This Berlin 'Hack'?

 Well...to simplify the story....Berlin city authorities had this massive database with all residents, their names, addresses, billing information, etc.  It got hacked.....the crowd wanted to be paid.  Berlin refused.  The deadline came and went this past week.

If you were a resident....you can figure that over the next couple of years....unless you take active measures....some group is going to attempt to use your info in some way.

Around 20 years ago....I worked for a US company that had a hack, and for a year or two....they had a service provided for us....limited in nature....for such problems.  It was free.  Far as I know....no one ever attempted to use the data.

Folks affected?  Over a million Berliners.

Observations Over The Saxony-Anhalt Election

 First, fairly dramatic 'tone' from ZDF and ARD (the two public TV networks) last night.  Both had spent the whole last month on theme of the 'end-of-democracy' if AfD won.

Second, numbers-wise....AfD to run the state government....now requires a coalition. Well...the BSW Party secured a 5-percent situation....thus giving them 4 seats of the 83, and they have expressed a willing nature to partner-up.

BSW considered far-left?  Yeah.  AfD considered far-right?  Yeah.  So it's a situation which makes you think the labels given by the news media....might not fit as designed.

Will there be a AfD/BSW coalition?  I'd give it 50-50 odds....at least they will talk.

Third, polling?  I thought in the end....the polls done in the final two weeks were fairly accurate.

Fourth, a long-term problem now for the CDU Party (Merz and company)?  I'd suggest that they look fairly weak.

Fifth, why didn't the messaging of ARD/ZDF work to convince voters to oppose AfD?  I would suggest that somewhere in the range of 50-percent of residents of the state....don't watch public TV....at all.  So they missed the messaging, and only the viewership got the massive dose of anti-AfD.  Kinda funny in a way.

Sixth, now you have to wonder...if the AfD/BSW team is in place.....at the state level....can AfD resolve the migration crisis?  My view?  I think there's in the range of 4,770 'guests' in S-A....who are on a deportation list (numbers reported at end of 2025).  I suspect of this group....all will be getting a letter in 60-to-90 days....with a end-to-benefits situation (probably 1 January 2027 is my guess), and giving some impression that you'd best leave the state (likely inviting them to move to one of the remaining 15 states of Germany).  I also suspect a rule or two will be added...once you commit a crime as a 'guest'.....you automatically get a deport-ASAP order.  What this will attract as attention....other states will see the focus and probably copy some of the rules.  I don't see a massive get-the-foreigners out as being necessary....if you had a job and were paying taxes.

Seventh, it's just odd how the election 'brand' came down to 'saving-democracy', and no one really talking much over crime statistics, deportation woes, or crime clans/gangs.  The AfD's forty-plus-percent were pretty locked onto democracy being part of safety.  They didn't see either the SPD or CDU as bringing change to public safety.

Finally, to be honest....if you end up with a CDU-SPD-Greens-Linke-BSW coalition....it'll end up being weak and marginally effective. It hurts Merz in various ways.  If I were the CDU in this state....I'd pretend to make an effort, and 30 days later....say a coalition is not possible....making another state election by the end of November likely.

Next state election?  Thirteen days now....Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.  Last poll....a week ago...shows AfD at 35-percent....with the SPD at 32-percent.  CDU at 8-percent.  There might be a slight boost for AfD over two weeks...but I don't see them going past 38-percent.  So the SPD will get the nod to form a gov't after AfD fails.  If the CDU gets less than 5-percent?  There would be a massive negative trend, and be a major national problem.

At least the saving-democracy BS lessens for a while now. 

Saxony-Anhalt State Election Results

AfD: 44.5-percent.

CDU: 18.5-percent

SPD: 8.2-percent

Linke: 9.4-percent

Greens: 8.9-percent

BSW: 5-percent

Summing up the election (1.7-million potential voters in the state).  Presently, AfD would get 39 seats of the 83 total....requiring a coalition.

BSW?  Well....they have hinted of some cooperation deal, and would get 5 seats....so in a wild scenario.....you could have the AfD with BSW....running the state gov't.  If final numbers put BSW at 4.9 percent....NO seats.

CDU?  Well....major loss in numbers and it's going to be discussed a good bit.

