29 April 2025: Eight German News Stories

 1.  N-TV had a analytical piece.....looking over jobs possibly affected by the US tariff situation with Germany.  The two German states in the worst position?   Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg.  Least states?  Mostly in eastern Germany.

2.  Strong push by incoming new gov't to get people to buy/lease E-cars.  Just my humble opinion....you could go and offer 4,000 Euro in credit.....it would not make any difference. 

3.  MediaMarktSaturn CEO Karsten Wildberger will apparently be the new Merz gov't Minister of Digital Affairs. Media Markt and Saturn are the mega-operations to  sell electronic goods in Germany.

4.  RBB (the Berlin public TV network) came up about 3 years ago and fired their CEO.  Well.....court action occurred, and the court said it was a illegal firing....so they have to pay the pension to the person....figure 8,000 Euro a month for the remainder of her life.

5. We had a serious traffic jam on A66 autobahn here in Wiesbaden for Sunday afternoon.  The cops say there was a wedding party, and they shut down the autobahn for about 15 minutes. 

Jail-time?  They will end up with a hefty fine.

6. Explaining this Portugal and Spain power outage yesterday.  The term to know....Oscillation.  

At some key point in time....power across the grid in 3 countries (to  include SW France) got bumped on thousands of times in a short period of time. The grid in these 3 locations....wasn't up to the task....so it went off.  You can make the analysis that upgrades are needed.

Political folks in frustration?   Oh yeah, and they really can't explain the science to this issue or how to resolve it. 

Accusation that Putin may have done this? That has been made, but it's BS.

All power up?  As of 7 AM.....Spain is 99-percent up.

One odd note....some grid experts say that things came pretty close to all grids (to include Germany) going 'off'  yesterday.

7.  CDU's designated new health minister, Nina Warken, has hot topics to discuss.  Two health insurance companies DAK and AOK, say they are on the verge of financial chaos.  

8.  If you were asking me of the odds of peace between Putin's Russia and Ukraine....at this point....I'd say less than 10-percent chance.   New conditions established by Putin....goes nowhere.

27 April 2025 Gerrman News Stories

 1.  The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) says (as of April 1), 575 people in Germany are 'watched' under special official rules, as dangerous individuals.

Majority?  Under the class of  "religious ideology." Figure around 458.  

2. The BSW Party is still asking for a national  re-count of the election.  They missed getting seats in the Bundestag....by roughly 9,000 votes.  Won't happen....my bet.

3.  Flights from Aghanistan with new refugees to  Germany....are halted until the new coalition steps in.

4.  I watched a piece from ARD's Tagesschau news program....relating to 'space'  for incoming new German Army folks, and the Army admits...in terms of barracks space, they have a serious problem.

5. AfD's headquarters in Berlin....has a problem.  The landlord wants them out.  Lease terminated without notice.

6.  Jan Fleischhauer wrote a piece for Focus....says that roughly "65 percent of school principals report cases in which teachers were threatened, insulted, or bullied by students. 35 percent report physical attacks". 

7.  About two years ago....my town (Wiesbaden) voted (within the city council) a new tax.....water-consumption tax....amounting  to 90-Euro-Cents per cubic meter of water use.  Immediately, consumer groups sued...saying  it wasn't right.  It drifted around at the local level, and the court  last  week said that the city has the right to create such a tax.

Why a new tax?  What the city said was that people were using too much water.

I posed this to my wife.....what would we have to pay, and she  did the numbers....saying it was fairly close to 17 Euro a month. I then asked.....how we could cut use, and her response was....well....just stop taking one or two baths per week. 

The matter going to a higher court? Yeah.  What the city likely makes per year....once it's implemented?  Well...near  26-million Euro  (my best guess).

25 April 2025: Five German News Stories

 1.  Presently, by German law....your car must be inspected every two years.

There is a EU discussion going on....the EU Commission wants to introduce a mandatory annual inspection for all cars older than ten years. 

Odds of this passing?  Some folks are going to ask why.

Is there some issue existing?  In Germany, with the current TUV standards, I doubt it.

2.  That shooting I essayed about.....a week ago....where the two Turkish guys were shot dead?

Well...German cops have arrested a 28-year-old Turkish guy there in Bad Nauheim.  What they say....this guy admits having shot both victims, in relation to a a revenge  situation....for the killing of his father in Turkey in 2021.

3.  German position on Trump's design peace deal (which does not appear acceptable to Russia or Ukraine)...negative.  

4. E-cars are currently going through a nationwide sales boom in Germany. The Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) published the numbers for new registrations.  Nationwide, 112,966 cars were registered in the first quarter of 2025. That's about 30k more than this quarter last year.

5.  It is curious....as the NFL draft 'show' is going on....fair number of Germans are watching it unfold.

Story-Line: Trump And How People Believe Things

 I noticed this week....a SW (public TV from the Pfalz)....where they interviewed some Germans in the Spangdahlem region. The topic....the Germans  were conditioning themselves not to be overly critical of Trump....in front of GI's who live in the area.  Oddly, they found that the American GI's didn't have the same opinion over things.

So, I'm going to tell you a story.

As the Clinton years wound down....2000 was this election year where VP Al Gore would run against George Bush.  Most of the newspapers in Germany with a  left view (Die Tageszeitung, Neues Deutschland, Frankfurter Rundschau,  Berliner Zeitung and Süddeutsche Zeitung), and ZDF/ARD TV news....carried the main articles of Bush in trouble, or Bush with a bad performance report while in the Air National Guard.

The election came up....5-star theatrics in Florida....no one in Germany able to understand the card-problem, and a major disappointment because they expected Al Gore to win.

Four years would pass.  It's safe to say while 9-11 influenced people....the bulk of what Germans say in the build-up of 2004's election....was pro-Kerry.

Shocker?  Bush won.

What you can say over the next year or so.....is that each time a picture came up on  ZDF  or ARD....it was made to  persuade you that Bush was an idiot.  At some point...maybe in the 6th year....Chancellor had some meeting with the ARD CEO (remember, it's  a public TV situation).  No one said what the meeting was about.....but over the next week....the poor picture gimmick ended, and the ARD/ZDF efforts were mostly to set a neutral 'tone'.  At some point....one of the two were given a 20-minute interview situation with Bush.  

So then came 2008, and the entry of Barak Obama. Over a 8-year period....just about each time that Obama or his staff came up....it was either neutral or positive news.  

2016?  Over the whole year, Germans were conditioned....the Obama period would continue, and Hillary Clinton would easily win over Trump.   No one could understand how Trump could possibly win.

Over a four year period....Germans were convinced over and over....Trump would fall or be impeached.   It was great theatrics and kept people in hopes of the great ending.

Once Joe Biden won....they expected the Obama era to return, and Trump would never be mentioned again.

Well....then came the court cases....where Germans were reassured....Trump would be bankrupted...convicted, and sent off to prison.  The numbers in 2024? Joe Biden couldn't lose.

It was just an odd thing....you saw less and less of Joe Biden and those 'lost-mind'  episodes were never shown to the German public.  Once he was out and Harris in....everyone was reassured....Trump would be in prison, or that Harris had  this  set to win.

So as we come to January....there's a new show playing.

The tariff-chatter?  It worries German car companies.  No one will mention the German tariffs on US goods (for over 40 years).

 This talk of a lack of German 'free-speech'?  Well...it sets off all kinds of drama.

The election chatter of Elon Musk talking about migration problems and pumping up AfD numbers?  It sets the media off in a frenzy.

Germans hoping that Tesla fails in Germany?  Oddly....the jobs will appear, and China will pick up the lost numbers, and the jobs.

Trump getting into the peace business with Ukraine and Russia?  That disturbs German politicians. 

Trump needling Germany with intent?  Oh yeah....no doubt.  Unlike 2016....he's got them on the defensive this time.

Germans trusting the news business like in 2016 or 2020?  No...it's different now. I'd say one out of  four are skeptical of what they see, or how to perceive it.

So I can understand the German locals standing there in Spangdahlem, and waking up to Americans muting their conversation....keeping things at a distance. 

A Story

 Around 35 years ago....I lived in the Kaiserslautern community.  Next door was this guy....married....three kids...around 30 years old.

I was sort briefed by my wife (German) that the guy typically held a job for six to eight months....then would get laid off.  Reason?  Well....he was a pretty hefty smoker of cannabis (weed).

It reached a point as we lived there....he eventually went on long-term unemployment.  His statement to the gov't office paying this.....working was stressful.

About  three years into this long-term situation....the job-office kinda demanded he take a job.  He lasted about four weeks....before saying he was ill, and getting a doctor's note.

Six months passed....another attempt to get him hired-up.  That led to another illness situation and another doctor's note.

We lived around the area until 2013.  If I were guessing....they attempted to place him on at least a dozen occasions....each failing.

My wife kept some contact, and somewhere around 2015....the gov't office must have gotten hardass with the doctor,  and said we are going to start second-guessing your notes.  Getting a sick note was now next to impossible.

It's odd....at that point....the guy was forced into employment.  

But now he started to try quitting work here, and getting hired with a new job....always saying the stress was too much.

I would take a guess that he probably worked for at least 15 companies in that period.

As the Covid period came around....he had issues (breathing, asthma-related).  He apparently passed away in early 2024.

If you bring up scenarios like this with most Germans....they get hyped-up (angry, frustrated).  Out of the 84-million in population....there's a belief that roughly a million folks exist at this level....no desire to work.  

I only bring this up...because of the ongoing saga in the US....same issue....probably upwards to 7-to-10 million....long-term unemployed.

24 April 2025: Three German News Stories

 1.  Out of Bad Kreuznach (in the Pfalz)....there's this odd saga developing.  There's this Afghan guy (age 20) who had arrived and applied for refugee status. Well....he failed....mostly over radicalization.

Once they told him of the decline of paperwork....he's gotten pretty rowdy.  

Yeah, he is on a deportation list (since Oct 2024)....but delay after delay has occurred.  Presently, the local gov't is so worried....they have hired a monitoring-security company (paying around 20k Euro a month) to monitor the guy.

Locals are in fear....he'll eventually get a knife and kill people on the street.  Why no holding-cell?   Well...in recent weeks, they finally went to a holding cell.

