There was a good business story over Air Berlin (now dissolved) today over at N-TV, and I'd recommend it.
For those who aren't into the story....Air Berlin started up in 1979, out of Berlin, and it was this low-budget airline which served Berlin (in the Cold War years). This was a 'tiny' operation (two planes in the early period), and went through 12 years of decent profits.
As 1990 came around, with unification, they changed a bit.....bringing in more investors, and grew bigger. By 1999, they now had a dozen planes.
Around 2004, they combined with Air Niki, and later in 2005, with Germania, they combined.
In 2007, they took over LTU (the vacation airline folks).
By 2010, they were lining up to be part of the One World group.
In 2011, they'd done a deal with Etihad Airways.
What you can generally say....is that they just kept this merger game continuing, but never really concentrating on business and passengers. The orders for 787's in 2014? That got cancelled.
From 2016, they were attempting various tricks to recover, and simply were too far down and unable to find anyone with cash to help their ailments.
So now, the court system is clearing the debt situation.
What N-TV discusses is the fact that the workers who lost their jobs.....are now finding that there is nothing much left for them. You are looking at 8,600 employees let go, and zeroed out for compensation.
It is one of the sadder stories of unification.....in that they were able to run a small airline, with limited focus and management required.
Sunday, May 31, 2020
Yesterday
Yesterday, I was out in public....hanging out in a cafe and a restaurant here in the Hessen region of Germany. Note, this is in the new rule 'game' of Corona.
So when you sit down....the waiter comes out and lays down a slip....basically asking for your name, e-mail, address, etc. At the end of the day, it all goes into an envelope and is kept for x-number of days. If an infection is noted out of this cafe or restaurant.....then they know the people who were there, and the authorities will issue a voluntary-stay-at-home order, and a test for Corona.
My hassle with it? It's private information. The waiters were nice about it.....they'd like to skip this but it's the regulation now.
The fact that you might put down 'Johan Schmit' (a false name)? Well....that's the curious thing. No one is asking for a passport or ID card. They simply trust you to be honest.
So when you sit down....the waiter comes out and lays down a slip....basically asking for your name, e-mail, address, etc. At the end of the day, it all goes into an envelope and is kept for x-number of days. If an infection is noted out of this cafe or restaurant.....then they know the people who were there, and the authorities will issue a voluntary-stay-at-home order, and a test for Corona.
My hassle with it? It's private information. The waiters were nice about it.....they'd like to skip this but it's the regulation now.
The fact that you might put down 'Johan Schmit' (a false name)? Well....that's the curious thing. No one is asking for a passport or ID card. They simply trust you to be honest.
Saturday, May 30, 2020
The Cave of Zeus Story
This a story that I originally told about five years ago, and I kinda reviewed it a bit, and rewrote it to a degree.
Greece is one of those countries that I've been to on three occasions, and I'm fairly fascinated by the culture, the landscape, and the legends. I might occasionally utter the phrase of 'Cave of Zeus' when I chat on Greece. And yes, I'm being cynical when I utter it.
Virtually every isle in Greece has some type of tourist gimmick where they claim they are the birthplace or hiding place of Zeus of Greece. There's a tour....usually from an ice cream shop or gift shop.....that cost a couple of Euro. If you add on a burro-ride, it's another five to ten Euro.
What the guy does is lead you on a twenty-minute walk usually....over a hill....down a valley....to some decent cave entrance where he claims this is where Zeus hid out or was born.
So, the story to this is simple. Legend has it....as told.....that the real cave of Zeus is on Crete (the bigger of the isles)....near Mount Ida. In the old days.....it was a place where Greeks would make a walk to the entrance and go through a period of worship.
Rhea.....a titan God.....hid the kid Zeus there to protect him from his dad Cronus.
A good bit of the legend suggests other caves were part of the hiding scheme.....which is why you might see the Cave of Zeus in multiple locations. The gimmick works well because tourists want to identify and see such a cave.
If you asked any Brit, French guy, or German gal.....they'd let you know that their vast knowledge of Zeus can fit onto a 3 x 5 inch card. So, this is mostly for them to say.....they've been there.
Should you pay for such a walk and the claim? Well.....a guy only gets a dozen odd things that he can claim with strong feeling as he makes his way through life. Maybe notching off the 'Cave of Zeus' might fit well on this list.
As you wrap up the walk.....you'd likely have a sweat and stop at the ice cream shop near the tour bus. You'd sip through some water, eat an ice cream, and probably buy a 16-Euro t-shirt with some cartoon-thug-like Zeus on it.
Some folks might wander over near a sign with the Zeus figured painted up and have their picture taken....so they can show the ladies back at the office of their extensive travels. Then you get on the bus and leave. Me?
Well....I must admit.....I just didn't buy off on this whole story when I was there in 1996. I am from Alabama, and this legend stuff doesn't sell that well to me. The kid and I sat at the ice cream shop for an hour while the wife did the forty-odd minute burro walk to and from the cave and she got the ten-minute lecture of the legend of Zeus.
To be honest, the wife rarely brings up the burro walk, the legend of Zeus speech, or the Cave of Zeus. On her list of a hundred things she's accomplished in her life.....I imagine she's ranked this near 1,488 on the list.....which says a lot about the whole legend thing.
My general advice....if you go off to Kos, or Crete, or Korfu, and you find some deal for a local Cave of Zeus walk.....pay the five-Euro for the walk (or the 12-Euro for the burrro ride).....and buy a t-shirt (16-Euro). You are buying all of this.....NOT so much for the Zeus thing or highlights of your life.....but instead to help balance the Greek economy. You see.....Greeks need your cash contribution, and this whole Cave of Zeus thing....while bogus.....is a nifty and cheap gimmick for them to arrange.
You help them out.....you help sponsor some Chinese kid who makes cheap t-shirts that get shipped by the pallet to Greece.....and you help the meager Greek ice cream empire survive.
Please note....if the topic ever comes up with my wife, and you ask her humble opinion....she will bring up that this was the two-week vacation that I forgot to bring any underwear in the suitcase. This might be a bigger story, at least by her humble opinion.
Greece is one of those countries that I've been to on three occasions, and I'm fairly fascinated by the culture, the landscape, and the legends. I might occasionally utter the phrase of 'Cave of Zeus' when I chat on Greece. And yes, I'm being cynical when I utter it.
Virtually every isle in Greece has some type of tourist gimmick where they claim they are the birthplace or hiding place of Zeus of Greece. There's a tour....usually from an ice cream shop or gift shop.....that cost a couple of Euro. If you add on a burro-ride, it's another five to ten Euro.
What the guy does is lead you on a twenty-minute walk usually....over a hill....down a valley....to some decent cave entrance where he claims this is where Zeus hid out or was born.
So, the story to this is simple. Legend has it....as told.....that the real cave of Zeus is on Crete (the bigger of the isles)....near Mount Ida. In the old days.....it was a place where Greeks would make a walk to the entrance and go through a period of worship.
Rhea.....a titan God.....hid the kid Zeus there to protect him from his dad Cronus.
A good bit of the legend suggests other caves were part of the hiding scheme.....which is why you might see the Cave of Zeus in multiple locations. The gimmick works well because tourists want to identify and see such a cave.
If you asked any Brit, French guy, or German gal.....they'd let you know that their vast knowledge of Zeus can fit onto a 3 x 5 inch card. So, this is mostly for them to say.....they've been there.
Should you pay for such a walk and the claim? Well.....a guy only gets a dozen odd things that he can claim with strong feeling as he makes his way through life. Maybe notching off the 'Cave of Zeus' might fit well on this list.
As you wrap up the walk.....you'd likely have a sweat and stop at the ice cream shop near the tour bus. You'd sip through some water, eat an ice cream, and probably buy a 16-Euro t-shirt with some cartoon-thug-like Zeus on it.
Some folks might wander over near a sign with the Zeus figured painted up and have their picture taken....so they can show the ladies back at the office of their extensive travels. Then you get on the bus and leave. Me?
Well....I must admit.....I just didn't buy off on this whole story when I was there in 1996. I am from Alabama, and this legend stuff doesn't sell that well to me. The kid and I sat at the ice cream shop for an hour while the wife did the forty-odd minute burro walk to and from the cave and she got the ten-minute lecture of the legend of Zeus.
To be honest, the wife rarely brings up the burro walk, the legend of Zeus speech, or the Cave of Zeus. On her list of a hundred things she's accomplished in her life.....I imagine she's ranked this near 1,488 on the list.....which says a lot about the whole legend thing.
My general advice....if you go off to Kos, or Crete, or Korfu, and you find some deal for a local Cave of Zeus walk.....pay the five-Euro for the walk (or the 12-Euro for the burrro ride).....and buy a t-shirt (16-Euro). You are buying all of this.....NOT so much for the Zeus thing or highlights of your life.....but instead to help balance the Greek economy. You see.....Greeks need your cash contribution, and this whole Cave of Zeus thing....while bogus.....is a nifty and cheap gimmick for them to arrange.
You help them out.....you help sponsor some Chinese kid who makes cheap t-shirts that get shipped by the pallet to Greece.....and you help the meager Greek ice cream empire survive.
Please note....if the topic ever comes up with my wife, and you ask her humble opinion....she will bring up that this was the two-week vacation that I forgot to bring any underwear in the suitcase. This might be a bigger story, at least by her humble opinion.
Corona Locally
I live in a metropolitan type area....285,000 residents. The Corona score at this point?
Total infection from day one to now: 442
Recovered from the virus: 359
Deaths: 15 (latest was this past couple of days, a gal who was 79 years old). And yes, she had prior 'other' illness issues.
I probably should note this as well....the vast majority of the 15 were over the age of 60, and the majority of them had secondary issues.
All data from the Wiesbadenaktuell site.
Total infection from day one to now: 442
Recovered from the virus: 359
Deaths: 15 (latest was this past couple of days, a gal who was 79 years old). And yes, she had prior 'other' illness issues.
I probably should note this as well....the vast majority of the 15 were over the age of 60, and the majority of them had secondary issues.
All data from the Wiesbadenaktuell site.
Germany Electricity Rate Increasing?
Yes.
From what N-TV had as a report this morning....you can probably expect around a 7-percent rise by the very end of 2020. Average Kilowatt hour then? 32-cents.
As they report it....an average German house will consume around 4,000 Kilowatt hours....so this cost upwards factor will amount to another 88 Euro a year (generally speaking) for a guy to find in his budget.
From what N-TV had as a report this morning....you can probably expect around a 7-percent rise by the very end of 2020. Average Kilowatt hour then? 32-cents.
As they report it....an average German house will consume around 4,000 Kilowatt hours....so this cost upwards factor will amount to another 88 Euro a year (generally speaking) for a guy to find in his budget.
Friday, May 29, 2020
Fact-Checking Story
This story didn't get reported much in Germany, and it's a curious piece.
This group operates a commentary front. The name of the 'print' is Tichys Einblick. Most people (not the liberal crowd) would say that Einblick is probably right-of-center....not far right. Liberals might disagree and suggest far-far-right.
So Einblick published something that went to Facebook. Someone hyped up Facebook, and they sought the truth-squad to fact-checking. The red-pen came out and problems started up for Einblick.
Well....Einblick sought legal help....saying the fact-checking was crap. Judges came up in Karlsruhr....saying yep, this fact-checking was not ethical or right. Along the way, they did agree on a couple of points where Einblick might have done some stuff in a poor way. But the emphasis of this court action is that Facebook and it's fact-checking....screwed up.
This whole story is laid out in Watts Up With That, and they did a good job of explaining things. It's worth a 10-minute read, and some pondering upon.
The problem with fact-checks, which I came to grasp more than thirty years ago....is that you could write a 40-line story, based on ten facts. Then you could assign three teams to fact-check it. You would then get three different versions of the facts at the end.....with one group 'near' to agreeing it was all truthful, one team assessing 50-percent factual, and one team strongly saying the whole thing needs to be taken down, because it doesn't meet their criteria.
In essence, you need fact-checkers who check fact-checkers. It's rather sad that we've reached this point as a society, and there ought to be better things to do, but we are now deeply engaged in fact-checking. You could take a one hour period of CNN, and find a dozen things said....which weren't factual.
Oh, and I probably note this about Einblick's article....it was aimed at climate change, and suggested that 500 scientists from across the globe....suggest that there is no 'climate emergency'.
This group operates a commentary front. The name of the 'print' is Tichys Einblick. Most people (not the liberal crowd) would say that Einblick is probably right-of-center....not far right. Liberals might disagree and suggest far-far-right.
So Einblick published something that went to Facebook. Someone hyped up Facebook, and they sought the truth-squad to fact-checking. The red-pen came out and problems started up for Einblick.
Well....Einblick sought legal help....saying the fact-checking was crap. Judges came up in Karlsruhr....saying yep, this fact-checking was not ethical or right. Along the way, they did agree on a couple of points where Einblick might have done some stuff in a poor way. But the emphasis of this court action is that Facebook and it's fact-checking....screwed up.
This whole story is laid out in Watts Up With That, and they did a good job of explaining things. It's worth a 10-minute read, and some pondering upon.
The problem with fact-checks, which I came to grasp more than thirty years ago....is that you could write a 40-line story, based on ten facts. Then you could assign three teams to fact-check it. You would then get three different versions of the facts at the end.....with one group 'near' to agreeing it was all truthful, one team assessing 50-percent factual, and one team strongly saying the whole thing needs to be taken down, because it doesn't meet their criteria.
In essence, you need fact-checkers who check fact-checkers. It's rather sad that we've reached this point as a society, and there ought to be better things to do, but we are now deeply engaged in fact-checking. You could take a one hour period of CNN, and find a dozen things said....which weren't factual.
Oh, and I probably note this about Einblick's article....it was aimed at climate change, and suggested that 500 scientists from across the globe....suggest that there is no 'climate emergency'.
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Looking Back at Germany, the Coronavirus, and April
April becomes this interesting month for Germany and Corona.
1. On the first, it's the Health Minister (Spahn) that forbids flights from Iran into Germany (not the Chancellor or state Premier Presidents)....because of the virus issues in Iran.
2. The 2nd of April arrives, and the RKI folks now stand up and suggest that even if you don't have symptoms....you should now wear a mask. It goes against virtually everything they said in March, but no one argues.
3. It's here in this first week of April that the federal authorities are telling departments to more closely guard information that journalists ask for. Journalists are now becoming more inquisitive and pointed about things they are being told. It looks bad for the state and federal authorities via these articles.
4. Around the 7th, an App is released as a test vehicle. It basically tracks you, and the potential to spread viruses. Max users? They needed 100,000 to test upon, and reach 50,000 on the first day of release.
5. There's model data released around the 9th, which suggests that 2-percent of the German population (83-million) have the virus in some way (vast majority showing little to no symptoms). This model probably didn't have any true factual nature, but it generated a fair amount of chatter.
6. 13 April comes and Leopoldina (the national science folks of Germany) publishes a paper on the virus. It carries a lot of weight. They suggest a lot of things....but the chief thing that people notice....they strongly urge schools and colleges to reopen, with stringent hygiene standards in place. Merkel basically acknowledges the report, and says it'll trigger government meetings over the ban rules.
7. Two days pass after this paper comes out from Leopoldina. Big meeting with the Chancellor and Premier-Presidents. Lot of chat. Some minor agreements. Small business operations can open (big rules attached). Date for this? 20 April. This includes car dealers, book stores, etc.
Chatter of this meeting then goes to schools. 4 May is listed as their open date, but lot of ban rules attached to this.
Social distancing? Still to be enforced. Merkel says that masks will likely be forced upon everyone....mandatory deal, as part of opening things up.
8. 16 April arrives, and it's announced by Bavaria....the Oktoberfest might be cancelled. Four days pass, and it is canceled for September. Lot of shock. Serious economic punch to Munich. Means several billion Euro lost for the city and concessions.
9. 20 April comes now...with shops open. What you notice is that state by state....everyone has a different set of rules and expectations.
10. The week of 27 April is a curious period. You start to see various demonstrations starting up....suggestions of conspiracy litter the social media networks. It would be correct to say that 10 to 20 percent of Germans have lost patience with the ban rules and the government's stringent 'games'. This invites the Channel One/Two folks to say that fake news is inventing the conspiracy stuff.
11. 30 May comes, and this big announcement that parks, and museums are to be opened (Chancellor is the person who says this, not the Premier Presidents). Churches can open at this point, but only with social distancing rules as part of the service.
I call April the recovery month because the virus had peaked out, and reproduction numbers were rapidly decreasing.