If this goes to a AfD/BSW gov't?  One of the big topics will be public TV, and if the coalition tells the public TV folks....a end-date is approaching.  

Polls being accurate from a week ago?  I'd say they were about as close as reality.  BSW might be the only shocker.

All of the hype for TV/media....to vote against AfD?  Failed, and there probably is going to be a long discussion how people really closed off that 'mouth-piece'.

Defense Hot Topic?

If you read the BILD am Sonntag today....there's a fairly strong suggestion that Germany is planning a number of projects to bulk-up on defenses against drone attacks, cyber issues and sabotage.

Fear?  If you've watched ARD or ZDF public TV over the past month....almost every night....there's some big focus (in the first three or four minutes of the broadcast)...where there's trouble brewing, and stability is threatened.

I do agree...some of this is Russian-invented....some being a crazed German-environmentalist...some leading to hackers of a unknown 'land'.

This power-station stuff?  I think this worries folks the most.  Some nutcase could target a sub-station or two, and you'd discover that two or three days of down-time is to be expected.  It's not something that most Germans can handle. 

Fed funds laying around for investment purposes over this?  No....not really.  They'd have to find some project to cut on, or add more taxes.

This Hunt For The Sabotage Guy?

 Police 'think' they have a defined location for the power-sub-station sabotage guy.  Hambach Forest...NE of Aachen (about 20 km away).  I'd define the woods area....about 20 by 20 km.

No vehicle.  

This a big deal?  On a man-hunt scale....1-to-10....it's probably near a '9'.

Two Local (Wiesbaden) Projects Hyped-Up

 This past week....city hall folks (the various parties that run things) started talking about two things....one supported by the CDU and lesser parties....mostly opposed by the SPD.

So....project one....instead of a tram 'build'....they are now open to the idea of a monorail....which would run from the Ostfeld (new suburb near the Army Airfield) to the train-station.  

Project two?  The federal police folks want to establish a 'central-presence' (figured to be 5,000 jobs scattered around city presently in several locations).  Location of this project?  In the Ostfeld 'shadow'. 

The monorail?  It's mostly opposed because it doesn't tie into the current network and would be a oddity (as spoken by the SPD folks).  Cities in Germany with such?  Wuppertal, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, and Dresden.  Yeah....there's only a couple.  

Why go this path?  You can basically use the four-lane road leading from near the Army Airfield region of Ostfeld, to the mid-town....probably with six stops. Disrupting traffic while under construction?  That's probably a minor problem.  

If you were selling me on this monorail idea....I'd probably have three routes around the city. 

Weather Chatter Came Up This Week

It's interesting....some older Germans brought up the comparison of 2026 (heat-wave summer, drought, etc) and 1976 (known as the 'century-summer' (Jahrhundertsommer).

Cause of both?  The Jet Stream. This circulation pattern is known as the Omega Blocking Pattern. Basically, the area between Spain and Germany....got blocked....while Eastern Europe was cold. 

A single year, and likely not to repeat again (for at least a decade)?  Yeah.

Worth buying a 3,500 Euro AC-unit?  No.

Germans remembering 1976?  Very unlikely.

When I arrived in January 1978....a couple of the Germans in the shop conversed over 1976.  Older guys remembered a period like that in the 1950s....but noted it was NOT normal summer weather.

6 Sep 2026: Germany: 4 Stories

 1.  Sub-station sabotage guy?  Still on the run?  Yeah.

Police putting out photos....mid-40s guy.  No doubt with the cops....he's responsible for attempted 'hits' on two sub-stations.  Nothing to do with Putin's thugs, Nazis, or far-right-wing.

2.  Saxony-Anhalt election underway this AM.  Zero doubt that AfD Party will place near 40-percent....but not enough to run state gov't (no one will form a coalition with them).  The odd thing....this forces the CDU into a leadership role with a coalition.....with the partner of the Linke Party (far-left).  Fair number of CDU-voters will be shaking their heads. 

If you asked me over hurting the CDU 'image' nationally....this election/results....aren't that positive. 

3.  SPD Party wants 'solutions' to prevent closure of four VW factories.....not much to offer.

4.  Those two suspects for the arson attack in Munich?  Caught.....detained.