21 May 2024: Five German News Stories

 1.  German Attorney General/Justice Minister....says he wants various housing mandates/regulations reformed/lessened.....to help speed up housing construction.

2.  Lightning strike in the Saarland yesterday.....youth camp tent....authorities says around 38 injured.  Odd thing....it struck twice.

24 hours later....four of the wounded are in pretty fragile condition. 

3.  Odd political stance noticed recently....two particular political parties have taken up a anti-US stance  (AfD, the right-wing folks....and BSW, the newly created left-wing party).

If you asked me about vote counts for next year's national election....between the two parties....they likely will take 25-percent combined.  But no real connection between the two....other than this anti-US stance.  

4.  German N-TV did a pretty fair and insightful segment on Prince Reuss (under pretty serious charges) and the "Reich citizen network".....suggesting that the “Reichsbürger” crowd are deep into conspiracy theories, and not that mentally balanced.

I don't think Prince Reuss will ever be leaving jail.

I probably came to that level of thought about two to three years ago over the Reichsbürger folks.  At some point in their planning for a coup....they actually believed once they remove the Chancellor.....that the German military would agree to come under their 'rule'.

5.  Watched a business segment on N-TV.....they had the president of the employers' association Gesamtmetall give a interview.  He says it's now possible that "deindustrialization" is about to start in Germany.  Job losses? Well...he hints of possibly 50,000 jobs 'lost'.  

19 May 2024: Six German News Stories

 1.  More rain yesterday?  Yeah.

For my area (Wiesbaden).....I'd say since 1 Jan....we are about 130 percent of normal rainfall for this time of year, and things are awful green.  The previous three years?  From mid-March to mid-August....it was pure drought conditions, with only two or three marginal  (light) rainfalls.  

I looked at the predicted weather for the next 7 days....rain on five of them predicted.  Just odd compared to last year.  

2.  Curious Focus article.....interview with Jürgen Hesse.  

The Berlin graduate psychologist talks up the issue that among various problems affecting German industry.....there are various managers with troublesome personalities.

He wrote the book: “My boss is crazy, yours too?” 

He suggests that in the range of six to twenty percent of bosses...they don't have the talent/skills for the job.

3.  Defense Minister Pistorous asking for 3.8-billion Euro for 2024....for Ukraine's defense requirements.

4.  Russia has confiscated the assets (at least within Russia) of the German Commerzbank, and the Deutsche Bank.  

5.  FDP Party says they want to dump the 8-hour work-day.  I'm skeptical of whatever replaces it.

6.  Austrian cops say they confiscated weapons (plural) and a smart-phone with ISIS BS/propaganda material of a minor (age 14, girl).  Plan had been in the works to attack "infidels" using knives and an axe. Location?  Graz, Austria. 

Charges?  Well....she's a minor so you can't do that much.  

What Is The Federal Clinic Atlas?

Well, the German Health Ministry has gone out and gathered up statistics....to say how hospitals/clinics compare.

Naturally, this is getting a lot of hype....some critical.

Bad news for some hospitals?  Well....yeah....if you start talking about nursing shortages or infections....this database gives you a pretty good image of what to avoid.

Site?  Here.

Legal troubles?  I think it's going to put pressure on the low-performers....either improve or shut-down.  

18 May 2024: Five German News Storiies

 1.  Interesting piece off Focus today....German Green Party official....Katharina Horn....is  interviewed and talking up the amount of criticism and 'attacks' against Green Party folks in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania region.

Would appear confrontations in public places up, and people fairly aggravated over Green Party platforms and accomplishments.

I'll just say from my prospective....it used to be Germans were either pro-or-con on political groups.  I think generally, we've reached  a stage where a fair number are now anti-AfD, and want to let you know how they feel, and this in turn....has generated a second wave....people who are anti-Green, and want to be open about how they feel (perhaps being slightly more physical than the anti-AfD folks).  

2.  Lot of flooding this AM in the Saarland, from yesterday's rainfall.

3.  State of Hessen (where I live) now reports that roughly 3 out of 4 people who get Burgergeled (welfare money) are of a migration background.