It is obvious by the end of the month....that patience by people over the shutdown and ban rules had hit the maximum point. At the end of the month....they had to move forward, in minor steps.
The Chancellor probably had more to do with engaging the Premier-Presidents, and getting them to agree to central views. Less action by the Health Minister over the whole month.
New cases per day....it was rapidly dropping as each week of April went by.
Total deaths by the end of the month? 6,200 roughly. The majority out of three states....Bavaria, NRW and Baden-Wurttemberg.
1. On the first, it's the Health Minister (Spahn) that forbids flights from Iran into Germany (not the Chancellor or state Premier Presidents)....because of the virus issues in Iran.
2. The 2nd of April arrives, and the RKI folks now stand up and suggest that even if you don't have symptoms....you should now wear a mask. It goes against virtually everything they said in March, but no one argues.
3. It's here in this first week of April that the federal authorities are telling departments to more closely guard information that journalists ask for. Journalists are now becoming more inquisitive and pointed about things they are being told. It looks bad for the state and federal authorities via these articles.
4. Around the 7th, an App is released as a test vehicle. It basically tracks you, and the potential to spread viruses. Max users? They needed 100,000 to test upon, and reach 50,000 on the first day of release.
5. There's model data released around the 9th, which suggests that 2-percent of the German population (83-million) have the virus in some way (vast majority showing little to no symptoms). This model probably didn't have any true factual nature, but it generated a fair amount of chatter.
6. 13 April comes and Leopoldina (the national science folks of Germany) publishes a paper on the virus. It carries a lot of weight. They suggest a lot of things....but the chief thing that people notice....they strongly urge schools and colleges to reopen, with stringent hygiene standards in place. Merkel basically acknowledges the report, and says it'll trigger government meetings over the ban rules.
7. Two days pass after this paper comes out from Leopoldina. Big meeting with the Chancellor and Premier-Presidents. Lot of chat. Some minor agreements. Small business operations can open (big rules attached). Date for this? 20 April. This includes car dealers, book stores, etc.
Chatter of this meeting then goes to schools. 4 May is listed as their open date, but lot of ban rules attached to this.
Social distancing? Still to be enforced. Merkel says that masks will likely be forced upon everyone....mandatory deal, as part of opening things up.
8. 16 April arrives, and it's announced by Bavaria....the Oktoberfest might be cancelled. Four days pass, and it is canceled for September. Lot of shock. Serious economic punch to Munich. Means several billion Euro lost for the city and concessions.
9. 20 April comes now...with shops open. What you notice is that state by state....everyone has a different set of rules and expectations.
10. The week of 27 April is a curious period. You start to see various demonstrations starting up....suggestions of conspiracy litter the social media networks. It would be correct to say that 10 to 20 percent of Germans have lost patience with the ban rules and the government's stringent 'games'. This invites the Channel One/Two folks to say that fake news is inventing the conspiracy stuff.
11. 30 May comes, and this big announcement that parks, and museums are to be opened (Chancellor is the person who says this, not the Premier Presidents). Churches can open at this point, but only with social distancing rules as part of the service.
I call April the recovery month because the virus had peaked out, and reproduction numbers were rapidly decreasing.
It is obvious by the end of the month....that patience by people over the shutdown and ban rules had hit the maximum point. At the end of the month....they had to move forward, in minor steps.
The Chancellor probably had more to do with engaging the Premier-Presidents, and getting them to agree to central views. Less action by the Health Minister over the whole month.
New cases per day....it was rapidly dropping as each week of April went by.
Total deaths by the end of the month? 6,200 roughly. The majority out of three states....Bavaria, NRW and Baden-Wurttemberg.
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Looking Back at Germany, the Coronavirus, and March
For March, there were a number observations that one can make:
1. Folks woke up around the first of March to discover that a ski-weekend in Austria (at Ischgl) had been a turbo-blaster for the virus. Hundreds attended, left for their hometowns through Europe, and took the disease with them. It would take two weeks for all the experts to agree on this, and basically quarantine the entire resort. All throughout Germany, these ski enthusiasts returned, and spread the virus even further.
2. On the 2nd of March, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the premier health group to have all of the data....came out and said that the threat level for Germany was now 'moderate'. At this point, you could officially start worrying because they could see the infections being reported nationally. A day after this....the national association for doctors went to full-blast with the statement that there simply weren't enough masks, gowns, gloves, etc.
3. Two days would pass, and it was announced in a public statement that there just wasn't enough hand sanitizer in the country. Yes, a national shortage. Basically at this point....folks were told the chief ways of making sanitizer out of a couple of elements.
4. The 6th of March came with the Health Minister (Spahn) speaking out on the topic of halting schools and universities. His commentary? No....don't shut nothing down. On the topic of travel restrictions within the EU? No. The only thing he did recommend was that unnecessary travel should be dropped. Don't go anywhere unless it was essential.
5. Also coming on the 6th of March....both German authorities and the EU came out and said that masks and disinfectants should NOT be used by healthy non-infected people. Yes, it may sound amusing now, but they both agreed on this 'lecture' to the general public.
6. Two days would pass, then on the 8th....the German Health Minister said that any event that had more than 1,000 participants.....needed to be cancelled. One concert group made a change to the program....limiting it to 999 people....to ensure they obeyed the order.
7. German soccer by the 8th....was discussing how things would proceed. They figured they could operate until early May (near the end of the regular season).
8. 9 March came the first announcement of a Covid-19 death in Germany. A daily tally started at that point.
9. On 10 March, Chancellor Merkel finally came out and made a dramatic appearance. Her chatter? She anticipated that a minimum of 60-percent of German society would eventually have the virus (out of 83-million total in population).
10. 11 March came with a dramatic piece by the Health Minister that everyone needed to wash their hands (with soap). Shocker? Well....his main point was that you didn't need disinfectant. So started this video piece (by literally hundreds of people)....on how to wash your hands correctly. Virtually all Germans will tell you that they've seen at least ten versions of the hand washing routine.
11. 12 March....big shocker, the US cuts off entry from Europe. There's not a single German political figure who was briefed on this ahead of time.
12. On 13 March, the school and university closure order came....from fourteen of the total sixteen states. Again, this was not a federal thing....it was a state thing. This is also the day when soccer leagues were halted entirely. The financial woes of the leagues were now in full display. And this was the day when financial support was agreed upon for various companies.
13. What you can say around the middle of March is that most all event situations (bowling, theaters, indoor pools, etc) started a shut-down process....based on states issuing 'bans'.
14. The 15 March local election in Bavaria turned in a fairly big mess. This was for city councils, mayors, etc. A number of the 'hands' that would have run the ballot process simply dropped out or refused to participate. On the next day (a Monday)....a massive Bavaria order came down, and crippled up public facilities. This affected virtually everything (grocery operations, drug stores, etc).
15. The 17th of March came, and RKI came to the next level of 'threat'....HIGH. A mobile hospital was ordered placed by the Bundeswehr in Berlin. At a refugee center between Erfurt and Bamberg....a non-German came up positive on the virus test, which triggered a fair amount of hype among the various individuals at the compound. Escape attempts were made, and a fair amount of chaos ensued. It's on the 17th that Chancellor Merkel finally issues a German order, which is stamped EU-wise as well....non-EU citizens are forbidden entry into the EU.
16. The next day arrives, and all borders to Germany are shut down....period. Other than truck drivers....everyone is stuck where they are. RKI by the end of the day will be talking about ten-million infections in Germany within two months (this is mostly based off a model, so don't get excited). This is the day when the 1.5-meter distance thing comes up.
17. On 19 March....the Chancellor meets with the sixteen Premier-Presidents and the chief topic is....curfew nationwide, to come on 22 March. There's a fair amount of questions from the public, and this is the moment when people are reflecting upon a big mess.
18. On 20 March....Bavaria jumps ahead of everyone with it's own curfew. If you aren't essential, you are supposed to stay home. If you aren't going to a doctor's appointment, the grocery, the drug store.....the cops can ticket you. Panic buying goes full-blast turbo at this point...across all sixteen states.
19. On 22 March, the next rule gets issued by the federal government. Meetings in public of more than two people? Forbidden. Cops have ticket authority. Hospitals are talking of major shortages of masks. For the record, most all masks up to this point...were made in China. There is a major effort over March and April by Germans themselves to make their own masks.
20. On 25 March, the first real stimulus package gets drafted up....in the 150-billion Euro range.
21. 28 March....first significant suicide occurred....the Hessen Finance Minister. He had serious stress going on over how they would pay for various programs and simply a lack of capital to fund everything.
22. 31 March came with the first German city (Jena) which made masks mandatory. Doctors were now condemning the government for lack of protective gear. News teams covered the events, and public outrage ensued.
For the entire month, the highlight was the turbo start of the virus because of the ski event in Austria, and reality that high numbers (via models) were now being predicted. In simple terms, Germans were now scared of what being suggested.
1. Folks woke up around the first of March to discover that a ski-weekend in Austria (at Ischgl) had been a turbo-blaster for the virus. Hundreds attended, left for their hometowns through Europe, and took the disease with them. It would take two weeks for all the experts to agree on this, and basically quarantine the entire resort. All throughout Germany, these ski enthusiasts returned, and spread the virus even further.
2. On the 2nd of March, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the premier health group to have all of the data....came out and said that the threat level for Germany was now 'moderate'. At this point, you could officially start worrying because they could see the infections being reported nationally. A day after this....the national association for doctors went to full-blast with the statement that there simply weren't enough masks, gowns, gloves, etc.
3. Two days would pass, and it was announced in a public statement that there just wasn't enough hand sanitizer in the country. Yes, a national shortage. Basically at this point....folks were told the chief ways of making sanitizer out of a couple of elements.
4. The 6th of March came with the Health Minister (Spahn) speaking out on the topic of halting schools and universities. His commentary? No....don't shut nothing down. On the topic of travel restrictions within the EU? No. The only thing he did recommend was that unnecessary travel should be dropped. Don't go anywhere unless it was essential.
5. Also coming on the 6th of March....both German authorities and the EU came out and said that masks and disinfectants should NOT be used by healthy non-infected people. Yes, it may sound amusing now, but they both agreed on this 'lecture' to the general public.
6. Two days would pass, then on the 8th....the German Health Minister said that any event that had more than 1,000 participants.....needed to be cancelled. One concert group made a change to the program....limiting it to 999 people....to ensure they obeyed the order.
7. German soccer by the 8th....was discussing how things would proceed. They figured they could operate until early May (near the end of the regular season).
8. 9 March came the first announcement of a Covid-19 death in Germany. A daily tally started at that point.
9. On 10 March, Chancellor Merkel finally came out and made a dramatic appearance. Her chatter? She anticipated that a minimum of 60-percent of German society would eventually have the virus (out of 83-million total in population).
10. 11 March came with a dramatic piece by the Health Minister that everyone needed to wash their hands (with soap). Shocker? Well....his main point was that you didn't need disinfectant. So started this video piece (by literally hundreds of people)....on how to wash your hands correctly. Virtually all Germans will tell you that they've seen at least ten versions of the hand washing routine.
11. 12 March....big shocker, the US cuts off entry from Europe. There's not a single German political figure who was briefed on this ahead of time.
12. On 13 March, the school and university closure order came....from fourteen of the total sixteen states. Again, this was not a federal thing....it was a state thing. This is also the day when soccer leagues were halted entirely. The financial woes of the leagues were now in full display. And this was the day when financial support was agreed upon for various companies.
13. What you can say around the middle of March is that most all event situations (bowling, theaters, indoor pools, etc) started a shut-down process....based on states issuing 'bans'.
14. The 15 March local election in Bavaria turned in a fairly big mess. This was for city councils, mayors, etc. A number of the 'hands' that would have run the ballot process simply dropped out or refused to participate. On the next day (a Monday)....a massive Bavaria order came down, and crippled up public facilities. This affected virtually everything (grocery operations, drug stores, etc).
15. The 17th of March came, and RKI came to the next level of 'threat'....HIGH. A mobile hospital was ordered placed by the Bundeswehr in Berlin. At a refugee center between Erfurt and Bamberg....a non-German came up positive on the virus test, which triggered a fair amount of hype among the various individuals at the compound. Escape attempts were made, and a fair amount of chaos ensued. It's on the 17th that Chancellor Merkel finally issues a German order, which is stamped EU-wise as well....non-EU citizens are forbidden entry into the EU.
16. The next day arrives, and all borders to Germany are shut down....period. Other than truck drivers....everyone is stuck where they are. RKI by the end of the day will be talking about ten-million infections in Germany within two months (this is mostly based off a model, so don't get excited). This is the day when the 1.5-meter distance thing comes up.
17. On 19 March....the Chancellor meets with the sixteen Premier-Presidents and the chief topic is....curfew nationwide, to come on 22 March. There's a fair amount of questions from the public, and this is the moment when people are reflecting upon a big mess.
18. On 20 March....Bavaria jumps ahead of everyone with it's own curfew. If you aren't essential, you are supposed to stay home. If you aren't going to a doctor's appointment, the grocery, the drug store.....the cops can ticket you. Panic buying goes full-blast turbo at this point...across all sixteen states.
19. On 22 March, the next rule gets issued by the federal government. Meetings in public of more than two people? Forbidden. Cops have ticket authority. Hospitals are talking of major shortages of masks. For the record, most all masks up to this point...were made in China. There is a major effort over March and April by Germans themselves to make their own masks.
20. On 25 March, the first real stimulus package gets drafted up....in the 150-billion Euro range.
21. 28 March....first significant suicide occurred....the Hessen Finance Minister. He had serious stress going on over how they would pay for various programs and simply a lack of capital to fund everything.
22. 31 March came with the first German city (Jena) which made masks mandatory. Doctors were now condemning the government for lack of protective gear. News teams covered the events, and public outrage ensued.
For the entire month, the highlight was the turbo start of the virus because of the ski event in Austria, and reality that high numbers (via models) were now being predicted. In simple terms, Germans were now scared of what being suggested.
Defining Gleichschaltung
About once a year, someone will post something or get into a chat about 'Gleichschaltung'. It's a German word.
Basically, it means that someone has thought through a process over politics, education, lifestyles, economics....and they'd determined a single path. This word 'Gleichschaltung' generally translates to meaning synchronization.
Yes, it is what the Nazis dreamed up in the 1930s, and became eventually the standard across all of Germany.
Yes, it is basically the Borg-agenda from Star Trek, if you think about it.
The best way to shake 'Gleichschaltung'? Basically, be civil toward one another, and allow two opinions to exist within a sphere. If we all get to the point of synchronizing everything....you end up in a pretty miserable end-result.
Basically, it means that someone has thought through a process over politics, education, lifestyles, economics....and they'd determined a single path. This word 'Gleichschaltung' generally translates to meaning synchronization.
Yes, it is what the Nazis dreamed up in the 1930s, and became eventually the standard across all of Germany.
Yes, it is basically the Borg-agenda from Star Trek, if you think about it.
The best way to shake 'Gleichschaltung'? Basically, be civil toward one another, and allow two opinions to exist within a sphere. If we all get to the point of synchronizing everything....you end up in a pretty miserable end-result.
Looking Back at Germany, the Coronavirus and February
There are seven basic events in February worth discussing:
1. Chatter in late January came up about German students 'stuck' in China, along with various German businessmen. They needed to be 'rescued', because all airlines were shutting down traffic.
So on 1 February, the Health Minister (Spahn) came back to the general public and said that Germans stuck in China would be taken out (details to be worked out), and that none of them would leave if they were sick with the virus. While he said this.....it wasn't really true.
The Bundeswehr operates a Airbus medical ambulance, and this was to be used for the flight back to Germany.
In this speech on 1 January, the key thing said.....'you people can't exclude or condemn those Germans with the virus'. This is Spahn saying it....not the Chancellor.
2. Roughly two weeks would pass, and Spahn near appears at a EU meeting (all Health Ministers), and says travel restrictions need to be done with China. It might be worth noting....virtually all of European airlines had halted them at this point, so it's curious who he meant this restriction to be upon. The topic of temperature monitoring at airports came up, and the entire group downplayed it. It basically would open up another can of worms.
3. It is in mid-Feb that the Lombardy, Italy surge in Corona starts up. It won't really affect Germany for another two weeks.
4. The first cancellation of an event occurs (Light and Building Fair in Frankfurt was supposed to happen on 24 Feb). Moved to September. This is the first of many cancellations.
5. 26 Feb is the day where multiple cases of Corona occur in NRW, and it now becomes a hot-spot.
6. Last week of Feb, a discussion starts up in Berlin over closing the border with Italy. Long debate. Final decision? No decision.
