7 May 2026: Germany: 9 Things

 1.  New German military questionnaire is mandated for a response.  So, the Bundeswehr said yesterday....roughly 25-percent of young men are NOT responding.

From the group  that did respond....around half of them said they were agreeable to a boot-camp situation, and six months of 'duty'.  Bundeswehr added...just because they said they were agreeable....doesn't mean they'd sign up.

Those who did not respond?  Well...the Army says they will be threatened with a fine.  

2.  It's been around 2 years since Germany legalized weed/cannabis.   Some folks are beginning to comment....nothing much has changed...meaning that illegal weed sales is still being conducted.  

3.  Read a Focus business article....for you to retire in Germany and be 'middle-class'....pension level has to be 1850 Euro a month.

4.  Odd Lufthansa story from yesterday....they are reviewing options for long-haul flights...if jet-fuel shortages exist.

One idea  being floated....having  a stop-over (probably in the stan-republics or Russia)....to fuel up for Asia trips.  

You'd be adding two to three hours to the trip.  

5.  Economics Minister....Katherina Reiche....wants to overturn the ban on oil and gas heating starting in 2045. 

Drafted up currently.  Chancellor Merz says this idea is “open.” 

SPD support?  I'd give it a 10-percent chance at best.....climate target is their focus.

The agenda is to force everyone down a heat-pump 'path'.

6.  New poll for Sachsen-Anhalt state election (in four months):

AfD at 41-percent.  CDU at 26-percent.  

Greens at 4-percent (not enough for seats).  SPD at 7-percent.  Linke at 12-percent.

Meaning?  AfD, if they stay at 41-percent...can't build a coaltion....the CDU could in theory partner with SPD and Linke to have a 50-plus-percent coalition.

HOWEVER, in the next four months...if AfD reaches 45-percent...it'll be fairly close to a NO-coalition situation.....one party gov't at that point.

7.   Lot more chatter on this Hantavirus.  It apparently has a 2-to-21 day incubation period. Presents initially as flu.

8. I watched about 15 minutes of public forum show....Maischberger....last night...via Channel 1.

Climate change talk....guest wanted to turn German citizens into CO₂ traders....where you had good numbers/bad numbers....and you would figure into certificate trading.

Pretty sure that 90-percent of society would not buy into this idea.

9. Carsten Linnemann, General Secretary of the CDU Party, gave a talk yesterday....suggesting that 50,000 card-carrying CDU members....might exit from the party.

Hondius Story

 For about 36 hours, I've been following this hantavirus story.

Basic facts....it's a small passenger vessel that is Dutch-flagged...named 'Hondius'.  They've had a outbreak on it of hantavius (likely got it from Argentina when it last docked).  

149 guests were onboard....three dead from the virus so far.

What the medical folks say....the virus is mostly spread by rodents/mice...not by human-contact.  Well....there's some discussion that 'maybe' it evolved and goes person-to-person.

Dynamics?  Death-rate is figured between 1-percent and 15-percent....but your  fragile health situation might increase your odds.  Based on reporting....the three dead were older folks.

So the folks surviving....would like to get off, and they are nearing the Canary Islands....so there is this request to dock. The Premier-President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, says 'no-way'...opposing the plan of the Spanish central government and the World Health Organization (WHO). 

Forcing the PM (Sanchez) into a corner?  I expect some medical authorities to fly in and take charge...letting the vessel to dock, but holding passengers for a few days until they sort out the mess.

Quarantining passengers?  Yeah....there's that option.

If they find it has progressed to human-to-human contact?  Docking is going to be a tough discussion.

Ghost Story

 I will occasionally pick up some Brit news pieces.  This AM....I got to one oddball story.  The Daily Star says...something to the effect...they found a paranormal 'expert' who claims the UK is running out of ghosts.  Reason?  Well...they say ghosts are dying off.

The problem with some story like this....a hundred Brits will read it....with forty folks getting chatty at the local pub tonight...about ghosts dying off.  

Bartender will get into this...asking HOW the ghost die off....with this conversation going on for three hours.

Someone will eventually suggest we need fresh new ghosts...out of thin air.

Then someone will suggest....can't we get AI to interface, and provide fake-ghosts?

The reality?  They've run out of Prince Harry or King Charles bogus stories to discuss.

Two Odd Stories

 1.  Is Israel about to provide jet-fuel to Germany?

Yes.....5 May agreement.  Israeli Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced that Israel will transfer surplus jet fuel to Germany (Berlin’s request). 

Necessity?  Well....this follows the ongoing crisis in the Strait of Hormuz (blocked by Iran since late February.

Israel confirmed it has enough surplus from its refineries to begin shipments.  What's left out of the story...is the amount.

Shocker?  This move was coordinated quickly and publicly.

Natural gas talked about? Yes....they've got plenty to export.  

2.  At some point (July-August)....the Pentagon's UFO files are directed to be released.  Lot of speculation building up.

I'll  go ahead and predict that zero German belief...if the files suggest crashes, recoveries, or alien visitations.  