4.  Germany's Justice Minister gave a interview yesterday, and says the soccer championships about to start....will possibly present terror situations in Germany.

5.  Germany has passed name-law....effective in May 2025....where double-names (when you marry) will be totally acceptable across the country.  Change also says between the two...there must be a hyphen.  Story here.

16 May 2024: Four German News Stories

 1.  Slovakian PM Robert Fico was shot yesterday.  Hospital reports this AM say he will survive.  Location? Handlova. 

Shooter?  Older guy...motivation is unknown.

2.  CDU Party talking up some type of draft law....if you were to demonstrate for a Caliphate....it'd be handled by the police and it would be a chargeable crime.  Yeah, it's a pretty radical push (on both ends).

The thing is....if you bring up the Islamic protests and this Caliphate chatter....I'd suggest two-thirds of Germans are pretty irate over the idea.

3.  Group of German economists are pushing for car tolls.  Going to be pretty difficult to convince the public to accept the idea.

4.  Chinese car company Ora making a car that strongly resembles the old VW 'Bug'.  4-door design. 

Explaining This Odd Legal Case Against A AfD Party Official

 So the way this goes....the Halle regional court finally ended the case against the Thuringian AfD  'boss'....Björn Höcke (who happens to be running in the state election of Thuringia in the fall).

Verdict?  Guilty and assigned a fine of 13,000 Euro.

Accusation/charge?  Well....this goes back to a speech he gave three years ago....where he uttered: “Everything for our homeland, everything for Saxony-Anhalt, everything for Germany.”  That last piece....'for Germany'....was a Nazi slogan from the 1930s.

I don't know the number, but there are probably dozens of Nazi slogans on the forbidden list to recite in public speeches.  

As for this harming his fall election bid?  I'd say from the 'experts' that ARD/ZDF (public TV news folks) ran out last night....they are of the mind that it harms AfD.

I'm not of that frame of mind.  People who are 'stuck' on AfD....do it primarily because of failed migration and immigration policy (of the past decade).....which neither the CDU or SPD can do or say much to rectify the perception of this 15-to-20 percent of the voting public.

Next up?  Some folks believe if you can ID the AfD as Nazi-like....you can strike them out as a political party and forbid their participation.  All that would do....is create a whole new party out of thin air, and give the same voters the perception that you are unwilling to work on migration or immigration problems. 

On the guy's guilt?  I don't think he accidentally found the slogan or accidentally used it....it seems awful intentional. As for the fine....he'll probably just pass the hat around for a couple of days and get 13k Euro to pay off the court system.

Germany Defense Chatter

 Late last week....Germany's Defense Minister (Boris Pistorius, SPD Party, considered  future candidate for Chancellor) gave a speech in Washington that said two big things.  First, there would have to be some type of re-introduction of the draft/conscription in Germany.  Second....Germany's defense budget in the future would have to be 3 percent GDP spending.  On this GDP talk.....he's stepping on a Merkel tradition that it rarely ever went above 1.5 percent, but it would be more than enough to get a positive view by Trump (if he does win in November) and ensure no US base closures.

Odds of either event happening?  Well....I give it zero.

Today though, an odd statement or two came out via both the SPD Party and the CDU/CSU Party.  Both hinted that some new draft probably would be created.

Creating a 'trick' to entice young recruits to accept a draft?  I think if you said that pulling a 2-year draft deal....meant three years of earlier retirement in life (paid-early-retirement) would be such a trick.

Creating some kind of housing account where the gov't gifted you 5,000 Euro a year for a future house purchase, if you accepted some draft deal?  That might also entice folks.

Getting to the 3 percent GDP level?  You'd have to cut somewhere in a major way, and I don't see this being accepted in a election year (2025).  

15 May 2024: Five German News Stories

 1.  I was sitting watching N-TV news yesterday, and this 'train-emergency' story came up.  Story here.

An Iraqi refugee guy, with a rare dialect....was on a train going out of Munich and had to be sure where to switch to the next train.  So he asks this German gal onboard....using the translation App on his smart-phone about this.

Well....he types in the Arabic words (dialect  involved), then it translates.....to say 'something-something' in German, with the word 'explosion'.

