The basic story (at least ten different sites are covering this today in Germany), on Saturday evening in Amberg (about an hour east of Nuremberg, in the far east corner of SE Germany)....four young gentlemen of an asylum situation (ages 17 to 19) got into the middle of town and just started beating up on locals.
Cause? Cops say alcohol....they were extremely drunk.
Countries of origin? Iran, Afghanistan and Syria.
One of the folks 'clobbered' is still in the hospital tonight (Monday).
The odd part of this story is that NONE of the four is quartered or based in Amberg....they simply met there and got drunk in the middle of town.
Jailing situation? Well, that's another odd part of the story.....all four were separated and sent to different jails in the region, separate from each other.
Charges? Authorities won't say much yet, but I'm guessing that once witnesses lay out who hit who.....you could be looking at a minimum of a year in some German prison for serious assault. Line up twelve cases....someone or the group itself might be looking at serious jail-time.
Terror act? NO. This was the dimwit behavior you expect out of young men who lack mature behavior.
Monday, December 31, 2018
Robbery Story
My village is a fairly small situation....maybe 4,000 people, around four miles outside of Wiesbaden (we are still considered part of the city, as a suburb).
This morning, pretty much everything around the entire city and our village is on short hours because tomorrow is New Year's Day. The bakery, the grocery, and the post office in the village would open early and be shutdown by 1 PM.
Well...at some point around 8:30 AM, some guy strolled into the post office and pulled a pistol on the lady that runs it. He makes off with a couple thousand Euro (so the cops say). Cops reacted and searched through the village. Nothing.
He basically walked away.
This is the harsh reality about crime in Germany. It used to be that you never saw any at all. You could exist in some town and there might only be one car stolen per every five years. Four years ago in my village....we had six cars stolen in a 12-month period...shocking the locals to a great extent. This is a situation that most simply can't comprehend.
This morning, pretty much everything around the entire city and our village is on short hours because tomorrow is New Year's Day. The bakery, the grocery, and the post office in the village would open early and be shutdown by 1 PM.
Well...at some point around 8:30 AM, some guy strolled into the post office and pulled a pistol on the lady that runs it. He makes off with a couple thousand Euro (so the cops say). Cops reacted and searched through the village. Nothing.
He basically walked away.
This is the harsh reality about crime in Germany. It used to be that you never saw any at all. You could exist in some town and there might only be one car stolen per every five years. Four years ago in my village....we had six cars stolen in a 12-month period...shocking the locals to a great extent. This is a situation that most simply can't comprehend.
Sunday, December 30, 2018
Hannover Story
A curious piece from Hannover (last night, Saturday)....some young guy (age: 21)....somehow got through the entry point of the airport there, and drove out onto the ramp/aircraft parking area.
This basically shutdown the entire airport for an hour or two while the cops chased this guy down, apprehended him and then ensured there weren't any other idiots out there.
What the cops say today? If you follow NDR (regional public TV).....they say the guy was all doped up (cocaine and 'uppers'). Charges? No one says much but I would bet on a couple of severe charges. At the very least....he's going to lose his license for a year. There's probably enough there for a full-year in some regional jail.
Terrorist act? No. But I'm guessing that the cops weren't sure when this report came in and they started to look for this guy on the ramp area.
This basically shutdown the entire airport for an hour or two while the cops chased this guy down, apprehended him and then ensured there weren't any other idiots out there.
What the cops say today? If you follow NDR (regional public TV).....they say the guy was all doped up (cocaine and 'uppers'). Charges? No one says much but I would bet on a couple of severe charges. At the very least....he's going to lose his license for a year. There's probably enough there for a full-year in some regional jail.
Terrorist act? No. But I'm guessing that the cops weren't sure when this report came in and they started to look for this guy on the ramp area.
Germany and Radio Networks
Radio stations and networks in Germany go down a particular path.
First, there are public stations/networks (run by ARD's public TV-Media tax on households), and spread out across the sixteen states of Germany. Then there are commercial stations/networks, which are funded by commercial activity or charity action (mostly church-related networks).
If you own or operate a station....it has to be approved by the individual state. It's not a federalized program....each of the sixteen states run the system with their own rules and standards.
The chief paths to broadcast? FM, to a lesser degree AM, and digital (DAB-plus). You can put your antenna up and look for AM stations and I would suggest that whatever you could pick up in 1985.....more than 90-percent of those have shutdown. Most stations have gone to FM to operate.
The term 'community station'? It'll be a charity-run or foundation-run type station....built strictly around one single town or city. It would surprise most folks that near 90-odd community stations exist in Germany today. An example of a community station? Helle Welle, based out of the Stuttgart region. It's a combination Christian-Jewish network. Another example is Radio-X out of Frankfurt, which runs pure and absolute Jazz (one could suggest an absolute obsession with that style of music).
How radio stations exist across Germany today? Roughly 500.
FM networks that operate across the entire nation? No. You will find a handful of stations that bulk up on power and have the strength to carry over to three states (to some degree)....an example of this is BIG-FM (out of the Pfalz region).
Talk-radio? The 'creature' doesn't exist. You might find various formats used to interview people, but you won't find a case where German 'Rush Limbaugh' exists.
The effect of AFN (American Forces Network)? Well....a LOT of Germans over the age of sixty will say that they had a huge fascination with AFN in the 1960s/1970s, and preferred AFN to most all German public and commercialized networks. By the 1990s, that number had dwindled drastically. Part of the reason, I perceive, is that German stations got more aggressive....listened to their complaints, and improved. While AFN does exist to some minor degree today....I doubt if you can find one German out of a thousand today.....who listens to some minor degree....to AFN. And to be honest, since the internet era arrived....even among GI' in Germany.....I doubt if you an find more than 2-percent who actively listen to AFN (most will say they turn it on for news while driving to work).
First, there are public stations/networks (run by ARD's public TV-Media tax on households), and spread out across the sixteen states of Germany. Then there are commercial stations/networks, which are funded by commercial activity or charity action (mostly church-related networks).
If you own or operate a station....it has to be approved by the individual state. It's not a federalized program....each of the sixteen states run the system with their own rules and standards.
The chief paths to broadcast? FM, to a lesser degree AM, and digital (DAB-plus). You can put your antenna up and look for AM stations and I would suggest that whatever you could pick up in 1985.....more than 90-percent of those have shutdown. Most stations have gone to FM to operate.
The term 'community station'? It'll be a charity-run or foundation-run type station....built strictly around one single town or city. It would surprise most folks that near 90-odd community stations exist in Germany today. An example of a community station? Helle Welle, based out of the Stuttgart region. It's a combination Christian-Jewish network. Another example is Radio-X out of Frankfurt, which runs pure and absolute Jazz (one could suggest an absolute obsession with that style of music).
How radio stations exist across Germany today? Roughly 500.
FM networks that operate across the entire nation? No. You will find a handful of stations that bulk up on power and have the strength to carry over to three states (to some degree)....an example of this is BIG-FM (out of the Pfalz region).
Talk-radio? The 'creature' doesn't exist. You might find various formats used to interview people, but you won't find a case where German 'Rush Limbaugh' exists.
The effect of AFN (American Forces Network)? Well....a LOT of Germans over the age of sixty will say that they had a huge fascination with AFN in the 1960s/1970s, and preferred AFN to most all German public and commercialized networks. By the 1990s, that number had dwindled drastically. Part of the reason, I perceive, is that German stations got more aggressive....listened to their complaints, and improved. While AFN does exist to some minor degree today....I doubt if you can find one German out of a thousand today.....who listens to some minor degree....to AFN. And to be honest, since the internet era arrived....even among GI' in Germany.....I doubt if you an find more than 2-percent who actively listen to AFN (most will say they turn it on for news while driving to work).
DDR-Management Style
I got into an odd topic discussion yesterday with a German....over Germans today who grew up in old East Germany (DDR) and today have management jobs in companies. Their style of management? Well....this is a curious thing which tends to get noticed. And a lot of this.....goes back to the 1949 to 1989 era of industry and 'survival'.
If you were part of the DDR-machine as a manager, you had goals given to you to accomplish A, B, and C. If you needed to produce 40 Trabant 601-model cars per day.....then you geared your entire production line in some way to guarantee forty cars would come off that assembly line. If the goal was stupid and they were selling every single 601-model immediately? It didn't matter....the head guy for the government told you to only produce 40 Trabant 601's per day.
So you can go down through every single product produced in old East Germany....seeing that they all functioned the same way. No expansion or modernization occurred unless the government guy first said that expansion or change was necessary.
Then you come to problem-solving. Even if your company was in a conflicted moment, and needed to have the 'boss' make a decision.....he tended to avoid making the decision unless he was directed by some government guy to make a change. A great example of this is to go and look at advancements of Trabant cars from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s. Then you go and look at BMW and Mercedes models from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s.
As the Wall came down.....these DDR executives and managers got into the German system, and they are noticeable today. Yes, in an amusing way....when in a crisis situation or a discussion over a major impact....these gentlemen in their 50s and 60s....are not able to make decisions, and basically waiting for 'someone' (a boss over them) to tell them what decision to make.
So I asked.....what about the younger crowd? Those who grew up after the Wall and were 'Germanized'? Oh....they (in their 20s and 30s) are more than capable of looking at a problem and developing a solution, then implementing it.
I sat there for a minute and then asked the million-Euro question....is Merkel a DDR manager?
Simple answer.....yes.
You can look at the character make-up of the three previous Chancellors, and find that Merkel rarely goes out on the limb to make decisions and move the government toward some major change. In a way, she is the typical Trabant factory manager....knowing her goals, and producing only those results required. Decisions are driven by time-impacts....so it the clock is running out, it'll drive her to accept some change, but if she has time....then no decision is made and things just keep going.
It is an odd management style to go and pursue. It does make sense in some Communist regime situation, but in a modern 'western' environment....it aggravates people. Has the public come to realize this DDR-management style? Most Germans don't have daily contact with these type managers and they wouldn't be able to look through the decision process to realize the limitations with these managers.
It's probably worth a PhD thesis to go and interview a couple of these guys and write a whole book on how they survived the past thirty years as managers.
If you were part of the DDR-machine as a manager, you had goals given to you to accomplish A, B, and C. If you needed to produce 40 Trabant 601-model cars per day.....then you geared your entire production line in some way to guarantee forty cars would come off that assembly line. If the goal was stupid and they were selling every single 601-model immediately? It didn't matter....the head guy for the government told you to only produce 40 Trabant 601's per day.
So you can go down through every single product produced in old East Germany....seeing that they all functioned the same way. No expansion or modernization occurred unless the government guy first said that expansion or change was necessary.
Then you come to problem-solving. Even if your company was in a conflicted moment, and needed to have the 'boss' make a decision.....he tended to avoid making the decision unless he was directed by some government guy to make a change. A great example of this is to go and look at advancements of Trabant cars from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s. Then you go and look at BMW and Mercedes models from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s.
As the Wall came down.....these DDR executives and managers got into the German system, and they are noticeable today. Yes, in an amusing way....when in a crisis situation or a discussion over a major impact....these gentlemen in their 50s and 60s....are not able to make decisions, and basically waiting for 'someone' (a boss over them) to tell them what decision to make.
So I asked.....what about the younger crowd? Those who grew up after the Wall and were 'Germanized'? Oh....they (in their 20s and 30s) are more than capable of looking at a problem and developing a solution, then implementing it.
I sat there for a minute and then asked the million-Euro question....is Merkel a DDR manager?
Simple answer.....yes.
You can look at the character make-up of the three previous Chancellors, and find that Merkel rarely goes out on the limb to make decisions and move the government toward some major change. In a way, she is the typical Trabant factory manager....knowing her goals, and producing only those results required. Decisions are driven by time-impacts....so it the clock is running out, it'll drive her to accept some change, but if she has time....then no decision is made and things just keep going.
It is an odd management style to go and pursue. It does make sense in some Communist regime situation, but in a modern 'western' environment....it aggravates people. Has the public come to realize this DDR-management style? Most Germans don't have daily contact with these type managers and they wouldn't be able to look through the decision process to realize the limitations with these managers.
It's probably worth a PhD thesis to go and interview a couple of these guys and write a whole book on how they survived the past thirty years as managers.
Terror Network Taken Down
A major terror network was taken down by the Dutch police yesterday. From what cops say....four individuals in the Netherlands were arrested, and then they had this one outsider in the group....located down in Mainz (across the river from me). So they alerted the Mainz police and they came to arrest this mid-20s Syrian guy for terrorist activities. My guess is that they will interview the guy....look at phone records, and maybe come to a couple of associates of his in the local Mainz region.
Saturday, December 29, 2018
Claas Relotius Affair Deepens
This past week, I essayed over the Claas Relotius episode with Spiegel and his fake story (stories, it might be multiple episodes).
Most folks were thinking that it'd come to a closure and that'd be the end of Spiegel's 'woes'. Well....no.
Today, ARD (public TV, Channel One) reports that two chiefs with Spiegel are on some form of suspended leave, until all the facts are laid out before the company. Accusations? Apparently some exist.
One of the two was the guy who discovered Relotius had talent, and the second guy is the one who hired Relotius.
Another odd story popped up two days ago in that the photographer who accompanied Relotius to the US for his January 2017 story....laid out the various issues that he felt Relotius had not done enough interviews to base his story on anything....spoke up and said that management really didn't want to hear or discuss the matter. In simple terms, they didn't believe that Relotius could be that stupid.
The problem here for Spiegel is that people will ask if other stories or other reporters might have done the Relotius 'routine' as well, and maybe dozens of stories are suspect. The news magazine really needs to clean this episode up and quickly move on. As for these two management guys? Perhaps poor judgement was exercised and when questions arose....they refused to believe their employee (Relotius) was guilty of anything.
Most folks were thinking that it'd come to a closure and that'd be the end of Spiegel's 'woes'. Well....no.
Today, ARD (public TV, Channel One) reports that two chiefs with Spiegel are on some form of suspended leave, until all the facts are laid out before the company. Accusations? Apparently some exist.
One of the two was the guy who discovered Relotius had talent, and the second guy is the one who hired Relotius.
Another odd story popped up two days ago in that the photographer who accompanied Relotius to the US for his January 2017 story....laid out the various issues that he felt Relotius had not done enough interviews to base his story on anything....spoke up and said that management really didn't want to hear or discuss the matter. In simple terms, they didn't believe that Relotius could be that stupid.
The problem here for Spiegel is that people will ask if other stories or other reporters might have done the Relotius 'routine' as well, and maybe dozens of stories are suspect. The news magazine really needs to clean this episode up and quickly move on. As for these two management guys? Perhaps poor judgement was exercised and when questions arose....they refused to believe their employee (Relotius) was guilty of anything.
A German Movie Story
For a number of years after WW II.....German film production companies (either independent or via ARD public TV) simply didn't make movies over the 1930s to 1945. In the early 1980s....came Das Boot, which changed the perception and opened up the door to occasional movies of this era. Some of them.....I will admit....are first-class productions (Sophie Scholl, Before the Fall, etc).
This week, a Polish court stood up and pronounced judgement over a public TV production...."Unsere Mutter, Unsere Vater" or the English translation title: The Generational War.
ZDF (the junior partner under ARD) produced mini-series 'movie'. There are three episodes to it....each to 90 minutes.
I've watched the movie and would basically say that the script goes along this line....five young Germans (three men and two women) are friends in the late 1930s....the war starts, and they are thrown into a spiral with their lives mostly destroyed by the end of the war. I will say that the storyline is four-star....decent acting, and it's a fairly intense movie. As war movies go, it's a good production and worth watching.
A number of scenes are placed in Poland during the war, and there was an effort by the production team to slant this scene (or act) as negative against the Poles. This started up a national talk in Poland because so many of them watched the movie there. They felt that the movie was an insult.
So all of this got into the court system (yes, they sued).
The Poles won the case, and there is to be an apology by ZDF and some 'compensation' (the amount wasn't exactly laid out and I seriously doubt if it's more than a hundred-thousand Euro).
ZDF? Well....they say they will appeal. In their words....there is freedom of expression and they simply told this fictionalized story in a particular way. Yeah, it's a pretty lousy comment to make but they really can't explain why these particular scenes had to be done in some slanted way.