Same time period, Lufthansa cuts Europe flights by one-quarter. They didn't need encouragement. Passengers are dumping reservations, and the planes are thin on passengers.
New rules come up on air/sea travel, meaning passengers from Italy, Japan, South Korea, China and Iran have to report their condition or health ahead of time. Same thing starts up with trains approaching the German border. Police are now ordered to check on passengers entering country.
7. Around this last week of February, the supermarkets in Germany now report some shortages (toilet paper, soup, etc). Panic buying has started up. Various government officials are urging calm. If you wanted a six-pack of toilet-paper....it's rough.
Oddly around this point, shortages in certain medications gets noticed (this is where the public finds out that the bulk of all drugs are made in China) and disinfectant becomes hard to come by (even for a hospital).
The public figure for Germany for the entire month? The Health Minister....Spahn. No one can argue....he's the face and carrying the bulk of trust for the government.
1. Chatter in late January came up about German students 'stuck' in China, along with various German businessmen. They needed to be 'rescued', because all airlines were shutting down traffic.
So on 1 February, the Health Minister (Spahn) came back to the general public and said that Germans stuck in China would be taken out (details to be worked out), and that none of them would leave if they were sick with the virus. While he said this.....it wasn't really true.
The Bundeswehr operates a Airbus medical ambulance, and this was to be used for the flight back to Germany.
In this speech on 1 January, the key thing said.....'you people can't exclude or condemn those Germans with the virus'. This is Spahn saying it....not the Chancellor.
2. Roughly two weeks would pass, and Spahn near appears at a EU meeting (all Health Ministers), and says travel restrictions need to be done with China. It might be worth noting....virtually all of European airlines had halted them at this point, so it's curious who he meant this restriction to be upon. The topic of temperature monitoring at airports came up, and the entire group downplayed it. It basically would open up another can of worms.
3. It is in mid-Feb that the Lombardy, Italy surge in Corona starts up. It won't really affect Germany for another two weeks.
4. The first cancellation of an event occurs (Light and Building Fair in Frankfurt was supposed to happen on 24 Feb). Moved to September. This is the first of many cancellations.
5. 26 Feb is the day where multiple cases of Corona occur in NRW, and it now becomes a hot-spot.
6. Last week of Feb, a discussion starts up in Berlin over closing the border with Italy. Long debate. Final decision? No decision.
Same time period, Lufthansa cuts Europe flights by one-quarter. They didn't need encouragement. Passengers are dumping reservations, and the planes are thin on passengers.
New rules come up on air/sea travel, meaning passengers from Italy, Japan, South Korea, China and Iran have to report their condition or health ahead of time. Same thing starts up with trains approaching the German border. Police are now ordered to check on passengers entering country.
7. Around this last week of February, the supermarkets in Germany now report some shortages (toilet paper, soup, etc). Panic buying has started up. Various government officials are urging calm. If you wanted a six-pack of toilet-paper....it's rough.
Oddly around this point, shortages in certain medications gets noticed (this is where the public finds out that the bulk of all drugs are made in China) and disinfectant becomes hard to come by (even for a hospital).
The public figure for Germany for the entire month? The Health Minister....Spahn. No one can argue....he's the face and carrying the bulk of trust for the government.
Looking Back at Corona, Germany and January
Over the next week, I will cover Germany, the virus, and the four months.
There are basically five things that you ought to take away from the Coronavirus business and things in January:
1. The federal government came out on 22 January and basically said that the risk of spread was deemed 'very low health risk' (yeah, even lesser risk that old SARS virus). We can laugh about this statement but this was early on. With the statement came the notice that no one was talking about travel advisories. They wanted you to know that fact.
2. Five days pass (27 January), the first real infections are noted. All in Bavaria. All around this car parts company, and related to a Chinese business associate who flew in for roughly a week, had talks, and left. Reassurances were given that this was contained.
3. A day passes. On 28 January....the Health Minister (Spahn, CDU) stands up and says that he's more worried about fake news and conspiracy theories at this point. Social media was doing more chatter than the federal authorities. Maybe the authorities simply didn't have much to say. A day or two after this chat, via public news forums, a virus expert said that this talk of the 2018 flu deal being a bigger thing....was the wrong thing to suggest.
4. On the same day, Lufthansa suspends all flights to China. They didn't need the government directing them to do it.....they did it on their own.
5. Around the last day or two of the month, if you were now worried, and wanted masks....it was now impossible to get them locally. Even via the internet, you were now paying 50-percent more than the normal price.
With that, January ended. The Bavaria outbreak started people to ask questions....wondering about how it was passed around, and within a week or so....almost nightly forums (live) started up over Corona. A national prep for the oncoming virus? In January, you would not have noticed it in Germany. Maybe the Health Minister and his people were doing things, but the rest of the country were simply viewing from a distance.
I should also note....of all the potential characters that you could have had as Health Minister....this guy Spahn was like the Larry Bird of public health information, and not the type to be unprepared or screw-up in a public statement. By the end of January, he was a nightly fixture on the public news system, or in public forums.
There are basically five things that you ought to take away from the Coronavirus business and things in January:
1. The federal government came out on 22 January and basically said that the risk of spread was deemed 'very low health risk' (yeah, even lesser risk that old SARS virus). We can laugh about this statement but this was early on. With the statement came the notice that no one was talking about travel advisories. They wanted you to know that fact.
2. Five days pass (27 January), the first real infections are noted. All in Bavaria. All around this car parts company, and related to a Chinese business associate who flew in for roughly a week, had talks, and left. Reassurances were given that this was contained.
3. A day passes. On 28 January....the Health Minister (Spahn, CDU) stands up and says that he's more worried about fake news and conspiracy theories at this point. Social media was doing more chatter than the federal authorities. Maybe the authorities simply didn't have much to say. A day or two after this chat, via public news forums, a virus expert said that this talk of the 2018 flu deal being a bigger thing....was the wrong thing to suggest.
4. On the same day, Lufthansa suspends all flights to China. They didn't need the government directing them to do it.....they did it on their own.
5. Around the last day or two of the month, if you were now worried, and wanted masks....it was now impossible to get them locally. Even via the internet, you were now paying 50-percent more than the normal price.
With that, January ended. The Bavaria outbreak started people to ask questions....wondering about how it was passed around, and within a week or so....almost nightly forums (live) started up over Corona. A national prep for the oncoming virus? In January, you would not have noticed it in Germany. Maybe the Health Minister and his people were doing things, but the rest of the country were simply viewing from a distance.
I should also note....of all the potential characters that you could have had as Health Minister....this guy Spahn was like the Larry Bird of public health information, and not the type to be unprepared or screw-up in a public statement. By the end of January, he was a nightly fixture on the public news system, or in public forums.
On the Topic of Trust
Brief item in the ARD public news this morning, which has some curious things attached.
The ZAPP folks who do public polling went out in Germany and asked a couple of questions.
First, all the information and data provided to you on the Coronavirus.....do you believe it to be true?
Well....20-percent of Germans said NO. This group suggested that both the media and political folks were working together, and in some form.....making up a number of fake stories. That means one out of every five Germans....believes this.
Why? There are varying opinions on this. I'll offer my five observations:
1. Ten days into the first infection in Bavaria....this became a nightly news discussion, and would broaden out into public forums, front-page news coverage via the daily newspapers, and become a major part of your news.
At 6 AM.....it was being blasted into your house. The BILD you picked up at the train station while going to work.....would have five or six articles. You'd get more via the radio. At night, you might have gotten two to three hours of Corona news.
Sometimes the news agreed....sometimes, it was differing. The public would eventually start asking stupid questions.
2. Merkel was never in charge of the message or theme. You might be able to assign some leadership to the Health Minister (Spahn), and to the sixteen state Premier-Presidents (the governors). This became obvious about a month into the chaos.
If no one was in charge....no one got any blame. You can appreciate that logic but ask rather insulting questions about why there's not a person at the lead.
3. Every state had differing rules or bans. People noticed this. Why not just one central federal policy? But they could never reach that consensus.
4. The massive infection prediction or death count? Never reached. In the five eastern states of Germany....it was actually an extremely low count on both infections and deaths.
5. The ban business meant a lot of people stayed home, and they went to social media to 'chat'. Anger and frustration poured out......disbelief gained traction....confrontation became the norm as people went out and the police tried to correct their behavior. That didn't work that well (even the cops will admit that they aren't behavioral-police). Bars quietly opened up on the side, letting people ease in while being illegal because of the ban rules.
So I come to the other odd part of the ZAPP survey. Roughly two out of three Germans did give the public media (ARD, ZDF) a grade of credible reporting on Corona. That means one-third didn't agree with their reporting.
The print media folks? A much lesser grade....just 42 percent saw them as credible.
The social media crowd? Just seven-percent of Germans saw them as credible. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube? Yep.....a large segment gave them all a fairly failing grade.
So now? I think the intellectual and news crowd are a bit worried. People obviously didn't get the 'message'. But then the public might be lacking trust in whatever message that did come across. The fact that we are at near 100 days of this? That might play into this as well.
The ZAPP folks who do public polling went out in Germany and asked a couple of questions.
First, all the information and data provided to you on the Coronavirus.....do you believe it to be true?
Well....20-percent of Germans said NO. This group suggested that both the media and political folks were working together, and in some form.....making up a number of fake stories. That means one out of every five Germans....believes this.
Why? There are varying opinions on this. I'll offer my five observations:
1. Ten days into the first infection in Bavaria....this became a nightly news discussion, and would broaden out into public forums, front-page news coverage via the daily newspapers, and become a major part of your news.
At 6 AM.....it was being blasted into your house. The BILD you picked up at the train station while going to work.....would have five or six articles. You'd get more via the radio. At night, you might have gotten two to three hours of Corona news.
Sometimes the news agreed....sometimes, it was differing. The public would eventually start asking stupid questions.
2. Merkel was never in charge of the message or theme. You might be able to assign some leadership to the Health Minister (Spahn), and to the sixteen state Premier-Presidents (the governors). This became obvious about a month into the chaos.
If no one was in charge....no one got any blame. You can appreciate that logic but ask rather insulting questions about why there's not a person at the lead.
3. Every state had differing rules or bans. People noticed this. Why not just one central federal policy? But they could never reach that consensus.
4. The massive infection prediction or death count? Never reached. In the five eastern states of Germany....it was actually an extremely low count on both infections and deaths.
5. The ban business meant a lot of people stayed home, and they went to social media to 'chat'. Anger and frustration poured out......disbelief gained traction....confrontation became the norm as people went out and the police tried to correct their behavior. That didn't work that well (even the cops will admit that they aren't behavioral-police). Bars quietly opened up on the side, letting people ease in while being illegal because of the ban rules.
So I come to the other odd part of the ZAPP survey. Roughly two out of three Germans did give the public media (ARD, ZDF) a grade of credible reporting on Corona. That means one-third didn't agree with their reporting.
The print media folks? A much lesser grade....just 42 percent saw them as credible.
The social media crowd? Just seven-percent of Germans saw them as credible. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube? Yep.....a large segment gave them all a fairly failing grade.
So now? I think the intellectual and news crowd are a bit worried. People obviously didn't get the 'message'. But then the public might be lacking trust in whatever message that did come across. The fact that we are at near 100 days of this? That might play into this as well.
Ambassador Grenell Gone?
The US ambassador....Grenell....now gone? Yes.
So, here's the three things to take away from this.
1. The bulk of Germans (probably toward 99-percent)....have no idea who the US ambassador to Germany is, and they've got 3,000 higher priority things to watch or think about.
So the fact that German journalists and intellectuals are hyped up? Yeah, it really isn't that big of a deal to the rest of society.
(please don't hype this to the German journalists....they will fret over the fact that its all rather insignificant)
2. What did Grenell do? He basically represented the new administration that came into DC. For that reason, the general presentation of Grenell is geared to be extremely negative.
When Grenell brought up the NATO funding thing with Germany.....he rubbed it hard into them with 'sandpaper'. They didn't appreciate that 'rub'. When he brought up the Russian pipeline to bring in natural gas....in a harsh negative way? Yeah, they didn't appreciate that 'rub'.
Over and over, Grenell gave them a harsh dose of reality, and it just wasn't the warm feeling that so many intellectual American ambassadors had done in the past. The general verbal 'stabbings' by the German press at Trump? Grenell gave 'stabbings' right back.
3. Finally, the question lingers....is Grenell really gone? Or is he part of the next level of intrigue in EU or German matters?
So, here's the three things to take away from this.
1. The bulk of Germans (probably toward 99-percent)....have no idea who the US ambassador to Germany is, and they've got 3,000 higher priority things to watch or think about.
So the fact that German journalists and intellectuals are hyped up? Yeah, it really isn't that big of a deal to the rest of society.
(please don't hype this to the German journalists....they will fret over the fact that its all rather insignificant)
2. What did Grenell do? He basically represented the new administration that came into DC. For that reason, the general presentation of Grenell is geared to be extremely negative.
When Grenell brought up the NATO funding thing with Germany.....he rubbed it hard into them with 'sandpaper'. They didn't appreciate that 'rub'. When he brought up the Russian pipeline to bring in natural gas....in a harsh negative way? Yeah, they didn't appreciate that 'rub'.
Over and over, Grenell gave them a harsh dose of reality, and it just wasn't the warm feeling that so many intellectual American ambassadors had done in the past. The general verbal 'stabbings' by the German press at Trump? Grenell gave 'stabbings' right back.
3. Finally, the question lingers....is Grenell really gone? Or is he part of the next level of intrigue in EU or German matters?
Example of Crappy Journalism
Yesterday, I was reading commentary on social media, and this article via the Washington Post came up....on Germany.
So the journalist from the Post wanted to let Americans know that Germany had been doing 'trace' tracking since early on in the Coronavirus situation.
For those not into the term....'trace' tracking, a simple explanation. This is where you carry your smart-phone on you, with a special App, and it tracks your 'steps' throughout the day. If you did bump into a Corona-person, the tracking would lead the health authorities (in principal) to you, and announce that you may have the virus, and that you should do self-quarantine for two weeks.
The problem with this WaPo article....is that it's basically 100-percent false.
Yes, there are some geeky guys in Germany working on this (they probably were working on this long before the virus arrived on the front-step).
Yes, they have done some demonstrations of how it'd work....although this was probably a minimum of six weeks into the virus period.
Yes, some politicians, and even the Health Minister (Spahn) have approached the idea with some degree of accepting development.
Beyond that....NOTHING.
The problem with privacy laws in Germany, and privacy expectations? OH YEAH, that came up rather quickly. A number of high-profile folks felt this was a no-go. They didn't want the government tracking them.
The idea of just storing the data on the cellphone by itself, and not sharing with a government-run server? This has been thrown around and appears to be the only way that it'd move onto the next step. However, the same people discussing this....said that it'd have to be a personal thing if you put the App on your phone, or refused it.
So, how this did WaPo journalist reach this point of saying this was already going on? Unknown. I'm only guessing here, but they were probably at some DC party, where a German guest commented on the development, and the journalist got the wrong impression.
The problem is....this goes out and 100,000 readers of WaPo accept it as fact, and they start quoting this at parties and cafes. Pretty soon, more than 10-million Americans are hyped-up about this German development with trace-tracking and how they got 83-million Germans to just accept it as 'normal'.
I point this out, because of the current state of journalism. As you gaze over some article.....you just start to pull out a red-marker, and start noting questionable comments, non-facts, and crappy explanations. It's like accepting fifth-grade kids to do adult work. Four years of college should have led to something positive, and given you motivation to produce quality work.
So the journalist from the Post wanted to let Americans know that Germany had been doing 'trace' tracking since early on in the Coronavirus situation.
For those not into the term....'trace' tracking, a simple explanation. This is where you carry your smart-phone on you, with a special App, and it tracks your 'steps' throughout the day. If you did bump into a Corona-person, the tracking would lead the health authorities (in principal) to you, and announce that you may have the virus, and that you should do self-quarantine for two weeks.
The problem with this WaPo article....is that it's basically 100-percent false.
Yes, there are some geeky guys in Germany working on this (they probably were working on this long before the virus arrived on the front-step).
Yes, they have done some demonstrations of how it'd work....although this was probably a minimum of six weeks into the virus period.
Yes, some politicians, and even the Health Minister (Spahn) have approached the idea with some degree of accepting development.
Beyond that....NOTHING.
The problem with privacy laws in Germany, and privacy expectations? OH YEAH, that came up rather quickly. A number of high-profile folks felt this was a no-go. They didn't want the government tracking them.