Yep, freaks the lady out....she runs to get help....train stops...cops arrive to detain/arrest the guy.

They do a bomb exam of the train after getting everyone off, and up to this point, he (the Iraqi) can't understand the 'event'.

You can be amused but Germans are at a point where they get real worried about terror acts.

2.  Some business fronts are taking a position against the 15-Euro minimum wage increase being discussed.

3.  New party, BWS, talking up a odd pension upgrade.....up to 2,000 Euro of income....with no taxation.  Might be a fair number of Germans supporting this idea.

4.  New Russian Defense Minister says recklessly throwing Russian troops into battle....is the wrong strategy, if they intend to win.  I think you are going to see a rapid slow-down in the war.....with lines drawn.  

5.   There's supposed to be a major reform of healthcare throughout Germany....led by the coalition gov't.  Well....doctors and nurses have looked at the package, and said it creates a huge bureaucracy....with longer waiting lists.  Driving force for the reform?  Limits have been hit on money in the pot to run things. 

14 May 2024: Five German News Stories

 1.  I strongly recommend a read of a Focus article (here)...over the BMW boss/CEO....who says the gas-car ban in 2035 is absolutely stupid/crazy.  All of this is coupled with the move toward E-cars, which it seems to have peaked out in 2023 on interest in Germany.

2.  Minimum wage push is on....to raise the rate to 15 Euro.

3.  Former Chancellor Merkel's memoir will be published in November....700 pages. It'll sell but just not at the rate that people think it would.  Her popularity was already peaking in 2015/2016.  

4.  Six percent wage increase for members of the Bundestag this summer.

5. Oddly, yesterday, some general from the Russian military was arrested.  Chatter is corruption charges.  You might see dozens detained shortly.....which might trigger some crazy coup business.   

The War Change

 Where this firing of the Defense Minister in Russia is going?

Well...in comes the new guy.....no background in the military....just a economics/budget guru.  

Right away.....the generals are going to freak out because he won't understand the past 'deal'.  

Correct....he's not there to continue the trends of the past seventy-odd years.  He is there to handle a broke budget....people siphoning off money....generals financing their retirement packages, and wasted crap.

I'll just go and make three predictions here:

1.  Over the next year....one-third of the generals will be deemed unnecessary and retired (don't go expecting much on pensions).

2.  I have my doubts that this guy is still alive in twelve months.

3.  The war is going to shift, with Putin eventually going to say he's reach a stability phase, and 'owns' the territory he wanted to control. No treaty...just a hold-phase.

Five Things I Got Out Of My Village 'Fest' This Past Weekend

 1.  I walked over about 7 km of streets in the village (4,000 residents), and probably saw about 80 potholes.  I can't seem to remember it this bad before.

2.  From the female attire business for teenage girls...yeah, there's some odd trend with stretch gym attire (wearing something 2 sizes smaller than what they'd fit) or some weird thin pajama-like pants.  I can see where teachers back in August were saying this was a 'problem'.  

3.  Probably forty-odd women (in their 30s/40s) with a significant amount of tattoo art (from pricing, a minimum of 3k Euro of art).  Seems to be a trend.  I'm not saying it's 'good' art or such....just some form of expression.

4.  Lot of broken glass around the village on Saturday and Sunday morning....I'd say well over 100 bottles broken.  

5.  Lot of beer and soda bottles....just standing there.  Deposit value?  Probably 50 Euro that I saw in a matter of 2 hours walking around.  A kid with a wagon could have easily hauled off the bottles/can for deposit value.

Conclusion of the Tesla Factory Protest?

 Well, not really.

Police say from the weekend....23 arrests and 27 police injured/wounded.

Local regional authorities are supposed to approve expansion of the plant on Thursday.....so the protest crowd says they intend to stay and mount more protests.

Cost of police?  From the region and surrounding states....around 1,500 police were brought in....so it wasn't cheap.

What the Economics Minister (Habeck) said?  'Criminal liability' now starts up....meaning the state/fed authority will seek damages.  I would imagine less than 10-percent of the arrested have real jobs....most are probably students.  

What's odd about all of this?  The only plant they seem to protest over....is the Musk-owned Tesla plant.  

