17 Oct 2024: Seven German News Stories

 1.  Not exactly shocking....BMW's boss came out and said the EU 'desire' to go entirely E-car by 2035...is now 'unrealistic' (exact word he used).

Just my perception....I think the 'peak' of hype was spring of 2023 for E-cars....at  least in Germany.

2.  Some Germans getting a natural-gas-warning-letter....expect rates going up by 56-percent.

3.  Now apparently a black African 'mafia' organization existing in the EU....name: 'Black Ax'.  Engaged in human trafficking and drug smuggling. Just more competition for the Italian, Moroccan, Lebanese, Chinese, Serbian and Russian mafia organizations already existing.  

I worked with a American in K-Town in the 1990s...who sat down and had a 3-hour long talk with a local German cop.  Out of this talk....the cop rattled off  a dozen-odd crime organizations in the region of K-Town....each with an agenda, 'product', and manpower.  I would imagine today...if such a talk took place....there's probably thirty-odd organizations in the same region.  

4.  Gov't reports....ON AVERAGE....290 German police officers per day....face some type of violence or potential assault.

5.  A Bundestag committee of inquiry has been appointed....to clarify whether the nuclear phase-out was thought-out with a clear plan.  So far....they will have around 500 witnesses.

My humble guess on what will happen?  In the end....several Green Party folks will be accused of using false narratives/data, but it's a done deal now (they will not re-open the nuke plants).  What could occur out of this....renewed interest in nuke energy, and perhaps a road-map for the 2030s....building up a couple of plants.

6. The magazine Economist went to study Germany and trends.  What they generally said....for 2025....things appear slightly better than what some analysts have said, but then as things progress into 2026 and beyond....it's not a bright picture for the economy.  

7.  The draft ban proposal on the AfD  Party (right-wing) is on the Bundestag table.  Discussion stage at this point....if they go to the next step.

I'll just openly say it....what they are missing...is where this crowd of roughly 19-percent of the German  voting public will go if AfD is banned.  I'll go and  lay it out....the group will congregate under BSW....bringing them to almost 30-percent in voting numbers.  

Then we will have  this long discussion....was it smart to ban AfD, and journalists being shocked how things developed.

Arson Story

 Late last week in Wiesbaden, in a underground parking garage (near the train-station)....a antique car and a second normal vehicle....were set on fire.  Max damage on them.

So the police have reviewed the cameras and ID'ed three young guys (15/16 years old), and detained them at their homes (charges will be coming up).  

It's a unusual event in town....it's just awful rare that you have arson events.  

North Korean Soldiers 'Disappear'?

 I noted this AM....German news is saying around 100,000 North Koreans were moved to the front....opposing Ukraine, and fighting for Russia.

Well....in the last hour, there's another report.  Could be BS...could be half-true....saying that 18 North Korean soldiers just kinda up-and-disappeared in the Kursk/Bryansk region.

Russian authorities are apparently looking for them. 

This to create a new problem?  Well....if you have to have 40 Russian soldiers 'watching' and supervising 100 North Korean soldiers....eventually the North Koreans will figure out eliminating the Russian soldiers is the quickest way to escape across the line into Ukraine and freedom.

Bringing the 100k North Koreans into the war....might not have been that smart.  What you don't want is some EU issue brewing....where 50,000 North Korean men have escaped and asking for asylum into Europe.

16 Oct 2024: Twelve German News Stories

 1.  Monday evening in Trier....some local police were  'warned' that a confrontation was planned out....between two gangs.  One was Lebanese, and the other Syrian.

So how this started?  Well....there was a fight on Sunday....some Syrian guy got into a rough fight with Lebanon guys...the Syrian was hit on the head (ending up in a local hospital).

Monday night came.....cops arrive early with sufficient numbers, and here's about a dozen cars parked at the fair ground/exhibition park.  Weapons found?  Well.....iron bars and knives....no guns.

2.  Insurance data from Germany indicates that one in three E-car owners....eventually quit the E-car and go back to gas/diesel cars.  

Bad sign?  Well....no one has really asked a lot of questions on this, and what made the folks switch back.  It might be worth a discussion.  Did the crowd learn something that is negative?

3.  WELT article written by political scientist and author Jens Siegert yesterday....had an interesting twist on thoughts.

He's been around Moscow for several decades.  On the topic of failure eventually coming to Russia.....he says if Putin fails....disaster is coming to Russia....massive chaos.  

4.  In Hessen state news....more attacks on police, fire brigade and rescue services in the past year.  Now trending (nationally)....at all-time high.

Lot of this connecting to alcohol?  That's their hint.....they think half the incidents are with drunks in the landscape. 

5.  Is there a EU discussion underway about inhalers....that doctors MUST consider 'climate-impact' when prescribing the asthma inhalers? (contributing to green houses gases)

WELL....yeah.  The EU is starting a discussion over this.  They haven't halted inhalers yet, but we are now to the point of them agreeing.....there's some green house gas worries.   

I know......this sounds rather silly, but I'm going to future EU acts I see coming (before 2034)....first, water coming in plastic bottles.....will be considered dangerous and halted by the EU.  Second, I believe chewing gum of all types/flavors....will be considered a hazard, and halted as well.

6.  Study done.....what is said, by 2030....tens of thousands of German teacher billets will be empty.   How they will solve this?  Unknown. Importing in teachers?  

7.  What do I think will happen if the AfD Party is banned?

Don't say anything to Germans about this....but after the party is banned (if it happens)....that 19-percent of the voting public will go to the BSW Party (now around 9-percent of the national vote).  

At that point, BSW will have 28-percent (just 2 points in polling) under the CDU-CSU Party.

