This Volksbad 'Scandal' In Berlin?

 Well....it's a funny story.

Heat has been a major topic in Berlin (the city) for 2026....number of days of 30 C or more.  At some point....some commercial business-front had this idea of a temp-pool design.  You'd build up a above-pool situation....normal pool size....maybe 1.5 meters deep (5 ft).  You'd rent-out the deal....have a team (probably 6 guys) to assemble it....fill it up with water....run it as a cooling-off 'thrill' for some neighborhood. 

Cost factor?  Never openly discussed.  I would guess that it's around 60,000 Euro for a 6-week rental/assembly.  Who pays the water bill?  Unknown (I might guess that comes back to the city council).

To be re-used over and over?  Yeah...that's the business-side plus-up.  

So....this idea went forward and the cost was covered by a NGO (non-gov't organization).  It's some group who was given the funds, and agreed-upon for site use.  Maybe the NGO 'rented' the site as part of the deal....with the gov't getting funds 'back'.

The first Volksbad?  Assembled and used without a bad word.  Even ARD (public TV) did a segment and suggested it was a brilliant idea for summer use.

Then came a NGO in Berlin, who wanted a Volksbad concept....in a neighborhood....that has a fair black/African population, and the pool was to be set-up/used....ONLY for blacks (no German whites).  The NGO has some connection back to the black population of Berlin.

This got a lot of negative coverage....mostly from social media (not ARD).

How many blacks exist in Berlin?  It's not officially counted....but AI suggests the number of 53,000.

What makes them different from regular-white Germans of Berlin?  Well....nothing much.  If  you asked about swimming capabilities of two groups....I'd probably guess that 95-percent of Germans can swim....with the black population closer to one-quarter of the 53k being able to swim.  This idea of the separate pool....maybe giving the one social group a lesser embarrassment?  I'm of the mind that this is how the idea got created and funded. 

How the 95-percent of German society can swim?  Around age 10 to 12...schools mandate swimming classes (it's awful hard to get out of this requirement).  Newer residents/guests of Germany....never getting the mandated class in swimming?  Yeah.....if you arrived at age 18 to 25...you probably never learned to swim in your youth.

A real scandal?  No.

The minute that the council folks said it was a blacks-only event/use....it was to be a political mess to clean up.  

Political Side of the Forest Fire Story

 For the past 10 days....there's been a couple of fires to erupt (much less than what Spain and France has seen for the past 60 days).  

There is public 'anger' building up over the limited action in curtailing or limiting the damage of the fires.  It's not a national topic....strictly regional.  

Oddly, the Green Party has picked up the agenda, and slammed the Merz coalition (CDU-CSU-SPD) for not having concrete answers to fire 'protection'/prevention.

What is being pushed?  Well....using drones to detect or plan the route of fires is one thing mentioned.  Other idea pursued....forcing the federal gov't to hand state and city gov't authorities more money.  

On the money idea....there's no guarantee that the states would pursue a decent plan, or use the money for less-bang-for-the-buck.

All of this going back to the drought issue?  More or less. 2026 has been an exceptionally dry year...more so in my valley.....than any point in the past 20 years.  

Three Humble Thoughts

 1.  This suicide of the Brit Jason Arday...former Cambridge professor?

If you ask me....there was no fall-back plan (ability to make a wage)....once his entire imaginary 'life' was in full view.

Any blame on anyone?  No....the guy designed his mess.

2.  Dennis Schröder....German NBA player....traded for the 12th time....to the Hornets.

I'll just say it...he is a 'flashy' guard.....who seems to burn bridges where he plays, and generally....is not team-orientated.  

3.  Newest Saxony-Anhalt state poll (election in 3 weeks): (Pollysit)

AfD set at 43-percent...with the CDU at 23-percent.

Greens at 5-percent, SPD at 7-percent, and Linke at 11-percent.  Rest are below 5-percent.

What makes this poll unique?  Just over 2,000 participated....most polls are set to 1,000 participants.

What AfD would have to win with....to avoid a coalition?  If the Greens reach 4.9-percent (getting no seats) and AfD got around 44.5-percent....there is no need for a coalition.

I should add a odd interview piece....the INSA 'boss' (polling org)....says nationally....another 7-odd percent of non-AfD voters....lean in some way toward the AfD.  They aren't fully committed....just that they find some agreement on the migration issue.

This 'Death-Debate' That Has Come Up

 In the past week....the Robert Koch Institute talked up and said....around 12,500 heat-related deaths have occurred in 2026.

