My Thoughts: US Exiting NATO

 First.....remembering this is a Trump era....I'd write this as a 'show'.

I'd list NATO bases....just saying we are going to achieve zero-carbon on each  installation, with one exception.  

I'd keep around one single 3-star general, with a staff of 1,000 to 1,200...either in Stuttgart, Wiesbaden or Ramstein.

Then I'd talk about participation in exercises in Europe....but limit it to just five or six countries.  I wouldn't waste effort with the UK or Spain.

I'd hype up the zero-carbon thing....saying how it was a positive thing.

I'd tell NATO....if they ever were attacked by Russia....we'd send 'something' but I wouldn't really say what.

I'd take all those assets in Europe and transfer them to the Pacific....beefing up where I'd anticipate the next war.

Diego Garcia?  I'd convince locals to break the UK contract, and sign up a deal with us.

I'd write up a new special medal.....Cold War II....starting 27 December 1991, to today.  I'd give every GI on duty in Europe.....a 3-day pass for achieving 'peace'.

I'd go and meet with Putin and let him know.....those EU folks are crazy enough to buy your natural gas/oil.....to help you rebuild your military over the next ten years.   Don't goof this....would be my key advice to him.

NATO....script-wise....has achieved Star Wars success....nothing left to tell (of a story). 

The Word 'Übrigens'

 It's not a common word that you hear.....loosely translated....the meaning is 'by-the-way'.  Germans will use it to start a sentence....to say something 'extra' about the situation or problem..

Germany/Syrians

 I looked up the numbers for Syrians residing in Germany....on a deportation order.  At the end of 2025....there were in the 10,500 range.

Of this number....around 900 are on a 'tolerance' situation.  Of the remaining....it's mostly due to practical barriers, ongoing procedures, or humanitarian reasons.  

So if you use the 1.2-million total....roughly 99-percent are not on a deportation list.

From my German language class era....I had several conversations with Syrians.  I found most to be educated....enthusiastic about Germany...and not that hyped-up over religion.  

Oddly....the only ones with a serious desire to return to Syria....it's mostly those over age 50.  From age 30 and down....virtually no one seemed interested in ever returning to Syria.  This was the crowd actively seeking jobs....getting certified in skills, and getting a driver's license.

I'll be blunt....maybe the deport-folks will all be gone by the end of 2026...but I doubt that you see more than 50,000 leave by 2030 (total).

31 Mar 2026: Germany: 10 Things

 1.  Merz met yesterday with Syrian President.   Agreement.....over 4 years....around 800k of the 1.2-million Syrians in Germany to 'return' home.

Up front....if you were Syrian and on a deportation list....you go shortly (at least that's the Merz understanding).

If you asked me....of the 1.2-million, roughly half have solid jobs, and marginal interest in returning.  So I'm not buying into the 800k number.

Also of interest....Greens/SPD went highly negative on this announcement.

2.  Digital rape/violence case in Spain against Ulman?  Dumped....by Spanish prosecutor. German case is the only avenue possible at this point.

Odd way of wording by the Spanish prosecutor....couldn't find a competent standing....even though it occurred in his/her local district. 

3. Center of Hamburg....cops called.....local gal bit (in the face) by wolf.  Cops cornered the wolf.....malnourished and thin.  Being fed now, and will be released into a wooded area later.

4.  Spain has now blocked US military aircraft from its airspace and denied access to the Rota and Morón bases over the Iran conflict.

So....I'll just predict....about a  month or two after Iran's mess is settled....the two bases are permanently vacated by the US....declared of no use.   Probably the beginning of several US installations 'gone'.

5.  N-TV ran a German grid story.....bottlenecks are a serious issue now.....grid is apparently a decade behind on infrastructure renovation.

6. Couple of European countries having a gas-shortage....limiting customers to 30 liters of fuel per day.  Hasn't  been brought up in Germany...yet.

7. The Green Environment Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate praises "swarm power plants" in the Rhine as a solution to the energy transition problem.

Basically....you'd anchor these and as the river moved.....blades on the swarms would turn  to generate power.

Key issue?  Well.....you'd need a massive swarm of these units to get any real production.

8.  14-year-old German kid stabbed in front of his school in Hamburg Flottbek. 

9. German inflation jumped in March to 2.7-percent from 1.9-percent previously.

10.  From Sunday night....the ARD public forum-talk show "Caren Miosga"..... achieved the lowest ratings since September 1, 2025.

Topic for the show?   Collien Fernandes.

Approximately 2.21 million viewers watched the episode, in which Fernandes gave a talk of her accusations against her ex-husband Christian Ulmen.

Among the total audience, the market share of the current Miosga episode was 10.8 and almost 20 percentage points lower than that of the previous show...."Polizeiruf 110." Among 14- to 49-year-olds, only 330,000 Germans watched the show.

To be honest....I spent the evening watching 'Lets Dance' and as it concluded....went to a cooking show.  So I can't comment on the effect of the show.  