It's entirely possible that BSW (with voters from AfD) would then possibly win the 2025 election.   Shocker?  OH YEAH.

The one topic where AfD and BSW agree on?  Oddly, pro-Russia and anti-NATO/US.  You can  guess where things would go into 2026.

8.  FORSA (the polling folks) did a survey....asking Germans....after the Covid vax....are you 'damaged' in any way?

One in six Germans say 'yes'....they have some side affect.   Don't worry....neither the coalition gov't or the EU are going to do anything about this.

9.  What does 'Untermensch' really mean?

Well....if some German is chatting and loosely utters this....he is referring to some status group, who is behind the normal German folks. 

The odds of some juveniles uttering? It's rare. 

Nazi-like word?  Yeah....that might be true.

10.  Gabor Steingart wrote a guest piece for FOCUS this AM.  Topic?  'Refugees welcome' a decade ago in Germany was accepted by a majority of Germany.  Now in the past year or two....it's now a minority who accept the welcome idea. The majority of Germans have become less accepting of immigrants.

11.  Polar vortex back?  Weather guys say the odd weather system of 2023....is returning.  The talk now.....there might be a brief bit of snow/cold weather, and then a fairly mild winter (like last year in Germany). 

12.  N-TV had a North Korea piece this AM....talking over NK sending 10,000 soldiers to the Ukraine.....to fight for Russia.  BS?  It would have required a fairly large effort (by train likely) to get them from NK to the 'front'.  

15 Oct 2024: Six German News Stories

 1.  Germany's BND (their version of the CIA) chief stood up yesterday and said 'Russia will soon be capable of attacking NATO.'

BS?  Well....tank and APC-wise....no, there's no potential left for a offensive against NATO or for that matter....Germany.  Missile-wise?  There's still some potential left.  

Army manpower downsized?  That's another matter....Russia has probably given up 200,000 men for the war,  and there's not a unlimited number left.

2.  Trend reported yesterday for Germany....cash is trending less, and less.  Cards and cellphone-charge....more popular.

3.  SPD Party talking about a E-car 'bonus' (for 2025).  Even if you gave a 4,000 Euro deal/bonus....I don't think it'll flip public perception into buying E-cars.  Even for my German wife.....you could improve the bonus to 8k Euro, and it wouldn't matter.

4.  My wife works, and the company does well (still making a profit in 2024).  The 'boss' went to some political meeting in the past week....getting a financial prospective from them for 2025.  Key note?  For 2025....you (as a company and employee) need to give 100-percent, because it's going to be a fairly rough year. Probably wasn't the kind of report you wanted to hear.

5.  Commerzbank 'boss' says....no economic recovery signs in the near-future of Germany.

6. Brose in Germany....does the car-parts business.  They say they are cutting around 1,000 jobs shortly.

14 Oct 2024: Three German News Stories

 1.  Top forum show of the week came on last night (Sunday, Caren Miosga Show, ARD).  Key quote?  "We won't let Mrs Wagenknecht lead us around by the nose."  Spoken by CDU candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Fair amount of chatter about the idea of a coalition partnership with the BSW Party, both nationally and state-wise.

There are a couple of agreeable things, and then there's some short list of things that Wagenknecht may ask for.....that BSW can't get.

2.  Welt article this AM.  Turf war starting up in NW Germany, with Moroccan gangs in competition over drug-trade.

3.  Over the weekend....major mixed-martial arts match in Frankfurt.  This stuff was forbidden just a couple of years ago.....now draws 59,000 fans at the local stadium.

The Sharia Law Discussion

 There was a protest up in Hamburg yesterday.....Islamic crowd.....maybe in the 2k to 3k range of people gathered, and the main topic was.....'we-want-to-bring-about-Sharia-Law-to-Germany'.

Odds of this happening in Germany?  Pretty much ZERO.

But I'll make five observations:

1.  What you don't want in any society or country....is two divisions of rules/regulations and 'realities'.

In Germany's case, if you ever invented a path to this Sharia Law business....a bunch of Germans would ask....why limit this to two paths?  You'd see various religions start up with the claim that they deserve their own special laws, courts and police.

2.  Let's say someone found a law situation where you could invent Sharia Law here, but 25-percent of Turks and Syrians said 'no-way'.....they didn't want this.  How would you handle this?

3.  How would you handle Christmas and various Christian holidays in Germany?

4.  Would the Russian population in Germany (numbering near 3-million) request a rule that allows a Putin-led situation to be created in Germany?

5.  Would some Syrians stand up and ask the question....how did things get so 'fuc*ed-up' in Afghanistan, Iraq or Iran?  If they eventually came to say Sharia Law contributed to the mess....how would you allow this idea  to be openly discussed?  

I will say this critical comment....the more this comes up in public forums.....the more disgruntled society becomes about integration and problems with society.  You are feeding AfD in various ways.

13 Oct 2024: Six German News Stories

 1. VW is planning a new E-car.....the 'Volksstromer', priced at roughly 20,000 Euro (basic model).  I'd describe as a two-door type car.  They seem to believe that the pricing is what matters.

2.  This deal to bring in US medium-range missiles (into Germany)....is getting a fair amount of push-back.  I would speculate that one of the five top voting issues for the fall 2025 federal election in Germany.  If you went to the parties, the anti-missile groups would be all of AfD, Greens, Linke, and BSW....with probably half the SPD voters being against the idea.  

3.  The SPD Party is preparing for the fall 2025 fed election....by talking up a tax-credit of some type...if you were to buy an E-car (would have to be a German-made car  of course).  

4.  WW II bomb found in Hamburg....near the Schanzen-quarter last night. Several thousand residents and visitors had to evacuate the 'party-zone' of Hamburg for a period of time.