Musk choice of location?  It is a rural area (abundant water resources, lot of lakes in the region).....about an hour's drive from Berlin.  It is a former DDR state, and was in deep need for jobs.  He felt locals would readily accept the plant for jobs.  

Where the protest crowd comes from?  No one really states that or conducts interviews.  Plenty of video and commentary from the police.  After a while, you get the impression that it is orchestrated/planned out to be 'mysterious'.  

13 May 2024: Five German News

 1.  German garbage authority discussing massive 'enforcement' on bio-garbage cans.  They say non-bio materials are being found, and they are about to enforce an 'audit' on people....with fines, if you violate what is put into the can.  

2.  Oddly, Putin has apparently fired his Defense Minister (Shoigu).  Doesn't mean much of anything changes.

Here is the shocker though....the new Russian Defense Minister?  Civilian Andrei Beloussov....he's a economics expert....not formerly a general.

Acceptance of this?  I suspect a lot of Generals will be shaking their heads.  

3.  WELT published an article entitled: "How Jesus Would Have Dealt With The AfD Party."

Basically trying to suggest that religious counter-efforts would downsize AfD.  To be honest, at this point....the amount of sarcasm and negativity with the Church folks...probably wouldn't help to counter-balance things.

4.  RTL TV to run some summer series....'Jungle-Camp'.....with past 'stars' of the series.  

5.  Major fire over the weekend at a Warsaw mall building....1,400 shops gone...completely burned down.

12 May 2024: Four German News Stories

 1.  Not that I'm into the European Song Competition (last night)....but at the end...the Swiss kid won....got on stage (must have been near 1 AM), got all excited, drops the trophy.  Pretty emotional moment for him, and he fell apart.

2.  2,300 Islamic folks (mostly men) had a demonstration yesterday.....pushing for a Caliphate.  I would suggest that they are trying to push it across to other regions.  So far, this has only been done in the Hamburg region.

3.  Finance Minister (FDP) is asking SPD/Greens if it's really necessary to finance bicycle paths in Peru, with their 'gift' funds.

4.  The Berlin Blockade....ended 75 years ago today.  

What's With The Protest At The Tesla Factory?

I've scanned about 15 different sources (from public TV, to local newspapers)....so to sum up the basic protest activity at the Tesla factory:

1.  Couple hundred activists (dressed in black) rode the train down to the Tesla factory in Grünheide on Friday....about an hour south of Berlin.

2.  Some (doesn't appear all) did get to the outer fence area.  Here....local and state police halted them.....arresting/detaining a couple of folks. 

3.  If you were around the Freienbrink autobahn exit area....you could not exit/enter....because of police efforts.

4.  Supposedly, the group (whoever they are) suggest that they will have more efforts to enter the facility on Saturday.

5.  Cops prepared (they had water cannons stationed there)....so they must have had prior 'intelligence' over what was developing.

6.  Charges on those arrested?  "Act of resistance, breach of the peace, damage to property, violations of the Assembly Act and trespassing" were list.  Generally, as long as you offered to pay for your damages.....you could probably get off half of these and spend less than a month in some jail.  On trespassing?  I'm not sure how the judge might view things.  The fact that 21 police were injured?  Well....that's a problem for the protest folks if you can prove it in court.  

7.  Why?  Well....Tesla is 'evil', 'capitalistic', etc.  The other comment that comes out.....local authorities are accused of 'selling-out'....meaning that they were motivated in some way to support E-car construction.  

8.  Reviewing Twitter and RBB public commentary?  I'd say it's pretty divided, with a fair number of Germans hyping up that forest destruction was readily approved for the plant, and in the mind of some....unnecessary.  

This would bring me to the idea.....why pick a remote forest area....when you could have easily picked a 'dead' town like Rostock (208k) or Kaiserslautern (90k)?  Both would have fairly large areas of industrial parks....closed factories and waiting for new 'money'.

9.  Right-wingers?  So far....no one utters that phrase for this crew....oddly.  No Nazi symbiology or slogans.  They just appear to be kids out for the extended weekend, for the thrill of getting arrested and camping out in the woods.

