Court Chatter

Robert Koch Institute numbers....5,000, they say those folks in June died due to heat.

Retiree Markus Roach (logically) filed charges against Chancellor Merz and ministers....for "failure to provide possible assistance against the threat posed by extreme weather events."  

I paused over this.

Legal system able to handle this?  Typically, you'd have a name and a death certificate. 

How you'd prevent future deaths?  Tons of tax revenue. 

Things From Koln Trip

 First....it  was  some kind of Goth-fest....probably 10,000 Gothic dressed folks....from teens to age 70. 

Second....I noted two protest parades...one for a pro-Iran/pro-Mullah/anti-Trump group.  Other was pro-Iran/anti-Mullah/pro-Trump group.

Third, the hotel-parking-garage....deep under the place....was  not made for normal cars.  I had high anxiety pulling in/parking.  

Attack: Berlin

 What the cops say....around10 PM....Islamic guy....drove into a parade crowd (Christopher Street Day)....killing a woman...wounding 15-odd  folks.

Guy got away.....still 'free' at 13:00 local time today.

Lebanese guy....age 21.....previous time in some youth detention center.

If they do catch him? Well....if he says something about 'voices'....he goes off to mental clinic.

Odd thing....2025, he went off to Lebanon...got detained...held...deported back to Germany.   Declared radicalized....was told to take 26-odd classes to de-radicalize (in Germany). Guess....it didn't work.

UK Story

 Yesterday....a Sky News-commissioned YouGov poll found that a ONLY 6-perecent of UK residents would volunteer to fight if facing an imminent invasion.

They didn't add a 'enemy'....assuming it was Russia.

I pondered over this.....the greatest opportunity in the history of Russia.  Simply a invasion force of 30,000 could probably take over England in 10 days.  Would NATO come to save the UK?  I'm not that sure.  Would the US/Trump come?  Probably only to remove our troops/families there, and exit a quickly as possible.

So the question....what would  Putin gain?

I ponder over this for an hour.  

A quarter of the UK population would welcome the Putin-force....for liberating them from the Labor-Party.

The anti-King Charles folks?  They'd welcome the Russians.

The folks hating the police?  They'd welcome the Russians.

Would it matter....if this were the Spaniards, French, or Germans....instead of the Russians?  I'm of the mind.....anyone could invade....even the Argentina folks.

For Putin?  If he just had forty-odd tanks, and 30,000 troops...the UK is his to take.

Trip to Koln This Weekend

Four star hotel in the mix.  Oddly,  they note that they will provide Covid masks, if requested,  and they stock TP...toilet paper.  🤔

My wife selected it...some frugal deal.

Adventure stories will follow.

(Other than military deployments....I never worried much over TP.)

64 Teams?

 My German wife and I had a soccer chat last night (it's rare....maybe twice every decade)....so the topic was if FIFA follows through....enlarging the World Cup to 64 teams.

My wife took the position...it's CRAZY-CRAZY.  

I asked how many games would be involved, and she did the analysis in 60 seconds....suggesting there would be 16 'groups', and a total of 128 total games.

I added my thoughts....that six weeks were not enough...it'd have to be 8 weeks (two full months).  Also....to be honest....adding Iceland, Mongolia, and Thailand....doesn't really thrill me.

Based on readings yesterday....FIFA believes they made in the range of $8-Billion off the US-Canada-Mexico series.

If you added the 64 team scenario into it....profit-wise?  I'd guess the numbers go close to $15-billion.

Players accepting this?   I'm not that sure.

Would I watch 30-plus games over two months?  That's the question that I come to.  With all the crappy ref action....I lost 50-percent interest by the 3rd week of this spell. 

Train 'Attack'

It's reported in the Ulm area (Bavaria) but barely mentioned nationally (at this point).

So....Monday morning....around 8:45 AM....a Tunisian 52-year old guy....got on a ICE train heading toward Munch.

If you've ever been on ICE trains....it's a 99-percent chance of a ticket-audit, and if you were traveling without a ticket....it's 5-star stupid.

The guy had no ticket.

So there is this meeting/confrontation in  the bistro-car.....conductor and the Tunisian.

Somewhere in the middle of this....the Tunisian guy threatens a passenger with a piece of broken glass (I assume a beer-bottle).

Police say...the guy kicked at officers who arrived, and attempted to bite them during the arrest. 

Arrested....held on charges now.  The ticket problem is the least of  his worries.  Assault on the police....the biting charge....then the threat with a broken glass on a traveler-lady....would be ten years of prison, unless 'crazy-crazy'. 

Odds of a mental exam order (by the judge)....I'd give it a 50-50 possibility.

On the positive side....at least the police didn't have to draw weapons or fire a round or two into the guy.  

Likely Le Pen Effect On Germany

 Over the past month....there's been a fair amount of focus by German public news (ZDF/ARD)....that Marine Le Pen will win next year's France Presidential race..

So I've pondered over the scenario.

What Le Pen promises?  Tough....immediate actions.  Deportations.

So I'm making three predictions.

First, in the month after she assumes  office....somewhere in the range of 500,000 'bad-boys' will exit France...before the full effect of deportations....arriving for the most part in Germany.

Second, the Merz-coalition will be completely unable to comprehend this situation and by early 2028....crime numbers rapidly escalate.  

Third,  AfD ends up promising Le Pen-type rules.....to resolve the mess.

Yeah, I'm laying out  a pretty bad landscape for 2028.