Here's the thing about this particular movie...it won awards, and the rights to broadcast sold in a major way. Various networks in Europe came and paid cash for the showing rights. ZDF doesn't openly talk about production costs but it was often mentioned as one of the most expensive movie projects that the public TV network had ever taken on. It's quiet possible that with DVD release and international networks showing it.....they may have actually paid for the production and even made some profit off the movie.
So I come to the problem of making a WW II German war movie. To make all the nationalities happy, and suit the historians....you'd have to make some epic forty-hour mini-series and tell over one-hundred character stories. Even when you do documentary pieces today over the 1930s and the war era, the viewers will often engage in serious critique of documentary construction and jump on the lack of this story, or this 'evil'. It's near impossible to make everyone happy.
I suspect that ZDF really doesn't want to admit a loss on this production, and apologize because it then opens up all kinds of potential in future productions where they continually have to say 'sorry'. The odds of this legal case going to the EU court? Probably a 99-percent chance.
This week, a Polish court stood up and pronounced judgement over a public TV production...."Unsere Mutter, Unsere Vater" or the English translation title: The Generational War.
ZDF (the junior partner under ARD) produced mini-series 'movie'. There are three episodes to it....each to 90 minutes.
I've watched the movie and would basically say that the script goes along this line....five young Germans (three men and two women) are friends in the late 1930s....the war starts, and they are thrown into a spiral with their lives mostly destroyed by the end of the war. I will say that the storyline is four-star....decent acting, and it's a fairly intense movie. As war movies go, it's a good production and worth watching.
A number of scenes are placed in Poland during the war, and there was an effort by the production team to slant this scene (or act) as negative against the Poles. This started up a national talk in Poland because so many of them watched the movie there. They felt that the movie was an insult.
So all of this got into the court system (yes, they sued).
The Poles won the case, and there is to be an apology by ZDF and some 'compensation' (the amount wasn't exactly laid out and I seriously doubt if it's more than a hundred-thousand Euro).
ZDF? Well....they say they will appeal. In their words....there is freedom of expression and they simply told this fictionalized story in a particular way. Yeah, it's a pretty lousy comment to make but they really can't explain why these particular scenes had to be done in some slanted way.
Here's the thing about this particular movie...it won awards, and the rights to broadcast sold in a major way. Various networks in Europe came and paid cash for the showing rights. ZDF doesn't openly talk about production costs but it was often mentioned as one of the most expensive movie projects that the public TV network had ever taken on. It's quiet possible that with DVD release and international networks showing it.....they may have actually paid for the production and even made some profit off the movie.
So I come to the problem of making a WW II German war movie. To make all the nationalities happy, and suit the historians....you'd have to make some epic forty-hour mini-series and tell over one-hundred character stories. Even when you do documentary pieces today over the 1930s and the war era, the viewers will often engage in serious critique of documentary construction and jump on the lack of this story, or this 'evil'. It's near impossible to make everyone happy.
I suspect that ZDF really doesn't want to admit a loss on this production, and apologize because it then opens up all kinds of potential in future productions where they continually have to say 'sorry'. The odds of this legal case going to the EU court? Probably a 99-percent chance.
Friday, December 28, 2018
New Diesel Update
There's an odd story appearing out of Focus (the German news magazine) this morning....over diesel cars and the woes that are ongoing.
The German Transportation Ministry says they are 'almost' at the point of a authorized 'kit' which would bring the pollution numbers down by 90-percent (commercial testing says it's closer to 60 to 80 percent).
There are basically four pieces to the resolution, and it wouldn't exactly be something that you'd put on a 15-year old diesel car. In fact, the level being discussed is about 3,000 Euro minimum.....per car, for the kit, the fitting, and test to ensure it works.
It's an interesting article and I highly recommend folks read it if they have an interest over this whole diesel chaos going on.
Who will pay the cost? That's what is really the unknown. Consumers who own the affected cars (into the millions) believe none of this is their fault and that the car companies and government should pay for the cost.
An end to the mess? They won't be out with an absolute answer until late spring. The kits? My guess is that they could be ready to sell by late spring. Would the cities accept this deal? That's another unknown in this whole story.
My guess is that VW and the rest of the car companies would be willing to offer maybe a thousand Euro for certain models (those in the ten-year or less range). The government might be willing to offer some tax credit deal and maybe a thousand Euro in the end. But the rest? It'll probably come out of your own personal pocket.
I should note here....four separate components make this work. The odds that these will diminish your performance and mileage? It's best not to bring up this issue. It'll just make people even more frustrated.
The German Transportation Ministry says they are 'almost' at the point of a authorized 'kit' which would bring the pollution numbers down by 90-percent (commercial testing says it's closer to 60 to 80 percent).
There are basically four pieces to the resolution, and it wouldn't exactly be something that you'd put on a 15-year old diesel car. In fact, the level being discussed is about 3,000 Euro minimum.....per car, for the kit, the fitting, and test to ensure it works.
It's an interesting article and I highly recommend folks read it if they have an interest over this whole diesel chaos going on.
Who will pay the cost? That's what is really the unknown. Consumers who own the affected cars (into the millions) believe none of this is their fault and that the car companies and government should pay for the cost.
An end to the mess? They won't be out with an absolute answer until late spring. The kits? My guess is that they could be ready to sell by late spring. Would the cities accept this deal? That's another unknown in this whole story.
My guess is that VW and the rest of the car companies would be willing to offer maybe a thousand Euro for certain models (those in the ten-year or less range). The government might be willing to offer some tax credit deal and maybe a thousand Euro in the end. But the rest? It'll probably come out of your own personal pocket.
I should note here....four separate components make this work. The odds that these will diminish your performance and mileage? It's best not to bring up this issue. It'll just make people even more frustrated.
Drug Story
ARD, our public TV network....Channel One....did a big long story last night on an escalating problem, drug trafficking in Germany.
Across Europe (not just Germany) cocaine distribution is on the rise. It's reaching the level now that dock workers and police....are being targeted by mafia groups in their effort to bring their product to Europe.
Oddly, they even point out that detection of cocaine has started to occur in major waste-water systems across the continent.
The end-result of this mess? Money-laundering is now a full-time occupation for a number of individuals.
Interesting story and worth a read.
Across Europe (not just Germany) cocaine distribution is on the rise. It's reaching the level now that dock workers and police....are being targeted by mafia groups in their effort to bring their product to Europe.
Oddly, they even point out that detection of cocaine has started to occur in major waste-water systems across the continent.
The end-result of this mess? Money-laundering is now a full-time occupation for a number of individuals.
Interesting story and worth a read.
Phobia Story
Once in a while, I'll be reading German news pieces and notice a humorous item....so this is a story over a German driver and a phobia condition. HR, my local Hessen public TV network, reports the basis of the story.
About an hour's drive NE of Frankfurt, along Autobahn 66....right as you get to Neuhoff, is this 1.6 kilometer tunnel. You find a fair number of tunnels in Germany. Sometimes, they drill their way through a mountain....sometimes, they drill under a highly urbanized city area to have a quick and quiet access situation.
So this woman (31 years old) drove up....noticed the tunnel ahead of her, and pulled over on the side of the autobahn. Her issue? Tunnel-phobia. Yes.....fear of tunnels.
Cops got called and eventually helped to guide her back to some exit and drive 'around' the tunnel area. Apparently, the woman was hyped up and needed a tranquilizer after this 'terrible' experience.
The cops? They sat down and wrote up the report, and recommended that a review occur with her license, and possibly dismissing her license.
Within a twenty mile radius of my house, I'd take a guess that at least ten tunnels exist. It's part of your routine to just not question the existence of these. How'd this lady get this far in life? Probably with a map laid out and marking each road with tunnels and avoiding them. My guess is that some review of the license will occur, and either she seeks professional care to get over this phobia, or she loses the license.
About an hour's drive NE of Frankfurt, along Autobahn 66....right as you get to Neuhoff, is this 1.6 kilometer tunnel. You find a fair number of tunnels in Germany. Sometimes, they drill their way through a mountain....sometimes, they drill under a highly urbanized city area to have a quick and quiet access situation.
So this woman (31 years old) drove up....noticed the tunnel ahead of her, and pulled over on the side of the autobahn. Her issue? Tunnel-phobia. Yes.....fear of tunnels.
Cops got called and eventually helped to guide her back to some exit and drive 'around' the tunnel area. Apparently, the woman was hyped up and needed a tranquilizer after this 'terrible' experience.
The cops? They sat down and wrote up the report, and recommended that a review occur with her license, and possibly dismissing her license.
Within a twenty mile radius of my house, I'd take a guess that at least ten tunnels exist. It's part of your routine to just not question the existence of these. How'd this lady get this far in life? Probably with a map laid out and marking each road with tunnels and avoiding them. My guess is that some review of the license will occur, and either she seeks professional care to get over this phobia, or she loses the license.
Thursday, December 27, 2018
Wiesbaden and Knives
Tonight, I pulled up the local Wiesbaden police-related news. There's three knife-related stories since Christmas eve in the city. There's a fourth story from the early hours of the 24th where four women got into a serious fist-fight (without the knives) in the middle of town, where cops had to come and lay down the law.
All of this comes in the week prior to the weapons-free zone law taking effect in the middle of Wiesbaden. The fine for just having a knife on you? It could go up to 5,000 Euro. My humble guess is that a threat or assault with the weapon will get you the max of the 5,000.....and just having a knife will be enough for a 1,000 Euro.
It's amazing how this knife-threat business has grown over the past five years in the city.
All of this comes in the week prior to the weapons-free zone law taking effect in the middle of Wiesbaden. The fine for just having a knife on you? It could go up to 5,000 Euro. My humble guess is that a threat or assault with the weapon will get you the max of the 5,000.....and just having a knife will be enough for a 1,000 Euro.
It's amazing how this knife-threat business has grown over the past five years in the city.
Looking for Recruits?
Decent little story popped up today over Germany's problem in recruiting enough Germans for the Bundeswehr (German Army). ARD, public TV and Channel One, discussed the topic to some degree.....worth a read.
Recruitment extending out to the 27 other members of the EU? Yes. Expectations? No one really can cite numbers. The Germans seem to think Poles, Italians and Romanians will sign up.
The problem here is that language requirements will come up (read, write, and speak) and it'll surprise me if you get more than a hundred folks a year from the 26 of the 27 other states. Austria? Well....this might turn into an interesting scenario.
They'd easily fill the language requirements, but some Germans seem to remember the luck back in August 1914, when a young Austrian working in Munich.....signed up to the German Army. That episode didn't go well, and I suspect this will be brought up eventually as a major potential problem.
Recruitment extending out to the 27 other members of the EU? Yes. Expectations? No one really can cite numbers. The Germans seem to think Poles, Italians and Romanians will sign up.
The problem here is that language requirements will come up (read, write, and speak) and it'll surprise me if you get more than a hundred folks a year from the 26 of the 27 other states. Austria? Well....this might turn into an interesting scenario.
They'd easily fill the language requirements, but some Germans seem to remember the luck back in August 1914, when a young Austrian working in Munich.....signed up to the German Army. That episode didn't go well, and I suspect this will be brought up eventually as a major potential problem.
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
Crime Story
I watched a brief update today on N-TV (German commercial news), and it was an interesting piece on German crime.
The German Federal Criminal Police Office (looking over all sixteen states and data collected) says that house/apartment burglaries are decreasing. It's actually a trend noted for a couple of years now.
The numbers for 2018? They aren't all in yet for December but it appears that the trend will go down again.
So how did the big public concern occur? This is a story which isn't discussed that much. There was a steady rise in numbers (for attempted/completed burglaries) from 2008 to 2015.
Yes, even before the refugee period started (summer of 2013).....the burglaries were going up each single year.
Most Germans will say, if dragged into this conversation that several trends occurred. One will be identified as the Wall coming down in 1989. Another suggestion will be lessening of police numbers (as cops retired, fewer and fewer replacement police were brought onto the national number). Some will suggest that criminals got more sophisticated and daring.
In 2015, there were 167,136 noted burglary attempts (the German record year). Since then, they've actually gown to 116,540 cases (2017). For 2018? No one says much yet but they might have moved down to the 110,000-level.
So what happened in 2016/2017/2018 to change the game? Between the article and things I've come to note....I'll offer seven observations:
1. More security cameras got purchased and installed.
2. Locals started to put up more lighting (particularly sensor-lighting).
3. When cops found break-in gangs....they pursued cases and sought long jail-terms. A lot of folks arrested in the past three years have gone to prison for a lengthy period.
4. Alarm systems are actively advertised and sold now.
5. Germans started to look at normal methods of entry or break-in....then altered their structures. Renovation projects started to occur with house doors and windows.
6. Germans got suspicious. If you were standing around on some street and appearing to be looking at a house or structure in some suspicious way.....they'd engage you in conversation or ask why you were there.
7. Public TV started to talk about crime strategies and what you could do to counter it.
It will be curious if the 2018 numbers are lower than 2017, and if this trend carries through for the next couple of years. The addition of 10,000 additional cops across the nation? That might play into lesser numbers as well.
The German Federal Criminal Police Office (looking over all sixteen states and data collected) says that house/apartment burglaries are decreasing. It's actually a trend noted for a couple of years now.
The numbers for 2018? They aren't all in yet for December but it appears that the trend will go down again.
So how did the big public concern occur? This is a story which isn't discussed that much. There was a steady rise in numbers (for attempted/completed burglaries) from 2008 to 2015.
Yes, even before the refugee period started (summer of 2013).....the burglaries were going up each single year.
Most Germans will say, if dragged into this conversation that several trends occurred. One will be identified as the Wall coming down in 1989. Another suggestion will be lessening of police numbers (as cops retired, fewer and fewer replacement police were brought onto the national number). Some will suggest that criminals got more sophisticated and daring.
In 2015, there were 167,136 noted burglary attempts (the German record year). Since then, they've actually gown to 116,540 cases (2017). For 2018? No one says much yet but they might have moved down to the 110,000-level.
So what happened in 2016/2017/2018 to change the game? Between the article and things I've come to note....I'll offer seven observations:
1. More security cameras got purchased and installed.
2. Locals started to put up more lighting (particularly sensor-lighting).
3. When cops found break-in gangs....they pursued cases and sought long jail-terms. A lot of folks arrested in the past three years have gone to prison for a lengthy period.
4. Alarm systems are actively advertised and sold now.
5. Germans started to look at normal methods of entry or break-in....then altered their structures. Renovation projects started to occur with house doors and windows.
6. Germans got suspicious. If you were standing around on some street and appearing to be looking at a house or structure in some suspicious way.....they'd engage you in conversation or ask why you were there.
7. Public TV started to talk about crime strategies and what you could do to counter it.
It will be curious if the 2018 numbers are lower than 2017, and if this trend carries through for the next couple of years. The addition of 10,000 additional cops across the nation? That might play into lesser numbers as well.
A Book Story
I occasionally write historical essays that blend into the past and relate somewhat to the present. Today, I'll bring up the topic of Malleus Maleficarum.....a book which originally was published in 1486, in Latin.
Translating Malleus Maleficarum....it literally means 'Hammer of Witchcraft'.
To be honest, in 1486....if you did get a copy, it was hand-written and limited to the 'inner-circle' of Catholic priests, bishops and cardinals.
It's basic theme? Back in the 800s-to-900s, the Catholic Church got around to something that bothered them greatly....magic, illusions, conjuring, and alchemy. So they wrote up a 'paper' that condemned the various practices and said that if you were involved in any of these....you were doing the devil's work. Around five-hundred years would pass before this would be documented and put into a complete book.
Oddly enough, this Malleus Maleficarum didn't come from Rome (which you would expect). It came out of Speyer, Germany. The Malleus Maleficarum was supposed to be the detailed rules on how to handle discovery and execution of witches. It will hint of being a legal document, but only as far as church affairs go.
If you pulled up the book in late part of 1400s....it'd explain how you need to get a confession out of a witch and the various ways to prevent escalation of witchcraft.