Why deportation is a problem.   Well....that passport he held (back when his application for asylum was in the works)....'disappeared', and Afghanistan isn't that willing to accept him.

If you wonder why so many Germans are critical of the asylum program....it's guys like this that make the program suspect.

2. N-TV item.....150,000 Germans yearly will die from drinking or smoking themselves to death.

3.  Rain finally in my valley. Roughly 24 hours straight of showers  since mid-morning of yesterday.  First real rainfall since Christmas week.

Three Topics

 1.  What's the problem proceeding on the Ukraine-Russia 'peace-deal'?

Well....Russia wants territory in the deal....Ukraine says nothing is to be given up.

So this is the 'twist'....other of this eastern section being discussed....at least before the war started....was made up of some ethnic Russian-Ukrainians. Depending on which district....it ranges from one-out-of-three to one-out-of-four being Russian.

Would any of these folks 'return' home....even if Russia got the territory?  I would have some doubts.  

I'm not saying the deal is dead...but it's pretty corrupted.

2. In Frankfurt....about two blocks NW  of the train-station....the city is discussing this idea of a drug-support 'center' (it's an older building near a shopping district and hotels).

A bunch of the locals, and shops....have stood up and said 'NO'....hoping to convince the city to dump the plan.

If you were stationed around Frankfurt in the 1960s, 1970s or 1980s.....it's changed a good bit.   The train-station district now?  If you draw a 8-block circle around the train-station today....there's probably in the range of 2k to 3k junkies who reside there.  This is one of those zones that I'd tell you to take the train in, exit, and move as quickly as possible to exit the zone.  This expansion/growth?  It started in the 1980s with cocaine, but in the past 20 years....expanded rapidly with heroin. 

3.  Its not front-page news...but over in Frankfurt....there's a major court case going on with the Frankfurt Reich citizens' trial.

So it kinda came up this week....a major witness for the prosecution....gave BS testimony and the case is in some minor jeopardy.

If it's just one single guy....things will proceed.  If there's another witness or two that does BS situation (open lies).....this 4-star case will have problems proceeding.

Four Predictions Occurring Before 2030

 1.  I will go out and predict with the exodus of both millionaires and well-to-do Brits....a financial collapse of some type will occur.  The Labour gov't will  approach banks and find the risk assessment of a huge scale, and loan only to sink the country into further debt issues.

2.  At least fifteen members of the EU will admit by 2030....that populism is now a top-three problem.

3.  By 2030, Germany will pass a public-streets law...stating that  any public street (sidewalk)  is a weapons-free zone, and the police can frisk you.

4.  A sugar-content tax will be passed in Germany.....raising the price of a can of Coke/Pepsi by 1-Euro.  Energy drinks will have a 1.5-Euro tax established.

22 Apr 2025: Five German News Stories

 1.   Friedrich Merz is the new incoming  Chancellor of Germany.  Confidence level?  Well...Forsa survey done....only one in five Germans (21 percent) consider the guy to be 'chancellor-to-be trustworthy'.

Yeah, it's a bad sign.

2.  Because other markets are saturated....cocaine dealers are concentrating now on Europe (Germany in particular). The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) chief made comments over the weekend...using the term "cocaine glut."

3.  From that Saturday shooting in Bad Nuheim (two Turks dead)....police have arrested two guyd (ages 31/36, both Turks).  What they are saying....the two didn't shoot the gun, but apparently have some connection (perhaps a murder contract).  

4.  WELT piece this AM....for decades....over-population was the big worry.  Well....new statistics.....population across the globe is on the decline, and this now has people worried.

5.  It would appear...one of the top three priorities of the new coalition....is to reform the pension program.  Lot of promises that Germans  won't have to work an  extra year....to retire  with current estimate of 'promised funds'.

Why Social Media Is A Threat To Society?

 Imagine a story....where your go-to-news source tells you X, with four facts.  You go to social media, where the story/facts are told, and sixty people have a comment each.

You discover in ten minutes....that one fact is marginally true, and that the news source fails to mention five associated facts....which curtail the believability of X-story. 

You start to look at the additional evidence laid out....giving them a 'score', and realizing that either your go-to-news source failed to tell the whole story, or is just not capable of digging into a story.

At this point, you lose confidence.

A year passes, and you go routinely to social media....realizing that your go-to-news source marginally works.

At this point....the term 'propaganda' creeps into your mind continually.

What can the go-to-news source do?  Well....either they start to blend their stories with more facts....lessening your position and simply telling you a no-position story (you aren't pro-or-con).  Or they can grasp that readership/viewership....is in decline.

So if you were a political party and counting on the news media to deliver your position....you might be in trouble right now.  

21 April 2025: Thirteen German News Stories

 1.  If you went out shopping for 'premium' coffee in Germany....over the past year, you might be shocked to figure a 40-percent rise in prices.  

2.  There was a interview over RBB (Berlin public TV) where a young German was asked about the talk of conscription (the draft) coming back.  He basically said....if it comes....he will either leave the country or go to jail.  No one cites numbers or polls...but I would imagine a minimum of 10-percent of young Germans feel this way.

3. ZDF business report.....1 in 3 German companies expect job cuts in 2025.

4. Wine production in Germany....figures by end of 2025....production will be at lowest point in sixty years....mostly due to climate change/poor weather.

5. If you haven't noticed.....two of the most popular social media Apps in Germany....WhatsApp and Instagram....are owned by Facebook/Meta.

6. New German survey on Gen-Z folks....one out of two is mentally prepared to change jobs.

7.  That shooting I discussed from yesterday?  Well....the two gentlemen dead.....father-in-law and son-in-law....six rounds fired.  Cops believe a personal 'beef' occurred between other parties and them.  No one arrested yet.

8.  21 folks wounded in Frankfurt....some argument started up at a restaurant near the train-station district....with a guy reacting and spraying the interior of it with tear gas.  Police arrested the guy later.  Restaurant considered 'contaminated'.

9.  If you use WhatApp in Germany.....new version coming....to compress photos, and allow more 'storage' on each phone.

10.  German police union is calling for a full-ban on transportation for weapons.  Meaning? They want a national policy where they can ID you within any bus, train, subway, station or at a bus-stop....and frisk you.

11.  Last night, via ZDF (public TV, Channel 2)...."Traumschiff", the 90-minute cruise movie (runs 4 times a year) occurred.  This AM.....LOT  of criticism by fans...over the story-line.

I'll just say it...it's mostly Germans over the age of 50 that watch the show.  My wife is a 'fan' of the show.

As for the story-line?  It's mostly a travel documentary blended with a soap-opera-like story....usually four to six themes.  

As for my humble view.....you could mute the whole story and just run the location scenes and skip the dialog.  

12. At the end of the last coalition....stood the SPD and Greens....kicking the FDP out.   So one member of the FDP opt'ed to stay...Volker Wissing.  Well....this weekend....the head of the SPD has offered membership to Volker Wissing (he can join the SPD Party).  

Yeah, it's  an odd occurrence where people leave one party and join another.

13.  Odd occurrence in Oldenburg last night (Sunday evening, far NW of the  country).

Police get called to a night-club.  There's some kind of argument brewing between staff of the club and some young male (21).  This guy gets violent and uses tear  gas on them....then pulls a knife.   Police arrive and try to deescalate the matter....guy still waves a knife around.  Cops end up shooting the guy dead.  Just a humble  guess....there's either drugs or alcohol involved.

20 April 2025: Five German News Stories

1.  Another shooting.  What the Hessen state police say....around 5:40 PM Saturday....2 folks were shot dead on the street in front of a apartment building in Bad Nauheim (Wetterau region),  Huge police operation developed....dozens of police.  For reference, this is about 30 minutes straight north of Frankfurt....pretty near the autobahn.

So far....no real description, or motivation given. Ages of the two dead folks....unknown.

Yeah, it's just rare that shootings occur in Germany....so this went to front-page news in a hurry.

2.  I noticed this story in the AM today.  If you want to join the German police, there are several tests to rank you in the process.   

In the Hamburg region, for the city-police....they've  decided to abolish the  dictation test in their aptitude test . 

Reasoning?  Roughly 60 percent of all applicants failed the test. What you can get out of this....standards of school work....where you'd  pick up the skill of dictation....are slacking.  

3.  Poland went in the past week to make illegal....taking pictures of certain locations  (25,000 of them)....saying it's for a security reason.  Even some bridges are on this list. Related to a fear of Russian invasion?  I get some sense out of this way of thinking but it'll be a challenge if you were a tourist....trying to figure out ways to photograph something.

4.  I noticed some SPD chatter this AM....possibly discussing raising some taxes....with the CDU-CSU saying they won't agree to this.

5.  I watched a N-TV piece this AM....referencing public discontent about center-center political positions (something that Merkel started).  Problem? Well....the general public now are saying such politics....aren't right-wing enough, and that some positions need to be 'marked' to move further right (politically).  

I was at a base logistics point (Ramstein) in the 2007/2008 period, and got into a talk with a older German base employee. He was fairly disgruntled over the way that the CDU was progressing with this center-center political talk.  Even at that point....people like this guy didn't think the party was conservative anymore.

Three Footnotes

1.  Just interesting....by the end of Friday (yesterday)....the coalition gov't forming....kinda hinted in a strong way....the top level of DB (the Bahn/railway folks)....has to go.  Trigger?  They have made a  number of promises over the past  five years, and failed to get ahead.

What I found interesting this week....the Bahn has a new agenda...spending probably half-a-billion over the next couple of years....cleaning train stations, in a MORE tidy and efficient way. Now, I will say this...if you traveled around the country in the 2000 to 2010 period....most of the stations you'd enter....were marginally clean.  In the past two years.....at least in the BIG stations....they've made an effort to tidy up and make things presentable.  At least they are trying to present a better image.

2.  German Army applications up?  Well....since early 2025....it's up by 19-percent.  Trigger?  They say they went more heavily into advertising via social media, and it got the attention of young people.

3.  We are now two years after the final nuke-energy plant closed down in Germany.  The good news?  This week, they established that by 2074....they expect to have finally figured out a permanent spot to house nuke waste....currently in temp locations. 

