26 Nov 2025: Germany: 6 Things

1.  Focus piece this AM... roughly one in six SPD party members no longer vote for the SPD.  Explanation give?  They were concentrated for decades on  workers....worker-rights....worker benefits. The current theme doesn't sell the old brand.

2. Odd police case from my town (Wiesbaden)....from Tuesday.  Cops get called on 110....robbery of someone's car going  on....description.  They show up....find the guy, and take him to the local station to process.

Well...there at the station...he goes nuts (assaulting the police).  So they bundle him up,  and haul him to a mental facility.  He already had two charges....but now will have to prove mental competency to get out as a free-guy. 

3. Big speech by the Defense Minister yesterday....Germany must move ahead on funds for the military.  Hint that NATO must be European (suggesting the US might exit).

4. Two-thirds (66 percent) of people in Germany feel frequently or sometimes stressed, according to a representative survey by the Techniker Krankenkasse.

They listed school, work and even politics.....as triggers.

My wife (German in nature) discussed this....we just don't remember this kind of stuff in 1970s/1980s. 

5. Job-Center leadership....now discussing zero benefits/pay-out....if you threaten violence against Job-Center members.

6. Christmas period....polar vortex chatter going on.....extreme cold weather.