16 Sep 2024: Five German News Stories

 1.  I skipped watcheding the public forum show on ARD (public German TV) last night.....the Caren Miosga show.  Scheduled discussion?  Migration and the CDU Party's North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Wüst.

So from news reports....things got distracted for a while....the show allows audieces and is done 'live'.  It was interrupted by demonstrators, who had some agenda to bring up the deaths of two Kurdish journalists. 

Some kind of banner came up with the names of the two journalists (dead).

Miosga?  Well....she asked in a nice way for the ladies shouting....to state their cause (briefly) or leave the building.

That seemed to work to some degree.  Staff folks tried to talk to them and show concern.  

To be honest, with NFL football action going on, and various options on TV....I doubt that maybe one out of twenty Germans were watching the public forum show (it  comes on at 9:45 PM anyway).  

Wouldn't surprise me if they cut the audience out in future episodes.

2.   Some oil and natural gas prices are on the decline for this winter, in terms of heating costs.  You might be able to say that increasing numbers of Germans switching over to heat-pumps did this, but it's a very small number.  

3.  New migration deal signed between Germany and Uzbekistan.  Limited explanation via public TV.  Chancellor Scholz was visiting and signed the agreement over the weekend.

4.  WELT had a piece this AM...talking over increasing numbers of Venezuelan refugees in Saxony (the state).....over past year....one out of five in Saxony applying for asylum....were from Venezuela. Locals say they make a very strong to immigrate and get jobs.

5.  Lot of flooding in Czech and Poland.....due to heavy rains.  'Storm of the century' is uttered a good bit.

14 Sep 2024: Ten German News Stories

 1.  Lufthansa is going to lease a couple of passenger planes from Air Baltic....more business than expected.

2.  26 districts of Germany put on flood-alert for the weekend.  Heavy rain to the southeast.

3.  Disney-plus streaming video....awful desperate.....lowering first 3 months to 1.99 Euro to lure German consumers in.

4.  Skeptical story....German gov't reporting that five-times the normal amount of sick days being used presently (in last quarter)....saying it's due to increased colds.

5.  Focus piece this AM.....lot of EU political figures now worried over car industry and loss of jobs (suggesting this millions potential affected).  A lot of this....goes  back to C02 topics and the approaching gas/diesel 'dump' (2035).  Accompanying this....the car industry has said in research....they expect billions in fines on themselves to occur....meaning the collapse could occur fairly quickly.  EU able to save them?  How?  Unless you agree the whole logic of C02-worry was BS.  

6.  German gov't now admits that once you apply for asylum and fail....if you demand a 2nd review (legal system)....it takes an average of 18 months to complete the 2nd check.  Politicians are demanding this be done in 90 days.  Only way to reach this?  You'd have to hire several thousand 'extra' judicial people to speed up the process.

7.  German pharmacy association says that there is a nation-wide shortage of about 500 medications.  Antibiotics now on the list.

8.  Saxony investigation of voter-fraud in the recent election....centering on one poll-worker....44-year-old.  Appears that the person did some shady stuff.  If this is laid out and legit?  It'll shock some people.  But it just doesn't appear that he did more than dozens of vote-fraud.

9.  The 49-Euro Bahn card (bus-train use)?  Well....LOT of chatter that it's  going to increase by 40-percent in January.  I'll just say it was under-priced from day one and required gov't sponsorship to be priced at 49-Euro.

10.  For a brief 60 seconds...some German-Kenyan treaty was discussed on the news last night.  You won't find much mention today via any of the news organizations.

The deal?  Germany agrees over a multi-year period to take up to 250,000 Kenyan 'qualified'/trained Kenyans....through a process.

Problems?  You'd have to show qualifications...meaning a year or two of training, or some college time.....so the typical crowd with marginal skills....won't be accepted.  If you apply, there will be a process....meaning a background review.  If you had some bad-boy behavior, you probably won't be accepted.  If accepted, you get a visa, and fly into Germany (legit).

The best and brightest leaving Kenya?  Well...YEAH.  That is a big problem I see developing.  Kenya seems to think after five to ten years of employment in Germany....the folks might return. I'd have my doubts on that.

All done on a Friday?  Yeah....this announcement is a bit bitter for the public to understand.  No mention of this in the past year?  No, and if you were a bit anti-migrant....this will just make you more anti-SPD and anti-Green Party.

The positive side?  You can review people before they leave and have a better idea that they are stable and capable of work required.  I'm also of the mind that 30-plus percent of those applying/being accepted....will be females.  

This Threat From Putin

 From yesterday's news....Russia's Putin came out and said if longer-range missiles are used by Ukraine against Russia itself....Russia will consider it a act of aggression by Europe.

BS?  I think the Russians have a strategy where a dozen 'soft' targets in Europe could be hit.....just to show 'concern'.  

All of this leading to a wider conflict?  Well....yeah.

So I think a couple of NATO members will wake up....stop the use of missiles by Ukraine, and this 'epic-problem' dissolves.

12 Sep 2024: Six German News Stories

 1.  The Carolabrucke....the bridge leading to the 'old-town' area of Dresden over the river....partially collapsed.  Built in 1967....the fire department is reviewing what remains....saying they expect the entire bridge is probably finished.  One interesting detail....no vehicles were lost, and no injuries reported.

It's one of four bridges in the city, and yes....it is a big deal on the non-use.  Last big audit/inspection of the bridge?  Three years ago.  