19 April 2025: Five German News Stories

 1.  The aurochs, a breed of cattle....originally native to Hessen, was extinct.  Well....there's a lab in Lorsch that is trying to develop the breed again.

My description of the breed?  Take a normal cow....pump it up by 30-percent, and add 200 pounds of muscle.

Not sure where this is going to lead to. 

2.  Austria has figured out that this guy who was a  school-teacher....was not qualified for the job.  Years spent in this fake-stunt?  Fifteen.

3.  There's a element of the German gov't that wants to double the number of active-duty and reserve troop in the Army.  The stumbling block?  The SPD is firmly against conscription.

4.  I watched a N-TV piece this AM....on Chinese E-cars coming into Germany.  So the analyst admits two things....first, the cars aren't that 'bad' (indicating that quality is decent)....but second, the marketing campaign so far, has been a 'disaster'.

5.  Mixed message by incoming coalition gov't....they want to increase defense spending (significantly)....but to reach that point....social spending will have some cuts along the way.  This won't sell well to the pubic.

That Death Story

 A couple of days ago.....I essayed over a Syrian kid (15) who'd fallen from a 8th floor balcony in Hamburg....pronounced dead.  

So cops have wrapped up the investigation.  Some 'gang' (group) of Syrian youths/juveniles arrested/detained.

Motivation?  So far....none.  The dead kid had attempted to escape to the apartment below, and lost his grip on the railing.

18 April 2025: Four German News Stories

 1.  Yesterday, over near Chemnitz (eastern Germany)....a young German guy (23) stabbed a older German gal (59) in a serious way...just walking out of the front door of a grocery store.  From the next store....ran a 18-year old German gal to help stop the attack....and she got stabbed.

From what the police say....the guy had been on a forbidden-to-enter list,  and caught within the store....told to leave....he got peeved and attacked the first person that he saw exiting.  Police have detained the guy....both women are ok, but seriously wounded.  

I'll  go and predict....guy ends up with a mental eval, and sent off for permanent placement in a facility.

2. Berlin-City Council have new policy going into effect....all transportation 'hubs' (buses, trains, stations, etc) will have a no-weapons  policy.....meaning the police can stop you, force an ID check, and frisk you....within these locations.  Policy will start as soon as signs are placed to warn you of  the 'zone'.

3.  German Army says recruitment is up over 2024 (20-percent is suggested).

4.  Out of Bavaria, the number of hantavirus infections (from rodents) is noted on the rise....compared to previous years.....no indication why.

Curious Label Story

I was reading a business report this AM....talking over Europe-China trade. So this odd story came up....from the high bag line of Gucci...analysts now believe around 80-percent of what Gucci sells...is made in China, and then shipped off to Italy/France....where it's 'branded', with the label showing 'made in Milan' or 'made in France'.   

Analysts suggest Prada has a similar issue....maybe 60-percent of their  stuff...made in China.  Same story for Hermes and Louis Vuitton.

The idea that it's not all high-quality European leather?  Well...it just begs questions.  Maybe if you bought your bag twenty-to-forty years ago....it's the real thing.

My wife (German in nature) has a friend who saw this remarkable deal (back  around 2017) in Dubai....where they offered 50-percent off deal of a second high-value bag....if you paid full-price on bag number one. I asked my wife how you could sell such a bag, with half-off, and she had no answer.  

Looking back....bag number one was probably a authentic Milan-made bag, and bag number two....the Chinese-made one.  It would make sense then how you could heavily discount the second bag.

Legal?   Well....if  it came into the EU with NO label....yeah, it'd be legal to import a pallet of no-name bags.  Then you take it into a Milan factory.....to put the 'label' on the bag, and put into a nice box....to ship out to the world as their product.  Nothing illegal in doing this.  

To be honest....if you laid out the top 500 labels across the globe (including the US)....it wouldn't shock me if 90-percent of the labels all do the same thing, and have some path going back to China.

17 April 2025: Three German News Stories

 1.  New coalition will implement a mandatory disaster-insurance.

Deal?  All residential buildings must be insured against heavy rain, flooding, and other natural disasters (earthquakes, etc).

Cost?  Some rough estimates....if you had a building with four apartments....they estimate it'll run 1,600 Euro a year....to be split among the four tenets.  Smaller house structure...probably in the 300 to 400 Euro range.

Upsetting folks? You will have to find another 30 Euro per month....to fix your budget issue.  

2. BSW Party having a power-struggle over party-boss.

3. Anniversary of the end of the World War II going on throughout Germany.  Bundestag decided to exclude Russian ambassador from commemoration events. 80th year.

Verdict From K-Town Today

 Court concluded today.....so that episode with the American young lady who'd stabbed a 60's older Eritrean guy (dead)....that I wrote up on the case coming up two weeks....concluded.

Judgement....2 year sentence....suspended. 

Basic story....she'd returned to town on the train....going up the escalator of the  bahnhof...this guy came up behind her, and groped her.  Words were spoken at the top.....she pulls a knife...there's some actions of hands between the two, and the guy ends up dead.

She was a dependent (not active duty).

Just Something Odd I've Noticed

 Over the past week here in Germany....as I browse....I constantly get Temu advertisements (you know, the Chinese Amazon folks).

My German wife has a iron-clad rule....NO purchases via Temu.

It's just odd....since the tariff crap started.....it seems like they've doubled up advertising in Europe, and getting folks hyped to buy Chinese crap.

Over 2024....I probably watched at least ten news pieces from German public and commercial TV....discussing the poor quality stuff sold on Temu.

What The SPD and CDU/CSU Agreed Upon For The 15-Euro Minimum Wage Idea?

 The only thing of agreement....they would set up a committee and examine the need to increase minimum wage to 15 Euro an hour.

End-result? Toward the end of 2025....some paper will be delivered and suggest a wage increase.....probably toward the 3rd or 4th quarter of 2026, going from 12.82 Euro (presently)....to 14 Euro in 2026, and 15 Euro in summer of 2027....my humble guess.

Who makes minimum wage?  Well....if you asked....it's mostly Germans or guests, who are untrained and unskilled people.  

If you look around....with so many positions unfilled, and serious searches going on for employees....most business operations are already offering 15 to 18 Euro for unskilled jobs.

15 Apr 2025: Eight German News Stories

 1.  Odd death....Hamburg, over the weekend.  What the cops say....they were called...1 AM Sunday.  Dead body on the ground outside of a apartment building.

Upstairs....they determine the dead guy is a 15-year old Syrian kid, who lived in the building.  They go to the 8th floor apartment.  At some  point...the kid had fallen off the balcony.

Then they come to these five  'guests'....4 Syrian young lads...juveniles, and one Iraqi female.....20 years old.  

No one seems to know much and there's some speculation of the dead kid having been pushed off the rail.

2. N-TV item.....what German city makes the most from speeding tickets and fines?  Berlin, with 112.43 million Euro annually.

3.  The state of NRW....Ministry of Education...has given out advice to teachers.  If your room gets out of control (hinting violence)......flee (don't try to deescalate the matter).  

4.   N-TV ran a piece this AM....talking over what some fear is a health risk with E-cars....by having a fair amount of magnetic fields in a tight space.  Experts have reviewed the numbers and say there is no risk.  The numbers of E-cars presently in Germany?  1.6 million.

The one thing I found interesting....or lacking...in this discussion....it appears that only German or European cars were in the study.    

5.  Extreme weather deaths in Europe for 2024?  N-TV spoke to the topic, and said 335 Europeans died in some manner....by extreme weather.

6.  Not a well known fact in Germany, but presently...just over 800 non-alcohol beer brands now sold in Germany.

7.  ARD (public TV,  Channel 1) has added a new news-documentary piece called 'Klar'.  Aim?  Well....the question opens in each episode....'what is going wrong in society', and basically lays out problems that people are discussing.

Yeah, a bit unusual....admitting negative landscapes in German culture.

The previous mentality....never discuss screwed-up things in a public forum.

8..  Should be interesting weather in my valley this afternoon....weather guy is giving a 75-percent chance of rain....something rarely seen since Christmas. 

14 Apr 2025: Eight German News Stories

 1.  Tuesday...the SPD Party votes on the coalition agreement.  I will say this.....the youth element of the party is unhappy and likely voting against it.  But it ought to still  pass, with 70-to-80 percent approval.

CDU-CSU?  Well....it's come out that Merz doesn't want a membership up-or-down vote.  At best, there's to be a executive committee vote.  Satisfying folks?  No....there's a challenge going on, and I suspect that at least a quarter of CDU-CSU membership want a say.

Interesting live interview last night with a hour-long session of Q-an-A. Merz said one impressive thing....'don't make promises you can't keep'.  Whether he can keep that....unknown.

2.  ARD TV news (public TV)....did a piece over threat worries....with civil defense now becoming MORE important. So the  topic of tent cities  came up, and how in disasters or war....they aren't really ready for the task at hand.  Might be several years before they reach a good point.

3.  German cops are now using cameras to monitor if you are using a cellphone while driving.  Fine?  100 Euro.

Cops indicate they are in a test phase.

4.  Front page story on Focus....The EU went out and paid NGOs to lobby for electric cars and to get country-by-country influenced votes. 

People to be disturbed  by this?  Well...if this were just a million Euro.....no one would  likely get peeved.  If you were talking about 30-odd million Euro....yeah, there's likely to be questions.

5.  Merz says.....under his 'watch'....he wants an asylum limit of 100,000 a year.  

6. After a knife attack on the Berlin subway....the Berlin-City Interior Senator wants to expand knife-free zones.  It means more frisking and more risks to the police.

I'll be honest.....if you view news sources across the nation....there's probably 20-odd knife situations daily now.  

7.  Zelensky of Ukraine has made a blunt comment that Trump needs to see first-hand (in-person) the damage to Ukraine.....so he opens up the funding.  Odds of this?   Zero.

8.  All this talk of a minimum wage of 15 Euro?  Well....the left-element of the SPD Party says this has to be agreed to by the CDU-CSU....or they will vote the coalition down.   12.82 was established on 1 January 2025....as the new minimum wage. My humble guess.....the CDU-CSU will agree to a 15 Euro situation.....in the 2nd half of 2026.   