The idea of just storing the data on the cellphone by itself, and not sharing with a government-run server? This has been thrown around and appears to be the only way that it'd move onto the next step. However, the same people discussing this....said that it'd have to be a personal thing if you put the App on your phone, or refused it.
So, how this did WaPo journalist reach this point of saying this was already going on? Unknown. I'm only guessing here, but they were probably at some DC party, where a German guest commented on the development, and the journalist got the wrong impression.
The problem is....this goes out and 100,000 readers of WaPo accept it as fact, and they start quoting this at parties and cafes. Pretty soon, more than 10-million Americans are hyped-up about this German development with trace-tracking and how they got 83-million Germans to just accept it as 'normal'.
I point this out, because of the current state of journalism. As you gaze over some article.....you just start to pull out a red-marker, and start noting questionable comments, non-facts, and crappy explanations. It's like accepting fifth-grade kids to do adult work. Four years of college should have led to something positive, and given you motivation to produce quality work.
The Step Toward Normal Borders
This week, there is chatter that the EU member states (27 of them) have come to some agreement on open-borders by the middle of June. This means that the Covid-19 situation has reached a point where they feel relatively 'safe'. At that point, you can get into your car (in Germany), and drive through France, to some vacation villa in Spain.
The odds that this may fall apart by July? Well....see...this is a game where you think you have things under control, and you wake up to find that things were never under control. It is entirely possible that by September, with a second 'wave'....we go back to border controls.
What the 27 anticipate is that with a open border....folks will now travel on vacation, cross borders on trains, and life will move one step closer to 'normal'.
The odds that this may fall apart by July? Well....see...this is a game where you think you have things under control, and you wake up to find that things were never under control. It is entirely possible that by September, with a second 'wave'....we go back to border controls.
What the 27 anticipate is that with a open border....folks will now travel on vacation, cross borders on trains, and life will move one step closer to 'normal'.
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Orange Man Bad Effort
For prime-time tonight on ZDF, they are running a documentary piece....'Trump und die Corona-Krise'. 44-minute piece. I stopped at the 15-minute point.
Basically, a long drawn out piece to utter the phrase over and over....'orange hair man bad'. Putting on at prime-time? In hopes that Germans would scurry over and get their dose of 'orange man bad'. The problem with this....a fair number of Germans have kinda gotten enough of Corona news, and Corona woes somewhere else just isn't much of a priority.
The folks who produced this? Not from ZDF or ARD....my impression is that it's a public TV piece from the US.
If you were a intellectual German....you'd also go and ask the question....with all the deaths in Spain, France, Italy and the UK....why aren't you guys doing a 'bad boy story' over their Corona situation, and blaming someone in that case. Maybe a bad boy story from Russia? Or how about Iran's woes? Prime-time stuff from Wuhan where it all started? Ha....don't even whisper that thought.
Yeah, it does kinda stand out that it's another shot for the German public TV people to make some stance and hope that people jump for some propaganda material, with a few facts scattered in the middle of the production piece.
Here's the thing about it.....ZDF has to put something up for people to watch. You could be watching 'Eva Braun - Bride of Evil', or the 'Rosenheim Cops' (strictly for Germans over the age of 65), or some Danish-TV thriller series called 'Greyzone - No Way Out' (about some fictional terrorists hyped up in Denmark and doing bad stuff with killer-drones).
I'm not trying to say that ZDF is crap....it's just that if you gave them any real funding....they'd go and find the quickest method to dump the money into marginal material that only interests seven people out of a hundred. Thankfully, they aren't buying into a mysterious horse farm series bought by twin sisters, which holds Nazi-gold, and has some mysterious stranger digging holes on the backside of the property.
Basically, a long drawn out piece to utter the phrase over and over....'orange hair man bad'. Putting on at prime-time? In hopes that Germans would scurry over and get their dose of 'orange man bad'. The problem with this....a fair number of Germans have kinda gotten enough of Corona news, and Corona woes somewhere else just isn't much of a priority.
The folks who produced this? Not from ZDF or ARD....my impression is that it's a public TV piece from the US.
If you were a intellectual German....you'd also go and ask the question....with all the deaths in Spain, France, Italy and the UK....why aren't you guys doing a 'bad boy story' over their Corona situation, and blaming someone in that case. Maybe a bad boy story from Russia? Or how about Iran's woes? Prime-time stuff from Wuhan where it all started? Ha....don't even whisper that thought.
Yeah, it does kinda stand out that it's another shot for the German public TV people to make some stance and hope that people jump for some propaganda material, with a few facts scattered in the middle of the production piece.
Here's the thing about it.....ZDF has to put something up for people to watch. You could be watching 'Eva Braun - Bride of Evil', or the 'Rosenheim Cops' (strictly for Germans over the age of 65), or some Danish-TV thriller series called 'Greyzone - No Way Out' (about some fictional terrorists hyped up in Denmark and doing bad stuff with killer-drones).
I'm not trying to say that ZDF is crap....it's just that if you gave them any real funding....they'd go and find the quickest method to dump the money into marginal material that only interests seven people out of a hundred. Thankfully, they aren't buying into a mysterious horse farm series bought by twin sisters, which holds Nazi-gold, and has some mysterious stranger digging holes on the backside of the property.
Six Things You Notice After 100 Days of Corona in Germany
This is simply my perception....a non-German in the background:
1. It is odd that the state governments are more in control of their destiny, than the Berlin leadership or the federal folks under Chancellor Merkel.
Night after night, you see indications of state decisions, and the Fed guys are just standing there....chatting to some ARD journalist, but really isn't a power-broker in this whole thing.
2. Hotels, restaurants, fitness clubs and bars have paid the supreme sacrifice for this past hundred days.
Some will never recover. Some will be will be in some debt crisis for the next five years.....to get back to a normal position in life.
3. We are at 8,423 deaths as of today....out of 83-million. The majority of them were over the age of 65, and the majority of them appear to have had a secondary contributing health issue.
4. Somewhere around day sixty of this....you started to notice Germans having lesser public interest in Corona news....something that the ARD public TV people were obsessed about and wanted to give you an additional 'dose' at 8:15 PM each night.
The interest in public forums and live chat with 'experts'? That also started dying off....maybe even a month prior (around day 40).
5. There just weren't a lot of extra temp clinics or field hospitals built out in the metropolitan areas. The bulk of infected people were given quarantine-at-home letters. The bulk obeyed the letter. Germans went and did what was necessary. It wasn't some soap opera thing, or fake saga. Panic-theatrics simply didn't take place.
6. It's just odd....not a lot of Germans hyped up to talk over some exotic vacation this June, July or August....in Thailand, Burma, Cape Town, or Miami.
They seem to have accepted this 2020 scenario....just to stay home, or keep it regionally (in dull Bavaria, or some quiet eastern rural forest).
1. It is odd that the state governments are more in control of their destiny, than the Berlin leadership or the federal folks under Chancellor Merkel.
Night after night, you see indications of state decisions, and the Fed guys are just standing there....chatting to some ARD journalist, but really isn't a power-broker in this whole thing.
2. Hotels, restaurants, fitness clubs and bars have paid the supreme sacrifice for this past hundred days.
Some will never recover. Some will be will be in some debt crisis for the next five years.....to get back to a normal position in life.
3. We are at 8,423 deaths as of today....out of 83-million. The majority of them were over the age of 65, and the majority of them appear to have had a secondary contributing health issue.
4. Somewhere around day sixty of this....you started to notice Germans having lesser public interest in Corona news....something that the ARD public TV people were obsessed about and wanted to give you an additional 'dose' at 8:15 PM each night.
The interest in public forums and live chat with 'experts'? That also started dying off....maybe even a month prior (around day 40).
5. There just weren't a lot of extra temp clinics or field hospitals built out in the metropolitan areas. The bulk of infected people were given quarantine-at-home letters. The bulk obeyed the letter. Germans went and did what was necessary. It wasn't some soap opera thing, or fake saga. Panic-theatrics simply didn't take place.
6. It's just odd....not a lot of Germans hyped up to talk over some exotic vacation this June, July or August....in Thailand, Burma, Cape Town, or Miami.
They seem to have accepted this 2020 scenario....just to stay home, or keep it regionally (in dull Bavaria, or some quiet eastern rural forest).
This EU-Corona-Stimulus Deal
Basically, it's being discussed, and it's not final.
500 billion Euro.....from the use of bonds. Mostly pushed around by Germany and France.
Several countries are suggesting that it must be loans, not grants.
The actual chat about this? Scheduled for mid-June....likely to be enacted by early July.
The allocation deal? Probably to be set against the current allocation 'game' that the EU is using among the 27 countries, with the weakest (or worse off) getting a more than fair amount, and the stronger (France and Germany) getting a much lesser amount.
My humble guess at the end? Half of the 500 billion will end up being 'free' money, with no loan paperwork. The rest will be pure loan-money, with the hope of it coming back....one day.
As for a wise use of the money? Something to entice people to get back on track for vacations, spending cash for trips, and getting airlines back to a full-time business. But let's be realistic....twenty percent of this will likely end up as art projects, museum money, and environmental projects.
500 billion Euro.....from the use of bonds. Mostly pushed around by Germany and France.
Several countries are suggesting that it must be loans, not grants.
The actual chat about this? Scheduled for mid-June....likely to be enacted by early July.
The allocation deal? Probably to be set against the current allocation 'game' that the EU is using among the 27 countries, with the weakest (or worse off) getting a more than fair amount, and the stronger (France and Germany) getting a much lesser amount.
My humble guess at the end? Half of the 500 billion will end up being 'free' money, with no loan paperwork. The rest will be pure loan-money, with the hope of it coming back....one day.
As for a wise use of the money? Something to entice people to get back on track for vacations, spending cash for trips, and getting airlines back to a full-time business. But let's be realistic....twenty percent of this will likely end up as art projects, museum money, and environmental projects.
Diesel Car Story
So the Karlsruhe top court (the Federal Court of Justice in Germany) came out yesterday and said that diesel car owners (in particular, the VW owners) can take their old VW diesel car back to the dealer and demand a reimbursement.
However, along the way....there is a 'discount' from the original purchase price.
An example of how this would work. You bought a VW diesel vehicle back in 2015 for 25,000 Euro. You have some higher than average mileage on the vehicle (because you drove it 100 km per day for work). Your total mileage is 185,000 km (on the high side).
By the time you do the numbers....the car in 2020 is now worth 7,000 to 12,500 Euro....depending on shape, condition, extras.
Hurting VW? No doubt. But there are some funny angles to this.
You have to walk into a VW dealer and ask for the 'refund'. He will assess the mileage and extras, and give you the sheet.
If I were the dealer, I'd turn around and say.....if you take the 'refund' and apply for a new VW car, I'll give you a four-year loan deal for 1-percent interest, plus a 200-liter 'free' gas card, and 2,000 Euro off any vehicle valued at 25,000 Euro or 4,000 Euro off any vehicle over 35,000 Euro. Yes, I'd make you twist and turn....thinking over of dealing with VW again, and getting a great deal.
As for how many will go and ask for the refund? Unknown. It might be 100-percent. It might be 50-percent. If you have a 5-year old VW diesel which hasn't ever broke down....you might be dedicated enough to stick with it. Limit on the refund deal? No one has said much...but I would suspect you have 12 months starting this week to accomplish the refund.
However, along the way....there is a 'discount' from the original purchase price.
An example of how this would work. You bought a VW diesel vehicle back in 2015 for 25,000 Euro. You have some higher than average mileage on the vehicle (because you drove it 100 km per day for work). Your total mileage is 185,000 km (on the high side).
By the time you do the numbers....the car in 2020 is now worth 7,000 to 12,500 Euro....depending on shape, condition, extras.
Hurting VW? No doubt. But there are some funny angles to this.
You have to walk into a VW dealer and ask for the 'refund'. He will assess the mileage and extras, and give you the sheet.
If I were the dealer, I'd turn around and say.....if you take the 'refund' and apply for a new VW car, I'll give you a four-year loan deal for 1-percent interest, plus a 200-liter 'free' gas card, and 2,000 Euro off any vehicle valued at 25,000 Euro or 4,000 Euro off any vehicle over 35,000 Euro. Yes, I'd make you twist and turn....thinking over of dealing with VW again, and getting a great deal.
As for how many will go and ask for the refund? Unknown. It might be 100-percent. It might be 50-percent. If you have a 5-year old VW diesel which hasn't ever broke down....you might be dedicated enough to stick with it. Limit on the refund deal? No one has said much...but I would suspect you have 12 months starting this week to accomplish the refund.
Postal Story
Mass Corona-testing has NOT been conducted in Germany. I know that various journalists from the US have suggested this, but it's simply not true. Doctors get the call from patients that they 'think' they have the virus....questions are asked...answers given, and then if the doctor thinks you might have it....you get the digital slip to be tested.
So today, if you view ARD news (Channel One, public TV)....the German Post folks (your friendly mail delivery folks)....are set to have 10,000 employees given the Corona-test in a mass situation.
Now, they point an interesting tidbit....the Swiss Post folks went and did this. Several thousand Swiss postal folks around two postal centers were tested, with a very high number coming up positive....YET showing NO symptoms. One might assume that after the 10,000 German postal folks are tested....the same 'no symptoms' comment will come up as well.
Yes, naturally, it would beg questions....but so far, no one can suggest a legit theory over why x-number of people carry the virus without any symptoms. Maybe Vitamin D levels? It's a wild idea, but presently worth discussing. One odd factor about postal people....they spend a lot of time outside, in the sunshine (daily). If you were looking for people with high vitamin D levels....I'd rate them one step behind farmers....at the very top.
So today, if you view ARD news (Channel One, public TV)....the German Post folks (your friendly mail delivery folks)....are set to have 10,000 employees given the Corona-test in a mass situation.
Now, they point an interesting tidbit....the Swiss Post folks went and did this. Several thousand Swiss postal folks around two postal centers were tested, with a very high number coming up positive....YET showing NO symptoms. One might assume that after the 10,000 German postal folks are tested....the same 'no symptoms' comment will come up as well.
Yes, naturally, it would beg questions....but so far, no one can suggest a legit theory over why x-number of people carry the virus without any symptoms. Maybe Vitamin D levels? It's a wild idea, but presently worth discussing. One odd factor about postal people....they spend a lot of time outside, in the sunshine (daily). If you were looking for people with high vitamin D levels....I'd rate them one step behind farmers....at the very top.
Monday, May 25, 2020
The German Car Stimulus Package
So a draft is being prepared, and this is how Germany will work a stimulus for buying a new car (made by a German company of course).
The car has to emit NO more than 140 grams of C02 for each km, to qualify as a 'clean' car.
How much of a problem is this? The majority of German-made cars (on average) produce 150 grams of C02 per km.....so they would NOT qualify for the stimulus money.
I know....you are grinning over this, and it's a bit amusing.
E-cars could meet this easily. Hybrids could meet this easily. Virtually all SUVs would fail to meet this goal. The VW Tiguan? It would fail (it produces 142 grams). The Ford Kuga? It would meet the numbers.
So this is a wasted effort? I would qualify the deal this way....if you wanted an E-car or hybrid....this is perfect for you. But out of a thousand Germans, there's marginally a hundred who will go and talk to the dealer and get the info.....with perhaps a quarter of the hundred (starting with a thousand) willing to make the deal.
As for the regular people with zero interest in hybrid or E-cars? It leads you down to a very marginal path, where it's a joke. Germans don't typically shop by grams of C02 for each km.....it's the total package that matters to them.
I won't say it's a doomed failure, but six months into this....if they don't modify the idea, most dealers will shake their heads and just say it was a nice screw-job on them and the car-makers.
On the positive side? Of the billion-odd Euro put up for this program, probably half of the money will still be there six months into this (if it passes). On the negative side? It's a disaster for jobs at Opel, BMW, Ford, Mercedes, Audi, and VW.
The car has to emit NO more than 140 grams of C02 for each km, to qualify as a 'clean' car.
How much of a problem is this? The majority of German-made cars (on average) produce 150 grams of C02 per km.....so they would NOT qualify for the stimulus money.
I know....you are grinning over this, and it's a bit amusing.
E-cars could meet this easily. Hybrids could meet this easily. Virtually all SUVs would fail to meet this goal. The VW Tiguan? It would fail (it produces 142 grams). The Ford Kuga? It would meet the numbers.
So this is a wasted effort? I would qualify the deal this way....if you wanted an E-car or hybrid....this is perfect for you. But out of a thousand Germans, there's marginally a hundred who will go and talk to the dealer and get the info.....with perhaps a quarter of the hundred (starting with a thousand) willing to make the deal.
