Around noon today, local news (Wiesbadenaktuell)....came up and said the local court had the diesel ban episode dropped.
Commentary? Well....they just say that the environmental group pursuing this came up and said 'enough'.....they wanted to drop it.
Logical? No.
I suspect that politically, politicians came to the environmental group and just said....there's a ton of voters out there who are frustrated about where this is going, and it's harming our voting potential (suggesting the SPD, and CDU folks). If you force the ban, we all get screwed big-time.
So a diesel car ban in Wiesbaden? No....won't happen.
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Diesel Update
It is a bit of a shocker, and yet to be clearly laid out by the journalists.
Via Focus news magazine, I noted this morning that the EU crowd has spoken to a commission recommendation over nitrogen oxide (diesel particles).
As you know, if you follow German news, we've got a major mess with diesel car bans being discussed in major urbanized regions in Germany.....all leading back to a EU law which says that 40 micrograms is the MAX you can have in a city for clean air. Anything above that....brings on EU force and cities then work to ban vehicles (at least they talk about it).
Well....the commission is now suggesting the new limit value for nitrogen oxide in Germany be increased to 50 micrograms.
Does that decrease the diesel car ban chatter going on? No one says much right now. My guess is that it might continue to be a ban on category 4 type diesel cars (those near 15 or more years old). The newer category five type diesel cars? They might be skip through the mess.
So all this hype over the ban, and frustration by the diesel car owners? Over? That's the curious thing. Maybe the EU idiots realized that a huge bit of anger was coming at the point of the EU election in May, and they could resolve this by just adding 10 more micrograms to the rule.
Via Focus news magazine, I noted this morning that the EU crowd has spoken to a commission recommendation over nitrogen oxide (diesel particles).
As you know, if you follow German news, we've got a major mess with diesel car bans being discussed in major urbanized regions in Germany.....all leading back to a EU law which says that 40 micrograms is the MAX you can have in a city for clean air. Anything above that....brings on EU force and cities then work to ban vehicles (at least they talk about it).
Well....the commission is now suggesting the new limit value for nitrogen oxide in Germany be increased to 50 micrograms.
Does that decrease the diesel car ban chatter going on? No one says much right now. My guess is that it might continue to be a ban on category 4 type diesel cars (those near 15 or more years old). The newer category five type diesel cars? They might be skip through the mess.
So all this hype over the ban, and frustration by the diesel car owners? Over? That's the curious thing. Maybe the EU idiots realized that a huge bit of anger was coming at the point of the EU election in May, and they could resolve this by just adding 10 more micrograms to the rule.
The Good Socialist
He was the good socialist.
Right up front, he wanted the government to guarantee the right for all citizens....to adequate employment opportunities.
He wanted a standard of living or basic wage, where people were taken care.
He stated in a clear voice, the needs of the community should outweigh the needs of the individual.
He made it clear....profits of a company should only reach a certain stage, and everything else....had to shared out to the workers of the company, or distributed to the citizens. There were to be no wealthy companies or wealthy individuals.
He stated as a national policy.....the welfare of the senior citizens should be guaranteed.
He spoke on numerous times about the need for regulations and laws to exist....protecting the state, it's lands, and property.
He wanted the government to be in the middle and always ensuring lowest possible interest rates and mortgage situations. It was the government's business.....not banks....to protect the public.
He noted on various occasions to protect the farming community, and to ensure a national food pathway was guaranteed. Food safety and good cheap prices for everyone, was to be the national policy.
He wanted the government to help control rent and prevent profits among property or apartment building owners.
He wanted the government to help build cheap apartment housing.
He wanted to prevent speculation on land and property.
He wanted hate-crimes to be prosecuted in the court system.
He wanted culture of all ethnic groups of society to be respected and honored.
He wanted a national system of education, with mandated classes and education requirements. This was not the job of local or state leadership, but from the national leadership.
He wanted all children to be given education and skilcraft. In essence, he promoted free college for all.
He wanted for the priority of the nation to raise the standards of national health by providing adequate hospitals, clinics, doctors, nurses, and care.
He talked to a national priority to help increase physical fitness and dietary requirements of the public, to help make society-at-large better and healthier.
He would talk at length about working for the common good....before the individual good. The nation in his mind, should stand against materialistic spirits which create unfair wealth and class divisions.
He was a good socialist (sarcastically spoken of course). All of the items listed above, came from the 1930-1932 Nazi Party political platform.
He was....Adolf Hitler.
