Three Observations

 1.  Assaults' on the Bahn for first-half of 2026?

Statistics released yesterday....989 'events' so far in the first half....which freaks out the public, and the railway employees.

If the trend continues....there's likely to be a evolving situation.  

I noted last night....railway employees are now testing/using facial recognition cameras.   So if you triggered an  event....the picture is going direct to some center, and you probably have zero chance in just walking away.

2.  New German law coming into effect over money-laundering.  Once they establish you are participating, and you happen to have property, at 40k Euro watch, or some 150k Euro Porsche.....the law makes it pretty simple in confiscate of everything you 'own'.

3.  Bahn 'bonus' program for upper-level employees...now under a threat?

Gov't is opening up a draft law.....where if they can't improve their on-time situation....there's no yearly bonus.

Politically.....everyone seems to support it.

11 August 2026: Germany: 5 Things

 1.  Duren (NW Germany)....Sunday night....around 20 guys met up as two groups, and a brawl started up on the street.  Bats, hammers, sticks, etc.  Couple of folks carried off in a ambulance.  Discussion topic?  Police don't say.

2.  SPD Party disenchantment over leadership 'duo': Bas and Klingbeil.

Way things are developing....there's to be a extra party meeting in the next two months....probably some type of new leadership deal....probably just one person instead of a duo.

3.  Disagreement in Saxony-Anhalt.....apparently....billions of state welfare money (citizens benefit)....going to non-Germans.  Becoming a election topic.

4.  Concert in Frankfurt....Boy George attending (rock-star from 90s).  Some kind of sound problems....reaches a point where Boy George leaves the stage in anger.

5. Just a weird story that has not concluded yet.

Back in Feb....there was this dismembered male corpse was found in an industrial park in Hessen (my state).

Cops came to believe (still today) that this dead guy was in some type of satanic ritual.

I'll just say there's a lot of weird crap in Germany....but these type of rituals are awful rare.

So....the public prosecutor's office has requested that the body be placed in secure custody, as the perpetrator/killer/assistant is believed to have been legally insane/crazy at the time of the crime.

Classification?  Well....murder at the present time.

The Darmstadt prosecutor's office has filed a holding application for the preventive detention of a 40-year-old suspect.

Oddly, the person in question....is a prostitute.

What's likely to happen?  Well...if she is crazy-crazy....she'll just go off to a secure psychiatric clinic....for the remainder of her life.  The body will be buried, and the case closed.

My question....being near age 40....I'm wondering if she was active for the past 20 years, and if there's a dozen other guys....used for some type of satanic ritual BS. (Best not to discuss stuff like this with Germans....it'd freak them out)

A Day In Wiesbaden

 I did a public bus 'run' today....into Wiesbaden, and over to the Army post.  Observations:

1.  Back-to-school day.  You get to observe the attire/dress trends.  

So....about 10-percent of the 12/13/14-year old German girls have fake eyelashes, and thick lipstick (fire-engine red).  Hair color trend?  Probably 10-percent went to florescent red/orange over the summer.  I probably noted 30 young ladies in slut-attire (I wouldn't let them leave the house dressed like this).

2.  Virtually everywhere you....water pipe renovation going on....both in the shopping district and along the route to the post.

3.  Robo-mowers set up on the outer boundaries of the Army post.  Three of them running....no human around.  Oddly....mowing 100-percent dead grass (since early July).  I would assume some guy sets them up and comes back three hours later...moving onto the next patch.  

4.  Bus/train audits?  Odd....on the six rides I had today.....I was ticket-audit-checked by six folks.  Statistically?  In one day....I usually might be hit once in twenty trips.  Just odd.

5.  Max in the city at 34 C (93 F).  Germans 'dying' all over the place from the heat-wave. 

Well.....NO.....lot of folks sipping water/ice coffee. 

6.  All time record of ice cream shops along the shopping district.  From end-to-end....probably 14 of the shops set up.  Twice of what you'd observe in 2010.

7.  Finally, AC-wise for bus travel....is crap.  You can probably sit and ride for about 20 minutes....before the heat gets to you (noon-time), and you have to exit the bus.

Highest Ranking Nazi From The War....Never Found?

 Heinrich Müller, the chief of the Gestapo (SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Polizei).

Never found....never confirmed dead.

Last seen?  Well....based on historians and facts accepted....in the Führerbunker in Berlin on May 1, 1945, the day before Adolf Hitler's suicide.

From that point, Müller vanished.

Did he make it out of the city? Zero evidence.

Did he escape off to Argentina?   Again, zero evidence.

Did the Russians get him?  Zero evidence.

If I were to make a personal guess?  I think he walked out of the bunker sometime that evening (1 May),  and somewhere in mix of things....got shot either by German troops or advancing Soviet troops....while wearing civilian clothing, and later just buried in some mass situation.  

Could he have had fake ID?  He's one of those folks who probably had easy access, and plenty of time in the three months prior to Hitler's suicide to plan an exit. 

Captagon: The Drug?

Before the Syrian civil war....it was nearly non-existent as a street-drug in Germany.  Since then....it's moved up.  The German police suggest that it's still not a top-five drug.

Effects on a user?  Increased alertness, increased 'fake' energy, higher concentration, and giving you the feeling of vast physical stamina.  There's also euphoria, reduced appetite, reduced need for sleep or food/water.  A guy on regular use....eats less and looses weight.  They will say that five hours of sleep are 'enough'.  Oddly, there's usually reduced fear, reduced pain sensitivity, or marginal empathy.  

