Five German News Stories

 1.  Around 8:15 PM last night, via ARD (public TV, Channel One), I ended up watching an odd documentary piece (75 min).

Title: 'Governing at the Limit'.

So, it's mostly a piece to tell the story of the Scholz coalition (SPD-Greens-FDP) and how they've had literally hundreds of problems since day one to confront them, and it's a four-step-forward situation.....with one or two steps back reaction.

Yes, it's an attempt to rebrand the Scholz 'theme-or-message'.

I won't call BS on this....it's practically true, and they've simply limped along with a 'brand' that just moderately sells to the German public.

Fair assessment and it told practically every single issue that they faced over a 2-year period.  

2.  Germans have this statement that they utter on occasion: "Nicht alle Tassen im Schrank haben."  It translates to mean 'to not have all the cups in the cupboard', or to be pretty lacking on intelligence.  'Crazy' would also be fitting into this term.

So, I noted this problem in Hardhelm (small village in Baden-Wurttemberg, in the SW).  For months, locals have complained about this 25-year old Somali who settled into the community.

Basically, the guy has turned into some terror-thrill-seeker.  He never quite gets to the physical stage, but he wants to make you think he might hurt you.

Locals have gone to the cops, and he continually gets lectured.....but never gets put in jail.

Continual charges?  Theft, assault and threatening the public.  

So for months, the general public has been in some rage about how the system can't deal with the guy.

In the past week, all of these proceedings stopped....because he's been now identified as mentally incompetent.  The discussion now?  Well....there will have to be some kind of court episode with a judge and deem him such a threat....that he has to be locked up.  

Moving along at a snail's pace?  Yeah, one gets the idea that the local authorities have some kind of problem in going this direction.

Fifty years ago, I might suggest that locals would have simply grabbed the guy in a truck and drove him across the border into France....to just dump him on someone else's village.

3.  Flick gone as the German national soccer coach?  Yeah.

Shocking to some.  

So the bosses of the team have gone out to recruit the next coach, and found the top three or four guys.....said 'NO'.  

Still paying Flick?  That's the one odd thing....he has a contract through most of 2024....so they are going to pay him.

The possibility that 'Yogi' (the old coach from 3 years ago) comes back?  No one utters this but I think it's possible that he might accept.

4.  Mr Kim has arrived in Moscow, and various 'deals' are on the table.  

5.  Just an interesting development in Niger.  One of the big products that Niger was mining and selling....was uranium.  France was buying at at .80 Euro cents per KG. Niger said 'no'.....price must increase.  New price?  200 Euro per KG.

Will France pay?  Well....there are around a dozen countries who mine and sell the stuff.  Niger was at the cheapest rate....so even if France goes to a new partner.....it's going to be way more than .80 Euro cents.