My List of European Countries to Visit And Avoid

 Countries to avoid:

1.  Iceland.  Mostly since the volcano business started up....the 'Blue-Lagoon' resort is shutdown, and you can mark off the far SW of the island to avoid.  I'm not saying it's a bad situation.....just that the visit might might not be productive.

2.  Ireland.  Basically, with political and police turmoil....you'd have to be ultra careful on urban areas to visit/avoid.  The refugee crisis triggering half of this issue?  Yeah, but with petty crime often talked about.....you probably find better places to hang out.

3. UK.  Aggressive police....monitoring of social media....potential to encounter criminals...leads me to recommend finding places to visit.

4.  Malmo and Stockholm, Sweden.  Between drug 'wars'....car-fires, and crime....I'd recommend either central or north Sweden....especially rural areas. 

Countries/regions to seek out:

1.  Greece.  It's hard to find anything negative to say about Greece....other than the heat in mid-summer.  There are probably two or three no-go areas in Athens, but the vast majority of the city is 'safe'.

2.  Bavaria.  I might mark two areas of Munich as 'no-go' but the majority of the city is safe, and tons of tourist things to see.

3.  Croatia.  Lot of tourist-trap locations, but also great value for what you are spending. Very safe. 

13 Apr 2025: Seven German News Stories

 1.  The CDU-CSU and SPD in their coalition deal....say they will repeal Robert Habeck's heating law. 

Habeck's law?  Well...the requirement read....65-percent of heating systems in newly built structures....had to be renewable energy (either heat pumps or solar panels).

Pissing off some folks?  Yeah.....there was a upsurge in heat pumps, and some will say they wished they'd gone to oil or natural gas.

2.  Ice cream prices up?  Yeah, as the heat arrives....folks are checking out scopes of ice cream, and most everyone went up 20 to 30 cents.

3.  Odd story out of Hallstadt.  71-year-old retiree female came into a dental office demanding an appointment.  For some reason....NOT explained....the comeback was 'NO'.  So the gal refused to leave when asked.

Well....they called the police.  

Police arrive and are in some process of handcuffing her....the husband (appears he was waiting in the car)  sees the action, and gets involved.  He is then handcuffed as well.

So the two simmer down.....cops get them to chill out, and then release them after a report is established.

Charges?  There's to be more investigation, but potentially....yeah..

4.  N-TV ran a documentary piece.....entitled: 'Volcano Under Germany'....talking up the potential of the Eifel area (Bitburg) being a potential volcano (again).  

5.  The Inspector General of the  German Army says....by the end of 2026....the Russian Army will be twice the size as they were....before the Ukraine-war.

BS?  Just on replacing tanks and APCs....I'd go and suggest...unless they make a deal with China to produce stuff....it'll be a minimum of 15 years before they are operationally back to full strength.

6.  Drought affect river heights? YES.  One interview from Friday that I watched....the boat-captain figured from Hamburg down the river....operations will likely be stopped at Koln by the end of May.

In my region....marginal snowfall in December, with only two real rainfalls since early December....mixed with 5 or 6 short-duration showers of 15-to-20 minutes.  

7.  They had a odd discussion in Frankfurt this past week.....there's a political element who wanted some dedicated subway cars....for women/trans/lesbian only.  City had a brief talk,  and then said 'no'.  Logistically, it would have been a challenge.  I suspect men identifying as women....would have ridden on the same cars....making it a eventual friction-problem.

8. It would appear that the minimum wage of 15 Euro....was not agreed upon by the CDU-CSU and SPD.

Are There Any EU Countries With Electronic Voting?

Well....mostly none.

Estonia does electronic voting but you have to use your national digital national ID card.

Belgium?  Some of the more urbanized districts use it....but it's not a national thing.

Bulgaria?  Same story....some experimentation....not a national thing.

France. They went and used it for 2003, 2009, and 2012....but got into a worry by 2017....over security concerns.

Odd of the EU ever mandating electronic voting?  Probably a one-percent or less chance.

Political BS Chatter

I noticed this AM....CDU politician....Jens Spahn gave an interview, and talked up the idea of a new way of countering the AfD Party.

Main idea?  Politicians and the news folks....need to approach  'millions' of voters  and somehow recognize their worries, concerns, and convey a political dialog that goes beyond the current BS-level.

More talk...more objective responses.

I sat and pondered over this.

Around 25-perent of the voting public now is supportive of the AfD.

They mostly got this way because NONE of the other political parties were able to engage or discuss migration, failed integration, or deportation.  

Has any of that concern changed?  No. 

I hate to suggest it but Spahn is mostly delivering another BS-talk over a bluff.  It is a good bluff....I admit.  But I would imagine that over two-thirds of the AfD typical voting group...are used to bluffs, BS, and propaganda...so this will fall short.

Explaining The German Social Pension Tax

 : The pension insurance contribution is 18.6-percent of your pay (half from you and half from the company).....gross salary.

Contributions max at 90,600 Euro (per year).

Your pension being taxable?  If you started in 2005....only 50-percent is taxable. If you retire after 2040....100-percent is taxable.

If you marginally had an income for the first 20 years of working?  Yeah, you probably will find your pension level down around 600 to 1,200 Euro a month.

The pension folks in the at-risk-of-poverty threshold? Figure around 1,200 or less....for a single person.  

12 April 2025: Five MORE German News Stories

 1.  Another machete story.  Out of  Linden (eastern Germany)...a special police task force was required to overpowered a guy who'd been running through the town with a machete.  Somewhere in the midst of this arrest....a police dog was required (getting injured himself), and the machete guy got a number of dog bites in return.

2.  On that CSU 'promise' in the campaign about bringing back nuke-power?  Not a word mentioned in the coalition agreement.

3. CSU gets 3 ministries in the new coalition gov't: Interior, Space and Agriculture.  The SPD Party: the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Defense (Boris Pistorius likely gets the seat), Justice, Labor/Social Affairs, Environment/Climate, Economic Cooperation, and Housing/Construction. Remainder  go to the CDU.

The 'job' that matters?  Ministry of Finance.  

4.  This discussion of the 15 Euro per hour minimum wage?  Well....it's not yet in the coalition agreement.  Just the way it looks....it won't happen in 2025....probably a 2026 event.

5.  That machete attack guy (Berlin-Reinickendorf) from Wednesday morning?  Beaten by five guys....the public prosecutor's office now says they have issued arrest warrants for two people on charges of manslaughter.

What will matter is if there is a security-video of the incident, and if the machete guy was laying on the ground, while still getting beaten.

12 April 2025: Five German News Stories

 1. Curious news piece this AM....investigation started up in Germany....suggestion is that Russian timber made its way into Germany....billions worth.  Exam so far....over half of the birch-wood products....are Russian.  How it got into Germany?  Still an unknown. 

2.  Pension plans by the new coalition....seen as 'eyewash' and cost-factor will be into the billions that 'someone' has to pay.  Other side of the coin....fair number of people say the pension program is already 'broke'.

3. Odd statistic....Hessen (the state) ranks at the top (16 states) for skin cancer.  

4.  Line 1707 of the coalition agreement....written in a way to suggest that the billions for climate-change....could be used in the general budget.  Will freak out the environmentalists, if true.  

5.  It appears that the EU is developing a wolf-hunt guideline....making it easier to shoot wolves...something that German lawmakers could not bring themselves to  settle the mess.  In some ways....odd...the EU doing something that seems positive.

On the wolf issue? In the northern third of Germany....it's becoming an issue that farmers are concerned about.  

11 April 2025: Thirteen German News Stories

 1.  Here in Wiesbaden.....one of the bigger department stores in the mid-town area shut-down three years ago.  It's been empty ever since.

This week.....IKEA said it'd be interested in approximately half of the structure (not the whole thing). 

There is a IKEA in the region (say 6 miles away).  I think mainly what they want....is display areas for the public to browse, and order online.  

2.  Bergdorf is this small Alpine village in the far south of Germany.  The village (79 residents) has gotten pretty concerned and frustrated....the state is going to set up a refugee home (45 folks).  Petition being set up and village is going to a lawsuit to prevent the 'home'.

3.  I read through a long piece....these 'kids' associated with Fridays For The Future....are bothered by the coalition agreement with the SPD and CDU-CSU.  

4.  “Goodbye Germany” star Danni Büchner (age 47) has posed naked for Playboy.  If the name doesn't ring a bell....she was the wife of 'Jens' (who passed away five years ago).  

5.  Marcus Söder (CSU 'boss'), has hinted he might be the Foreign Ministry 'boss' in the new government.

6.  One item being still discussed by the new coalition....attempting to get a 2nd opinion by a doctor....on a serious condition....might  be more difficult.  It just looks like you would have a fee attached....likely paying at least half the cost yourself. 

7.  It is the beginning of the asparagus season, with asparagus prices are high. The price per kilo for first-class asparagus starts at around €15.

8.  Why is coffee prices up in Germany (40-percent)?  Mostly over a drought in Central/South America.

9.  Old German path to citizenship was a five-year period....then evolved into three years, and now via new coalition....back to five years.

10.  Social fraud in Germany?  Well...the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV) says there are ways that organized social security fraud is being conducted by criminal networks. A lack of information sharing is to blame.

11.  N-24 item: two-thirds of Germans in a new poll indicate that with the new coalition.....they really DON'T expect any significant change....just more of the same.  In this respect....Merz is continuing to lose points

12.  The German company Jack Wolfskin....owned for 6 years by an American company....was sold this week to a Chinese clothing company.

13.  For 2024....85 Germans died in Austria while on vacation.

Dry?

 For weeks, probably going back to late December....there's just not been any significant rainfall (my region of Germany....Frankfurt/Wiesbaden).

One two-hour shower, and then maybe four periods of ten minutes of light rain....that's it.

Officially, authorities are now talking of an impact on shipping (via rivers) and agriculture. 

The German Association of Cities? In the past week or two....they started urging folks to use tap water sparingly.

Rain this weekend?  Weather guy is talking up a light rain-front coming through.

The fact that we haven't even gotten to July/August? Yeah.

