Saturday, November 16, 2024

16 Nov 2024: Seven German News Stories

 1. Chancellor Scholz called up Russia's Putin yesterday....had a hour-long chat.  Just by the way things were described.....lot of encouragement thrown at Putin...just to end the war.  

2.  N-24 piece this AM....talking over how the SPD Party, Greens and FDP are trying to present themselves to Merz of the CDU....in being a future coalition.

3.  Green Party holding big meeting in Wiesbaden this weekend....preparing for the election.  Charged-up behind Habeck as their candidate.

4.  About a year ago over a the Frankfurt Airport....they laid down what you'd go a hi-tech runway surface.  At this point, a year later....it's referred to as a 'tire-killer'.

5.  Since mid-2019....if you bought a European-made car....it has to have E-call in it.  It's an emergency system, that alerts authorities with a 'beacon', and supposedly will 'save' you (debatable).  It was a EU mandate.

So here's the thing...it's not something you can turn off.  And if it's broke....the car system registers it as a failure point and you are supposed to have it fixed.

What most folks don't know.....while it's attached to your car battery...there is a back-up battery. Some folks have gotten a 'problem' sensor warning (rather new car) and the mechanic upon checking it....says 'yeah'....your back-up battery is screwed up...then noting it's a Chinese low-grade battery.

6.  There's some talk of a Dutch coalition collapse....with the recent riots involving Muslim youth and the pro-Palestinian business.  Some elements of the coalition want a deportation rule put into place.  Last-minute efforts to halt this type of discussion.  If the riots were to continue....you might see more of the collapse talk.

7.  I watched a N-TV piece this AM....talking over home prices, and energy efficiency being a hot subject now.  Some belief that if you have bad numbers on efficiency....you probably will see a 20-to-30 percent drop in value  of your German home....forcing you to upgrade or lose value.

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