Here's the odd part of the story over Malleus Maleficarum. As long as it was hand-written....there were a limited number of copies. But when you get up to 1515-1520, and the Gutenberg printing press came to exist....things changed.
Oddly enough, copies of the Malleus Maleficarum came to be outsourced (probably without the consent of the Catholic Church), and it was printed on a massive scale. Oddly, if you go back to prior to 1400, it's hard to find anyone in Europe who got accused of witchcraft, or burned at the stake for such activity. It was simply something that didn't exist....as far as people were concerned. After the publishing started up (on a massive scale).....everyone was using the witchcraft agenda to solve perceived problems.
So you start to look thirty to fifty years after Gutenberg's press went into mass production, and you start to notice a massive public agenda going on....witches everywhere....accusations made out of thin air....and a deterioration of public society.
Malleus Maleficarum went from a difficult to get book.....to a highly prized, and cheap book...in just a period of 100 years. It actually became one of the highest selling books of the 16th and 17th centuries.
If the printing press had never come along? Well....it would have been still hand-written and limited copies would have gone out. Learned men readily accepted the words of the Malleus Maleficarum, and went to work finding and terminating witchcraft.
A fake book? Yes. Fake news? Yes. This is one of the great examples of how fakeness wonders into our lives, without us realizing the power of persuasion and the agendas of individuals.
Translating Malleus Maleficarum....it literally means 'Hammer of Witchcraft'.
To be honest, in 1486....if you did get a copy, it was hand-written and limited to the 'inner-circle' of Catholic priests, bishops and cardinals.
It's basic theme? Back in the 800s-to-900s, the Catholic Church got around to something that bothered them greatly....magic, illusions, conjuring, and alchemy. So they wrote up a 'paper' that condemned the various practices and said that if you were involved in any of these....you were doing the devil's work. Around five-hundred years would pass before this would be documented and put into a complete book.
Oddly enough, this Malleus Maleficarum didn't come from Rome (which you would expect). It came out of Speyer, Germany. The Malleus Maleficarum was supposed to be the detailed rules on how to handle discovery and execution of witches. It will hint of being a legal document, but only as far as church affairs go.
If you pulled up the book in late part of 1400s....it'd explain how you need to get a confession out of a witch and the various ways to prevent escalation of witchcraft.
Here's the odd part of the story over Malleus Maleficarum. As long as it was hand-written....there were a limited number of copies. But when you get up to 1515-1520, and the Gutenberg printing press came to exist....things changed.
Oddly enough, copies of the Malleus Maleficarum came to be outsourced (probably without the consent of the Catholic Church), and it was printed on a massive scale. Oddly, if you go back to prior to 1400, it's hard to find anyone in Europe who got accused of witchcraft, or burned at the stake for such activity. It was simply something that didn't exist....as far as people were concerned. After the publishing started up (on a massive scale).....everyone was using the witchcraft agenda to solve perceived problems.
So you start to look thirty to fifty years after Gutenberg's press went into mass production, and you start to notice a massive public agenda going on....witches everywhere....accusations made out of thin air....and a deterioration of public society.
Malleus Maleficarum went from a difficult to get book.....to a highly prized, and cheap book...in just a period of 100 years. It actually became one of the highest selling books of the 16th and 17th centuries.
If the printing press had never come along? Well....it would have been still hand-written and limited copies would have gone out. Learned men readily accepted the words of the Malleus Maleficarum, and went to work finding and terminating witchcraft.
A fake book? Yes. Fake news? Yes. This is one of the great examples of how fakeness wonders into our lives, without us realizing the power of persuasion and the agendas of individuals.
Church Tax Story
For those who didn't know....Germany runs a 'church-tax', which is more or less....a voluntary tax. Article 140 of the Basic Law (the Constitution) covers this and lays out the basic situation. I should note that while some think that this started in the 1949 era....it actually started back in 1919 with the Weimar Constitution. The law lays out the two essential parts of the tax....(1) the choice of donating is up to the individual (meaning you don't have to give), and (2) the state will have a method to collect and distribute the money to the two main church units of Germany (Lutherans and Catholics). The amount involved? When you determine your normal tax amount (say 10,000 Euro), then an amount of 8-percent to 9-percent (depending on which state you are registered) will be calculated (so you end up with an additional 800 to 900 Euro on top of the 10,000 Euro).
So, there's been a light discussion in Germany for several years revolving around the Islamic religion. They aren't included in the religious group with Article 140. So Muslims don't pay the church tax.
Naturally, you'd start to think about Islamic 'centers' and wonder then.....how they are funded, built, or covered financially. Well....it's typically money coming from outside of Germany (oil rich nations fund the projects and charity operations). Potentially bad influence via this method? This has been brought up on a number of occasions.
So I noted today via ARD (public TV, Channel One) that the topic came up nationally.
Elements of the Merkel coalition are discussing the matter and suggest that it wouldn't be very difficult to create this tax vehicle (simply a slight revision to article 140). Then 'members' would pay the tax and this would eliminate the need for Turkey or Saudi Arabia to fund all of these Islamic centers.
But the odd piece to this idea (not mentioned in the story) is that if you chose to NOT pay.....you can't get the special privileges of a church (getting married, or having your funeral). You would be basically putting a high number of Muslims who make a working man's salary into the position that he'd have to 'cough-up' 300 to 500 Euro a year that he currently takes home (if you do the basic math). If they refused to pay....would the Islamic centers deny them their privileges? It's hard to guess how the various groups would handle this.
The odds in 2019 that this will be a topic for the Bundestag? I suspect it'll come up. But it might create a bigger mess in the end.
So, there's been a light discussion in Germany for several years revolving around the Islamic religion. They aren't included in the religious group with Article 140. So Muslims don't pay the church tax.
Naturally, you'd start to think about Islamic 'centers' and wonder then.....how they are funded, built, or covered financially. Well....it's typically money coming from outside of Germany (oil rich nations fund the projects and charity operations). Potentially bad influence via this method? This has been brought up on a number of occasions.
So I noted today via ARD (public TV, Channel One) that the topic came up nationally.
Elements of the Merkel coalition are discussing the matter and suggest that it wouldn't be very difficult to create this tax vehicle (simply a slight revision to article 140). Then 'members' would pay the tax and this would eliminate the need for Turkey or Saudi Arabia to fund all of these Islamic centers.
But the odd piece to this idea (not mentioned in the story) is that if you chose to NOT pay.....you can't get the special privileges of a church (getting married, or having your funeral). You would be basically putting a high number of Muslims who make a working man's salary into the position that he'd have to 'cough-up' 300 to 500 Euro a year that he currently takes home (if you do the basic math). If they refused to pay....would the Islamic centers deny them their privileges? It's hard to guess how the various groups would handle this.
The odds in 2019 that this will be a topic for the Bundestag? I suspect it'll come up. But it might create a bigger mess in the end.
Monday, December 24, 2018
'Arranged' Marriages TV Show
Last night on commercial German TV....wrapped up a seven episode series entitled "Hochzeit Auf Den Ersten Blick", which basically translates to 'Marriage With the First View'. SAT1 produced the piece and it centered on this one formula....you would go and open up a database of people willing to marry without knowing or seeing their future partner....ever.
This was built on a database where they came to six likely guys and six likely women who seemed to fit the characteristics required. Then some PhD-type folks would go and mingle....ask questions, and get a 'good' feel for a match. Then they'd announce that you 'won' (kind of a shock for some folks). So then the video team went through the announcement of each....the tux or wedding dress episode....prep for the marriage, the party, and the honeymoon (all paid for by SAT1).
The first time that anyone met the other? Well....at the chapel, when they marched through the door. Once I figured the formula.....I just shook my head. It's pretty risky business. The key part of this formula that the experts tied into this? All of these people were mid-20's to late-40s, never-married, and all admitting that they were having problems in finding an adequate person (most didn't say it direct but you could sense that).
So last night was the last episode, and the chief rule was part into effect. The German system has a 'get-out' card so if things went sour, you could opt easily out of the marriage within x-number of days. So this was the assessment episode on the six couples. It didn't go very well.
Couple 1 and 2. They were mid-20s to early 30s. I would say from the four....they were uncomplicated and fairly easy-going. Both couples had decided to stay married, and the PhD system worked well.
Then you come to couple number 3. On this episode, you could sense the gal (early 40s) had a number of issues that the PhD guy had not stumbled upon. As she walked through the door of the chapel meeting her guy (a mid-40s muscular guy who lifted weights a lot) her facial expression dissolved. About five minutes after the event ended, they went to a private room to chat, and she just laid it out.....NO, she couldn't handle this. It didn't work for her.
For this guy, you could see a spiral downward....he was unprepared for this type of situation. Was it the muscles or physical appearance of the guy? Unknown. The PhD folks stepped in and tried to chat with her, but this deal was dissolved in her mind. Nothing happened after that moment. They were finished in five minutes flat.
Couple 4? A late 20's guy with a mid-20's gal. He was a gamer, and I figured that this would revolve around continual chaos. There were little run-in's between them....always minor in detail. The honeymoon didn't go to a fantastic conclusion. At the assessment moment last night....he made it clear, this arrangement just wouldn't work. She was willing to continue and try to make it work. But the rules were simple....if one partner wanted to opt out.....then it was finished.
Couple 5? An older guy (late 40s) and a early 40's gal. He was a go-getter....determined....obsessed with taking photos of every event. She wanted a guy who was laidback and with less obsessions. They both opted out with absolute determination.
Couple 6? A mid 20's gal with a late 20's guy. She was the organizational type.....things needed to be arranged and done in a certain way. He was the exact opposite. On the day they arrived at the honeymoon hotel....you could tell they wouldn't last. At the assessment point, he wrote a '?' for continuing this....suggesting communication would be necessary. She said no.....she was finished.
Here's the three obvious things I took out of this:
1. For entertainment (Sundays, a 2-hour show, for seven weeks), I would question how anyone could determine this was decent entertainment. I actually got to a point where I felt awful sorry for two of the guys....they'd really signed up for something of a modern 'torture'.
2. For statistical purposes.....only two of the six arranged marriages worked. It was lousy numbers for the business-like folks. In one case, it didn't last more than five minutes.
3. Oddly, when you look at the two couples that survived and flourished on this arranged situation....their key features (for all four).....easy-going and non-confrontational. You could note that the two couples will likely still be married in twenty years. You could look at the folks over the age of forty, and say that they all had personalities assembled and stumbling blocks built for any future marriage to work. The OCD personality trait? I just don't think the PhD folks took that into consideration. But would two absolutely compulsive OCD individuals be able to survive in an arranged marriage?
So for the four women and four men who got the dissolved marriage? I personally don't think that any of them will ever marry 'again'. This was such a negative experience that each likely will be determined to stay single and uncomplicated.
Will the network run the show again next year? I have my doubts. I do think lots of folks tuned in (it came on at 5 PM, so that was a less competitive period for viewers. But will any idiot go and volunteer for the same situation....to put themselves into a haphazard marriage with a problem-spouse? I question that.
This was built on a database where they came to six likely guys and six likely women who seemed to fit the characteristics required. Then some PhD-type folks would go and mingle....ask questions, and get a 'good' feel for a match. Then they'd announce that you 'won' (kind of a shock for some folks). So then the video team went through the announcement of each....the tux or wedding dress episode....prep for the marriage, the party, and the honeymoon (all paid for by SAT1).
The first time that anyone met the other? Well....at the chapel, when they marched through the door. Once I figured the formula.....I just shook my head. It's pretty risky business. The key part of this formula that the experts tied into this? All of these people were mid-20's to late-40s, never-married, and all admitting that they were having problems in finding an adequate person (most didn't say it direct but you could sense that).
So last night was the last episode, and the chief rule was part into effect. The German system has a 'get-out' card so if things went sour, you could opt easily out of the marriage within x-number of days. So this was the assessment episode on the six couples. It didn't go very well.
Couple 1 and 2. They were mid-20s to early 30s. I would say from the four....they were uncomplicated and fairly easy-going. Both couples had decided to stay married, and the PhD system worked well.
Then you come to couple number 3. On this episode, you could sense the gal (early 40s) had a number of issues that the PhD guy had not stumbled upon. As she walked through the door of the chapel meeting her guy (a mid-40s muscular guy who lifted weights a lot) her facial expression dissolved. About five minutes after the event ended, they went to a private room to chat, and she just laid it out.....NO, she couldn't handle this. It didn't work for her.
For this guy, you could see a spiral downward....he was unprepared for this type of situation. Was it the muscles or physical appearance of the guy? Unknown. The PhD folks stepped in and tried to chat with her, but this deal was dissolved in her mind. Nothing happened after that moment. They were finished in five minutes flat.
Couple 4? A late 20's guy with a mid-20's gal. He was a gamer, and I figured that this would revolve around continual chaos. There were little run-in's between them....always minor in detail. The honeymoon didn't go to a fantastic conclusion. At the assessment moment last night....he made it clear, this arrangement just wouldn't work. She was willing to continue and try to make it work. But the rules were simple....if one partner wanted to opt out.....then it was finished.
Couple 5? An older guy (late 40s) and a early 40's gal. He was a go-getter....determined....obsessed with taking photos of every event. She wanted a guy who was laidback and with less obsessions. They both opted out with absolute determination.
Couple 6? A mid 20's gal with a late 20's guy. She was the organizational type.....things needed to be arranged and done in a certain way. He was the exact opposite. On the day they arrived at the honeymoon hotel....you could tell they wouldn't last. At the assessment point, he wrote a '?' for continuing this....suggesting communication would be necessary. She said no.....she was finished.
Here's the three obvious things I took out of this:
1. For entertainment (Sundays, a 2-hour show, for seven weeks), I would question how anyone could determine this was decent entertainment. I actually got to a point where I felt awful sorry for two of the guys....they'd really signed up for something of a modern 'torture'.
2. For statistical purposes.....only two of the six arranged marriages worked. It was lousy numbers for the business-like folks. In one case, it didn't last more than five minutes.
3. Oddly, when you look at the two couples that survived and flourished on this arranged situation....their key features (for all four).....easy-going and non-confrontational. You could note that the two couples will likely still be married in twenty years. You could look at the folks over the age of forty, and say that they all had personalities assembled and stumbling blocks built for any future marriage to work. The OCD personality trait? I just don't think the PhD folks took that into consideration. But would two absolutely compulsive OCD individuals be able to survive in an arranged marriage?
So for the four women and four men who got the dissolved marriage? I personally don't think that any of them will ever marry 'again'. This was such a negative experience that each likely will be determined to stay single and uncomplicated.
Will the network run the show again next year? I have my doubts. I do think lots of folks tuned in (it came on at 5 PM, so that was a less competitive period for viewers. But will any idiot go and volunteer for the same situation....to put themselves into a haphazard marriage with a problem-spouse? I question that.
Germany: More Chatter
Every year, around Christmas, the German President (not the Chancellor) gives a Christmas speech. This tends to be a somber call to remember the past year, the woes, those who passed on, building up confidence of the public, and to look toward the future.
So last night, President Steinmeier gave his piece. This was a slightly different version. I'll reference the basic story back to ARD's coverage of the speech (public TV).
In this speech, he kinda talked about the issue of 'speechlessness' in society. The hint was that if people don't openly discuss topics, have some reasonable debate, and reach a compromise....then you will end up like France, Britain or the US (particularly the US....well, ESPECIALLY the US).
Steinmeier noted.....in his humble opinion.....Germans were talking less, and compromising less. The great 'poisoner' of society.....the internet and social media....in his mind, was creating solutions which weren't helpful for the Republic.
He may have a point or two, but both the internet and social media has made up for the great weakness of the print and news media. When you have a news message that seems to be constructed to fit some social or political agenda....the public will become skeptical. It's only because the internet/social media exists now.....that skeptics can gather....ask questions and determine the fake nature of the news and public positions of politicians, and frustration becomes vocialized.
His key point on compromise? You have to have two groups that agree a compromise will occur, and compromise is constructed in a way that seems open and transparent. So you use the diesel car mess in Germany. Perhaps you own a diesel car and you ask.....what compensation will I be offered for banning access to my car? What you hear....is silence (no compromise).
