carnival season. Alcohol and fun figured into this event to a degree.
Generally being an American watching this unfold, I'd say that you have two versions of Germans. For most of the year.....Germans are version one.....which is ultra professional and lacking humor.
Then version two kicks in and Germans start to become witty, showing a little bit more humor, dressing a bit different and seeming just a bit more happy than normal.
I should note....one of the chief episodes that occurs on on Fastelabend or Schmutziger Donnerstag....is the day set for women to be mischievous. The historic thing that occurs is that women are allowed to cut the neckties of guys at work. So most guys.....the professional types who wear ties.....will pull out a really old and crappy tie.....wearing it on this day and expect someone (maybe the secretary) to cut the tie in the middle of the day. All is done in fun of course (so they will tell you).
The parades that occur? They will have fun themes, and some critical comments of political groups. Generally, Germans have some harsh opinions of various leaders....locally and nationally....so this is a time when you can make a float which has some commentary that would normally not be accepted. Having the Chancellor dressed up in a trampy outfit and looking like a trailer-park gal for a float decoration......would be acceptable.
If invited to a parade with Germans.....dress warm.....wear some type of costume.....and be prepared to travel via train to the parade.
If invited to a party-dinner? Wear a costume....be prepared for happy Germans.....and drink at a pace that is comfortable for you. If they seem overly happy and not normal? Don't worry....after Ash Wednesday, they will return to the normal grumpy German culture that you are used to.
Looking for Joan
Looking French political commentary after the Friday night killings, I came to this one comment:
"We will lead the fight, we will be ruthless."
-- French President Francois Hollande
To be honest and not slam the guy much.....but France hasn't exactly been ruthless since 30 May 1431, when Joan of Arc was burned at the stake after leading the nation to victory and later being captured by a local tribal group who handed her to the English invasion members.
You can say whatever you want since 1431, but the French haven't had some leader with spunk, backbone, or toughness.
There is presently a curfew in affect and the borders have been reportedly shut down. If you were looking for some moment of determination or true grit....well, you may have to wait a while.
I will admit....Joan of Arc probably was a bit crazy....somewhat delusional....believing that she was divinely sent to save France....but for some odd reason, her determination was the magic element needed to restore order in France.
As much as Hollande calls upon ruthlessness.....he basically needs a Joan of Arc.
"We will lead the fight, we will be ruthless."
-- French President Francois Hollande
To be honest and not slam the guy much.....but France hasn't exactly been ruthless since 30 May 1431, when Joan of Arc was burned at the stake after leading the nation to victory and later being captured by a local tribal group who handed her to the English invasion members.
You can say whatever you want since 1431, but the French haven't had some leader with spunk, backbone, or toughness.
There is presently a curfew in affect and the borders have been reportedly shut down. If you were looking for some moment of determination or true grit....well, you may have to wait a while.
I will admit....Joan of Arc probably was a bit crazy....somewhat delusional....believing that she was divinely sent to save France....but for some odd reason, her determination was the magic element needed to restore order in France.
As much as Hollande calls upon ruthlessness.....he basically needs a Joan of Arc.
Words over Paris
Those awakening this morning in Germany will find their attention glued to the Paris massacre of last evening. At least a hundred-fifty people are dead....scores injured.....the city in chaos.....and emotional trauma that will take eternity to heal.
There's not that many words or statements that one can make. You look at the scenes.....you hear French people discussing the unbelievable nature of the attack. Muslim people will split themselves between those who condemn it and those who condone it.
The French Army has been activated and there are hundreds if not thousands.....of French soldiers patrolling various villages, towns, and cities across France today.
I will make three simple observations.
First, the behavior here is of 7th century thugs, with some prophet lecture and tirade which worked fine in the 7th century, but it's destructive and corrupt in 2015. It requires naive men and women with no hope, no future, no morals, and no grit.....to carry out some agenda that God cannot apparently utter....but some vile mortal men can gab upon.
Second, there is no relief. Within days, weeks or months.....another attack will come on French soil and test French resolve. There is no method to kill the beast, slay the dragon, tame the serpent, to defeat faceless men, or halt insane behavior. If there was....we would have already used that method..
Third, oddly after each attack....someone always comes out to remind the public that Islam is the religion of peace. It's happened so often that people almost grin when they hear the phrase. By Monday night, I expect some German political forum to come up, and some nitwit to utter the phrase once again. It'd be nice if someone in the audience of the show would just get up and walk out, and the rest of the audience and the panel participants followed suit....with just the moderator and the religion of peace guy left standing there on the stage.
I sat for a while this morning reading the commentary that someone put up.....saying the Americans are the chief ones at fault. It was the often-repeated intellectual argument to just about anything bad that happens these days.
If you wanted to assign fault....it comes down to some words written 1,400 years ago and the words keep being read and interpreted as a violent means to reach a conclusion. Without violence, an end cannot be reached, and this is preached over and over to a crowd without much hope in life.
We are all French in some way, and suffer as they do.
There's not that many words or statements that one can make. You look at the scenes.....you hear French people discussing the unbelievable nature of the attack. Muslim people will split themselves between those who condemn it and those who condone it.
