19 Sep 2026: Germany: 7 Stories

 1.  This EU-Canada 'associate' chatter?  Number of journalists came up and asked questions.  

What you can now say....factually....the EU does not have a official status as 'associate-member'.  They talked about it for Ukraine about a year ago, but that talk went nowhere.  They have not approached a single EU country to officially 'bless' such a status.  

So all that Thursday night chatter on Germany's ZDF (public TV) news?  BS?  Mostly the EU bluffing the story.  

There already being a trade status between the two?  Yeah....for eight-plus years, so that's nothing new.

It is kinda funny....they got hype for roughly 24 hours, and the hype sorta died-out.

2.  Deal done....US has protection status over Greenland.  No chance that China or Russia establishes a presence there.  

Danes fairly shocked (by my opinion)....no one ever thought they were at risk of anything (invasion or such).  Somehow....Trump in some crazy way....got a 'deal' (at zero cost).  

3.  Gas relief?  Merz got a 'deal'....the energy tax on gas/diesel is to be reduced by 14 cents per liter. If you include the VAT, this results in a tax reduction of 17 cents per liter.  

Enough?  As you imagine pricing right now?   Yes.  If the pricing goes up another 30-odd cents?  They'd have to revisit this situation....with more relief.

Starts 1 October, and ends at end of December.

Merz coalition also worked up.... a fuel price cap with the fuel industry. Some details left to square it away.  Starts 1 Jan 2027....at latest. 

Opposition?  Curiously, the Greens and Linke Party call the plan 'madness'....saying the oil companies are raking in profits. 

4.  Berlin police did a raid on a employee of the AfD Party's candidate in the city election (coming up shortly).  The police thought they had a illegal weapon.  Well....they were wrong.  But what they found were drugs (never telling what type) and Nazi-history crap (also avoiding details).

On the Nazi-era collectables....generally...most stuff like books, uniforms, and such...are legal to buy.  You can walk into flea-markets today and likely find items for sale.  The problem is....you have fake crap (made forty years after the war....sold as legit stuff).  Whether the police have legit 1930s/1940s stuff, or counterfeit stuff....unknown.  On the drugs....cocaine and forty-odd drugs would be illegal....weed/marijuana would be legal.  

5.  Focus article....Denmark study done on university graduates....growing number are unable to find a job after graduation.

6.  Oktoberfest starts today....24 C (mild temp)....blue sky.  

7.  Three weeks ago....I got blitz-camera 'caught' (speeding ticket on the autobahn)....in the state of the Pfalz (not Hessen).  The car tag is registered to the wife.....the pic is me.  I don't argue....I was 18 kph over the limit (100).

Well.....the Pfalz sends the letter a week ago.  Normally...in Hessen....as long as you aren't over 30 kph (over the limit)....you just get a letter to pay the ticket.

The Pfalz sent this letter to the wife....to ask if she wants to deny the ticket.  She obviously said yeah....that was the husband (me).  She has to do this on-line....into some database.  So they asked around ten questions in the database.  She inputs all my personal data.

Six days pass, and yesterday....I get a letter from the Pfalz police....do I want to deny the violation?  Oddly, they don't put the violation cost (I figure around 65 Euro), or where to send the money.  Instead, they want me to admit what I've done...before we talk money. 

I asked the wife what happens if I do nothing....I got a 12-minute lecture on 'doing-the-right-thing'.  

Platform Control?

 Talk started up today....in Hessen....over a pilot-program.  They want to organize the Frankfurt train station in such a way....that you would NOT be able to access any of the twenty-odd platforms (arrival or leaving)...unless you had a ticket. 

Obviously, there would be AI....some scan capability....a 'arm-control'.

Several years ago....I was at Den Haag and Amsterdam....where they had such a system running.

Happening in 2027?  No one says that....just that they want to start a program, and Frankfurt would be the choice.

Are there people there....just wandering around the platforms (currently)?  No one says that.  If you asked me....there's probably around a hundred 'walkers' in the Frankfurt station....with no purpose or agenda (other than perhaps robbing you or selling drugs).