The continuing upward spiral over cost of electricity? You go and ask why this issue exists, and then you turn to face the government and the various regulations and 'forbidding' tactics that have fallen into place. You want a compromise, and what you hear is silence (no compromise).
This year, after x-number of assault or threat cases in Wiesbaden that involved knives....we came to the 'compromise' to resolve this.....a weapons-free zone. Some Germans would argue that stopping people within the zone of the city and desiring a frisk of the individual is a bit crappy on personal rights. If caught with a knife on your person within the zone? Well....the fines and jail-time make it a serious life experience. That's the compromise made.
With all the frustrations brewing over railway travel.....what will be the end solution or compromise? The significant increase in ticket prices to fix or repair the national railway system. Will it be a happy compromise? No.
Will the speech make much of an impact on Germans? No. Journalists will hype on it and maybe three or four televised public TV chat forums in January will highlight his social message to the public. For most Germans, his words will have been forgotten by tomorrow morning.
So last night, President Steinmeier gave his piece. This was a slightly different version. I'll reference the basic story back to ARD's coverage of the speech (public TV).
In this speech, he kinda talked about the issue of 'speechlessness' in society. The hint was that if people don't openly discuss topics, have some reasonable debate, and reach a compromise....then you will end up like France, Britain or the US (particularly the US....well, ESPECIALLY the US).
Steinmeier noted.....in his humble opinion.....Germans were talking less, and compromising less. The great 'poisoner' of society.....the internet and social media....in his mind, was creating solutions which weren't helpful for the Republic.
He may have a point or two, but both the internet and social media has made up for the great weakness of the print and news media. When you have a news message that seems to be constructed to fit some social or political agenda....the public will become skeptical. It's only because the internet/social media exists now.....that skeptics can gather....ask questions and determine the fake nature of the news and public positions of politicians, and frustration becomes vocialized.
His key point on compromise? You have to have two groups that agree a compromise will occur, and compromise is constructed in a way that seems open and transparent. So you use the diesel car mess in Germany. Perhaps you own a diesel car and you ask.....what compensation will I be offered for banning access to my car? What you hear....is silence (no compromise).
The continuing upward spiral over cost of electricity? You go and ask why this issue exists, and then you turn to face the government and the various regulations and 'forbidding' tactics that have fallen into place. You want a compromise, and what you hear is silence (no compromise).
This year, after x-number of assault or threat cases in Wiesbaden that involved knives....we came to the 'compromise' to resolve this.....a weapons-free zone. Some Germans would argue that stopping people within the zone of the city and desiring a frisk of the individual is a bit crappy on personal rights. If caught with a knife on your person within the zone? Well....the fines and jail-time make it a serious life experience. That's the compromise made.
With all the frustrations brewing over railway travel.....what will be the end solution or compromise? The significant increase in ticket prices to fix or repair the national railway system. Will it be a happy compromise? No.
Will the speech make much of an impact on Germans? No. Journalists will hype on it and maybe three or four televised public TV chat forums in January will highlight his social message to the public. For most Germans, his words will have been forgotten by tomorrow morning.
Saturday, December 22, 2018
Lindholm Solution
Around three weeks ago, I essayed a piece on this Danish idea of sending off 'problem-migrants' to a island (Lindholm).....which lays out on the SE of the country.....maybe a mile from the actual coast. My general take was that this would be discussed, voted upon, and fail....mostly because of the notion that it'd be called a prison-island.
Well....this past week....the Danish Parliament voted. The idea passed with 54 votes in favor, and 23 against (with 29 abstaining). It would have failed....if the 29 folks had simply voted 'against', but they actually sent a message....they'd just stay out of the vote instead.
What happens now? The talk is that it'll take two years to build the 'housing' required and to develop the rules for being 'sent-off'.
The general Danish chatter here is that if you are a migrant in the country and demonstrate some criminal behavior (robberies, drugs, etc), then they'd ask you to return to your home country. If you failed on that....then you'd go to Lindholm....staying there until you changed your mind.
Size of Lindholm? It's about 200 ft by 600 ft. So if you were walking on the sandy beach, you could walk the island in about 25 minutes. The island was used for a number of years by farm research folks....so there's around ten buildings on the island. You could approach the isle by boat, taking about five minutes in a boat to reach the pier.
An Alcatraz-like situation? Well....no. Let's be honest, if you were a decent swimmer, you could take to the water and escape. A good swimmer could probably make the 6,000 ft swim in less than an hour.
I think the big deal to this is simply the threat. Some judge would tell some migrant of the threat of going to Lindholm, and maybe the guy would realize the terrible woes of being island-bound. Face it....I doubt if they will give you access to the internet, or TV. You probably will get three meals a day....all the water you desire, and occasionally some pack of smokes. After three months of island life....you will be ready to go back to your homeland.
Well....this past week....the Danish Parliament voted. The idea passed with 54 votes in favor, and 23 against (with 29 abstaining). It would have failed....if the 29 folks had simply voted 'against', but they actually sent a message....they'd just stay out of the vote instead.
What happens now? The talk is that it'll take two years to build the 'housing' required and to develop the rules for being 'sent-off'.
The general Danish chatter here is that if you are a migrant in the country and demonstrate some criminal behavior (robberies, drugs, etc), then they'd ask you to return to your home country. If you failed on that....then you'd go to Lindholm....staying there until you changed your mind.
Size of Lindholm? It's about 200 ft by 600 ft. So if you were walking on the sandy beach, you could walk the island in about 25 minutes. The island was used for a number of years by farm research folks....so there's around ten buildings on the island. You could approach the isle by boat, taking about five minutes in a boat to reach the pier.
An Alcatraz-like situation? Well....no. Let's be honest, if you were a decent swimmer, you could take to the water and escape. A good swimmer could probably make the 6,000 ft swim in less than an hour.
I think the big deal to this is simply the threat. Some judge would tell some migrant of the threat of going to Lindholm, and maybe the guy would realize the terrible woes of being island-bound. Face it....I doubt if they will give you access to the internet, or TV. You probably will get three meals a day....all the water you desire, and occasionally some pack of smokes. After three months of island life....you will be ready to go back to your homeland.
Friday, December 21, 2018
Post Chatter
The ARD folks (public TV, Channel One) did an interesting report today...talking over the German Post. Generally, if you bring up the Post.....a vast number of Germans will start up a conversation and let you know that they are dismayed by the operation and frustrated.
The German Federal Network Agency is the receiver of all these complain statistics. By their number....the number of complaints in 2018....is DOUBLE of what it was in 2017.
Packages aren't delivered on time.....you end up with your neighbor's letters in your box....waiting time at the post office has grown, etc.
But they note, it's not just the Post in serious issues.....but Hermes, DPD, etc. All of the delivery services are having customer complaints increase.
Poor opening hours? This is one of the complaints that people often come up with. A lot of the village operations are now limited.....opening at 9.....breaking for lunch for an hour, and shutting down by 5:30 PM.
This year, I sat in a class where the German instructor got into a long tirade about the mounting issues. She'd turned in the 3rd complaint of the year.....mostly due to package delivery issues. Last week, I had a delivery expected and there was a note in the box that it'd been 'delivered'. It was handed to ''Pegidi". Well....I have no such neighbor. An hour later, I'm opening the balcony door for the cat to 'roam' and here's the box laying there on the balcony floor (he'd thrown it there).
Why are the complaints mounting? I think part of this is Amazon's emergence into the market and people don't go and shop for their necessities. My son would tell you he has at least 25 deliveries a year now.
The problem here is that eventually the German politicians will stand up and think they need to fix things, and probably make it more expensive or a bigger mess.
The German Federal Network Agency is the receiver of all these complain statistics. By their number....the number of complaints in 2018....is DOUBLE of what it was in 2017.
Packages aren't delivered on time.....you end up with your neighbor's letters in your box....waiting time at the post office has grown, etc.
But they note, it's not just the Post in serious issues.....but Hermes, DPD, etc. All of the delivery services are having customer complaints increase.
Poor opening hours? This is one of the complaints that people often come up with. A lot of the village operations are now limited.....opening at 9.....breaking for lunch for an hour, and shutting down by 5:30 PM.
This year, I sat in a class where the German instructor got into a long tirade about the mounting issues. She'd turned in the 3rd complaint of the year.....mostly due to package delivery issues. Last week, I had a delivery expected and there was a note in the box that it'd been 'delivered'. It was handed to ''Pegidi". Well....I have no such neighbor. An hour later, I'm opening the balcony door for the cat to 'roam' and here's the box laying there on the balcony floor (he'd thrown it there).
Why are the complaints mounting? I think part of this is Amazon's emergence into the market and people don't go and shop for their necessities. My son would tell you he has at least 25 deliveries a year now.
The problem here is that eventually the German politicians will stand up and think they need to fix things, and probably make it more expensive or a bigger mess.
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Police Presence
I'll reference this piece to a Focus (German news magazine) article, but a number of German news sites are carrying the story.
German police are hyped and in anticipation of a potential terror attack. Chief target? The Stuttgart Airport.
What they say is that there are four individuals they are looking for (one is a two man team.....father and son).All four are connected to radical Islam.
Other airports in the region are getting attention as well....with a higher number of police on patrol.
Odds of some action to occur? Unknown. These suicidal individuals usually want some belief that they will accomplish something, and not fail in the first ten seconds of an attack. My guess is that they will back off this planned attack and regroup for something later. Meanwhile, I might expect the cops to be looking for the four in an intense fashion.
German police are hyped and in anticipation of a potential terror attack. Chief target? The Stuttgart Airport.
What they say is that there are four individuals they are looking for (one is a two man team.....father and son).All four are connected to radical Islam.
Other airports in the region are getting attention as well....with a higher number of police on patrol.
Odds of some action to occur? Unknown. These suicidal individuals usually want some belief that they will accomplish something, and not fail in the first ten seconds of an attack. My guess is that they will back off this planned attack and regroup for something later. Meanwhile, I might expect the cops to be looking for the four in an intense fashion.
Wiesbaden and Knives
In roughly ten days, a no-weapons policy is to be implemented in Wiesbaden, within the mid-town shopping district. Some locals will say that this is a fairly harsh step to declare a 'zone', and it almost resembles a 'no-go' zone. I would not use those words myself, and think it's mostly a tactic by the city council to 'lay down' safety standards.
Today, via the local news sites....a story popped up from late yesterday in the mid-town area of Wiesbaden, near the main-bus terminal of that section of town.
Some guy (age 23) came to 'bump' into four ladies who were standing and conversing, while waiting on some bus.
The journalist doesn't go into details about this 'bump' but you kinda get the impression that he was a bit drunk or on a drug-high.
Anyway, this 'bump' didn't go well, and the ladies (at least in my belief) probably responded with a comment or criticism. That didn't go well...and the guy pulls out a knife. Yep.....he was rather quick on getting defensive and using the knife as a threat.
The ladies went to cellphones....called the cops, and this guy stumbled off toward the Christmas Market. Cops arrive....get a description, and a few minutes later detain the guy. Their description? A pen-knife.
With the current rules in place....he'll have to 'bump' into a German judge and he might end up with some charges (making a threat with a weapon perhaps).
If he'd made the knife threat after 1 January when the weapon-free zone was in effect? An extremely hefty fine and guaranteed period in the city-jail.
The sad thing is that it's acts like this that drove the city council to make up this weapons-free zone scheme, and the harsh nature of the consequences (soon to come) will bring on a new reality to town.
Was this knife display always an occurrence in Wiesbaden? No. After the Wall came down.....you'd have a situation or two pop up each year. In the past decade, there's probably thirty-odd stories per year that pop up via the local city blotter....all involving young men and usually after 9 PM at night.
Today, via the local news sites....a story popped up from late yesterday in the mid-town area of Wiesbaden, near the main-bus terminal of that section of town.
Some guy (age 23) came to 'bump' into four ladies who were standing and conversing, while waiting on some bus.
The journalist doesn't go into details about this 'bump' but you kinda get the impression that he was a bit drunk or on a drug-high.
Anyway, this 'bump' didn't go well, and the ladies (at least in my belief) probably responded with a comment or criticism. That didn't go well...and the guy pulls out a knife. Yep.....he was rather quick on getting defensive and using the knife as a threat.
The ladies went to cellphones....called the cops, and this guy stumbled off toward the Christmas Market. Cops arrive....get a description, and a few minutes later detain the guy. Their description? A pen-knife.
With the current rules in place....he'll have to 'bump' into a German judge and he might end up with some charges (making a threat with a weapon perhaps).
If he'd made the knife threat after 1 January when the weapon-free zone was in effect? An extremely hefty fine and guaranteed period in the city-jail.
The sad thing is that it's acts like this that drove the city council to make up this weapons-free zone scheme, and the harsh nature of the consequences (soon to come) will bring on a new reality to town.
Was this knife display always an occurrence in Wiesbaden? No. After the Wall came down.....you'd have a situation or two pop up each year. In the past decade, there's probably thirty-odd stories per year that pop up via the local city blotter....all involving young men and usually after 9 PM at night.
Hessen State Government Situation
It took a fairly long period of time here in Hessen after the state election to form the new state government (to be led by the CDU with the Greens as their partner). Seven weeks have passed since the election and the coalition was agreed upon today. This likely will last through the five year period until the next election (fall of 2023)
HR (our public TV network for Hessen) covered most of this story today.
The one and only problem in this agreement? On deportation efforts, the Greens want Georgia, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria declared as non-safe countries of origin. The CDU feel that these are safe enough, and that asylum applicants will fail if this is their only excuse.
Because of this disagreement existing....if there is any vote that comes up in the Bundesrat (the Berlin level government where states have representation).....then the agreement is that they won't vote one way or another.....they will just abstain.
You see there are two basic doors that you can enter into Germany. One is the refugee door, where you claim a danger in your home-country. Typically, war counts (like in Syria's case with ISIS). To some degree, you can use this excuse with Iran....if you claimed you were a Christian and would be threatened by Muslims if you returned.
The second method is a economic migrant door. Here, you show your background, a degree, or some apprentice school certificate. Someone coming up with a two-year nursing school certificate right now....would likely get an open door to stay and get a visa.
On the other positive side of this CDU-Greens 'team'? Well....they agreed to fund another extra 750 police, and to increase emphasis for the Fire Departments and rescue teams. The public feels positive about emphasis on this type of issue.
HR (our public TV network for Hessen) covered most of this story today.
The one and only problem in this agreement? On deportation efforts, the Greens want Georgia, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria declared as non-safe countries of origin. The CDU feel that these are safe enough, and that asylum applicants will fail if this is their only excuse.
Because of this disagreement existing....if there is any vote that comes up in the Bundesrat (the Berlin level government where states have representation).....then the agreement is that they won't vote one way or another.....they will just abstain.
You see there are two basic doors that you can enter into Germany. One is the refugee door, where you claim a danger in your home-country. Typically, war counts (like in Syria's case with ISIS). To some degree, you can use this excuse with Iran....if you claimed you were a Christian and would be threatened by Muslims if you returned.
The second method is a economic migrant door. Here, you show your background, a degree, or some apprentice school certificate. Someone coming up with a two-year nursing school certificate right now....would likely get an open door to stay and get a visa.
On the other positive side of this CDU-Greens 'team'? Well....they agreed to fund another extra 750 police, and to increase emphasis for the Fire Departments and rescue teams. The public feels positive about emphasis on this type of issue.
German Christmas Markets
In the past three weeks, I've been to five German Christmas markets. Typically, it's a festive occasion....with Gluhwein, Christmas cookies, Stollen (the cake), and various fatty foods. The one thing that you tend to notice more than any previous Christmas in Germany.....security.
Yes, there are a significant number of cops working in pairs.....walking through the crowds. One will be armed with a light-assault rifle, and the other will have his service pistol. If you have a two-acre area to walk through....the odds are that at least two patrols will be on duty. In Frankfurt's Christmas Market, there's probably at least three patrols making the rounds.
For the most part, it's an act by the city council to reassure the public that they have 'security' on patrol and ready to act if some threat occurs.
