Five German News Stories

 1.  Focus had a AM piece today....chatting over the Last Generation activists, and how they 'contract-out' to their 'employees'.  Full-time wage?  Max presently is 1,300 Euro (roughly $1,400) a month.

So for the glue or protest angle....you can work as a full-time, part-time or 520-Euro-mini-job status.  

Is 1,300 Euro a month enough?  If you were college educated, it's a joke for the value of your degree.  But if you weren't anchored down on capitalist guilts/woes....living with a partner (same deal or has a real job)....it's enough to survive.  

The big part of the deal?  They cover your health insurance and pension requirements (if full-time).  

My problem here?  Usually when you get fed up with a company.....you fill out a CV/Resume, and move on.  What exactly are you going to say for the 'filler' for the resume?  Jailed on 16 times for glue-activity?  

2.  Big attack in Donetsk, Ukraine against the Russians?  From what N-TV says....some school building-converted into a barracks was hit....at least 100 Russian soldiers dead.  

3.  German coalition gov't says 'no' to testing Chinese tourists arriving in Germany.  I generally expect the EU to discuss this over the next week, and regulate the situation....forcing a test to occur. Begs the question....what exactly will you do with the poor Chinese couple after the positive test?  Put them up at a hotel and pay for it out of the state budget? 

4.  Environmentalists in Germany calling for a 2023 nation-wide change to urban city speed limits....going from 50 kph to 30 kph.  

I will say this....from a regional prospective....there are certain streets in Mainz, Wiesbaden and Frankfurt that should be mandated to the 30 kph because of bicyclists, and traffic density.  However, there are streets built for regular traffic flow at 50 kph.  The inner-ring of Wiesbaden for example....was built for higher speeds.  

5.  Survey done.....one in four Germans say their prosperity or current financial situation is pretty dire.  Same group doesn't see anything resolving the problems in 2023.

I hate to suggest this, but I think if you'd done the same survey in the 1990s in newly unified Germany.....same number would have said this.