Terror Acts?

 Two suspected sabotage incidents now reported.  Occurring at high-voltage substations on opposite sides of Germany.

First one....1 Sep....2nd one today....roughly 12-to-15 hours apart.

What the police say?   It would appear as some type of ground-launched homemade pyrotechnic projectiles.....stuff you'd build in the garage.

First one....Turnow-Preilack substation in Brandenburg.  Second one....Amprion-operated substation in Bergheim/Rheidt (Rommerskirchen area (Koln, North Rhine-Westphalia).

Yeah....it's hyped up the national authorities....suggesting it's Russians behind it.  

Failing in both attempts to take down the stations?  Yeah....that is a factor.

Any proof of the Russians?  No.

Based on the description....it's stuff that a 16-year old smart kid could assemble.

New Poll: Saxony-Anhalt State Election

 Likely the last poll before Sunday's election, my INSA:

AfD: 43-percent

CDU: 22-percent

SPD: 7-percent

Linke: 12-percent

Greens: 5-percent

So if you take the math-outcomes....projected seats....AfD will not have enough to avoid a coalition, and therefore....will not be the one building the coalition (left to the CDU).

Awkward position?  Well....for the CDU....they'd have to partner with the Linke folks, and this is  fairly big negative (nation-wide view) for CDU-voters.

Augsburg Grenade?

 Not much to say.

Around 9AM today....hand-grenade went off by a Turkish-run jewelry shop....near the main station of Augsburg.  Two students slightly wounded.

German cops think it's a crime gang-episode (not terror-related).  Trains were stopped briefly at the station.

2 Sep 2026: Germany: 2 Stories

 1.   All the bad-boy hype for Russia yesterday?  Basically....the Foreign Minister and the Interior Minister have come to agree....'enough'.....they intend to apply a number of things to get Putin's attention.  Economically, there was marginally anything left to screw with....but at this point, it's all 'gone'.

Putin's reaction?  Mostly....'a grave mistake' by Germany.  

More drone hybrid-warfare BS?  I'd suggest that.  

2. VW's board wants to terminate production at four plants:  Emden, Hanover, Zwickau, Neckarsulm.

Interview Chatter

The Chancellor gave a interview yesterday.....in the midst of it....the moderator noted that  "twenty-percent (of Germans) want to leave the country."

But the Chancellor was quick witted....responding....at least 80-percent want to stay.  Then he noted....'to where'.

The numbers game?  If 20-percent did up-and-leave....we'd go from 84-million down to around 67-million.  

Who are the twenty-percent?  Mostly folks determined that AfD cannot lead the country, or any Germany state.

Is it a bluff?  Well....not entirely.

There's a poll recently done which asked if you could leave....(nothing to do with AfD)....that one in five Germans are entertaining to exit.  Part of this group are people retiring and believing that they can get more bang-for-the-buck (like in Thailand or Turkey).  Some of the group are fed-up with job opportunities.  Some folks want to start a business....which usually is tough in Germany.

Out of this one-in-five group....I would imagine that 50-percent will get serious and write down some goals, and plans.  

Was Merz correct?  Where would folks go?  

If you challenged these folks hyped-up and against AfD.....most would be talking about European countries...where right-wing parties are also growing.  I doubt that they'd be happy to find this type of atmosphere at the 'new-land'.

After pondering this a good bit.....if the 20-percent were serious, I've come to realize that they are mostly of the SPD, Linke, and Green Party....plus some oddball folks in the CDU-CSU.  So you'd automatically go and help AfD in future elections, by lessening the opposition.

Wild times....I must admit.

Von der Leyen - Savings?

 EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gave a talk.....then suggested that Europe's 10 trillion Euro in private household bank savings accounts.....should be in some way....directed toward supporting companies and the economy..

How?  This was not really laid out in detail.

How she gave the talk?  Well...aimed at French employers....where she described these savings accounts in some form/way.....as "idle". 

The fact that the savings are 'loaned' in a way to the bank.....to loan toward companies/private individuals?  Missed in reality....I assume.

Banks likely to accept the idea?  I seriously doubt it.

Current savings rates (Germany)....for 3 to 6 months....around 4-percent.  I should note....this is the promotional rate to get you in the front-door

Risk factor with her idea?  That's the more bothersome thing to ponder.  

Why can't the EU attract investment folks?  Yeah....that's the key factor to this story.  If they aren't engaging....there's forty-odd questions to ask.

This Saxony-Anhalt State Election (6 Sep) A Big Deal?

 Well....it has become a bigger deal than normal....because AfD has the potential to win without the need for a coalition (meaning no partners).

If I offered 'odds'?  I'd say it's a 30-percent chance that AfD will get in the 44-to-45 percent range.  

No matter what....AfD gets first-place....probably unable to gain a coalition, and the CDU (2nd place) is put into a crappy position....where they form a state-gov't with the SPD, Greens, and Linke Party.  

In the aftermath of this gov't form....I might go and suggest nearly half of CDU-voters across the nation grumbling about the conditions laid down by the Linke Party to get their partnership.  In simple terms....it'll be discussed a good bit, and be seen as a negative for the CDU leadership.

The idea that some CDU-voters in the state are already grumbling and might vote AfD....just to send a message?  There might be a few, but it probably won't change the outcome of the election.

The news media 'framing' a lot of anti-AfD chatter?  Yes.  

Last night....I watched a commercial TV hour where they tried to lay out the story of AfD n the state.  They used 'good' refugees (working, tax-paying) to show that deporting is a bad agenda to support.  

So...come Sunday evening...the results will be laid out.  If you see AfD up around 44-percent or more....it's a big deal.  If you see the CDU bosses a bit gloomy over the prospect of a coalition where they have to partner with the Linke Party....that's also a big deal.

Goofy Public Forum Show

Last night.....via ARD (German public TV) came the public forum show....'Miosga'.

So the moderator....Miosga....was talking up the Russians and Nord Stream II with the guest.

Oddly....the guest suggests that the blowing up of Nord Stream "benefited the Russians." Therefore, it was the Russians. Because they love blowing up the pipeline to their most important customer themselves."

I sat there for a minute....dazed.

Economically and militarily....there's zero benefit for the Russians.

The German police?  They've solved most of the mystery....noting Ukrainians were being Nord Stream II blowing up

Miosga allowing that statement and not correcting it?  That dazed me a bit as well.

This getting into the head of 100,000 intellectual Germans....believing the BS?  That's the damage done.

If you really wanted some goofy BS....you might as well suggest it was the CIA, or the French secret police, or some radical environmental crazy-folks.