That Radical Attack in Mannheim

 I've watched two different TV reports and can say there's only seven facts:

1.  A anti-Islam protest was being held  in Mannheim today (Friday)....near lunch-time.  Some guy (1 single person) approached the German running the event.  The guy approached with a knife.

2.  The victim was stabbed to some minor degree (he's still alive).  

3.  A couple of other folks tried to stop the guy....getting knifed as well.

4.  One cop gets to the scene, and is knifed in the head (seriously).   From what I read.....he is the worst off of the seven wounded.

5.  A second cop arrives on the scene and fires one round into the attack guy....stopping the whole event.

6.  Location?  Mannheim's central market square.

7.  ID of the attacker?  Well....this gets to a funny situation.....he had a cellphone but NO ID, NO Papers, nothing.  Typically, if you are an asylum person in Germany....you have to have a state ID from the Germans.  But in this case....nothing.   My impression....newly arrived, and not registered yet.

Based on the description from SWR (public TV).....the attacker (from the gunshot) is bad-off.  It sounds like he took the round to his gut.  

Motive (at least what public TV says)....is unknown.  

Timing of this?  Right before the EU vote?  Well....it adds public interest in a negative way.  Some Germans will say if the anti-Islam protest had been prevented.....none of this would have happened.  

One key point I'll list  here.....one single shot required by the German policeman.  If it'd been an American cop.....he would have fired eight rounds and reloaded.  The German cop could do the job with one round.  

Is Temu A Threat In The EU/Germany?

 Until last year, I'd never heard of Temu.  It's the Chinese version of Amazon....with the 'hook'....it sells stuff ultra-cheap (probably 20-percent less than Amazon).

So when I noted them existing....I got this 2-minute lecture by the wife (German in nature)....NO, YOU CAN'T DO BUSINESS WITH THEM.

I noticed this AM....the EU finally stepped up and said there's a whole lot of criticism over Temu.....so they've sat up new regulations, and fines are likely if they continue their current 'trend'.

The interesting thing here...Temu says they have 75-million people across the EU....who buy 'stuff' from them.  

The fact that copies of legit items....are regularly sold?  Yeah....that's a big issue now.

But added to this....the incoming 'postal-examinations' are delaying orders in a massive way.  I read one commentary that someone expected the item in seven days, and it took almost 3 weeks before it was released by the postal inspectors. 

31 May 2024: Five German News Stories

1.  Just an odd story out of Focus:   At some point on Wednesday afternoon....a couple of swimming pool staff folks were attacked by a group of young men (Bremen area....indoor pool).

Three folks wounded enough to be taken to a hospital. 

Attackers?  Cops say between 16 and 18 years old.

Trigger?  Well...the pool folks had some ban on the entering group, and the young men started a fight over this.

Arrests?  Nothing yet, but the cops are onto an investigation.  

2.  Polling for EU election....this weekend....done for Germany.  What it says?

The CDU/CSU will get around 29 percent.  The SPD?  Near 15 percent.

Greens?  They slumped from 2019....will go near 14 percent (about a 6-point drop).

The AfD?  Near 14 ​​percent.  The BSW (new) Party....6 percent.

The FDP folks get marginally 4 percent.

People charged up?  No.  If you look at past EU elections....at least in Germany,  it goes near 60-to-65 percent of folks showing up to vote.  The most I get out of this....the BSW folks got what the old Linke Party would have gotten, and have yet to really take off.  What does make this election unique?  Voters at age 16 allowed into the system, and no one knows if they will show up or not.

3.  Front-page of most German newspapers.....President Joe Biden has given Ukraine some type of green light, with limits......to attack inside of Russia with US missiles/rockets/bombs. The word is....it has to be done only if Kharkiv is attacked (in the eastern side of Ukraine).

I'll just be blunt....it'll just push Putin to select some US targets (likely in Europe) and make matters worse.

4.  Odd development over at Channel 2 (public TV, ZDF).  Their moderator/boss for the editorial department for politics/current affairs (since 2014)....is 'let-go'. 

Matthias Fornoff....you might have seen the guy a good bit...running the show "Politbarometer"....apparently got into some type of sexual harassment situation.  

5.  Current 'boss' of NATO says that the alliance needs to funnel 40-billion dollars a year into the Ukraine....until the war ends.  

Taking a big chunk out of what each NATO member could spend on itself and it's defense budget?  Yeah, and I'm sure various budget people are grumbling because they can never reach this 40-billion dollar number.

AfD Brochure Story

 For reference, the AfD Party in Germany is the far-right folks, who at various times....seem hyped-up on migration issues (with some truthful points), and later dazzle you with Nazi-like statements.  Yeah, if you aren't paying attention....you could get a serious dose of stupid commentary trying to influence you.

This week, in my mailbox here in Germany....we got a brochure for the EU election (coming up in June) and from the AfD Party.

Nice colorful piece....hyping up their platform points for the EU to 'fix' or resolve.

For a couple of months....the opposite parties have tried to criticize the AfD folks in various ways.  If you asked me on the potential vote for this EU election....I'd suggest that the AfD probably won't get more than 10-percent of the vote.  Six months ago....had suggested somewhere around 16-percent of the vote would go to them.

Would the brochure change much of anything?  I sat and looked over the contents....thinking that probably 75-percent of Germans have a pretty negative view of the party, and this would have zero affect on them.

The other 25-percent?  These are people who openly criticize the migration situation and they probably have at least one conversation per each 24-hour cycle....with a work-buddy, relative, or bar-friend....dumping on the lack of solutions.  The catch here....the majority of this group are anti-Nazi as well.

If AfD had just stuck with their original theme/target of migration issues, and never gotten into the Nazi-chatter?  Well....that's something you often wonder about.

Even if you dissolved AfD at this point....using some democracy 'tool'?  Within 12 months....the whole migration/immigration issue would rise back up and another party would develop out of thin-air.  That's the odd part of this whole landscape.  

As for the brochure?  I tossed it into the paper-recycling bin by the next morning.  I sat and pondered over my village....probably with 3,000 registered voters, and that it might have only been read/reviewed by 1-percent of the residents.  

30 May 2024: 5 German News Stories

 1.  Just a odd thing from Wednesday night's soccer game in Wiesbaden (the local team lost).  Around 90 minutes after the game (near midnight)....one of the local fans  who had lingered (he apparently wasn't drunk).....was approached by three of the visiting fans for the other team.  Their intent?  Rob the guy.

Unfortunate ending....the local fan was a plain-clothing cop.  He arrested the three....they ended up with summons papers for a local judge and will be charged-up.  Yeah....felony action....so they might get a couple of weeks in a local jail.

2.  Pro-Palestinian demonstration yesterday around Berlin.  Cops say 1,400 people participating in a pro-Palestinian rally in Berlin's Kreuzberg and Neukölln districts. So....two signs being noted and held by the 'players' "Free Palestine" and "Berlin should burn".  

3.  Green Party youth-members have given a fairly strong hint.....they won't accept the idea being floated....bringing back the 'draft' for Germany.  

Both the SPD and CDU/CSU parties are pushing the idea in some way.  I think a slight majority of Germans would support it.

4.  I watched a news report on N-TV.....Mayor of Palma, Spain....is hyped up an agreeing with locals on one key issue....he wants to reform tourism in Mallorca (the isle).

For those who weren't aware of it.....the isle of Mallorca is a 'magnet' (since the 1960s) for Germans to come to, and get 'wild'.  Party-atmosphere....lot of drinking....late into the night throughout the whole summer.  Locals hate this, and there are various problems that have been building up over the past two decades.

