How German ZDF Public TV Came To Exist

 I'll tell the story like a bedtime story.

Once upon a time....WW II ended....some Germans gathered up in spring 1949, and wrote the Basic Law (the Constitution). Contained was article 5....which listed TV as a part of German rights.  

German TV was not to be covered by gov't funding....it was a fee (tax) that households would pay...covering the cost.

It was heavily interpreted from the start....TV was supposed to provide culture, education, news, and entertainment (to a lesser degree).  

The network created?  ARD...Channel 1...was to be based out of Hamburg.

Who would monitor the network?  Well...a group of sixty-odd folks....from all over the country, and marginally controlled by the gov't.  It's safe to say....by such a large group....they could really change or guide the network.

So in this fairytale....about a dozen years go by and there's woes in fairytale land. The conservative folks (CDU/CSU) have figured out that basing ARD out of Hamburg...means a left-leaning group mostly runs ARD public forum shows, and the nightly news.  

So the CDU/CSU cooked up this plan in the early 1960s....they'd create a 2nd network....basing it out of Mainz, and it'd have a right-leaning group of journalists. Funding poured in....buildings were acquired, and almost immediately. the lawyers for ARD stepped up....saying the Basic Law prevented a 2nd network.  The court stepped up and agreed....the Basic Law says only one TV empire can exist.

Rather than collapse Channel 2 (the obvious answer)....ARD took control, and 'guided' them.

Instead of having one single left-leaning network....over a period of ten to twenty years...Channel 2 (ZDF) also leaned left.

As RTL arrived in 1984....ARD went back to the court and tried to halt them....saying ONLY one single network could operate in Germany.  Commercial TV was supposed to be prevented.

The court eventually said 'no'.....nothing prevented commercial TV.

The general perception today? If you polled most 18-to-40 year old folks....more than half would say they marginally watch ARD or ZDF....that the monthly tax-fee (around 18 Euro) should be cut, and that some major reform is needed.

Oddly, if the gov't had screwed up in the early 60s....adding ZDF....you'd only have ARD today to mess with.

As for some ending to the fairytale?  Well...no, it just continues on.

Conclusion of Summer?

 This AM....German weather gave a odd 'ending' to the 2026 heat-wave 'mess'.

So prepare....in approximately 10 days (figure between the 16th and 20th of August)....the heat (literally anything above 30 C / 86 F) officially ends.

What remains for the next 30 days after that?  Unseasonable low temperatures (figure 22 C or less for the most part), a fair amount of rain, and a fair amount of cloud cover.  If you had solar panels....it's not a happy feeling.

The 2026 heat-wave?  Well....I'd say....all total....there were about 20 total days (figuring this coming Sunday/Monday to hit 34 C) for the year being ultra HOT.  Basically four waves....the worst being ten days straight of heat.

Folks hyped-up to buy AC units?  News folks claim that AC technicians have a ton of work lined up, and will be busy through October installing new units.

The drought side?  Yeah....it's probably the most intense drought period across all of Germany....in thirty-odd years.  In my valley....the last real massive rain....was the end of March.  Since late April....there's been around four light rainfalls....never really amounting to much.  The grass?  Absolutely dead.

My Humble Thoughts Over The Halle Airport Drone 'Threat'

 First, if this were FSB/KGB (the Russians)....they wouldn't have screwed up and failed on two drone 'threats'.

Second, it was around midnight when the drones were 'sent-in'.  It seems like....whoever was the pilot....didn't readily know the layout of the airport.

Third, it could have just as well....been some local 18-year-old German kid who did it as a 'joke'.

Fourth....so far.....the make, model, brand of the drone....have been kept quiet....which is odd.

Fifth, the C-4 explosive?  No data yet on that....which is odd.

7 August 2026: Germany: 7 Things

 1. This halted drone attack at the Halle Airport?  Well....two aspects laid out yesterday.  First....the guy who spotted it....a bus-driver for a tour group....saw it land on the ground (no reason given)....got out....stomped on it to disable it.  Cops came about 10-to-15 minutes later....to find it was 'armed' with an explosive.

Second thing....the Interior Ministry is NOT convinced it was the Russians.  This has confused the public TV journalists a good bit.  I'll just say....there's probably six or more groups I would be eyeballing, and the Russians are on the list....but so are the Iranians, the CIA guys, private Ukrainians with a agenda, and Ukrainian gov't guys.

2.  France.  About those fires.  Well...the authorities now say that they've arrested 402 individuals who were trying to start fires....roughly 150 of them....were juveniles.  

3.  FIFA boss (Gianni Infantino) says he is not considering stepping down. Crisis meeting wrapped up yesterday.....he intends to stay until forced out.

4.  Study of effect done....if the food VAT (tax) is raised to normal VAT levels (19-percent)....for a family of four....it means around 1,200 to 1,400 Euro a year MORE.  Public really not agreeing much with the VAT change.

