1. Natural gas pricing going up in Germany? Yes....the suggestion I read yesterday....near 50-perent bump-up.
2. I noted some poll over perceptions to self-censorship. in Germany, by your political affiliation.
Folks in AfD (far-right)....they admit (by 74 percent of them)....they have to censor themselves at least once a week. The BSW folks....at 57-percent doing self-censorship.
The Greens? Around 27-percent.
Asked around the general public if they believed some people avoid speaking their minds, because of fear of consequences, three-quarters of people said yes.
I'll just say....Germans typically are awful blunt. So if they are being more careful about what they say....it begs the question....how much more would they like to say but try hard to limit themselves?
3. There's a interview I saw last night....car analysts talking over Ford-Germany....suggesting it's possible they dissolve entirely in 2025.
Nissan is hinting of this same path, if sales still spiral.
4. Minister of Defense for Germany wants 4-billion Euro to buy four new submarines.
Odds of getting it? Near zero.
5. The Bahn folks in Berlin now admit...at night....they have so MANY new trains arriving (with the old trains still in service)....that they don't have space within Berlin for the trains.....so they have a crew who shows up and runs what they call a 'ghost-train'.
The 'ghost-train' is taken about 30 to 60 minutes away.....to a alternate parking area.
Yeah, if you asked me...it's pretty stupid planning.
6. N-TV ran a piece last night....talking about Chinese secret-police who are apparently set-up and watching Chinese citizens in Germany (meaning those who left or disappeared). The Germans are now aware of this strategy.
Network? Yeah....across several German states.
7. Gamestop-Germany....video-gaming stores.....will be shutting down in Germany. Dissolving 500 jobs.
8. If you are a viewer of Germany's 'Jungle-Camp'.....starting in late January, the show will air at 8:15 PM (not 10:15 PM). Will crimp the numbers for public TV.
9. Shocker from last night's ARD (public TV, Channel 1) news at 8 PM.
They normally start off with a 'I-welcome-you-ladies-and-gentlemen'. Well....the guy said it was time to change, and the phrase to be dumped.
I looked over two social platforms this AM. From one group....it's mostly it was an old phrase and no one uses it anymore.....with a second group saying they didn't care....the Channel 2 news (ZDF)....doesn't utter the phrase.
The second platform (Twitter)? A 's*it-storm'. Most people uttering this is a 'pro-woke' change, and another group saying they don't watch public TV news anyway.
10. The Ifo Institute (think-tank, research foundation)....came out yesterday and said that bureaucracy costs Germany around 146-billion Euro.
11. What this 'D-Day' scandal in the Bundestag is all about?
There is a written script produced by someone in the FDP Party....that says how to bring the coalition to an end, and it has been made public. Journalists are mostly hyped-up over this.
I asked my German wife to explain this.....her opinion....it's the stuff that a 12-year old kid would write, and it worked. Seventy-percent of people in a poll back in the summer...wanted the coalition gone, and a new election....so as she says....it worked....don't cry over how it worked.
12. AfD Party says if they win.....they promise that Germany will exit the EU (like BREXIT, I assume). No polls yet to say if this is catchy or not. Zero chance of AfD winning....at this point.