A Silly Pool Story (Out of Germany)

There is this public-access swimming facility in Germany....the Heidebad in Halle (Saale), Saxony-Anhalt.

Basically a large lakeside public swimming area (a former quarry lake up to 13 meters deep).  

There is a 'boss'....head-director....Mathias Nobel....who up and decided to introduce a new entry rule in mid-June.

Guests must be able to understand safety instructions, bathing rules, and directions from lifeguards....in GERMAN. No formal language test....just sprinkle basic German, and you get entry.  This was going to be forced.....case-by-case.

If you couldn't speak German....maybe someone in your crew/group could speak it.

Yeah....in the first week...some folks (who weren't German) were denied.

So...some folks asked 'why', and the logic was....safety concerns.  

I thought about this....there's probably forty factors in hanging out at a pool....and if you didn't heed warnings (obviously in German).....you might put yourself in danger.

Oddly, this got a fair amount of chatter....some Germans felt it was anti-migrant....some felt it was extremely fair.

The mayor got involved....saying it was wrong.  Some folks suggested hiring multilingual life-guards.

Interestingly enough....the 'boss' stood by the initial rule.

This debate over?  No....there's still political bickering going on.

I expect the 'boss' to be fired/let-go eventually....someone hired to reverse the rule, and within a month or two....some non-German speaker/no-swimmer....to drown.  Then the discussion will be....how was this possible when we were so helpful.

I asked Grok/AI to assemble data....how many residents in Germany...speak/read ZERO German.  Not much data exists....Grok did say that 6-percent of society speak only NON-German at home....meaning they exist with marginal German at work or in their status.

The funny side this....there might be a class developed in the future....called swimming-pool-German....where you spend  a weekend in some class....learning enough German to fake the pool management folks into letting you enter.  My US Army associates would call it 'beer-German'....one-hundred phrases to use at a beer-garden/lounge/disco.  

Five German Things That I Believe Will Be 'Controlled' By 2035

 1.  Heat-Pumps/AC units....will have some registration and be gov't mandated on temperatures (especially in the summer....NO lower than 24 C).

2.  Fast-food calorie control....where an attempt will be made to limit your visit to X-number of calories.

3. Coke/Pepsi/the rest....will be threatened to limit per can/bottle 100 calories.

4.  Temperature 'siestas' to be implemented....any time it reaches 35 C....all commerce/business....ceases.

5.  A digital form will be mandated between 2 consenting adults....if they want  to 'roll-around-in-the-hay'.  National registry will hold the forms for two years. 

Police Raid Chatter

 This police raid in Hamburg this AM...gets more interesting.

200 police....some asylum 'complex/building'.....the suggestion is that 'some' folks....probably into the dozens....are faking Ukrainian citizenship/residency in Germany.

Roughly around 1-million Ukrainians are registered in Germany...on some type of status.

How many are fake?  Unknown.  But I'm guessing this is going to open up investigations around the country....where non-Ukrainians exist, and possibly Ukrainians themselves have two or three identities.  

Naturally, AfD is hyped-up over this and putting out comments.

Why Is The German Bahn (Railway System) Broke?

 Well....to lay it out (note, off/on, I've been here for 30-odd years....so I can talk from a historical standpoint).

First, some effort in the 1990s started up this 'technical-marvel' spiral....where they wanted a ultra-modern railway system, and it meant more things which could fail/go-wrong.

Putting AC into all carriages was great....except you bought into a system that probably maxes out at 32 C (90 F).  By 1 PM...with temperatures around 36 C....my advice is to leave the train....sip beer at some pub until 7 PM, and try to wrap up your trip then.

The toilets?   Well....if you board four trains in  one day....pretty good odds of at least one toilet 'broke' onboard.

The German expectation of things 'working'?  They gaze across at broke-bridges....crappy roads in need of repair.....schools that need drastic renovation, and they realize the country is geared to be half-ass. 

Train stations now a magnet for drug-gangs, irrational nutcases, and charged-up boozers?  Between 2000 and 2010....there were minor examples out there and you kept thinking....well.....things will correct themselves.  No....they just doubled-up, and tripled-up.

I'm not anti-Bahn.....I still use it occasionally.  But I'm realistic....I always have a plan 'B', act vigilant in train stations, and generally expect something to go wrong.

Footnote: Two days ago....about a block outside of the Frankfurt train-station....cops got called. Irrational guy....with a knife....acting crazy (drugged-up probably). They arrive...issue orders to drop the knife. Guy refuses.....cops fires two rounds into him...for a good wound-situation (he's still alive).  Oddly....group  of folks watch from a distance and applaud the cop shooting the guy.  They weren't chanting or nothing....just that it seemed the best way to demonstrate to the guy....be civil.     