I sat and paused over this type of 'reassurance'. Back in the 1970s/1980s/1990s....they had a patrol usually active (particularly after 8 PM)....but this was mostly to control drunks (which tended to mostly young men). No machine-guns or bullet-proof vests. Just a pistol and a billy-club. It was a different atmosphere and no one ever suggested much on threats other than some young punk being too drunk and throwing up on your shoes.
Today? Well...you just don't know. Most of the Markets now have a barrier system set up, which would prevent a vehicle from entering and running down locals in the street. You can't walk more than 10 minutes without noticing a patrol. In a way, it's become an acceptable part of life. The humble side of this story is that you could walk through four-hundred Christmas Markets in Germany, and other than pick-pockets.....you'd admit that no threat ever came to harm you. But those four-hundred Markets have at least two patrols walking and projecting security to the public. And that patrol is what is ready to take on some awful meddlesome and dangerous characters....in the name of public safety.
Yes, there are a significant number of cops working in pairs.....walking through the crowds. One will be armed with a light-assault rifle, and the other will have his service pistol. If you have a two-acre area to walk through....the odds are that at least two patrols will be on duty. In Frankfurt's Christmas Market, there's probably at least three patrols making the rounds.
For the most part, it's an act by the city council to reassure the public that they have 'security' on patrol and ready to act if some threat occurs.
I sat and paused over this type of 'reassurance'. Back in the 1970s/1980s/1990s....they had a patrol usually active (particularly after 8 PM)....but this was mostly to control drunks (which tended to mostly young men). No machine-guns or bullet-proof vests. Just a pistol and a billy-club. It was a different atmosphere and no one ever suggested much on threats other than some young punk being too drunk and throwing up on your shoes.
Today? Well...you just don't know. Most of the Markets now have a barrier system set up, which would prevent a vehicle from entering and running down locals in the street. You can't walk more than 10 minutes without noticing a patrol. In a way, it's become an acceptable part of life. The humble side of this story is that you could walk through four-hundred Christmas Markets in Germany, and other than pick-pockets.....you'd admit that no threat ever came to harm you. But those four-hundred Markets have at least two patrols walking and projecting security to the public. And that patrol is what is ready to take on some awful meddlesome and dangerous characters....in the name of public safety.
The Owner/Renter Story
Weeks ago, I essayed a news piece about the court system of Germany ordering an entirely new and 'more fair' method of property tax. So far, the Bundestag (the Parliament) have not reached any firm conclusion. Some journalists will suggest that it'll be mid-summer before the coalition partners (SPD and CDU/CSU) reach a firm draft of the change coming.
This past week.....the SPD Federal Minister of Justice.....Katarina Barley...got into the news when she openly suggested the best way forward was a piece of this new property tax law stipulating that landlords should NOT pass the property tax costs onto the renter. Yes, that the home-owner or apartment-building owner would have to take this out of his/her profits.
Naturally, this got a lot of page one attention.....mostly negative.
The idea here by Barley was that property taxes are a owner's own personal responsibility and they should cover this via their significant profits. The idea that the owner has budgeted out his property, renovations, and loans? One might get the impression that she has never owned a property for rental purposes.
The problem here is that you continually have these certain individuals within the SPD Party who go and make public statements like this....basically 'shooting' themselves in the foot, and damaging the SPD's public 'brand'. People see them as intellectual 'kids' in adult clothing and not really grasping the real world around themselves.
If Bailey's suggestion did take root? Well....the property owners would just immediately hike up the rental cost to the level required, and everyone would see a 10-to-15 percent increase in rent, with the money detailed out new property tax.
In some ways, the court-ordered review and new property tax routine....has created a massive headache for the political folks. They can't fix this, without making some element of German society angry.
This past week.....the SPD Federal Minister of Justice.....Katarina Barley...got into the news when she openly suggested the best way forward was a piece of this new property tax law stipulating that landlords should NOT pass the property tax costs onto the renter. Yes, that the home-owner or apartment-building owner would have to take this out of his/her profits.
Naturally, this got a lot of page one attention.....mostly negative.
The idea here by Barley was that property taxes are a owner's own personal responsibility and they should cover this via their significant profits. The idea that the owner has budgeted out his property, renovations, and loans? One might get the impression that she has never owned a property for rental purposes.
The problem here is that you continually have these certain individuals within the SPD Party who go and make public statements like this....basically 'shooting' themselves in the foot, and damaging the SPD's public 'brand'. People see them as intellectual 'kids' in adult clothing and not really grasping the real world around themselves.
If Bailey's suggestion did take root? Well....the property owners would just immediately hike up the rental cost to the level required, and everyone would see a 10-to-15 percent increase in rent, with the money detailed out new property tax.
In some ways, the court-ordered review and new property tax routine....has created a massive headache for the political folks. They can't fix this, without making some element of German society angry.
New Year's Eve with Wiesbaden
I often point out changes over thirty years in Germany. So in this essay, the topic is the New Year's Eve celebration in Wiesbaden....with the chief difference in planning for the city for this upcoming celebration, and what would have existed in 1988 (thirty years ago).
It came up in the city news yesterday via Wiesbadenaktuell (our city news site) that the safety authorities have a rather massive operation planned out.
The component of this plan? Security.....security.....security.
The city has dictated the Bowling Green area (near the Casino) will be the celebration area. Private fireworks to be carried in individuals into the area? Forbidden. Cops? They've gotten every single policeman possible to be on duty that night. A secured area? Yes, the Bowling Green area will be fenced off in some way, with entry points where you not be allowed to enter with backpacks.
If you had your personal fireworks? Well....you'd need to go elsewhere in the city, away from the celebration area.
Fear? Over the past year, between petty crime, assaults, and knife injuries.....Wiesbaden has become an odd reflection of itself from the 1980s. The police blotter has become this landscape of a metropolitan city where you watch over your shoulder and occasionally expect trouble. To suggest that you can have your big celebration on New Year's Eve, but you can only feel safe within a threat-free 'zone'? This is where you grin and just shake your head. Things have dramatically changed over the past thirty years.
It came up in the city news yesterday via Wiesbadenaktuell (our city news site) that the safety authorities have a rather massive operation planned out.
The component of this plan? Security.....security.....security.
The city has dictated the Bowling Green area (near the Casino) will be the celebration area. Private fireworks to be carried in individuals into the area? Forbidden. Cops? They've gotten every single policeman possible to be on duty that night. A secured area? Yes, the Bowling Green area will be fenced off in some way, with entry points where you not be allowed to enter with backpacks.
If you had your personal fireworks? Well....you'd need to go elsewhere in the city, away from the celebration area.
Fear? Over the past year, between petty crime, assaults, and knife injuries.....Wiesbaden has become an odd reflection of itself from the 1980s. The police blotter has become this landscape of a metropolitan city where you watch over your shoulder and occasionally expect trouble. To suggest that you can have your big celebration on New Year's Eve, but you can only feel safe within a threat-free 'zone'? This is where you grin and just shake your head. Things have dramatically changed over the past thirty years.
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Chief Problem of the German Battery-Car and C02 Agenda
In recent months, this anti-diesel chatter, and the EU emphasis on mandating more C02 standards for cars manufactured in the next decade.....has opened this little issue which rarely if ever....is discussed in public.
The cost factor of new battery-cars or C02 standard cars. The gross average monthly wage in Germany is 2322 Euro per month (2017 numbers). That's roughly 2,600 US dollars a month (gross average).
If you went and tried to price most of the battery-cars....the average guy can't really afford it. The guy who is a lawyer, an architect, or mid-level bank employee....they would be able to handle it.
If you go and price the technology cars meeting C02 levels? It's beyond at least a third of the working people in Germany.
In a sense, there's a confrontation that is being set into play, where about a third of the German population will be dealt a card where they can't travel or get anywhere....because they can't afford the vehicle required. No one talks about this or seems to worry about this future path being arranged in Germany.
The cost factor of new battery-cars or C02 standard cars. The gross average monthly wage in Germany is 2322 Euro per month (2017 numbers). That's roughly 2,600 US dollars a month (gross average).
If you went and tried to price most of the battery-cars....the average guy can't really afford it. The guy who is a lawyer, an architect, or mid-level bank employee....they would be able to handle it.
If you go and price the technology cars meeting C02 levels? It's beyond at least a third of the working people in Germany.
In a sense, there's a confrontation that is being set into play, where about a third of the German population will be dealt a card where they can't travel or get anywhere....because they can't afford the vehicle required. No one talks about this or seems to worry about this future path being arranged in Germany.
Gas Car Chatter
Over the past year, with the diesel crisis in Germany in full-turbo-blast....there's often been a humorous comment made once in a while that eventually.....some political figure will come out and try to make gas-powered cars....as 'EVIL' as diesel-powered cars.
Well....via Focus Magazine today.....a short four line story popped up.
One of the major SPD Party (left of center) members stood up (their health expert Karl Lauterbach) and declared gas-powered cars as the next 'EVIL' thing to work against.
Chief reason? Particles in the air.
If you threw this out into a public forum....most Germans (probably 98-percent) would laugh. Course, ten years ago.....the same group would have laughed over a diesel-powered car ban in German cities, and here we are today.....with a potential ban being discussed.
Well....via Focus Magazine today.....a short four line story popped up.
One of the major SPD Party (left of center) members stood up (their health expert Karl Lauterbach) and declared gas-powered cars as the next 'EVIL' thing to work against.
Chief reason? Particles in the air.
If you threw this out into a public forum....most Germans (probably 98-percent) would laugh. Course, ten years ago.....the same group would have laughed over a diesel-powered car ban in German cities, and here we are today.....with a potential ban being discussed.
Behavioral Change Essay
My German wife attempted to engage me on a delicate topic this past weekend....how to resolve the German perception with immigrates, migrates and and asylum seekers. The slant to this? A fair number of Germans are fed up with the Merkel-developed vision....think that immigration has created a sort of Frankenstein creature....but have this heartburn about the AfD Party being the solution (they are the only anti-immigrate party existing in Germany).
So I sat and thought about it, and have my list of things that would have to happen to convince Germans that the landscape was changing, and that you didn't have to handcuff yourself to the AfD folks for some change to occur.
1. Basically, you'd have to edit the Constitution. Right now, the Basic Law says that you have the right to request immigration or asylum. It used to be....at least in Germany....that you applied from your home country....showing an ID....filling out the 15 pages of forms....and prove the case of asylum or immigration. Two months of reviews would occur, and they'd either say 'yes' or 'no'.....if 'yes', then you got the visa and you could fly out the next day to Frankfurt. My feeling is that the Constitution needs to say in a direct way....you need to apply from the home-country, and not on the inside doorway of Germany.
2. A mental and physical test. At some point (probably before you give the individual a visa), you need to conduct a mental test and a medical physical. If the guy has TB or any of a dozen odd diseases....it'd be nice to know this prior to bringing the person into Germany. If the guy is mentally crazy, or unable to live in a free/open environment.....then you ought to refrain from issuing a visa. If the guy is marginally educated and will never rise above burger-flipper status....I might hesitate on issuing a visa.
3. Once you've reached the stage of handing out the visa....it ought to be attached to a five-year guest 'code'....which means if you get arrested for a serious crime (like assault, bank robbery, or sales of meth)....then your visa ought to be revoked and you go back to the home country.
4. You need to convey across all lines that you aren't a baby-sitter service, a free-handout service, or a 'hotel-mama' operation (tending to mean you do everything for your guest....usually meaning your son). By 'all lines', I mean German charity operations, pro-asylum folks, or political organizations. There's no doubt that during the first two years of you accepting this guy or family....you will have to sponsor them and carry them for the initial period. But after two years, your 'sponsorship' should rapidly decrease, and they should be capable of working, paying taxes, and contributing to society.
5. Writing down and emphasizing the role of a 'guest'. If you can't be a good guest, then you can't be a visa-holder. It's OK to criticism the German system, but a guest does not conduct himself/herself in a way to make themselves a problem for Germans to handle or 'clean-up'.
6. Making a threat ought to bring your visa-status into a local government office and quickly get your attention with the problems that will occur if you continue to make threats. Judges have to take a role to emphasize the 'good guest' and how behavior has to change. I realize it's not the job of judges, but there's simply not a mechanism existing to correct bad behavior with new guests/immigrants.
7. Every German community needs to take the lead and offer up a behavioral modification class for male and female immigrants. After you wrap up the language class, and the integration class....roughly forty man-hours over a month ought to be mandated where you know 'right' from 'wrong'. I know it's stupid to have to do this with a 25-year old guy, but it appears that some folks aren't that sure what right means or how it reflects upon the safety of society.
What I'm suggesting is not radical or bad....it's just common behavioral traits that you tend to expect if you happened to walk into any western society. A guest ought to know how to act as a guest. It's a heck of a lot easier to go in this approach than to allow political anger mount, and you end up with a AfD group who have a vast agenda which creates even more problems.
So I sat and thought about it, and have my list of things that would have to happen to convince Germans that the landscape was changing, and that you didn't have to handcuff yourself to the AfD folks for some change to occur.
1. Basically, you'd have to edit the Constitution. Right now, the Basic Law says that you have the right to request immigration or asylum. It used to be....at least in Germany....that you applied from your home country....showing an ID....filling out the 15 pages of forms....and prove the case of asylum or immigration. Two months of reviews would occur, and they'd either say 'yes' or 'no'.....if 'yes', then you got the visa and you could fly out the next day to Frankfurt. My feeling is that the Constitution needs to say in a direct way....you need to apply from the home-country, and not on the inside doorway of Germany.
2. A mental and physical test. At some point (probably before you give the individual a visa), you need to conduct a mental test and a medical physical. If the guy has TB or any of a dozen odd diseases....it'd be nice to know this prior to bringing the person into Germany. If the guy is mentally crazy, or unable to live in a free/open environment.....then you ought to refrain from issuing a visa. If the guy is marginally educated and will never rise above burger-flipper status....I might hesitate on issuing a visa.
3. Once you've reached the stage of handing out the visa....it ought to be attached to a five-year guest 'code'....which means if you get arrested for a serious crime (like assault, bank robbery, or sales of meth)....then your visa ought to be revoked and you go back to the home country.
4. You need to convey across all lines that you aren't a baby-sitter service, a free-handout service, or a 'hotel-mama' operation (tending to mean you do everything for your guest....usually meaning your son). By 'all lines', I mean German charity operations, pro-asylum folks, or political organizations. There's no doubt that during the first two years of you accepting this guy or family....you will have to sponsor them and carry them for the initial period. But after two years, your 'sponsorship' should rapidly decrease, and they should be capable of working, paying taxes, and contributing to society.
5. Writing down and emphasizing the role of a 'guest'. If you can't be a good guest, then you can't be a visa-holder. It's OK to criticism the German system, but a guest does not conduct himself/herself in a way to make themselves a problem for Germans to handle or 'clean-up'.
6. Making a threat ought to bring your visa-status into a local government office and quickly get your attention with the problems that will occur if you continue to make threats. Judges have to take a role to emphasize the 'good guest' and how behavior has to change. I realize it's not the job of judges, but there's simply not a mechanism existing to correct bad behavior with new guests/immigrants.
7. Every German community needs to take the lead and offer up a behavioral modification class for male and female immigrants. After you wrap up the language class, and the integration class....roughly forty man-hours over a month ought to be mandated where you know 'right' from 'wrong'. I know it's stupid to have to do this with a 25-year old guy, but it appears that some folks aren't that sure what right means or how it reflects upon the safety of society.
What I'm suggesting is not radical or bad....it's just common behavioral traits that you tend to expect if you happened to walk into any western society. A guest ought to know how to act as a guest. It's a heck of a lot easier to go in this approach than to allow political anger mount, and you end up with a AfD group who have a vast agenda which creates even more problems.
Opening a Pandora's Box
Over the last couple of days....things have gotten hyped up over in Frankfurt with accusations of five local cops being racists or xenophobic. An official investigation is going on, which revolves around their communications (the five cops) on WhatsApp. The pro-asylum agenda folks? They are making this into a big deal.
Yesterday, I noticed a guest commentary piece on Focus (the German news magazine) and it talked to one odd feature of this anti-foreigner discussion with the police accused. You see....if you walked around German urban areas and wanted to know of the folks who were mostly facing foreigners on a daily basis and the various issues (some criminal....some threatening) that were in public sight....it's NOT the politicians or journalists that you'd talk to. It's the police.