As for the regular people with zero interest in hybrid or E-cars? It leads you down to a very marginal path, where it's a joke. Germans don't typically shop by grams of C02 for each km.....it's the total package that matters to them.
I won't say it's a doomed failure, but six months into this....if they don't modify the idea, most dealers will shake their heads and just say it was a nice screw-job on them and the car-makers.
On the positive side? Of the billion-odd Euro put up for this program, probably half of the money will still be there six months into this (if it passes). On the negative side? It's a disaster for jobs at Opel, BMW, Ford, Mercedes, Audi, and VW.
E-Scooter Story
I've written a fair amount over the past year about the introduction of E-scooters to my local metropolitan town (Wiesbaden). In basic terms, I've noted that while received in a really positive way....on the danger-scale, it's been maxing out near a '10' (my perception). Sometime this year, I would anticipate the first death in the city via the e-scooter.
Over the weekend, the Wiesbaden city police came up and noted this incident.
Two ladies (one a juvenile, and the other considered an adult) got this crazy idea....to rent a e-scooter with one person, and the 2nd would be on a regular bicycle, holding onto the e-scooter person.
All of this at 3 AM. Alcohol? Never mentioned and you have to wonder about that.
They decided to take the route down a motorway (not just a regular street). Someone noted the two in this reckless behavior, and called the cops. The cops end up at point of some round-about....with the E-scooter and bike laying on the ground. Walking around, and looking over the barrier....the cops find the two laying there. They weren't seriously injured.
The cops? They gave out a lecture, and then took the juvenile to the station....where they called her mom to come and pick her up.
I sat and observed two kids about four months ago (before the virus deal)....probably around age 11 to 12. Somehow, they'd gotten registered and were able to rent the E-scooters. It's just begging for serious injury or trouble.
Over the weekend, the Wiesbaden city police came up and noted this incident.
Two ladies (one a juvenile, and the other considered an adult) got this crazy idea....to rent a e-scooter with one person, and the 2nd would be on a regular bicycle, holding onto the e-scooter person.
All of this at 3 AM. Alcohol? Never mentioned and you have to wonder about that.
They decided to take the route down a motorway (not just a regular street). Someone noted the two in this reckless behavior, and called the cops. The cops end up at point of some round-about....with the E-scooter and bike laying on the ground. Walking around, and looking over the barrier....the cops find the two laying there. They weren't seriously injured.
The cops? They gave out a lecture, and then took the juvenile to the station....where they called her mom to come and pick her up.
I sat and observed two kids about four months ago (before the virus deal)....probably around age 11 to 12. Somehow, they'd gotten registered and were able to rent the E-scooters. It's just begging for serious injury or trouble.
Comical Juvenile Activity
I spend an hour a day reading over Twitter and it's various commentaries. Today, I came to this one character that I often notice, and read this piece that he attached....apparently he'd been called for some violation with Twitter (by a user) and they had spent some time reviewing the complaint. This was the response to the guy:
So here's the thing.....this is an American....in the US, and apparently the complaint came from someone beyond the US border, and this Twitter agreement with Germany fell into play, where they have to react within x-number of hours or be fined in a hefty way.
People are looking over the commentary, and the Twitter note that obviously wanted the potential violator to know that German law might affect his Tweet. Questions are being pushed around and some people are asking if 'Brownshirt' activity is now part of the new 'game'.
Did Germany build this social media law to force upon the world itself? That's the funny thing about this.....political folks in Germany felt that great harm could arrive through fake news, uncontrolled chatter, and like a 'parent' standing over a seven-year-old child.....they felt their duty was to safely control the environment for the child.
Even if the child is a decently educated forty-year old adult? Yes....even in that case. You have to grasp this....politicians are more educated in this discussion area, and seem to be all knowing and wise.
Lets face it....if you got real wise, and started to chat with people about things being wrong....you'd just go and screw up everything that exists today. So people need to create barriers to prevent mass chaos.
Thank goodness....we have Twitter censors....working around the clock, 24-hours a day....to save humanity. But you have to wonder.....is this all a creation by juveniles to control society?
When the public realizes this, and begins to vacate Twitter....for non-1984-type social media sites, without the censor crowd?
Chaos, and the virtual end of Twitter....approaching.
Hello,
We have received a complaint regard your account, @X, for the following content.
Tweet ID: X
Tweet Text: This is a nursing home. Please someone explain why this is happening and unreported. (media)
We have investigated the reported content and could not identify any violations of the Twitter Rules (https://support.twitter.com/articles/18311) or German law. Accordingly we have not taken any action at this time.
Sincerely
So here's the thing.....this is an American....in the US, and apparently the complaint came from someone beyond the US border, and this Twitter agreement with Germany fell into play, where they have to react within x-number of hours or be fined in a hefty way.
People are looking over the commentary, and the Twitter note that obviously wanted the potential violator to know that German law might affect his Tweet. Questions are being pushed around and some people are asking if 'Brownshirt' activity is now part of the new 'game'.
Did Germany build this social media law to force upon the world itself? That's the funny thing about this.....political folks in Germany felt that great harm could arrive through fake news, uncontrolled chatter, and like a 'parent' standing over a seven-year-old child.....they felt their duty was to safely control the environment for the child.
Even if the child is a decently educated forty-year old adult? Yes....even in that case. You have to grasp this....politicians are more educated in this discussion area, and seem to be all knowing and wise.
Lets face it....if you got real wise, and started to chat with people about things being wrong....you'd just go and screw up everything that exists today. So people need to create barriers to prevent mass chaos.
Thank goodness....we have Twitter censors....working around the clock, 24-hours a day....to save humanity. But you have to wonder.....is this all a creation by juveniles to control society?
When the public realizes this, and begins to vacate Twitter....for non-1984-type social media sites, without the censor crowd?
Chaos, and the virtual end of Twitter....approaching.
My 'Dismantle' NATO Essay
About every twelve months, I write an essay piece to the topic of dismantling or dissolving NATO.
Over the next two years, a US election, a French election, a German election, a US-UK trade agreement, and a UK-EU 'parting' agreement will occur. Somewhere in the middle of this....a whole bunch of European countries will admit that the Coronavirus has disrupted their commerce and taxation system, and major budget cuts are coming down the pike.
While all of this is falling into play, I think the idea of dismantling NATO will finally come up, and we will see a modified future of defense in Europe.
The US will probably develop a special situation with the UK.....US bases in Germany will start to close down, and new realities will arrive.
The intellectuals all hyping up and trying to keep threat-chatter or war-chatter up as a problem? They've outlived their usefulness.
The minute when the Germans put up the deal to buy more natural gas via the Russians....the whole threat thing became a joke. The Germans are singlehandly helping to pay for tanks and aircraft for the Russians. What idiot from the Russian side or the European side would disrupt this whole game?
Trump in this next era (2021)? A new Chancellor for Germany after the fall of 2021? A new French President in the spring of 2022?
There's this bold new era coming. You can sense the changes approaching, and something called NATO will be getting an ending-chapter. It served a purpose, and it probably lasted twenty years into an era when it should have been downsized every five years or so.
It's not worth crying over, or dragging people into some public forum for five intellectuals to stomp their feet for an hour. People change, and the times reflect that.
Over the next two years, a US election, a French election, a German election, a US-UK trade agreement, and a UK-EU 'parting' agreement will occur. Somewhere in the middle of this....a whole bunch of European countries will admit that the Coronavirus has disrupted their commerce and taxation system, and major budget cuts are coming down the pike.
While all of this is falling into play, I think the idea of dismantling NATO will finally come up, and we will see a modified future of defense in Europe.
The US will probably develop a special situation with the UK.....US bases in Germany will start to close down, and new realities will arrive.
The intellectuals all hyping up and trying to keep threat-chatter or war-chatter up as a problem? They've outlived their usefulness.
The minute when the Germans put up the deal to buy more natural gas via the Russians....the whole threat thing became a joke. The Germans are singlehandly helping to pay for tanks and aircraft for the Russians. What idiot from the Russian side or the European side would disrupt this whole game?
Trump in this next era (2021)? A new Chancellor for Germany after the fall of 2021? A new French President in the spring of 2022?
There's this bold new era coming. You can sense the changes approaching, and something called NATO will be getting an ending-chapter. It served a purpose, and it probably lasted twenty years into an era when it should have been downsized every five years or so.
It's not worth crying over, or dragging people into some public forum for five intellectuals to stomp their feet for an hour. People change, and the times reflect that.
Communications Story
There was an interesting short piece on N-TV news this morning....chatting over consumer use of smart-phones in Germany.
Only 48-percent of Germans use a smart-phone or cell-phone....purely for phone purposes (not for a camera function, or text-sharing, or viewing videos). If you walk into an electronic shop like MediaMarkt or Saturn....the old style handys still sell well (you know the cheapo 20 Euro type with no real functionality beyond phone capability).
The most commonly used App? The WhatsApp chat software. Roughly 96-percent of Germans who use the phone for other purposes beyond phone calls....were using WhatsApp.
Only 48-percent of Germans use a smart-phone or cell-phone....purely for phone purposes (not for a camera function, or text-sharing, or viewing videos). If you walk into an electronic shop like MediaMarkt or Saturn....the old style handys still sell well (you know the cheapo 20 Euro type with no real functionality beyond phone capability).
The most commonly used App? The WhatsApp chat software. Roughly 96-percent of Germans who use the phone for other purposes beyond phone calls....were using WhatsApp.
Flight News
There were a couple of Lufthansa stories from the weekend that came from various sites.
So presently, there are eighty planes from their fleet being flown on a daily basis.
The chatter from the weekend indicates that they will double this (to 160) in June, and try to jump-start tourist travel. Mind you....this is from a total number of 700-odd planes in their fleet. So it's nowhere near normal.
So this June jump-start.....they listed the destinations (from Frankfurt), and it's mostly all typical summer locations within four hours of Frankfurt. The ARD folks reported: Heraklion (Greece), Crete, Rhodes, Faro, Dubrovnik, Venice, Ibiza (the Spanish isle) and Malaga.
The odds that the planes will be filled? No one is saying much over that. My guess is that in the first ten days....the planes will be no more than 50-percent full. Maybe toward the end of the month....capacity will be reached, and it'll trigger another hundred-odd planes to be added to operations in July.
It's a long way to reach the point where all 700 planes are used on a daily basis. I wouldn't even suggest this occurring in 2020.
Right now, for mid-June, the cost to Crete is around 450 Euro. A year ago, you might have been paying one-third more for that ticket (premium airline, not the discounted airline deal).
So presently, there are eighty planes from their fleet being flown on a daily basis.
The chatter from the weekend indicates that they will double this (to 160) in June, and try to jump-start tourist travel. Mind you....this is from a total number of 700-odd planes in their fleet. So it's nowhere near normal.
So this June jump-start.....they listed the destinations (from Frankfurt), and it's mostly all typical summer locations within four hours of Frankfurt. The ARD folks reported: Heraklion (Greece), Crete, Rhodes, Faro, Dubrovnik, Venice, Ibiza (the Spanish isle) and Malaga.
The odds that the planes will be filled? No one is saying much over that. My guess is that in the first ten days....the planes will be no more than 50-percent full. Maybe toward the end of the month....capacity will be reached, and it'll trigger another hundred-odd planes to be added to operations in July.
It's a long way to reach the point where all 700 planes are used on a daily basis. I wouldn't even suggest this occurring in 2020.
Right now, for mid-June, the cost to Crete is around 450 Euro. A year ago, you might have been paying one-third more for that ticket (premium airline, not the discounted airline deal).
Sunday, May 24, 2020
School Story
There's an excellent piece over at Focus this morning....written by six journalists (H. Broeg, G. Dometeit, M. Etzold, A. Grosse-Halbuer, B. Hauser, and M. Krones). I strongly recommend a read of the piece.
Their discussion? The opening of schools has occurred, and it's a complicated situation to assess the quarantine period and the way that kids handled school outage.
Some kids, with educated parents.....did well, and are where they should be. Some kids, with marginally educated parents....did not so well, and are not where they should be. In this case, they are talking about 4th grade kids.
The journalists even acknowledge that some of the kids were in homes where no internet connect was possible, and in some cases.....no email addresses.
Earlier this year, I noted a statistic that popped-up....that 84-percent of Germans now have some form of internet connectivity. It might be a router in the house.....it might be a smart-phone....it might be a tab that they lug around for school or work.
Back in 2010, it amounted to around 72-percent of Germans have internet. If you go back to 2005, it was near 55-percent.
In a lot of cases, it's simply the age level of people, who see the internet as complicated or that it has no real return value (I could see that understanding). In some cases, it's a cost-factor and if you were barely getting by.....then it's something that you don't need.
As for the kids behind? Well....it puts the next school year (the fifth grade in this case) in a difficult position because you might have to waste a quarter of the time bringing the marginalized kids up a notch.
A problem for the next twelve months? I would imagine that folks will be talking about this issue for a long-time and some type of teacher-assistant funding will have to be created, with more help designed for the kids hurt by the down-time.
Their discussion? The opening of schools has occurred, and it's a complicated situation to assess the quarantine period and the way that kids handled school outage.
Some kids, with educated parents.....did well, and are where they should be. Some kids, with marginally educated parents....did not so well, and are not where they should be. In this case, they are talking about 4th grade kids.
The journalists even acknowledge that some of the kids were in homes where no internet connect was possible, and in some cases.....no email addresses.
Earlier this year, I noted a statistic that popped-up....that 84-percent of Germans now have some form of internet connectivity. It might be a router in the house.....it might be a smart-phone....it might be a tab that they lug around for school or work.
Back in 2010, it amounted to around 72-percent of Germans have internet. If you go back to 2005, it was near 55-percent.
In a lot of cases, it's simply the age level of people, who see the internet as complicated or that it has no real return value (I could see that understanding). In some cases, it's a cost-factor and if you were barely getting by.....then it's something that you don't need.
As for the kids behind? Well....it puts the next school year (the fifth grade in this case) in a difficult position because you might have to waste a quarter of the time bringing the marginalized kids up a notch.
A problem for the next twelve months? I would imagine that folks will be talking about this issue for a long-time and some type of teacher-assistant funding will have to be created, with more help designed for the kids hurt by the down-time.
Saturday, May 23, 2020
My Whine About CNN
I sat last night and tried to watch CNN. I admit....with the options of France-24, Sky News, the BBC, Deutsche Welle (in English) and the Japanese network.....at least I have a few other options beyond the German language networks.
CNN was covering the daily White House press conference, and this Kayleigh McEnany (the President's spokesperson) was handling the questions. At some point, she whirled around and started to ask why journalists could no longer do their job and investigate stories. Thirty seconds later....she had slides appear on various dynamics unfolding....asking the questions that reporters used to ask thirty years ago.
At that point....maybe 30 seconds into this lecture by McEnany, CNN cut the whole thing. Lickety split....as we'd say in Alabama. No explanation. Then five seconds later, they are in the midst of Corona-chatter with three or four guests....doing a live 'why won't the government admit its mistakes' or 'things are pretty f**ked-up chatter'.
Basically, CNN didn't want to have viewers (what few are left) to ask the question that McEnany had asked. Her point is valid. Journalism has slipped to such a degree, that you have people in their 30s and 40s.....who can't seem to do much real investigative work, or analytical research.
I used to think this was purely a network decision, but I've come to this point of wondering if a lot of these folks came out of the university setting in the past thirty years....not prepared for the profession or just geared to write/talk marginal stuff.
The amusing thing is that Germans sit and occasionally watch CNN to get another prospective beyond public TV (ZDF and ARD), and it's usually a choice of either the BBC or CNN.
So they sit there and watch the questions that McEnany laid out, and then kinda notice the 'quick-step' of CNN to dump this real quick. Then the German sits there....wondering why they didn't carry the rest of the press conference.
I'm not giving up on CNN, but it just makes me want to identify them as 12-year-old kids....attempting to produce marginal news.
Oh, and to note this....as abruptly as CNN halted the conference coverage....about sixty seconds into non-coverage....I hit the channel button and flipped to France-24.
CNN was covering the daily White House press conference, and this Kayleigh McEnany (the President's spokesperson) was handling the questions. At some point, she whirled around and started to ask why journalists could no longer do their job and investigate stories. Thirty seconds later....she had slides appear on various dynamics unfolding....asking the questions that reporters used to ask thirty years ago.