Right up front, he wanted the government to guarantee the right for all citizens....to adequate employment opportunities.
He wanted a standard of living or basic wage, where people were taken care.
He stated in a clear voice, the needs of the community should outweigh the needs of the individual.
He made it clear....profits of a company should only reach a certain stage, and everything else....had to shared out to the workers of the company, or distributed to the citizens. There were to be no wealthy companies or wealthy individuals.
He stated as a national policy.....the welfare of the senior citizens should be guaranteed.
He spoke on numerous times about the need for regulations and laws to exist....protecting the state, it's lands, and property.
He wanted the government to be in the middle and always ensuring lowest possible interest rates and mortgage situations. It was the government's business.....not banks....to protect the public.
He noted on various occasions to protect the farming community, and to ensure a national food pathway was guaranteed. Food safety and good cheap prices for everyone, was to be the national policy.
He wanted the government to help control rent and prevent profits among property or apartment building owners.
He wanted the government to help build cheap apartment housing.
He wanted to prevent speculation on land and property.
He wanted hate-crimes to be prosecuted in the court system.
He wanted culture of all ethnic groups of society to be respected and honored.
He wanted a national system of education, with mandated classes and education requirements. This was not the job of local or state leadership, but from the national leadership.
He wanted all children to be given education and skilcraft. In essence, he promoted free college for all.
He wanted for the priority of the nation to raise the standards of national health by providing adequate hospitals, clinics, doctors, nurses, and care.
He talked to a national priority to help increase physical fitness and dietary requirements of the public, to help make society-at-large better and healthier.
He would talk at length about working for the common good....before the individual good. The nation in his mind, should stand against materialistic spirits which create unfair wealth and class divisions.
He was a good socialist (sarcastically spoken of course). All of the items listed above, came from the 1930-1932 Nazi Party political platform.
He was....Adolf Hitler.
German Driver's Test Story
For those who've never been through the German driver's exam business....it's a colossal 'pain'. In 1978, I arrived with a US license and was given a 50-page pamphlet (all in English) and told to prep myself over the weekend, and take the US military-Europe driving class on Monday....with the test shortly before lunch. They (the military) had the deal that if you just passed the sign test, and the hundred-odd general rule test....then you didn't need to do an actual physical or road test.
The sign-test proved to be a fairly significant deal, with a time-limit. There's probably over 150 different signs....some of which you might only notice once in an entire year. I marginally passed this test. At least a quarter of the group failed it, and were to return in two days to attempt this again.
The general rule test was less complicated but you had to memorize the forty-odd intersection scenarios, where horse-pulled wagons, tractors, trucks, bicyclists, and cars were to meet, and who turned first and what direction. The round-about or traffic circle business? For an American in 1978, this was simply rocket-science, and difficult to grasp. The study booklet made the difference because it was written for a 12-year-old kid to read, with diagrams. I easily passed this test, and the German guy running the base drivers program typed up my drivers license, and it was done.
A week later, I had to driver off-base and came quickly to the reality that there were twenty things which they'd failed to mention or that I was prepared for. Urbanized driving in the Frankfurt area? That was the chief problem which I failed to grasp. Later in the 1990s, as I arrived in the Bitburg region, with rural surroundings and limited traffic....my anxiety level diminished.
Today, especially with the introduction of GPS 'toys', getting around Germany and following the driver's guidance, is not a big deal.
I sat and watched ARD news this morning (public TV, Channel One), and there was a brief piece over German driver's test exams. It's an interesting development. Failure rates on the exams have escalated.
On the written exam.....39-percent of the folks taking the test failed, on the first go-around. On the drive exam (the practical)....it's at 32-percent of failure.
Why? They go through and basically give three issues.
First, they admit in the video part of the test....it's now developed to a highly complex scenario 'game', and you have to make a lightning fast decision, which people are unprepared for.
Second, while you can now take the test in one of twelve languages....there are a fair number of people who don't speak any of the 12 languages to the proficiency required for the driver's test. With immigration going on and significant numbers of foreigners taking the exam....it's now an issue.
Finally, there is the suggestion that young people of today (compared to young people of the 1970s or 1980s)....simply aren't prepared for the stress of the test.
Resolutions to improve the scoring? They are reviewing things, but other than changing the complexity of the scenario 'game', or adding five or six languages to the testing.....there's a limited number of things they can do.
The sign-test proved to be a fairly significant deal, with a time-limit. There's probably over 150 different signs....some of which you might only notice once in an entire year. I marginally passed this test. At least a quarter of the group failed it, and were to return in two days to attempt this again.
