Heat-Demon/Witchcraft

 Past ten days....if you watch ARD/ZDF (public TV in Germany)....you get a morning/evening update....over the heat-demon business.

Frankly, having lived three years in Panama, and four years in Arizona....the heat marginally bothers me.

The sales-pitch on the heat-demon/climate change?  Oddly, it reminds me of the 1500s and the witchcraft era.  If you demonize it enough....you get results (I'm not saying positive or negative...just results).

Last night....ARD went to interview some 7-year old kid....having him speak to the 'demon' business.  Later....it was some older retiree gal in a hospital....that had no AC, and just cooled by a fan.

Come Monday....with a new front coming in....we revert back to the 25 C to 30 C 'norm' (77 F to 86 F)....with the demon-BS dissolving for a while.

One aspect coming out of this 2026 June-demon era....most Germans are discussing the idea of getting AC units.   That means energy consumption goes up in 2027....as they procure the units.  My expectation....the grid starts to fail in 2027....with Germans warned to avoid cooling off. 

Boll

 Uwe Boll (director to Citizen Vigilante...movie 'set' in Europe).....gave  a interview yesterday to Jack Posobiec....saying "I'm suing Germany for censorship after it banned my movie to protect immigrants."

Facts?  There's a agency which reviews and 'rates' movies for release in Germany (meaning theaters, streaming, TV)....Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft (FSK), or Voluntary Self-Regulation of the Film Industry.  It doesn't report to the gov't or the Chancellor (I need to point this out).  Long in existence?  1949.

The gov't years ago.....'gave' FSK a primary law called the Jugendschutzgesetz (JuSchG), or Protection of Young Persons Act (Youth Protection Act). It just says....go and protect children/juveniles/adolescents from 'THE' media.

I'll just say....you can do mild sex scenes with 'approval'....alien-invasion's with 'approval'....some demonic stuff with 'approval'....even zombie thrillers with 'approval'.

The whole existence of FSK?  Well....to protect kids....Not adults.

So....FSK went and viewed the movie (Citizen Vigilante) and afterwards....simply declined to rate it....meaning no rating....no viewing.   They didn't really 'ban' the movie.

Legal standing for Boll?  He'll get the 'bosses' of FSK dragged in and legally offer their opinion (I believe) that the Youth Protection Act carries a burden/weight.  

The problem I see (having viewed five or six clips of Boll's movie)....it is violent but FSK has stamped/rated dozens of pretty violent movies.  At this point, they will have to remark that Boll's movie has violence against some particular group of people (without mentioning which one).

The judge will remark....there's no law for him/her to force FSK to approve a movie.  End of the case...I suspect.

As for Germans watching the movie....I'd say by mid-July....probably 20-percent of the nation will have watched the movie via X/Twitter....mostly folks between ages 12 and 30.  A vast majority will say they agree with the story-line and outcome.  Intellectual Germans....who mostly do not view it....will be fairly negative.  I might  even offer the opinion....a lot of Turks will have watched and agree on story-line.

Boll to make Citizen Vigilante II and III?  Well....there's talk. II would be a US landscape.....III is anyone's guess.

The apartment scene near the last 20 minutes of the movie?  I've watched about six times now.  It draws you to form a opinion.  

Odd note: you know....it reminds me of 'Billy Jack' a good bit.

26 June 2026: Germany: 5 Stories

 1.   Ended up watching half of the Germany-Ecuador game (started at 10 PM).  I'll just say....roughest game I've seen so far....Ecuador won 2:1.

2. Some kind of weird ARD  (public TV) report yesterday....E-cars/AC units.....electricity 'hogs'.....warning of massive consumption.

It's possible to save some power....just turn ARD news reports off.

3.  ARD (public TV) ran some 'tips' for public pool use.  Just read like stuff you'd lecture a 9-year old child.

My general advice....with temps up around 37 C (100 F) today.....avoid the overcrowded pool, and just hangout under a tree with a chilled beer.

4.  From Wed....at an outdoor swimming pool in Bochum...a brawl of sorts started up.

The pool 'boss' decides enough is enough...calls the cops...with the help of the police, he has the facility cleared. 4,000 guests have to leave the pool.

5.  On Amazon-Germany offerings....I got some email that women's vibrators are discounted off.  I guess....some heat-wave sale.

That 10 PM Germany-Ecuador World Cup Game?

 I  questioned the wife....if  we would watch it.  

It was a pretty definite 'NO'.

A Silly Pool Story (Out of Germany)

There is this public-access swimming facility in Germany....the Heidebad in Halle (Saale), Saxony-Anhalt.