I often comment on the German police and the amount of professionalism that you encounter. Between training and the mandate that they travel in pairs....it's awful rare that you see bad behavior by the police.
But I think if you compared the daily atmosphere and stress of say the 1980s, against the landscape of 2018....most German cops would tell you that it's dramatically different.
Germans get a healthy 'dose' of respect and generally don't disregard laws or public safety. In some ways, the police are a bit shocked at times when their authority is challenged or when someone tries to 'out-argue' them on the nature of the law.
I look at the Frankfurt episode and kinda wonder if you dig into anti-asylum feelings within the city police department.....you might find more than ninety-percent having an unfriendly feeling toward immigration and integration. The pro-asylum folks? They will eventually come around and suggest mandatory 'get-friendly-on-immigrants' classes and find a disenchanted crowd of police facing them.
Yesterday, I noticed a guest commentary piece on Focus (the German news magazine) and it talked to one odd feature of this anti-foreigner discussion with the police accused. You see....if you walked around German urban areas and wanted to know of the folks who were mostly facing foreigners on a daily basis and the various issues (some criminal....some threatening) that were in public sight....it's NOT the politicians or journalists that you'd talk to. It's the police.
I often comment on the German police and the amount of professionalism that you encounter. Between training and the mandate that they travel in pairs....it's awful rare that you see bad behavior by the police.
But I think if you compared the daily atmosphere and stress of say the 1980s, against the landscape of 2018....most German cops would tell you that it's dramatically different.
Germans get a healthy 'dose' of respect and generally don't disregard laws or public safety. In some ways, the police are a bit shocked at times when their authority is challenged or when someone tries to 'out-argue' them on the nature of the law.
I look at the Frankfurt episode and kinda wonder if you dig into anti-asylum feelings within the city police department.....you might find more than ninety-percent having an unfriendly feeling toward immigration and integration. The pro-asylum folks? They will eventually come around and suggest mandatory 'get-friendly-on-immigrants' classes and find a disenchanted crowd of police facing them.
Bahn Ticket
Back in the 1990s....the German rail system (the Bahn) had this fantastic weekend ticket called the "Schone-Wochenende-Ticket (SWT)". For an entire weekend, you could travel via the railway for around 15 Deutsche Marks (roughly $7.50 US). The neat part of the deal was that you could take four friends or family members with you.
Like a lot of Bahn programs, they run their cycle and get retired or replaced. I noticed via Bahn news yesterday that they brought back up the topic, and intend by summer of 2019....to run this ticket once again. Price now? 44 Euro (roughly 50 US dollars). Yes, cost has gone dramatically up if you compare against the 1995 cost.
How you can use the ticket? Well....arising at 6 AM on a Saturday....you can board some train in Kaiserslautern, and head off to Munich....to consume beer and be entertained for a brief 24 hours in Bavaria, and then by Sunday evening.....return home.
Like a lot of Bahn programs, they run their cycle and get retired or replaced. I noticed via Bahn news yesterday that they brought back up the topic, and intend by summer of 2019....to run this ticket once again. Price now? 44 Euro (roughly 50 US dollars). Yes, cost has gone dramatically up if you compare against the 1995 cost.
How you can use the ticket? Well....arising at 6 AM on a Saturday....you can board some train in Kaiserslautern, and head off to Munich....to consume beer and be entertained for a brief 24 hours in Bavaria, and then by Sunday evening.....return home.
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
How to Waste Money
Last night, I sat and watched a German news documentary piece....several stories laid out....but one in particular caught my eye.
The German government decided with much argument.....by various political parties.....that German authorities really needed a secure facility at some airport....to hold soon-to-be-deported immigrants.
Hours and hours were wasted as the Bavarian CSU Party chief in the Bundestag made his pitch. Eventually, it was agreed upon. There would be a facility put up at the Munich Airport. So these guys went to bargain around with the airport for a facility to house such people. What the airport offered?
It was a aircraft hanger. Yes, one of those larger sized hangers. So they moved in cube-like steel buildings....put security fencing around it and you had a overly LARGE compound to hold about twenty folks.
Cost? Well....Focus (the German news magazine) got around to that detail today....420,000 Euro a month. Right now....there's two guys in the facility waiting to be deported. That's it.
You could have gone out to some farm field and rented a two-acre site for less than a 1,000 Euro a month. Why they had to be there instead of a jail? Well....the opposition parties said it wasn't optically good to show them in jail.
So in a year, they are spending near 5-million Euro for this one single operation. It's a tremendous amount of waste, but this is how stupid the Merkel-coalition has become over the past decade.
The German government decided with much argument.....by various political parties.....that German authorities really needed a secure facility at some airport....to hold soon-to-be-deported immigrants.
Hours and hours were wasted as the Bavarian CSU Party chief in the Bundestag made his pitch. Eventually, it was agreed upon. There would be a facility put up at the Munich Airport. So these guys went to bargain around with the airport for a facility to house such people. What the airport offered?
It was a aircraft hanger. Yes, one of those larger sized hangers. So they moved in cube-like steel buildings....put security fencing around it and you had a overly LARGE compound to hold about twenty folks.
Cost? Well....Focus (the German news magazine) got around to that detail today....420,000 Euro a month. Right now....there's two guys in the facility waiting to be deported. That's it.
You could have gone out to some farm field and rented a two-acre site for less than a 1,000 Euro a month. Why they had to be there instead of a jail? Well....the opposition parties said it wasn't optically good to show them in jail.
So in a year, they are spending near 5-million Euro for this one single operation. It's a tremendous amount of waste, but this is how stupid the Merkel-coalition has become over the past decade.
Monday, December 17, 2018
French Terror Update
French cops are investigating all of the part of the Strasbourg terror attack, and this morning....German public TV (ARD, Channel One) noted one development.
There's an associate of the dead terrorist, who apparently has been detained and will face charges on helping to procure the gun involved. The 37-year old will be charged with complicity, and at least one additional charge.
Two additional folks apparently referred the terrorist to this guy with charges and they might also find themselves in trouble just for the referral.
My suspicion.....this terrorist was mostly a small-time thug and criminal.....which this secondary group here (the sales guy and two referring him to the sales guy).....were of the same caliber but likely not Jihadist in nature.
There's an associate of the dead terrorist, who apparently has been detained and will face charges on helping to procure the gun involved. The 37-year old will be charged with complicity, and at least one additional charge.
Two additional folks apparently referred the terrorist to this guy with charges and they might also find themselves in trouble just for the referral.
My suspicion.....this terrorist was mostly a small-time thug and criminal.....which this secondary group here (the sales guy and two referring him to the sales guy).....were of the same caliber but likely not Jihadist in nature.
Polling Story
Focus, the German news magazine, had an interesting polling story today.
For those who didn't realize it.....2019 is a curious election year for Germans. In May, there's the EU election (nationally), and toward fall....there are three state elections (all in the eastern end of Germany).
So the poll story says that if the election is held now.....within the eastern side of Germany....the SPD Party (left of center) would only get around 8-percent of the eligible voters.
For the CDU, it's near 29-percent, the AfD is at 26-percent, with the Linke Party at 16-percent. The Greens are at the end of the spectrum.....just one point ahead of the SPD....at 9-percent.
What does this suggest? If the trend stays at this level....it's a terrible year for the SPD, and could mean another major leadership change by the end of 2019. The shocker for some is that the AfD is fairly close to the CDU.....without much campaigning going on, and they might actually be able to pull two or three points extra.....winning in these three states. Partnering into a coalition? Well....NO. That's one of the major problems with the AfD.....they can't find another party which would be willing to partner.
What this story tends to say is that the SPD is on a spiral right now and really needs some boost to occur before the 2021 national election.
For those who didn't realize it.....2019 is a curious election year for Germans. In May, there's the EU election (nationally), and toward fall....there are three state elections (all in the eastern end of Germany).
So the poll story says that if the election is held now.....within the eastern side of Germany....the SPD Party (left of center) would only get around 8-percent of the eligible voters.
For the CDU, it's near 29-percent, the AfD is at 26-percent, with the Linke Party at 16-percent. The Greens are at the end of the spectrum.....just one point ahead of the SPD....at 9-percent.
What does this suggest? If the trend stays at this level....it's a terrible year for the SPD, and could mean another major leadership change by the end of 2019. The shocker for some is that the AfD is fairly close to the CDU.....without much campaigning going on, and they might actually be able to pull two or three points extra.....winning in these three states. Partnering into a coalition? Well....NO. That's one of the major problems with the AfD.....they can't find another party which would be willing to partner.
What this story tends to say is that the SPD is on a spiral right now and really needs some boost to occur before the 2021 national election.
Mini-Job Statistic
ARD (German public TV, Channel One) had a short 7-line story this morning on a statistic that you rarely hear about.....part-time work ('Mini-job' status).
Out of a population of 82-million residents, there are now seven million Germans on mini-job status (meaning tax-free, but limited to 450 Euro per month).
It is an increasing employment tool that grocery stores, coffee shops, and cleaning agencies tend to use.
Out of a population of 82-million residents, there are now seven million Germans on mini-job status (meaning tax-free, but limited to 450 Euro per month).
It is an increasing employment tool that grocery stores, coffee shops, and cleaning agencies tend to use.
Sunday, December 16, 2018
The Meeting Story
Germany's BILD newspaper reports this morning that the new CDU Party chief (AKK) had a quiet 90-minute meeting with her challenger from last week's little party election (Friedrich Merz).
As much as AKK would like to move on and just pretend that Merz and his coalition within the CDU Party don't matter.....she can't really move on.
No one talks numbers but I would speculate that between 30 and 40 percent of the CDU folks are kinda fed up with the 'Merkel-path' of the past fifteen-odd years. Merz? His interest is to put some change in the works with the German economy, and give industry a boost. In the end, if she were to win in 2021.....Merz might figure he'd get the Finance Minister slot out of this deal (currently in the hands of the SPD in this coalition government).
The problem though? Well, he is to always be the 'elephant in the room'. In a Merkel-run situation....she'd dismiss the 'elephant' rather quickly. Whether AKK will do that or not....is the big unknown.
As much as AKK would like to move on and just pretend that Merz and his coalition within the CDU Party don't matter.....she can't really move on.
No one talks numbers but I would speculate that between 30 and 40 percent of the CDU folks are kinda fed up with the 'Merkel-path' of the past fifteen-odd years. Merz? His interest is to put some change in the works with the German economy, and give industry a boost. In the end, if she were to win in 2021.....Merz might figure he'd get the Finance Minister slot out of this deal (currently in the hands of the SPD in this coalition government).
The problem though? Well, he is to always be the 'elephant in the room'. In a Merkel-run situation....she'd dismiss the 'elephant' rather quickly. Whether AKK will do that or not....is the big unknown.
A Public TV Problem
In Germany, you have a mandated public pension program that everyone puts money into, and will receive a monthly check upon retirement. If you work for a higher-class company, you could have a private pension deal as well. This means you walk away at retirement with the public pension amount, and the private pension amount. It's safe to say....these people do well in retirement and don't really notice much of a difference in their retirement situation (compared to the regular working-class folks).
This business story came up today via Focus (the German news magazine) on ARD (German public TV). ARD runs the massive Baden-Baden Pension Fund (since 1997) as a private pension program for all public TV/radio employees.
ARD, because of a low-interest rate situation....is having a problem in generating enough profits. Starting in 2020, it's anticipated that the paying interest rate will be near 1.75 percent.....which you can imagine, for a pension program....creates long-term issues.
So there is chatter going on that the TV/Media Tax will have to go up and part of the required increase, will involve paying more into the retirement fund. A problem? You'd have to get this past the various state legislative fronts (all sixteen) to increase the TV/Media Tax. If the general public figures out this situation and that some portion of the 1 to 2 Euro increase is about private pensions? Man, that would hype up the general public and make them ask why they have to pay for the private pension.
What's likely to happen? If the German state legislatures don't agree to an increase on the tax.....the ARD folks will have to react, and probably start to decrease the amount of monthly checks. A five-to-ten percent cut? That might occur with only mild frustration. A thirty-percent cut on these checks? Well....that would set off some significant frustrations. My guess is that some scale will be created, with the hefty pension earners....being hit with a 30 to 40 percent cut, and the lesser pension earners will only see a 5 to 10 percent cut.
This business story came up today via Focus (the German news magazine) on ARD (German public TV). ARD runs the massive Baden-Baden Pension Fund (since 1997) as a private pension program for all public TV/radio employees.
ARD, because of a low-interest rate situation....is having a problem in generating enough profits. Starting in 2020, it's anticipated that the paying interest rate will be near 1.75 percent.....which you can imagine, for a pension program....creates long-term issues.
So there is chatter going on that the TV/Media Tax will have to go up and part of the required increase, will involve paying more into the retirement fund. A problem? You'd have to get this past the various state legislative fronts (all sixteen) to increase the TV/Media Tax. If the general public figures out this situation and that some portion of the 1 to 2 Euro increase is about private pensions? Man, that would hype up the general public and make them ask why they have to pay for the private pension.
What's likely to happen? If the German state legislatures don't agree to an increase on the tax.....the ARD folks will have to react, and probably start to decrease the amount of monthly checks. A five-to-ten percent cut? That might occur with only mild frustration. A thirty-percent cut on these checks? Well....that would set off some significant frustrations. My guess is that some scale will be created, with the hefty pension earners....being hit with a 30 to 40 percent cut, and the lesser pension earners will only see a 5 to 10 percent cut.
Migration Story
At the beginning of 2018 in Germany, there was this huge political confrontation between Merkel's CDU-CSU Party and the SPD Party.....as the coalition talks went on, on the topic of controlled immigration. The SPD Party and elements of the CDU Party....wanted a fairly high number allocated to immigrants. The CSU Party (the Bavarian Conservatives) and probably half of the CDU folks...wanted a number in the 200,000 range. The agreed upon number, after a vast debate, with great public forum chatter....was 180,000 to 220,000.
Well....ARD (German public TV, Channel One), came up and had an update for 2018 immigration trend.
The number of migrants applying for asylum/immigration? 198,000.
But that's not all of the 'trend-story'. Roughly 18,500 of this year and past year's migration group.....packed and left. Roughly 26,000 folks of this year and year's past.....left because they'd filed an asylum application in another EU country or had failed the application process.
The curious thing is that a massive amount of arguing and public attention was drawn to this topic and the effort to push the threshold up (to well over 300,000). In some ways, this effort by pro-asylum crowd (within both the CDU and SPD).....probably hurt both in terms of public polling and has lessen their appeal to some minor degree. Some SPD voters were angered on the other side of the discussion.....thinking the agreed upon number was too low, and they drifted over to the Green Party.
What makes the 198k unique? If you used the German statistics from mid-90s to now.....the average was always around 200,000 to 250,000 (with the exception of the Balkans war period).
Well....ARD (German public TV, Channel One), came up and had an update for 2018 immigration trend.
The number of migrants applying for asylum/immigration? 198,000.
But that's not all of the 'trend-story'. Roughly 18,500 of this year and past year's migration group.....packed and left. Roughly 26,000 folks of this year and year's past.....left because they'd filed an asylum application in another EU country or had failed the application process.
The curious thing is that a massive amount of arguing and public attention was drawn to this topic and the effort to push the threshold up (to well over 300,000). In some ways, this effort by pro-asylum crowd (within both the CDU and SPD).....probably hurt both in terms of public polling and has lessen their appeal to some minor degree. Some SPD voters were angered on the other side of the discussion.....thinking the agreed upon number was too low, and they drifted over to the Green Party.
What makes the 198k unique? If you used the German statistics from mid-90s to now.....the average was always around 200,000 to 250,000 (with the exception of the Balkans war period).
Gunshots Story
Gunshots rang out last night in Wiesbaden, as cops went into reactionary mode. Local press covered the basic story.
To be honest, Germans freak out when they hear any gunshots, and it becomes a major matter.
This occurred around 8 PM....in the Mainz-Kastel neighborhood of Wiesbaden. Cops identify the particular area, and mount a large 'show' of force....prepared for danger.