25 June 2026: Germany: 9 Things

 1.   That big train shut-down from Tuesday night (nationwide)?

Well....it appears to be a technical problem with the secure radio that the engineers have....to talk to the regional 'authority'.  It's a fairly old system (2G).  It's on the to-be-replaced list, but frankly....they ain't got the funding.

This led to big 'stink'....lot of folks were left in the middle of nowhere....hotel-the-night away....to move on in the morning.

2. ZDF this week (the public TV folk) are on a heat-agenda.  This graphic was from yesterday....telling you to disconnect your router when not in use. What they didn't tell you.....your phone calls lead through  it.....so if someone was calling you....it went to a dead-number.

I'm not saying they were 'stupid', but obviously, they probably don't have a phone in the house anymore.....just using a cellphone.

I'm waiting today....for them to  suggest disconnecting your TV.....to save on heat, and get less ZDF 'advice'.

3.  19 million retirees in Germany....receive 421 billion Euro yearly.  Of this....1.48 million former civil servants receive 67 billion Euro.

Yeah.....if you do the math....big chunk for public office people.

4. Watched the Switzerland-Canada World Cup game.   Must have been 300 occasions where players were laying on the ground wounded/fake-wounded.  Also....from the Swiss guys.....they all seem like male models....even the coach.

5.  This AfD Party 'congress-meeting' for this weekend.....Erfurt.....cops say 50,000 protest folks expected.....with 2,500 described as 'threatening' (meaning they are prone to violence).

6. 200 cops were used in a raid on a apartment building in Hamburg....refugee-fraud accusations.

7.   Mandated-siesta talk going on in Germany...unions now advocating a temp-setting to trigger the siesta. 

8.  N-TV went to talk about the DC algae-in-the-pond story.  They say: "New theory is circulating: US President Trump himself could be responsible for the peeling sealant."

After reviewing things.....I think it's a alien conspiracy situation.....aliens dropping in algae nightly....to bring down Trump.

9. Social media chatter.....to safeguard young people from risky content and excessive social media use....the German Family Minister says there has to be a age limit.  

The platforms question how this would work, and if the kids might be clever enough to get around it.

After pausing....I have three solutions:

First, go back to 56-speed (what we had in 1998).

Second, mandate a maturity test.....even for adults.  If you aren't clever/mature-enough....even at age 35....no internet/social media.

Third, create some unbelievable tax-rate to have social media of any type....like 12 Euro per hour.

Court Story

 Back in February....around the region of Landstuh (near Ramstein)....a ticket-check/audit was occurring on the train.

Turkish conductor....encountering a non-German...without a ticket.  For whatever reason....the customer had no ticket.  The conductor to the normal rule....you ID yourself, and you exit the train at the next station. 

Well....the customer went berserk....for whatever reason...throwing a couple of punches...knocks the conductor on the ground.  He goes into a coma...dies two days  later.

So....this story goes in a odd way. Most folks thought the customer (non-German) was a refugee.   Well....no....about a day into things....he's identified as a mid-20s Greek guy.

Court action?  Started this week.  Prosecutor lessened the charge...not murder, but manslaughter (can go from 5 years up to 15 years). The family of the conductor (Turkish).....was pretty distraught over this.

Up until a dozen years ago....you just didn't hear of attacks on conductors...awful rare.  I'd suggest conductor-duty now....is a fairly risky business.

My Opinion On New Apparent UK PM (Burnham)

 Andy Burnham looks pretty well set to become the UK’s 7th Prime Minister since David Cameron’s departure in 2016.

Oddly?

Well....up until 2 weeks ago....he was not even  member of Parliament....new election in his district....he wins....moves onto PM level in a matter of ten days.

Well...then there's the issue of both journalists and Labour Party folks....seeing him as a 'Jesus-like' figure. 

Well...then there's his wife who seems to have taint of corruption, and there's likely to be some  audit to clear her.

I'd say the guy can limp the part over for 6 to 12 months....for the next guy.

I should add.....on the Marxism index....where Starmer was  a '7'....I might rank Burnham as a '8'.  I'm not saying Marxism is a bad thing (some people need the passion).   

Saturday Peak?

 In my valley, the temp-prediction for Saturday is 39 C (102 F).....with Wiesbaden forecasted at 41 C (106 F).  A cool front is supposed to start on Sunday....back to the mid-to-high 20s.

My AC unit....dragged up and will be turned on around noon today.

Yeah, the 39 C is mostly a record for the village, with 41 C absolutely a record for Wiesbaden (lot of pavement to suck-up on heat).