31 July 2024: Seven German News Stories

1.  ARD (public TV, Channel One) went and did a analytical review of Sahra Wagenknecht's BSW Party (the new folks).  What they say....various pieces of the platform for the party....oddly lines up with Russian propaganda.  They aren't saying that the group is Putin-friendly....just that the platform seems close to propaganda stuff.

To be honest, with the 10-percent of polling showing for BSW....most seem connected to either former Linke Party voters or far-left SPD voters.

2.  New property tax 'rules' are falling into place....lot of people will be getting higher taxes.  Example, a retired couple in Stuttgart with a detached house...used to pay 195 Euro a year.  They got their cost in the past week....amounting to 2,875 Euro. 

To explain the property tax 'trend'?  The court system said around 3 years ago that the national property tax law was 'unfair'.  So they put pressure on the Bundestag to re-invent the property law.  Lot of people warned....whatever came out of this...would  likely be a mess.  Most people assume that their taxes would rise 25-percent.  Meaning?  Most paid in the region of 200 to 300 Euro per year.....so they were expecting a bill of 250 to 375 Euro.  If they start getting 1,000 to 3000 Euro bills....it'll be a problem.

I'll predict, unless the Bundestag really gets dragged into the mess.....probably 10-percent of German property owners who are retired will be looking at the idea of selling their house, and moving out of the county.

I'm still waiting on my wife to get her estimate....I'm already guessing she will go ballistic with the property tax probably quadrupling (minimum).

3.  Interesting piece out of Focus yesterday morning....topic of "Berliner on outdoor pool violence: When my family swims here, I’m scared.”

Parent worried about pool violence and brawls....which weren't common until you get to the past decade.  Of added note, they are clear....it's both a German and non-German problem now in terms of fights.

4.  Massive storms expected by tonight across bulk of Germany.  

5.  Someone polled general public in Germany about this idea of new US cruise missiles to be stationed in Germany.  Just over 50-percent said it was a bad idea.  Going to be a Bundestag discussion over this.   I don't expect the Greens or far left elements of the SPD  to agree to the idea.

6.  Some German doctor  has triggered a reaction in a village.....saying he'll only treat 'customers' who speak German or bring a translator with them.  

7.  Around the Garda Sea in Italy....a local 'problem-bear' was finally hunted down and killed.

30 July 2024: Seven German News Stories

 1.  From Focus: there's this aid organization called “Die Arche”, which has the job of helping kids and young people in Germany....that you would refer to as socially disadvantaged. 

In a interview....the group says now that their help has reached a limit.

Reason?  Mostly because of the in-flow of refugees. What they suggest?  A freeze of some type on the admission of refugees." 

Odds of the political system realizing the problem or agreeing?  I'd give almost a zero-percent chance.

In the talk....what the chief points at....there's way too many 11-year-old kids walking around with knives now.  This is a situation that they never had to react to before.

2.  German gov't goal of heat-pumps to be sold yearly?  500,000.

For 2024?  So far, 90,000 and the trend line is lessening each month. What is selling oil-heating systems.....which most people were thinking they would be obsolete by now.

3.  Typically, on a German police 'blotter' (public report)....German cops usually don't announce if the crime was committed by a suspected non-German.  Hessen state police will say  'southern appearance'....to mean it probably wasn't a German.

So I read this AM....WDR (northwestern German public TV) says police in NRW....are about to make it the practice of saying if the suspect in a crime is non-German/foreigner.

Big deal?  If you had all sixteen states doing this, and it got into the national statistical database....it might shock voters if you said a overwhelming number of crimes connect back to non-Germans.  Not sure if the federal gov't would allow this trend to go in this direction.  

4.  Back in early 2023....the Bundestag 'dumped' the mandate-law.  So in effect, it said....a party trying to get into the Bundestag participates in the percentage allocation of chairs based on second votes... even if it has failed to clear the five percent hurdle.

Well....the five-percent rule allowed the CSU (the Bavarian conservative group) and the Linke Party to function....because they were always so close to failing the five-percent mandate.  

So as the dump of this mandate-law occurred....both the CSU and Linke sued in court....saying it was wrong.

the Left had filed a lawsuit against the abolition of the basic mandate clause. Without the clause, both parties would be concerned about their future re-entry into parliament.

The court stood up yesterday and said this 'dumping' attempt.....wasn't right with the written Constitution.  So in the fall-2025 fed election...the mandate-law will still be there...working.

6.  There's a 'deal' in Russia....if you are in a prison, and volunteer for the Army....they will release you.

So this group volunteered, were released from prison, and were sent off to a training camp for a short (probably 2-week) orientation.  At some point, the group up and left (escaped).  

7.  Out of a town in Austria....the local priest was suspected of drug activity.  Cops come in....raid his residence, and determine he was making crystal-meth. 

29 July 2024: Four German News Stories

 1.  Some kind of argument started up in the Berlin central train-station.....3 guys fighting, with knives....wounded.  Cops have yet to say what the argument was about.

2.  Lot of explaining left to do....German authorities figure that around 12,000 refugees were flown in or allowed in.....without any visa.  Foreign Ministry set to get the blame.

3.  New heating system purchase trend....Germans don't want the heat pump.  

4.  Talk continuing of a German constitutional change (update)....to  add sexual identity as 'protected'.  Argument from CDU/CSU....not necessary....text they say is already existing in the present form.

After viewing some of this discussion/argument....from a non-German prospective....it would seem like whatever text is decided upon to be added....it'd have to rewritten within five years to add more protection, and this might be a every-decade situation where there is simply never enough protection.  

28 July 2024: Eight German News Stories

 1.  DHL, the German package delivery service....has a particular building in Duisburg (far north of Germany) that is now declared as a 'NO-GO' zone.  The carriers have had so many problem entering the building and being threatened in some way....they said 'enough'.  You get a note in your box....come to the post office to get your package.

2. The 'boss' of Omega watches (the ultra-high-end type)....got into a talk about the European economy.....it was not a 'feeling-good' interview.  Sales are down,  and even the ultra-rich aren't spending money freely.

I suspect if you asked the high-end car dealers in Germany....they'd mostly say the same thing.

3.  According to BILD.....Lufthansa is going to the legal extremes over the activists who triggered flight cancellations at Frankfurt.  Probably over a 100-million Euro will be sought in court from the seven and their money-handlers.  I suspect other airlines will also participate, and  even the Airport Authority might get involved.   

In court, the names of the money-handlers will be dragged out, and I doubt if the airlines can claim more than 10,000 Euro from the seven.  

4.  The Federal Housing Construction Minister has openly said they have a new strategy....trying to convince people to move out of urban centers....to small towns and villages....where it's easier to get building permits and property.  

5. A bit funny....we are around 3 weeks into the new British gov't (led by Labour).  They've looked at the books,  taxable income, and revenue....reaching the conclusion that the UK is 'broke'.   Course,  this announcement is a bad thing, and people  believe a massive tax increase has to now occur.....with the results being 'ify' if broke UK can really pay more tax revenue.  Oddly, no mention of a recession in progress.

6. There's chatter in Bavaria....some support popping up to drill for natural gas.  Not fully supported.  Reichling am Lech has the first permit....about  40 min drive west of Munich.  Appears to be pure drilling....no fracking.  

Affected by the lack of no Russian natural gas?  Yeah....cost level has reached a point where you might be fairly profitable  on regional drilling. 

7.  It was curious watching ARD prime-time news at 8 PM  last night (Sat).....there was a brief 90-second talk over the opening ceremony in Paris of the Olympics....they avoided any reference or video of the sexually-charged-up episode.  

8. N-TV health talk: German study done on the aspects of a single glass of wine at dinner.  They say 'NO'....there is no safe-level of alcohol, period.  

There Are Sh*t Shows And Then There Are SH*T Shows

 I sat this morning and watched about 20 minutes of the Olympic opening ceremony, and it just reached a point where I turned it off.  I won't be watching anything for the rest of two weeks.

It was like you'd handed out LSD and meth....getting the production crew as high as possible, and just said do some crazy sex stuff.  

Designed to turn people off?  I sat and pondered this.  

Maybe the folks in charge of the ceremony stuff....spent a year in some French fetish bar/night-club, and this was their best ideas at work.

Germans trying to out do them in 2040?  Usually when you start talking about really five-star kinky stuff....Germans surpass French.  So I'll be curious how this might go in 2040.  

How Did African Swine Fever Arrive In Germany

 Basically....some infected pigs were noted in 2014...in Latvia.  No one can really explain 'why'.

Best guess is that it spread out with wild boar....into Poland, and over the next ten years....moved westward.

Odds of some testing lab 'cause'?   Well....no one really says much but you start to wonder about how it just magically appeared one day in Latvia. 

What'll happen in Germany....to contain the fever?

Just a humble guess on my part....I think by late 2024....a MASSIVE wild boar hunt will be sanctioned by the German government.  In this scenario, I see them paying hunters full-time pay.....into the tens of millions to hunt day-and-night....to terminate every last wild boar in Germany.

By the end of 2025, I'll predict almost no wild boars will exist in Germany.

27 July 2024: Six German News Stories

 1.  Over the past 2 or 3 months....if you pay attention to German news....a lot of demonstrations have started up in vacation 'points' of Spain.....wanting mass tourism limited in some way (particularly in Mallorca). 

The aim?  Its going at hotels and cruise ships.

Odds of what might happen?  It's possible that the cruise lines could be given a limit, and maybe one-third of them could be diverted elsewhere (probably the coastline of Spain).

But with hotels denying guests?  That's their bread-and-butter.

The protest folks may end up carving off 10-percent of the guests....but they'd also see cuts in commerce.  