My view?  If you don't do much of anything....with the trend downward spiraling on E-car sales....in less than three years....the factory will shut down, and you can get all hyped-up about the loss of a couple thousand jobs locally.  

11 May 2024: 3 German News Stories

 1.  For most who've lived in Germany for a while.....you know of the limited open-situation for stores.  Well....up in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the state has changed the open-Sunday rule, and will be allowing new-tech grocery stores (unmanned) to be open.  Gut feeling?  The other 15 states will follow on this and likely all have such a open-rule by summer of 2025.

2.  Last night....in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania....they had a new 'beach-bar' to open up.  Well...couple of hours into operation....a brawl starts.  What the cops say....about 2,000 people showed up at the pool complex, and various fights started up between teenagers and adults. This went on for three hours apparently.  

Just guessing....fair amount of alcohol probably fits into the story. At one point, the cops say 40 people were brawling.

3.  German Defense Minister (Pistorius) is pressing ahead on some type of 'draft' deal.  I don't see any real support for this within the Bundestag.

10 May 2024: Seven German News Stories

 1.  Regional piece from HR.  Ruckus starting up in Frankfurt.  Complaints about noise over outdoor cafes/restaurants...with the push on to shut them down by a certain hour.  Time  discussed?  10 PM.

The problem here....most of these operations....operating to midnight, were still drawing people at 10 and 11 PM. Friday and Saturday night were a big deal.

2.  The wife and I spent a couple of hours  (3)....at the village fest.  It opened up yesterday for four days.  

So the typical food and beverage cost on day one (for us) would be around 40 Euro.  Yesterday?  It came close to 55 Euro.  Doesn't matter what you had to drink or eat....everything was 20-percent or more higher.  Bumper  cars?  If you rode them....it'd be 5 Euro for a round.  

3.  Kassel here in Hessen....has a yearly art-fest.  Past years....lot of complaints over what was presented (being anti-Jew in nature).  So there's a lot of examination prior to permission to present your form of art.  Past mayors of the town have stood up and said there's too much regulation now to present art.

4.  I watched a German game-show last night....where images of people were presented to people to identify.  So the picture of Pistorious (the German Defense Minister, and considered top guy for Chancellor for the SPD Party in the 2025 election).  Out of the eight German adults (most  all seemed  over age 30)....only one person recognized the guy (by name) and knew his job.

A bad sign for the election process?  Well....if you were pitching him for Chancellor.....you really need to have people readily recognize him.

5.  There is a German law which stipulates 20-percent of the German Army should be women (or transwomen, if you prefer).

Well....presently, it's at 13-percent and not really trending upward.

Lot  of chatter that they need to fix this.  Hard to imagine how that would occur.

6.  There is some plan to run a individual club 'World Cup' in June of 2025....meaning it's not a country versus country deal.....but club versus club.  But this is not being accepted by the players (they say the calendar is too full).  FIFA mess to clean up.

7.  Odd story from Baden-Wurttemberg....6-year old German kid in back seat of car....on the autobahn.  Kid was given fireworks (no one says who gave it to him)....but he lit the firecracker....triggering a fire and suspected smoke inhalation.  At least that is how the police explain  it.

Both the kid and mom taken to the hospital  over the smoke.  Had this been my wife....the kid would have been on home-lock-down for five years. 

Greek Chatter

 There is an effort going on in Greece....because of a lack of manpower and the low-birth-rate....to create a 6-day-a-week standard.  Germans are looking at how this occurred and it came up in business news today.

By law....it affects most work-situations in Greece...EXCEPT gov't workers (yeah, go figure).

Date of starting?  1 July 2024.

Chief focus?  If your company has a 7-day schedule (bus company is a good example), then you are affected.

Extra pay?  What they say....40-percent more.  

This having various causes?  Yes.  You can also point of the exodus of young Greeks from five to ten years ago....seeing more job opportunities in Germany.  

9 May 2024: Six German News Stories

 1.  I mentioned that attack on former mayor of Berlin (Giffey) yesterday....well, cops now say the guy is 74 years old, and mentally ill....no real motivation.

2.  Just an odd piece on Focus this AM....discussing germs/bacteria on bank notes (Euro bills).  Released by Sparkasse (the big German bank).  Just the way it sounds....if you were being paid for something in cash (bills)...there is some risk of a bug being passed around.  