The general rule test was less complicated but you had to memorize the forty-odd intersection scenarios, where horse-pulled wagons, tractors, trucks, bicyclists, and cars were to meet, and who turned first and what direction. The round-about or traffic circle business? For an American in 1978, this was simply rocket-science, and difficult to grasp. The study booklet made the difference because it was written for a 12-year-old kid to read, with diagrams. I easily passed this test, and the German guy running the base drivers program typed up my drivers license, and it was done.
A week later, I had to driver off-base and came quickly to the reality that there were twenty things which they'd failed to mention or that I was prepared for. Urbanized driving in the Frankfurt area? That was the chief problem which I failed to grasp. Later in the 1990s, as I arrived in the Bitburg region, with rural surroundings and limited traffic....my anxiety level diminished.
Today, especially with the introduction of GPS 'toys', getting around Germany and following the driver's guidance, is not a big deal.
I sat and watched ARD news this morning (public TV, Channel One), and there was a brief piece over German driver's test exams. It's an interesting development. Failure rates on the exams have escalated.
On the written exam.....39-percent of the folks taking the test failed, on the first go-around. On the drive exam (the practical)....it's at 32-percent of failure.
Why? They go through and basically give three issues.
First, they admit in the video part of the test....it's now developed to a highly complex scenario 'game', and you have to make a lightning fast decision, which people are unprepared for.
Second, while you can now take the test in one of twelve languages....there are a fair number of people who don't speak any of the 12 languages to the proficiency required for the driver's test. With immigration going on and significant numbers of foreigners taking the exam....it's now an issue.
Finally, there is the suggestion that young people of today (compared to young people of the 1970s or 1980s)....simply aren't prepared for the stress of the test.
Resolutions to improve the scoring? They are reviewing things, but other than changing the complexity of the scenario 'game', or adding five or six languages to the testing.....there's a limited number of things they can do.
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Drone-Taxis?
The topic came up today, via our regional major airport in Frankfurt (about 30 minutes away from my house). FRAPORT, the company, runs the airport (as a private entity).
The management folks at the airport have this nifty idea.....they want to take up the idea of a drone-taxi service....basically a small helicopter-like vehicle.....no pilot....big enough for two guys and two medium cases.
The process here? Totally unknown, and on the cutting edge of technology.
One assumes that a large courtyard in the city of Frankfurt would be set aside, and a drone-vehicle service set up with three or four of these drone-taxis ready to take off. You'd walk out to the vehicle....load up.....a signal would set the drone to turn on, and off you'd go on a 8-minute ride to a pad area on the east side of the runway, and you'd enter security for your flight.
Fuel? No one says much, but it might be battery-driven.
Cost? Unknown. I would imagine that they'd try to make this reasonable and in the 100-Euro range per person. Currently in a regular taxi, from mid or east Frankfurt, you'd be talking about 35-Euro.
Time? Well, this is the odd factor. You can already walk into the train station and board the subway car to the airport....getting there in roughly 20 minutes. So I don't see a big positive over this deal.
The safety factor....with the helicopter pilot? You'd have to go and convince the public that it's 100-percent safe and nothing bad can happen. For some reason, I just don't see 95-percent of Germans buying off on that safety idea.
Could this expand out to Wiesbaden? No one suggests that but if it worked for a 8-minute flight from Frankfurt-City to the airport.....why not a 16-minute flight from Wiesbaden to the airport? Would I pay 100 Euro to reach the airport? No....since I can do the subway ride for around eight Euro....why use the drone?
The curious thing I see is this door opening up where you could buy a drone-helicopter, and set the pick-up and deliver aspects into the software (say in 2040 for example), and never be qualified as a pilot. Each morning, I'd walk out to the drone and have it deliver me to the office. Each night, I'd return the same way. It just looks to me like a big door is opening with tons of potential....way down the line.
The management folks at the airport have this nifty idea.....they want to take up the idea of a drone-taxi service....basically a small helicopter-like vehicle.....no pilot....big enough for two guys and two medium cases.
The process here? Totally unknown, and on the cutting edge of technology.
One assumes that a large courtyard in the city of Frankfurt would be set aside, and a drone-vehicle service set up with three or four of these drone-taxis ready to take off. You'd walk out to the vehicle....load up.....a signal would set the drone to turn on, and off you'd go on a 8-minute ride to a pad area on the east side of the runway, and you'd enter security for your flight.