The flip side of this....a lot of money came into the economy there, and it's brought jobs.  

What the journalist pointed out with the mayor's talk....if reform comes, it's likely to dissolve a significant amount of the tourism, and you will see a massive drop in guests....meaning the economy will crap-out.

It's an interesting discussion, and one has to wonder what the landscape of Mallorca will be like in twenty years.  

5.  Another interesting piece off N-TV.....affecting one in three Germans....loneliness.  It's now at a level where it's chronic and the medical profession is openly talking about the issue.

From the Covid era?  Yeah, that's the funny part of the story.

Affecting both youth and older folks.

Even I will refer to the era as a cabin-fever period.....where I barely emerged from the house two or three times a week.

29 May 2024: Five German News Stories

 1.  Local reporting (Wiebaden)....Monday afternoon...mid-town area, some German woman had been gift-shopping and bought a 100-Euro perfume bottle.  She's apparently followed and in the grassy area between two major streets....she gets attacked (thrown to the ground) by some 40-to-50 year-old guy, and robbed of the bag.  Cops never find the guy.

Stuff like this......wasn't ever a thing to worry about or consider....from a decade ago....particularly in daylight hours.  

2.  Just odd....former chief of Dutch Intelligence Services....now the PM.

3.  Weird story to tell from Baden-Württemberg.  Heilbronn police said on Sunday evening some guy was driving on B14 in the direction of Schwäbisch Hall.  His car crosses the line, into the opposite lane.

Other driver is able to stop and prevent an accident.

The 66-year-old then (the bad driver) gets out and threatens other drivers who wanted to offer to help with a knife. 

Then he says he's got 'bottles' of explosives with him, pointing to some bottles he put out on the road.  

So the guy approaches the cops as they arrive...with the knife.  Cops instruct him....put it down....he declines.  Cops use pepper spray and he still advances.  So they shoot the guy in the leg (1 round).  That apparently got his attention.

4.  I ended up Wed night watching the local Wiesbaden soccer club play a down-and-out game....if they lost, they would move to the 3rd league.  Well....it was one of the least productive (boring) games I've seen in a long time.  Yeah, they lost.

5.  From the German pension program....statistics now show that one out of every fifteen Germans who receive a pension...is living OUTSIDE of Germany.  They don't say locations though.  

New Cop Investigation

 I sat this afternoon and looked over a new prosecutor/cop investigation....down in Stuttgart.

The focus?  

Well...some local Turkish soccer club got to the end of a game....hyped up with their fans, and the fan-club of the team...maybe affected by booze....started up a chant....'auslanders aus' (foreigners out).

Naturally, this was on video, and has been reviewed.

Turks...uttering the phrase?  

It's going to trigger a problem for the media to explain....other than saying they were drunk and 'just stupid'.  The prosecutor and police?  They will spend at least a hundred man-hours.....trying to drill down into this and find a way to explain it to the politicians.  

At the pace of things....by the mid-summer period....I expect even 12-year-old German kids uttering the phrase and people freaking out over the comment.

TV Chatter

 There's some economic think tank called “Stiftung Marktwirtschaft”, which has looked at ZDF/ARD public TV and made eight suggestions on fixing them.

Seven ideas?

First, free them from advertising....so they never had distortions in news reporting.

Second....dump sports rights/programing for the most part.

Third, have some type of competitive situation of broadcasting income....so that public and private networks could apply.

Fourth....state salary structure to prevent abuse of salaries.

Fifth, reduce management in some manner.

Sixth, have regular reviews....from a outside ource.

Seven and final....offer ZDF up for sale, allowing them to be privately run.

Yeah, that was a radical idea.

Here's the odd thing....if you look purely at viewership (evenings).....for some reason, ZDF has a bigger audience.  This has never been clearly explained. 

Me?  ZDF runs a lot of cop shows (soap-opera-like) between 6 and 8:15 PM...appealing to older viewers.  

Will any this trigger a change?  I doubt it.

Three Things To Wonder About

 1.  There's some weird type of 'purge' going on in Russia...with the KGB detaining/arresting Army generals.  If it were to just stay at five or six....it might be acceptable.

If you get up to around a dozen generals?  I'd  suggest that some meeting will be held  with the generals, and some  'purge' to start up with the Generals  taking down KGB officials, and then things would get pretty messy over a one-week period.

Scaring the crap out of the news media in Europe and the US?  Yeah, and this might be some lead-in episode where Putin is rapidly replaced and he ends up looking for some country to accept him for asylum.

2.  This new German political party (the Wagenknecht 'party')....has spoken up that they want language tests already designed for 3-year old kids, and mandated.

Reason.....bunch of kids showing up for German 1st grade and they can't speak the language.

Mandating some language training for 3-year old kids?  Yeah, this is pretty weird.

3.  Sabine Menke wrote an interesting piece for WELT today....entitled: “Universities flooded with people who have no business being there.”

If you can find the paper....it's a fairly critical piece that a number of kids end up in German colleges  and their level of interest doesn't really mean much in terms of the degree or resume-building. 

I'd argue that for the US side as well.

27 May 2024: Five German News Stories

 1.  ARD (public TV, Channel 1) had a news piece this AM....NATO supporting a position to 'provide' NATO weapons to the Ukraine....to be used against Russia.

Just inviting more trouble and various European countries ending up as terror targets in the end...if this plays out.

2. I watched through a 4-min piece from ARD (public TV, Channel 1).....about 3 years ago....a experiment was conducted in Germany about a 'unconditional' basic income project (limited scope, 1,200 Euro a month).

PhD folks sat there and did a study over the results....what they say is that the 1,200 Euro a month (done for three years) changed the outlook/prospective of people.

The problem I see....this project was only done with 122 German adults.  They had well over 2-million who applied and wanted in on the deal....but they only had cash for the 122.

My general view?  Even if you said it could change people's lives.....you (the gov't) don't have billions to throw at this.  I also don't think the majority of Germans who might 'fit' into this idea....have an idea how to use the cash to better themselves.  

I do agree....a high number of the people who vote for the Linke Party, Greens and SPD....are hyped-up and want to spend the money....even if it was marginally effective.

3. Over the past week or so....lot of chatter over racism and drunk Germans singing 'foreigners out'.

The news media, from all directions, have hyped-up the topic.  Drunk Germans though....will say a lot of BS, and half of it is wild-chatter is without much thought over the consequences.

It would be interesting to have a public forum show....starting off on minute 1, with six shots of whiskey, and having five political figures forced into a discussion on something....to see what they might say under the influence of alcohol.

4.  Weather pattern  odd?  

Over the past 90 days....just not a single day that I'd describe as 'overly warm'....above 30 degrees C (86 F).  Rainy days?  Probably some decent rainfall every 3rd day.  Unusual considering the past three years.

5.  The CDU Party (right-of-center) attempted to hold an-line computer 'vote' with party members.....to undo the ban on gas cars (2035) that the EU and the coalition have agreed to.

Well....something went wrong, and the CDU Party cancelled the vote....saying it was manipulated (85-percent of folks said they were in favor of the ban).  Hacked?  This is an odd question.

If you ask working class Germans....they aren't interested in getting an E-car, and they don't think the ban will ever occur.  

26 May 2024: 3 German News Stories

 1.  Interesting BILD story this am....survey by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK).  Data shows that a number of German small and medium-sized businesses are in a confidence spiral.  Quarter of those interviewed say their economic situation is pretty negative.  One out of five is talking about lessening their staff/worker levels in the future.