10 April 2025: Six German News Stories

 1.  Coalition agreement between CDU-CSU/SPD...done.  Roughly 120 pages of 'script'.

Electrical tax to be reduced.  Burgergeld to be dumped and invented (again).....meaning welfare has to evolve once again. Welfare benefits would be withdrawn entirely if people who are able to work....repeatedly refuse reasonable work. Both Syria and Afghanistan are going on the 'safe-list'....meaning if you were to be deported....and these were your home-countries....nothing can hinder you now.

Only thing left....announcing Ministers.

2.  Ukraine says.....155 Chinese are fighting for Russia now.  BS?  Maybe.

3.  Germany says....under the new coalition guidelines....they will be using the 'Sweden-model' for conscription.  

To explain it....Sweden brings in yearly.....100,000 18-year olds....for two days of mental/physical tests.  Roughly 10-to-20 percent will 'pass' and be heavily recruited.

4.  Nutcase ran into a Berlin bakery...swinging a machete.  He starts an argument with five German guys inside....the beat the crap out of the guy....with him later reported dead.

5. Statistical survey of the Wiesbaden city-area....reveals over 700 beauty salons.  If you go back to the 1990s....I don't remember there being more than 200 of these.  Seems like on every square block....there's a salon with at least two chairs.  Just odd.  Apparently highest level in Germany....per 100,000 residents.

6.     A 48-year-old German guy from Rottweil, Baden-Württemberg, disappeared from an addition clinic. Police were directed to go and find him.  Locates the guy  in his garden, where he threatened the police with a firearm.  They directed him to put the gun down....he refused....they shot him dead. 

New Political Poll By IPSOS

 AfD: 25 percent

CDU/CSU: 24 percent

SPD: 15 percent

Greens: 11 percent

Left: 11 percent

BSW: 5 percent

FDP: 4 percent

Shocker?  No....trend over past 6 weeks has AfD gaining.  A lot of the promises that the CDU/CSU have made....aren't really evident after the election.

TV News Item

 I sat and watched a public  TV news piece last night.....where a short item came....suggesting Russian-influence occurred with a radicalized Muslim guy.  It wasn't 'solid' proof (German police investigation still going on).  

For at least a couple of years, there's been continual suggestions of Russian-influence with the right-wing guys (the AfD Party in particular).

Would it surprise me?  No....not really.  It also wouldn't surprise me....if the CIA (US) or BUND (Germany) had such stuff going on in Russia.

Germans disturbed by this?  I would imagine 'yes'.

9 Apr 2025: Five German News Stories

1.  Zelensky of the Ukraine....says his troops captured Chinese soldiers in Russian uniforms.  Maybe BS....maybe just Chinese civilians who took up a paid-situation for Russia.

2.  It appears that the coalition talks between the CDU-CSU and SPD....are near the end.  Asylum/migration appears as a sticking point.

3. Markus Lanz public forum show from last night....lot of talk over tariffs and Trump....then someone on the panel noted that the AfD  Party is 'strangely quiet'.   No one on the panel from AfD....I should point this out..

4.  Since 1 January....coffee products across Germany....up by 43-percent in cost (particularly if a name-brand).

5.    German statistics office piece: The German median gross annual income for 2024.....was €52,159. 

Explaining the average?  Half of employees earned more than or exactly this amount, while the other half received less.

If Absolute Free-Trade Occurred In Germany, Would Germans Buy US-Made Cars?

 Well....NO.

I would admit some interest in the Ford Mustang....but beyond that....I doubt that it goes beyond 1.5-percent of total  new cars registered each year...figure in the 20k to 25k.

The BMW-X Suv?  Well.....it's ONLY made in the US, and yes....some are imported into Germany.

Jeep?  Yeah....another popular brand that you might see.

The exchange rate working for you?  That's the one positive....if only the Americans could manufacture a $35k car/Suv....selling it in Germany for 32k Euro.  But those days are long gone....with $50k to $75k US vehicles the 'norm'. 

8 Apr 2025: Eight German News Stories

 1.  Huge temperature change from Saturday to Sunday (dropping 10C).  So there was a report yesterday of a trio of German guys....dead....in a garden house.

Appears that they had a bar-b-q going....inside...triggering carbon monoxide....killing them.

2. Police counted 29,014 knife crimes reported in 2024.....roughly 80 per day....across Germany.

Becoming a top ten safety discussion now.  

3.  The German Federal Ministry of the Interior...has spoken up over the last day or two....putting up a position for preparing juveniles/teenage students in schools for crises and the potential for war.

4. Last night...ARD (public TV, channel 1)....ran a 45-minute documentary piece....'Fret Over War'.  So they sent one of their more seasoned journalists out and did a review  of the Bundeswehr (German Army).  Fair assessment.  They aren't fully prepared for war against Russia, and obviously....the US is a key part of the defense plan.

5.  Starting in May....if you FAIL to separate trash correctly....UP to 2,500 Euro  fine.  By the way they wrote the piece....I'd say for minor infractions....probably 25 to 50 Euro.  Will there be inspectors driving around?  Yeah.....I get the impression that type of audit will occur a couple times a year.

6. Suspect in this 3-person killing, I essay about yesterday.....identified (neighbor in next village over).  Guy is on medication, and police say he's got mental issues).   Still on the run.

7.  FORSA (polling folks) did a survey with only local politicians (at the low-end of the totem-pole). One out of four....say that they see anti-democratic trends in their community.

Same survey....same folks....say that in the coming years....almost 70-percent of them see declines in funds coming, and that housing is going to be a problem..  

8.  Court starts up in K-town tomorrow....with 20-year old American contractor (stabbed Eritrean older guy about 9 months ago).  In this case, she was emerging out of the Bahnhof tunnel of Kaisersluatern...getting on the escalator and having this older asylum guy come up behind and sexually grope her.  At the top....she responded....pulling out a fair-sized knife...saying some heated words.   It is debatable if she lunge at him, or if he pressed himself  in some way....but the end-result....he's dead.

Murder charge?  NO.  Bodily-harm.  So there are two degrees of bodily harm....serious episode....max of 3 years.  Less serious....1 year max.

Key turn in this court?  Well....she's given evidence as a kid....having issues and medicated for ADHD.  Some court reaction over this....might be 'not-guilty' or a max of 3 months in some jail.

If the guy had survived?  Well....she'd still be charged (for using the knife), but he would have been charged for sexual groping.  The fact that he came up behind her? Predator-style....I would suggest.   

Based on commentary....no one sees this lasting more than 2 days. 

The fact that she was carrying a knife for defense?  Yeah.....that is a bit odd.

I've probably been through the K-town  Bahnhof over 300 times in my life....probably one of the safest medium-sized stations in the country. 

Hybrid War Chatter?

Beate Strobel wrote a piece for Focus....discussing a recent ZDF (public TV, Channel 2) documentary from the TV series 'Terra X History'....talking over the topic of a 'hybrid war'.

First, if you aren't familiar with hybrid war concepts....it's where you've decided to engage and harm some neighbor...without full-blown invasion or attacks.  You'd send a agent over to cause trouble....but it never leads back to you.

What Strobel gets at....there's a number of speculations existing now (since 2022)....that maybe Russia is engaging Germany in a hybrid war.

The Mannheim terror attack?  Well....Strobel suggests that the radicalized guy....might have been a part of such a 'war'.

Strobel point out....that massive 100-billion Euro spent in 2022....so quickly to upgrade the German Army....didn't really change much.  Here in 2025 and 2026....several hundred billion will again be spent.

That damaged fiber optic cable business in the Baltic in November 2024....could that have been hybrid war?  Maybe (Strobel suggests it).

Various things have been brought up.....where you'd just wonder about....maybe just plain nutcases....maybe hybrid war.

BS?  The thing about hybrid war.....you don't need tanks, or troops.  A dozen guys sitting in some planning room....could dream up some radicalized nutcase operation....deploy a Russian or two....drug a guy, and he carries out a mission.

From Sunday night's Tatort TV-krimi episode....the drug Ketamine was brought up.....where you might believe something....but it's totally false in reality.

This whole discussion scaring Germans?  Well....yeah, I could see people getting this way.

7 Apr 2025: Five German News Stories

 1. Saturday evening.....Channel 1 (public TV) ran a 3-hour show....anniversary piece.  So in the middle of it....interviewing one of their older comedians....they gave him several  minutes to do a skit (probably originally done in the 1970s).

In this episode.....this comedian and a 2nd guy....were in a prison situation...talking  about how they got there.  

1st guy says: "Man, man, man, you, prison, you. If only I'd known they didn't say that anymore."   He then utters the two words which got him into jail "Negerkuss" (Negro kiss) and "Zigeunerschnitzel" (gypsy schnitzel). Both are common terms that Germans would have uttered in the 1950s/1960s/1970s.

Today?  Racist in nature.

So the reference here.....this is how he ended up in jail.

Well....since that evening....this has been hyped a great deal....in a critical way. 

I don't think the network is sorry over the wording.....neither is the comedian. Added to this....there's probably over a hundred 'bad-words' in German existing.....that you can't utter, and yeah....you get 'cancelled' if you were to utter them.  If you asked 10,000 Germans over the age of sixty?  I'd guess 99-percent would say it's not racist.

Some push-back by the network against the 'woke-agenda'?  Yeah, I'd suggest that.

2. Focus piece this AM....talking over war-fear, war-worry....that Russia might invade Germany.  My worry index (1-to-10)?  It's a minus-10.  

But if statistics are correct.....around four out of ten Germans now  have some panic.

This topic came up in the live public forum show on  ARD last night.....continuing down this path....the Russians might invade.

3.  Fair number of the youth element of the CDU-CSU Party....giving indicators they won't support the coalition forming.  At the end of the talks....party is supposed to allow a vote  to 'bless' the agreement.  Vote ought to go and support the deal....but it's bound to be only like 75-percent in support.

4. Duisburg (NW Germany)....several schools will be closed Monday....threats made....police are taking serious.

5.  About 80 miles north of Wiesbaden....murder over the weekend.  What the cops say?  Violent attack in Weitefeld in the Westerwald.

Family of three attacked and killed....a 47-year-old man, a 44-year-old woman, and a 16-year-old kid.....in their residence.