Fuel? No one says much, but it might be battery-driven.
Cost? Unknown. I would imagine that they'd try to make this reasonable and in the 100-Euro range per person. Currently in a regular taxi, from mid or east Frankfurt, you'd be talking about 35-Euro.
Time? Well, this is the odd factor. You can already walk into the train station and board the subway car to the airport....getting there in roughly 20 minutes. So I don't see a big positive over this deal.
The safety factor....with the helicopter pilot? You'd have to go and convince the public that it's 100-percent safe and nothing bad can happen. For some reason, I just don't see 95-percent of Germans buying off on that safety idea.
Could this expand out to Wiesbaden? No one suggests that but if it worked for a 8-minute flight from Frankfurt-City to the airport.....why not a 16-minute flight from Wiesbaden to the airport? Would I pay 100 Euro to reach the airport? No....since I can do the subway ride for around eight Euro....why use the drone?
The curious thing I see is this door opening up where you could buy a drone-helicopter, and set the pick-up and deliver aspects into the software (say in 2040 for example), and never be qualified as a pilot. Each morning, I'd walk out to the drone and have it deliver me to the office. Each night, I'd return the same way. It just looks to me like a big door is opening with tons of potential....way down the line.
The 260,000 A Year Story
I essay a good bit over the declining birth-rate of Germany, and what it really 'means'. Today, Deutsche Welle picked up the topic and talked to a new study done by the Bertelsmann Foundation. They've been around for forty years and tend to be recognized as a pretty decent think-tank operation.
So the numbers got crunched. Germany would have to go out and actively recruit 260,000 migrant-workers every single year for at least forty years, to meet the decline.
In pure numbers, if Germany does nothing....they'd easily find themselves missing 16-million workers by 2060. It's a situation that industry and finance cannot allow to happen.
Harsh reality? More or less. But here's the thing....when they say 260,000 migrant workers....they aren't talking about family members....they are talking about 260,000 actual workers. So the real math here would mean at least 400,000 a year (wives, husbands, kids) need to be on some entry path.
Added to this, they aren't saying they want 260,000 burger-flippers, or cleaning ladies. The hype here should be individuals with work skills, university time, and craftsmanship talents....that can easily fit into the workplace within a year or two.
A real plan to 'recruit'? No. There is no such plan. That's the humorous part of the German 'open-door' policy.....you could easily end up with fifty-percent of the incoming crowd having no more than basic skills to run a apple-cart, or stocking shelves, or flipping burgers. So you end up with 'problem-children' who trigger increased public safety concerns, more policing actions, and welfare supplements going on for years for an individual without real work talents.
But there is this other odd part to the idea of 260,000 folks coming in each year.....they'd mostly center around the top fifty metropolitan areas of the country (where jobs lie), while rural areas would be depopulated even more. It's a curious scenario, with no real solution.
So the numbers got crunched. Germany would have to go out and actively recruit 260,000 migrant-workers every single year for at least forty years, to meet the decline.
In pure numbers, if Germany does nothing....they'd easily find themselves missing 16-million workers by 2060. It's a situation that industry and finance cannot allow to happen.
Harsh reality? More or less. But here's the thing....when they say 260,000 migrant workers....they aren't talking about family members....they are talking about 260,000 actual workers. So the real math here would mean at least 400,000 a year (wives, husbands, kids) need to be on some entry path.
Added to this, they aren't saying they want 260,000 burger-flippers, or cleaning ladies. The hype here should be individuals with work skills, university time, and craftsmanship talents....that can easily fit into the workplace within a year or two.
A real plan to 'recruit'? No. There is no such plan. That's the humorous part of the German 'open-door' policy.....you could easily end up with fifty-percent of the incoming crowd having no more than basic skills to run a apple-cart, or stocking shelves, or flipping burgers. So you end up with 'problem-children' who trigger increased public safety concerns, more policing actions, and welfare supplements going on for years for an individual without real work talents.
But there is this other odd part to the idea of 260,000 folks coming in each year.....they'd mostly center around the top fifty metropolitan areas of the country (where jobs lie), while rural areas would be depopulated even more. It's a curious scenario, with no real solution.
The Jail Story
If you walked into a group of working-class Germans and asked for a list of their top ten 'concerns'....somewhere in the mix is the deportation of failed visa applicants. It's an odd problem that Germans now discuss, and get frustrated over. Politicians? They worry because they can't really promise what the public wants....immediate deportation.
