CSU versus AfD Voting

This weekend has provoked a number of news media comments over the possible idea that the CSU might go 'national' and be a threat to the AfD voting pattern.

In a normal typical election, before all this immigration and integration business started up.....the CDU would get thirty-two to thirty-seven percent of the national vote.  The Bavarian CSU could get seven to eight percent of the national vote.  Combined?  They equate to roughly 45-percent in a good year.

With the AfD mix?  I've yet to see a good statistical display, but in state elections....it fascinates me that the Linke Party, the SPD, and the CDU tend to lose votes.  I think the Linke Party is frustrated to some degree....but the SPD is probably more angry than frustrated....knowing that it's a creation of Merkel that got them into this mess.

What happens in a CSU-national election?

My guess is that the two state elections here in the fall will be the last straw, where AfD picks up twenty-two percent-PLUS on the voting pattern and really humiliates the CDU, the SPD and the Linke Party.

The CSU will have roughly five months to put together a program and go national in the the next three state elections.  The CDU will be hostile about this but it's the only way to prevent the AfD machine from getting any bigger.

The key problem to this?  No one that I see in the top five members of the CSU today....have any real recognition or draw across to the German public.  Seehofer himself?  He's reaching retirement and can't be the face on this opportunity.

My hunch is that the CSU in the three state elections in the spring of 2017 would draw somewhere around 12-percent of the vote....limiting AfD to barely eight to ten percent in each state.

The national election in the fall of 2017?  The CSU would continue to have problems with a face that would be energizing the public.....but they ought to get a minimum of twenty-percent of the national vote, and out-draw AfD.

We could all say that this isn't a very attractive situation and simply stalls the AfD from some national platform, but it may be the only thing to prevent the extreme right-wing party from getting serious votes.

The Better Society Syndrome?

About six months ago, I was reading over a Brit commentary (a essay) about the various worlds that one could live in and he noted the current "PC" world in England was leading everyone to vote or progress to some weird outcomes.  He suggested they'd all be better off with a an entire society dominated by Asperger syndrome.  It was all said in a sarcastic and cynical way, and I doubt if he meant the slant that he gave the comment.

It has been on my mind for a long period of time.  It's a suggestion to one far extreme.

Yet, I sat there contemplating this world or society.....based on Asperger Syndrome, with a dash of obsessive–compulsive personality disorder on the side.  A million residents....all rather bright and intelligent because of their syndrome and compulsive attitude....would jump-start a culture and they probably would have already been flying interstellar space flights back 600,000 years.  They would have taken DNA sequencing apart, figured out the best way to design architecture for maximum benefit, and been working on a bold new world.

A culture of Einsteins?  More or less.

The thing is.....it is a disorder of sorts, and creates a very determined and thought-provoking culture.  Relationships, leadership patterns, friendships, alliances, communications, and exchanges would all be conducted in a problematic way.

Try imagining a first date between two compulsive-obsessive people on the extreme level, and how the way would fail or succeed.

Try imagining a leadership situation, where something really needs to be done between one boss and three hundred lesser beings.....all with the compulsive-obsessive attitude.

Try imagining someone who has lived in this shadow for decades, and suddenly one day has one single individual without the Asperger Syndrome or obsessive-compulsive 'coating'.  You would be dazed by some kind comment or genuine friendship.

As for the suggestion of this being some kind of society that you'd desire?  I would question it.

The All Cultures Are Compatible Essay

If you watch enough German public-TV-run chat forums, you will reached a moment of ecstasy where you almost think for a moment that all cultures are compatible.  You can refer to this moment as a multi-culty moment.....a diversity stage.....an intellectual flash....or a multi-ethnic occasion.

Then at some stage....you stop the intellectual guy talking and ask him if he minds if you light up....meaning smoking within his presence or within a room.  At this point, he will seem distressed and try to encourage you to quit smoking....that'd be better for your health and no, you can't smoke in his presence.

Then at some stage....you stop the same intellectual guy talking and ask if he minds that you down four shots of Scottish whisky and rattle off a Scottish ballad on whores and wicked women.  At this point, he will seem distressed and try to encourage to lessen your drinking and avoid ballad of any type because they all are a bit risque or naughty.

Then at some stage.....you ask if everyone in the chat forum will stop for a moment while you pray to your Roman demigod or demon to help you over a moment of stress.  At this point, he will seem distressed and try to encourage you to lessen your prayers to demons because it'll confuse or scare other people at the chat forum.