Germans affected?  Eventually, I see Spain, Greece an Romania taking a fair chunk of tourism.

2.  N-TV ran a piece where the police are suggesting recruitment of Germans by Russia.....may have started up....to sabotage German commerce....without the Germans really grasping they'd be doing this for Putin's gov't.

Any truth to the matter?  So far...no.  It's mostly speculation.  

3.  ZF parts supplier in Germany (for cars)....cutting 14,000 positions next four years.  Yeah, it's a big deal.

4.   I sat and watched a N-TV news piece....trying to convince Germans that plain tap water is just as good as bottled water. If you tried this 'chatter' on  100 Germans....I doubt if it'd work on 98-percent.  My wife's premium bottled-water bill per each month?  Near forty Euro.  

5.  WELT this AM wrote up a pretty strong piece....German skepticism over E-cars.  Presently, the gov't is simply looking the other way.  At some point....probably leading up to the fed-election in the fall of 2025....this might be a top-five discussion topic.

6.  Germany talking about a application for the 2040 Olympics.  How they'd pay for it?  Some people have gone critical and said 'NO'.

Explaining The "Last Generation' Activists In Germany

In the last day or two....the group went back to the front-page of German newspapers....triggering a massive number of flight cancellations out of Koln and Frankfurt.  So....an introduction.

Last Generation (LG is what you often hear them referred to) is an association (actually trademarked) of climate activists in Germany and Austria....that started out originally in 2021 as a hunger-strike group.  They found after a few weeks....no one really cared.

So they shifted....gluing themselves to city streets, autobahns, and airport ramps.

Chief aim?  Forcing German authorities to accept extreme measures with the Paris Agreement and the 1.5 degree target. 

Where the authorities are leading the group?  Mostly into a 'trap'....using the court system, and accusing them of criminal offenses. 

Having watched the public forum shows where they got a chance to talk.....they have certainly memorized a page or two of dire circumstances.  I'll say for myself....about ten minutes into hearing their 'chatter'....I have this image in my mind of a religious-cult organization.  

What I suspect will happen as we get closer to the 2025 federal election?  Several of the political parties will be forced to talk about the group, and it won't be a friendly conversation.  Judges and prosecutors will end up being forced to convict and send the 'kids' (mostly all in the 18-to-25 year old range) off to a year or two of prison.  The top-level bosses?  They might even see themselves in a three-to-five year situation.

Angering the group and transforming them into a 'Red-Army-Faction' like unit?  Well....yeah.....it seems to be the path developing.  

Outside influence?  I don't think there's a huge amount of money/funding involved here.  The flight problems created in Frankfurt yesterday?  It took around six  to seven individuals.  I'm sure they were promised free legal help.  

Respect with the general public?  NO.  Most working-class Germans affected by the autobahn and airport blockages....have a very negative opinion of the group.  In terms of selling a 'message' or 'brand'?  They are doing a lousy job.

Young people without a job?  Well.....no one ever tells the insider situation with the group members.  One gets the impression that they are mostly educated folks....well-to-do parents...have nothing to relate to welfare-status in the country....thieving on cult-like chatter.  Public TV selling the 'message'?  There's been two forums which tried to be pro-LG, and people stood up to ask why you did that.  

So that's the story of 'LG'.....they aren't going away quietly, and if you asked me in the next decade where the next terrorism 'cell' will develop.....these are the guys. 

My Route-To-A-Italian-Hotel Story

 The Air Force sent me and a contractor for 10 days to Italy (northern region) back in 1998.  So we arrived and went to the base-hotel....which responded and said 'no rooms'.  So they arranged a stay at regional hotel.

The Italian desk lady for the Air Force then brought out this 15-line verbal/written map....not a real actual drawing map....like you'd expect.  'Mike' (the contractor) spoke a good bit of Italian and he seemed set to the task.....I personally felt uneasy about the complicated nature of what they were doing.

So we started the drive to what the lady said was a 'nice' hotel...about 25 minutes away.

Around the 3rd task in this 'adventure'....we approached a five-turn traffic-circle.....with the instructions fairly complicated.  Both Mike and I noticed at least six signs at each exit of the circle, and we  actually made two revolutions around the circle before we felt sure about the right exit.

We drove through at least three valleys, with at least six different turns, and complicated by a mass of Italian signs trying to guide you (my impression, they wanted you to get lost).

This was all before GPS came along....I should note.

So we finally reach this really remote village in the middle of nowhere.  It had a gas station.....tobacco shop....some small grocery, and  a post office.  Then at the end of the village....this sign to 'such-and-such' hotel.  Well....we get there and then realize....this is some type of wellness resort...five-star type.  

I'm shaking my head....'Mike, this can't be right'.   He looks over  the base-hotel letter, and there's apparently a 'special' rate for base-guests.

We checked into what was one of the finest hotels that I've stayed at in my life.  Whatever imagination you had for a five-star place....with this hotel, it'd been met and exceeded.  Pool, spa and hot-rock treatment....was all included in the 'deal'.

The one problem?  Meals were some outrageous amount....'Mike' figured it up...just for a cheap pizza....you'd paid like $50 (with the beer included).  

So we walked back into the village and found this 'hole-in-the-wall' grandma-run pasta shop.  We feasted that evening pizza/pasta with desert....with three beers each, and probably spent around $20 roughly each.    

It was the best 10 days of 'work' I've done.....in my career.  

26 July 2024: Nine German News Stories

 1.  As of 6:30 AM Thursday....air traffic into Frankfurt's airport shut-down.....apparently, some 'Last Generation' activists sneaked out and glued themselves on ramps.

What makes this interesting....about five months ago....the group promised that they were looking for new tactics and would cease the airport drama business.

In a normal day, Frankfurt handles around 1,400 flights.  Cancellations yesterday?  Near 250.  

It is deep into the vacation period....so the discount airlines (the ones that want you physically on the plane at 5:30 AM for take-off, or landing at 10:45 PM)....were stuck in a landing pattern that would not work.  Fair amount of hostility brewing.  Leaving the next day?  No one is saying that for sure.

Expectations on the activists?  This time....I think the authorities will put the hammer down and start mandating multi-year jail sentences.  

2.  Interesting twist of politics in the state of Thuringia.  Election coming up (state type) and the AfD candidate says if they win....they will cease MDR (the state public TV network) and force an end to the TV/Media tax.

On polls?  Yeah, AfD seems likely to get 29-percent of the vote (first place).  Since they can't partner with anyone....it seems unlikely this threat will occur.

But here's the one hook....if you go and chat with Germans in the age group of 18 to 40....I would imagine almost 50-percent of people want the TV/Media tax  dumped. 

3.  A Frankfurt Islamic Center has now been shutdown....same story as the Hamburg episode.

4. 28 Sep 2025 is now set as the federal election day (Sunday).

5.  WDR, one of the sub-public TV networks.....is putting up a new film building for the organization.  An executive chair was bought....with the public TV folks paying 4,500 Euro for 'bosses' chair.

6.  Ford-Germany 'boss' came up in a interview yesterday....saying the E-car business is NOT working....sales are flat.

The VW, Opel and BMW chiefs have already made similar statements.  

Crisis level?  When you start to pull into a German dealer lot, and he has forty E-cars just sitting there, and there's another 8,000 back at the factory....yeah, that will be the crisis point where the federal government admits they screwed up with the mandate.  

7.  Crazy episode in Hamburg late yesterday.....some apparently mentally unstable German guy had barricaded himself in an apartment holding hostages (one was his mother).  Apparently had a AK-47.  Police eventually stormed the apartment....no one harmed.

8.  The Bahn (the railway system) says they had a billion-Euro loss for the previous year.  To fix this?  They intend to cut personnel.....while in a crisis on lateness.  

Yeah, there's going to have to be a substantial rise in tickets  (my guess, near 20-percent).  

9.  This African Swine Fever is reaching a point in Hessen (my regional state) where the authorities are actively asking hunters to go out and shoot as many wild boar as possible.  

The Necklace Scandal

 So this is a little funny German story.

Off ZDF (Channel 2 of public TV)....there is a Sunday morning music-show...."ZDF-Fernsehgarten".  It's been on since 1986, and typically runs for 100 to 120 minutes....for the spring/summer months.  It's an outdoor 'live' party....loaded with German pop-music....mostly viewed by older Germans.

To be honest, I've never watched....just not my taste in music. 

It's a folksy show....ok.  There, I said it.

So the moderator is Andrea Kiewel.  She's been around for about about 23 years.  

In the past week....Andrea showed up to moderate and wore a odd piece of jewelry. 

It shows the outline of Israel....ALL of Israel (since 1967).....so it's got the West Bank  and Gaza Strip included.

Naturally, this was noticed by a lot of people, and they got all hyped-up.  Kiewel being pro-Israel?  Well....she lives there most of the year.

Two groups came after ZDF....the first saying this ain't right Kiewel being pro-Israel.  Second group....after ZDF told Kiewel to knock it off and NEVER wear it again....asking the network why they took this position.

Here's the odd thing....a fair number of journalists for ZDF....might accidentally admit once in a while....they are pro-Gaza Strip and anti-Israel.  This group hiring Kiewel?  Well....they have nothing to do with news....just entertainment.  So the two groups are starting to attract attention as the public view ZDF and how they run things.

A divided network?  I suspect the bosses at the top...are in a desperate situation....they don't want any pro-or-con stuff being openly discussed.  

The news folks?  Well....they run public forums and can arrange various discussions to be pro-Gaza...if they chose to make this a heated topic.  

I'll just say....it is a bit funny how Kiewel got them into this situation, and how the news folks are now 'cornered' in a way....being more careful about their positions.  