So they arrive at what is a rent-out banquet hall, and it's been rented by a Turkish 'clan' for a wedding party (they even had private security around the hall).
After a fairly detailed investigation, they reach the conclusion that someone had fired off a gun in the traditional Turkish celebration-mode.
The party? It was halted during this period of investigation. Eventually, the cops came into possession of the gun and ammo. The shooter? He's now under investigation and probably will have to appear in front of a German judge....getting heavily lectured, and probably fined.
Turks will tell you in the home-country....firing of guns is part of the celebration. If you follow my essays.....this is the third episode like this in Wiesbaden in the past twelve months.
The problem is that with terror threats up....Germans have a particular view on any gunshots. German cops are put into the position that they might arrive at some scene and have to go into 'combat-mode'. All of this leads to a potential problem one day where some Turk might get accidentally killed because of the homeland tradition.
To be honest, Germans freak out when they hear any gunshots, and it becomes a major matter.
This occurred around 8 PM....in the Mainz-Kastel neighborhood of Wiesbaden. Cops identify the particular area, and mount a large 'show' of force....prepared for danger.
So they arrive at what is a rent-out banquet hall, and it's been rented by a Turkish 'clan' for a wedding party (they even had private security around the hall).
After a fairly detailed investigation, they reach the conclusion that someone had fired off a gun in the traditional Turkish celebration-mode.
The party? It was halted during this period of investigation. Eventually, the cops came into possession of the gun and ammo. The shooter? He's now under investigation and probably will have to appear in front of a German judge....getting heavily lectured, and probably fined.
Turks will tell you in the home-country....firing of guns is part of the celebration. If you follow my essays.....this is the third episode like this in Wiesbaden in the past twelve months.
The problem is that with terror threats up....Germans have a particular view on any gunshots. German cops are put into the position that they might arrive at some scene and have to go into 'combat-mode'. All of this leads to a potential problem one day where some Turk might get accidentally killed because of the homeland tradition.
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Germany: Skilled Immigrant 'Path'
An interesting report came up yesterday via ARD (public TV in Germany, Channel One). A number of industries within Germany are concerned about the lack of replacement workers for the ageing German population. They've been putting pressure on the government to write a policy that makes sense.
The government agreement here....they still have to write the law itself and get it passed....but they agree to the concept. In the future....the skilled labor recruitment operation, and the path of rejected asylum seekers for work.....will be separate topics...separate laws.
So what they intend to create....is a 'doorway' where there would be strict rules for immigration into Germany which was job-related (not asylum from a war conflict). If you want to come and work....you'd be a job-migrant case.
In this category....you'd have to be 25 or less years old. You would have to demonstrate some type of proficiency in German (level B2). You'd also have to have a standard educational background (comparable to a German school). In exchange, no child allowance will be paid out during this period work/job training.
There's also going to be a probation period (minimum of 12 months).
First, I'll admit it's a policy that they really needed and it'll eliminate a lot of 'mystery' on how individuals arrived, spent a full-year in language training, and then got two to three years of apprentice type training.
Second, the path for some marginal young guy to arrive and his resume for the past five years was burger-flipper or fruit salesmen on some street....is now blocked (at least when the law is stamped done).
Third, I suspect a number of odd countries will begin to see more German classes taught (like South Korea, Japan, Philippines, etc) and more people applying for this visa-path into Germany.
Fourth, getting to the B2 level? It's not simple or easy. Even in the intensive classes, you'd be talking about four hours a day....for nine months. But if someone has accomplished this, they might be pretty determined to be serious and really want to immigrate.
This is a pathway that they should have written 20 years ago....that's the sad part to the story.
The government agreement here....they still have to write the law itself and get it passed....but they agree to the concept. In the future....the skilled labor recruitment operation, and the path of rejected asylum seekers for work.....will be separate topics...separate laws.
So what they intend to create....is a 'doorway' where there would be strict rules for immigration into Germany which was job-related (not asylum from a war conflict). If you want to come and work....you'd be a job-migrant case.
In this category....you'd have to be 25 or less years old. You would have to demonstrate some type of proficiency in German (level B2). You'd also have to have a standard educational background (comparable to a German school). In exchange, no child allowance will be paid out during this period work/job training.
There's also going to be a probation period (minimum of 12 months).
First, I'll admit it's a policy that they really needed and it'll eliminate a lot of 'mystery' on how individuals arrived, spent a full-year in language training, and then got two to three years of apprentice type training.
Second, the path for some marginal young guy to arrive and his resume for the past five years was burger-flipper or fruit salesmen on some street....is now blocked (at least when the law is stamped done).
Third, I suspect a number of odd countries will begin to see more German classes taught (like South Korea, Japan, Philippines, etc) and more people applying for this visa-path into Germany.
Fourth, getting to the B2 level? It's not simple or easy. Even in the intensive classes, you'd be talking about four hours a day....for nine months. But if someone has accomplished this, they might be pretty determined to be serious and really want to immigrate.
This is a pathway that they should have written 20 years ago....that's the sad part to the story.
Friday, December 14, 2018
More on the Weapons-Free-Zone
So HR (our public TV network in Hessen) wrapped up the entire story on the Wiesbaden 'weapons-free-zone'. I've chatted about this in the past two weeks....while it was in draft format. We are the first city in Hessen....to have a weapons-free-zone.
The applied zone? Roughly half of the center region of Wiesbaden (about 1,200 by 1,200 ft).
The program will start on 1 January. Cops will have full authority to stop you while in the 'zone' and frisk/ID you. Signs will be posted to let you know about the effect of the zone.
In order to seem fair....I'm guessing that various non-threat individuals (maybe even older folks, retirees)....will be frisked/IDed. But I seriously doubt that the frisk/ID business will occur in daylight hours....this is probably more of a night-time event.
If you have a weapon on you (even a pocket knife).....it'll be confiscated and you will be fined. The fine for a knife could go up to 5,000 Euro (for a gun or anything requiring a weapons card)....up to 10,000 Euro.
Even if you are carrying a carpet knife or weighted-gloves.....that's banned and you could get into trouble.
Opposition to the ban? Yes....the Greens voiced opposition.
My humble belief is that in the first month....five or six guys will be caught, and brought to some judge, with the full weight of the fine. After that.....folks will realize the impact of walking into the zone.
Making this into a sort of no-go area? It's odd to me....out of the ten potential cities in Hessen (especially Frankfurt and Darmstadt)....that this is the first such zone.
The applied zone? Roughly half of the center region of Wiesbaden (about 1,200 by 1,200 ft).
The program will start on 1 January. Cops will have full authority to stop you while in the 'zone' and frisk/ID you. Signs will be posted to let you know about the effect of the zone.
In order to seem fair....I'm guessing that various non-threat individuals (maybe even older folks, retirees)....will be frisked/IDed. But I seriously doubt that the frisk/ID business will occur in daylight hours....this is probably more of a night-time event.
If you have a weapon on you (even a pocket knife).....it'll be confiscated and you will be fined. The fine for a knife could go up to 5,000 Euro (for a gun or anything requiring a weapons card)....up to 10,000 Euro.
Even if you are carrying a carpet knife or weighted-gloves.....that's banned and you could get into trouble.
Opposition to the ban? Yes....the Greens voiced opposition.
My humble belief is that in the first month....five or six guys will be caught, and brought to some judge, with the full weight of the fine. After that.....folks will realize the impact of walking into the zone.
Making this into a sort of no-go area? It's odd to me....out of the ten potential cities in Hessen (especially Frankfurt and Darmstadt)....that this is the first such zone.
Words of the Year in Germany
HR (my regional public TV network) brought up this topic today....the 'word-gurus' of Germany have picked the ten 'new' words which were spoken about or created in 2018. It's an interesting group:
1. Heißzeit (meaning hot time). It was used by the general public back in the summer to describe the heat/drought period.
2. Funklochrepublik (radio hole republic). This signifies various regions in Germany where you can't get decent radio or cellphone reception. Note, rarely does this come up in urbanized areas. It's typically in highly rural areas with mountains in the background. I will emphasize that this word might be around for twenty more years, and become a political chant eventually.
3. Ankerzentren (anchor centers). This was a Interior Ministry word to describe where you'd send problem-refugees when they were supposed to be deported. Naturally, the pro-asylum folks felt it was one step away from prison.
4. Wir sind mehr (we are more). This was a created word to counter anti-asylum or anti-immigration rallies (mostly in the east) and would indicate a pro-asylum position for the counter-protest.
5. Strafbelobigt (punishable). This one word was invented out of thin air, to describe 'punishment' necessary to get rid of Maassen (the former head of the German version of the 'FBI'). The odds of it ever being used again? I'd put it at 10-percent chance or less.
6. Pflegeroboter (nursing robots). There was a long discussion in 2018 about how the 'system' was going to care for older Germans, and there just weren't enough nurses and care-givers around to handle the numbers. Journalists and political folks were virtually the only ones using the word.
7. Diesel-Fahrverbot (diesel car driving bans or forbidden). Yes, it was the year where fifty-odd cities started talks about preventing diesel drivers from entering their cities. This word was used a lot.
8. Handelskrieg (trade war). This was invented to cover the Trump issues with EU and German trade. So far, no one can say how you win or lose a Handelskreig.
9. Brexit-Chaos (the chaos created over the Brit exit from the EU).
10. die Mutter aller Probleme (the mother of all problems). This was an invented term by the Minister of the Interior early in the year.....trying to get his arms around all of the asylum, immigration and migration issues. Various opposition parties countered his proposals, and this term came up almost daily for around two months.
The odds that some of the terms will drift off and never be used again? At least four of these fit into this category. That's the problem with invented German words....unless you have kids uttering them daily....that's about the only way that a word sticks, and stays around.
1. Heißzeit (meaning hot time). It was used by the general public back in the summer to describe the heat/drought period.
2. Funklochrepublik (radio hole republic). This signifies various regions in Germany where you can't get decent radio or cellphone reception. Note, rarely does this come up in urbanized areas. It's typically in highly rural areas with mountains in the background. I will emphasize that this word might be around for twenty more years, and become a political chant eventually.
3. Ankerzentren (anchor centers). This was a Interior Ministry word to describe where you'd send problem-refugees when they were supposed to be deported. Naturally, the pro-asylum folks felt it was one step away from prison.
4. Wir sind mehr (we are more). This was a created word to counter anti-asylum or anti-immigration rallies (mostly in the east) and would indicate a pro-asylum position for the counter-protest.
5. Strafbelobigt (punishable). This one word was invented out of thin air, to describe 'punishment' necessary to get rid of Maassen (the former head of the German version of the 'FBI'). The odds of it ever being used again? I'd put it at 10-percent chance or less.
6. Pflegeroboter (nursing robots). There was a long discussion in 2018 about how the 'system' was going to care for older Germans, and there just weren't enough nurses and care-givers around to handle the numbers. Journalists and political folks were virtually the only ones using the word.
7. Diesel-Fahrverbot (diesel car driving bans or forbidden). Yes, it was the year where fifty-odd cities started talks about preventing diesel drivers from entering their cities. This word was used a lot.
8. Handelskrieg (trade war). This was invented to cover the Trump issues with EU and German trade. So far, no one can say how you win or lose a Handelskreig.
9. Brexit-Chaos (the chaos created over the Brit exit from the EU).
10. die Mutter aller Probleme (the mother of all problems). This was an invented term by the Minister of the Interior early in the year.....trying to get his arms around all of the asylum, immigration and migration issues. Various opposition parties countered his proposals, and this term came up almost daily for around two months.
The odds that some of the terms will drift off and never be used again? At least four of these fit into this category. That's the problem with invented German words....unless you have kids uttering them daily....that's about the only way that a word sticks, and stays around.
Thursday, December 13, 2018
Manhunt Over
Late last night, German public news (via ARD) came on and announced that the French cops had found the terrorist they were seeking....a confrontation started up with the guy firing off a couple of rounds at cops, and they responded. He was dead.
So, they move onto the lessons learned stage. I should note....the cops did a raid about an hour or two prior to the encounter, and five 'friends' were detained. They may face some charges.
So, they move onto the lessons learned stage. I should note....the cops did a raid about an hour or two prior to the encounter, and five 'friends' were detained. They may face some charges.
Diesel Chatter Today
It's a page two story that came out today, and probably scared the crap out of the Bundestag, all diesel drivers, and sets up one of the major confrontations of 2019. I'll reference most of this story back to N-TV news (our commercial German news network).
The EU Court stood up and said today.....that cites can have absolute bans on even the latest and newest diesel cars that exist throughout the 28 countries.
What was going on? The EU was trying slip in a 'understanding' (not a law) that would have allowed higher nitric oxide irritant situations to be 'ok'. The court said no.....that was not the intent of the original law.....so you can't do that. In saying this.....they went and discussed that cities can ban just about any vehicle they want, and it's not just diesel cars.....they could ban gas cars.
But in this matter....they basically handed the mess back to the EU and said....write a different law. They gave them 12 months.
Creating a bigger mess? The EU election in May was supposed to be a mild affair, and not invoke any stress on people to think about who they were voting for. It's possible now.....some parties (not just in Germany).....might pick a pro-diesel slant, and get tens of millions of votes strictly on the diesel matter.
If all diesel cars (including the newer version '6' cars) were included in the forbidden list? All of this would bring Merkel's coalition around to answer questions....which they will offer the alibi.....it's the EU's fault...not theirs.
But lets return to the EU election. Could you have a major election that is based mostly off diesel feelings? A year ago, people would have laughed at this idea. And then you get into the compensation issue....who will pay the consumer for his 'woes'?
The EU Court stood up and said today.....that cites can have absolute bans on even the latest and newest diesel cars that exist throughout the 28 countries.
What was going on? The EU was trying slip in a 'understanding' (not a law) that would have allowed higher nitric oxide irritant situations to be 'ok'. The court said no.....that was not the intent of the original law.....so you can't do that. In saying this.....they went and discussed that cities can ban just about any vehicle they want, and it's not just diesel cars.....they could ban gas cars.
But in this matter....they basically handed the mess back to the EU and said....write a different law. They gave them 12 months.
Creating a bigger mess? The EU election in May was supposed to be a mild affair, and not invoke any stress on people to think about who they were voting for. It's possible now.....some parties (not just in Germany).....might pick a pro-diesel slant, and get tens of millions of votes strictly on the diesel matter.
If all diesel cars (including the newer version '6' cars) were included in the forbidden list? All of this would bring Merkel's coalition around to answer questions....which they will offer the alibi.....it's the EU's fault...not theirs.
But lets return to the EU election. Could you have a major election that is based mostly off diesel feelings? A year ago, people would have laughed at this idea. And then you get into the compensation issue....who will pay the consumer for his 'woes'?
E-Car Chat
There's a great piece produced by N-TV (German commercial network news) today.....chatting over the change in behavior of electric car drivers in Germany. I strongly recommend the 'read'.
The study....by Continental Powertrain, using the Infas Institute to gather data....says that e-car drivers are now being conservative about their driving strategy. The 'known-range' is a big part of the day's affairs.
But they found that among non-e-car owners....one in five drivers in the youth groups (up to age 30) say they can imagine buying an e-car in the next couple of years.
Those folks see navigational digitization and public info on traffic control systems as a positive.
But the topic of ride-sharing got brought up. It's a curious thing for Germans in this poll.....they already had public transportation, and most seemed to see no benefit on ride-sharing.
The fact that we haven't gone past 150,000 plug-in battery cars yet in Germany? Well....that's the tough part of the sales routine. This 'known-range' topic makes people apprehensive. It'd be ok if you had two cars, and one was for local in-city driving only, and the other was a gas car for everything else.....but would you pay 50,000 to 80,000 Euro for a car that you'd only drive within forty kilometers of your house? Lets also be honest and admit that this 'local strategy' would mean that you'd have a car for fifteen-odd years and probably never have more than 10,000 kilometers a year (6,200 miles roughly).
The study....by Continental Powertrain, using the Infas Institute to gather data....says that e-car drivers are now being conservative about their driving strategy. The 'known-range' is a big part of the day's affairs.
