1. Whole past month in the central region of Germany for weather....has been unusually moderate (meaning warmer than usual), after a snow blast in November. Weather experts came up today and said that by mid-January....change in gulf-stream will occur, and a normal winter will come (meaning....frigid winter temperatures which would be normal for January). If you were planning a ski trip...lot of snow and the right temperatures.
2. Berlin city officials are planning to have 3,000 police on the ground for New Year's eve....anticipating 'trouble'.
3. This chatter from Merz (CDU Party 'boss')? He has said in open discussions....he thinks the collapse of the coalition is imminent and probably some federal election will occur by June (2024). For this to occur? Collapse would be on some chart to fall by end of April. Insider info? I doubt it.
If a new election did occur? CDU-CSU folks presently polls near 32-percent. SPD? Polling at a crappy 14-percent. Green Party near the same level. AfD polling? Trend line is near 21-percent presently....might be near 23-percent by June.
Presently, the FDP is asking members if the participation in the coalition should continue, with this result likely to be announced by 1st week of January.
4. Interesting business piece from N-TV news....German gov't figures around 17-billion Euro is spent on mental situations for people. They figure for mental issues and behavioral disorders....around 132 million sick-days were used in 2022. It's up from 126 million in 2021.
What's interesting here....this was a info request by the Linke Party, and they want to establish a 'push' for some type of work-stress limits/regulations (unknown how you'd write this). People might agree that anti-stress is important but how you achieve this would be a question-mark. Just giving people more off-time/leave....doesn't always alleviate stress.
Also, I should note....a fair amount of this 'surge' or upward trend....probably is still a trend leftover from Covid (2020-2022).
I used to work with a guy who kept a 'film-card' in his office desk....which could note serious levels (Blue - Green - Red - Black). I'd observe him pulling the card out at least ten times a day, and he'd announce his stress level (particularly if it were red or black). He retired from the Air Force one day, and I ended up moving to his desk. Oddly, he left the card in the top drawer. I pulled the card out and for a month or two....used it several times a day. Outcome? I never got the 'film' to show anything beyond icey-blue color....meaning I had almost zero stress.
5. If you can find a WELT paper today....good piece written by Wolfgang Reitzle....entitled: "The Illusion of Effortless Prosperity".
Basically, Germany has worked itself over the past 20 years to be out of the top 20 competitive countries. Reitzle lays the blame on politicians. Worth a read.
No comments:
Post a Comment