Then at some stage.....you remove your shirt and expose your manly chest hairs to the chat forum members....noting that your culture respects fat chubby guys who don't wear shirts.  At this point, your host will be a bit distressed and encourage you to put your shirt back on.....for the sake of women on the panel.

Then at some stage....you pull out some good Spanish-grown marijuana....offering a bit to the chat forum people.....before lighting up a joint for yourself.  At this point, your chat host will be a bit distressed and encourage you to put the joint out, because others on the panel are anti-weed.

After a while, you will reach a stage where you realize that all cultures simply aren't compatible.  They never were.

It's nice to talk about such things, and keep some fantasy alive that cultures could be compatible...but it's like believing in Unicorns, fairy tales, and dragons.

Life isn't a compatibility game.   If it were.....we'd all be singing Scottish ballads, drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon from the bottle, and be Grand Prix racing freaks.

What If You Didn't Have a Muslim Friend?

Sometimes, you can sense when some German state-run news group has taken some platform to square away an agenda....which supports a direction that they'd like to take the public.

Today, there's this oddball story appearing in most German newspapers and across both state-run news and commercially-run news in Germany.....about Germans not having many Muslim friends, and therefore....logically, rationally, and brilliantly....they just don't know Muslims in general.

All of this is based on a survey performed in the past ten days by an agency called YouGov...who was given the task or poll deal by the German Press Agency (DPA).

What is said in the general story is that roughly two-thirds of adult Germans (non-Muslim of course) don't know anyone who is Muslim within their 'circle' of friends.

One trend that did come out of the poll is that from the younger generation polled (18-to-24 years old)....about half of them did say that from their circle of friends.....they did know of some Muslims. But the details of this poll went to one other degree....the more educated you were on the youth scale....the more likely it was that you had at least one Muslim associate or friend.

So the logical side of the intellectuals conducting this went to another assumption.....that greater openness to multiculturalism, diversity, and education.....lead onto a better inclusion factor with immigrants.

It's one of those moments when you'd like to raise your hand in the audience and ask the really stupid question....so how many PhD and higher educated Muslims have flipped into being radicalized and dangerous.  My guess is that the German intellectuals and journalists would prefer you not ask this question because it'd drag out a topic of lesser education and lesser intellect putting you at some disadvantage of dragged off toward radical Islam.

The poll also went one step further.  From this crowd of roughly 2,000 Germans polled....just over half noted that they had minimal background or knowledge on the shape and form of the Muslim religion.  Twenty-percent even said they had zero knowledge.

From the Muslims in the group polled, roughly seventy percent of them said that they had a good or decent knowledge about Christianity.

At the end of this article....they wanted you to know that most all Muslims live in the western side of Germany (98-percent), while only a small number live in eastern Germany (former DDR for you Americans).  This was another one of these little slams to suggest that western Germans are more accepting while those former DDR-Germans weren't as accepting.

It would have been nice and curious if they'd substituted the poll and instead of Muslims.....worked in Russians, or French, or Chinese, or Americans.

If you asked 2,000 Germans about their impression of Americans.....how many Germans don't have an American friend, and therefore....are anti-American?

How many Germans don't have a British friend.....and therefore are anti-Brit?

How many Germans don't have a Russian friend.....and therefore are anti-Russian?

How many Germans don't have a Bavarian friend.....and therefore.....are anti-Bavarian?

I always harp on the problem with polls....in that they can be used as a manipulation tool by the press, and in this case.....I'm strongly thinking that.

Twain and Heidelberg

One of the sites that I made a point in visiting was the Hotel Hirschgasse, on the north side of the river and near the old bridge.

There are two hotels in Heidelberg that Twain visited in 1878.  The original stay was at what today is referred as the Crown Plaza....about ten minutes walking from the train station.  In 1878, it was the Hotel Schrieder....a three-story hotel rated as four stars and had an enticing garden in the front with a water fountain.

The Hotel Schrieder, at least in those days, had a great view of the castle, and was noted in some travel journals as having a great kitchen (something that Americans seem drawn to when on trips).

As most historians and journalists tell the story of Twain's visit to Heidelberg....it was supposed to have been for a night or two, and this was connected to the trip where he was working through a writers block and doing research for other writings (newspaper and essay-type).

Something clicked, and the short stay in Heidelberg turned from a few days to three months.  My guess is that the cost factor of the Hotel Schrieder played into this, and he made some decision to move over to a gasthaus/tavern on the other side of the river....the Hotel Hirschgasse.