NBC Report: Downsizing of US Forces Europe?

 So the story goes....apparently from some Pentagon source, that Sec/War tasked EUCOM/Pentagon to study the idea of downsizing 25,000 troops (minimum), and reflecting a new future.

What you should take from this?

First, several rumors in the past week....Poland asking for a US base.  This may fit into the agenda, with either Lakenheath or Spang fighters....moving with some US Army folk to some joint-base in Poland.

I'm also likely to believe that headquarters staffs at EUCOM, Ramstein and Wiesbaden.....probably will downsize, and re-locate.

I'm less likely to believe that US Navy gives up it's bases in this plan.

Where this leads onto?  The SECWAR expects some report (menu-type) in November and the President approves this in January.  House/Senate will have some say.

Big deal?  This is what should have been done in the mid-1990s. The negative I can see....if Wiesbaden's installation shuts down....that's the end of commissary/BX privileges/use.   

Wasn't There Already A Trade 'Treaty' Between The EU And Canada

 Well....mostly forgotten....but back in 2016...it was 'signed' and made official in early 2017.  In the deal....99-precent of tariff stuff between the two....dissolved away.

Naturally, you'd ask....with the hype from yesterday....is there some new trade deal?  No.  For numbers....2025.....around 5.5-percent of Canada shipped out....went to EU customers. (Hint: that's about one-percent more than in 2024).

If you asked me over yesterday's hype being more of a 'show'?  Yeah, it got a lot of hype in Canada, and throughout Germany.  

If you asked a typical German what they buy from Canada?  Well....Canadian whisky and maple-flavored spirits, some Niagara icewine, premium seafood (lobster, scallops, certain fish), Canola oil, frozen potato products (McCain is well known, and my wife buys this monthly), and maple syrup.

Would the typical German buy 'more'?  Maybe if the Canadian dollar were lower and the whisky was 10-to-20 percent cheaper...yeah.  More maple syrup?  No (the wife buys three bottles per year and lectures me constantly about evil syrup.  

What Is The German 'Fake-O-Meter'?

Well....I heard the term this AM, and looked into it.

The word “Fake-O-Meter” is NOT a German official government name. It is the word created by the  German outlet NIUS (right-wing news establishment)....for a publicly funded research project called kuKI. 

What is kuKI?  kuKI (“Kulturalisierungssensible KI-Assistenz für eine desinformationsresiliente multilinguale Gesellschaft”).

It's a AI 'tool' for detecting and classifying disinformation....after fact-checking....with BS that comes in German, Russian or Turkish.

Gov't funded?  Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) paid for it with 3.2 million Euro.

AI figures out the disinformation?  Yeah. 

I pondered upon this....AI creating fake BS....AI discovering fake BS.  You don't require a middle-man

Fake news AI learning?  I would imagine every hour....it's writing a 'lessons-learned' summary, and the fake news BS gets better.

But on the other side of this....people are now relying upon AI to tell them 'this-is-BS'.  They can't match the skills/wits of AI that easily.

What happens when the fake-o-meter says it's true (not BS) and hurts the gov't message/brand?  No one says much over that idea.  

18 Sep 2026: Germany: 12 Stories

1.  Brandenburg: ISIS terror guy arrested.  Had been to Bremen....scouting out 'targets'.

2.   Berlin Airport (BER)....police were called and arrested some passenger (Estonian)....for attempted manslaughter on a airport employee.  What the police say....the guy arrived late at a gate for boarding....was prevented from boarding, and goes into some massive anger.

3.  Sunday's outlook for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election?

Neck-and-neck for SPD and AfD....both will be in 35-to-37 percent range.  CDU marginally holding at 6-percent.  

4.  Coach Jürgen Klopp has nominated 44 players for his first four matches as national coach. 

It was a odd news evening last night.....ARD 8 PM news led off....news number item ONE....Klopp highlights for 2.5 minutes.  9:45 PM news on ZDF....Klopp highlights....news item number FIFTEEN....last 2.5 minutes of the newscast.