At that point....maybe 30 seconds into this lecture by McEnany, CNN cut the whole thing. Lickety split....as we'd say in Alabama. No explanation. Then five seconds later, they are in the midst of Corona-chatter with three or four guests....doing a live 'why won't the government admit its mistakes' or 'things are pretty f**ked-up chatter'.
Basically, CNN didn't want to have viewers (what few are left) to ask the question that McEnany had asked. Her point is valid. Journalism has slipped to such a degree, that you have people in their 30s and 40s.....who can't seem to do much real investigative work, or analytical research.
I used to think this was purely a network decision, but I've come to this point of wondering if a lot of these folks came out of the university setting in the past thirty years....not prepared for the profession or just geared to write/talk marginal stuff.
The amusing thing is that Germans sit and occasionally watch CNN to get another prospective beyond public TV (ZDF and ARD), and it's usually a choice of either the BBC or CNN.
So they sit there and watch the questions that McEnany laid out, and then kinda notice the 'quick-step' of CNN to dump this real quick. Then the German sits there....wondering why they didn't carry the rest of the press conference.
I'm not giving up on CNN, but it just makes me want to identify them as 12-year-old kids....attempting to produce marginal news.
Oh, and to note this....as abruptly as CNN halted the conference coverage....about sixty seconds into non-coverage....I hit the channel button and flipped to France-24.
Another Corona Story
There is a new angle to rehab clinics here in Hessen, and this popped up via HR (our public TV network in the state).
Over in Bad Nauheim.....there is a commercial clinic which has changed it's mandate and taking recommended patients from the public health care system. The angle? People who had a bad case of Corona.
Bad Nauheim is about a 30-minute drive north of Frankfurt, and was kinda known (at least a hundred years ago) as a spa town.
At the extreme end of Corona....a fair number of folks have passed the final test and noted as 'cured', but have serious breathing problems. Added to this problem....doctors are noting these individuals as having lost their 'fit' status and lost some muscle coordination.
No one is saying the numbers of people in this category....but apparently it's enough that a specialized clinic will support them....to reach the next step up. Their range of therapy? Both physical and mental.
In some ways, this is reminding me of the era when TB was around, and they were finally able to 'cure' it, but people were weakened by the whole experience, and ended up at a clinic (usually out in the rural region). In this environment, people were put to the task of walking several miles a day to rebuild their endurance.
Over in Bad Nauheim.....there is a commercial clinic which has changed it's mandate and taking recommended patients from the public health care system. The angle? People who had a bad case of Corona.
Bad Nauheim is about a 30-minute drive north of Frankfurt, and was kinda known (at least a hundred years ago) as a spa town.
At the extreme end of Corona....a fair number of folks have passed the final test and noted as 'cured', but have serious breathing problems. Added to this problem....doctors are noting these individuals as having lost their 'fit' status and lost some muscle coordination.
No one is saying the numbers of people in this category....but apparently it's enough that a specialized clinic will support them....to reach the next step up. Their range of therapy? Both physical and mental.
In some ways, this is reminding me of the era when TB was around, and they were finally able to 'cure' it, but people were weakened by the whole experience, and ended up at a clinic (usually out in the rural region). In this environment, people were put to the task of walking several miles a day to rebuild their endurance.
Corona and the Hooker Story
Out of our public TV in Hessen (HR), this brief story popped up.
There's court action brewing with eleven brothel building managers from Frankfurt....taking the government on, and saying it's time for the brothels to open (since they signed off on tattoo operations, cafes, pubs, etc).
Using the wording 'professional freedom'....they hope that the court will order the government to write a hygiene type regulation and get the brothels reopened.
So here's the thing about this story....there's no short-time work or government allowance flowing for these women, so the only current alternative is 'street-work' and avoid the sanctioned brothels. Profits are probably marginal, and it's certainly more unhygienic.
The eleven operators? They are paying rent on a building, with no real income presently.
The Bundestag's general view? No one is really voicing any concern, and it's going to require the court to resolve this.
Oddly, this is one of those 1,000-odd items where some folks chat about conspiracy things.....suggesting this is being used to eradicate prostitution from the German public landscape. It's a silly suggestion, but people can look at the landscape and wonder when (if ever) this will go back to a normal scene.
There's court action brewing with eleven brothel building managers from Frankfurt....taking the government on, and saying it's time for the brothels to open (since they signed off on tattoo operations, cafes, pubs, etc).
Using the wording 'professional freedom'....they hope that the court will order the government to write a hygiene type regulation and get the brothels reopened.
So here's the thing about this story....there's no short-time work or government allowance flowing for these women, so the only current alternative is 'street-work' and avoid the sanctioned brothels. Profits are probably marginal, and it's certainly more unhygienic.
The eleven operators? They are paying rent on a building, with no real income presently.
The Bundestag's general view? No one is really voicing any concern, and it's going to require the court to resolve this.
Oddly, this is one of those 1,000-odd items where some folks chat about conspiracy things.....suggesting this is being used to eradicate prostitution from the German public landscape. It's a silly suggestion, but people can look at the landscape and wonder when (if ever) this will go back to a normal scene.
Friday, May 22, 2020
Lufthansa's One-Percent
It was a brief comment in the business news today.....that right now....Lufthansa is flying one-percent of the passengers that they would have done a year ago.
Yes, ninety-nine percent of the passengers are avoiding air travel.
There is no way to forecast the future on this, and virtually no one is suggesting a marginal return (even 25-percent is practically impossible) by late-summer.
The vaccine being the 'magic' bullet? That's most of the chatter on the table now.
You can look at the business angle of this....the hotels and resorts being harshly affected as well.
Summer of 2021 being the hope for a normal year? Maybe.
Yes, ninety-nine percent of the passengers are avoiding air travel.
There is no way to forecast the future on this, and virtually no one is suggesting a marginal return (even 25-percent is practically impossible) by late-summer.
The vaccine being the 'magic' bullet? That's most of the chatter on the table now.
You can look at the business angle of this....the hotels and resorts being harshly affected as well.
Summer of 2021 being the hope for a normal year? Maybe.
The 300-Euro Per Kid Deal
Lot of political chatter erupted today in Germany, with the Finance Minister saying that a project to give a one-time 'check' to families....being 300 Euro per kid....would be worked out.
When? No one is really that sure but the talk is that by the end of June.....the money (really a stimulus) would go out.
Age limitations? So far, nothing has been said. It appears that if you are still living in the parents house.....you will be counted.
Problems with this? Well....some kid in the neighborhood will tell your son or daughter about the money, and they will sit down to establish their 'cut' of the money (probably suggesting that they get all of it).
In well-to-do homes, or the middle-class.....that might happen.
In the Hartz-IV (welfare) homes? My guess is that the parents will give the kid a 25 Euro cut and use the rest for school supplies and clothing for the fall.
Strictly a one-time deal? So far....that's the chatter. However, if there is a second wave in the fall....I could see these political folks opting for a second stimulus by Christmas.
When? No one is really that sure but the talk is that by the end of June.....the money (really a stimulus) would go out.
Age limitations? So far, nothing has been said. It appears that if you are still living in the parents house.....you will be counted.
Problems with this? Well....some kid in the neighborhood will tell your son or daughter about the money, and they will sit down to establish their 'cut' of the money (probably suggesting that they get all of it).
In well-to-do homes, or the middle-class.....that might happen.
In the Hartz-IV (welfare) homes? My guess is that the parents will give the kid a 25 Euro cut and use the rest for school supplies and clothing for the fall.
Strictly a one-time deal? So far....that's the chatter. However, if there is a second wave in the fall....I could see these political folks opting for a second stimulus by Christmas.
Mask Story
So what would happen if you had masks for medical operations and German clinics.....but they were just sitting in a warehouse, even when real people needed them?
This story comes up today via SWR (regional German public TV).
What is being said is that the Ministry of Health has bought around 130 million of the upscale FFP2 type masks (the better type than the paper mask). But they haven't really figured out a method of shipping these around Germany to the people who need them.
I sat and read through the brief story a couple of times. Several news organizations are chatting about this....kinda in a embarrassing way for the government.
My general impression is that the buying 'arm' of the Health Ministry knew how to contract out and purchase the masks.....having them delivered. But the same 'arm' didn't really plan or figure the best way to release the masks to hospitals in the sixteen German states. It would be better to avoid creating a state-by-state depot out of this mess, and just have crates packed up by forty-odd Bundeswehr (Army) each day and ship direct to each hospital.....but I don't think anyone has grasped that idea.
I hate having to suggest hiring up Amazon to handle this mess, but it'd make more sense because they handle this type of problem without a lot of screw-ups.
This story comes up today via SWR (regional German public TV).
What is being said is that the Ministry of Health has bought around 130 million of the upscale FFP2 type masks (the better type than the paper mask). But they haven't really figured out a method of shipping these around Germany to the people who need them.
I sat and read through the brief story a couple of times. Several news organizations are chatting about this....kinda in a embarrassing way for the government.
My general impression is that the buying 'arm' of the Health Ministry knew how to contract out and purchase the masks.....having them delivered. But the same 'arm' didn't really plan or figure the best way to release the masks to hospitals in the sixteen German states. It would be better to avoid creating a state-by-state depot out of this mess, and just have crates packed up by forty-odd Bundeswehr (Army) each day and ship direct to each hospital.....but I don't think anyone has grasped that idea.
I hate having to suggest hiring up Amazon to handle this mess, but it'd make more sense because they handle this type of problem without a lot of screw-ups.
AfD Party and Infighting
Over the past month, the AfD Party (the anti-migrant or anti-immigrant stance party) has run into issues within it's party.
It's now obvious that two groups are splitting the party....one centered on a far-right extreme position. And the other centered on a moderate-right position.
The odds that the two will split the party? At this point, I would suggest it's more than likely to occur....probably before we get to December of this year. There are several state elections occurring in the spring of 2021, and this will likely affect the outcome there.
So here's the thing....right now, while regionally, they might get up to the 20-to-25 percent range in two or three states.....throughout the rest of Germany....it's down around the six to ten percent range.
I might go and suggest that out of this 13-percent range that they have in polling....half of these voters would prefer to vote for another party but they have a complaint about the refugee business, and find that neither the CDU or SPD parties have a handle on the situation.
In the case if a split occurs? I might suggest that you can carve off 3 to 5 points from the 13-percent, and the new 'other' AfD Party might only achieve 3 to 4 percent nationally (meaning no seats), and the real AfD Party might barely achieve six percent in voting (meaning a small number of seats).
The end of the AfD Party? Unless some crisis occurs or mass migration goes back into a turbo-blast situation.....yes, you might be seeing an end to the party over the next three years.
It's now obvious that two groups are splitting the party....one centered on a far-right extreme position. And the other centered on a moderate-right position.
The odds that the two will split the party? At this point, I would suggest it's more than likely to occur....probably before we get to December of this year. There are several state elections occurring in the spring of 2021, and this will likely affect the outcome there.
So here's the thing....right now, while regionally, they might get up to the 20-to-25 percent range in two or three states.....throughout the rest of Germany....it's down around the six to ten percent range.
I might go and suggest that out of this 13-percent range that they have in polling....half of these voters would prefer to vote for another party but they have a complaint about the refugee business, and find that neither the CDU or SPD parties have a handle on the situation.
In the case if a split occurs? I might suggest that you can carve off 3 to 5 points from the 13-percent, and the new 'other' AfD Party might only achieve 3 to 4 percent nationally (meaning no seats), and the real AfD Party might barely achieve six percent in voting (meaning a small number of seats).
The end of the AfD Party? Unless some crisis occurs or mass migration goes back into a turbo-blast situation.....yes, you might be seeing an end to the party over the next three years.
Church Funding Hurt By Corona?
Well....yes. It may come to a shock to some non-Germans, but the way that church funding is accomplished....is via a deduction of you paycheck (a church tax). You mark on a form if you are Catholic, or Lutheran. If you want to 'quit' and not pay the tax....that's fine, but you get no services then (no funeral, no baptismal, no church wedding, etc).
So since the Coronavirus started up....a lot of people are not working, and their income is based on either unemployment (they got laid off) or short-time work (they are making 65-percent of their normal check via the government).
What ARD (public TV, Channel One) is saying this morning is that the combined loss of church funding is now around ONE billion Euro at this point. For the entire 2020 season? No one says much but I might go up to two to three billion Euro on the shortfall list by the end of the year.
Cutting on the budget? More than likely.
So since the Coronavirus started up....a lot of people are not working, and their income is based on either unemployment (they got laid off) or short-time work (they are making 65-percent of their normal check via the government).
What ARD (public TV, Channel One) is saying this morning is that the combined loss of church funding is now around ONE billion Euro at this point. For the entire 2020 season? No one says much but I might go up to two to three billion Euro on the shortfall list by the end of the year.
Cutting on the budget? More than likely.
Just an Odd Corona Statistic
HR (our Hessen regional public TV network) brought this up.....that out of the state's death numbers from Corona (at 364 in the state).....roughly 43-percent were Germans who were in retirement homes (158 total).
In some districts of the state.....almost 70 to 80 percent of the death count was retirement home residents.
In some districts of the state.....almost 70 to 80 percent of the death count was retirement home residents.
Mainz Story
There's a short piece of curious nature on N-TV this morning....over Mainz.
This episode starts with the death of a regional Mainz policeman. A memorial service was held with a couple of the police allowed, in a Corona-controlled situation.
Later, a beer-call at a local bar was held. In the mix of this.....MORE than the allotted number of customers showed up (all police of course)....forty when the mandated number of customers were a dozen. No masks? Correct. Staying open past 10 PM? Correct
So this got out in the local news, and folks are all upset about the police breaking the rules.
It'll likely trigger some kind of disciplinary meeting and bad-boy reports to be generated.
This episode starts with the death of a regional Mainz policeman. A memorial service was held with a couple of the police allowed, in a Corona-controlled situation.
Later, a beer-call at a local bar was held. In the mix of this.....MORE than the allotted number of customers showed up (all police of course)....forty when the mandated number of customers were a dozen. No masks? Correct. Staying open past 10 PM? Correct
So this got out in the local news, and folks are all upset about the police breaking the rules.
It'll likely trigger some kind of disciplinary meeting and bad-boy reports to be generated.
Symptom-Free Testing Coming for Corona?
Well, yes.
ARD (public TV, Channel One) laid out how this is going to happen in Germany.
Lets say that you show up at some clinic for a non-Corona problem (hemorrhoids, bladder infection, or pulled muscle). The German Health Minister (Spahn) is writing the script that would mandate testing to be accomplished, and health insurance companies would be mandated to cover the cost.
Chief reason? To have a more reliable picture of the virus, and if it is surging.
The present amount of testing right now? Around 400,000 sample per week. The 'system' is capable of handling almost a million samples per week, and Spahn intends to push the usage to a higher level.
Aggravation by the insurance companies? Yes, to a degree. If you figure the average test costs at around 200 Euro (the amount mentioned in late February).....then it's a fair sum of money going out weekly, and to increase.
The odds that it'll show more infections? No one is sure about the symptom-free but infected folks, and this would show a more decent picture on that topic. We may have 100,000 Germans walking around with absolutely no symptoms, and it might be interesting to know who they are and why they are unaffected.
ARD (public TV, Channel One) laid out how this is going to happen in Germany.
Lets say that you show up at some clinic for a non-Corona problem (hemorrhoids, bladder infection, or pulled muscle). The German Health Minister (Spahn) is writing the script that would mandate testing to be accomplished, and health insurance companies would be mandated to cover the cost.
Chief reason? To have a more reliable picture of the virus, and if it is surging.
The present amount of testing right now? Around 400,000 sample per week. The 'system' is capable of handling almost a million samples per week, and Spahn intends to push the usage to a higher level.
Aggravation by the insurance companies? Yes, to a degree. If you figure the average test costs at around 200 Euro (the amount mentioned in late February).....then it's a fair sum of money going out weekly, and to increase.
The odds that it'll show more infections? No one is sure about the symptom-free but infected folks, and this would show a more decent picture on that topic. We may have 100,000 Germans walking around with absolutely no symptoms, and it might be interesting to know who they are and why they are unaffected.
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Corona and Refugees
For the past four weeks in Germany, the hype on the Coronavirus has been subsiding and lessening. This week, it's hyped up again....mostly because of an odd factor....Corona now showing in asylum centers in Germany.
I picked up the Focus news this morning and reviewed the story.
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BamF) is basically saying that a surge is underway at various centers.
In the three states of Germany hardest hit since February.....NRW, Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg.....it's now noted since the very end of April that refugee centers are having a big issue now (one-thousand-plus cases of infection in three weeks).