You could bring the alien on ARD, do a 6-hour interview with the guy, and roughly 99-percent of German society would suggest 'deep-fake' BS.

6 May 2026: Germany: 8Things

 1.  Timmy-the-whale-update:  Argument brewing....some pro-Timmy folks now believe that data-tracking/status stuff....is bluffing, and that Timmy is dead.

Proof?  Not much to really ponder upon.  If you ask me....leaving Timmy in that German coastal  area....you would have seen Timmy dead sooner or later.

2.  Biontech, the Mainz company that made the Covid vaccine.....is in serious financial woes. 

3. Poll done....ONLY 11-percent of Germans are satisfied over the CDU-CSU-SPD coalition.  Done by RTL/N-TV.

Another recent poll centered on around 60-percent of Germans wanting new election.

My advice....just stick with the present crew....unless you really wanted maximum turmoil/craziness.

4. About that Leipzig car-attack....if you read through twenty-odd news groups....you come to three odd factors.

First, that car-ramming attacker....apparently did admit himself to a psychiatric ward....on his own. In this process....I'll note that he was married and had a kid.

Second, somewhere along a couple of days in the clinic...the management/psychiatrists apparently decided that this guy was too violent/aggressive to be in their facility....so they put him out on the street.

Third, he was dismissed Sunday....Monday comes.....where he rammed the car through a crowd in Leipzig’s city center at 80 km/h.

Out of the 410-odd psychiatric clinics that exist in Germany....you can't really find data to suggest what number handle violent folks...I'm guessing  less than 5-percent.

5.  Explaining Romania?  Summer of 2025...election came up and a pro-EU party 'won'....but they had to form a 4-party coalition to gain power (getting 50-plus percent of seats).  I'll just say it.....this was a weak/marginalized coalition.  Ten months later....because of economic woes...one of the parties walk out....ending the coalition, and forcing a new election. Just being pro-EU was not enough.

6.  Poll done by INSA....suggesting how Germans feel about the next coalition.  So around  26-percent of Germans want a CDU-CSU-AfD coalition.  23-percent want a CDU-CSU-SPD coalition (what exists today).  24-percent want a Green-SPD-Linke coalition (all left).  Then you have the 4th option....27-percent who really give a damn.     

Yeah...the 4th group is ahead of the other three.

7.  Another poll done....says 55-percent of  Germans expect a premature end to the current CDU-CSU-SPD coalition.....meaning more than half the voters feel this way.

8. Vileck mayor talking over exit of the 5,000 US troops from local area....millions in income....to dissolve.

What Percentage Of Germans Worry About Artificial Intelligence ('KI' in German)?

A insurance company asked this in mid-2025, publishing the results in their annual  R+V “Ängste der Deutschen 2025” survey....concluding it was near 32-percent...who 'feared' KI.

For a number of months, it's been on my mind....one out of three....with fear.

Why?

Well....I think a fair number got this 'panic' via public TV and mass media.  If you went to details....most probably have the fear that their jobs are in jeopardy....because of KI.

I asked my German wife over this...her company has been talking KI for five years now....swearing up and down that it was 'coming'.  So far....the performance level in tests? They've been crap. It is getting smarter....but the wife says at the pace of things, it might be twenty years before the humans are dismissed.

The day when I really start to worry? It's probably when ARD or ZDF (the public TV networks)....dismiss the live performance newscast each night....letting KI take over and give the nightly news.

What Is The App W Social?

 W Social (also called W or wsocial.eu) is a new European social media platform.  It's supposed to be a 'clean'/'pure' alternative to platforms like X (Twitter). 

Initially talked about...January 2026...at the World Economic Forum in Davos and is supposed to start a launch in the next couple of days here in Europe.

Design?  Well...it's supposed to be VERIFIED humans only....NO bots.  Every single user must verify their identity with government ID.  Biometric data? To be processed via server-side and deleted immediately afterward....leaving only a code, passport country and year of birth.

Who will use it?  My belief is a fair number of politicians, journalists,  and intellectuals.

Trying to compare to numbers at F-Book or X?  No....even at the one-year point....I'll predict they have maybe 10-percent of the numbers.

Selling to the public?  Over  and over....the term 'verified' will be uttered.  Eventually, the EU will demand that F-Book and the rest....must also be verified.

Just four Political Observations Over Germany

 1.  I think that Merkel (without really planning it)....brought the CDU Party to a totally neutral point....where they are mostly a 'partner' of the SPD Party. The conservative 'label' is long gone.

Not a plus or minus....just something you have to contend with, at this point.

2. If you were to discount Chancellor Merz, and seek out some new 'filler'....with the broad requirement being financial/economic 'mechanic'....there's no one really existing in that category.

3.Personal opinion....a majority of Germans are eyeballing rich Germans....saying they got too much wealth, and we got to take more of that away.

After they accomplish this....if the economy still seems crappy, what's the next invention to resolve problems?

4. Within ten years....German healthcare will be so expensive....that the gov't arranges some procedures in India, Vietnam and Thailand....flying Germans there...for inexpensive care.