ARD DC Shooter Story

 Yesterday....around noon....ARD did a full up story of the attempted shooting of Trump....featuring the close-up pic of the guy involved...blurring his face.  Note, the shoot comes from the ground level....so you can see his body and head-hair.

Well....ARD came up at 8 PM....updating the story of the shooter.  

Yet this time....they blurred up his head-hair, with the face.

Yeah, the guy is black, and with the original shot (morning)....you could tell it was a black guy.  The evening telecast...same photo....the hair was unidentifiable. 

Just odd....but Germans notice BS like that. 

You can just imagine the intellectual journalists standing there...discussing the image, and how you should not identify the ethnic situation.   

INSA Polling

 Updated polling by INSA:

AfD: 28-percent

CDU-CSU: 24-percent

SPD: 14-percent

Greens: 12-percent

Linke: 11-percent

BSW or FDP: 3-percent each.

So, I'll just say it....at the point where AfD gets to around 32-percent....while they can't form a gov't.....the CDU-CSU is forced into a leadership role....forcing them to partner (coalition) with the SPD, AND Greens.

This would put the CDU-CSU into a ultimate weakened state....where half of the priorities are left-leaning, and dilute the CDU-CSU vote.

I would offer the opinion....two years of this weakened 'state' of existence would lead to a collapse, and the AfD in the next election would be near 45-percent....massively weakening the CDU-CSU even more.

27 Apr 2026: Germany: Four Things

 1.  WDR, the public regional TV network....did a survey.  Appears that two-thirds of Germans want strict public-funding/welfare....for migrants.  They don't say 'how-much'....but that the current system....is probably screwed-up.

2.  Timmy, the whale-drama...continues on.

3.  Berlin-City agenda at work....fair amount of city population wants city-center traffic seriously cut...question would make city-center travel difficult unless you ran by bus/subway or bike.

4.  BYD (Chinese car-maker)....to offer Denza-Z....1,000 HP E-car.  It would NOT be cheap as most of their cars are.

A Week of Berlin

 I wrapped up a week of vacation in Berlin yesterday. Ten observations:

1. BER (the airport).  Not to insult anyone....but it's a medium-sized airport (at best).  From the middle of town to the airport....with a tip....it's about 70 Euro.  

2.  You can make your way around town easily, with Google-Maps....giving you the subway/tram options.  

3.  There probably 1,000-plus Curry-Wurst stands in the city.  Quality-wise?  Don't go expecting but plain regular two-star Curry-Wursts.

4.  I probably ran across ten different protests/demonstrations over a 7-day period.....cops showed up and maintained order at each one.  Figure 20-to-30 police required each time.

5.  Between drunks, druggies, and homeless folks.....there's probably 10,000 roaming the city.

6.  Kinky-weird attire?  If you wanted fifty examples per day.....Berlin is the place to see it.  Fetish attire to the extreme?  Oh yeah.

7.  I felt 'safe' for the whole seven days.  Yeah, there were beggars on the subway system....but they aren't that pushy.

8.  'Wind-tunnels' to the extreme?  With the taller buildings around.....you notice this a good bit.

9.  The cat-temple coffee house....is an interesting place....where they were coffee, and cats roam the place....getting petted.  Worth seeing.

10.  For the first couple of days....I stayed in a loft-situation (two-floor room)....with a stairway.  The stairs to the bed-area....around two inches taller than a normal stairway step.  Oddly, your knees start to have issues in making the odd climb.  Nice hotel....except for this factor.  

It's Complicated

I've checked into a hotel in Berlin...I'll avoid the name...today.

So...the desk gal accompanied us (me and the wife)....over to the room.  Yeah, its a 425 euro a night deal.

I'll just say...theres like 50 different technical features, and in 2 minutes...i believe it was a mistake.

The AC unit...the tv...16 different LED lights, the electric windows...electric blinds...and so on.

I'm into tech crap...but i needed the orientation gal to give a 12 minute lecture...not the 2 minute there-you-go speech.

Falklands BS

 AM....I reviewed this UK-Argentia chatter.  Basically,  Trump made the comment that the Falkland Islands might be at a point of shifting to Argentina. 

My observations? 

First, the UK is awful damn weak militarily.....suggesting some type of reaction force...is a joke.

Then, I'm wondering how the whole of the UK see this?  Maybe 20 to 40 percent don't care?

Without US support?  Yeah, and they've been heading this way for a few years.

So...this might be kinda interesting. 

E20 Fuel?

Well, yeah....EU chatter has started up...they'd like to introduce a fuel above E10.

Where the bio product would come from?  I imagine sugar beets.

How much analysis has been done?  Well...no one says much.

Wouldn't shock me if they start taking E50 fuel.

3 Berlin Travel Tips

 1.  Use Google maps as much as possible...especially for subway or tram travel. 

2. The are probably 250 museums in the Greater-Berlin area....but 90 percent are crap.

3.  Homeless guys are friendly about it....seeing you are about to finish a beer...they will ask for the bottle for return value.