5.  Morocco has said now....they will NOT accept back the juveniles in Ceuta (the Spanish enclave). 

6.  Lot of discussion going on....to pick the next German President (after Steinmeier leaves office in January).  Two hypes.....one that it should be open to non-political folks (unlikely to occur).  The other being that it MUST be a woman.

My suggestion....get a transwoman up for the job.

7.  Jason Arday....the Cambridge sociology of education professor.....having resigned a day or two ago....over plagiarism allegations in his academic work is fully 'gone'.

The college now says that they will have a investigation to figure out how they screwed-up.

I see 3 problems.....first, if you open up to this issue....there is a pretty good chance that a 2nd and 3rd idiot-professor also exists....so everyone needs a review.

Second thing, if you had folks who took two or three of his classes....do they still get 'credits'?

Finally, do you sue to recover 'pay'?  (I should add....I do wonder what the guy will do for a job in the future....flipping burgers or driving a bus?)

I watched yesterday....about 15 minutes of a clip over his professor-talk.  I wasn't that impressed, and about 60-percent of it....was pure BS.  But it started to make me think....across the US, there's probably 5,000 instructors of this type...dumbass types with a PhD that was fake-work.  They aren't really teaching anything....just BSing folks to a level of thinking they know something.

My Humble Advice On Long-Term Travel Via The Bahn (Railway of Germany)

 1. Load the Bahn app on your smart-phone....it'll provide updates if  'crap'  occurs.

2.  Always be ready for a plan 'B'  situation....meaning a overnight in cow-town.

3.  AC on the ICE trains (high-speed rail)....is marginal. If above 35 C....it won't be effective.

4.  Reserve seats when possible.

5.  If you get stuck in some city....waiting five hours for the next leg of the trip....don't go loitering around the train station.

6.  Keep a couple of coins on you....for station toilets.

7.  On ICE trains....it's 100-percent chance of a ticket-audit.

8.  Accept the fact  that the Bahn is 'on-time'....about 65-percent of the time....so you have hefty odds of missing a train in your 3-leg trip.

9.  In a station like Frankfurt....there's forty-odd junkie/nutcases wandering around....be aware of that.

10. Don't travel via rail...if you know of a winter-storm, or a massive rainfall period. 

6 August 2026: Germany: 5 Things

 1.  The Leipzig drone 'attack'?  Tuesday night....around midnight....some Halle Airport employee (probably a tug-guy/logistics-guy....noted a drone and 'brought it' down.  He calls airport security.  Cops arrive within minutes....then they note explosives on it.  Yeah...kinda freaks out folks.

Security is bumped up....within 15 min....another drone detected and brought down...same deal.

Blame?  Well...this is a airport which handles Ukraine re-supply efforts.  So the Russians are believed to be behind the business.

Interior Ministry hyped-up over this, and I would imagine surveillance is maxed-out.

2.  In the past week....there's a public letter signed by 1,000 lawyers/judges in Germany....stating a effort to oppose the AfD Party.

The problem in this?  Well....in the future (even 10 years down the road)....if a prosecutor comes up to challenge AfD 'players' in court over anything....if his/her name was on the letter....they can be challenged in court and dismissed.  

How they got so far and thought the letter was super-smart to sign?  Unknown.

3.  There's talk of deleting the reduced rate of VAT (sales tax, currently at 19-percent) for food.  This would mean all items....including grocery items....would be taxed at the normal rate of 19-percent.  Public support questionable.

4.  Linke Party group in the Berlin-City election....says that if building a partnership with the SPD or Greens.....they would have to accept the idea of expropriation.

This means the new city gov't would go and 'grab' apartment buildings....paying off the losing organization with city/state-cash.

This topic has come up a fair bit over the past decade....the problem is....where the cash comes from, and the significant amount required just for a building (or two).

The 'Kids'

I sat and read over this AM story....Spain's Ceuta (the enclave in Morocco).....say they will seek transfer of over 1,000 "unaccompanied migrant minors," to mainland Spain. 

The 'minors' gimmick....the 'kid' showed up....probably lacking a ID....convincing the gov't guy that they were juvenile in nature.  True or not.....not really a item to discuss.

A 2025 reform to Spain's immigration law says unaccompanied minors must be redistributed from overstretched territories within 15 days ​of their case file completion....so there is no choice.

Will the towns/cities accept the 'kid'?  They have little choice.  Will the 'kid' stay there?  I've of the mind....I'd probably have a 'go-to' list....places with better deals (yeah, like Germany).

This Ceuta deal becoming a bigger 'mess'?  You start to wonder about that.

Russia Planned Attack

The newspaper....Die Zeit....reported today....that German intelligence services halted a Russian assassination plot on Stefan Thumann the CEO of Donaustahl....one of the bigger drone manufacturing companies......helping Ukraine with vast amounts of drones.

Region?  Bavaria.