Why the attraction to stay?  There's not a lot written by Twain himself.  Most historians think he seemed to connect to the city by the river, it's university students, and the cozy atmosphere of Heidelberg.

When you go back and examine the thousands of quotes attributed to Twain.....you reach a point where you start to think that he sat and listened to enough comments by the soon-to-be-intellectual crowd there and picked up some witty sayings.

Some examples:

"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."

"The two most important days in your life are the day that you are born, and the day that you find out why."

"A man who lives fully.....is prepared to die at any time."

"The secret of getting ahead....is getting started."

"I never let my schooling interfere with my education."

"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything."

My guess is that Twain found himself in the middle of some human laboratory of sorts.....where wit and wisdom were being discussed on a hour-by-hour basis by the Heidelberg University students that he socialized around.....with a serving of beer to help avoid thirst.....and the charm of the river in the background.  These one-liners that were dropped onto him.....probably written down in his notebook and were part of his research material.

In 1876, Twain wrapped up Tom Sawyer, and was at a pivotal point in his life.  Rarely do most writers who write a five-star piece at age forty-one.....then come back to write anything that measures up to the original five-star wonder.

It's after this 1878 trip that Twain does return to America, and settles back to write various books and essays which match and maybe even exceed Tom Sawyer.

So if you happen to be around Heidelberg one afternoon, you might want to yourself into Twain's shoes and see what happens.

The 500-Euro Story

The ECB (European Central Bank out of Frankfurt) made the decision yesterday that the 500-Euro bill will be 'retired' as of 2018.

Reason?  Their belief that it is used to a great extent in terrorism financing and money-laundering.

After 2018, the largest bill that you will be able to attain (for the Euro) is the 200-Euro bill.

One might sit and ponder upon this change and what will happen.

My suggestion is that you've got two entire years prior to 'end' and those who do money-laundering....will simply shift over to another currency.  Some other country in the region (unassociated with the EU) will simply be the supplier.

As for the opinions of most Germans on this?  Some think that this is to stop or erode cash-purchases where someone buys something with twenty 500-Euro bills and the transaction is not recorded or reported.  An example would be renovation work on a house where the craftsman gets paid in cash but never reports the income, or someone buys some cattle in cash.

On the Topic of Art (Heidelberg)

Being from Alabama, I was 'deprived' as a kid with art.  So I have been told.

To be honest, I have some appreciation with art today....but it's a case where I could admire bad art and think it was worthwhile art of some value.

About a block down from the Heidelberg Bergbahn, there's this piece in a square where it looks like the city had some money to spend, and some artist had eight pieces of marginal art that he welded together onto some steel ball, and some critic gave it all a thumbs-up.

About a kilometer away, in the mid-section of town, there's this one building which I stood there for a while and admired.

If you look up at the mid-section....there's four chunky and bodacious Greek Goddess gals in some pose.

Naturally, I'm the only one standing there and admiring this scene.

In this case, some guy probably spent a good year or two designing this and getting the deal done.

Today, it's some fashion related building.  But...seventy years ago?  I'm guessing it was a store of some type.

Today, you could bring up the building and probably less than forty people in town would recognize it and note where it was in town.  People simply walk by and never notice the goddesses.

Heidelberg Bergbahn

The Heidelberger Bergbahn is a two-step railway that takes you to the mid-section and the top of the hill overlooking Heidelberg.  Total cost of a round-trip ticket is seven Euro.

The first section runs for roughly 1,550 feet and was opened in 1890.  It was originally built by the same guys who built the water-fed ballast system in Wiesbaden at the Neroberg.  It's been updated greatly (it has to carry a ton of customers up to the castle), and makes the trip in five minutes.  It's an electric train today.

It's one of the five big things in Heidelberg to experience.

The second station runs another train from the mid-level of the hill to the top.....over 3,000 feet long, and has run since 1907.  It's basically the same train (1907 model) with no upgrades or heat.  This takes about half-as-many customers and while very scenic in nature....there's nothing else at the top except for a small beer and soda stand.

If you are a technology geek or historian type....it's worth the trip to the top and you ought to ride on both trains.

The suggestion of walking down from the mid-point (castle-level)?  On a nice day, it's a short walk (maybe an hour) and would be a good way to end the day.  I wouldn't drag kids along on this type of outing.  Walking from the top of the hill down?  Don't even think about it.

Saturdays and Sundays are hectic and crowded with tourists.

A final note, there's no place around that I'd suggest for lunch (at the castle or at the top)....the food is such that I'd recommend you wait until the end of the trip before eating lunch or bring along a snack.