Five German News Stories

 1.  Switzerland has written up the emergency plan for national black-outs.....should they occur.  Oddly enough (reported via Focus this AM)....one element has a plan (if implemented) forbidding the use of E-Cars.  

I'm guessing the owners are in a bit of a shock....wondering about the value of their vehicle at this point.  Course, if you have zero black-outs....there's nothing to worry about.

2.  The Bundestag yesterday condemned Stalin's hunger campaign in the Ukraine in the 1930s....the Holodomor....as a genocide.

Big deal?  No.  But here's the odd thing....if you were the Russian propagandists....you'd have to condemn Germany in some way, but say the word Holodomor.  A description would come up, and a bunch of Russians would ask what really happened in the Ukraine in this 1930s episode.  Revealing some element of truth....leads to people asking more questions.

3.  US-made Patriot missiles to be finally made outside of the US?  Well....there's a discussion going on with Raytheon (the company) and the Germans.  

Odds of this?  50-50 at this point, in my humble view. 

4.  The end of Covid mask requirements for buses and trains in Germany?  Well....there's a discussion going on with individual state leadership, and things appear headed to an end.  I won't suggest it in December....but there's some 'end-of-the-tunnel' situation approaching.

Even if you end the mandate for buses/trains....will the bulk of society stop wearing them in these situations?  I have my doubts.  

I have a 'permanent' mask I carry in a jacket pocket....probably with 60 hours of use (way over the acceptable number) for bus situations.  I think most people are that way.  The N-95 mandate?  Long-gone, with people using the cheap surgical type for about half of the occasions.

5.  Coalition talks within the SPD-Green-FDP situation over refugees?  Yes, and the odd solution appearing....to get everyone at the table....there's going to be a talk about disapproved asylum seekers residing in Germany (presently around 300,000 in number).

Deportation coming out of this?  Most journalists doubt that.  But somewhere down the line, there's going to be a door opened, and a monthly group are going to be put in a must-leave situation.