Early morning hours. It would appear that one member of the family tried to call for help before their demise.

Cops have no lead or conclusions to make.  

What Really Happens When The AfD Party Passes The CDU-CSU Party In Numbers?

 Polling-wise?  Nothing.

I'm pretty sure by 1 May....AfD will be around 26-to-27 percent on polling and the CDU-CSU will be around 23-percent.  But this is a poll that continually shifts.

Once the coalition is placed (CDU-CSU-SPD)....there will be some return to better CDU numbers.

The key problem or the coalition?  Public-safety perceptions.  If more terror acts occur,  and the culprit is some radicalized guy who was on a deportation list, and some folks are dead....AfD will regain on numbers.

On average....I'd say about every ninety days....there's such an event.

In most all cases....the  German police do later report....the guy in question is mentally unbalanced or was being seen for paranoid schizophrenia. Saying this....doesn't help the government.

The next federal election?  Unless there is a collapse....January of 2029.  There is significant  time  for the coalition to develop some crazy-handling-policy, or improved deportation plan.

If they (the gov't) do nothing?  I'd say by fall of 2028.....AfD will be up around 35-percent in terms of public support....NOT enough to form a gov't, but enough to cause a fairly weak gov't to form in 2029. 

Top Ten German Newspapers: Ranked Left to Right

 1.  Die Tageszeitung (taz).  I consider it a small newspaper....but probably sells in circulation around 50k daily.  Influential for the left-wing....pro-Green Party, hypes social justice and covers a good bit on environmental issues.

2.  Neues Deutschland (ND).  Mostly read in eastern Germany....maybe around 15k in readership.  Left-wing paper....pro-Linke Party.  If you wanted a bit of anti-capitalism....I'd start here.  

3.  Frankfurter Rundschau (FR).  Readership up around 80k. I'd identify it as a intellectual news source....leaning left.  Hypes a good bit on civil rights.

4.  Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ).  Readership around 350k to 400k.  Bavarian center-left newspaper.  Does a lot of cultural stories and investigative journalism.

5.  Berliner Zeitung.  Readership in the 80k to 90k range. Center-left.   Covers a lot of Berlin cultural items/trend.  I should note....this started out decades ago....as a DDR or East German newspaper.

6.  Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) .  News-news type of paper....not a lot of politics.  Center-slant if you find anything mentioned.  Serves NW Germany.  Readership up around 400k. 

7. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) .  Major paper of Frankfurt region....mostly center-right.  Readership up around 250k.  If you were looking for a pro-CDU paper....this probably fits your mindset. I should add....lot of commerce/business coverage daily.

8.  Bild.  Considered most read daily newspaper in the country....near 1.2-million readers.  Tabloid type paper....leans right.  Pro-CDU.  I'd consider it to be anti-establishment in reading.  Typically....if you live around Frankfurt....you find a copy in your office/shop....reading the front-page only, and you know everything of importance going on (in 3 minutes).  I should also note.....no self-respecting intellectual would dare to be seen reading it.

9.  Die Welt.  Readership in the 180k-to-200k.   Definite right-wing slant.  Read  by a lot of pro-business, capitalist folks. More or less....Bild-like....without the sensationalism or murder-coverage on the front-page. 

10. Finally,  Junge Freiheit.  I should note....it's NOT a daily paper....just a weekly.  Has around 30k readers.  Of all newspapers....ranking on right-wing things....it is to the far right, and mostly pro-AfD. 

Each has a 'class' that they sell news to.  From working-class, intellectual, political stance....to culture, sensationalism, and pro-EU or anti-EU slant.

6 Apr 2025: Eleven German News Stories

 1.  Hessen, the state, is opening up a discussion on local fests.  There's a brewing issue where you as a village or town have yearly fests, and  because of security fears....you have to hire more security folks. For some towns, it's reached a point where they can't afford the security.

So the state is opening up a discussion....maybe they will cover some portion of  this. 

My village has a 3-day fest each spring.  Before all the terror crap started up....they'd typically have a 3-man police patrol 'hired' to walk the grounds each day.  Today?  I'd say there's around two patrols of three-to-four police.

How much is the 'pot'?  Unknown....but I would assume a minimum of  10-million Euro for the whole state. 

Wiesbaden?  They have a minimum of six city-fests, and there's both police and private-security brought in.

2.  The cost of driver's training in Germany?  Reaching a huge and significant  amount....potentially up to 3,000 to 4,000 Euro.  So the gov't is now talking about some type of 'help'.  I assume here.....they'd probably find some way of covering  initial cost (maybe 500 to 700 Euro).  But in reality....it's tax revenue.....so you are still paying in some way the 'gifted-money'.

3.  Wolf issue....from Friday, members of the Thuringian state assembly talked over how to deal with wolves. So....the BSW, CDU, and SPD called for easier shooting rules to control the wolf issue.

Oddly, the Linke Party and AfD...came out against the measure.  After reading the AfD chatter....they went to the far extreme measure....making the hunting rules very open and plain, without any limits.  

Thirty years ago....there wasn't a wolf problem in Germany.  Since the Wall came down....wolves have come back and become a nuisance for farmers.  

4.  Somewhere in the past week....the topic of trimming the US Army by 80,000 active duty troops came up.  There's a Pentagon study going on...with several options on the table (I would assume 20k, 40, and 80k)....where massive cuts would occur.

Looking at this and German posts/bases....I would assume the bulk of US Army in Europe is going away (probably by the end of 2026).  

What will remain?  Mostly Pacific posts/bases, and larger footprint in the western part of the US.  I might  even suggest two or three major US Army posts on the eastern side of the US....going away as well.

German reaction?  Around Kaiserslautern, Stuttgart, and Wiesbaden....it'll be a hefty discussion going on.

5.  Chancellor started a talk this week....bring ALL German gold back from US (currently in a NYC fed-vault).

Amount?  Out of total German gold reserves....around 37-percent sits in  NYC.  Figure in the range of 1,250 metric tons.  Around 2013, Merkel made an effort and moved around one-third of what was there....back to Germany.

Why sitting there?   This goes back to 1924, and the loan that Germany had to secure....to pay reparations to US, France and UK.  Repaying the loan halted in 1933 (under Hitler).  Repayment started back in 1953, and finished  in the 1980s.

I suspect that no one (Germany, the US, France or the UK) want to have this dragged up much and laid out for people to realize the reparations gimmick.

How long would it take to bring1,250 metric tons back? Just to plain security and flights....probably 3 to 6 months.  But I would guess at least 200 flights and two years of movement.

6.  New INSA poll done for BILD Sunday paper.....says CDU-CSU and AfD both now at 24-percent.  

Why the downturn for CDU-CSU and the upturn of AfD?  I would make it pretty simple....no one is thrilled over the coalition talks, and the deportation topic which  is fairly high on public interest....is going nowhere.

Odds by mid-May? AfD might be 2 points ahead of CDU-CSU.

7.  Irish news from yesterday....chatty on some new drug-resistant Typhoid.  With minimum treatment....10-to-20 percent death rate.  First class medical conditions?  You probably end up in a clinic for 4-to-6 weeks....in a pretty weakened state...if drugs have marginal effect.    

8.  Some chatter by the Green Party of Germany.....they want to make conscription (the draft)....if it is changed.....say women would be 'obligated'.

9.  Elections in 2026 to look forward to in Germany?

22 Mar: Pfalz Parliament

Spring: Baden-Württemberg Parliament

Spring: Sachsen-Anhalt Parliament

Fall: Berlin-City House 

Fall: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Parliament

For the Pfalz election, polling shows the CDU around 30-percent....SPD at 21 percent and  AfD at 19-percent. 

10.  Weather guys saying a high-pressure system is stalled over Germany....forecasting a hot-dry summer period (at least for May/June).

11. German Army talking of a logistical exercise....using the port-city of Hamburg....for September.  NATO event....designed to show how NATO transport ships would arrive to confront Russia (if invaded).

Haircut Chatter

 This AM....I sat and was reading through various news outlets....coming to the Irish Independent.  

So, the gov't of Ireland says....in the future....as hairdressers and barbers go through 'training'....they will graduate with  the ability to talk about climate-change, global warning, etc...with customers.

I paused over this.

Not to slam barbers....but typically, in the US and Germany....where  I've had 99-percent of my haircuts (lets not discuss the one brief hair-cut in Turkey with the burning Q-tip procedure on my ear-hair)....the only conversations to ever arise...were sports-related, weather, or inflation-chatter.

If you asked me to assess IQ-level....I hate to admit it....but I might give most guys less-than-average IQ.  The handful of women-barbers....were strictly cost-of-living chatty and better-than-average on IQ.

If you tried to engage me on climate change....I'd probably ask you if there was a silence-fee (say 3-Euro)....and I'd pay it if you'd just avoid talking to me...especially over climate change.  I might even hint....your tip is dependent on your silence.

Who got this dimwitted to suggest the idea?  Unknown.

My biggest worry?  Barber-school is typically around 1,000 to 1,500 hours....at least in the US.  So adding two or three modules....to make some kid or gal smart on climate-change (actually testing them)?  You might have to add 300 to 500  man-hours.  Then you'd have to require them to take a yearly refresher course (to stay within the cult-mindset)....so a simple 18 Euro haircut (what I pay in Wiesbaden)....would probably have to go up to 25 Euro to cover annual extra training).

Its a crazy world we are developing into.

5 Apr 2025: Four German News Stories

 1.  What happens when Nord Stream II's pipeline is repaired?  

Some speculation has started up and the general feeling is that some amount of Russian natural gas will be bought by the Germans.  To reach the 2020 level?  Well...that was around 44 to 50 bcm  (billion cubic meters).  My humble guess is that for the first year of 'deals'....Germany will buy at least 10 bcm...keeping other deals going but realizing the Russian natural  gas is cheaper.

2. I watched a N-TV piece on Russian military re-arming.

So....as they told the story....the Brit think-tank....Rusi...says that Russian armament  companies are 'ahead' of anything that European armament companies can  produce.

 Part of the blame goes to general bureaucracy, the rest goes to poor planning/coordination, and they aren't designed for mass production.

Maybe China can help....selling Europe Chinese-made weapons.