But they found that among non-e-car owners....one in five drivers in the youth groups (up to age 30) say they can imagine buying an e-car in the next couple of years.
Those folks see navigational digitization and public info on traffic control systems as a positive.
But the topic of ride-sharing got brought up. It's a curious thing for Germans in this poll.....they already had public transportation, and most seemed to see no benefit on ride-sharing.
The fact that we haven't gone past 150,000 plug-in battery cars yet in Germany? Well....that's the tough part of the sales routine. This 'known-range' topic makes people apprehensive. It'd be ok if you had two cars, and one was for local in-city driving only, and the other was a gas car for everything else.....but would you pay 50,000 to 80,000 Euro for a car that you'd only drive within forty kilometers of your house? Lets also be honest and admit that this 'local strategy' would mean that you'd have a car for fifteen-odd years and probably never have more than 10,000 kilometers a year (6,200 miles roughly).
Germany and Speed Limits
For the non-Germans, this is a topic that comes up very quickly upon your arrival in Deutschland, and you go to a memorization process because it really does matter, and you have seconds to react to each limit.
For autobahn travel....there's typically four levels:
1. Unlimited. Roughly two-thirds of German autobahns are in this category. In urbanized zones, it won't exist....so you tend to notice a good bit in Bavaria and in the east of country. When they say unlimited....it means while in safe weather conditions, otherwise, you need to drive at a safe limit.
2. 130 kph (80 mph). On the outer barrier of urbanized zones....these pop up.
3. 100 kph (62 mph). You've arrived in a urbanized zone along the autobahn with heavier traffic and rapid movement to turn-offs.
4. 60-80 kph (37 to 50 mph). Typically, this is a construction zone on the autobahn. The chief encounter that you make is that of the two lanes....one is designed more for wide vehicles (like trucks and buses) and the other is 2.2 meters and is a serious challenge with your larger sized SUV vehicles.
No one keeps real statistics on speeding tickets, but you can figure most tickets normally fall into two categories....you were driving over the 100 kph limit, or you were excessively speeding in the construction zone.
On secondary roads or streets....there's typically four levels:
1. 100 kph (62 mph). Always on state roads (not urbanized areas).
2. 50 kph (31 mph). Once you see a city limits sign....that's the magic 50 kph point. Unless the city has some expressway cutting through the middle of town.....50 will always be limit.
3. 30 kph (18 mph). This is always a highly residential area....kids on the street, etc.
4. 15 kph (10 mph). Generally a school zone.
I bring this up because I sat and read through the Wiesbaden police blotter this morning....two drivers noted yesterday in the city limits (50 kph).....doing 130 kph. It's awful rare that someone gets this stupid, but both end up with a loss of the license for a minimum of 90 days....a fine between 600 and 700 Euro....and likely being forced into some driver refresher course (meaning a couple of hundred Euro for a private instructor to tell you how stupid it is to speed). Then there's the matter of points. Serious point accumulation.....meaning they get one more speeding situation in a year or some fail-to-stop ticket....then you lose the license for a year.
In the German system, driving is nothing to take as a joke.
For autobahn travel....there's typically four levels:
1. Unlimited. Roughly two-thirds of German autobahns are in this category. In urbanized zones, it won't exist....so you tend to notice a good bit in Bavaria and in the east of country. When they say unlimited....it means while in safe weather conditions, otherwise, you need to drive at a safe limit.
2. 130 kph (80 mph). On the outer barrier of urbanized zones....these pop up.
3. 100 kph (62 mph). You've arrived in a urbanized zone along the autobahn with heavier traffic and rapid movement to turn-offs.
4. 60-80 kph (37 to 50 mph). Typically, this is a construction zone on the autobahn. The chief encounter that you make is that of the two lanes....one is designed more for wide vehicles (like trucks and buses) and the other is 2.2 meters and is a serious challenge with your larger sized SUV vehicles.
No one keeps real statistics on speeding tickets, but you can figure most tickets normally fall into two categories....you were driving over the 100 kph limit, or you were excessively speeding in the construction zone.
On secondary roads or streets....there's typically four levels:
1. 100 kph (62 mph). Always on state roads (not urbanized areas).
2. 50 kph (31 mph). Once you see a city limits sign....that's the magic 50 kph point. Unless the city has some expressway cutting through the middle of town.....50 will always be limit.
3. 30 kph (18 mph). This is always a highly residential area....kids on the street, etc.
4. 15 kph (10 mph). Generally a school zone.
I bring this up because I sat and read through the Wiesbaden police blotter this morning....two drivers noted yesterday in the city limits (50 kph).....doing 130 kph. It's awful rare that someone gets this stupid, but both end up with a loss of the license for a minimum of 90 days....a fine between 600 and 700 Euro....and likely being forced into some driver refresher course (meaning a couple of hundred Euro for a private instructor to tell you how stupid it is to speed). Then there's the matter of points. Serious point accumulation.....meaning they get one more speeding situation in a year or some fail-to-stop ticket....then you lose the license for a year.
In the German system, driving is nothing to take as a joke.
How the Radicalized Trend Works
Most people try to make this a two-line text explanation, that always starts with some 'wicked' Mullah guy and a naive young guy. But I'll explain the Islamic radicalization trend in a different way.
'Timmy' and 'Elmer' are two young first generation Germans of a Islamic family that moved into the country. It doesn't matter which country they came from, except it's always a Muslim country in north Africa or in the Middle East.
You would think being born in Germany.....first-generation....that the kid has an absolute chance to make it. Well....no, that's not the path.
Around four years old, 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' are put into the Kindergarten atmosphere. There are certain practical skills that you'd typically pick up in this situation (even at age four). One of these skills is team-work or working together. Neither 'Timmy' or 'Elmer' seem to grasp this. Out of the twenty-odd objectives in Kindergarten....these two probably only grasp about half of the life skills.
So they start to school. 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' ought to have parents reading books to them....gaining an interest in reading skills, and developing math skills. In their case, it's marginally happening. Around the third grade, both 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' could be measured and the numbers will reflect that they are a full-year behind in reading, comprehending, and math skills. By the fifth grade, it's more than obvious to the teachers that 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' are at the lower end of the class.
Both boys will be sent to the Haupt-schule environment (the lower of German schools) after this fifth grade. Typically, they ought to advance and get tutor-help ($$$). German parents know of this option and will hire up a tutor operation after school to help elevate the boys to better scores, and give them the comprehension skills necessary. But in the case of their parents....this won't happen.
So around the 8th grade, apprentice school chatter is starting up. 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' are writing practice resumes and hoping to be picked up by various business operations for an apprentice slot. By the end of the 9th grade, acceptance to some apprentice deal should occur.
'Timmy' and 'Elmer' have marginal potential, but they get picked up by a business. Being 15 years old....they have limited maturity and don't grasp the implications of failing in the apprentice school situation.
Six months into the apprentice deal, 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' are brought into the big office and basically told they aren't making it. They show up late.....they offer marginal homework....test scores aren't showing any capability. So they drop the deal.
'Timmy' and 'Elmer' sit around for six months, doing mostly nothing. No one wants to waste time on them. They try to socialize with old school buddies. Half of them are busy with the apprentice work, and the other half are failed apprentice folks.....but hard working for some grocery store or flipping burgers to make a living.
Eventually, 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' bump into someone who knows of a German who has watch collection worth some money. 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' break into the house and steal the collection (worth 50,000 Euro). Here, 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' demonstrate their lack of comprehension. They have stolen goods, but you have to deal them to a 'middle-guy', and the guy at best....will only offer 4,000 Euro. 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' are happy because it's finally something that produces money.
Naturally, 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' spend the money on a great drug-induced weekend....lots of booze, and two weeks later....the cash is gone. So they move onto robbery number two.
At some point, maybe a year into this....their drug dealer friend will have a deal. If they go to Hamburg and pick up a bag for him....he'll reward them with a thousand Euro (easy cash). Over the next year, 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' get deeper into the drug dealing (on the street and courier operations). One of them will get picked up, arrested, and sent off for a year of prison. The other will fall into a police situation within six months.
By age twenty five, what you can say about 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' is that they are four-star losers. Even though they were born in Germany.....educationally....they are a minimum of one entire level below the kids they were friends with in kindergarten. If you looked at the resume....they might have held one single job since age sixteen, but they were fired because they showed up late,or were pilfering the business. Oddly, both 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' are always hanging out with associates at the local Islamic center. For them, it's a social thing....more than a religious thing.
But somewhere around age twenty-five, both 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' are deep into drug usage, and come to some moment of reality that they've failed in life. They can't get a real job....have a real family....or find any success. In simple terms, they are miserable. So this pathway at the center opens up with some Mullah or radicalized instructor, and they are given this enlightenment moment.
The suggestion here? You can do one great act for the religion and receive a greater path in life. Naturally, some killing is necessary.
So in the end, 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' have wasted every single opportunity given, and the system didn't stand up and correct their actions back when they were four years old, or throughout the next dozen years of school. They were born on a loser path, and they will die on this loser path. This is how you produce a radicalized 'Timmy' and 'Elmer'.
'Timmy' and 'Elmer' are two young first generation Germans of a Islamic family that moved into the country. It doesn't matter which country they came from, except it's always a Muslim country in north Africa or in the Middle East.
You would think being born in Germany.....first-generation....that the kid has an absolute chance to make it. Well....no, that's not the path.
Around four years old, 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' are put into the Kindergarten atmosphere. There are certain practical skills that you'd typically pick up in this situation (even at age four). One of these skills is team-work or working together. Neither 'Timmy' or 'Elmer' seem to grasp this. Out of the twenty-odd objectives in Kindergarten....these two probably only grasp about half of the life skills.
So they start to school. 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' ought to have parents reading books to them....gaining an interest in reading skills, and developing math skills. In their case, it's marginally happening. Around the third grade, both 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' could be measured and the numbers will reflect that they are a full-year behind in reading, comprehending, and math skills. By the fifth grade, it's more than obvious to the teachers that 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' are at the lower end of the class.
Both boys will be sent to the Haupt-schule environment (the lower of German schools) after this fifth grade. Typically, they ought to advance and get tutor-help ($$$). German parents know of this option and will hire up a tutor operation after school to help elevate the boys to better scores, and give them the comprehension skills necessary. But in the case of their parents....this won't happen.
So around the 8th grade, apprentice school chatter is starting up. 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' are writing practice resumes and hoping to be picked up by various business operations for an apprentice slot. By the end of the 9th grade, acceptance to some apprentice deal should occur.
'Timmy' and 'Elmer' have marginal potential, but they get picked up by a business. Being 15 years old....they have limited maturity and don't grasp the implications of failing in the apprentice school situation.
Six months into the apprentice deal, 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' are brought into the big office and basically told they aren't making it. They show up late.....they offer marginal homework....test scores aren't showing any capability. So they drop the deal.
'Timmy' and 'Elmer' sit around for six months, doing mostly nothing. No one wants to waste time on them. They try to socialize with old school buddies. Half of them are busy with the apprentice work, and the other half are failed apprentice folks.....but hard working for some grocery store or flipping burgers to make a living.
Eventually, 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' bump into someone who knows of a German who has watch collection worth some money. 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' break into the house and steal the collection (worth 50,000 Euro). Here, 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' demonstrate their lack of comprehension. They have stolen goods, but you have to deal them to a 'middle-guy', and the guy at best....will only offer 4,000 Euro. 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' are happy because it's finally something that produces money.
Naturally, 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' spend the money on a great drug-induced weekend....lots of booze, and two weeks later....the cash is gone. So they move onto robbery number two.
At some point, maybe a year into this....their drug dealer friend will have a deal. If they go to Hamburg and pick up a bag for him....he'll reward them with a thousand Euro (easy cash). Over the next year, 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' get deeper into the drug dealing (on the street and courier operations). One of them will get picked up, arrested, and sent off for a year of prison. The other will fall into a police situation within six months.
By age twenty five, what you can say about 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' is that they are four-star losers. Even though they were born in Germany.....educationally....they are a minimum of one entire level below the kids they were friends with in kindergarten. If you looked at the resume....they might have held one single job since age sixteen, but they were fired because they showed up late,or were pilfering the business. Oddly, both 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' are always hanging out with associates at the local Islamic center. For them, it's a social thing....more than a religious thing.
But somewhere around age twenty-five, both 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' are deep into drug usage, and come to some moment of reality that they've failed in life. They can't get a real job....have a real family....or find any success. In simple terms, they are miserable. So this pathway at the center opens up with some Mullah or radicalized instructor, and they are given this enlightenment moment.
The suggestion here? You can do one great act for the religion and receive a greater path in life. Naturally, some killing is necessary.
So in the end, 'Timmy' and 'Elmer' have wasted every single opportunity given, and the system didn't stand up and correct their actions back when they were four years old, or throughout the next dozen years of school. They were born on a loser path, and they will die on this loser path. This is how you produce a radicalized 'Timmy' and 'Elmer'.
Update on Terror Suspect
French cops are still looking for this Strasbourg terror suspect.
But it was reported by BR24 (public news site) that right before the attack started.....the suspect got a phone call from Germany. No one reports 'who'.....but the German cops are now closely involved in the search operation, with some suggestion that he might have made his way into Germany.
But it was reported by BR24 (public news site) that right before the attack started.....the suspect got a phone call from Germany. No one reports 'who'.....but the German cops are now closely involved in the search operation, with some suggestion that he might have made his way into Germany.
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
This New 'Scandal'?
This is a page three story, but could result in the Defense Minister under Chancellor Merkel being 'let go'.
So here's the basis of the story....the German Federal Court of Auditors came up and said it was rather odd in terms of cost-effectiveness and legality.....to have so many contractors advising the defense ministry. The amount talked about that triggered this? Three-digit millions.
The CDU political figure in charge? Ursula von der Leyen.
Naturally, this report got into the hands of the Green Party, the FDP Party and the Linke Party. They want a committee of inquiry.
Public TV (ARD), Channel One.....reports the bulk of this story.
The blunt point here?
A lot of new technology ideas are floating around and the Bundeswehr (the German army) will say they need 'experts' to explain these, write the requirements, and help plan for the future. The opposition parties will say this is outrageous in terms of cost and you should only pay x-amount (never saying the right amount). Course, then you'd get the 'experts' laughing and being unwilling to cooperate.
But here's the amusing missing piece of the story. Virtually every single ministry is having to hire people to explain the new technology and how they can take their current situation....fitting it to the future. So these opposition folks are opening up a can of worms.
And if the CDU-SPD folks ended up being kicked out in 2021, with the Greens in charge (now a possibility), partnering with the Linke Party? Well....would they go and hire consultants and repeat this entire game? Well....yes.
But all of these puts pressure on the Defense Minister, and the possibility of 'dumping' her. That is the real end-point in this game.....to embarrass Merkel in some way and show weakness in the coalition.
So here's the basis of the story....the German Federal Court of Auditors came up and said it was rather odd in terms of cost-effectiveness and legality.....to have so many contractors advising the defense ministry. The amount talked about that triggered this? Three-digit millions.
The CDU political figure in charge? Ursula von der Leyen.
Naturally, this report got into the hands of the Green Party, the FDP Party and the Linke Party. They want a committee of inquiry.
Public TV (ARD), Channel One.....reports the bulk of this story.
The blunt point here?
A lot of new technology ideas are floating around and the Bundeswehr (the German army) will say they need 'experts' to explain these, write the requirements, and help plan for the future. The opposition parties will say this is outrageous in terms of cost and you should only pay x-amount (never saying the right amount). Course, then you'd get the 'experts' laughing and being unwilling to cooperate.
But here's the amusing missing piece of the story. Virtually every single ministry is having to hire people to explain the new technology and how they can take their current situation....fitting it to the future. So these opposition folks are opening up a can of worms.
And if the CDU-SPD folks ended up being kicked out in 2021, with the Greens in charge (now a possibility), partnering with the Linke Party? Well....would they go and hire consultants and repeat this entire game? Well....yes.
But all of these puts pressure on the Defense Minister, and the possibility of 'dumping' her. That is the real end-point in this game.....to embarrass Merkel in some way and show weakness in the coalition.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)