2.  Anniversary day....27 May 1972....ZDF (public TV) broadcasted Star Trek for the first time in Germany.  

3.  Health Minister got on a hyped-up chat this weekend....almost 360,000 retired Germans in a 'problem' with old-age-home crisis brewing.  Simply not enough space across the country.

Would add....increasing number of Germans going outside of the country to retire in old-age homes.

25 May 2024: 3 German News Stories

 1.  Couple of days ago....up on the vacation isle of Sylt...where usually only well-to-do Germans go to vacation and hang-out....a couple of folks  gathered up at a 'pub'....probably had a few beers, and then got into antisocial behavior....uttering 'auslanders aus' (foreigners out).  The trouble is....this was on some video, and was seen by a lot of people.

Criminal charges now filed against the guests of the place?  Yeah.  

Almost all of the political folks have staked out a position on this via social media....against the right-wing radicals.

The odd thing?  Maybe it's just me....but the isle and 'pub'....aren't where working class Germans go (the typical people who affix themselves to the right-wing stuff).  These folks probably are well-to-do and never associated themselves with right-wing radicals.  

So on a drunken behavior game?  Well....I hate to suggest it....but yeah. And this turning into a top news item over five days?  Yeah....that's the other odd feature of this.  

2.  Putin's crew arresting generals?  If you follow the past week....there's been a trend building up.  At some point....I would imagine a coup will take place....which may collapse very easily, or successfully work.  

3.  German federal police (according to WELT) are holding security talks of some type with about 50 German companies that say they are being targeted by radical environmental movements/gangs/clubs. 

No one is saying the names of either the commercial operations or groups, but one might get the impression that 'threats' are being conveyed, and this might be dragged into court....with jail time for environmentalists.

On the weird index....yeah, this will turn into a pretty messy affair, if arrests are made and court sessions are staged.  

Germany Saying Intention To Arrest Israel PM Netanyahu?

Well, this starts with the ICC saying they have an arrest warrant to bring Netanyahu to 'justice' (as well as the Hamas guy).

What Steffen Hebestreit, the spokesperson for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said  on Wednesday was that Germany would 'abide by the law.'  The hint is....if  Netanyahu were to visit Germany....he would be arrested.

The odd thing?  The Chief Prosecutor of Germany (from the FDP Party) didn't say this.  As much as Scholz thinks he has the power to exercise an arrest warrant....no, by German law.....the 'power' falls to Buschmann, Minister of Justice.  

He didn't utter a word.  Maybe Scholz had a talk with Buschmann....but you just don't see the right guy, with the right power....saying how things will go.

Any of this really being followed by Germans?  No.  I would argue that since the October 'invasion'....Germans might follow the day-to-day reporting out of the Gaza area....but they aren't really that supportive of the Hamas folks.  Even with German  public TV trying hard to sell victim's stories....I doubt if you could find more than 20-percent of the public who follow this or care about arresting Netanyahu.  

The one other odd aspect here?  Well....if you find reasons for Netanyahu to be on some 'arrest' situation......there must be at least 300 other people from around the globe are also 'fitting'.  From the European mafia scene?  Oh, there has to be at least a thousand people who ought to be arrested/detained, and you just don't see the Germans that aggressive or interested in flexing their muscles.  

As for Israel reacting?  Well...if they wanted mess with Scholtz....they'd drag out the business with hidden-money/money-laundering in Hamburg.  It wouldn't shock me if in a week or two....some Hamburg details suddenly came out.   

Tour Mental Note

 I made a tour of the Criminal Museum in Rothenburg and there's a fairly large display and collection over ehrenstrafen (punishment of honor, or public humiliation). 

It's an interesting trend from about 1000 to 1700s in Germany.

In a lot of cases, you didn't really need to hurt or torture a person....you just needed to humiliate them to such a degree....that they felt like 'crap' for years to come.

Keeping folks 'in-check'?  Oh, I'd argue that probably a majority of people  in some town of 3,000....were awful careful about their behavior and these little public events with dishonor....probably were continually done to remind folks about the realities of civilization.  

After WW II.....Germany wrote up in Paragraph 1 of the Basic Law....a simple text which prohibits cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments. 

Faked-Up Chatter

 I sat this week and watched a German TV journalist sign up for a digital girlfriend, and carry on a 30-day 'relationship'.

The fee-based system for the AI-'lady'?  Roughly 10 Euro a month.

Oddly....it was mostly a chat situation, and was supposed to be engaging people with 'talk'.

You could select certain traits of the girlfriend....like her being brilliant, or dimwitted.  You could have an image of her with big boobs, or being flat-chested.

The two-hour piece went through various fake relationships....from guys married to a digital creation (in Japan)....to guys feeling  happier with the digital gal than real women.

By the end....the one key thing I noticed....it was mostly two hours about guys in this faked-up world....NOT women in a faked-up world.  It just stands out like a sore thumb.

24 May 2024: 3 German News Stories

 1. Last night....the late interview show on  ZDF (public TV, channel 2)....the Markus Lantz Show....he had the chairpersons of the youth groups of the CDU, CSU, SPD, Greens and FDP political parties.

So the SPD Party youth 'boss' came up and said in some fashion....of the 226 German billionaires existing today....he wants to transform them into millionaires....meaning to tax them  to such an extent that they'd never reach billionaire status.  

The Green Party boss....not to be out done....wants to "empower" the citizens' allowance.....I guess in a sense to turbo-ize it, and make it much more substantial....meaning huge taxes.

Both are seeking to thrill their voters.....with probably the majority of German voters questioning where all this taxation would lead the country.

2.  German police got called to Humboldt University....to end a pro-Palestinian protest.  The Federal Justice Minister (Buschmann, FDP) made a statement....he's going to hold any instructor/professor involved in the 'act'.....accountable.

Meaning?  If you were among the students and are a employee of the school....you might want to freshen up your resume and expect some legal trouble. Buschmann is apparently not BSing around on this issue.

3.  Just an odd 'rental' story.  Denmark is out of space for jail-folks....so they worked up a deal to rent 300 'spaces' in Kosovo.  If you were on the bad-boy list....yeah, you could end up on a bus/plane....being sent into Kosovo to do your time there.  Might be another reason  to keep your act clean. 

Toured Rothenburg ob der Tauber Yesterday

 So driving about 2 hours SE of Wiesbaden, into Bavaria....I ended up yesterday at Rothenburg ob der Tauber yesterday.

First, if you've never been there....it's a 1300s-walled city...kept intact to some degree, and I'd describe it as an adult Disneyland tourist 'magnet'.  Don't go on a Saturday/Sunday......just way too many tourists.

Second, there are a couple of interesting museums in the town....where you can easily waste 90 minutes in each.  The two I would recommend?  The Christmas Museum (the whole history of Christmas laid out from a German prospective) is definitely worth going to visit.  The Criminal Museum?  Well....they put a lot of effort into laying out crime and justice over 2,000 years in German history.  The acts of torture, murder, and public humiliation were fairly laid out and makes you ponder a number of things about the trends/changes in German history.

Third, signs of inflation?  Yeah, there's no doubt that the food and beverage costs have gone up 30-percent over the past two or three  years.  Oddly, just driving there....we ended up stopping for fuel and having to use the autobahn toilet  facility.  It used to be 50-cents (Euro) to get access (probably for a decade).  They upped the price....a full Euro to do a number-one or number-two.  

Fourth, if you wanted the full experience of walking on cobblestones....this would be the place to do....the walled-city has kept  every inch of it's cobblestone features.

