1. Over in in Wünsdorf (about 30 minutes driving south of Berlin)....stands a former Soviet military housing complex/base.
At one point, peak of the 'cold war'....there were probably 40,000 Soviet folks (officers, conscripts, and families) that lived there. There in 1994....they left.
The entire base has stood there.....closed off and crumbling.
So there's talk locally and in Berlin.....arranging some deal with investor folks to come in....do a massive renovation, and re-make the structures into something. Cost? It has to be into the hundreds of millions. Condo deal? Well....there is a train station nearby (going into Berlin)....but figure 4 miles. It might interest some folks in remaking it.
2. Starting 1 April....the natural gas/heating oil VAT (tax) goes from 7-percent (Covid era) back up to 19-percent. A lot of Germans will freak out by the end of the year when they figure up their heating costs.
3. RBB (public TV, Berlin) had an unusual story to lay out. Some development going on with a chatbot...an AI-App....where people would have some chatty voice from their smart-phone to engage them and provoke conversation.
Yes, you'd be sitting there in the kitchen (by yourself), and 'Ingrid' (your chatty bot) would start up a conversation on Beetles tunes, the approaching summer weather, some conspiracy theory, or some cowboy western story. You'd engage for an hour with Ingrid, then finish the coffee and run off to work.
The fact that you could design 'Ingrid' to only certain subjects, or to be highly lustful in chatter? Within ten years, I could see 10-percent of German society hooked-up to a Ingrid bot, and not really interested in real relationship (other than for sex).
4. Odd conversation taking place over in the eastern region....Märkisch-Oderland....in the Brandenburg region (near the Polish border).
There used to be a old Soviet army barracks there. Local political conversation about taking fair amount of money, renovating and creating a “exit center” for migrants in Germany who are deemed failed at the visa application.
5. Not really an emergency....but there were only 379,000 births in Italy for 2023. In case you were wondering....that's the lowest annual figure since Italy unified back in 1861. Prospects in 2024? No one says much but I'd guess it'll be lower than 379k.
In case you were interested....a survey in 2023 revealed that 2,300 Italian cities/villages are in danger of being 'depopulated'. Meaning? Ghost-town/village status....where you have 300 homes standing but fewer than 300 occupants (total).
6. INSA, the polling folks, did a national poll over Germany...asking how happy folks were with the SPD-led-coalition. Well...around 73-percent said they were not happy with the performance. 63-percent said that Chancellor Scholz has not met expectations.
7. Extra cops were out in Munich for last night's soccer game....simply words spoken over a perceived ISIS threat in the city.
8. Focus had a piece yesterday talking over the number of Ukrainian men in Germany. Germans suggest there are 200,000 Ukrainian men in the country....above the age of 18.
9. Federal German cops are saying they are in the long effort to hunt down the remaining two Red Army Faction guys. They figure the two guys are on the run, and it's to their advantage.
10. My state of Hessen is having a long discussion over the idea of opening hunts on wolves. No one is saying we've reached the level yet.....just that it's obvious that we are approaching the day.
So there's a problem....in that the EU has a law...you can't hunt wolves while on a particular list. So the EU would have to open up some waiver program....to bring a authorized hunt.
11. I sat and read over a German worry for the legalization of Cannabis (1 Apr). Apparently, some Germans now believe that Cannabis shops will attract folks from Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Austria and Switzerland.
Yeah, this Cannabis tourism angle hasn't really been discussed much before.
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