Election Chatter

 In mid-March....there's a city election in Wiesbaden.  This past Tuesday....I opened the mail box, and found a note from the city....official-looking.

I had my German wife confirm the wording....yep, they've invited me (non-German, auslander) to participate in the city election.  To be clear....there is a sub-council  under the city council....where 15 to 20 folks (non-Germans) have a voice for non-Germans in Wiesbaden.

I looked up the situation...roughly 13-odd parties.  Some represent Syrians...some Ukrainians...one CDU-related...one related to AfD....the WIF-folks (for women's rights), and so on.

I'm not really hyped-up to vote.   It's not like they would resolve the pothole situation, crime in the city, or invent more parking spots.

I'll decline this opportunity....got enough on my plate to vote in Alabama.

Example of German 'Fake-Outrage'

 Around 2000....Google came out with overhead imagery....tied to the maps program.  So in effect....you could browse your German neighborhood, and see what the back-yard looked like...of the guy two blocks over.

It took around two to three weeks for this to hype-up, and become a top-ten national problem....talked about via public TV forums.

So the lead-off solution...take it all down....no imagery..

For a brief period, this was discussed....they (Goggle) said they'd just take down imagery of Germany only....leaving all other nations up.  At this point,  the Germans (politicians) realized how silly they'd look.

Solution 'B' came up....Google would have a German office and if you (the owner  of such-and-such property)....lodged a complaint...then  Google would blur the property noted.

I surveyed this discussion and solution....about three months after it was finalized.  I looked over my village of 200 homes....none blurred.  I looked over Kaiserslautern...noting maybe three that were blurred.  Mainz? Over a 20-minute period.....I found maybe five blurred.

No one ever from Google or the German authorities ever went public to say the national number....but I seriously doubt more than two-thousand lodged a complaint. Chief reason?  I suspect a lot of these folk sun-bathed in the nude in the back-yard...not wanting imagery of them in the nude.

All this hyped-up chatter that comes up weekly?  Could it be that fewer than 1-percent of people are hyped-up?  Well....you don't know.  

5 Feb 2026: Germany: 5 Things

 1.  This AM, I noted a news piece....registration at German driving schools...in the past 2 months....plummeting to rock-bottom.   Almost no one signing up for driver's training.

So gov't chatter....that they might 'cover' for some of the cost.  This BS was barely mentioned, and probably wouldn't happen until late 2026. At present pace....a fair number of driver training businesses might go under by that point.

The question is....where do you find a couple hundred million Euro?

2. This attack on the train in the Landstuhl area....36-year old Turk-German conductor dead.  When the police came to inform his dad....he had a heart-attack.

Lot of Germans reacting to the attack on the guy ('enough' is the comment).  If you asked me what may develop here....armed escorts with the conductors, and some rough treatment of  'free-riders' in the future.

3. The Chancellor gave a talk yesterday....indicating another pension reform situation.  In this 'path'...he wants to work on a private (IRA-like) situation.

I'll just say this....27 years ago....the SPD  gave a talk about creating such a plan, and it failed miserably.

4.  Talk by CDU-CSU-SPD....tobacco tax to be increased.

5. Epstein chatter: coming up in a WELT piece....fair number of German businessmen, academics, and banking officials were connected. 

What Is Elon's Troubles In The UK And France?

 Well...in France...the authorities raided X's Paris offices on 3 Feb 2026, as part of an ongoing investigation led by the Paris prosecutor's cyber-crime unit.

What they say....the probe focuses on suspected offenses including unlawful data extraction, algorithmic manipulation, political interference, and complicity in the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material and 'deepfakes'. (Don't ask me to translate deepfakes to/from French). 

What the prosecutors want?  Well...they desire for Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino for a "voluntary" interview in April.  If they fail....they'd issue a warrant and possibly seize assets.

This political?  France has a system where they can suggest that prosecutors and judges are outside of the  political control.  I'm not an expert on this....so it might be true....it be stretching the truth.

Will Yaccaino or Elon show up?  Unknown.  

The Brit issue?

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) announced a formal investigation into xAI's Grok AI tool on 3 February 2026.  Job?  To examine its potential to generate harmful sexualized images and videos, as well as compliance with personal data processing laws. 

It appears that UK authorities have restricted access to Grok's image generation features, but it also appears that users can still bypass these limits. 

Where this is going?  The PM is barely hanging on presently, and having some issues with Trump.