Fifth, police presence?  No....that was the odd thing....seven hours walking around and I didn't notice a single cop....or the necessity for them.

Making a trip there?  I'd suggest you drive up on a week-day late....stay overnight in a hotel within the walled-city....get up fresh the next day and spend most of the day getting the experience.  Parking the car?  Well....that's an issue and the city has large parking lots about a km or two outside of the place.  

On rating the place?  I'd say of the 10,000 places in Germany worth a visit....I'd edge it up into the top dozen places to spend a day.....with the two museums I mentioned helping to achieve that. 

23 May 2024: Five German News Stories

 1.  Charges coming up in Frankfurt for 6 ATM-bombers. Curious twist....prosecutor says since people were living in the upper structures of these buildings....he's preparing attempted murder charges.  

Just on the bombing stuff and robbery....they were probably going to face eight to twelve years.  With the attempted murder?  Unless they start talking networks and name others in the business....they could each be doing 20 years in prison.

2.  Odd story over a missing German.  Head of Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG, Andreas Schafhirt, disappeared about 2 months ago.  Wife reported him missing but cops haven't  found anything of the guy.  Flughafen had been suggesting he was on some medical situation.

3.  BASF likely to exit Germany?  Well....on Focus....they discussed the future strategy, and most of the operations  of the company will be led in China in the future.  Interesting piece worth reading.

4.  Not to get excited....but measles being reported around Berlin.

5.  Just noticed off RBB....Climate activists from the "Last Generation" are (after an art-attack and gluing themselves to the runway at BER, then damaging pipes at a oil refinery in Schwedt).....set to be charged.

What the Neuruppin public prosecutor's office says?  Among charges...suspicion of forming a criminal organization. 

This would be a pretty serious charge if the 'kids' are convicted.  

German Word: Verschlimmbessern?

 When you are sitting in the presence of a German, and they utter verschlimbessern...you are about to get some blunt criticism about something at work, or in your home, or with the government....that whatever was done for an effort....was CRAP (capitalized intentionally).

This is like some lawn project that had good intentions but looks crappy now.

This could also be a discussion about the SPD or Green Party....how they told you of some major fix they were up to, and it just wasn't something to brag about.

Kids using it?  I doubt it.

My German wife uttering it?  She probably utters it three or four times a year....talking about something in the US and how good intentions fell apart.

This philosophy?  

When I started out in the Air Force....I quickly understood the concept....'good enough for government work'....meaning that it didn't matter if it were fine work or marginal work....you weren't going to get a medal or promotion for the work.

Four Humble Thoughts

 1.  I sat and watched some short segment off ARD (public TV in Germany) news.  Topic?  Apparently there are various TikTok and Instagram 'coaches' out there...telling youthful Germans advice on how to date.

The ARD journalist sat through the pieces and basically offered up that it's crappy advice being given.  

After watching the segment....I'd just say if you were a German guy and followed the advice being given....ninety-percent of the time....the date would not get past the 20-minute point.  

But this begs the question.....has dating become so crappy and screwed-up....that you need some half-wit giving you stupid advice?

2.  I was sitting and watching some public TV news when the Anti-discrimination Commissioner (Ferda Ataman) came up and said that Article 3 of the German Constitution doesn't offer real protection for older/mature folks or LGTBQ-plus folks.

I sat and pondered over it.....wondering what 'real' meant in this discussion?

Most older Germans just want a real healthy pension, and respect....which I can't see any politician writing more text into Article 3.....to get either.

As for the LGTBQ-plus folks?  I'd hate to think that they'd walk in and ask for 14-page text piece to cover their concerns.  

3.  Yesterday....court case wrapped up from an attack in January 2023.  The guy attacked passengers on a regional train near Brokstedt (Hamburg region) with a kitchen knife.  In the end....two died and four were wounded.

Regional court sentenced the guy to life imprisonment.

So, the rest of the story.  The guy arrived in Germany in 2014, and applied for asylum (as a Palestinian).  Application?  Turned down, but then the Germans turned around and invented some way for him to stay.  It may be that the Gaza political folks wouldn't accept him back, but no one digs into this part of the story.

So what you see (ARD reports most of this)....the guy is continually in a refugee setting and continually argumentative.  He ends up in a court situation and doing time in jail.  When he finally gets released in early 2023....this is when he goes to the train and attack-situation.

Germans see these episodes and continually ask why they occur, and there's no real answer....other than the court system will eventually catch up and put each into long-term handling.    

4.  I ended up at a Mainz steak-house last night.  Total for the 300 gram Argentine steak, salad, baked-potato and half-liter of beer?  Forty-seven Euro.  Yeah, it was expensive.

22 May 2024: Five German News Stories

 1.  WELT had a piece discussing pharmacy shortages in Germany.  What the German pharmacy managers are saying....somewhere down the line, in the not so faraway future....you will have a prescription and have to 'wait' (meaning more than hours).  

2.  Just a unusual amount of advertising on various TV networks....to encourage the 16 an 17 year old 'kids' to vote in the EU election.  

About a month ago, some German journalist pointed out that things have evolved in Germany with teen-voters, and that maybe 20-percent will currently vote for the right-wing AfD Party.  When this trend gets up to one-third of the youth-vote, then there will be a fair amount of stress and worry in what they did.

3.  Lennart Pfahler wrote an opinion piece for WELT....suggesting there's a fair number of Germans now existing....who have lost trust in the 'foundations' of the German Federal Republic....this going  along with the current court case of the Reich crowd.

I might agree....but it goes beyond Germany....you see it throughout Europe, and the US.  Political 'trust' is a lot less than it  was 30 years ago.

4.  Odd piece of N-TV news this AM....BYD car company (Chinese) has been delivering a lot of their E-cars  to the north coast port.  Cars are currently sitting there, and someone has come notice a fair amount of mold on the interior.  

5.  I noticed a political trend graphic on N-TV.....if elections were held today, the CDU would likely win with 32-percent of the vote.  2nd place?  SPD, with 16-percent.

Real loser?  Linke Party....with 3-percent, and they would not be given seats in the Bundestag.  

Odd place for new BSW Party?  Next to last with 5-percent.  It almost seems like their voters were former Linke folks.  

21 May 2024: Five German News Stories

 1.  German Attorney General/Justice Minister....says he wants various housing mandates/regulations reformed/lessened.....to help speed up housing construction.

2.  Lightning strike in the Saarland yesterday.....youth camp tent....authorities says around 38 injured.  Odd thing....it struck twice.

24 hours later....four of the wounded are in pretty fragile condition. 

3.  Odd political stance noticed recently....two particular political parties have taken up a anti-US stance  (AfD, the right-wing folks....and BSW, the newly created left-wing party).

If you asked me about vote counts for next year's national election....between the two parties....they likely will take 25-percent combined.  But no real connection between the two....other than this anti-US stance.  

4.  German N-TV did a pretty fair and insightful segment on Prince Reuss (under pretty serious charges) and the "Reich citizen network".....suggesting that the “Reichsbürger” crowd are deep into conspiracy theories, and not that mentally balanced.

I don't think Prince Reuss will ever be leaving jail.

I probably came to that level of thought about two to three years ago over the Reichsbürger folks.  At some point in their planning for a coup....they actually believed once they remove the Chancellor.....that the German military would agree to come under their 'rule'.

5.  Watched a business segment on N-TV.....they had the president of the employers' association Gesamtmetall give a interview.  He says it's now possible that "deindustrialization" is about to start in Germany.  Job losses? Well...he hints of possibly 50,000 jobs 'lost'.  