Yeah, it sounds like you should spray your bills down with some 'cleaning' agent.  I wouldn't advise it.  But this 'warning' would hype up people.

3.  Major CDU Party player (Kretschmer) is voicing the idea that part-time work is NOT a right, and that Germans ought to go back to the standard 40-hour a week deal.

I reviewed the numbers....from 2022, the German average (per person) was 34.7 hours per week.  

If you polled the public....I'd say that three out of four Germans employed....prefer in the 34 to 36 hours range, and it'd be awful hard to convince them to reverse things....going back to 40 a week. 

For companies, you have to plan around this, and have extra employees....to make up the missing four to six hours.  In a company like Audi or BMW....it might be a big deal.

4.  There is talk at both state and federal levels of Germany....of new punishments for attacking (physically) politicians.  

I'm guessing even if they pass this....it'll be challenged in court...on the logic that all citizens should have the same protection from threats/harm....not just politicians.

5.  WELT item....Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg got dragged into court for resisting arrest.  So the judge in this case....asked if she has a job or income.  'No' was the answer.  

6.  Germany up for the FIFA World Cup deal in 2027?  NO.  FIFA has rated them down on the list....Brazil moves up.

8 May 2024: Three German News Stories

 1.  Campaign efforts for the EU election are going on (lot of posters, and chatter by various parties).  In recent days...especially over in the Saxony region (far east)....couple of politicians have been physically attacked.  Latest....former mayor of Berlin (Giffey).  Cops say in her case....one guy came up from behind with a bag (hard objects inside) and hit her in the head/shoulder.  Guy ran off....asked for a motive, the police could give none. 

2.  ZDF (public TV, Channel 2) had a 90-min piece last night (8:15)....called 'How Are You, Germany.'

So they lined up around 20 Germans with complaints, and in the studio (live), they had representatives from the various political parties.  

Complaint X would come up and the seven folks would explain things.  

Failed points of the SPD Party efforts kinda stood out (example, the housing crisis).  

I was impressed with the Zoom-like hook-up and amount of technology to present things.  I wasn't that impressed with the political folks, and the answers.

One key thing dragged up on the housing crisis and problems building new homes/apartments.....tons of regulations have been added over the years, and this is hindering construction or making a longer process.   On this point, the AfD guy (right-wing) blasted away.

If you want to watch it?  Still up over at this site.

3.  WELT had a report this AM...talking over how 'Citizens money' (welfare) has changed the dynamics of Germans having less desire to work.  If your welfare payment is the same as you'd make with work....the desires lessen.

What I Missed

 Yesterday, I went to my local 'Globus' (the Wal-Mart-like store in the region).

So the wife and I left the store at 15:30.

Round about 16:00....all hell broke loose in the store (cops say).

What the police say....four guys came in with canvas bags and were aiming to walk out of the electronics department....with a fair amount of stuff.

They were noticed...approached by employees....then one of the guys pulls out a knife and goes to waving it around.  Freaks out customers.

Police get called.

By the end, two were detained and two drove off. 

7 May 2024: Four German News Stories

 1.  Curious deal....crisis summit by the coalition (SPD-Green-FDP).  Problem?  FDP is stalling the new pension package deal.  Some people believe this is the beginning of the end of the coalition....with a new election likely by September this year (year ahead of time).

2.  Fungus and pathogen called 'Candida auris' is spreading rapidly around in Germany.  If you are healthy....no problem.  If you have a weakened immune system.....you need to worry.

3.  Court system finally reached their view on extra 'new' costs of the Stuttgart-21 railway  program....they are handing the rest of the bill to the Bahn folks.  Meaning?  Bahn will have to find 6.5-billion Euro.  So prepare for a massive upswing in 2024 and 2025 on ticket prices.

4.  CDU Party saying they want to bring back the 'draft' to the German military. 

It Is Kinda Funny

 Back over the past twenty years....if you asked most Germans how youth-voters (meaning 16-to-20 year old Germans) were trending....the majority of older Germans would respond....they were trending toward left-causes...or the SPD Party/Green Party.

