1. A great analysis piece over at Focus by Axel Spiker, on the success/failure of integration of immigrants....not just in Germany, but in neighboring countries as well. Highly recommend a read of it.
To sum it up....as the failures fall into place....a lot of German leadership has simply looked the other way (not wanting to admit failure).
In a sense, parallel societies have come to exist, and are marginally connected to natural cities themselves.
2. Swiss National Bank has a 134-billion Euro loss reported, for 2022.
3. The Hart Aber Fair public forum show was fairly interesting last night. The take-home quote? A German guest summed up the recession and his personal feelings...."You can no longer eat what you feel like."
Working-class Germans will tell you that the grocery prices have ALL escalated in the past 18 months. Even if you were discussing beer or regional items....most all are 10 to 20 percent more in costs.
4. There's some weird Brit report (from their military analysts) suggesting that limited use of Russian fighters over Ukrainian space....is due to the fear that they might crash. Hard to say on BS-factor....but you can go back to the first couple of months of the war....when Russian fighters were seen (and hit by SAMs). You rarely see video of Russian fighters over the Ukraine today.
5. WELT published a polling article....if an election was held today....the coalition of the SPD, Greens and FDP would only get 45-percent of the national vote. Not a big deal because the next election is in the fall of 2025.
6. Three city states (Bremen, Hamburg and Berlin) have come up to say the Konigstein Key 'agreement' (long on the books) for dispersal of refugees and migrants....is unfair.
To explain the Konigstein Key....it's a gimmick invented in the 1950s....to share out funds, immigrants, and various other things. It relies upon current population, taxes collected, etc....to reach a fairness level for the sixteen German states.
I will admit....it's the first time that anyone admitted unfairness with the deal....but these three 'states' are different from other 13....in that they are city-states.
I will say one other thing...migrants drift to the larger cities because they think job opportunities are better in big cities than in less-than-big cities.
7. After reviewing the suggestion of a gun license being required if you own a starter-pistol (idea being floated in Germany).....I've yet to find a single death by starter pistol....on German soil.
On death by crossbow? That's the idea being floated for a gun license situation....yes, in 2019.....two Germans were killed by cross bow.
8. The 49-Euro Bahn/Bus ticket appears to be on an approved system....probably to start 1 April. The monthly 'go-anywhere' ticket would get you anywhere in the country....without the use of high-speed ICE service.
Some belief exists that one out of every two metropolitan folks (like in Hamburg or Munich) will buy the ticket monthly.
The odds of it staying at 49 Euro? I'm skeptical that it stays at this level....probably by summer of 2024, I'd expect a five Euro rise....as a minimum.
9. Shocker? SPD is talking about a tax reform package.....there's not enough money in the 'pot', so someone needs to pay more. Odds of this occurring in 2023? I doubt it....trying to convince people of this idea in a recession is not smart.
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