19 May 2024: Six German News Stories

 1.  More rain yesterday?  Yeah.

For my area (Wiesbaden).....I'd say since 1 Jan....we are about 130 percent of normal rainfall for this time of year, and things are awful green.  The previous three years?  From mid-March to mid-August....it was pure drought conditions, with only two or three marginal  (light) rainfalls.  

I looked at the predicted weather for the next 7 days....rain on five of them predicted.  Just odd compared to last year.  

2.  Curious Focus article.....interview with Jürgen Hesse.  

The Berlin graduate psychologist talks up the issue that among various problems affecting German industry.....there are various managers with troublesome personalities.

He wrote the book: “My boss is crazy, yours too?” 

He suggests that in the range of six to twenty percent of bosses...they don't have the talent/skills for the job.

3.  Defense Minister Pistorous asking for 3.8-billion Euro for 2024....for Ukraine's defense requirements.

4.  Russia has confiscated the assets (at least within Russia) of the German Commerzbank, and the Deutsche Bank.  

5.  FDP Party says they want to dump the 8-hour work-day.  I'm skeptical of whatever replaces it.

6.  Austrian cops say they confiscated weapons (plural) and a smart-phone with ISIS BS/propaganda material of a minor (age 14, girl).  Plan had been in the works to attack "infidels" using knives and an axe. Location?  Graz, Austria. 

Charges?  Well....she's a minor so you can't do that much.  

What Is The Federal Clinic Atlas?

Well, the German Health Ministry has gone out and gathered up statistics....to say how hospitals/clinics compare.

Naturally, this is getting a lot of hype....some critical.

Bad news for some hospitals?  Well....yeah....if you start talking about nursing shortages or infections....this database gives you a pretty good image of what to avoid.

Site?  Here.

Legal troubles?  I think it's going to put pressure on the low-performers....either improve or shut-down.  

18 May 2024: Five German News Storiies

 1.  Interesting piece off Focus today....German Green Party official....Katharina Horn....is  interviewed and talking up the amount of criticism and 'attacks' against Green Party folks in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania region.

Would appear confrontations in public places up, and people fairly aggravated over Green Party platforms and accomplishments.

I'll just say from my prospective....it used to be Germans were either pro-or-con on political groups.  I think generally, we've reached  a stage where a fair number are now anti-AfD, and want to let you know how they feel, and this in turn....has generated a second wave....people who are anti-Green, and want to be open about how they feel (perhaps being slightly more physical than the anti-AfD folks).  

2.  Lot of flooding this AM in the Saarland, from yesterday's rainfall.

3.  State of Hessen (where I live) now reports that roughly 3 out of 4 people who get Burgergeled (welfare money) are of a migration background.

4.  Germany's Justice Minister gave a interview yesterday, and says the soccer championships about to start....will possibly present terror situations in Germany.

5.  Germany has passed name-law....effective in May 2025....where double-names (when you marry) will be totally acceptable across the country.  Change also says between the two...there must be a hyphen.  Story here.

16 May 2024: Four German News Stories

 1.  Slovakian PM Robert Fico was shot yesterday.  Hospital reports this AM say he will survive.  Location? Handlova. 

Shooter?  Older guy...motivation is unknown.

2.  CDU Party talking up some type of draft law....if you were to demonstrate for a Caliphate....it'd be handled by the police and it would be a chargeable crime.  Yeah, it's a pretty radical push (on both ends).

The thing is....if you bring up the Islamic protests and this Caliphate chatter....I'd suggest two-thirds of Germans are pretty irate over the idea.

3.  Group of German economists are pushing for car tolls.  Going to be pretty difficult to convince the public to accept the idea.

4.  Chinese car company Ora making a car that strongly resembles the old VW 'Bug'.  4-door design. 

Explaining This Odd Legal Case Against A AfD Party Official

 So the way this goes....the Halle regional court finally ended the case against the Thuringian AfD  'boss'....Björn Höcke (who happens to be running in the state election of Thuringia in the fall).

Verdict?  Guilty and assigned a fine of 13,000 Euro.

Accusation/charge?  Well....this goes back to a speech he gave three years ago....where he uttered: “Everything for our homeland, everything for Saxony-Anhalt, everything for Germany.”  That last piece....'for Germany'....was a Nazi slogan from the 1930s.

I don't know the number, but there are probably dozens of Nazi slogans on the forbidden list to recite in public speeches.  

As for this harming his fall election bid?  I'd say from the 'experts' that ARD/ZDF (public TV news folks) ran out last night....they are of the mind that it harms AfD.

I'm not of that frame of mind.  People who are 'stuck' on AfD....do it primarily because of failed migration and immigration policy (of the past decade).....which neither the CDU or SPD can do or say much to rectify the perception of this 15-to-20 percent of the voting public.

Next up?  Some folks believe if you can ID the AfD as Nazi-like....you can strike them out as a political party and forbid their participation.  All that would do....is create a whole new party out of thin air, and give the same voters the perception that you are unwilling to work on migration or immigration problems. 

On the guy's guilt?  I don't think he accidentally found the slogan or accidentally used it....it seems awful intentional. As for the fine....he'll probably just pass the hat around for a couple of days and get 13k Euro to pay off the court system.

Germany Defense Chatter

 Late last week....Germany's Defense Minister (Boris Pistorius, SPD Party, considered  future candidate for Chancellor) gave a speech in Washington that said two big things.  First, there would have to be some type of re-introduction of the draft/conscription in Germany.  Second....Germany's defense budget in the future would have to be 3 percent GDP spending.  On this GDP talk.....he's stepping on a Merkel tradition that it rarely ever went above 1.5 percent, but it would be more than enough to get a positive view by Trump (if he does win in November) and ensure no US base closures.

Odds of either event happening?  Well....I give it zero.

Today though, an odd statement or two came out via both the SPD Party and the CDU/CSU Party.  Both hinted that some new draft probably would be created.

Creating a 'trick' to entice young recruits to accept a draft?  I think if you said that pulling a 2-year draft deal....meant three years of earlier retirement in life (paid-early-retirement) would be such a trick.

Creating some kind of housing account where the gov't gifted you 5,000 Euro a year for a future house purchase, if you accepted some draft deal?  That might also entice folks.

Getting to the 3 percent GDP level?  You'd have to cut somewhere in a major way, and I don't see this being accepted in a election year (2025).  

15 May 2024: Five German News Stories

 1.  I was sitting watching N-TV news yesterday, and this 'train-emergency' story came up.  Story here.

An Iraqi refugee guy, with a rare dialect....was on a train going out of Munich and had to be sure where to switch to the next train.  So he asks this German gal onboard....using the translation App on his smart-phone about this.

Well....he types in the Arabic words (dialect  involved), then it translates.....to say 'something-something' in German, with the word 'explosion'.

Yep, freaks the lady out....she runs to get help....train stops...cops arrive to detain/arrest the guy.

They do a bomb exam of the train after getting everyone off, and up to this point, he (the Iraqi) can't understand the 'event'.

You can be amused but Germans are at a point where they get real worried about terror acts.

2.  Some business fronts are taking a position against the 15-Euro minimum wage increase being discussed.

3.  New party, BWS, talking up a odd pension upgrade.....up to 2,000 Euro of income....with no taxation.  Might be a fair number of Germans supporting this idea.

4.  New Russian Defense Minister says recklessly throwing Russian troops into battle....is the wrong strategy, if they intend to win.  I think you are going to see a rapid slow-down in the war.....with lines drawn.  