25 July 2024: Seven German News Stories

 1.  Yesterday, Focus wrote up a piece on violence against Bahn (railway personnel) escalating in the past couple  of months.

Bahn folks are saying threats and risks are on the up-swing.  Doesn't matter if you talk about on-trains themselves or in stations.

What I'll say....stress and frustration seems to be more than what existed....say five to ten years ago.  I'm not putting the blame on any particular issue.....just that it doesn't take much for a German to get verbal and angry.

2.  This dismantling of Syrian 'protection'....gaining a lot of chatter around Germany.  Greens are pressed on this issue....agreeing to some  degree if you have a criminal record as a Syrian in Germany.....you might want to prepare for some kind of deportation.  Whether Syria will take the bad-boys back?  I have my doubts.

3.   UK new gov't says by 2030....no new gas/diesel cars to be sold in the UK. Manufacturing questions the order.

4.  One of the top economists in Russia....accidentally fell out of a high-story window....dead.

5.  Hanover regional court passed judgement on a illegal street race (in a 70 kph zone).  Two kids (2, 6 years old) were killed.  The key driver responsible, female, was sentenced to life in prison.  Cops figure the two participants in the  race reached a peak of 180 kph at some point.

6.  German car insurers are saying the cost of fixing cars....has risen. They say the price is roughly 70-percent more.....so they want a hefty increase on car insurance.

7.  Weather guys are predicting a 'return' to normal temperatures for Germany in August....meaning?  We probably will get a minimum of 32 C for at least half the month.  

24 July 2024: Six German News Stories

 1.  What exactly is this EU Asset Register Study being discussed?

Well...there's presently a feasibility study being done, and will be published next month.  

Making it legal?  Some say the EU might have it in place by early 2025.

What would be listed?  You would be forced to admit ALL property you own (real estate), bank accounts, investment securities, gold, E-currency, items of value (antique items), art, etc.

Germans accepting this?  NO....I suspect this will be found to be a problem in various countries.  They will start up about data protection, and then ask just what value this has in the end.   

I could even see the debate.....cattle, horses, book collections, campers, lawn mowers, tractors, chickens, rabbits, Olympic medals, and high-value wine being listed.  Even putting values on things?  Just go imagine some 60-year-old guy saying he has a stamp-collection worth 10-million Euro....when it's actually 8-Euro.

My German wife's view?  According to her.....this would be a five-star target for criminals to break into, and loot/steal.  

2.  As the sun rose this Wednesday, the Federal Ministry of the Interior started up a a ban on the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH). Full-up raid on the Blue Mosque.

Just from the video....I'd say around a hundred police were involved.  Who runs the place?  IZH.  By the wording of the German officer....the group is now declared as a extremist organization and in some way....controlled by Iran . 

This ban paperwork?  The ban is a minimum of 200 pages long...and lists a number of issues.

Just guessing.....some other group of Islamists will try to acquire the building, and restart the function.  

3.  German regional court....Higher Administrative Court (in Münster) has taken on an interesting topic....whether it's safe in Syria to send deportee Syrians back 'home'. 

The court said they review things and say the 'war' is now done. They say there's no real threat now.  

Political mess?  Well....the CDU and FDP....have stood up and said if your name is on the 'bad-boy' list (requiring deportation)....they intend to help you get 'home'.  The SPD and Greens.....opposed.

The general problem here?  No one says how many Syrians are on such a deportee list.  If you go state-by-state....you can get the information, but national folks don't appear to willing to state the numbers.

My humble view....it's takes a bit of effort to get on a deportee list.  You assaulted someone....you sold drugs.....you robbed folks.  This list existing....mostly men?  Oh I would imagine there's probably in the range of 3,000 to 5,000 Syrians....with 99-percent being men.  And if you asked all of them....they'd rather not go back to Syria....even if the war was over.

4.  Some chatter this AM....the Russian gov't is angry that soldiers deployed to the front-lines have cellphones and actively use them.  So they are talking about prison for such use.  Part  of this anger....relates to the Ukrainians having intercepted all these calls and made a significant number public.   

5. Audi is discussing the idea of reproducing the 1930s Type 52 car. 

First, they haven't hinted at pricing and I would imagine it will be a minimum of 100k Euro.

Speed?  Horsepower?  520.  Turbo-charged.  

What I think will come out of this effort?  There are a lot of cars built from the 1920s/1930s....with a 'look'.  I think the public would go crazy if you could reproduce them....in the range of 40,000 to 70,000 Euro.

6.  Debate has started up in the state of Bavaria over mandated closing times for shops (8 PM).  Of the sixteen states.....this is the one which still maintains the 1950s regulations.   

23 July 2024: Three German News Stories

 1.  Interesting twist on this deployment of US cruise missiles into Germany.....decision was solely made by Scholz (Chancellor) and Baerbock (Foreign Minister).....rest of cabinet left out, and wasn't talked about within the Bundestag.

Apparently, fair number of Bundestag members are asking questions now.

2.  Weird episode in Berlin's Ostbahnhof (rail station) yesterday at 5:30 PM.....cops called.  Guy acting nuts.  Cops show up....argument increases.  Guy shows a knife....German cop ends up shooting the guy in the leg.  Still alive....questions being asked now.

3.  Regional story....Frankfurt area....Police seized around seven tons of heating pellets soaked in cocaine...originating out of Colombia. So far....2 guys from state of Hessen arrested. 

Expensive

 I noticed in the AM news today....someone did a study of cost....over a single scoop of ice cream in Germany.

The national average for ONE scoop (checked at 123 shops around the nation)....is 1.72 Euro.

In Munich....at one single shop....the ONE scoop rate was 2.12 Euro.

22 July 2024: 3 German News Stories

 1.  Poll done on SPD-likely voters....no one thrilled  about Scholz being the Chancellor candidate in the fall 2025 fed election.

Poll shows only one out of three SPD-likely voters supporting Scholz.  

My bet?  Party meeting in early 2025....the party shuffles him out as their candidate.

2.  Pool brawl?   Well....over in Gropiusstadt (neighborhood of Berlin)....fight started up at a outdoor pool on Saturday.

Cops say it was basically two groups....two brothers (14/15) against 20 other young people.  Brothers got their ass beat....then everyone  ran out of the complex.  Some kind of investigation will occur with the threat of breach of the peace and dangerous bodily harm.  

I doubt that they find anyone to charge up.

3.  Just outside of Bremen yesterday.....lightning strike  at a tree in a city park....family of six under it.   Two in pretty bad shape but appears they will survive.  Just again....the note.....don't seek shelter in a storm under a tree. 

21 July 2024: Six German News Stories

 1.  Did Hessen lose 164,000-odd residents?

National census ended, and the state of Hessen was short about 164k....officially, that is the claim.

Kassel alone?  The census say they were short about 7,600 folks.  Marburg? In the range of 4,600.

What this means in a critical way.....there is a distribution of funds game that the national gov't distributes out each year, and by these numbers....the state of Hessen would get less money.  Then, this goes down to each town....both Marburg and Kassel would get less of the state money.

Are they really less?  Well....there's going to be an argument about this.  Some folks think this will even go to the court level.  

Did Kassel just lose 7,600 people?  Or did they miscount originally (say a decade ago)?  Me personally?  I just don't buy that 7,600 folks up and left Kassel.  It'd be noticed if a mere 500 left.

2.  In the K-town region, they are testing out a AI-system that monitors road traffic, and  seems to be able to lessen traffic approaching an accident area, and would tell stall traffic to split in half....allowing an ambulance lane to be created on the autobahn.

3.  The CDU Party 'boss' (Merz) gave a talk yesterday....he says the way to fix the Bahn  (railway) problems....is to lessen traffic.  He's saying to cut the number of railway trips daily across the whole system.  Then he says....the system is structurally overwhelmed and can't deliver.

If you pull out the Frankfurt schedule back in the 1980s....it was probably about 60-to-70 percent the size of the current daily schedule.  He may have a point, but the pro-ride-Bahn folks are going to be furious over this, and 'rail-cars' will be maxed out if you just try to trim off 5-percent of traffic.

4.  Excellent piece written by Jan Fleischhauer on Focus this AM....title?  "What many politicians really think about their voters (unfortunately it's nothing good)."

He goes at the subject....politicians use the strategy of making up lots of social promises....to get people  hyped-up.  But eventually, the same people wake up and realize most all of the promises are not going to occur, or they were not fully thought about....when made.

5.  Lots of worry building up in France over Olympics, and possible terror action.

6.  Here in Hessen....some youth group on a tour (12-to-14 year olds).....bus AC wasn't turned on.  At some point...emergency is declared, and around a dozen are toted off to the hospital for heat exhaustion.  Driver being questioned why AC was off.  

Five Things

 1.  Explaining Joe Biden's dilemma of 'exiting' the race to a German?

Well....you only survive as a candidate....if you have donor-money coming in to support your campaign.  Presently (since early June)....a fair amount of the donor  situation has dropped off.  They (the rich guys) aren't buying into the idea that their money will make a difference.  

So, yeah....this whole exit thing is mostly about a lack of confidence by the big-pockets donors.  

I know.....Germany's election situation doesn't function this way....but the US system has been this way for decades.

And before you ask....VP Harris met Friday with the big donor guys, and she didn't get much of a pat on the back....so don't count on her being the pick to replace Biden.  

2.  Any truth to the 'talk' that in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, that some 11-year old migrant 'kid' has  committed 70-odd burglaries?

Well...yeah, The cops say this kid (from Morocco) is actually the head of some gang  in the Hamburg area.

Part of this story is that  the 'kid' entered Germany unaccompanied and the cops each time.....after catching him....release him back to the social system.

