Explaining The 1919 German Election

 The 1919 German election was a bit unique (the last in 1912, before WW I).  This was mostly an election to end the German empire, and start a new Constitution.  This was also the first election for German women to participate.  And it was the first election for the  lowered voting age (20 was now the minimum).

Parties in the mix?  Eighteen.  If you add up the votes....there were ten parties to get a minimum of one seat in the Bundestag.  The SPD led the way with 38-percent of the vote.  The Christian People's Party?  2nd place, with almost 20-percent of the vote (note, they were pro-Catholic group).

The NDV Party?   They were a national-conservative/pro-monarchy political party.  If you were looking for a group leaning in the direction of the Nazis....you would probably identify this group as such.  And yes, they were a bit antisemitic in nature.

This election unfolding as chaos and civil problems were going on in both Berlin and Bavaria?   Yes....that is one big element of the election.

How long did the coalition last?   Well...remarkably....from January of 1919....until June of 1920.  

10 July 2025: German News Stories

 1.  Interesting talk-show last night....Marcus Lanz show...ZDF (Channel 2, public TV).  For those who haven't followed the story....about a month ago....there were eight German girls (ages of 11 to 16) who were allegedly sexually harassed at an outdoor swimming pool in Gelnhausen .  What the police and prosecutors say, there are four Syrian young guys (ages 18 to 28) being reviewed of a crime.  

So this talk on the TV show came around to Hessen state politicians are calling for more strict measures. 

On the show...was this extremism researcher....Ahmad Mansour...who'd looked at the whole landscape and  gave his assessment....there are "dangerous consequences of a weak political response".

The prosecution folks are kinda stuck....public is now expecting some severe situation.  Of the four....anyone under 20, will likely be treated as a juvenile.  The over-20?  Adult and more harsh situation.

2.  More demonstrations on Mallorca (the isle) against German residents/tourists.

3.  That heat-wave projected for next week?  Now goes back for a while.

9 July 2025: German News Stories

 1.  The 'head' of the Bundestag...Julia Klöckner (CDU)  issued a pretty harsh 'rule' for the budget debate to occur on Tuesday....saying NO ONE (meaning any party) could accuse a person of a 'lie'.

It was aimed at the Linke Party and AfD.

If you had said something of a 'promise' back on the campaign trail and violated the promise....it seems that you could say 'something' but you can't call it a lie or falsehood. 

2.  Pretty weird story unfolding in Schleswig-Holstein (the state)....the public prosecutor's office says it's investigating a doctor....suspected of killing several patients.  Motive?  Unknown.

3.  Curious case unfolded in Lüchow-Dannenberg....a former employee of the regional immigration office and a co-defendant were both sentenced on Tuesday before the Lüneburg Regional Court. 

Deal?  They are accused of taking bribe money in exchange for residence permits.

The former immigration officer?  He got 6.5 years for 16 counts of bribery.  The other guy?  A total of nine years in prison (this included a conviction for kidnapping with extortion).

4.  SPD is pushing hard on a internet tax (against Google, FB, etc).  CDU is pushing back.

8 July 2025: German News Stories

 1.  Here in my local town (Wiesbaden)....public consumption of alcohol is now again permitted at the Platz der Deutschen Einheit (German Unity Square).  For a period of time....this city-block area was a 'dry-zone'....till the city officials admitted legally....they couldn't continue the 'rule'.

This is where the old city bus central station was located.

2.  Odd weekend temp's......Sunday....the high was 19 C (66 F).  Cool enough that shorts weren't appropriate.

3.  The Bundestag wants to finally address those Covid years (2020 to 2023).  Open to admit wrongs were committed?  Unknown.

4. I was reading a Russian news piece....what Putin wants to declare the war ended.  So the one key thing?  Denazification.

I pondered over this....how you would cure Nazi-crap, then measure it in some way, to say you have zero Nazis.  Even for a German to be in the middle of this....they'd be asking how you'd ever accomplish this.

I could even see Ukraine asking for some kinda of Putinification promise.

5.  Dead Germans from drugs in 2024?  The number was released yesterday....2,137 total.

6.  Three vacancies on the German Constitutional Court, and it appears to be more hassle this time than in previous years....to fill the seats.

7.  Koln area schools are experimenting with AI....as a 'study-buddy'.  You, the kid, would have an account....with the AI reviewing your work, and making suggestions.

8.  Discussion going on....maybe to bring drinking/driving to a 0.0 level....meaning even half a glass of  wine might get you into trouble.  

9.  This  negative spiral for the SPD?  Could it lead off to the coalition collapsing?  I would suggest that if the 'fall' continues (currently at 13-percent) to below 10-percent....they'd have to do something radical....like quitting the coalition....collapsing  things.

German Public Pool 'Dramas'

 Most all of the urbanized public pools in Germany.....have a problem now with bad-boy behavior.  In the past couple of months....some have gone to  posters to hint that some behaviors just aren't acceptable. 

These four are examples, which have stirred up some folks because the bad-boys portrayed here....are all 'plain-white' Germans (mostly the lads, but they inserted one German woman into one).

I looked over the offering.  For the graphics involved....had to be a fair amount of funds laid out. 

I'm not much of a pool-guy.  When I did hang out at the K-Town pool (1990s)....it was pretty standard low-key behavior....with the life-guard giving one whistle of 'warning', and if you couldn't control yourself....he/she would 'throw' you out for the day.

The more rural regions?  That's the amusing part of the story....you don't see any chaos, grabbing-boobies, or brawl-type drama.

The posters?  I think they will 'come-and-go'....with most Germans making sarcastic commentary, and offering skeptical views of this changing much of anything.

Eventually, I think, there will be some ID check required to enter, and if you were 'flagged' as out-of-control potential...you will be denied entry for an entire season. 