5.   There's supposed to be a major reform of healthcare throughout Germany....led by the coalition gov't.  Well....doctors and nurses have looked at the package, and said it creates a huge bureaucracy....with longer waiting lists.  Driving force for the reform?  Limits have been hit on money in the pot to run things. 

14 May 2024: Five German News Stories

 1.  I strongly recommend a read of a Focus article (here)...over the BMW boss/CEO....who says the gas-car ban in 2035 is absolutely stupid/crazy.  All of this is coupled with the move toward E-cars, which it seems to have peaked out in 2023 on interest in Germany.

2.  Minimum wage push is on....to raise the rate to 15 Euro.

3.  Former Chancellor Merkel's memoir will be published in November....700 pages. It'll sell but just not at the rate that people think it would.  Her popularity was already peaking in 2015/2016.  

4.  Six percent wage increase for members of the Bundestag this summer.

5. Oddly, yesterday, some general from the Russian military was arrested.  Chatter is corruption charges.  You might see dozens detained shortly.....which might trigger some crazy coup business.   

The War Change

 Where this firing of the Defense Minister in Russia is going?

Well...in comes the new guy.....no background in the military....just a economics/budget guru.  

Right away.....the generals are going to freak out because he won't understand the past 'deal'.  

Correct....he's not there to continue the trends of the past seventy-odd years.  He is there to handle a broke budget....people siphoning off money....generals financing their retirement packages, and wasted crap.

I'll just go and make three predictions here:

1.  Over the next year....one-third of the generals will be deemed unnecessary and retired (don't go expecting much on pensions).

2.  I have my doubts that this guy is still alive in twelve months.

3.  The war is going to shift, with Putin eventually going to say he's reach a stability phase, and 'owns' the territory he wanted to control. No treaty...just a hold-phase.

Five Things I Got Out Of My Village 'Fest' This Past Weekend

 1.  I walked over about 7 km of streets in the village (4,000 residents), and probably saw about 80 potholes.  I can't seem to remember it this bad before.

2.  From the female attire business for teenage girls...yeah, there's some odd trend with stretch gym attire (wearing something 2 sizes smaller than what they'd fit) or some weird thin pajama-like pants.  I can see where teachers back in August were saying this was a 'problem'.  

3.  Probably forty-odd women (in their 30s/40s) with a significant amount of tattoo art (from pricing, a minimum of 3k Euro of art).  Seems to be a trend.  I'm not saying it's 'good' art or such....just some form of expression.

4.  Lot of broken glass around the village on Saturday and Sunday morning....I'd say well over 100 bottles broken.  

5.  Lot of beer and soda bottles....just standing there.  Deposit value?  Probably 50 Euro that I saw in a matter of 2 hours walking around.  A kid with a wagon could have easily hauled off the bottles/can for deposit value.

Conclusion of the Tesla Factory Protest?

 Well, not really.

Police say from the weekend....23 arrests and 27 police injured/wounded.

Local regional authorities are supposed to approve expansion of the plant on Thursday.....so the protest crowd says they intend to stay and mount more protests.

Cost of police?  From the region and surrounding states....around 1,500 police were brought in....so it wasn't cheap.

What the Economics Minister (Habeck) said?  'Criminal liability' now starts up....meaning the state/fed authority will seek damages.  I would imagine less than 10-percent of the arrested have real jobs....most are probably students.  

What's odd about all of this?  The only plant they seem to protest over....is the Musk-owned Tesla plant.  

Musk choice of location?  It is a rural area (abundant water resources, lot of lakes in the region).....about an hour's drive from Berlin.  It is a former DDR state, and was in deep need for jobs.  He felt locals would readily accept the plant for jobs.  

Where the protest crowd comes from?  No one really states that or conducts interviews.  Plenty of video and commentary from the police.  After a while, you get the impression that it is orchestrated/planned out to be 'mysterious'.  

13 May 2024: Five German News

 1.  German garbage authority discussing massive 'enforcement' on bio-garbage cans.  They say non-bio materials are being found, and they are about to enforce an 'audit' on people....with fines, if you violate what is put into the can.  

2.  Oddly, Putin has apparently fired his Defense Minister (Shoigu).  Doesn't mean much of anything changes.

Here is the shocker though....the new Russian Defense Minister?  Civilian Andrei Beloussov....he's a economics expert....not formerly a general.

Acceptance of this?  I suspect a lot of Generals will be shaking their heads.  

3.  WELT published an article entitled: "How Jesus Would Have Dealt With The AfD Party."

Basically trying to suggest that religious counter-efforts would downsize AfD.  To be honest, at this point....the amount of sarcasm and negativity with the Church folks...probably wouldn't help to counter-balance things.

4.  RTL TV to run some summer series....'Jungle-Camp'.....with past 'stars' of the series.  

5.  Major fire over the weekend at a Warsaw mall building....1,400 shops gone...completely burned down.

12 May 2024: Four German News Stories

 1.  Not that I'm into the European Song Competition (last night)....but at the end...the Swiss kid won....got on stage (must have been near 1 AM), got all excited, drops the trophy.  Pretty emotional moment for him, and he fell apart.

2.  2,300 Islamic folks (mostly men) had a demonstration yesterday.....pushing for a Caliphate.  I would suggest that they are trying to push it across to other regions.  So far, this has only been done in the Hamburg region.

3.  Finance Minister (FDP) is asking SPD/Greens if it's really necessary to finance bicycle paths in Peru, with their 'gift' funds.

4.  The Berlin Blockade....ended 75 years ago today.  

What's With The Protest At The Tesla Factory?

I've scanned about 15 different sources (from public TV, to local newspapers)....so to sum up the basic protest activity at the Tesla factory:

1.  Couple hundred activists (dressed in black) rode the train down to the Tesla factory in Grünheide on Friday....about an hour south of Berlin.

2.  Some (doesn't appear all) did get to the outer fence area.  Here....local and state police halted them.....arresting/detaining a couple of folks. 

3.  If you were around the Freienbrink autobahn exit area....you could not exit/enter....because of police efforts.

4.  Supposedly, the group (whoever they are) suggest that they will have more efforts to enter the facility on Saturday.

5.  Cops prepared (they had water cannons stationed there)....so they must have had prior 'intelligence' over what was developing.

6.  Charges on those arrested?  "Act of resistance, breach of the peace, damage to property, violations of the Assembly Act and trespassing" were list.  Generally, as long as you offered to pay for your damages.....you could probably get off half of these and spend less than a month in some jail.  On trespassing?  I'm not sure how the judge might view things.  The fact that 21 police were injured?  Well....that's a problem for the protest folks if you can prove it in court.  

7.  Why?  Well....Tesla is 'evil', 'capitalistic', etc.  The other comment that comes out.....local authorities are accused of 'selling-out'....meaning that they were motivated in some way to support E-car construction.  

8.  Reviewing Twitter and RBB public commentary?  I'd say it's pretty divided, with a fair number of Germans hyping up that forest destruction was readily approved for the plant, and in the mind of some....unnecessary.  

This would bring me to the idea.....why pick a remote forest area....when you could have easily picked a 'dead' town like Rostock (208k) or Kaiserslautern (90k)?  Both would have fairly large areas of industrial parks....closed factories and waiting for new 'money'.

9.  Right-wingers?  So far....no one utters that phrase for this crew....oddly.  No Nazi symbiology or slogans.  They just appear to be kids out for the extended weekend, for the thrill of getting arrested and camping out in the woods.

My view?  If you don't do much of anything....with the trend downward spiraling on E-car sales....in less than three years....the factory will shut down, and you can get all hyped-up about the loss of a couple thousand jobs locally.  