30 Mar 2026: Germany: 3 Things

 1.  I'll just say it....from a non-German prospective...this Ulmen-Fernandes situation/scandal/exposition/affair....over a two week period....seems to be in a hype-up media (news) 'bubble'.

I suspect if you drag this up with a hundred working-class Germans....roughly 50 to 60 of them can't really explain the nature of the situation,  And if you did package this into a 45-minute news-docu-type deal to explain the fourteen-odd details of the situation....they'd lose interest after eight minutes.

2. For about ten days, we've had this whale-problem in the Baltic Sea region of Germany.  

The whale originally got so near up on the beach....that  he lodged himself on a sandbar, and was 'stuck' (he couldn't wiggle out).

Germans....naturally good rescue folks....decided they could help him.  A crew of  characters....some science folks and some engineer types....got a vessel to dig around the sandbar and eventually got him 'loose'.  So they thought....now, he'll swim off to safety.

Well...for a brief period....maybe eight to  twelve hours, he lingered around and got sand-barred again. 

Again,  they pushed him out.

They've noted yesterday....he just ain't progressing out to sea. 

Oddly, they haven't named him (something Germans do when they are hard-wired to linger on the animal). 

3.  Germany has a Construction Ministry.  Over the weekend...the minister in charge suggested that at the federal level...they should be become a 'developer' (buying, designing,  and  hiring up construction teams to build the houses/apartment buildings).

On paper, it sounds like a marvelous idea.

The history of local, state and federal type projects?  Pretty dismal.

Q-and-A: German Public TV

 1.  Monthly cost presently?  18.36 Euro a month....doesn't matter how many TVs or radios you have in the house.

2.   Locations of Channel 1 (ARD) and Channel 2 (ZDF)?  ARD  - Hamburg.  ZDF - Mainz.

3.  Is there any real difference on news content?  Personal opinion....if you watch both....it's about sixty-percent of the same stuff....told slightly different. 

4. How many Germans watch ARD prime news (8 PM) on average?  Around 9.5-million....out of 84-million residents.

5.  Are there Germans who go out of their way NOT to watch ARD or ZDF?  Curiously, this topic has been studied....around 5-to-5.5-million are dedicated to watch no programming whatsoever. 

6.  Does ARD or ZDF have an 'edge' over the other?  Oddly....data suggests a 2-percent edge to more ZDF viewers....over ARD viewers.  Reason?  ZDF has a fair amount of soap-opera cop shows and  mountain-doctor-clinic shows around 6 PM to 8:15 PM, and older viewers are more consumed to watch this.

Forced To Travel

 The wife wants a week in Berlin for end of April.  So....ok....I did the price comparison to get there.

1st-class ICE train....there and back....880 Euro for two.  My trust in ICE getting me  there and back with NO issues?  Near 10-percent.

2nd-class Lufthansa mid-afternoon tickets...380 Euro for two (round-trip)...flying out of Frankfurt. But they wanted 70 Euro per bag...per person (that was my only grumble).  

Each has a assigned risk factor.  

You have to get to the Frankfurt airport...on a Sunday.  My wife is anti-taxi, and normally anti-bus/tram.  Once there....you have to do the bag-drag....then pass security.

The railway there?  You have to assume the local train will 'work' but some screw-up on ICE will occur. The snack-wagon on ICE?  Crap. 

Lufthansa or Bahn strike?  Well...you factor in this problem as well.

If you rode the train into Berlin....then you have the broke escalator issue going on, and the crime scene at the station  to contend with (same or more so....for Frankfurt).

I told the wife....would be a lot simpler to fly into Egypt.

29 Mar 2026: Germany: 5 Things

 1.  Since day one of this Christian Ulmen/ e-wife Collien Fernandes 'affair'....if you start counting....there are probably over one-hundred odd factors.  No matter who is telling the story....they all tend to leave about 90-percent of these factors out. 

German prosecutor attempting to take a Spain case....back into Germany and bring  Ulmen into court?  Mostly a bluff  (at this point).

2.   Starting 1 Apr...Heavy smokers will be 'entitled' to a free annual lung cancer screening examination.

Active and former smokers aged 50 to 75 can undergo a low-dose computed tomography (NDCT) scan every 12 months. 

Free?  Well....it'll be covered by your standard German statutory health insurance.

My gut feeling....lot of folks are going to be given negative news over their future health condition.

3.  Also starting 1 Apr....the Federal Ministry of Transport launches a new funding program for electric vehicle charging stations in apartment buildings. 

Around 500 million euros are available to install wallboxes, grid connections, and other technical equipment. 

Now....will apartment building owners want to do this?  I suggest they will review hazard reports and increased insurance costs....with a majority declining the hook-up.

4.  A fire broke out overnight in Kehl, near the border with Strasbourg.  Around 3AM.....Disco/lounge...club with 750 partygoers was on fire.

Shocker?  Every single person made it out.