1. Focus article: Odd story...investigation going on with the State Security and the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor's Office. They say they've found a terror cell...composed of teenagers. Warrants? Three juveniles....age 15 to 16.
General story? Planning around a Islamist-motivated terrorist attack.
Pretty serious charges, but will be under juvenile conditions (not adult).
Local news site covering it....Ddorf Aktuell also tells a bit of the story.
Where they got this idea? Well....there's another story brewing over radical Islam in Germany on Tik Tok. Here with N-TV. Story is not associated with the Dusseldorf trio, but you just wonder how the three got so radicalized.
2. German Transport Minister warning that if forced to meet regulated environmental numbers....he'll resort to weekend driving bans. This is irritating the Green Party members...saying it's not necessary.
How much BS? Well....it depends on collected data and how much they are forced to meet the regulation. It wouldn't shock me if Sunday driving came up on a discussion to ban.
How much anger this would generate in elections? Well....that's an interesting topic to think over. I would imagine half of Green Party voters would ask questions and be pretty disturbed over the idea of driving bans.
I should point out....the Transport Minister (Wissing, FDP) apparently has done the home-work and says that just installing a speed limit (the general idea pushed by the Green Party)....won't achieve the numbers. All of this is centered on C02 numbers. Best site to read through the discussion, N-TV.
I paused over this and got into a discussion with my wife (German in nature) over this. She was pretty blunt....asking me how much we drive on Sundays. I sat and figured of 52 Sundays.....the car stays stationary all day on 20 of those days, with 25 days less than 10 km used. So there's only about 7 days where we might 'tour' with 10 to 100 km (on a Sunday).
The neighbors? Same story. I think for more than half the nation....it's this way.
I doubt if the gov't collects much data on this Sunday-car-use idea.
The negative side of this? Out of Frankfurt Airport's operation....there's probably 100,000 folks easily flying out or arriving back at the airport on a typical Sunday. So how you would facilitate these passengers and get around the suggested ban....becomes a big issue.
In the political poker game, I think the FDP politician is simply playing the ban idea because the bulk of the public doesn't want the speed limit situation (max of 130 kph) implemented. Some folks believe the EU will eventually come to a standardized speed limit, but it'd only be agreeable if they all sat down and said a standardized speed can occur. Having driven on twenty-odd countries in Europe...there are two or three where autobahn surfaces are so crappy....a max of 90 kph is what I would suggest (particularly in Spain).
3. Odd story from my region. Over in Rudesheim....cops picked up a guy and tested for alcohol. He comes up to 3.7-level....meaning fairly drunk. So they take him to the station. They call his wife. The wife arrives and gives some hint of alcohol in her system.....so they test her....it's 1.7-level. That's extremely high. So they held both in the drunk tank until the next morning. On implications? Well....they both probably lost their license for a minimum of six months.
4. Odd statistic for Hessen...four out of ten residences....are a 1-person only house/apartment. Cities with the highest number of one-person residences in the state? Wiesbaden, Frankfurt, Offenbach and Darmstadt (49-percent of residences).
Yeah, it would really help change the lack of housing...if you could force half of these people to 'marry-up'.
5. For streaming Netflix prices in Germany....they've gone up.
The more expensive "Premium" subscription with 4K picture quality and 3D sound? 19.99 euros ( was 17.99).
"Standard” subscription with a full HD image and fewer devices? It went from 12.99 to 13.99 euros.
The ultra cheapo deal....where you have advertising on the screen? 4.99 euros per month.
I have the standard package. I give a marginal thumbs up on the offerings....there's always 'something' to watch. I would regard half of their menu as BS....stuff I' never watch. But they have a lot of South Korean series, and there's a decent listing of science-fiction.
6. I watched a piece off N-TV yesterday.....raccoons in Germany. So for those who didn't know it....back in 1938....a German brought a male and female raccoon back to Germany, and they got loose.
Today, they figure around 2-million raccoons exist in the wilds of Germany. They'd kinda like to get rid of them.
7. Regional source. German gov't giving a warning to Germans in Iran....it's best to pack and leave now. Some indications of an attack on Israel by Iran, and things to get heated up. I noticed this AM that Lufthansa has said flights to Iran are now halted. I looked at the pricing...it's $387 for a r/t ticket for Frankfurt to Tehran...fairly cheap. Oddly, it is/was the only direct flight connection.
How many Iranians live in Germany? Back in 2022....the gov't said around 304,000 were in Germany.
8. There was an extended long discussion on N-TV (here)....on 'Sie' and 'Du' (the you situation).
If you wanted the full 'blast' of the you-problems in Germany....it would be worth reading.
Of the 100 issues which make German a difficult language....understanding the use of Du and Sie is in this category.
9. Tesla talk involving the factory in Grünheide (about an hour south of Berlin). The company wants to expand. Regional folks? About 47 percent of Brandenburgers agree....the rest are not so agreeable. You can read the bulk of the discussion over at RBB.
There are two general sides to the story. For three decades after the wall came down....the east Germans have been waiting for real jobs and investment in industry....so it finally came.
At the same time....the opposition folks felt this was the wrong effort....the wrong company....and that the E-car was the wrong thing to get heavily into.
The idea that it would have been a easier fit if they'd built the plant in Bavaria or B-W? Well....this comes up occasionally.
I'll just say that it's only recently that some international companies have found willing nature to build plants in Germany....with Tesla likely paving the way to show it can be done.
No comments:
Post a Comment