Germans read this sort of stuff and just start asking how is this possible.

3.  Mass killing of pigs in Hessen?

State gov't has determined that off this one pig-farm....close to 1,100 pigs have to be slaughtered (real quick), because of the Africa-swine-flu business. Lot of fear building up.....may sweep across the whole state.  Lot of wild boars doing the spreading.

State paying for damages?  Yeah....one of the positives (they also pay for the slaughter service).

4.  REWE (the German grocery) running a pick-up service?

What they suggest is that 50-percent of the stores will have some type of pick-up service developed in 2024....you order in the morning, and drive by in the afternoon....where 'Huns' will scan some card and load your grocery bag into the back of the car.  

Older Germans accepting this?  I doubt it.  

5.  Upgrading the whole German railway network to a 'modern' system?  

Topic came up this week, and the Bahn guys say if you just give us 69-billion Euro....we can make the whole network ULTRA-modern.

How we survived for the past hundred years with a railway system that was not ULTRA-modern?  I just don't know.

They are convinced in some way....all this late-stuff would get fixed....if they just spent this money on the 'problem'.  

I'm a bit skeptical.  

The Russian Economy: Spring 2025 to Spring 2045

 As peace has arrived by this point (spring 2025)....I see five things at work.

First, Russia will never achieve the financial success they had up until the year prior  to the war....unless the nation is broken up.  The odds of this?  50-50.

Just telling Russians of a high tax situation...to rebuild the military from scratch?  Then you turn and tell the Oligarch folks they are finished for maximum wealth gimmicks?  I just don't see people willing to accept that.  You will end up in a revolutionary civil conflict with both private citizens and Oligarch-militias doing battle.

Second, the brain-drain lost between 2022 and 2025?  If you found some country like France or Germany to accept you....why would you go back 'home'?

If you were a wealthy Russian developer with money....where will you find the brain-staff to deliver your ideas?  I don't see this working out unless you recruit a bunch of out-of-work Chinese guys and offer them jobs in Russia.

Third, the national economy of Russia is highly dependent on oil and natural gas.  They have to return....in full form....to give the nation a chance of recovery.  The pipeline repair?  It has to occur.  

The deals that Germany made to get  shipped-in natural gas, and the massive spending on the port-terminal for the LNG situation?  Well....Germany has to accept the fact that they spent money for nothing.  

Fourth, going from a first-tier country to a third-tier country?  They will have no choice....I don't see them ever being in the top twenty economic  countries of the world. 

Fifth, whoever replaces Putin....needs to be a 'economics-boss' rather than another KGB-boss.  It is the only way that they will advance on some type of legit recovery.

A TV Show From This Week

 I sat this week and watched a HR-documentary piece (my regional public TV network in Germany). Title: "Having children in times of crisis: irresponsible or now more than ever?"

You can watch it here. Thirty-minute piece.

Discussion?  Here were all these (mostly) women (few guys) who were thrilled to be in a non-child producing mentality here in Germany.

German birth rate?  Collapsing for the most part (2023, 1.36 kids per couple presently).

So the whole driving factor?  Global crises....in various stages/levels.  These participants are thrilled to be part of the group....saving the Earth....by not producing kids.

I sat and watched the whole thing....trying to be neutral and at least understanding their logic.  Over and over....they felt an accomplishment.  

The moderator...seeming to let them all tell their story, and never asking any questions over the future.

So, here's the end result for me.  You end up in 2035....Germans (particularly women) shocked that the social pension system is in turmoil and unable to pay for retirement.....unless you recruit or bring in half-a-million migrants a year...to fill the empty jobs and somehow keep the system of retirement 'surviving'.

Yeah, it's like they went to some 'cult-club' and asked for the five-star indoctrination gimmick.  You felt hyped-up leaving the indoctrination....and tried to associate or 'socialize' with only like-minded people.

A bit of doom and gloom involved?  Absolutely.  

I have no doubt....if you were to say single-ply toilet paper is a must....that showers per week must be kept to a minimum of only three times....that you were only limited to six hours a day of electricity....that you had to downsize your wardrobe to just three pairs of shoes....these people would be thrilled to participate in this 'bold-new-world'.

Old Germany versus new Germany?  Yeah, I'm starting to think along these lines and wonder how folks survived to this point.  Think God, we've got Turks, Australians and Syrians to repopulate Germany.  

Trees

 There are various cities in Germany that you can travel into (urbanized types) that have a abnormal amount of tree landscaping/cover.  I came to realize this point about 20 years ago....that things just seem cooler inside of these cities...than a mile or two outside of them.

12 C (53 F) difference?  Well....I'd question that part of the analysis.  Just in Wiesbaden....if you hang around the train-station (concrete-magnet for heat) and a mile away in the city park....I'd say there are 3 degrees of difference.

But getting people hyped up to plant more trees?  You will end up with half the population fully in favor, and half being anti-tree.  

20 July 2024: Four German News Stories

 1.  Another odd knife assault attack in Germany....Wedel area (Schleswig-Holstein region in the north).

What the cops say?  Occurred in the parking lot of a adult education center.  Older guy (music instructor) wounded (critically)with a knife.

Two guys arrested....Syrian brothers....in their early 20s.

Motivation?  Unknown.  

2.  European Taxpayers Association has stood up and said the number of EU representatives is way too many, costing billions.  So they want a numbers cut.  Odds of this?  I give it a one in a billion chance.

3.  Porsche says with their new Taycan model....recharging will be as quick as filling up with gas.

4.   Gesamtmetall chief (Wolf) came out yesterday and said retirement ages need to be 'reset'.

He says factory workers do a lot of physical labor, and need a early retirement.  However....he says people with desk jobs mostly sit....so they should only retire at age 70.  Current rules?  Age 67 is full-up retirement. 

I brought this up with my German wife....getting a 15-minute lecture that no one should fool with the current retirement age.

19 July 2024: Five German News Stories

 1.  Some kind of weird attack during Wednesday evening.  This was on autobahn A3 at a rest-stop near Bad Honnef (northern Germany).

What the cops say.... a married couple got attacked and seriously wounded....in a knife attack.

Husband and wife....in their early 50s...had stopped the camper.  Several folks came up and attacked them.

Some truck driver at the rest-stop....filmed the whole thing.

Cops say in some fashion....attackers and the couple knew each other.  Investigation by police ongoing.

2.  Statistical data collection by newspaper BILD....shows larger urbanized cities in Germany are having more robberies.

3.  Heat wave for today and Saturday....getting up to 31 C (89 F).  But come Sunday....we drop five degrees to cool off, and stay at that level for the next days.  Just a really odd summer.

4.  Russia made a statement.....discussing arming/activating it's nuclear missiles because of this US/Germany agreement to put cruise missiles back into Germany.  

5.  German building permits are in a serious decline....about 50-percent of what occurred in 2022.  

18 July 2024: Seven German News Stories

 1.  German shop called 'Depot'....going bankrupt.  It was a seasonal  shop you'd go to....to buy dust-collectors for the house...figures, glass stuff, etc.   

Probably once a year, I'd walk into one. My German wife put this on a forbidden list for me....I wasn't supposed to buy junk from them.

2.  Long piece by Focus yesterday....what they say...car-dealers are saying 'NO' to more E-cars being delivered.  Working a deal is no longer possible. Worth a read.

My prediction...by spring 2025...this will turn into an emergency situation, with total stop on sales.

3.  Out of Stuttgart....one of the major restaurants handling Euro Cup fan events....now  admits  it was mostly a loss situation....maybe as much as 20,000 Euro lost in the effort.

4.  Heat wave arriving?  For Th/Friday...in my Wiesbaden region....we get back up to 32  C.  Then it's supposed drop back to 25 C for several days.

5.  Excellent FOCUS piece written by Saina Bayatpour....topic?  A significant number of Germans are expressing the idea of 'escaping'....wanting to leave Germany and go off to some island or remote  country.  

Reasons?  Too much fear...too much frustration over politics....too much fear of threats.....too much fear of social media.

I paused over reading it.....my wife  (German in nature) states this idea of 'escaping' at least once a month.  I always ask where should we move to, and there's never an answer.

6.  Miele CEO gave a talk.....says that Germany has become this country with high wages, high taxes, short working-hours, and a lot of bureaucracy.  

7.  Local guy in Frankfurt area was fishing on the Rhine.....caught a 2.5-meter long catfish.  Whopper.

My Script For How The Ukraine-Russia War Ends

 Just projecting what I see as the likely 'end'.

On the evening of 20 Jan 2025, President Trump (assuming he is elected) will send a blunt letter to various trading partners of Russia (in particular China)....that with the exception of food and medical items....all other trade ends with Russia, until the war is finished.  

Meaning?  The US,  Japan, South Korea, and the EU....will sanction the 'hell' out of China if they deal in any weapon sales.  China will think  he's joking....ten days later, they discover that it's not a joke.  Anyone else (like Iran or India) thinking they can still trade with  Russia?  Give them the same treatment.

A crisis meeting mid-February will occur....Russians, Ukrainians and a neutral party or two (Orban of Hungary will be in the group), along with one US member.

The deal will be a 72-hour truce to set things up.....then an understanding that Crimea will remain in Russian possession, and that all of eastern Ukraine held by Russia....will revert back to Ukraine.  

Trump will say if you revert the territory immediately back to the Ukraine....sanctions end on the day the last Russian army unit leaves the region.

Then Trump  adds...the US will still participate in NATO, but if Russia pulls out and reverts property back to the Ukraine....the Americans will vacate European posts/bases within 18 months.  What'll be left is a planning staff of 1,000 Army/Air Force members, and a Navy base in Italy.  They will still participate in exercises, but not station troops.