The odd thing with the UK situation....this investigations could continue for the remainder of 2026, and somehow.....develop into fines or operational restrictions for X and xAI in the UK.

I sat and pondered over both situations.  Elon could simply deny user abilities for both France and the UK....'dead-zone' type of operation.  This would solve the French/UK problems, and make the achievement into a major 2027 mess  to clean up.

In the UK case....the Grok image-maker...is like a van Gogh 'machine' and pure art at work....so the government's master plan of controlling 'art'....would become a 'joke'.

Arresting or detaining Musk?  I seriously doubt it.

Theater entertainment?  If you view the public sentiment of Macron and Starmer....things have evolved to a soap opera level.  

Final note....if one drags up erotic stuff, or nudies....seems like both countries have a fair amount of art on display or intellectual stuff....that have pushed the limits for 300-plus years.  Seems like things ought to start there and rid civilization of the terrible nudie stuff, or that Shakespeare BS.  

Train Story

 Regional train....near Landstuhl area (Pfalz, Germany)....had a situation where the  conductor was doing a ticket-check. 

Confrontation between one male passenger (Greek guy) and Turk-German conductor.  Passenger had no ticket.

Confrontation led to a fight....conductor dead.

Police have the passenger....will face charges.  Would assume fairly substantial and serious situation...minimum of twenty years of prison.

Fair number of Germans on social commenting....term of 'brutalization' comes up.

If you are over age 50 in Germany....you just don't remember engagements, deadly physical violence, or 'crazy stuff' in the 1980s/1990s.   

You wouldn't engage in such a conflict....over a 60 Euro fine for lacking a ticket.

Baden-Württemberg State Election (In 4 Weeks)

 Roughly 4 weeks  away....polling?

CDU is likely to win (29-percent).

Greens at 22-percent, and AfD at 20-percent.

SPD at 8-percent, and Linke at 7-percent.  FDP at 5-percent.

Likely coalition?  CDU-Greens.  

Who loses the most over 5 years?  Well...Greens and FDP....lost a serious amount of votes.

4 Feb 2026: Germany: 6 Things

 1.  Poland suggests Epstein's path....leads back to Russia (KGB)....wants to start a investigation.

I might believe 15 years into the whole 'game'...they might have started to 'buy-into' the situation.   Other angle....maybe just a couple of Oligarch guys wanted in on the action.

2.  Read through a business analysis piece....13-million Germans living on the edge of poverty.  

3.  Some BILD piece from yesterday....suggesting in 3 German states....60-percent of those on state-assistance....are non-German.

Their key point....if you have no prospects in life, then getting state-assistance makes no sense in the long run.

4.   REWE (grocery chain) regional 'boss' says in the Koln area....they have a store, and it'll close unless the state starts providing 'security'.  The landscape?  Between theft and homelessness....the particular  grocery is under daily threat.

5.  Hessen's state Minister for Education....advocating for mandatory age for social media.

Hot topic in Germany....I'm likely to believe by end of 2026....some  law will be passed....either age 15 or 16 will be mandated. 

6.  Massive snow/ice problem in the Wiesbaden/Mainz area from mid-afternoon yesterday.  Some folks required 4 to 7 hours to return home.  Weather guys kept saying  2 to 3 cm of snow....my village had about 14 cm by the end.  

The Downfall Of Asylum 'Players' Upon Arrival In Germany

 About 8 years ago...I was doing a German language class, and later a integration class....so I was hanging around Syrians, Africans, Afghans, Venezuelans and even some South Koreans.

It came up in a break-pause one day....Syrian educated guy (pharmacist trade)....we got into a English discussion.

Upon arrival in Germany with his wife, and two kids....they were put in a temp-camp (old US barracks)....for about 6 weeks.  

Daily....came the issue....young 'punks' (various countries)....going out and discovering alcohol and drugs on the streets of Germany. I asked...how'd they get the cash....he responded 'black-work'.

So he had to continually monitor his kids....keeping them away from the idiots.  

He'd go and tell the 'manager' of the stuff going, but they never responded.

Most all of the incoming folks were from  countries that had strict laws on booze/drugs.....serious punishment.  So they had no ability to control themselves.

This murder from the last week (Hamburg subway)....an example of a asylum guy....no control....consumed with boozing up  daily.

I don't think the German authorities have really leaned into this issue, or grasp it.