The French Army has been activated and there are hundreds if not thousands.....of French soldiers patrolling various villages, towns, and cities across France today.
I will make three simple observations.
First, the behavior here is of 7th century thugs, with some prophet lecture and tirade which worked fine in the 7th century, but it's destructive and corrupt in 2015. It requires naive men and women with no hope, no future, no morals, and no grit.....to carry out some agenda that God cannot apparently utter....but some vile mortal men can gab upon.
Second, there is no relief. Within days, weeks or months.....another attack will come on French soil and test French resolve. There is no method to kill the beast, slay the dragon, tame the serpent, to defeat faceless men, or halt insane behavior. If there was....we would have already used that method..
Third, oddly after each attack....someone always comes out to remind the public that Islam is the religion of peace. It's happened so often that people almost grin when they hear the phrase. By Monday night, I expect some German political forum to come up, and some nitwit to utter the phrase once again. It'd be nice if someone in the audience of the show would just get up and walk out, and the rest of the audience and the panel participants followed suit....with just the moderator and the religion of peace guy left standing there on the stage.
I sat for a while this morning reading the commentary that someone put up.....saying the Americans are the chief ones at fault. It was the often-repeated intellectual argument to just about anything bad that happens these days.
If you wanted to assign fault....it comes down to some words written 1,400 years ago and the words keep being read and interpreted as a violent means to reach a conclusion. Without violence, an end cannot be reached, and this is preached over and over to a crowd without much hope in life.
We are all French in some way, and suffer as they do.
A Rat Story
In business news from Germany last night, they got around to a small story which they'd prefer not to discuss much. It's apparent now that the VW diesel episode has this curious twist to it.
For weeks, everyone was told how this US science foundation group went out and did the research and finally got the EPA to react on the evil VW corporation and the faulty diesel tests. It was a nice story, and helped to hype up the negativity that Germans typically have about the "evil-Americans".
Roughly twenty-percent of the German population (a lot of intellectual types) hype the evil-American routine and agenda. This runs from the Iraq War business, to Wall Street, onto the evil George Bush, and includes the evil Republicans. So having the evil-Americans to focus onto for the diesel episode helped to focus the story onto the right people.
Well.....there's a problem.
As told yesterday.....one member of the EU who will remain anonymous for the time being.....apparently figured out the invalid diesel tests.....tried to get the EU through Germany to do something, and they did nothing. So this EU member (who will remain anonymous) told the EPA and they apparently found some foundation to prove these tests, thus getting the EPA to the final stage of saying "there's a problem".
Who spoke to the EPA? Unknown.
Who disliked Germany enough to take this maneuver? There are probably three or four countries that one might suspect. There's the British....who always have a grudge. There's the Luxembourg crowd who are angry over tax-harbor accusations. There's the French, who might see this as a chance to slap at Germany.
Curiously, the news media folks haven't really gotten to this point yet of asking "who". You'd think.....it would be priority number one. Yet, they seem to just overlook this.....almost in an intentional way.
The evil-American slant to the story? Well.....the EPA will still get their money and Germans can still be furious at how the evil-Americans achieved this fine deal. It's just that there's some other party in this mix.....who really hurt the German economy in a major way, and they were a friend (always the intellectual German speaking about their EU partners). Friends don't rat on friends.....at least if you were a real friend.
I don't know where this will go or if anyone will ever dig into the story to find the rat who tattled upon the VW folks. It's just odd how everyone wanted the evil-American slant to continue on.
For weeks, everyone was told how this US science foundation group went out and did the research and finally got the EPA to react on the evil VW corporation and the faulty diesel tests. It was a nice story, and helped to hype up the negativity that Germans typically have about the "evil-Americans".
Roughly twenty-percent of the German population (a lot of intellectual types) hype the evil-American routine and agenda. This runs from the Iraq War business, to Wall Street, onto the evil George Bush, and includes the evil Republicans. So having the evil-Americans to focus onto for the diesel episode helped to focus the story onto the right people.
Well.....there's a problem.
As told yesterday.....one member of the EU who will remain anonymous for the time being.....apparently figured out the invalid diesel tests.....tried to get the EU through Germany to do something, and they did nothing. So this EU member (who will remain anonymous) told the EPA and they apparently found some foundation to prove these tests, thus getting the EPA to the final stage of saying "there's a problem".
Who spoke to the EPA? Unknown.
Who disliked Germany enough to take this maneuver? There are probably three or four countries that one might suspect. There's the British....who always have a grudge. There's the Luxembourg crowd who are angry over tax-harbor accusations. There's the French, who might see this as a chance to slap at Germany.
Curiously, the news media folks haven't really gotten to this point yet of asking "who". You'd think.....it would be priority number one. Yet, they seem to just overlook this.....almost in an intentional way.
The evil-American slant to the story? Well.....the EPA will still get their money and Germans can still be furious at how the evil-Americans achieved this fine deal. It's just that there's some other party in this mix.....who really hurt the German economy in a major way, and they were a friend (always the intellectual German speaking about their EU partners). Friends don't rat on friends.....at least if you were a real friend.
I don't know where this will go or if anyone will ever dig into the story to find the rat who tattled upon the VW folks. It's just odd how everyone wanted the evil-American slant to continue on.
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