Age of Generational Crisis

 I stood at the magazine rack last week.....looking at the newest Spiegel cover.

 

German kids in chaos. 

I spent about 2 minutes looking at the bulk of story...which they have a point.

Based on the news media....social media, and 'gory-details'....German kids by age 13/14/15....are getting a ton of information....which shouldn't be on their minds, or worry-about index.

About six months ago, I watched a interview of a German parent (assuming in her 40s)...having weekly discussions/arguments with her teen daughter....who was always wanting a debate.  'Mom' was fed-up....she had legit worries and this social media crap didn't really faze her much.

I paused over this....because Germans are going to receive this new 'core' of society in five-to-twelve years....requiring mental help and clinical doctors to cure their stress levels. 

The funny thing?  It's the 85-to-100 age group of Germans....who grew up in the war period, and they have a real view of crisis.

Investigative Journalism

 It won't be front-page news....probably not even discussed via public TV in Germany.

Seven German journalism students....regular college kids.....not the CIA or BND... tracked Russian freighters parked off off the Dutch and German coasts.

Looking at the police reports of drones....they connected the 'dots'.

You can read the piece here.

You know....30 years ago....this was regular investigative journalism,  and thousands of people were capable of digging into stories.

What should be done now?  A real German navy should park next to the freighters....light-up the freighters, and fire blank rounds....to move them.

Difference Between The EU And The European Commission

Well....yeah.

The EU is a political and economic union comprising 27 member states in Europe, focused on promoting peace, stability, and prosperity through shared policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries, regional development, travel, security, etc.  

The EU acts like a Senate/House. 

The European Commission is one of the EU's main institutions and serves as its executive branch (same as the US version of the executive branch). 

The Commission is politically independent and consists of 27 Commissioners (one from each member state), led by a President. 

 The Commission's primary roles include proposing new EU legislation (it has the exclusive right to initiate laws in most areas), implementing EU policies and decisions, managing the EU budget, enforcing EU law (such as by taking legal action against member states or companies that violate treaties), and representing the EU in international negotiations. 

 And yes.....the Commission drives the legislative agenda. 

Each Commissioner selected by the member-state....for nomination, and there are hearings to approve/dis-approve the candidate.  The EU at the end of the process...has a vote, and approves the list or disapproves the list.  

If a member country sent up a candidate that the EU doesn't like?  They (the other 26 member states, or a majority) would block the guy/gal.

12 Dec 2025: Germany: 10 Things

 1.  Odd speech by NATO Chief Rutte yesterday...telling Europe to prepare for war with Russia....on a scale not seen since WW II.

Hyping people up.

Pro-war folks don't grasp financial costs.  Other growing problem...fair sum of German youth (I would estimate nearing 50-percent)....aren't likely to play along with conscription/draft/enlistment.

2.  From last night....a 16-year-old boy was critically injured in a knife attack in Herford (NW Germany). Cops are searching for "one or more unknown perpetrators." Attack occurred near the Christmas market.

3.  Driving schools in Germany are saying they've seen 50-percent less applicants in 2025...blaming the cost of a license/training.  They are suggesting the gov't needs to take action.  Hard to say what could  happen....cost nearing an average of 3,400 Euro.  

Sounds like they want the gov't to get in the middle and cover half the cost.

4.  EU gas/diesel ban (was to occur in 2035)....flipped.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reportedly agreed in negotiations with European People’s Party (EPP) leader Manfred Weber to adjust the 2035 mandate from a 100% emissions reduction to a 90% cut.

What this leads to?  This proposed change would allow manufacturers to continue selling some internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, including those running on gas or diesel, as long as their overall fleet meets the average efficiency target—potentially incorporating e-fuels or hybrids. 

 It also drops plans for a full zero-emissions requirement by 2040. 

Two groups in a daze....the environmentalists thought the gas/diesel era was finished/over....bothered by this change.

Second group....car companies....angered a bit because they spent billions to develop the E-cars....finding that three-quarters of the general public simply don't  want to mess with E-cars.  They now need to spend billions more...developing E-fuel/hybrid technology.

For the public? I noted that when E-cars started to get up to 7 to 10 years in age....new battery discussion came up,  and cost was 5k Euro to 15k Euro  (battery, dump-fee, and service).  Lot of heartburn to have a car valued at 8k Euro....needing a replacement battery. 

5. Ticket shock....€155 for the World Cup opener Germany against Curaçao.  I should note....this is for a regular seat....not a premium seat.

6. Lindt, the German chocolate company....starting new strategy....refusing to sell at discount rates.

7.  My local state (Hessen)....amending the law governing the treatment of the mentally ill. 

Starting in 2026....anyone who continues to pose a danger after a hospital stay must be reported to the police.  Occurs after several incidents where  people were released and were still a threat.

8.  Two evil villain's.....cover of Spiegel this week.

9.  WELT health piece this AM.....199-percent increase in  identifying adults in Germany for ADHD.

10.  Locally in my town of Wiesbaden....22-year old arrested....pretending to be a policeman.  Was attempting to rob  a senior citizen.  Popular trend for past five years in the region....fake-cops.