The serious hint then?  Sanction double-down if you don't agree. 

Crappy deal?  Well....Ukraine gets territory back...some basic pledge out of the EU and the US for development/rebuilding.   Russia gets the sanctions undone, with natural gas likely flowing into Germany within 12 months.  The EU gets out of the war business (both the 'cold-war' and the war-like atmosphere of the past 30 years).  

By early March 2025....the deal is signed.  By  summer of 2026, the US has started removing troops and dismantling bases.  

The Nobel Peace Prize folks?  Well....lot of people standing there and unable to allow Russians or the Trump-team to be noted for stopping the senseless war.

The eastern quarter of Ukraine being a no-man's land for the next forty years?  Yeah....you shouldn't expect much. 

Ukrainians returning home?  I have my doubts.  Russian young men returning home?  I doubt that as well.

Everyone will sit there and discuss the losses of life and how Putin couldn't be brought to the table....militarily.  I would argue....with a smaller force....Ukraine did the impossible and dissolved the second largest force on Earth into nothing....without the advantage of tanks or fighters.

Sanctions?  You have to make people truly suffer, and it doesn't happen overnight.  In this case, it has to be not only Russia, but China as well.   

Ten Q-and-A

 1.  Is there a employee shortage in Germany, at present?

Well....if you walk around....there's help-wanted signs everywhere (on buses/trains, in cafes/pubs/bars, at the front door of grocery stores and clothing shops).  Part-time.....full-time....it doesn't matter.

Affecting business hours?  I would suggest that most pubs and bars have ten to fifteen lesser hours open each week because of the shortage.

2.  What's this 'Compact' magazine ban in Germany about?

Started about 14 years ago....it was designed on right-wing topics.  As of this morning, the Interior Minister put the magazine on the banned list.  If you stock or sell it....you'd be in trouble.  

As for how many Germans were reading it?  Unknown....they never published a number on issues, and even the Interior Minister can't say with any factual evidence that it was broadly read. 

The belief  behind the ban?  Mostly that if you don't read it....you won't get right-wingish.   

The fall  2025 federal election figuring into this ban?  One might imagine that a strategy does exist....if you ban it....that would  lessen votes for the AfD Party.

My personal view?  It'd help if you just banned all news-related magazines, leaving just comics, artsy literature and sports-magazines existing....getting people dull-witted and less focused on any realities of life.  ('Shit happens mentality') 

3.  What was this commentary piece in WELT from Michael Wolffsohn on 'dumbing down Germans' all about?

Basically,  it's a piece where he discusses the university output (maybe lack  of output) and the public news broadcasting folks (ZDF/ARD) trending toward a one-sided argument/discussion on various topics.

About a decade ago, I sat and watched a public TV forum show (live) where there was a moderator and five guests.  Whatever the topic was.....the moderator and four guests were there to 'sell'  one side, and the one guest was left to marginal present the other side.  About 30 minutes into the discussion....in my mind...I muted the rest of the discussion (letting my wife consume it alone).  Whether by design or accident....it was a loser-of-a-presentation and a effort to dumb-down the viewer.

Wolffsohn has a point, but I don't think ARD  or ZDF will be inviting him to guest on any of their forums.

4.   Did DDR/East Germany ever psychologically fully recover form Soviet occupation?

You can ask this question around 100 Germans and get 100 variations of the answer.

I suspect if you ask older East Germans (over the age of sixty)....most will say there are various things that they are continually skeptical about.....more so, than a West German would  admit. 

If you asked if they are pro-Putin or pro-Russia today (in eastern sections)?  They will all say no.....but they don't see any logic in continuing support for the Ukraine from the German gov't.  

5. What's this FTI bankruptcy all about?

FTI as a major vacation/travel package company.....they failed, and if you had trips planned for this summer....you might get some type of refund (don't go expecting a 100-percent pay-back).  The chief problem?  They are sorting this out, and the refunds won't occur until late summer....meaning your vacation ideas are CRAP at this point.

Affected?  250,000 is the suggested number.

Refunds on just flights arranged or rental cars book (by themselves)?  Pretty much zero chance you will get that money back.

6.  Any truth to the beer truck accident in Erfurt?

Well....what the cops say this AM...26,000 liters are beer are spilled.  Not a national crisis, but it'll be felt.

7.  New trend in mourning  in Germany?

Well....it's just an odd development of commerce.  Some  guy figured out that if you had a coffee 'wagon' at cemeteries and offered up a chance to talk 'grief'.....customer sessions would start up.

Started in Mainz, and I suspect it'll take off and be a national trend within a year or two.

8.  Is there anything really left of the Linke Party?

Some journalists are trying to suggest a 'way-out' is still possible.  Maybe in eastern urbanized cities of Germany....they might still be able to pull 5 to 8 percent in voting. 

After 2025's federal election....at the national level....I think they will be gone.

9.  Are Germans now worried about location-data on themselves being available to the bad-guys?

Well....yeah, if you have some significance in life....like a gov't official, banker, German Army officer....they are now concerned about tracking data off their cellphone.  

The belief is (whether true or not)....various governments are paying independent collectors of such data.

What I suspect  will happen....any week now, the German gov't will order cellphone companies to alter the phones in some way....to have zero tracking.  Personally, it'd be a lot easier if you just turned your phone OFF for 8 hours out of the day.

10.  Explaining J D Vance (Trump's VP) to a German?

First, you'd start out and explain 'trailer-trash' and what it means.  My description?  You live in a 1-star lifestyle....with crazy relatives...in a open-drug atmosphere, and you don't have high expectations in life.  If you aren't arrested for something by age 30, you've achieved something special.  

Without any status in life after high school....he went to the Marines and did an enlistment....wrapping that up and spending time (with Marine educational funds) at the University of Ohio, and later at Yale law school.

Entire opposite history to Bush II?  Yeah....there's no special favors attached  to Vance. 

Worse that you can say about him?  He doesn't spend money on suits, and he looks like he only shops in a JC Pennys.  On wit and knowledge?  Out of the whole Senate....there might only be three folks more mentally set for the job. 

16 July 2024: Five German News Stories

 1.  The Pfalz state 'truth-commission' wrapped up their long survey of the 2021 Ahr Valley flood....which killed 135 locals.

About the only key thing out of this....which the group agreed upon....was that flood protection was lacking.   

If you asked me on broad skepticism?  I'd say the Ahr Valley people are mostly disgruntled of the end-result.

2.   I watched a N-TV piece yesterday.  It appears that the EU now plans to electrify some type of long-distance truck transport.

Where this leads onto?  A minimum of 2,000 charging stations would have to be built around all of Europe to handle this requirement.

My skepticism  'meter'?  On a scale of 1 to 10....it's maxing at '10'.

Where would all this extra power come from?  Unknown. Would it make for a simple easy target for Russia to take down an entire country by hitting the charging stations and bring commerce to a standstill?  Absolutely.

Has to be tens of billions of Euro figured to pay for the start-up of this idea.

3.   Odd event left from the weekend here in my local town of Wiesbaden.  What the cops say.....Saturday afternoon....family of 3 was walking through a city park...northwestern section of town.  

Two guys came up and threatened them. Insults went back and forth.....father in the group of three pulls out a telescope-type baton to show he's not backing down.  Other two pick up something....threats go back and forth (in the corner of this city park)....then the two that started trouble....ran off.

Family goes to report the matter.   Cops do minor search....never find the two trouble-makers.  Then the cops start a second report....the telescope-type baton being illegal....so the father is being investigated for that matter.

My advice....if you did have a protection-baton and use it.....for defense, leave the area after you whack the folks.  Don't stay around....you just end up in more legal trouble.  Yeah, the baton is illegal, in case you didn't know that.

4.  German cops admit on illegal border crossing folks....during the Euro Cup period....they stopped around 8,300 folks and prevented entry.

5.  German statistics office says on average....1,500 Germans end up in an emergency situation over heat-stress/exhaustion/stroke each year.

Death from this group?  It averages around 20.

2003 data?  If you were around that summer....it was one of the worst summers in German history.  Around 2,600 Germans were taken to the hospital, and around 41 died from the heat that summer.

I'll just say (I was here at the time)....2003 was a fairly miserable summer (3 weeks of continuous 32 to 38 C temperatures with no rain).  Almost no wind, and a constant problem trying to cool off at night.

15 July 2024: Three German News Stories

 1.  WELT published a article...talking over the results of the German census.  Debate has started up....if the census numbers are 'right'.

What this centers on?  If you take the mandated 'you-must=register' rule for each town/city/village.....the census numbers and this register-number should agree (at least pretty close).  Well...the numbers disagree, and it's begging more questions.....all these people counted, and  some might be unregistered and just residing in the county (quietly)?  That's the gut feeling.

2.  N-TV piece this AM....German gov't preparing for a Trump presidency.  'Stability now in danger' is the angle of the report.

3.  After a week-long bull-run event in Pamplona....36 people taken by ambulance...final count for the run.

Toilet Paper Discussion

When I arrived in Germany in 1978.....one of the first 100 things you learned was that when you traveled via train in Germany.....you had some of the cheapest and roughest toilet  paper in existence.

The only places where you found this?  Trains and train stations.

Last week, I stood in one of the cheaper German grocery shops, where I turned the corner, and here was the ultra-cheapo toilet paper.  I hadn't seen it in a decade (at least).

I brought this to my wife's attention....asking if we could get six-pack (probably 50-percent cheaper than normal toilet-paper). 

It was an absolute NO on that. 

On The Subject of Water

 This week, the topic of Germany, drinking water, cafes, and Americans came up on social media.

