1. Health Ministry drawing up two major changes. First, they want 'supervised-drinking' of 14/15 year old German kids....turned off. At age 16, German teens can buy beer and wine. There was a 'understanding' that you as a parent...could hold a party and supervise controlled drinking of beer/wine. Well....the Ministry is saying that was not a good idea.
Second thing....there is a party trend going on where people buy nitrous oxide (laughing gas). The Health Ministry says this is a stupid and unhealthy trend...wanting it made illegal.
2. WELT piece from yesterday, getting you prepared to avoid intentional or accidental misgendering in Germany.
Under the new Self-Determination Act, you could be detained by the police and brought into court. As journalists hint....court episodes are already predicted.
Pronoun add-on's? “Dey” or “xier”.
Acceptance by German society? You might have to allow for one entire generation (40 years) for this to be successful.
3. Stun-devices being issued to German police has been slow in coming. So I was reviewing NDR news and this story came up.
To sum it up....German police were called about two weeks in Ahrensburg (north Germany)....a guy on the street had been attacked by someone...with a knife and brass knuckles. The guy was acting crazy.
So a patrol arrived to ensure safety. They went to the standard 'halt' your attack strategy....he resisted. Then as training requires....one of the police told the resister guy that he was going to be tazed.
The taze working? Well....not exactly. So in man-handling the wild guy....things got out of control, and a second taze was attempted.....with this failing mostly because the two police themselves got a dose of the taze. One of the police actually lost consciousness and had to be treated in hospital. The other cop complained of pain in her arm.
The wild guy? He was finally subdued and sent off to a psychiatric clinic.
Over the past decade, I've read a good bit of police stories over the use of stun-weapons, and how it's 50-50 if they work. The belief I have.....while there has been a fair amount of testing....I don't think anyone has tested the situation if the guy was on meth, or extreme drugs.
In this case....in close-quarters 'combat'.....if you were the cop, you might taze your patrol partner and make the situation worse than necessary.
4. The biggest BS rumor of the day? The US national soccer team needs a new coach. Rumor has it that they approached German legend....Jurgen Klopp.
Klopp? Newly retired from FC Liverpool (9 years). He made it clear....he's taking a full year off, and chilling out.
Odds of signing him? ZERO.
5. Audi boss chatter? He indicates a newly modified gas engine is coming out within 2 years. You see various hints that gas/diesel engines will still be around after 2035.
6. Public forum show....Maybrit Illner (ZDF, Channel 2 of public TV) ran last night. Topic? NATO, 'cold-war', and Ukraine-Russia war.
Lot of people denying a 'cold-war' has started up again. I think from Germans and Americans over the age of 60....who remember the 1970s/1980s....will agree, 'cold-war' has started up again. Those under 60....not convinced of this.
US/German agreement on bringing in long-range cruise missiles? Definite movement toward 'cold-war'.
7. WELT piece: strong belief that Russian agents are now in Germany/EU....planning something.
8. NTV item from this morning....new wave of Covid coming into Germany now.
9. Spain expected to have 43-million 'guests' as tourists in 2024....most ever.
10. I ended up at a ice-cream shop yesterday....first visit for 2024. Banana split? 9.90 Euro (was 7.80 Euro back in 2020).
2 comments:
On point 6 I'm way under 60, and I don't think the cold war ever really ended.
In the 1990s...I remember the day when the US military announced they were thinking of a 'cold-war' medal....thinking it was a joke, and then a year later...I was awarded it. Several of us sat around the vault discussing this matter. The general feeling was that the 'cold-war' was ONLY connected to the Warsaw Pact/Soviet Union, and once they dissolved...there should have been a new term/word invented. Within a year, you could observe at all of these US bases in Germany...all of these war-bunkers being dismantled/torn down. If you look around Germany today....the build war-bunker mentality has returned....billions will end up being spent over the next decade in Germany...to help people feel 'safe'.
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