This got brought up yesterday via a Deutsche Welle article that I noticed.
The German Interior Minister, Horst Seehofer-CSU, has a pet project that he's working on. Basically, once the visa application is stamped 'failed'....he wants to the cops to be there, detain the individual, and move them to a state-fun prison system, until they can be deported.
Issues? Well....the prisons of the sixteen German states really weren't built for this type of situation, or the number of failed applicants that you might be discussing. Adding to this.....you could be talking about a year or two, sitting in the prison, awaiting an appeal process to the deportation. What if the homeland of the guy won't take him back....would you jail him permanently?
If they just went to 'problem-migrants'? Those with criminal behavior noted in the background....like arrests for threats or assaults?
In a way, this entire period of migration and open-door policy, has led to a frustration that labels both the center-right and center-left political parties as 'failures'. They can't resolve this public frustration.
This got brought up yesterday via a Deutsche Welle article that I noticed.
The German Interior Minister, Horst Seehofer-CSU, has a pet project that he's working on. Basically, once the visa application is stamped 'failed'....he wants to the cops to be there, detain the individual, and move them to a state-fun prison system, until they can be deported.
Issues? Well....the prisons of the sixteen German states really weren't built for this type of situation, or the number of failed applicants that you might be discussing. Adding to this.....you could be talking about a year or two, sitting in the prison, awaiting an appeal process to the deportation. What if the homeland of the guy won't take him back....would you jail him permanently?
If they just went to 'problem-migrants'? Those with criminal behavior noted in the background....like arrests for threats or assaults?
In a way, this entire period of migration and open-door policy, has led to a frustration that labels both the center-right and center-left political parties as 'failures'. They can't resolve this public frustration.
Monday, February 11, 2019
Selbstzerfleischen
Selbtzerfleischen is a unique Germany word, and you could be walking around for ten years, and never hear it spoken....in terms of a German describing himself/herself and their personal feelings.
The true definition? Selbtzerfleischen is basically a problem of significance has anchored itself to a German, and they can't really move ahead, or resolve this problem.....so they dwell in pity or discomfort.....day after day....with their mind focused on the issue but it's merely dragging them down. Some Germans will stand and admit this issue, but even if you were a good friend, or neighbor....offering a fine ending to it or some resolution, it may not be what they want to accept. So the problem simply dwells on.
I was reading commentary today over the CDU meeting for a new asylum/immigration policy. The party would like to disengage itself from Merkel and the past five years. But the meeting ended....mostly with no real outcome. So the German guy wrote his frustration down....and noted his selbstzerfleischen issue. It'd be nice if migration and asylum just resolved itself and people could progress on without this thorny issue. But they can't.
Across Germany? Out of 82-million? I'd take a guess that one out of seven German adults have a frustration over the migration and asylum issue, with the political mechanism, more or less....unable to really find any constructive middle-ground to bring the voting public back to the standard two parties (CDU and SPD). The likelihood in 2021 that the combined voting strength will be less than 45-percent of the voting public? It's a fairly high chance now. People are disconnected and feel no real resolution coming.
So if you have a German sitting with you in a pub, and their whine goes on and on....with no resolution making them happy....it's plain old selbstzerfleischen.
The true definition? Selbtzerfleischen is basically a problem of significance has anchored itself to a German, and they can't really move ahead, or resolve this problem.....so they dwell in pity or discomfort.....day after day....with their mind focused on the issue but it's merely dragging them down. Some Germans will stand and admit this issue, but even if you were a good friend, or neighbor....offering a fine ending to it or some resolution, it may not be what they want to accept. So the problem simply dwells on.
I was reading commentary today over the CDU meeting for a new asylum/immigration policy. The party would like to disengage itself from Merkel and the past five years. But the meeting ended....mostly with no real outcome. So the German guy wrote his frustration down....and noted his selbstzerfleischen issue. It'd be nice if migration and asylum just resolved itself and people could progress on without this thorny issue. But they can't.
Across Germany? Out of 82-million? I'd take a guess that one out of seven German adults have a frustration over the migration and asylum issue, with the political mechanism, more or less....unable to really find any constructive middle-ground to bring the voting public back to the standard two parties (CDU and SPD). The likelihood in 2021 that the combined voting strength will be less than 45-percent of the voting public? It's a fairly high chance now. People are disconnected and feel no real resolution coming.
So if you have a German sitting with you in a pub, and their whine goes on and on....with no resolution making them happy....it's plain old selbstzerfleischen.
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