1. I was reading through German business news yesterday. The gov't now believes they need in the neighborhood of 288,000 foreign workers PER YEAR (minimum) at least until 2040...to maintain service and production levels.
Birth-rate issues, Germans leaving, and commercial strategies....all play a role. I doubt if the recent downturn in the economy was figured into this number business.
2. There was a DHL cargo plane crash a couple of days ago in Leipzig. Fair amount of investigation going on. There is some speculation that it was a planned explosion by the Russians. Last night....retired Bundeswehr general did an interview on ARD (public TV, Channel 1), and leaned awful hard toward that idea.
3. Grand opening of the Wiesbaden Christmas Market was late yesterday. I walked around. About normal, with the exception of 'more' police than normal. I probably saw five patrols in the hour I spent there.
4. Monday night, via ARD (public TV, Channel 1) came a program that I missed...called 'The 100'. I went back yesterday and watch the bulk of it (75 min show). Odd theme.
The news folks of ARD designed a show that was more of a training module....trying to teach Germans how to view a story....reviewing facts primarily from official sources (like public TV), then reaching a consensus where the bulk were in agreement.
For several years....there's been a strong suggestion that Germans are getting BS stories (from the left and right), and making poor decisions. I might look at this discussion (mostly from public TV news people) and suggest that the BS stories have been around for hundreds of years, and this isn't anything new. What you do have in the mix (new).....is social media, and a complex public view of skepticism.
I might add...via the Monday night schedule....8:15 PM....you had competition: Farmer Seeks Wife, the movie 'Pacific Rim', some show where you marry an unknown character, a documentary piece on falcons, a TV thriller movie, some French 1952 movie over WW II, a TV cooking show on how to make the perfect hamburger, and some police docusoap show. For the ARD folks....I kinda doubt that more than 5-percent of the population watched their show, and the bulk were over the age of 40.
4. For a number of months....the Nord Stream explosion was figured to require 6 to 8 bombs. Yesterday....evidence was released....showing only 4 were used.
5. I sat and watched a pretty dramatic business story this AM on Germany's N-TV. Topic? After the election is done....most financial analysts now say a 60-billion-Euro 'hole' exists and the whoever comes out as the winner in the election has a mess to deal with.
What drives this 'hole'? The Ukraine war.....bridge and road maintenance, and trying to have the Bundeswehr ready to fight a war.....while sitting in the middle of a recession.
6. KTM....German company that makes motorcycles....in deep financial trouble. Cutting 1,000 employees.
7. German gov't being 'gifted' 13.5-billion Euro by the EU....for Covid era costs. What the money will be spent on? Digitalization by the gov't and wind-power projects. To be honest....this was part of the German money already sent to the EU in the past.
8. Two raids yesterday....going after two Red Army suspects....in Berlin and Frankfurt.
No comments:
Post a Comment