Intellectual Chatter

 After WW II ended....various Nazi leaders went sent to the Nuremberg Trials, Nuremberg Germany (1945-1947).

At some point....some intellectual Americans were gathered up to study the IQ level of these  Nazis.

These examiners used the Wechsler Bellevue scale...which considered fairly reliable.

I paused over reading this and the results....this AM.

Generally speaking....85-or-less...is real low, and marginally capable of grasping thing.

Average?  100....typically.

110 or above....very capable of math, engineering tasks, and science.

Most of the Nazi leadership tested? 110-or-above.

Albert Speer....128.

Hans Frank....130.

Goering.....138.

Yeah....from this top level of leadership....mostly a higher level of IQ.

Explanation?  Coming out of the late 1800 Prussian education system....they probably were strongly challenged.  Goering...curiously, lasted about a year in university...leaving for the Nazi Party apparatus in 1921.

BS test result?  Well...you can suggest that....but there's little to prove or disprove....in terms of facts.

I would note here....Charles Manson....the cult-guy....who could not read...was assessed at a 121- IQ in the mid-1950s. 

11 Dec 2025: Germany: 5 Things

 1.  Top story this AM....out of Focus.....there's some 'secret'  US national security strategy paper....suggesting a US policy of getting four countries to "withdraw" from the EU in some fashion: Austria, Italy, Hungary, and Poland.

After reading the various accounts....I'm of the mind that someone wrote the piece  to provoke some folks (particularly EU leadership).  And that it's not really a US gov't strategy.

Plus....to be honest...in the past thirty years....as much as it's suggested that the EU is unified....it's always been fractured/divided in various ways.

2.  Debate going on in Germany.....if you call for emergency services (ambulance for example)....the authorities are eyeballing the idea of charging for the 'service'  (amounting to some sum of 300-odd Euro).

For some working-class or retired Germans....if forced into a situation of a 300-Euro fee....they are likely not to call for help, and beg some neighbor to dump them at the Emergency Room.

3. State of Brandenburg Germany....new poll.  Almost 50-percent of the public in the poll....want a new state election (next one would normally be fall of 2029).

Added burden....35-percent of polled folks....favor the AfD.  SPD currently rates  22-percent.  43-percent favor left-or-left-of-center parties.

4. This week....Germany reported a total of 2,000 drone reports for 2025.  Most are up in the Baltic region.

5.  The city of Salzgitter in Lower Saxony.....says they are planning to examine the possibility of requiring asylum seekers to perform community service.

Yeah....NOT a optional thing.

Besides your state/federal welfare/asylum monthly check....in  their vision...you'd also earn 80-Euro-Cents per hour.

Legal challenge? No doubt.

Doing the math....if you worked 40 man-hours a week....you'd top off your asylum check with 128 Euro more for the month. 

My question....where does the 80-cents come from?

The New Rule

I sat today...reading a new US regulation (published Tuesday)....affecting 42 countries....where residents might visit the US.

Yeah, it affects Germans, and start up around mid-Feb....unless challenged in court.

Data required for the Visa Waiver Program?  If you apply for the ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization).....they want your history of  social media for the past five years. 

Other data?  Yeah, it will also be requested in the future, to include telephone numbers from the past five years, email addresses from the past ten years, and personal data of family members (I assume spouse and kids), including name, telephone number, date of birth, place of birth, and address.

What'll happen? I'll project it out....visits to the US basically halt by April of 2026....with hotels and tour companies in massive fits of anger.

The EU conducting the same 'game'?  I would imagine by June....same game.

People creating fake accounts?  Yeah....I could see people creating weird accounts....listing sixty-odd aliases.  Creating 60-odd kids....listing fake dates of birth and places of birth.

Necessity To Regulate/Control Things: The EU

At various times in the past 30 years....living in Europe....I've noted the EU determination to regulate/control things...in a stupid way.

Three examples:

The Banana curvature standard: The EU (in 1995) enforced strict guidelines requiring bananas to be "free from malformation or abnormal curvature." 

Why?  Well...to ensure uniformity for trade and packaging.  This lead onto discussions...where you had perfectly good bananas being dumped...if they were deemed too bendy. This was around for 13 years until the public started to openly discuss it.

Then we had  the bottled water hydration problem.

EU regulators made a rule that there was NOT insufficient evidence to claim drinking water prevents dehydration, so they prohibited bottled water companies from advertising or labeling their products as hydrating.

This occurred back in 2011, and still remains in effect today.

Finally, the vacuum cleaner power limits.  In a effort to promote energy efficiency, the EU capped the max power of vacuum cleaners at 900 watts.

This was back in 2014.

They gave notice far enough ahead....that you could buy 1200/1500 watt vacuums....with some folks still using their max-power units even today.

At some point in the next ten years....I expect a drug-treatment coming out...to improve your IQ level by 20 points....to which the EU will likely come to regulate/control the IQ-drug....where only a limited number of people can receive the drug.  The response when asked why regulate?  Well....we don't want too many high IQ folks around.