3.  The CDU/CSU and SPD are discussing a curious topic.  Right now....you can run a business/shop....without electronic transfer (meaning a  card reader at the cash register).   Well....they want every single German business/shop....to have electronic transfer.  How many operations still haven't engaged in electronic transfer readers?  Unknown.  If I were guessing.....probably one out of ten.

4.  So about a month ago....I noticed this story....German in America with a Green Card....detained, and  being held as he re-entered the US via the Boston Airport. For 4 weeks, he's been held at a detention center. Name?  Fabian Schmidt.

Part of the story?  About a decade ago, his mom (already in the US...in California) arranged for  the son to get a Green Card. He arrives in California (age 16/17 at the time). 

At some point after that....no one seems to know the timing....he's detained by California police with a baggy of Cannabis (dealer sized bag).  His mom arranges for legal help, and eventually....the DA drops the charges. 

Schmidt....a  couple of years later....gets into a relationship, and moves to the Boston area.  The Green Card comes up for renewal (the 10-year point) earlier this year  (2025).  Schmidt renews it, and is scheduled for  a trip to Germany.  Upon his return  (at Boston)....he's given the card but then detained.

There's another odd piece to the story....that they had sent a letter to his last known California address....asking him to an appointment with a border-control officer.  The letter was returned to the officer....undeliverable  (occupant not at the address).  

This has become a page two story in Germany, and laid out as grossly unfair in holding Schmidt in a 'jail'. Facts?  Well....you get four lines of text, then 'nothing'.

US authorities?  They are in  contact with Schmidt, his lawyer and family....but haven't said a word beyond that.   

The rest of the story?  After looking at this....I keyed on two facts....left out by both the German/US media.

If you hold a Green Card and are arrested....the fine-print on the Green Card says you have to report the arrest.  It also says....any court action.....has to be reported, and if charged/convicted/released.....you have to report that as well.

Then you come to the address problem.  Green Card folks are supposed to report address changes within 10 days of the move.....yeah, that's also in the fine-print. Maybe if this move to Boston  was in the last couple of months....they'd let that slide.  But you aren't told of the  time in Boston....so  I might assume he's been  there a year or two.

So....there are two fair sized violations of the Green Card regulations.  

I'm assuming the authorities are trying to gather data to piece together the Cannabis charge, the legal action afterwards, and the movement to Boston.  I would also assume...this is not a top priority case, and Schmidt might  not be that helpful....knowing there's a 50-50 chance that the Green Card will be revoked.

How many people keep their Green Card address business up to date?  With 13-million Green Card holders....I would take a guess here....more than 25-percent fail to have the most current address listed.  Maybe if he didn't have the cannabis business there.....this wouldn't amount to much.

So, that's the basic story.  And no, I don't expect a happy ending.  

(Oh, and if wondering....if you hold a German visa-card....yeah, there's the same two regulations existing in Germany)

A Business Story

 My German wife brought up this business story yesterday....it's been on my mind.

German machinist grumbling to a journalist. He had a normal day-schedule job....couple hundred folks in the company.  As the nuclear plants were shutting down in  Germany, and the Ukraine-Russia  war started.....with natural gas halted....power issues came up. 

So his company was given this cost projection.....that running everything in the plant on the  normal day schedule (electrical-wise)....would cost x-amount extra...mostly because daytime rates for business operations surged up.  So if they went to  using power after 9PM....they'd get a cheaper (better rate).

The company made a  decision....running a night shift with most employees.  They got used to it.  

As DST came around....more solar provided power to the grid.....so the  charges for grid hours changed, and required a change in the schedule.  The workers grumbled but accepted situation.

The understanding of politicians to this 'arrangement'?  I doubt that they understand how things had to be modified....to make the company competitive.   There's probably a thousand examples like that....where people had to give something to keep the operation going.

Where All Of This Tariff Chatter Will End Up?

 Just my humble view....by the end of April....at least five countries on Trump's 'list'....will be meeting and agreeing to a 50-percent cut in their tariffs already existing (some for decades) on the US, which the US will react, and cut half of it's tariffs on these countries.

So at that point....Germans will key on this  'reciprocal' phrase.....asking the news media to explain what it means.

At that point....someone will accidentally mention that West Germany, and later unified Germany....had various tariffs existing. 

'Oh' will be the response, and then someone will ask....wouldn't you want to cut the US tariffs by 50-percent, to get Trump to lessen the tariff on Germany?

By the end of May....about half of this German 'fear' will dissolve....after a cut in the tariff-war occurs.

The 'experts' saying tariffs are evil and useless?  They will have a problem  in explaining this....with a straight face....when tariffs have been in place for forty to fifty years.

I should add one element to this  discussion....as much as production has up and left the US (since the 1970s/1980s/1990s) in massive form.....the same can be said for Germany.  Other than the steel industry and car industry....most everything else outside of agricultural products and beverages....have also left the country.  

Go out and price-up socks or underwear....most of what you see....is non-Germany and non-Europe made.  Most electronic items?  Non-Europe-made.  Most drugs?  Non-Europe-made. Simple things like car-light bulbs?  Non-Europe-made.

It is an interesting train-wreck we see developing....but the time before the wreck....we seem to be missing.

Both economies (Germany and the US)....walking along the same spiral.  Mexicans doing the shit-work for lesser wages in the US?   Same deal with Syrians and Africans in Germany.   

The 'Make-Germany-Safer' (MGS) Discussion

 This past week....the Green Party in Germany has released a 'plan' (10 points) to get the public engaged....to make the country safer.

So one of the points is this odd idea....a national  annual training day....for civil protection.

What is envisioned?  You would have civil protection folks and the population itself....mingle and achieve some exercise....showing teamwork, and protection together.

The public buying into this?  I have my doubts.  

From the other points?  Well....they want some interdisciplinary task forces....composed of the police, social workers, and psychologists.  Purpose?  It sounds like to reassure the public of 'help' when bad things happen.  Instead of calling the three together....they'd already be formed into one single group.

Added to this....more protection of women from violence (suggesting  that it'd later add transmen/transwomen and non-binary people).

I went through the text....coming finally to "life-changing security measures."  Yeah, a bit wordy...if you ask me.

Trying to generate attention and rebuilding  public confidence with the Green Party?  That's the basic idea.

I would suggest that a lot of 'water' has passed under this bridge, and just talking about some nice ideas....presently, it won't carry much weight with the public.

Course, if  you asked the CDU-CSU, Linke Party, SPD Party, or AfD....they'd also say that making Germany safer is a high priority. 

If you'd asked me ten to twenty years ago....safety being a top three political German public priority. I would have laughed.  But that's the current trend.

Tariff Chatter

 With all the German chatter yesterday on the tariff business....there are three food/beverage products that I came to realize....are imported into Germany,  from the US:

- Doritos

- Doctor Pepper

-  Pringles Chips

To be honest....over the years...I've tried German-made Doritos-type chips, and they simply can't match the US brand.

I'm not saying I'm a big Doritos fan....just that there is no replacement in my mind.

As for Doctor Pepper?   I probably haven't sipped one since the early 1980s.

4 Apr 2025: Nineteen German News Stories

1.   From Focus, odd story.  As the Bundestag wrote up the debt relief piece in the Basic Law (Constitution)....package, the Greens negotiated a added portion...concerning climate protection.  FM Baerbock (of the Green Party) yesterday predicted this text (now done) will produce more climate protection lawsuits.

Wide discussion on this...some say it'll occur and the Constitutional Court will settle this.   If any of this is true....you can expect less manufacturing to occur in Germany, and shift to other EU or non-EU countries.  But the court ought to yank on the chain, and say lawsuits aren't helpful.

Would be 'funny' if this were true.

2. Linke Party statement yesterday.....they want to abolish homework for German kids in school.  Unusual position....I doubt if you can find even 10-percent of adults supporting this idea.  But if you polled German kids....99-percent would support the Linke position.

3.  About one-third of all gold reserves for Germany....still sits in the US.

4.  The one thing you notice as Easter approaches....chocolate items at German grocery stores....are probably 15-to-20 percent higher than a year ago....even if on sale.

5.  Study by the Federal Statistical Office....lays out numbers....that young women perform better (at  least on average) than young men in school/university qualifications.

ONLY on doctorial work....do men lead (54-percent).

Explanation?  None really.

6.  Antenne WIESBADEN radio station starts on 2 May....making for our first city FM station.  Curiously, for 14 years....Antenne MAINZ existed....serving for both Mainz and Wiesbaden.  To be a 24-hour station.

7.  News Boris Becker scandal?  Someone got around to Boris and asked....did Hitler make it out of Germany, and his belief is 'yes'....to Argentina.  Course, this got dragged out into fake news commentary.  What draws this recent chatter?  Well....a CIA report that was declassified....suggesting Hitler was alive after the war and survived 'elsewhere'.

A lot of this BS....leads to look-a-likes, that some Nazis dragged off to Argentina, and portrayed for some 'benefit' or gain.  Soviets were pretty sure on their evidence.....he was dead, and buried twice by them (then cremated on the last dig-up).  

8.  AfD chatter in Saxony-Anhalt?  They want the German flag on a flag-pole in front of every school.  

9.  WELT report yesterday....Merz under pressure....some CDU voters are saying they wanted 'pure CDU policy', and are getting 'pure SPD policy' instead.

Look....to get a coalition....you will end up watering down your promises....that's common.  People disgruntled?  I'd say one out of three CDU voters are fairly negative at this point.

10.  Worst case scenario that I see from the tariff BS?  It could reach a point where NATO can't exist, and in the space of a year (like France's example)....the US troops are asked to leave. 

It would be an odd thing.....where almost 40-percent of Germans fear Russia invading, and the US packing up to vacate Germany.  Putin would probably run TV dramas where Russia invaded Frankfurt-City....dumping a bunch of propaganda on people who can't handle the BS.  

11. Sec of State for the US...Rubio...is coming to Europe this week....talking up the new military budget aim....5-percent of GDP.

To be blunt....I can't see any country able to reach this for more than one single year.   Even the 2-percent goal....was crazy-talk for some countries.

12.  From January to March of this year, fewer new cars were registered in Germany than in the same period last year.  

No one is real worried here....but it's a sign of a sluggish economy....which even starts to slow down in 2024.