So here's the thing....this surge has triggered stress, chaos, and near-riots. The asylum crowd isn't happy with the conditions or the hygiene situation (ban rules).
Here's the odd thing....why didn't they see the surge back in early March when other German communities were having the issues? Why just the past three weeks? This is the part of the story which doesn't make sense.
The chief problem right now? Ban-rules are going into effect in these centers, and the freedom to go out is hindered. A lot of the younger men aren't happy with this, and it's triggering more stress for the support staff and security personnel. There's likely to be cases where the health authorities go to the plan 'B' situation.....putting certain disagreeable people into confined (jail-like) circumstances because they won't go along with the quarantine-rules.
I picked up the Focus news this morning and reviewed the story.
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BamF) is basically saying that a surge is underway at various centers.
In the three states of Germany hardest hit since February.....NRW, Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg.....it's now noted since the very end of April that refugee centers are having a big issue now (one-thousand-plus cases of infection in three weeks).
So here's the thing....this surge has triggered stress, chaos, and near-riots. The asylum crowd isn't happy with the conditions or the hygiene situation (ban rules).
Here's the odd thing....why didn't they see the surge back in early March when other German communities were having the issues? Why just the past three weeks? This is the part of the story which doesn't make sense.
The chief problem right now? Ban-rules are going into effect in these centers, and the freedom to go out is hindered. A lot of the younger men aren't happy with this, and it's triggering more stress for the support staff and security personnel. There's likely to be cases where the health authorities go to the plan 'B' situation.....putting certain disagreeable people into confined (jail-like) circumstances because they won't go along with the quarantine-rules.
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Tegal Airport For Closure Now
Yes, absolutely, 100-percent set for closure, with a date of 15 June. The Berlin airport which opened in 1948.....will finally shutdown.
N-TV covered the announcement this morning.
Part of this story reflects the number of flights cancelled and no longer operating out of Berlin, because of the virus.
The curious thing about this is that Tegal was the number four airport in Germany for passengers (at least up until the virus came along).
What continues on now? Minimum flights out of Schonefeld (again because of the virus deal), and the opening of BER later in the fall.
As for the future of the grounds of Tegal?
A developmental project called Urban Tech Republic is one part of it.....with a minimum of 600 companies talked about. Also part of this....the Beuth University of Applied Sciences Berlin is supposed to be developing of this as well.
If you go and envision where this is going in the next fifteen years....I'd say that it'll be some type of 'Silicon Valley'.
On the far NW side of Berlin....it's about 10 km from the heart of downtown. Close enough for the recreational or night-time activities.....far enough out to be disconnected from most of the city.
N-TV covered the announcement this morning.
Part of this story reflects the number of flights cancelled and no longer operating out of Berlin, because of the virus.
The curious thing about this is that Tegal was the number four airport in Germany for passengers (at least up until the virus came along).
What continues on now? Minimum flights out of Schonefeld (again because of the virus deal), and the opening of BER later in the fall.
As for the future of the grounds of Tegal?
A developmental project called Urban Tech Republic is one part of it.....with a minimum of 600 companies talked about. Also part of this....the Beuth University of Applied Sciences Berlin is supposed to be developing of this as well.
If you go and envision where this is going in the next fifteen years....I'd say that it'll be some type of 'Silicon Valley'.
On the far NW side of Berlin....it's about 10 km from the heart of downtown. Close enough for the recreational or night-time activities.....far enough out to be disconnected from most of the city.
If the Solution Never Comes?
There is a particularly good article off N-TV today (here in Germany) which chats to a great topic.....what if we never find a decent vaccine for Covid-19 or Coronavirus? It's written by Christian Herrmann.
It's a brief piece....maybe 20 lines. And he jumps into the science part and the consequences part of this discussion.
Basically, since day one....the chatter in Germany by the virus experts and political folks is centered around a vaccine, and how the threat will be eliminated.
In recent weeks....the topic has come up (outside of Germany) that you could encounter Covid-19 more than once. Add to this....various degrees of Covid-19 now exists.
Herrman points out one key part of the vaccine development....almost no one over the age of 55 is being tested. It begs questions, but it's best not to ask.
I'm not a scientist or medical expert, but I can see the reality where a 70-percent solution is laid out and we simply accept the fact that a fair number of us simply won't get a vaccine that is that perfect or effective. In simple terms....something is better than nothing.
The fact that 40,000 Germans might still die yearly....even after the vaccine is delivered? Well....you may not like the odds. But it's better than 40,001.
Shutting down schools every single year for three months? It's best not to suggest that because you'd end up with a fair number of problems in the long-term.
So just accept it....something is better than nothing.
It's a brief piece....maybe 20 lines. And he jumps into the science part and the consequences part of this discussion.
Basically, since day one....the chatter in Germany by the virus experts and political folks is centered around a vaccine, and how the threat will be eliminated.
In recent weeks....the topic has come up (outside of Germany) that you could encounter Covid-19 more than once. Add to this....various degrees of Covid-19 now exists.
Herrman points out one key part of the vaccine development....almost no one over the age of 55 is being tested. It begs questions, but it's best not to ask.
I'm not a scientist or medical expert, but I can see the reality where a 70-percent solution is laid out and we simply accept the fact that a fair number of us simply won't get a vaccine that is that perfect or effective. In simple terms....something is better than nothing.
The fact that 40,000 Germans might still die yearly....even after the vaccine is delivered? Well....you may not like the odds. But it's better than 40,001.
Shutting down schools every single year for three months? It's best not to suggest that because you'd end up with a fair number of problems in the long-term.
So just accept it....something is better than nothing.
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Free Beer and Beer Slump?
Well....yeah.
So first to the free beer chatter here in Germany. If you follow regional Hessen news (HR), they are conversing with several brewery operations who are planning summer events around free beer....mostly because they brewed up a whole bunch of beer (for kegs) three months ago in anticipation of a normal summer.
We aren't talking about a vast amount, but one brewery is working on a 1,000 liter plan for distribution.....rather than just dumping the beer near its expiration date.
My guess is around the sixteen states....almost all of the brewery operations didn't really grasp the situation back in February and March.
So to the slump? In general, HR says that the beer sales have dropped by around 20-percent (if you use the numbers since 1 January). More to come? That's the chief problem....you can't say how things will go for the summer period or fall.
Oddly, in this same process of thought....the statistical guys say the car-accident rate for Hessen is down by 12-percent. Due to less driving and less beer? You can't really draw that conclusion, but one has to wonder about this.
So first to the free beer chatter here in Germany. If you follow regional Hessen news (HR), they are conversing with several brewery operations who are planning summer events around free beer....mostly because they brewed up a whole bunch of beer (for kegs) three months ago in anticipation of a normal summer.
We aren't talking about a vast amount, but one brewery is working on a 1,000 liter plan for distribution.....rather than just dumping the beer near its expiration date.
My guess is around the sixteen states....almost all of the brewery operations didn't really grasp the situation back in February and March.
So to the slump? In general, HR says that the beer sales have dropped by around 20-percent (if you use the numbers since 1 January). More to come? That's the chief problem....you can't say how things will go for the summer period or fall.
Oddly, in this same process of thought....the statistical guys say the car-accident rate for Hessen is down by 12-percent. Due to less driving and less beer? You can't really draw that conclusion, but one has to wonder about this.
Short Chat on Corona Numbers and My German Town
It's been around 12 weeks since the Coronavirus erupted on the local scene of where I live in Germany (Wiesbaden).
So today, the statistical numbers came out (up to date, as of 18 May 2020) (remember, this is a metropolitan area of 285,000 people):
- Total infections since day one? 396.
- Total still sick or 'positive'? 68.
- Total dead: 12 (of which almost all were over the age of 70, and most had secondary issues).
- New folks added over the weekend to infections? A total of three.
Why no vast wave? A lot of people chat about this, and wonder. Some think it was dedication to good hygiene practices. Some think it's 'luck'. Some think that vitamin D levels were high in the local population to start with (that's a new rumor), which has zero percent being proven.
So today, the statistical numbers came out (up to date, as of 18 May 2020) (remember, this is a metropolitan area of 285,000 people):
- Total infections since day one? 396.
- Total still sick or 'positive'? 68.
- Total dead: 12 (of which almost all were over the age of 70, and most had secondary issues).
- New folks added over the weekend to infections? A total of three.
Why no vast wave? A lot of people chat about this, and wonder. Some think it was dedication to good hygiene practices. Some think it's 'luck'. Some think that vitamin D levels were high in the local population to start with (that's a new rumor), which has zero percent being proven.
Observation on Airport Operations
Last night, I sat on my balcony for a period of time and observed the Frankfurt Airport off in the distance. I live around 25 km away....on a hillside...that gives me a 30-percent view of the runway. So you can see as night approaches....the lights on planes present themselves as they land.
In a typical 'normal' 20-minute period of observation, there would be a minimum of nine planes landing/taking off.
Well, I sat for 20 minutes and counted. A max of three planes took off or landed. That's it.
That's peak time, when you'd expect the flow to be active (not the mid-morning or mid-afternoon).
The sound of planes in formation over my valley....in the take-off phase? I used to hear probably twenty planes a day. Now, I'm lucky if I hear three of them.
A return to normal in 2020? I have my doubts. A lot of news chatter suggests that the flight schedule out of Frankfurt will be lucky to hit the 50-percent point by the end of 2020.
In a typical 'normal' 20-minute period of observation, there would be a minimum of nine planes landing/taking off.
Well, I sat for 20 minutes and counted. A max of three planes took off or landed. That's it.
That's peak time, when you'd expect the flow to be active (not the mid-morning or mid-afternoon).
The sound of planes in formation over my valley....in the take-off phase? I used to hear probably twenty planes a day. Now, I'm lucky if I hear three of them.
A return to normal in 2020? I have my doubts. A lot of news chatter suggests that the flight schedule out of Frankfurt will be lucky to hit the 50-percent point by the end of 2020.
Vacation Woes
Last night, via ARD (public TV, Channel One), they ran an hour-long discussion/forum over the Coronavirus, and vacation 'thoughts' on Hart Aber Fair (Hard But Fair).
For non-Germans, from May through to September.....it's a major part of each year, and there will be strong thoughts about the location and intensity of this vacation.
So here in the midst of the Coronavirus....vacations are questionable. Almost no one is discussing flying out of Germany. What they are talking about are locations that are within five to ten hours of driving (France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Czech, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, and northern Italy).
Hard to imagine, but it was just four weeks ago that the hype was bans, no public gathering, and a long harsh summer.
Accepting this? That's the real discussion item. I think a lot of Germans are trying to invent some type of wild and exotic vacation....while visiting the white sandy beaches of Denmark.
For non-Germans, from May through to September.....it's a major part of each year, and there will be strong thoughts about the location and intensity of this vacation.
So here in the midst of the Coronavirus....vacations are questionable. Almost no one is discussing flying out of Germany. What they are talking about are locations that are within five to ten hours of driving (France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Czech, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, and northern Italy).
Hard to imagine, but it was just four weeks ago that the hype was bans, no public gathering, and a long harsh summer.
Accepting this? That's the real discussion item. I think a lot of Germans are trying to invent some type of wild and exotic vacation....while visiting the white sandy beaches of Denmark.
Curious Refugee Subject
In the past couple of days....the Coronavirus finally arrived at various refugee centers in Germany. If you go and review the news coverage via ARD (public TV, Channel One).....there's a fair amount of worry going on now.
The hype is this.....if you seek refuge in Germany....they have a set 'pattern' to handling your situation. You are taken to a facility where food and shelter are immediately available, and within a day or two....then moved onto what you'd call a full-up refugee compound/center.
Here, you start paperwork for your process (which isn't guaranteed that you will be allowed to stay).
They settle you and your family into fairly tight quarters.....without a kitchen (they provide three meals a day through a catering operation). In a lot of cases, there is one central bathroom for men and for women.
Older US-military barracks? Yes, you can find various examples where they are re-used.
This might have been a building for 200 individuals while used by the US Army, but today? It might have 300 to 400 individuals in the building.
So there is a research project going on and a discussion that this entire way of handling refugees is not practical or 'safe'.
The problem here? At the end of this discussion....when the full report is issued, then what? Are you going to see some 1.5-billion Euro effort to build some massive housing scheme...designed as temp-quarters for refugees? This is the part of the story that will fire up some folks who are anti-refugee or anti-migrant in the first place.
Lets admit it....all of these refugee centers in Germany were built to be a temporary place to 'store' people for three to six months, until the paperwork is approved, or disapproved. It was never meant to be a permanent residence.
If you go and say that temp conditions are not allowable, then suggest that a real apartment dwelling has to be procured.....there's going to be a long talk about why you can't seek paperwork approval back in your native country (like it was before 2013) and fly into Germany with full-up quarters at that point.
My problem with all of this chatter....if you say these conditions are a problem, then what about retirement-home conditions, or Hartz IV/welfare landscapes....shouldn't they be in some review and updated as well? It seems like you are opening up a Pandoras Box and making things into an extremely complicated mess.
The hype is this.....if you seek refuge in Germany....they have a set 'pattern' to handling your situation. You are taken to a facility where food and shelter are immediately available, and within a day or two....then moved onto what you'd call a full-up refugee compound/center.
Here, you start paperwork for your process (which isn't guaranteed that you will be allowed to stay).
They settle you and your family into fairly tight quarters.....without a kitchen (they provide three meals a day through a catering operation). In a lot of cases, there is one central bathroom for men and for women.
Older US-military barracks? Yes, you can find various examples where they are re-used.
This might have been a building for 200 individuals while used by the US Army, but today? It might have 300 to 400 individuals in the building.
So there is a research project going on and a discussion that this entire way of handling refugees is not practical or 'safe'.
The problem here? At the end of this discussion....when the full report is issued, then what? Are you going to see some 1.5-billion Euro effort to build some massive housing scheme...designed as temp-quarters for refugees? This is the part of the story that will fire up some folks who are anti-refugee or anti-migrant in the first place.
Lets admit it....all of these refugee centers in Germany were built to be a temporary place to 'store' people for three to six months, until the paperwork is approved, or disapproved. It was never meant to be a permanent residence.
If you go and say that temp conditions are not allowable, then suggest that a real apartment dwelling has to be procured.....there's going to be a long talk about why you can't seek paperwork approval back in your native country (like it was before 2013) and fly into Germany with full-up quarters at that point.
My problem with all of this chatter....if you say these conditions are a problem, then what about retirement-home conditions, or Hartz IV/welfare landscapes....shouldn't they be in some review and updated as well? It seems like you are opening up a Pandoras Box and making things into an extremely complicated mess.
Monday, May 18, 2020
Wind Generator Law
For a number of months, there's been this internal debate within the German federal government about distance between a windmill turbine generator, and villages.
Today, the agreement was ironed out, and it'll be a standard law that each new turbine must be a minimum of 1,000 meters from village or city buildings.
Adding to this.....is the wording that a German state can make this more (suggesting 1,200 or even 1,500 meters could be the state rule).
A big deal? Back in the 1980s.....no one said much.
Lately? In a village of a thousand residents.....I would take a guess that locally, you have a quarter of the population that is bummed-out over nearby generators and swear that they, or their cat or dog is severely harmed by the turbulence. Some of this might be mental, but there just hasn't been enough studies to suggest that generators are causing mental or emotional issues.
Today, the agreement was ironed out, and it'll be a standard law that each new turbine must be a minimum of 1,000 meters from village or city buildings.
Adding to this.....is the wording that a German state can make this more (suggesting 1,200 or even 1,500 meters could be the state rule).
A big deal? Back in the 1980s.....no one said much.
Lately? In a village of a thousand residents.....I would take a guess that locally, you have a quarter of the population that is bummed-out over nearby generators and swear that they, or their cat or dog is severely harmed by the turbulence. Some of this might be mental, but there just hasn't been enough studies to suggest that generators are causing mental or emotional issues.
Railway Story
Last night, I watched a short news segment on ZDF (Channel Two, public TV in Germany), and the topic was.....the German railway folks (the Bahn) under threat to lay off 10,000 employees.
So this goes back to the virus business, and a major cut in passenger traffic over the past two months.
It's the union talking about this....NOT the Bahn management folks. But the management folks are the ones talking to the government about additional funding to survive this period.
The real question? How long will it take to convince people to ride the rails and return to some period of normal operations?
I'm one of those people with the 50-percent off Bahn-card....meaning I can book a day-trip for half-off. But my interest in using the railway system in this period? Virtually zero. In fact, I can't see any reason to ride the train system for the remainder of 2020. The card is basically worthless to me.
Hundreds of thousands of Germans are in the same mind-set.
