Five German News Stories

 1.  Poll done....national political trend.

AfD has climbed to 22-percent.  CDU-CSU at 27-percent.  Greens have fallen to 13-percent.  SPD lingering at 18-percent.  FDP at 7-percent.  Linke Party at 5-percent.  

INSA did the political....very reliable polling organization.

Where this is going?  It's NOT that the AfD has four-star positions....I would argue that the SPD-coalition running the government has a sour brand, and the general public shakes their head over the 'brand'/message of the SPD-Green-FDP coalition.

For the remainder of 2023?  I would suggest it's likely that the AfD will hit a minimum of 25-percent, unless some shake-up occurs.  

Even with the help of the public TV forums....the coalition is not really getting any help or traction to reverse the current trend.  

2.  German-Japan national team game last night.  Japan won 4:1.  

Being hyped-up this morning.  Lot of criticism being discussed.  

3.  Sahra Wagenknecht (marginally a member of the Linke Party) is leaning hard on creating her 'own' party.

Characteristics?   She says four key points:  there must be social justice in Germany, 'peace' should be at the top of the agenda, 'freedom' is important, and something she referred to as 'economic reason'.

One interesting comment in her hype......she says that the German government is currently doing things to drive jobs and industry out of the country....letting the market 'run wild' (my interpretation).  I might agree....neither the SPD or Greens have shown any interest in growing the jobs/industry landscape.

One negative in her talk....she wants some government 'agency' to monitor and control what companies produce or don't produce.  It's a shaky idea and bound to be abused/misused in the end.  

Where this trend will go?  Some political folks think that there's not much difference between the Linke Party voters and the AfD voters.  It's hard to say if they are right about this.  But this group seems to think that Wagenknecht can tap into this and lead to some new party which is a blend of Linke/AfD, and surge up a few points (say getting up to 30-percent of the national vote).  

I would suggest....the vast majority of Germans (two-thirds of the country) would not buy into a Wagenknecht Party, and they don't see how some 'peace' agenda fits unless you leave NATO and proclaim a national enthusiasm for peace-no-matter-what-the-cost is.  

4.  Freiburg schools (Kindergarten and elementary) have gone to a new school menu plan as school started up....ONLY a vegan menu to be offered.

I'll just say that no matter how this goes...it'll be branded a 'success'....even if half kids eat nothing for lunch other than a apple  or banana. 

5.  WELT had an interesting piece by Claudia Becker this AM....talking over the German wolf problem.  Worth a read.  

What she generally points out.....maximum growth on the population has been the trend, and there's little to stop the trend unless you get 'open' on hunting wolves.  

I would offer the analysis....one day....some 'Johan' kid will be attacked at some bus-stop in the German boonies.....dragged off and killed by a wolf.  At  that point, the friendly wolf issue will dissolve and a big-time hunt will occur over one year....killing 90-percent of wolves in Germany.