I sat and read through a Focus piece written by Julia Rohrs.  She says there's a new trend, and it worries people.

Young voters are now trending toward the right.

'Problem kids'?  Well....that's the suggestion.

Should folks worry?  I'm not if 'worry' is the word I'd use.

Some of this I think....is social media attention (not X/Twitter....but TikTok).  

Some of it relates to the way that the Ukraine/Russia war is trending.

Some relates to economic problems.

Overwhelming issue?  No....to what they suggest....maybe one out of five is trending this way.  Now, if we got to a point where one out of three folks were hyped-up and consumed for right causes....yeah, it might be worth discussing.

The odd factor here?  No one seemed that worried when the group was trending heavily to the left.  

Five Q-and-A

 1.  For the German 2025 national  election....if Scholz is 'swapped-out' with Pistorous....do the election numbers change?

So to the reality of this funny topic....back in 2021, most everyone agreed that Scholz wasn't really a person to 'sell' a brand, but the CDU Party (Merkel's crowd) did everyone a favor by finding a lesser desirable chancellor candidate.

My humble view....once we get to December 2024....Pistorous will be given a 'nod' and enter the Chancellor election phase.  

The SPD problem then?  They've not impressed anyone for four years.  They need a 'brand' to sell, and the only voters they will attract are Green Party voters.  So what I see is a fair loss for the Green Party (them drifting down to 12-percent) and Pistorous able to get up around 25-to-28 percent for the SPD.  It might be enough to marginally win....if the CDU Party can foul things up a 2nd time.

2.  Is there a punctuality problem with the German railway system?

Look....go back to the 1970s, and trains were always about 70-percent on-time (meaning  within 5 min of the schedule).  From a personal view....even with all the gadgets and management....nothing has improved that much or gotten worse over 50 years. 

If anything....there are fewer operational toilets on the trains, and that's more or less....a mystery why they can't fix them.

3.  Are German guys more 'point-magnets' for losing their driving license?

The fed system says.....with data to back it up....three-quarters of the people who get points via traffic tickets...are men.  Eventually, I suspect that insurance companies will invent a rate that cut car insurance for women in Germany.

4.  All this Caliphate chatter worrying folks?

What you had in Hamburg was a protest situation with about 1,000 to 1,500 protest folks who want a Islamic Caliphate system working in Germany.....meaning the Islam folks have one set of rules/laws, and the non-Islam folks would just keep cruising with normal German rules/laws.

Public TV hyped the protest, but so far.....hasn't been a lot of similar actions in other parts of Germany.

If you did approach the 5.5-million Muslims in Germany (bulk are Turks).....asking about this idea....I suspect  90-percent would just start laughing because they can't take it serious, and they don't want alcohol, cannabis, or stringent lifestyles inflicted upon them.  From the remaining 10-percent, half of them would probably tell you that mixing politics and religion creates a 'Frankenstein-like' mess.

Yet, this drilled up public forum topics for at least a month.

5.  Lot of discounts on Chinese E-cars in Germany?

Well....for several weeks, it's been openly discussed.  Probably more cars sitting on the lots than expected from a year ago.

Russia Economic Conditions

For those who don't know.....Gazprom is the Russian company that pumps oil/natural gas, and probably is the bulk of the reason why Russia had it's significant GDP for the past forty-odd years.

2023?  Record  loss.  Loss of 6.4-billion Euro for the year. 

Reason?  It goes to two problems.....Europe quit buying their natural gas/oil, and the crew that helped to make 'pumping' work (from the ground to the distribution point....were European high-tech energy companies.....who no longer operate in Russia.

I talk about this for the sole reason....everything that made Russia into a 'big' player in the world of commerce....revolved around natural gas and oil.  Without that mechanism....they slide down into the level below Brazil, India, or Mexico.  A back-up marketing or profits tool?  No....none.

So this idea of rebuilding their military?  It's a joke unless the war ends and relationships start back up with consumer countries.

I'll also offer this humble thought....if you were a Russian billionaire before all of this started, you've probably lost half of your fortune, and see little incentive to remain in Russia and wait this out. I would imagine most have seen enough....to exit and find some quiet place in Asia...to just hang out.  