As for the 10,000 number? Well, here's the one critical thing to think about.....there are around 205k employees for the Bahn within Germany. You can figure on a yearly basis....at least 5,000 individuals retire. So you could easily walk in and offer some early retirement deal and the pain of cutting 10,000 wouldn't be a harsh thing.
As for lesser traffic? If you are operating 'trips' with 700-passenger trains leaving out of Hamburg, and only 250 people onboard....you are wasting time and assets. It might make sense to cut 10-percent of the traffic for a period of six to twelve months.
Bottom line? It's just another piece of the German economy affected by the virus.
So this goes back to the virus business, and a major cut in passenger traffic over the past two months.
It's the union talking about this....NOT the Bahn management folks. But the management folks are the ones talking to the government about additional funding to survive this period.
The real question? How long will it take to convince people to ride the rails and return to some period of normal operations?
I'm one of those people with the 50-percent off Bahn-card....meaning I can book a day-trip for half-off. But my interest in using the railway system in this period? Virtually zero. In fact, I can't see any reason to ride the train system for the remainder of 2020. The card is basically worthless to me.
Hundreds of thousands of Germans are in the same mind-set.
As for the 10,000 number? Well, here's the one critical thing to think about.....there are around 205k employees for the Bahn within Germany. You can figure on a yearly basis....at least 5,000 individuals retire. So you could easily walk in and offer some early retirement deal and the pain of cutting 10,000 wouldn't be a harsh thing.
As for lesser traffic? If you are operating 'trips' with 700-passenger trains leaving out of Hamburg, and only 250 people onboard....you are wasting time and assets. It might make sense to cut 10-percent of the traffic for a period of six to twelve months.
Bottom line? It's just another piece of the German economy affected by the virus.
Refugees and the Coronavirus
It's worth a minute or two of pondering, but if you looked over German news sources on Corona....this one story from the past week stands out.
The German authorities up in the Bonn area were alerted and conducted a 'bulk' test of occupants of a refugee center (Deutsche Welle reported this). Results? Seventy of the near 400-odd folks came up positive. Another five-hundred folks have yet to complete the testing procedure.
What is pointed out and it's been part of the German handling plan since day one (going back to 2013)....is that you group everyone into a compound structure, and people live in close quarters with others. It's an open invitation for disease to arrive, and easily spread.
The problem is that the system was never really a complete solution....but neither was mass unrestricted entry. The approaching solution? It wouldn't surprise me if the court system directs the German government to just hand out apartment housing immediately upon arrival and dump the refugee centers.
The German authorities up in the Bonn area were alerted and conducted a 'bulk' test of occupants of a refugee center (Deutsche Welle reported this). Results? Seventy of the near 400-odd folks came up positive. Another five-hundred folks have yet to complete the testing procedure.
What is pointed out and it's been part of the German handling plan since day one (going back to 2013)....is that you group everyone into a compound structure, and people live in close quarters with others. It's an open invitation for disease to arrive, and easily spread.
The problem is that the system was never really a complete solution....but neither was mass unrestricted entry. The approaching solution? It wouldn't surprise me if the court system directs the German government to just hand out apartment housing immediately upon arrival and dump the refugee centers.
Sunday, May 17, 2020
The New School Rules
Within Germany, I live in the state of Hessen. To settle up the school opening business, they've released the new rules to be observed (starting Monday).
1. No more than 15 kids in a single room. They aren't saying what is to be done with the other five to ten kids, and I doubt if they have the space or the instructors to handle that.
2. There's going to be a limit to the quantity of kids in the entire building. Again, they aren't saying what is to be done with the 'extra' kids.
3. Pauses? Well...it has to be done in shifts. You can't have the normal 300 kids standing around in the playground or hang-out area. How break shifts will work? That's left for you to imagine.
4. There has to be hygiene instruction given to the school kids. One assumes some type of mandated list of topics, and some kids signing off that they understand.
5. Mandated: no hugs, no hand-shaking, no touching, social distancing to be practiced. French-kissing? Not mentioned, but I'm guessing that type of behavior will be heavily frowned upon and get you some quarantine-chatter.
6. Instruction on 30-second hand washing.
7. Wearing masks in the class? Somehow, they got advised enough to skip that topic....so you don't have to wear a mask.
8. Washing and sanitizing? A big part of the agenda. They are suggesting daily efforts to sanitize classrooms and hallways. The type of disinfectant to be used? Unknown.
9. PE or play-periods? Nope, forbidden.
10. Oddly, teachers have to be assigned to toilet control, and monitor kids going in. The wording makes it sound like you can only allow one or two kids into each toilet area at a time.
1. No more than 15 kids in a single room. They aren't saying what is to be done with the other five to ten kids, and I doubt if they have the space or the instructors to handle that.
2. There's going to be a limit to the quantity of kids in the entire building. Again, they aren't saying what is to be done with the 'extra' kids.
3. Pauses? Well...it has to be done in shifts. You can't have the normal 300 kids standing around in the playground or hang-out area. How break shifts will work? That's left for you to imagine.
4. There has to be hygiene instruction given to the school kids. One assumes some type of mandated list of topics, and some kids signing off that they understand.
5. Mandated: no hugs, no hand-shaking, no touching, social distancing to be practiced. French-kissing? Not mentioned, but I'm guessing that type of behavior will be heavily frowned upon and get you some quarantine-chatter.
6. Instruction on 30-second hand washing.
7. Wearing masks in the class? Somehow, they got advised enough to skip that topic....so you don't have to wear a mask.
8. Washing and sanitizing? A big part of the agenda. They are suggesting daily efforts to sanitize classrooms and hallways. The type of disinfectant to be used? Unknown.
9. PE or play-periods? Nope, forbidden.
10. Oddly, teachers have to be assigned to toilet control, and monitor kids going in. The wording makes it sound like you can only allow one or two kids into each toilet area at a time.
Saturday, May 16, 2020
Virus Story
My local German city is Wiesbaden. We have a couple of buildings around the city to house refugees and asylum seekers.
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So this test came for the Coronavirus at one of the buildings, and these three young gentlemen came up positive (out of 30-odd residents and the handful of security/support personnel).
The city health authorities were on the scene and via a translator (no description was given of the three guys).....they were told of the positive situation, and then 'ordered' (it's as blunt as the Germans could make it)....to do house-quarantine. In this case, stay in the building, and in their room/area. It's a fourteen day deal and then a test after that to confirm if they are finished with the Coronavirus.
A couple of days pass, and it's been noted by the guards and residents that the three dudes have slipped out and spent a number of hours 'out' (no one says where).
So now, the authorities arrive and they dictate the new deal....the guards will now close down the entire building.....no one enters or exits. The 30-odd residents are all now stuck in the building with the three guys. The fourteen day quarantine? Fresh new start now.
No one describes the frustration aspects of this, or the happiness level with the three guys. My guess is that a number of words have been spoken, and anger is boiling over.
What happens now....if the three young guys go to the next level and sneak out again? There's supposed to be a facility in Hessen where you can actually lock people in (yeah, kinda like a detention center). I might assume that the authorities kinda worded the next step and explained how bad this next step would go.
This is the general problem with the quarantine business. A very small contingent of people simply don't want to play by the rules, and the health folks can make this pretty harsh, if you don't show some respect.
-
So this test came for the Coronavirus at one of the buildings, and these three young gentlemen came up positive (out of 30-odd residents and the handful of security/support personnel).
The city health authorities were on the scene and via a translator (no description was given of the three guys).....they were told of the positive situation, and then 'ordered' (it's as blunt as the Germans could make it)....to do house-quarantine. In this case, stay in the building, and in their room/area. It's a fourteen day deal and then a test after that to confirm if they are finished with the Coronavirus.
A couple of days pass, and it's been noted by the guards and residents that the three dudes have slipped out and spent a number of hours 'out' (no one says where).
So now, the authorities arrive and they dictate the new deal....the guards will now close down the entire building.....no one enters or exits. The 30-odd residents are all now stuck in the building with the three guys. The fourteen day quarantine? Fresh new start now.
No one describes the frustration aspects of this, or the happiness level with the three guys. My guess is that a number of words have been spoken, and anger is boiling over.
What happens now....if the three young guys go to the next level and sneak out again? There's supposed to be a facility in Hessen where you can actually lock people in (yeah, kinda like a detention center). I might assume that the authorities kinda worded the next step and explained how bad this next step would go.
This is the general problem with the quarantine business. A very small contingent of people simply don't want to play by the rules, and the health folks can make this pretty harsh, if you don't show some respect.
The 'Screw-the-Parking-Crowd' Strategy
This week, I was reading through a piece in a German news item....which got to a new weird strategy being openly discussed by the Green Party folks and environmentalists.
The basic idea? You would go and raise parking rates, and park-house property taxes enough....that people traveling around metropolitan areas....would be screwed-over enough.....that they would dump cars and travel via public transportation.
Now....if you were like me.....you'd be laughing at this point. But I sat and pondered over the idea.
Right now....at least in the Wiesbaden area....the general 'on-the-street' rate is around 55-Euro-cents-per-half-hour for the 12-work-hours of the day. For most, it's reasonable.
However, if you raised it to 1.50-Euro-cents-per-half-hour.....would you get aggravated enough to avoid driving or shopping downtown? My guess is that the fairly well-to-do folks would continue on. It'd likely take 2.50 to 3.50 Euro-cents-half-hour to make this a complicated mess.
It's the same with parking garages (public and commercial)....you'd have to raise the rates or property taxes enough.....to make people fussy over this parking situation.
But you have to ask yourself.....in the end, aren't you just eliminating downtown areas to the extent.....that no one wants to waste time or effort, and they look for medium-sized towns or outer-ring areas to conduct business? In simple terms, you'd turn a lot of metropolitan 'big' cities in Germany....into lesser towns.
The question is....do you really need to do this?
The basic idea? You would go and raise parking rates, and park-house property taxes enough....that people traveling around metropolitan areas....would be screwed-over enough.....that they would dump cars and travel via public transportation.
Now....if you were like me.....you'd be laughing at this point. But I sat and pondered over the idea.
Right now....at least in the Wiesbaden area....the general 'on-the-street' rate is around 55-Euro-cents-per-half-hour for the 12-work-hours of the day. For most, it's reasonable.
However, if you raised it to 1.50-Euro-cents-per-half-hour.....would you get aggravated enough to avoid driving or shopping downtown? My guess is that the fairly well-to-do folks would continue on. It'd likely take 2.50 to 3.50 Euro-cents-half-hour to make this a complicated mess.
It's the same with parking garages (public and commercial)....you'd have to raise the rates or property taxes enough.....to make people fussy over this parking situation.
But you have to ask yourself.....in the end, aren't you just eliminating downtown areas to the extent.....that no one wants to waste time or effort, and they look for medium-sized towns or outer-ring areas to conduct business? In simple terms, you'd turn a lot of metropolitan 'big' cities in Germany....into lesser towns.
The question is....do you really need to do this?
Travel Story
It's kinda funny to bring this up, but a lot of hype this past week or two.....in terms of re-opening air travel and allowing tourists in....revolves around possible new entry/exit procedures at the airports, which mandate (in the absolute sense) temperature measurements. You'd walk into the airport, and even before you got your ticket or handed the bag over.....you'd be assessed on your temperature.
So the RKI folks (the Robert Koch Institute).....which is noted as the expert among experts on the virus.....spoke and said: "Overall, entry and exit screening measures at airports with temperature measurements when coping with Covid 19 in Germany are assessed as ineffective and the possible added value as negligible."
Yes, there are various ways that you can hide your temperature, and they kinda admit that part of the story. Also, as they said.....some infected folks are simply not showing the normal symptoms (like a fever).
Will this stop or hinder the opening of airports? No....I think the majority of Germans want the airports open, and free access to travel. And I also believe the temperature reading business (while a bad/poor idea) will be a part of the 'gimmick'.
Will some Germans try to deny the temperature-reading gal? Maybe and that's going to be part of the anti-virus agenda as well.
So the RKI folks (the Robert Koch Institute).....which is noted as the expert among experts on the virus.....spoke and said: "Overall, entry and exit screening measures at airports with temperature measurements when coping with Covid 19 in Germany are assessed as ineffective and the possible added value as negligible."
Yes, there are various ways that you can hide your temperature, and they kinda admit that part of the story. Also, as they said.....some infected folks are simply not showing the normal symptoms (like a fever).
Will this stop or hinder the opening of airports? No....I think the majority of Germans want the airports open, and free access to travel. And I also believe the temperature reading business (while a bad/poor idea) will be a part of the 'gimmick'.
Will some Germans try to deny the temperature-reading gal? Maybe and that's going to be part of the anti-virus agenda as well.
Is the AfD Party Dissolving?
This is a complicated essay and I'll try to sort it out in bits and pieces.
First, at some point in 2019.....the German government voted and finally said that a continual overview (spy upon) needs to be established on the AfD Party. So the German version of the FBI (Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution) were given the orders to monitor the AfD Party. It's a rare and unusual effort.
This party isn't a long standing party. They started out in 2013 as the anti-Euro party, and that was their entire focus for the first two years. At some point, they were actually doing kinda well....with a single focus on existence. In the 2014 EU election.....they actually got a couple of seats at the EU parliament.
Then along the midst of summer 2015.....with the refugee crisis in full focus....a collection of individuals arrived, and basically took over the party (kicking out the guy who started the party, Bernd Lucke).
From this point on, this was more than a anti-Euro party.....it was now a anti-refugee, and anti-migrant party. If their numbers had stayed the same....no one would have said much (roughly 5-percent of the public voting). But as weeks went by....they took public votes from all of the political parties, and the disenchanted folks who saw migration as a major negative.....had only one option....vote for AfD to settle the problems.
In the 2017 national election, they achieved 12.6 percent of the vote. In some ways, they'd hurt both the CDU and SPD.
So came various accusations of far-right extremism, and the machine to monitor the party was assembled.
The insiders (the top twenty political members) are sharply divided. It would appear that the majority would like to clean up the mess, and get the spying business halted. So they are picking on the bigger far-right extremist, and asking them to exit. Andreas Kalbitz is one of the ones who got fed up with the policy, and is exiting on his own. In Thuringia (the state).....he's the head guy of the AfD Party. Starting his own party? He hasn't really said that. Some folks suggest that he's merely doing a temporarily side-step and will return eventually.
All of this would suggest that the numbers for the AfD Party ought to go down (maybe back to the five to eight percent point) nationally. But there's that problem with a fair number of Germans who just aren't supporting the migration plan.
The German national election? It's roughly 16 month away. A lot can happen. They might return to to the 12-percent level....they might sink on down to the five-percent level. It's difficult to predict how this will end up.
First, at some point in 2019.....the German government voted and finally said that a continual overview (spy upon) needs to be established on the AfD Party. So the German version of the FBI (Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution) were given the orders to monitor the AfD Party. It's a rare and unusual effort.
This party isn't a long standing party. They started out in 2013 as the anti-Euro party, and that was their entire focus for the first two years. At some point, they were actually doing kinda well....with a single focus on existence. In the 2014 EU election.....they actually got a couple of seats at the EU parliament.
Then along the midst of summer 2015.....with the refugee crisis in full focus....a collection of individuals arrived, and basically took over the party (kicking out the guy who started the party, Bernd Lucke).
From this point on, this was more than a anti-Euro party.....it was now a anti-refugee, and anti-migrant party. If their numbers had stayed the same....no one would have said much (roughly 5-percent of the public voting). But as weeks went by....they took public votes from all of the political parties, and the disenchanted folks who saw migration as a major negative.....had only one option....vote for AfD to settle the problems.
In the 2017 national election, they achieved 12.6 percent of the vote. In some ways, they'd hurt both the CDU and SPD.
So came various accusations of far-right extremism, and the machine to monitor the party was assembled.
The insiders (the top twenty political members) are sharply divided. It would appear that the majority would like to clean up the mess, and get the spying business halted. So they are picking on the bigger far-right extremist, and asking them to exit. Andreas Kalbitz is one of the ones who got fed up with the policy, and is exiting on his own. In Thuringia (the state).....he's the head guy of the AfD Party. Starting his own party? He hasn't really said that. Some folks suggest that he's merely doing a temporarily side-step and will return eventually.
All of this would suggest that the numbers for the AfD Party ought to go down (maybe back to the five to eight percent point) nationally. But there's that problem with a fair number of Germans who just aren't supporting the migration plan.
The German national election? It's roughly 16 month away. A lot can happen. They might return to to the 12-percent level....they might sink on down to the five-percent level. It's difficult to predict how this will end up.
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