11 May 2024: 3 German News Stories

 1.  For most who've lived in Germany for a while.....you know of the limited open-situation for stores.  Well....up in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the state has changed the open-Sunday rule, and will be allowing new-tech grocery stores (unmanned) to be open.  Gut feeling?  The other 15 states will follow on this and likely all have such a open-rule by summer of 2025.

2.  Last night....in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania....they had a new 'beach-bar' to open up.  Well...couple of hours into operation....a brawl starts.  What the cops say....about 2,000 people showed up at the pool complex, and various fights started up between teenagers and adults. This went on for three hours apparently.  

Just guessing....fair amount of alcohol probably fits into the story. At one point, the cops say 40 people were brawling.

3.  German Defense Minister (Pistorius) is pressing ahead on some type of 'draft' deal.  I don't see any real support for this within the Bundestag.

10 May 2024: Seven German News Stories

 1.  Regional piece from HR.  Ruckus starting up in Frankfurt.  Complaints about noise over outdoor cafes/restaurants...with the push on to shut them down by a certain hour.  Time  discussed?  10 PM.

The problem here....most of these operations....operating to midnight, were still drawing people at 10 and 11 PM. Friday and Saturday night were a big deal.

2.  The wife and I spent a couple of hours  (3)....at the village fest.  It opened up yesterday for four days.  

So the typical food and beverage cost on day one (for us) would be around 40 Euro.  Yesterday?  It came close to 55 Euro.  Doesn't matter what you had to drink or eat....everything was 20-percent or more higher.  Bumper  cars?  If you rode them....it'd be 5 Euro for a round.  

3.  Kassel here in Hessen....has a yearly art-fest.  Past years....lot of complaints over what was presented (being anti-Jew in nature).  So there's a lot of examination prior to permission to present your form of art.  Past mayors of the town have stood up and said there's too much regulation now to present art.

4.  I watched a German game-show last night....where images of people were presented to people to identify.  So the picture of Pistorious (the German Defense Minister, and considered top guy for Chancellor for the SPD Party in the 2025 election).  Out of the eight German adults (most  all seemed  over age 30)....only one person recognized the guy (by name) and knew his job.

A bad sign for the election process?  Well....if you were pitching him for Chancellor.....you really need to have people readily recognize him.

5.  There is a German law which stipulates 20-percent of the German Army should be women (or transwomen, if you prefer).

Well....presently, it's at 13-percent and not really trending upward.

Lot  of chatter that they need to fix this.  Hard to imagine how that would occur.

6.  There is some plan to run a individual club 'World Cup' in June of 2025....meaning it's not a country versus country deal.....but club versus club.  But this is not being accepted by the players (they say the calendar is too full).  FIFA mess to clean up.

7.  Odd story from Baden-Wurttemberg....6-year old German kid in back seat of car....on the autobahn.  Kid was given fireworks (no one says who gave it to him)....but he lit the firecracker....triggering a fire and suspected smoke inhalation.  At least that is how the police explain  it.

Both the kid and mom taken to the hospital  over the smoke.  Had this been my wife....the kid would have been on home-lock-down for five years. 

Greek Chatter

 There is an effort going on in Greece....because of a lack of manpower and the low-birth-rate....to create a 6-day-a-week standard.  Germans are looking at how this occurred and it came up in business news today.

By law....it affects most work-situations in Greece...EXCEPT gov't workers (yeah, go figure).

Date of starting?  1 July 2024.

Chief focus?  If your company has a 7-day schedule (bus company is a good example), then you are affected.

Extra pay?  What they say....40-percent more.  

This having various causes?  Yes.  You can also point of the exodus of young Greeks from five to ten years ago....seeing more job opportunities in Germany.  

9 May 2024: Six German News Stories

 1.  I mentioned that attack on former mayor of Berlin (Giffey) yesterday....well, cops now say the guy is 74 years old, and mentally ill....no real motivation.

2.  Just an odd piece on Focus this AM....discussing germs/bacteria on bank notes (Euro bills).  Released by Sparkasse (the big German bank).  Just the way it sounds....if you were being paid for something in cash (bills)...there is some risk of a bug being passed around.  

Yeah, it sounds like you should spray your bills down with some 'cleaning' agent.  I wouldn't advise it.  But this 'warning' would hype up people.

3.  Major CDU Party player (Kretschmer) is voicing the idea that part-time work is NOT a right, and that Germans ought to go back to the standard 40-hour a week deal.

I reviewed the numbers....from 2022, the German average (per person) was 34.7 hours per week.  

If you polled the public....I'd say that three out of four Germans employed....prefer in the 34 to 36 hours range, and it'd be awful hard to convince them to reverse things....going back to 40 a week. 

For companies, you have to plan around this, and have extra employees....to make up the missing four to six hours.  In a company like Audi or BMW....it might be a big deal.

4.  There is talk at both state and federal levels of Germany....of new punishments for attacking (physically) politicians.  

I'm guessing even if they pass this....it'll be challenged in court...on the logic that all citizens should have the same protection from threats/harm....not just politicians.

5.  WELT item....Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg got dragged into court for resisting arrest.  So the judge in this case....asked if she has a job or income.  'No' was the answer.  

6.  Germany up for the FIFA World Cup deal in 2027?  NO.  FIFA has rated them down on the list....Brazil moves up.

8 May 2024: Three German News Stories

 1.  Campaign efforts for the EU election are going on (lot of posters, and chatter by various parties).  In recent days...especially over in the Saxony region (far east)....couple of politicians have been physically attacked.  Latest....former mayor of Berlin (Giffey).  Cops say in her case....one guy came up from behind with a bag (hard objects inside) and hit her in the head/shoulder.  Guy ran off....asked for a motive, the police could give none. 

2.  ZDF (public TV, Channel 2) had a 90-min piece last night (8:15)....called 'How Are You, Germany.'

So they lined up around 20 Germans with complaints, and in the studio (live), they had representatives from the various political parties.  

Complaint X would come up and the seven folks would explain things.  

Failed points of the SPD Party efforts kinda stood out (example, the housing crisis).  

I was impressed with the Zoom-like hook-up and amount of technology to present things.  I wasn't that impressed with the political folks, and the answers.

One key thing dragged up on the housing crisis and problems building new homes/apartments.....tons of regulations have been added over the years, and this is hindering construction or making a longer process.   On this point, the AfD guy (right-wing) blasted away.

If you want to watch it?  Still up over at this site.

3.  WELT had a report this AM...talking over how 'Citizens money' (welfare) has changed the dynamics of Germans having less desire to work.  If your welfare payment is the same as you'd make with work....the desires lessen.

What I Missed

 Yesterday, I went to my local 'Globus' (the Wal-Mart-like store in the region).

So the wife and I left the store at 15:30.

Round about 16:00....all hell broke loose in the store (cops say).

What the police say....four guys came in with canvas bags and were aiming to walk out of the electronics department....with a fair amount of stuff.

They were noticed...approached by employees....then one of the guys pulls out a knife and goes to waving it around.  Freaks out customers.

Police get called.

By the end, two were detained and two drove off. 

7 May 2024: Four German News Stories

 1.  Curious deal....crisis summit by the coalition (SPD-Green-FDP).  Problem?  FDP is stalling the new pension package deal.  Some people believe this is the beginning of the end of the coalition....with a new election likely by September this year (year ahead of time).

2.  Fungus and pathogen called 'Candida auris' is spreading rapidly around in Germany.  If you are healthy....no problem.  If you have a weakened immune system.....you need to worry.