HOWEVER....I have to point this out....its mostly a estimate and calculations-game.

So a odd debate has started up....some groups want to have a gov't regulation to say....HEAT is to be listed as the cause of death....on the death certificate.

Naturally, some doctors are not that agreeable on this idea.

Imagine you being on some ICE-train....AC failing....rather than get off the train....you stick it out for an hour in 38 C (100 F)....hoping to reach your destination....instead, you launch into some heat-stress, and die.  Does the doctor say heat killed you....or stupidity?

The other problem here....there's the increased deaths in winter (factually proven).....so do you list the cause of death as COLD-weather being the cause of your death?

This 12,500 number accurate?  Well....it's an estimate.

If you were German....having walked 3 km today...across the border into Austria fall over dead in 32 C temperature....the Austrians would just say 'death-by-exhaustion'....but if you dragged the body back across the border....this 'death-by-climate-change' would be noted.  

I'm open to this idea of death-by-climate-change....if you will agree to add death-by-stupidity to the system as well.

Former US Army Site To Be Re-Used?

 The Federal Ministry of Defense has identified several former military sites (were to be converted to city use) for the new military service program. 

Four of those....former German Army sites: Graf Stauffenberg Barracks in Sigmaringen (Baden-Württemberg), Unteroffizier Krüger Barracks in Kusel and the Kurpfalz Barracks in Speyer (both Rhineland-Palatinate), Kanaal van Wessem Barracks in Soest (North Rhine-Westphalia).

Fifth?  Former US Army site: Ray Barracks in Friedberg (Hesse). This will include Ockstadt....the training area for Friedberg.  Location?  About 20 miles north of Frankfurt.

Closure?  I looked it up.....August 2007....so almost 20 years.

Best I can see....various plans of re-use kept coming up and Friedberg never getting funded/approved.

Trigger for the five re-use concepts?  The Bundeswehr says they are going to 'grow'.  If you asked me on the current shape of buildings at Ray?  I'd say all of them require renovation, and you'd be looking at six to ten years before it was fully operational.

14 August 2026: Three Stories

 1.  Just odd....several news organizations from around Berlin....have asked about the dead Abdul-guy (attack on the CSD parade)....wanting to know about his social benefits situation.

Well....so far, the German federal government refuses to provide information on social benefits of CSD terrorist.  Maybe it's a non-story, or maybe it's a long detailed story on fraud.

2.  Drought and dry forests now a problem....forest fires starting up around Germany.  Crop failures are openly discussed now.

3. Heat wave in my valley today....35 C (95 F)....Sunday is the arrival of storm front.

What Happens To Ceuta, Spain....In The End?

 The enclave is being set as a 'play'....mostly by the Moroccan gov't, but I would imagine some elements of the Spanish gov't wants to end the enclave arrangement.

So....by spring of 2027....around 10-to-20 percent of the Spaniard residents will have packed up and demanded some arrangement to resettling back to Spain. The federal folks will have to invent some type of tax-revenue bucket....in the 5,000 to 20,000 Euro range....to 'help' these folks, and the rest.

The 22 August 2027 national election?  This one topic will be divided into two or more elements.  How you resettle folks, and how the national gov't allowed this to happen.  

By the end of 2027....there will be a date of final exit (probably summer of 2028) where the last Spaniard has departed.

Ceuta after that period?  On my slum-to-be-index....1-to-10....it'll be near a '8' by the end of 2028.  

The French reaction by the end of 2028?  Well....I'll just stand and predict fencing-and-border-security are hyped-up to a maximum extent.  Most of Europe will see Spain as unstable because of the migration issues.

Three Topics

 1.  Saxony-Anhalt state election....any way for AfD to win and take control of the gov't? 

Well....two ways.

First, with around 43-percent polling....they might win, and if BSW were to take 5-percent of the vote (right now, polls don't suggest that).....the two might partner.  Odds?  I'd give it a 10-percent chance. 

Second, if AfD were to take 46-percent of the vote, and CDU take a lesser vote count (say 19-percent)....there's some potential for AfD to have enough seat to run the gov't without the coalition.  Odds?  I'd give it a 20-percent chance.

So...overwhelming odds....AfD doesn't get enough, with the 2nd place CDU folks forming a weak and marginalized gov't with the Linke, SPD and Greens.

2.  Presently, there is a rule in Germany.....you as a 14/15-year old German kid....may drink, but only in the presence of the parents.  Gov't is about to toss that rule.

3.  They've decided that queer people in Germany....aren't protected enough....to be a vote to change the Constitution....to resolve the problem.