In short....if you were on some agenda or 'holy-war' mentality....this would be the drug to get you through the 'mess'.

So if you were in some German market-place, and some nutcase seems to be waving a frying-pan, or knife around....without fear of the police shooting him....he's probably on Captagon.  Taking the guy down yourself?  He's got some energy stamina that is way more than what a ordinary guy can offer....so you better figure two folks minimum required for this nutcase.

Oktoberfest Planning?

This would typically be the point where you start to plan/consider...a trip to Oktoberfest.

On going to Oktoberfest?  I've been there twice in my life (1979 and 2018).  My advice.

- After about 10 hours of walking around....consuming a fair amount of beer (in 1-liter glasses)....probably three max.....you probably will peak on enthusiasm, leaving the next day.  Yes....you ought to arrive on a Monday afternoon....spend Tuesday on the 'thrill', and use Wednesday as a recovery day....going home on Thursday. 

- It's worth 20 minutes to walk over by the med-tent by the hill, and observe in mid-afternoon at least 200 folks too boozed-up and sleeping-off (probably 2-to-4 hours) their problem.  In 1979, it was a ratio of 20 guys to one German woman.  In 2018, it was probably seven guys to each drunk German woman.  I'll just say....the big difference between 1979 and 2018....half the med-tent 'players' are probably non-German today.  This is not my opinion.....simply what Germans themselves believe.   

- In 1979, you never noticed tent-security or police.....in 2018, you constantly noticed tent-security and police.  It's pretty easy for bouncers to toss you from a tent....if you do stupid stuff (like climbing on top of a table).

- You can generally figure a minimum of 200 Euro ($240) per day....to pay for WC-use, food, beer, and your E-ticket to get there (by subway).  Yes, you can still find great hotel deals (90 Euro a night) by expanding your search to towns 10 to 20 km beyond Munich (easily reaching Munich within 30 min by rail).

- If you were spending 7 days around Munich?  I would only spend one day at the fest, and use the rest for regular sites....tons of stuff to see in the local area.

- On beer consumption, my advice.....if you weigh around 200 lbs....figure a one-liter glass about every 90 minutes.  If you were a gal and in the 130 lb range....a one-liter glass is maximum for the whole afternoon.

- Beer pricing? For 2026....1-liter (depending on brand) goes from 14.90 to 15.90.  It's not cheap.

- Crime?  Inside the grounds....plenty of security and police.  Rest of Munich?  I'd be vigilant and not wander stupidity around after dark

- Walking from the station to the grounds?  Go from the Main Station through the south entrance....then follow Bayerstraße to the right until you reach the intersection Hermann-Lingg-Straße.  TURN once and go direct to the main entrance of the grounds.  Also...there are ground markings to point you to the right direction.  If returning....after dark....skip walking and take the subway.

- Don't drive down and plan to park in the city....expecting parking.  

- Everyone drunk?  NO....by mid-afternoon....I'd say at best 15-percent of folks are on a buzz....and maybe a 3rd of them seriously drunk.  If you are bad-off drunk....whether you agree or not...you probably will get dragged to the med-tent/'hill'...just accept it.

Three Thoughts Over This Jason Arday-Cambridge Scandal

 It's amazing how fast this developed....with him resigning, and the vast majority of Brits laughing over the saga, and spiral.

First....one of the biggest lies..Arday says he ran 600 miles in 6 days....with this claim revised to say later....it was 12 days with rest.  Oddly, while talking about this....no newspaper/journalist went to facts to identify what races or when.  

Second, you can find various lectures on-line via YouTube, and watch segments.  Having now watched two of these....it's just a lot of BS thrown around and nothing of value in the lecture.

Third, the university has a problem to clean up.  Any student who was critized by Arday, and given a lesser grade....has earned a right to a review.  Basically tossing the grade out, and giving the kid a plussed-up grade (faked-up)?  Yeah....that's about the only path to resolve things.

9 August 2026: Germany: 4 Stories

 1.  Bahn (railway) 'bosses' shocked....Minister of Transportation for Germany....wants to link salaries/bonuses to being on schedule (on-time).

If you use the current 'number'.....it's around 60-percent of trains on-schedule.  

Forcing them to run....even under marginal safety conditions?  I'd suggest this as the outcome, and it'd quickly fall apart.

2.  Relaxation of the Sunday truck ban....getting a lot of attention.  The rule for a number of years....from Saturday evening to Sunday evening....trucks were sent to parking lots and not allowed on German autobahns.  So the drought has affected water-traffic to such a degree...that trucks will have to run on Sundays.

My advice....once this starts up....on a Sunday....you really don't want to travel on autobahns much (stau-woes).

3.  New ARD (pubic TV) polling.

AfD at 28 percent.....CDU at 21 percent.

Green Party at 15 percent, with the SPD around 12 percent.  FDP at 4 percent.  Linke Party at 11 percent.  Remainder spread out among lesser parties.

Gain?  One point for AfD.  

Two observations.....first, ARD is usually highly accurate (not faked-up).  Second, the CDU-CSU lost a point.  If you ever see the CDU-CSU drop down to around 19-percent....there will be intense pressure for Merz to step down/leave.

4.  The German Constitutional Court is giving a strong hint....upon conclusion of any election...if there is a suggestion of bogus-results/crappy control....the Bundestag needs a 'tool' to quickly assemble the data....recognize the problem, and come to a conclusion.