3.  Court system finally reached their view on extra 'new' costs of the Stuttgart-21 railway  program....they are handing the rest of the bill to the Bahn folks.  Meaning?  Bahn will have to find 6.5-billion Euro.  So prepare for a massive upswing in 2024 and 2025 on ticket prices.

4.  CDU Party saying they want to bring back the 'draft' to the German military. 

It Is Kinda Funny

 Back over the past twenty years....if you asked most Germans how youth-voters (meaning 16-to-20 year old Germans) were trending....the majority of older Germans would respond....they were trending toward left-causes...or the SPD Party/Green Party.

I sat and read through a Focus piece written by Julia Rohrs.  She says there's a new trend, and it worries people.

Young voters are now trending toward the right.

'Problem kids'?  Well....that's the suggestion.

Should folks worry?  I'm not if 'worry' is the word I'd use.

Some of this I think....is social media attention (not X/Twitter....but TikTok).  

Some of it relates to the way that the Ukraine/Russia war is trending.

Some relates to economic problems.

Overwhelming issue?  No....to what they suggest....maybe one out of five is trending this way.  Now, if we got to a point where one out of three folks were hyped-up and consumed for right causes....yeah, it might be worth discussing.

The odd factor here?  No one seemed that worried when the group was trending heavily to the left.  

Five Q-and-A

 1.  For the German 2025 national  election....if Scholz is 'swapped-out' with Pistorous....do the election numbers change?

So to the reality of this funny topic....back in 2021, most everyone agreed that Scholz wasn't really a person to 'sell' a brand, but the CDU Party (Merkel's crowd) did everyone a favor by finding a lesser desirable chancellor candidate.

My humble view....once we get to December 2024....Pistorous will be given a 'nod' and enter the Chancellor election phase.  

The SPD problem then?  They've not impressed anyone for four years.  They need a 'brand' to sell, and the only voters they will attract are Green Party voters.  So what I see is a fair loss for the Green Party (them drifting down to 12-percent) and Pistorous able to get up around 25-to-28 percent for the SPD.  It might be enough to marginally win....if the CDU Party can foul things up a 2nd time.

2.  Is there a punctuality problem with the German railway system?

Look....go back to the 1970s, and trains were always about 70-percent on-time (meaning  within 5 min of the schedule).  From a personal view....even with all the gadgets and management....nothing has improved that much or gotten worse over 50 years. 

If anything....there are fewer operational toilets on the trains, and that's more or less....a mystery why they can't fix them.

3.  Are German guys more 'point-magnets' for losing their driving license?

The fed system says.....with data to back it up....three-quarters of the people who get points via traffic tickets...are men.  Eventually, I suspect that insurance companies will invent a rate that cut car insurance for women in Germany.

4.  All this Caliphate chatter worrying folks?

What you had in Hamburg was a protest situation with about 1,000 to 1,500 protest folks who want a Islamic Caliphate system working in Germany.....meaning the Islam folks have one set of rules/laws, and the non-Islam folks would just keep cruising with normal German rules/laws.

Public TV hyped the protest, but so far.....hasn't been a lot of similar actions in other parts of Germany.

If you did approach the 5.5-million Muslims in Germany (bulk are Turks).....asking about this idea....I suspect  90-percent would just start laughing because they can't take it serious, and they don't want alcohol, cannabis, or stringent lifestyles inflicted upon them.  From the remaining 10-percent, half of them would probably tell you that mixing politics and religion creates a 'Frankenstein-like' mess.

Yet, this drilled up public forum topics for at least a month.

5.  Lot of discounts on Chinese E-cars in Germany?

Well....for several weeks, it's been openly discussed.  Probably more cars sitting on the lots than expected from a year ago.

Russia Economic Conditions

For those who don't know.....Gazprom is the Russian company that pumps oil/natural gas, and probably is the bulk of the reason why Russia had it's significant GDP for the past forty-odd years.

2023?  Record  loss.  Loss of 6.4-billion Euro for the year. 

Reason?  It goes to two problems.....Europe quit buying their natural gas/oil, and the crew that helped to make 'pumping' work (from the ground to the distribution point....were European high-tech energy companies.....who no longer operate in Russia.

I talk about this for the sole reason....everything that made Russia into a 'big' player in the world of commerce....revolved around natural gas and oil.  Without that mechanism....they slide down into the level below Brazil, India, or Mexico.  A back-up marketing or profits tool?  No....none.

So this idea of rebuilding their military?  It's a joke unless the war ends and relationships start back up with consumer countries.

I'll also offer this humble thought....if you were a Russian billionaire before all of this started, you've probably lost half of your fortune, and see little incentive to remain in Russia and wait this out. I would imagine most have seen enough....to exit and find some quiet place in Asia...to just hang out.  

3 May 2024: Five German News Stories

 1  Interesting FOCUS piece written by Ulrich Reitz.  Topic?  Coalition gov't having to deal with Islamism, the push for a 'Kalifat', and where things are evolving into.  You can read the piece here.

What the Hamburg police report from the protest in recent days....a sum of the people there....were ethnic Germans....born within Germany (meaning they are 2nd  or 3rd generation Germans....mostly of a Turkish nature).  

2.  In my area (just outside of Wiesbaden)....from 8 PM last night...just a ton of rain.  Probably in the 6-to-8 inch range.

3. EU offering Lebanon a 'deal'.....to hold back Syrian refugees....billion Euro a year.  Probably a decade too late.

4.  Frankfurt city officials have signed off....will allow topless swimming at all city pools. Supposed to bring gender equality.

5.  Chatter going on....France may send it's troops to the Ukraine if the current front collapses.  

How My Day Went

 I ended up today in Mannheim...for the Mai-Markt...the big Pfalz 'expo'.  So six things:

1.  If you never been.....it's last week of April....first week of May.  10 Euro per adult.  Wouldn't advise to bring kids.

2.  Big item for this show?  Balcony-mounted solar panels....must have been 12 distribution companies showing off their stuff.

3.  I went by Bahn.....I will just say the system worked as advertised.

4.  New fashion trend?  One out of fifteen women wearing fitness-work-out pants....meaning every inch of the butt is prominent.  Ok for a fitness club....wrong item for school or some public event.

5.  Food is 20-percent higher than 4 years ok.  I had what was classified as a 'Swank-steak' sandwich.....cut about 50-percent of what you'd typically expect but normal charge.

6.  Had to wait for 70 minutes at the Mannheim train station.....waited mostly out front of the building.  Two cops on patrol.....they must have checked ID on 15 guys while I was standing there.....NONE of them German types. Just odd....being fairly aggressive.  But none of the 15 had any issues (they all had their ID).

2 May 2024: Three German News Stories

 1.  Interesting piece  on Focus, written by Gabor Steingart, entitled: "The idiocy with the ban on combustion engines - 5 reasons why we'll soon get rid of it again."

Basically, he lays out that the EU ban on selling  gas/diesel car after 2035....is likely come up for another vote after the EU election, and could be tossed....meaning that the German ban is then gone in some fashion.

I'll just say that the hype from the public in Germany has hit a max-point.....maybe one out of five desire an e-car. 

2.  16 Amazon delivery vans in Berlin have been lite on fire in recent days.  Some group is saying they are responsible.

3.  Cops in Kaiserslautern got called Tuesday night....some late-30's guy going nuts.  They tried to get him calmed down....things went badly....so they resorted to the stun-taser.  Guy collapses.....ends up dying.

Investigation against the two cops started up now.

What the witnesses say (mostly relatives)...guy was acting funny and inflicting cuts upon himself.....before the cops arrived.