For German sports enthusiasts.....it felt like Moses had come off the mountain with the tablets.

5.  German Chancellor Merz gave a talk yesterday (Thursday)....CDU Party event.

Basically said that no hospitals, care homes, construction sites, restaurants, or hotels in Germany would function without integrated immigrant workers.  

Correct.  Just for care-homes alone....the figure thrown around is 350,000 migrant workers.  In the hospitality industry....the gov't estimate is near 40-percent of the force required....are migrants.  I walked into a Burger King shop in 2025....where the staff on shift (6 employees) were all migrant women.  

6.  Poll done by YouGov....almost half of Germans in the poll....figure by 1 January 2027....Merz will not be Chancellor

Via news/social media....lot of hype since early spring (2026) on marginal accomplishments of Merz.  I'd give 75-percent of the blame on this....this partnership between the CDU-CSU and SPD....rest of the blame goes to expectations of the public that Merz was bringing massive expertise on finance and reforms to save jobs.

7.  WELT piece this AM....SPD Party state administrator...says that young people on social benefits....should NOT be allowed to leave/exit parent's house.....to be on their own (costing more social funding).

8.  Poll done by RTL-TV news.....eight out of ten eastern Germans....say democracy is NOT working.  Nationally (east and west)....it's four out of ten Germans suggesting democracy has 'crapped-out' (my words).

They aren't saying the fix or resolution....just that they were expecting something 'better'.

If you asked me....social/news media folks....over the past twenty-odd years...have hyped up some great hope/benefits of democracy (like a used Mercedes car)....and things haven't worked that well.

9.  PM of Poland....hypes potential Russian attack on European countries....suggesting a US base in Poland would be a 'sure-fix'.  

10.  N-TV piece this AM....Norwegian authorities have found a sunken Nazi submarine.  They are suggesting it's dangerous for the food chain, and want some type of action.  They didn't come out to say Germany needs to step-up but you get the feeling they want German involvement.

11. Lithuania has discovered a couple of tunnels...used for people-smuggling....from Belarus into Lithuania.

12.  ZDF news at 9:45 PM last night....probably spent a good eight minutes hyping up the partnership deal with the EU and Canada.

I paused over it.  EU's 'standard' for economic measures (for new membership)....the national budget deficit must stay at or below 3-percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)....plus the public debt should not exceed 60-percent of GDP.  Well....currently....Canada's general government gross debt is approximately 113.5-percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  Yeah....it's a wreck.  Oddly, this part of the story was not explained by ZDF.

The plus-up for Canada?  There would be EU-entry deals for job-visas.  Currently, at least in most of eastern Canada....the unemployment rate is near 7-percent.  Those folks might find job opportunities in the EU.  I could easily see 10,000 Canadians by spring of 2027....employed in the Netherlands, Germany or Austria.  Most of them would even say the European health system is better than the Canadian system.

Germany: Authority To Shoot Down Drones Over German Bases?

 Is there legal authority in Germany to shoot down drones over German bases?  Well....yes.

There is now some legal authority for the Bundeswehr to shoot down drones over its own military bases, but it's carefully worded....it's not automatic or unlimited. 

On Bundeswehr property, soldiers can already use force under the UZwGBw (the law governing direct coercion by the armed forces) to protect troops, facilities, and operational readiness. 

The wording says the military may jam, divert, or as a last resort use weapons if milder options fail and proportionality is observed. 

A separate 2026 amendment to the Luftsicherheitsgesetz (Aviation Security Act), passed by the Bundestag in late February of 2026....and the Bundesrat in early March....says explicit last-resort shoot-down powers exist....IF police request assistance. 

If you read the wording....anytime that human life is threatened....or critical infrastructure is threatened....and no other means will work; the German Army can now authorize it without prior Interior Ministry approval.  

Frankfurt: Third Death By Malaria Reported

 Authorities say.....the individual lived in the Schwanheim district, about five km from the airport.

About a month ago....were the first two folks reported dead.  

Six infected...three dead at this point.