So this discussion circled around an American traveling around Europe....in the heat, and finding that cafes won't serve the lady just plain 'tap-water'.  The waiters would respond....if you want water....then buy the bottled stuff.  The American grumbled about this situation.

I've traveled a lot around the world, and will offer five obsrevations:

First, the taste of water differs....even if you are discussing bottled water, or just plain tap-water.  Some of the worst tasting water I've ever had was in Tucson, Arizona.  After six weeks of living there....I basically quit drinking tap-wter, and went to bottled water.  The best tasting water I've ever had?  Highland Springs...coming out of the Scottish highlands.  For about eight years....the commissary at Ramstein carried the brand and I was addicted to it....then one day....they refused to stock it.

Today?  I'm a Evian (French Alps) water guy.  In Germany, it's premium bottled water. Funny thing...just across the border in France....it's about 50-percent less on cost and absolutely NOT premium water.  Yeah....I do make 2 drives a year across the border to bulk-buy quarter-a-pallet of the stuff.

Second, I had a older German comment once....while he considered German tap-water safe to drink....his confidence level wasn't 100-percent.  He was willing to 'boil' water for his coffee or tea....but beyond that....he just wasn't that confident.

At least once or twice a year....one of the public TV shows on health will  take up the discussion of safe German water, and Doctor-so-V-so of such-and-such university will swear on some town's water being 'safe' to drink. I suspect if you asked the general public on this....they will all agree, but state their position...they buy bottled water.

Third, the amusing thing for me is the difference at the store....where you have regular bottled water (the cheap stuff for 79 Euro-cents for a 1-liter bottle), and then the premium stuff (1.10 to 3.0 Euro).  The cafe offerings?  Oh, they will only stock what you consider ultra-premium....meaning you won't get a 1-liter bottle for less than 6 Euro (last week, I paid 8.50 Euro for such a bottle).

Fourth, given a choice on a fairly hot day (say 35 C)....most Germans will select beer as their hydration method (not water).  My own advice....order a small bottle of water to start, and drift over to beer next.

Fifth and final....with all this deposit bottle crap now existing in Germany....on a really hot day,  you probably lug a half-liter bottle around with you.  At some point in the journey....you've sipped all of the water and you are lugging the empty bottle around for the remainder of the day....to get the stupid deposit back at some point. 

To sum it up....I can understand what the American tourist is talking about....and I'm pretty peeved as well if I have to pay 4.50 Euro a half-liter of premium cafe water.  But I'll pay the 4.50 Euro.

Party Membership And What It Means

 In Germany, unlike the US....there is a status to being a 'paying-member' of a political party.

You will typically pay a fee (monthly) of about 2.50 to 3.00 Euro.  This allows you to walk into the local party meetings....typically held in some pub or restaurant.

The party 'clubs' will hold meetings probably eight to twelve times a year, and you can have a 'say' at the meeting.

Anything extra from the 'party-club'?  Well...some of them will have special jackets they will sell you....with the emblem of the party on it.  

The party expectation prior to a election?  You would be in the crew to hang posters and help organize party big-wigs to speak at a local event.

Could you 'cheat' and be members of the Greens, SPD, AfD, and CDU parties....at the same time?  Well...yeah....in theory....you could do this and they probably wouldn't figure this out.

What is the extra benefit of being a member?  Well....when it comes time to chose the Chancellor candidate....you as a member....have a vote.  The guy across the street from you....who'd like to have a 'say' in the matter...has no 'say' in the nomination process.  He only has a 'say' once the candidates are all put down on paper for each party.

So there is a status and a logic to being a member.

13 July 2024: Six German News Stories

 1. Wild story out of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (German state, NE).  So what the police say is that 3 Berlin kids (juveniles, figured to be around age 13) went crazy on a Inter-City train.

Police say the three already have some type of 'record'....meaning they've done crap  before.

The mess started when they avoided a ticket-audit check on the train (I would imagine they lacked tickets).  A couple of Bahn employees attempted to stop the kids....getting hit and kicked...plus getting insulted by the trio.

As thing continued....they ended up opening the emergency release of the train door, and jumped out.   

Later in the day...the trio were finally apprehended and handed over to some youth youth social office.  They were taken to some building....where they promptly set fire to the building.

I'm guessing they will require a serious amount of control.

2. Putin passing a major tax increase along to Russians....to pay for the war.  

3.  Regionally out of Frankfurt.....the S8 and S9 rail-lines are noted in the first half of 2024....with slightly more than 7,000 cancellations.  Various reasons are given. 

4.  Breweries in Germany expected....with the Euro Cup games....there would be more beer bought/consumed.

Well....they were wrong.  What went wrong?  There was not what  you'd say a heat-wave in June/July....so with mild/cooler weather....people consumed less beer.

5.  N-TV yesterday did a fair sized report on the war-value of the A2 motorway/autobahn in Germany.

Apparently, if Russia starts some  westward invasion....it is the A2 that will be used by the German military....along with various other European  countries....to bring military hardware into Poland.

6.  N-TV business segment.....cheapflation?  Well....Germans  have gone to buy cheaper products at the grocery stores that used to be lesser-priced.  This action has moved the cheaper-priced products to be in demand, and pricing has gone up now. 

12 July 2024: Ten German News Stories

 1.  Health Ministry drawing up two major changes.  First, they want 'supervised-drinking' of 14/15 year old  German kids....turned off.  At age 16, German teens can buy beer and wine.  There was a 'understanding' that you as a parent...could hold a party and supervise controlled drinking of beer/wine.  Well....the Ministry is saying that was not a good idea.

Second thing....there is a party trend going on where people buy nitrous oxide (laughing gas).  The Health Ministry says this is a stupid and unhealthy trend...wanting it made illegal.

2.   WELT piece from yesterday, getting you prepared to avoid intentional or accidental misgendering in Germany.

Under the new Self-Determination Act, you could be detained by the police and brought into court. As journalists hint....court episodes are already predicted.

Pronoun add-on's?  “Dey” or “xier”. 

Acceptance by German society?  You might have to allow for one entire generation (40 years) for this to be successful.

3.  Stun-devices being issued to German police has been slow in coming.  So I was reviewing NDR news and this story came up.

To sum it up....German police were called about two weeks in Ahrensburg (north Germany)....a guy on the street had been attacked by someone...with a knife and brass knuckles.  The guy was acting crazy.

So a patrol arrived to ensure safety.  They went to the standard 'halt' your attack strategy....he resisted.  Then as training requires....one of the police told the resister guy that he was going to be tazed.  

The taze working?  Well....not exactly.  So in man-handling the wild guy....things got out of control, and a second taze was attempted.....with this failing mostly because the two police themselves got a dose of the taze.   One of the police actually lost consciousness and had to be treated in hospital. The other cop complained of pain in her arm. 

The wild guy?  He was finally subdued and sent off to a psychiatric clinic.

Over the past decade, I've read a good bit of police stories over the use of stun-weapons, and how it's 50-50 if they work.  The belief I have.....while there has been a fair amount of testing....I don't think anyone has tested the situation if the guy was on meth, or extreme drugs.   

In this case....in close-quarters 'combat'.....if you were the cop, you might taze your patrol partner and make the situation worse than necessary. 

4.  The biggest BS rumor of the day?  The US national soccer team needs a new coach.  Rumor has it that they approached German legend....Jurgen Klopp.

Klopp?  Newly retired from FC Liverpool (9 years).  He made it clear....he's taking a full year off, and chilling out.  

Odds of signing him?  ZERO.

5.  Audi boss chatter?  He indicates a newly modified gas engine is coming out within 2 years.  You see various hints that gas/diesel engines will still be around after 2035.

6.  Public forum show....Maybrit Illner (ZDF, Channel 2 of public TV) ran last night.  Topic?  NATO, 'cold-war', and Ukraine-Russia war.

Lot of people denying a 'cold-war' has started up again.  I think from Germans and Americans over the age of 60....who remember the 1970s/1980s....will agree, 'cold-war' has started up again.  Those under 60....not convinced of this.

US/German agreement on bringing in long-range cruise missiles?  Definite movement toward 'cold-war'.

7.  WELT piece: strong belief that Russian agents are now in Germany/EU....planning something.

8.  NTV item from this morning....new wave of Covid coming into Germany now.

9.  Spain expected to have 43-million 'guests' as tourists in 2024....most ever.

10.  I ended up at a ice-cream shop yesterday....first visit for 2024.  Banana split?  9.90 Euro (was 7.80 Euro back in 2020).  

Does a Wealth Tax Ever Work?

 There's some hype in Germany....at least sixty-percent of Germans favor the idea, and I expect the Greens and SPD to suggest it for their fall 2025 election strategy.

Four 1st tier offer such a program presently...Columbia, Switzerland, Norway and Spain.

Sweden did it for a couple of years....chasing out a couple of companies and a number of the ultra-rich.  After a while....they realized they lost more than they gained.

France had it for almost a decade...dumping it in 2018.

If the Germans progressed toward it?  I would suggest within four years....a fair amount of production would exit...probably going to Spain, Czech, or Poland.

Adding to it....a fair number of the German wealthy-class would re-anchor themselves and their assets....in safe countries without the tax affecting them. 

But that doesn't mean it's a no-go position.  I think the two parties are desperate for votes, and they need to attach themselves to it....to gain some advantage over the CDU-CSU party position.

The Next Thing To Worry About

 Over the past week, I've been contemplating this new strategy by the new UK government....giving some type of 'approval' to the Ukraine....to use UK-made missiles....to hit INSIDE of Russia.

On my stupidity index (1-to-10)...this has to rank near a '8'.

If you'd said they'd be used to target Russian positions inside of the Ukraine....no problem.  But that's not the wording.