Basically a large lakeside public swimming area (a former quarry lake up to 13 meters deep).  

There is a 'boss'....head-director....Mathias Nobel....who up and decided to introduce a new entry rule in mid-June.

Guests must be able to understand safety instructions, bathing rules, and directions from lifeguards....in GERMAN. No formal language test....just sprinkle basic German, and you get entry.  This was going to be forced.....case-by-case.

If you couldn't speak German....maybe someone in your crew/group could speak it.

Yeah....in the first week...some folks (who weren't German) were denied.

So...some folks asked 'why', and the logic was....safety concerns.  

I thought about this....there's probably forty factors in hanging out at a pool....and if you didn't heed warnings (obviously in German).....you might put yourself in danger.

Oddly, this got a fair amount of chatter....some Germans felt it was anti-migrant....some felt it was extremely fair.

The mayor got involved....saying it was wrong.  Some folks suggested hiring multilingual life-guards.

Interestingly enough....the 'boss' stood by the initial rule.

This debate over?  No....there's still political bickering going on.

I expect the 'boss' to be fired/let-go eventually....someone hired to reverse the rule, and within a month or two....some non-German speaker/no-swimmer....to drown.  Then the discussion will be....how was this possible when we were so helpful.

I asked Grok/AI to assemble data....how many residents in Germany...speak/read ZERO German.  Not much data exists....Grok did say that 6-percent of society speak only NON-German at home....meaning they exist with marginal German at work or in their status.

The funny side this....there might be a class developed in the future....called swimming-pool-German....where you spend  a weekend in some class....learning enough German to fake the pool management folks into letting you enter.  My US Army associates would call it 'beer-German'....one-hundred phrases to use at a beer-garden/lounge/disco.  

Five German Things That I Believe Will Be 'Controlled' By 2035

 1.  Heat-Pumps/AC units....will have some registration and be gov't mandated on temperatures (especially in the summer....NO lower than 24 C).

2.  Fast-food calorie control....where an attempt will be made to limit your visit to X-number of calories.

3. Coke/Pepsi/the rest....will be threatened to limit per can/bottle 100 calories.

4.  Temperature 'siestas' to be implemented....any time it reaches 35 C....all commerce/business....ceases.

5.  A digital form will be mandated between 2 consenting adults....if they want  to 'roll-around-in-the-hay'.  National registry will hold the forms for two years. 

Police Raid Chatter

 This police raid in Hamburg this AM...gets more interesting.

200 police....some asylum 'complex/building'.....the suggestion is that 'some' folks....probably into the dozens....are faking Ukrainian citizenship/residency in Germany.

Roughly around 1-million Ukrainians are registered in Germany...on some type of status.

How many are fake?  Unknown.  But I'm guessing this is going to open up investigations around the country....where non-Ukrainians exist, and possibly Ukrainians themselves have two or three identities.  

Naturally, AfD is hyped-up over this and putting out comments.

Why Is The German Bahn (Railway System) Broke?

 Well....to lay it out (note, off/on, I've been here for 30-odd years....so I can talk from a historical standpoint).

First, some effort in the 1990s started up this 'technical-marvel' spiral....where they wanted a ultra-modern railway system, and it meant more things which could fail/go-wrong.

Putting AC into all carriages was great....except you bought into a system that probably maxes out at 32 C (90 F).  By 1 PM...with temperatures around 36 C....my advice is to leave the train....sip beer at some pub until 7 PM, and try to wrap up your trip then.

The toilets?   Well....if you board four trains in  one day....pretty good odds of at least one toilet 'broke' onboard.

The German expectation of things 'working'?  They gaze across at broke-bridges....crappy roads in need of repair.....schools that need drastic renovation, and they realize the country is geared to be half-ass. 

Train stations now a magnet for drug-gangs, irrational nutcases, and charged-up boozers?  Between 2000 and 2010....there were minor examples out there and you kept thinking....well.....things will correct themselves.  No....they just doubled-up, and tripled-up.

I'm not anti-Bahn.....I still use it occasionally.  But I'm realistic....I always have a plan 'B', act vigilant in train stations, and generally expect something to go wrong.

Footnote: Two days ago....about a block outside of the Frankfurt train-station....cops got called. Irrational guy....with a knife....acting crazy (drugged-up probably). They arrive...issue orders to drop the knife. Guy refuses.....cops fires two rounds into him...for a good wound-situation (he's still alive).  Oddly....group  of folks watch from a distance and applaud the cop shooting the guy.  They weren't chanting or nothing....just that it seemed the best way to demonstrate to the guy....be civil.