The obvious thing?  It's mostly all young males....ages 15 to 20.  The suggestion of German ladies being out-of-control?  There are no examples.  

Five Q-And-A's

 1.  What's really going on with the SPD Party, and downward trending?

There are really two factions carrying the party along....one being far-left enthusiasts, and the other being slightly-left-of-center enthusiasts.  Lars Klingbeil, the vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister....had figured to head up the party as the 'chair'....but things went south and he's in a co-chair situation.

If you view polling....the party is at 13-percent.

From a outsider prospective....I'd say three problems are going on:

- An awful lot of promises.....with a marginal record of achieving them.

- If you were a far-left voter.....you have two better options (Green Party or Linke Party).

- Every promise-project they make...has a price-tag attached, and demanding new taxation to accomplish the 'gift'....doesn't sell to the public anymore.

2.  What's with all the public pool chaos?

Simply a lot of male juveniles who are displaying bad-boy behavior, and making a 4-hour experience at the local pool a mess.

I won't say it's mostly migrant males, but the majority of the problem-kids fit into this pattern.

All of this leading to 'bouncers' being hired (in addition to life-guards)?  Yeah, that's the reaction.

3.  What's with the Mallorca public demonstrations, and 'Germans-out' stuff?

Since the 1960s...a lot of Germans have shown up on the Spanish isle....to operate clubs, restaurants, and bars.  So they were successful......and bought properties.

We've reached a point on the isle where affordable housing doesn't exist, and the 'too-successful-syndrome' has settled in.  

Politically?  It's at a boiling point....where some reaction will occur....to limit German residency, and trigger a mass exodus of Germans (my prediction within six to eight years).

4.  Was the German gov't under-spending on the military requirements throughout the Merkel-era?

Briefly....yes.  Most attribute  this to the attitude that the 'cold-war' was over....Germany was unified, and the Russian-German relationship was on solid ground.  So funding that might have gone to the military....went to infrastructure instead.

Times change....evolution occurs, and they've pretty much doubled-up the military budget.

5. Could a no-status migrant live 20-odd years in Germany?

With zero-status?  No.  What you see occurring in the US....would be awful hard to reproduce in Germany.

6 July 2025: German News Stories

 1.  Focus report from Saturday.....a Swiss swimming pool announced this plast week....tougher measures on public pool entry....non-Swiss residents....no entry until the very end of August.  Region of Porrentruy.

If you are Swiss, or residing/working....entry is still possible...same with tourists.

Trigger?  Well....French young males....misbehaved in the local pool.

2.  The big Berlin 31 December ZDF New Year's show?  Cancelled.  Locals did not get the cash funding from the city, and ZDF could not up it's funding.  

No comment by ZDF yet....they will probably go and find a alternate city to run some type of show (maybe in Mainz?).

3.  This week...the question came up with the Education Minister (Prien)...should the proportion of children with a migrant background in school classes be limited?

Prien suggested that there has to be a upper limit and it's "conceivable." 

The Commissioner for Integration argued it's not possible. 

The teachers' association would have a voice in the matter....but mostly say they are is skeptical of any change.

How you'd reach a limit and then side-track 50-odd kids in some school structure....sending them 10 to 20 km away to 'balance' things out?

One gets the impression that since 2014....no one (within city, state, or federal) ever thought the whole migration 'game' completely through, and that in some communities....you'd have a crazy mess on your hands.

This brings up a story my wife told from six years ago....a co-worker who had a grand-kid entering the first grade, and on day one...came to find of the 25 kids in the group....2 were German (her kid was one) and 23 non-German kids who barely spoke German.  The parents tried to get a change done....but the school had zero options.  In the grandmother's mind....the whole first year of school for that kid...was a colossal failure.

4.  The German Federal Transport Minister (Schnieder) has come out against 0.0 per mille alcohol limit and establishing a autobahn speed limit.

This speed limit discussion comes up yearly, and most folks think that sooner or later....the EU will walk into this and mandate something.

5.  Nitrous oxide, popular at German parties....is about to be made illegal to buy privately.

6.  I ended up last night at a orchestra-show in Wiesbaden....featuring movie tunes. At the mid-way pause....I bought a .2-liter (6  oz) Coke....in the glass bottle....price?  Five Euro....yeah, awful expensive.

Did Drone Warfare Change Military Strategy Forever?

 I've probably watched over 400 hours of warfare video over the past 3 years...from the Ukraine-Russia war.  So I've come to this belief.

Once you can build a $300 drone with superior capabilities, and launch against a squad of five guys in a fox-hole....marginally hidden in a wooded area, and drop a grenade in their midst....killing two and severely wounding three....an odd thing typically happens.  In the old days...they would have radioed for help, and an hour or two later....medics and a rescue team would have arrived.  But in this modern era....there's other drones watching/waiting....to kill them as well.  So no one comes, and unless the wounded get up to walk out.....they will probably die there over the next 24 hours.

Drone used to attack fuel-trucks/tankers?  That creates new problems....where tanks and heavy armor can't provide protection to forward units.

Drone-recon....taking out bridges?  If you halt logistics....so they can't take trucks or trains toward the front....then the supplies are cut, and units are left with the daily ration of ten bullets to survive, and limited food.

Russia not grasping this?  That's the weird part of the story.  They seem to have leadership handcuffed to a 1970s-type of mentality....that warfare is stationary and never improves.  

Swarm tactics?  I could see a heavy-lift 'drop' where you parachute a tractor-trailer load of drones into a region with 120 'armed' drones and launch at your own timing....against various targets.

Setting up  'seek-and-destroy' drones to go after helicopters?  You could have forty-odd drones sitting a pause situation, and launch on their own when a chopper enters a 'protected' area.

Bold new era approaching....drone-warfare is here to stay.