13.  Violent crime by German kids?  Up by about 4-percent.  It seems that German kids and adolescents appear more often in police statistics as suspects for violent crimes (comment by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) Chief).

For 2024?  3,755 children and 31,383 young people were listed as suspects in connection with violent crimes.

14.  US general says: MORE than 4k Russian tanks destroyed since day one of the war. (N-TV item)

Same N-TV piece.....losses for Russian soldiers?  Put at one-million at this point.

Yet....39-percent of Germans fear the great invasion of Germany.  

15.  German Army this week....activated a 5,000 man combat-brigade in Lithuania.  First time  since WWII that such a brigade has existed beyond the border of Germany.

16.  I sat last night through various German news segments and each time that the formula came up on Trump's tariffs....my German wife did the 'what-the-hell' speech.....which I assume that half of German society went this way. 

The  politicians in a freaked-out way?  I  assume most avoided calculus in university, and it's mostly engineering gals/guys who explain this to people.

16.  Front-page of Focus this AM....suggests that the US and Russia will have talks of putting Nord Stream II pipes back in operation,  and that Germans  would  'eventually' buy natural gas again.

The up-side to this?  Well...by Germans buying Russian natural gas....they'd help to restock/rebuild the decimated Russian Army tanks.  But try not to detail this  to the Germans.

17.    One interesting thing that the CDU/CSU and SPD parties are talking about for the coalition.....to almost abolish the electricity tax.  Currently, it's set at 2.05 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity. The talks going at.....the EU-specified minimum of 0.1 cents per kWh.  If you do the average house math...it comes out to around 93 Euro per house of savings.

Added to the talks....currently....grid charges and VAT(sales tax) make  up one-third  of your normal bill.   The CDU-CSU says they'd like to cut this situation by 50-percent.  In that case....figure a couple hundred Euro added to the 93 Euro.

18.  Another poll done....by ARD's "Deutschlandtrend."   CDU/CSU down to 26 percent (minus 3 from last poll of theirs).....AfD at 24 percent.

Coalition talks haven't helped to impress voters.

The Limits Topic

 There was an interesting to come from the President of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) yesterday.  The guy (Hans-Eckhard Sommer) says Germany ought to replace individual asylum rights (currently in place for years and years)....with some type of humanitarian admission quota system.

Reason?  He says presently....there's a fair amount of abuse.

Getting the CDU-CSU to accept this?  Fairly easy.  SPD....less so.  For the Greens and Linke Party...massively unacceptable.

For at least ten years (during the Merkel era)....there was continually talk of a EU-quota system....forcing each EU member to accept the 'burden'....to relieve the stress of the anti-migrant efforts (AfD) in Germany.

If you put this to a national referendum?  I suspect currently....roughly two-thirds of the public would agree to some type of quota-system, with limits.  Constitution preventing this?  To some degree.

Before 2013....how did the migration program work?  If you start at 1990 (unified Germany)....there were generally around 150,000 to 200,000....with 2014 being the turbo year (450,000).  From 1976 to 1987....Germany took in ethnic Germans (from Russia)....at around 550k to 600k.  From the 1970s to 1980s....West Germany took in 40k asylum seekers per year (an exception in 1980, with Sri Lankans in the 70k brought in because of conflict).

Presently? Out of the 84-million residents of Germany...around 14-to-14.5-million are non-German (not holding citizenship....if you do the numbers....around 16-to-17-percent of the public). (Grok numbers)

Any possibility of this change occurring?  No...I give it dismal odds.  

But here's the thing....this is going to be discussed a great deal, and be a burden for the Green Party to stand up against  in public forums.

Do I Really Buy Anything American Off The German Economy?

 With all the tariff chatter.....I started in January looking at my purchase habits here in Germany.

Grocery-wise?  I probably shop once a month at the commissary....for items like A1 sauce, bar-b-q sauce, and five-to-eight other items....made in the US.  Off the German economy....other than US-whiskey....everything is  European-made in nature.

Non-grocery items?  I might buy a pair of jeans once a year from the BX (US-made)....most clothing items are non-US made (meaning from Pakistan, Honduras, or Egypt) and from a German shop.

Me shopping in France?  Well.....about every six months....I make a run to 'Cora' (across the border).  

So all this tariff, and anti-Trump chatter?  There's a very limited amount of US cars made in the US....which end up in Germany.  Jeep?  Well....most of what is sold in Germany...is  Mexico-manufactured.  Tesla?  Germany-manufactured.  Ford-Mustang/Bronco?  US-made.  

If you drove around Germany....you  might spot five to ten US-made vehicles per day....out of 10,000 you observe.  

So I question if Germans ever buy much American-made.

3 April 2025: Seventeen German News Stories

 1.  Some German gov't chatter of a 'fee' if you scheduled a doctor's appointment and fail to show.  How much?  Talk seems to suggest 10 to 20 Euro.

2.  Tax increases under the new coalition?  Well....the chatter is mostly 'no'....CDU-CSU pretty much set on no new taxes.

3.  The High-Deck housing building (apartment structure) in Berlin-Neukölln....developed a Legionella problem. 

Authorities have put a 'shower-ban' in place (2 weeks).  As you might imagine....residents are a bit peeved over the hygiene issue.

4. If you were ever stationed  around the Bitburg area....a bit of news.

Back in 2021....the British Frasers Group bought property on the old base site....to build its European headquarters. 

Frasers?  Sporting goods retailer.

So this was a investment of 350 million Euro and was supposed to create 800 jobs. Yeah, it's been years since the local  area had a jobs development situation like this.

But there's been lawsuits...by environmentalists....to keep the runway area 'protected'.

The original lawsuit (locally) was tossed out last year.  The group running the situation on court challenges....then took it to the state level....supposed to an announcement shortly. 

If the state court tosses the challenge?  It  could go to the Constitutional Court (in theory)....costing another 12 to 18 months.

Frasers?  At this point...they are beginning to question if this ever occur.

I was stationed at the base for 14 months (leaving as it closed).  I  considered the base fairly small (like Sembach).  Looking  at the drawing  of what they intend to build....it probably takes up a quarter of what the old base occupied. 

5.  How the Mar 2026 Baden-Wuerttemberg state election  is shaping up?

Well....the Greens at this point are in 2nd place for polling (20-percent)....12 points off where they were four years ago.  CDU?  Leading with 31-percent (INSA polling).  3rd place?  AfD with 15-percent.  4th place?  SPD with 13-percent.  

The two gainers?  I'd say the CDU and AfD.

6.  Over the past couple of years....I've mentioned Görlitzer Park in Berlin a fair bit.  Going back 30 years ago....the city turned this  railway yard into a city park....then discovered a decade later....it was 'junkie-magnet'.  So in the past five years....locals have demanded the city do 'something'  to control the situation.

The city decided a few months ago....to put up a fence (yeah, you can call it a security fence....with gates). 

In the past month as they've tried to get companies to bid on erecting the fence....threatening letters have gone out to the commercial companies bidding.

Whether the fence is ever built or not...unknown.

My humble view....it might be time to just condemn the park idea, and rip it up....to put in apartment buildings. 

7.  WELT story....39-percent of Germans now worried about a war with Russia.

Over the past three years...my German wife has engaged on this topic at least ten times....usually after some news item designed to get people 'worried'. I've insisted to her....if Russia can't defeat Ukraine....it's a lost cause to take on Germany at this point.

Upsetting the public in voting?  I wouldn't say that at this point, but it's a high number of folks discussing the matter.

8.  I sat and watched a piece from ZDF news....one in four folks (age 18-to-25)...in Germany....has some psychological stress. 

What is the solution?  Apparently....apps with artificial intelligence to 'talk to'.

How these folks got this way?  Unknown, and it's just odd....leaving that whole side of the story untold.

9.   Bitkom did a survey showing that 195 million old cell phones are sitting in German residences....unused.

I often bring this topic up to my wife....who has probably four 'old' cellphones...besides her current operational phone.

She even has one phone from the 2005/2006 era.  

10.  The Bahn losses for 2024?  1.8-billion Euro.

11.  Article 21 of the Basic Law (German Constitution) came up yesterday, and I had to read through it again.  The law says....once you've been sworn in as a official of the German gov't (like mayor, premier-president  or Chancellor)....you are NEUTRAL and can't really hype some serious criticism over  another party.  You can comment about a position, but you  can't go full-blast like you would in the US.

This comes up because of a AfD court situation against the former premier-President of the Pfalz (Dryer)...who made a harsh statement while in her official duty.  

12.  Is Telsa down-trending due to recent Elon-events?

Well....if you look at 2024 German new E-car registrations...the OVERALL E-car trend was spiraling down already last year....so it's hard to say recent antics did anything much extra

13.  This downward trend on CDU-CSU polling...blame going to Merz?

I would suggest that a fair amount of criticism  goes to promises made by the CDU-CSU parties, and in these coalition talks....it seems that supporters are pretty harsh on the path that Merz is taking.

As for harm?  There are seven state elections in 2026....and  yes, some of these  elections will be harmed.

The  plus-side for the CDU-CSU presently? Baden-Wurttemberg, Hessen and Bavaria.  The rest are suspect.

14.  Berlin-City is discussing dumping mandatory dog-license, and instead.....having a listing  where you present your dog, and have a temperament 'test'  instead.  Some breeds of dogs would benefit.

15.  K-Town Health Department declared....three locals have TB.  Investigation going on....to see if it is more widespread.

16.  If you were a regular German grocery-shopper....in the past year, you might have noted that weekly printed brochures telling you of the 'specials' just plain ended.  What most (not all) went to? An App, which you would download.

Well...N-TV did a interview and experts now say once the brochure business ended....people went to less grocery shopping.  Roughly 50-percent of folks said they shop mostly by brochure....saying 'no' to the App.

17.  Rain-fall in the Frankfurt-Wiesbaden valley?

Well....the dry period continues....since mid-December 2024.  For April, there's not much anticipated rain.  If you get anything...it'll be a brief shower or two (for ten minutes). I mowed my grass today (1st of the season)....at the current pace....I doubt that I mow more than 2 times before early July.