What'll happen after the missiles are used once or twice on inside-Russia targets?  I would imagine within a couple of days....some refinery fire in the UK, or some bridge demolition near London will occur.  It'll be enough to suggest that some Russian crew were probably responsible.

Behind the whole show....I think the UK and European attitude (plus the US)...is to push things along a bit, and hope that the war ends 'shortly'.  They all seem rather confident that Putin won't 'touch' them.

Public confidence once this trend goes to the next level?  This is not the 1980s, and there's limited confidence in any European gov't at this point.  

The fact that North Korea has some deals going on and they might be selling tactical missiles to Russia?  Oh, I agree....this is probably driving some to worry about the escalation going on already.  

11 July 2024: Eight German News Stories

 1.  The German Health Ministry came out yesterday and admitted....some of those 2020/2021 Covid masks that they acquired and distributed to the public.....weren't really meeting 'standards'.  So yeah, you might have gotten Covid even if you wore the masks they handed out.

Kinda funny.  Just a massive amount of incoming pallets of masks, and no one really controlling the system.  

2.  Talk over the gov't idea of a tax-rebate for foreign workers who enter Germany....to fill critical needs in industry.  Would be a 3-year deal.  Some people are saying it's unfair for those already here.

3.  German knife assault numbers:  ZDF (public TV, Channel 2) says: "The Police Crime Statistics (PKS) show 8,951 knife attacks in connection with dangerous and serious bodily harm for 2023, compared to 8,160 cases in 2022. In robbery offenses, the police recorded 4,893 knife offenses (2023), after 4,195 cases in the previous year. This results in a total of 13,844 knife attacks. "

4.  ZDF says....from the average German and what they pay out (taxes, social benefits, etc).....out of 1 Euro....47-cents remains as your 'take-home'.

5.  The wife and I were out yesterday in the heat....in Wiesbaden.  We sat at a cafe and ordered a 1-liter bottle of chilled water.....bill came to 8.60 Euro (1 bottle/2 glasses).  Yeah....hefty amount.  Would have been 5.50 back in 2019.

6.  I noted this story from the Pfalz....a female driver on the B9 roadway near Andernach....ended up hitting a herd of wild boar two nights ago.  14 of them dead.

Road ended up being closed almost an hour as the boars were removed.

When I worked in the Ramstein area....I got up early one day (6 AM)...before sunlight, and about a mile from the house....the city garbage truck was sitting in the middle of the road....had hit a massive-sized boar....losing the good bit of the undercarriage and having a dead boar.  

7.  Just an odd statement from President Biden (6 June interview and commentary)....that he 'knew' Putin when he was a 'KGB-East Germany boss' in the 1980s.  

I can't validate that Biden even came to West Germany in that period, or that he ventured into DDR/East Germany.  The odds of the two meeting....accidentally?  One in a million. 

Then you get stuck....what does 'knew' really mean?  

8.   Just an odd reminder: Adenauer was 73 when he became Germany's first chancellor.  When he retired...he was 87.

9.  Oberhausen police were called yesterday....playground situation.  12-year old German girl walking around with a knife.  Cops arrive....yeah, there's a German girl with a knife and waving it around.   They approach....asking the kid to put it down.  She refuses and starts to approach them.  Cops fire a round into the air (this is pretty rare in Germany as a tactic).  Kid still advanced.....2nd round in the air fire.

At this point....some adult in the area approached from rear and put the kid on the ground.  Cops apprehend the girl.  Some kind of mental health situation being reviewed.  

10.  Hessen, my local state, did the impossible....they changed the law to allow UNMANNED grocery 'shops' to open on Sundays.  

Tegut is operating a number of TEO operations....what I'd describe as a 10 ft by 50 ft mini-grocery.  You scan your charge card at the front, and it allows you to enter and buy from a limited number of items (I'm guessing about 250 items on the shelf).

The rest of the law stays intact.....you can't operate a manned shop on Sundays.

11. Hessen Ministry of Education has 'hinted' that they are checking families leaving via Frankfurt's airport....if the kid is actually on summer vacation.  

Well....someone asked the airport police, and they said 'no'.....so the threat of checking is BS.

Each German state has a allocated school vacation period....where you might leave in X-month and get a slightly better deal on cost.  By state laws....leaving early (even 24 hours)....would get the family a fine.

Now, if you bring up the topic and ask German parents....they will all say the final two weeks are a total waste....with class tests done by the 12th day prior to the end, and it's pure games and social stuff for the remainder of the days.  

Is it worth a 200 Euro fine (if caught)....taking your kid out of school two days early and getting a slight discount of 300 Euro on the cost of the vacation for the family of three?  Most would argue, the risk is minor if caught.

12. Cops investigating a counterfeit scheme....came to conclude that yes....there's a new item being counterfeited....master-craftsman certificates.

You basically have a guy who wants a job that pays well, and he applies to a small company that rarely checks out paperwork.  He presents some basic knowledge, and gets hired.  You end up with this guy doing plumbing work for your house....paying him the hefty master-craftsman rate....when he really knows just enough knowledge to get by.

13. NATO meeting this week.  Odd topic came up.....they want each member of NATO to plan on investing 3-percent (the goal for around a dozen years has been 2-percent) of their GDP....on military infrastructure.

A problem for Germany?  YEAH. Only by a massive cut in social spending...would you reach this 3-percent goal.  

14.  Bitcoin crash going on?  Well....if you look at values...back on 21 May....it was near $71,000....presently, it's at $57,700.  What happened?

Well....the discussion started up in the last couple of days....a German federal police investigation has concluded in Saxony....over a money-laundering operation.  Amount seized by the Germans?  50,000 BTC....amounting to $3-billion (at least when they held control and started selling it as a German federal process).

Company involved? Movie2k.to.

So via the police effort....the BTC was dumped onto the market.  A wise decision?  Well....I might have taken this rather slow....over a year.  Recovery for the BTC market?  I would imagine in 3 months....it'll reach back to $65,000.  

The folks who lost the $3-billion?  I'm guessing they are pretty irate at this point.

15. New NATO command setting up in Wiesbaden....Ukraine-Support....to have around 700 personnel assigned from across NATO.

16.  Hessen (the state) has settled a mandate....there will be a 'truth-commission' on Covid.

Where this leads onto?  Unknown.  The fact that the federal apparatus out of Berlin is trending toward a Covid truth-commission as well?  Yeah.....going to be a lot of 'truth' going on.

17.  Back in the 1980s....the US went to a strategy of attempting to put cruise missiles in Germany.  Massive public negative stance on this idea.

Well...this AM...there's a story that a new joint-effort to put US-cruise missiles in Germany,  and the SPD-Green-FDP coalition is fully supporting the idea.

This is a temporary measure....going up to some point in 2026.  Putin to see this as a threat?  It's left to your imagination.  

My German 'Threat-Index'?

 When I retired in 2013, and settled into the wife's Wiesbaden family home....if you'd asked me about threat potential in the local area and Wiesbaden....it would have been hear zero (not absolute zero, but near zero).

So as time passed....things occurred.

Over a one-year period 2016/2017....11 cars in the village (4,000 residents) were stolen.  One of them was a 10-year old Audi A3....probably worth no more than 4,000 Euro.....belonging to the renter-lady in our house (parked out on the street).

Around 2021...the village post office was robbed right before closing.....the guy had a pistol.

Around 2022....the bank in the village had the ATM blown up and robbed in the early morning hours.

Also in 2022.....some older lady got up early one work-day to catch the 5:30 AM bus....with some idiot juvenile attempting to steal her purse out on the dark street (he failed).

If you asked me about drug trafficking....like you wanted some crack, meth, or stuff....I'd refer you to the city park in front of the train station....where there's five to eight guys 'dealing'.  

Assaults in town....via the police blotter, you see at least five report a week on some type of robbery/assault.  Pick-pocketing?  That's a daily thing you need to think about in the city.

If I ventured into Frankfurt and went walking around junkie-mile (the neighborhood directly in front of the train station)?  Day or night, it wouldn't matter.....you need to avoid the area.

So I have this odd index.  I feel my safe-index in the village is a '2' (out of 1-to-10).  In the city of Wiesbaden?  My safe-index for day-time visits is probably a '3'. And at 10 PM or later....I'd say it's closer to a '6'.  

To sum it up....you end up being vigilant and observing people around you.  It's still a 1,000 percent safer than in SF, or NY City, or Atlanta.  My 1,000 Euro watch?  It's rare that I wear it in public.....preferring my $29 Timex (now 16 years old).  

Germany going to 'defund-the-police' route?  NO.....that hasn't happened....we've actually added 10,000 billets over the past decade to state and city police across the nation.

You just need to pay attention and not get stupid walking in a chaotic zone.

10 July 2024: Eleven German News Stories

 1.  Crazy episode in Darmstadt yesterday morning.  Guy apparently threatened construction workers on his street with a machete. 

What the cops say.....they arrived to find a 36-year-old guy in some state of psychological distress.  They recovered the guy....made things safe, then took him to a mental clinic.

This triggered me to ask the question....where exactly in Germany do you go and buy a machete?  Hardware store?  I've never seen them sold there.  About three or four times a year....you will see some German police report where they've had to react to some nutcase....waving a machete around. 

2.  Census reality....after the Germans completed the numbers....they've come to realize that population shifts have occurred in the past decade, and two German states are slated to get less state distribution money (Lower Saxony and Berlin).  North Rhineland Westphalia is slated to get more revenue money, because of a increase in population.

3.  Focus did an interview with Meryam Schouler-Ocak, who has to deal with traumatized refugees who've arrived in Germany.

