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.