1. Fair amount of criticism going on about the austerity goals of Germany, and what the Development Minister is sponsoring outside of the country.
Two items mentioned: Around 300-million Euro being spent on bicycle paths in Peru, and some kind of positive masculinity behavior project in Rwanda.
2. Some effort underway to develop a plastic tax (to be implemented in 2025). It'll be handed to the manufacturing sector first, and basically passed onto the consumer. So anything you buy....from a grocery package with 4 apples, to a toy package....if it has plastic....you will be paying some increased price. All of this....geared to produce less plastic for Germans.
Where this will lead? I suspect a lot of companies will go back and examine the use of glass containers. Cost-wise...the inflating of plastic prices....might make glass a viable product again.
3. A bit comical....the former President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Germany's version of the American FBI)....Hans-Georg Maaßen, is now listed by the current boss of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a right-wing extremist. Yeah, he's being 'watched' or under surveillance (as Germans would say).
4. Bosch, the German power-tools company, is talking over some jobs cut....into the hundreds.
5. Down in Ulm (major town in SW Germany)....police have been given orders to 'get tough' on crime. They've started a intense check against street crime. Primarily aimed at evening hours.
Mostly to deter criminal element? Yeah.
Anyone that fits the profile of "conspicuous people" will be approached and required to do a ID check.
I'll just say that Ulm is a sizeable town (128k in population) and the city council has probably had some 'heat' put upon them....that things aren't as safe as it should be. Wiesbaden has a program like this....perhaps for 5 years now....only at night.
6. There's an interview by SWR (public TV from the SW of Germany) where they interviewed a PhD protest analyst. Basically, he says all the hype and 'push-back' by the anti-right extremists (in recent days)....has pretty much no effect on lessening the impact of the actual pro-right extremists.
Pretty much what I've felt for the past month. If you wanted to lessen their impact....you'd have to go and achieve something on deportations....showing intent and capability. So far, that hasn't happened.
7. I essayed a piece about a year ago....about a 'ruckus' that occurred in Trier-West....concerning a couple of young guys who went into a mob-like behavior at a Disco building having a women's carnival event (fasching party).
Cops ended up being called. A couple of the gentlemen (all appear younger than 20 years old) ended up assaulting the police, and resisting arrest.
Well....the court system yesterday finally resolved the mess. Two of the eleven arrested/charged....will be going to prison (15 months for the adult, 18 months for the juvenile). The rest got lesser situations (still some form of guilt).
Alcohol in the mix? Well....no one really says that, but you get the impression that they had plenty of booze-courage to get that stupid.
8. Someone did a poll....asking Germans if they 'trust' their politicians. The group that said 'yes'? 24-percent.
If you asked me to define how this 76-percent fits into the 'no' column? I'd mostly say three causes: (1) Constant news media hype giving people the opinion a Jesus-miracle-moment and later the 'wine' that comes out of the tub tastes like crap. (2) Conflicting messages or themes...that confuse the general public. (3) Virtually every single election now is a boat-anchor about reform for X, Y and Z. We are sitting upon reform version 9.0 for about ten different subjects.
9. Heinz Hoenig, noted German actor (72 years old) was exited out of the TV show Jungle Camp. Wasn't voted off or demanded to be allowed to leave. Show doctor eventually said the heat there in Australia (around 32 C/90 F) was too much for Heinz (age and health-wise).
I'll say this for Germans (having lived in Panama/Arizona for 7 years of my life)....it generally bothers Germans the minute the temperature gets up around 30 C (even if they sit in the shade). You go and suggest some 30 to 40 C situation, and they start to get bothered by the climate.
I probably would have yanked Heinz out by the 3rd day.
10. Head guy of the new Turkish-German political party (DAVA) is Teyfik Özcan. He gave an interview for N-TV news.
He hints that they are going full-power in 2025....to get seats in the Bundestag.
A serious political play? Some Turkish individuals have come out and said 'no'....that they can't see DAVA taking that many votes so quickly.
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