So what she generally says....the whole 'adventure' of refugees is often too much stress and it polarizes them in their behavior.  So often, their bad-boy behavior 'clicks' on and this is the only way they have to deal with problems.

4.  I sat yesterday watching N-TV and this segment on the French election came up.  The winners of the election, left-wing populists in nature....have a general strategy to attract Muslim voters....being anti-German and anti-Semitic.  

The hint....there's problems ahead between France and Germany.

5.  This new 'threat' by the far-left party in France to bring up a 90-percent tax on wealth?  BS.

The far-let party won on 189 seats....you need 289 seats to pass a measure....the far-left only won 182 seats.  Macron's Party isn't about to jump into something like this.  

6.  During the last five years of the Merkel era, the German gov't got all hyped-up to end the coal-power-energy business.  The mandate was set....coal to be phased out by 2030, period.

Well....yesterday, the Energy Minister (Habeck, Greens) stood up and said there is no set mandate.  Coal might end in 2030.....it might not end.

Leaving out a lot of details?  Yeah, that was kinda interesting.  Some suggest that the energy sector is not that secure about where power will come from....if you turn off the remaining coal plants.  

7.  Unusual court case concluded in Germany yesterday.

Federal Court of Justice decided that the consumer advice center's lawsuits against Saalesparkasse and Ostsächsische Sparkasse Dresden were correct.  

What the banks had set up in the 1990s....a premium savings contract was offered up to consumers (approximately 1.1-million of them)....with a advertised rate of 'x'.  Somewhere in the fineprint....there was a way to erase the advertised rate and pay a point or so less.

The court said no.....you can't just make up rates out of thin air.  What happens now?  For each contract....the banks must recalculate premium savings contracts.  What this adds up to?  For some folks....it gets into 4-digit range.

Biggest problem?  Paperwork drill to contact each person and work out the mess.  I would imagine even if you had 300 bank officials working 40 hours a week....it'd take at least three years to fix the problem.

8.  The German Federal Employment Agency did a review on refugees in Germany.  Their statistics show....only one migrant out of five....has some kind of acceptable professional qualification.  

So, you end up now assuming...with the remaining 80-percent, you'd have to work on their basic education situation, and then coach them through a minimum of a year (maybe two) to make them productive in the job market.

9.  Heat wave here in my local area yesterday....Wiesbaden hitting 33 C  (91 F)....hottest day of 2024 so far.  Last night?  Massive thunder/lightning episode...temperature cooled off big time.  Next 10 days?  Nothing above 26 C (79 F).

10.  Yesterday was some kind of noted day for Germans to walk around and pick up litter.

Well....up in Borkin (north of Hanau)....some woman was walking around the railway tracks to pick up litter....not seeing the train approaching, and was hit (dead).  

11.  Yesterday.....Bavaria's state Environment Minister (Thorsten Glauber), wrote up a letter to propose starting a armed Bavarian brown bear unit. Chief job for the unit?  Well....to scare away and kill bears.

What this goes back to in 2023....some bear sightings in southern Bavaria, 

Anti-bear mentality?  Yeah, and Bavarians are pretty set on this.....there just can't be any bears walking around the state. 

Who would be in this bear unit? I would imagine local hunters would apply....get a Saturday of training, and get some special license.  Scaring tactics?  On that idea....I've yet to grasp the strategy (you might just stress the bear enough....to head deeper into Bavaria).  

A Pub Story

 My wife and I have a small German pub in Wiesbaden that we occasionally will stop and have a beer there on the street.  

For years, an older guy ran it, and eventually the rental cost became an issue, and he quietly said 'enough' back last fall.....leaving the property for a new guy to set up a pub.

Back in December....this guy opened up the renovated pub, and what I noticed...the staff and kitchen help weren't of the same quality.  Starting back in March....if you view Google reviews....it's mostly 1 and 2 star recommendations....commenting on the food quality/quantity.  

This week....a sign went up....the boss fired the whole crew and the place was closed for a week or two....while hunting new people.

This is a ongoing crisis in Germany, where you really can't find that people who want to be in the restaurant/bar/pub/cafe business....since Covid came around.

The other side of this national problem.....the pay-scale is screwed up enough....that you have to offer old wages-marked-up by 50-percent to attract decent staff.  This means that virtually all of the menu items are heavily marked up. 

(Example; my wife and I ate out this afternoon.....typical currywurst plate, with pommes, and a soda each....coming to 23 Euro roughly.  Back five years ago, this would have been around 14 Euro.  

9 July 2024: Thirteen German News Stories

 1.  Interesting story off ARD (public TV)....the Bundestag has roughly 60 members who are pro-dog and wanting to have open-policy to allow members of the German parliament to bring in their dogs.

Current rules?  Police dogs are the ONLY dogs allowed into the building, and it's actually written into the rules.

The angle being pursued?  If you have some disability and require a dog....they say the rule change is likely.

2.  If you are on welfare funding, and get offered a job....which requires a commute of 1.5 hours to the job....under the new rules....you'd have to accept the job or lose support.  

How many Germans travel 1.5 hours one-way?  I've yet to hear a statistical number of this, but I doubt it's more than 2 or 3 percent.  Twenty years ago, I knew a German who lived deep into the Pfalz....working in Mainz.  On a good day....he'd spend just over 3 and a quarter hours on travel time for the day (by car).

3.  Germany's response to the French election outcome?  Fair amount of commentary indicating that Macron is probably on his way out....early.   Other response is that it's great that the right-wing folks lost.

After looking at the graphic chart....in almost all non-urban voting districts....the right-wing party led/won.  It's when you get to the big 10 cities of France.....that the far-left folks took big numbers and won.  

The fact that NO majority exists in the French Parliament?  Well....yeah, it's basically three groups of generally equal  size....left, center, right.  Pretty obvious that no serious legislation will occur over the next year or two, and another snap-election probably will occur.  

4.  This 49-Euro monthly Bahn card?  Well...LOT of chatter....by end of the year....it probably will go to a minimum of 69 Euro, and some hype suggests 79 Euro.

Still, that's a 4-star good deal.  Before all this crap started up....in most states, the monthly ticket was in the 95-to-100 Euro range.

5.  I bring this poster that has been around Germany for about 2 years now.....trying to persuade people NOT to repopulate the country.....because of climate change.

Asking me if the posters had any effect?  I'd say that most Germans over the age of forty (male and female) just had a laugh. Maybe the 16 to 25 year olds....some of them engaged in conversation over it....wondering if this kid thing is all BS anyway.

The curious thing....around my local area....there just weren't any of these posters.  You needed to venture into Frankfurt, or Berlin, or Hamburg to see them.  

Me?  I'm thinking it'd be neat to convince 15-year old kids to wander off into the woods....living off the land, and sleeping under bridges....to save the Earth.  Based on the number of bridges in Germany....I think we can handle 10,000 per year living in this style. 

6.  Some heat 'blast' for Tuesday in Germany.  I'm expecting 31 C (88 F), for 24 hours....then we get another north Atlantic chill coming back for ten days.  Weird weather locally.

7.  BSW Party pushing a new agenda.....language tests for kids 3 years old.  They want to establish the fact that a fair portion of German society's youth....can't speak or read German.  

8.  Focus piece this AM....talking over Turkish 'Grey Wolves' extremists in Germany.  Their count?  The suggestion is that 12,000 exist in Germany today. Their slant?  Right-wingish.

9.  There's an interesting WELT piece this AM....talking over the business-death of city center commercial traffic across Germany. Blame?  They blame three things: lack of accessibility, cleanliness, and safety concerns.

I'll just say that you could take a 'picture' of commerce in Germany in the 1980s, and suggest today that getting downtown (in any place....from Stuttgart, and Koln....to Frankfurt and Berlin) is a pain.  In most cases, I'd tell you to ditch the car and attempt the trip by bus/rail.  

10.  Amusing anger situation.  Euro-Cup soccer action this weekend...Spain has to play France, in Munich.

Spanish team has a training 'center/hotel' in Stuttgart (about 190 km from Munich).  Team announced yesterday....they'd arrive at the game via plane....NOT bus.  There had been this assumption....they'd board a bus and just drive down....in a 2-hour situation. 

Well....no, the team said they'd fly down (roughly a 25-min flight). 

Environmentalists all hyped up against this.  

Considering traffic jams and potential for things to go wrong....yeah, I'd go by plane too....if I were the team.

11.  For about 30 years, there was a written standard in Germany for postal delivery....that if you mailed something by 5 PM....80-percent of the time, it'd be delivered (anywhere in Germany) by end of business on the 2nd day.

Well...change....from 2025, the 80 percent requirement is gone.

New rule?  95 percent of items must be delivered within three working days, and 99 percent of items must reach their destination on the fourth working day.

Yeah, even if you mailed a response from your house to a business 20 km away....it might not be there until the 4th day.

12.  New Brit Labour gov't says they are on some path to build 1.5-million new homes/apartments over the next five years.

I suspect if you gathered up a dozen Brits and asked if they believe this feat will happen....most all will just start laughing.

13.  Chaos in Spain over tourists?

Well....this is a little tale of woe.

Back in the 1950s....Germans started to discover the great Spanish weather, relative cost of a vacation, and the beaches. By the 1970s....the Spanish had figured various ways to attract Germans.

So along with this deal....came excessive partying/drinking, a problem with housing, and some dislike of the mess created.

Then as Covid arrived....for roughly two years....very quiet times, and less chaos.  The housing market did a brief recovery.

In the past year, Spaniards across the country have stood up and been openly hostile toward German tourists.  Week by week, you see incidents occurring and a negativity existing.

The magnet-status?  Its drifting away.  I would suggest within five years....German tourism in Spain will drop by half, and Greece/Turkey will find a way to seize the advantage.