3 May 2024: Five German News Stories

 1  Interesting FOCUS piece written by Ulrich Reitz.  Topic?  Coalition gov't having to deal with Islamism, the push for a 'Kalifat', and where things are evolving into.  You can read the piece here.

What the Hamburg police report from the protest in recent days....a sum of the people there....were ethnic Germans....born within Germany (meaning they are 2nd  or 3rd generation Germans....mostly of a Turkish nature).  

2.  In my area (just outside of Wiesbaden)....from 8 PM last night...just a ton of rain.  Probably in the 6-to-8 inch range.

3. EU offering Lebanon a 'deal'.....to hold back Syrian refugees....billion Euro a year.  Probably a decade too late.

4.  Frankfurt city officials have signed off....will allow topless swimming at all city pools. Supposed to bring gender equality.

5.  Chatter going on....France may send it's troops to the Ukraine if the current front collapses.  

How My Day Went

 I ended up today in Mannheim...for the Mai-Markt...the big Pfalz 'expo'.  So six things:

1.  If you never been.....it's last week of April....first week of May.  10 Euro per adult.  Wouldn't advise to bring kids.

2.  Big item for this show?  Balcony-mounted solar panels....must have been 12 distribution companies showing off their stuff.

3.  I went by Bahn.....I will just say the system worked as advertised.

4.  New fashion trend?  One out of fifteen women wearing fitness-work-out pants....meaning every inch of the butt is prominent.  Ok for a fitness club....wrong item for school or some public event.

5.  Food is 20-percent higher than 4 years ok.  I had what was classified as a 'Swank-steak' sandwich.....cut about 50-percent of what you'd typically expect but normal charge.

6.  Had to wait for 70 minutes at the Mannheim train station.....waited mostly out front of the building.  Two cops on patrol.....they must have checked ID on 15 guys while I was standing there.....NONE of them German types. Just odd....being fairly aggressive.  But none of the 15 had any issues (they all had their ID).

2 May 2024: Three German News Stories

 1.  Interesting piece  on Focus, written by Gabor Steingart, entitled: "The idiocy with the ban on combustion engines - 5 reasons why we'll soon get rid of it again."

Basically, he lays out that the EU ban on selling  gas/diesel car after 2035....is likely come up for another vote after the EU election, and could be tossed....meaning that the German ban is then gone in some fashion.

I'll just say that the hype from the public in Germany has hit a max-point.....maybe one out of five desire an e-car. 

2.  16 Amazon delivery vans in Berlin have been lite on fire in recent days.  Some group is saying they are responsible.

3.  Cops in Kaiserslautern got called Tuesday night....some late-30's guy going nuts.  They tried to get him calmed down....things went badly....so they resorted to the stun-taser.  Guy collapses.....ends up dying.

Investigation against the two cops started up now.

What the witnesses say (mostly relatives)...guy was acting funny and inflicting cuts upon himself.....before the cops arrived.  

A Scoop Of Ice Cream Inflation Chatter

 I noticed off Focus a long talk this AM on the price of one scoop of ice cream in Germany now.

In a normal summer, I'd probably stop and have a scoop or two.....forty-odd times in a summer.  

If you went back to the era before Covid (say 2018)....a scoop ran around 90 Euro-cents to 1-Euro. 

Today?  The Focus folks walked around to a number of cities.  Bochum: 1.40 Euro. Dortmund: around 1.43 Euro.  Bonn: 1.50 Euro. Dresden: around 1.83 Euro. Hamburg: around 1.87 Euro.

My big thrill?  Occasionally, I'll stop in a coffee shop/bakery and have a Espresso (double).  This used to be (prior to Covid) around 2.40 Euro.  Back in December, I stepped into a bakery where the double-Espresso was 4.80 Euro.  I didn't catch the cost change until she'd rung the cup up.  Since then, I eyeball the menu and get a price estimate before I buy it.

Here's the thing....inflation hasn't hit a stopping point yet.  

By the end of 2025 (in 18 months)....I expect the 1.50 Euro one-scoop of ice cream to be absolutely at 2.0 Euro.   I expect the 3.00 Euro double-Espresso to be near 4.00 Euro.