A continuing footnote on renovations of bridges and why so many are being reviewed for safety reasons.

Footnote: after this collapse....just a awful lot of chatter via TV news and discussion groups...in that dozens of major bridges in Germany are in a condition requiring replacement.

2.  1.8 meters of snow forecasted by this weekend in the Austrian Alps and encroaching upon Germany.  Maybe a month ahead of normal snowfall.  Last year? Well....it was one of the early snowfall years for central Germany, and around my valley....probably one-third of a meter over a week.  

Added to the snowfall....if you head into Czech and the region south....massive amount of rain expected over next four days....lot of flooding to occur.

3.  Interesting WELT article from Wed.....talking to the topic of media 'Antifa' situations.  German public has come to notice off public TV chat forums....moderators are gearing up a crew when AfD Party politicians appear on the show....to oppose them in strong ways.

I won't disagree with the tactic.  The moderators probably believe they are on some moral high-ground, and there's nothing wrong with 'hitting' AfD.  The problem I see....as people watch this, it wouldn't take much to say public TV has a problem, and enhance the idea of gutting the TV tax.

4.  Curious story over Koln's 'Pascha' brothel (largest brothel in Europe).  For those not familiar with it....it is a pink-colored building designed as a hotel, but serving as a legit and licensed German brothel.

So, there's been this investigation going on.  Oddly, the owners 'sold' residence permits to well-to-do Chinese folks.

Brothel temporarily owned by the gov't?  Well....yeah.  The rest of this story?  It goes off to suggest that the well-to-do folks are people-smugglers in some way, and I'm just guessing here....but female Chinese folks are being part of this story.

5.  There was a open-talk in the Bundestag yesterday.  Things got highly critical of the Chancellor (Scholz).  When he finally got up and did defensive talk....he got highly animated (more so than usual, lot of arm waving).

6.   Across all of Germany today (Thursday)....it's supposed to be a test of the national warning system (not just sirens, but includes cellphones as well).

11 Sep 2024: Fourteen German News Stories

 1. Germany has said if you are a migrant trying to enter German from the border states....they can refuse you and send you back to the border state.

Well....yesterday, Austria announced that it will NOT accept a migrant sent back across the border.

Just a humble feeling....by the end of 2024....I suspect six European countries will have a massive border control going on, and likely extending through all of 2025.  

The EU needing to resolve this? Yeah, but how?  I'll predict for the 2025 fall election in Germany....both the CDU and SPD have to promise the public of a massive border control-force (probably in the range of 12,000 personnel to be created by 2027).  Funny how we revolve back to tight borders like it was in 1984.  

I should add...with border security bumped-up (even on the Austrian border)....it's possible the German police would encounter some refugee....determine their status on the spot, and deny them entry....meaning they get turned around and sent back into Austria.  If the Austrians are there to grasp the moment, the refugee would re-enter Austria (without paperwork or status).  When he approaches the Austrians and requests migration papers....they will ask questions, and this will be interesting to see how they allow him to stay.

2.  Chancellor Scholz talks of major effort to bring peace-talks up between the Ukraine and Russia.

I think Scholz wants to get this off the ground before January, and the possibility that Trump is President again, and staging his own peace-talks.

3.  German doctors  want to push an agenda....if you miss an appointment...out of your own pocket (not health insurance)....you need to pay a 'fee'.  How much?  Left out of the talk so far....but I would assume something in the range of 50 Euro.

4.  SWR (public TV for the Pfalz) did a news item....suggesting a Trump 'win' will mean the end of Spangdahlem and Ramstein Air Bases.

BS?  

I'll just say that the war in the Ukraine has proven a number of things....one of which....is that Russia isn't capable of invading Europe  (especially after all the loses they've encountered).

Add to this....there is a debt problem brewing for the US, and budget gutting is a absolute must.

Finally, a lot of people will suggest that in the 1990s....NATO should have evolved, and the US should have picked the time to lessen  its presence.  Because of the Balkans War....that never happened.

So yeah, I also speculate that a Trump-win means the exit-door is opened.

5.  This week, my village (4k residents) is having a town-hall meeting, and one topic to be discussed.....having the entire village set to a 30 kph (19 mph) speed limit.

Presently....about 90-percent of the town is set to 50 kph (31 mph).  

A big deal?  There are four entry-exit points to the village.  I don't think it'll be a big deal...other than the idea....probably a year away....to having a blitz-camera to create speeding tickets  (my belief).

The village over the hill from mine....has around five blitz-cameras.  

6.   At some point on Tuesday morning in Ingolstadt (Bavaria)....two guys (25/22) are at some bus stop and get into a argument.

Both board a bus, and one guy stabs the other (seriously injured).

Cops have arrested the knife guy.  Depending on the number of charges....he could be looking at five years in prison (my guess).

7.  I skipped watching Monday night's 'Hart Aber Fair' political chat-forum show.  Looking over reports....it was an interesting discussion.  It was mostly about migration in Germany, knife-attacks, and the general perception among Germans.

So the Interior Minister of NRW was there, and made some analysis....in simple terms, he notes....'you aren't allowed to name problems, because the minute you do, people want to stigmatize you'.

I don't disagree with his observation....this is an odd development in the past decade, and one of the reasons why almost one-third of the country is seriously anti-migrant.  If you think the other two-thirds are pro-migrant....you'd be wrong.  I'd say it's near 50-percent of Germans who'd accept migration, but they want rules, processes, and limits.  

At 8:15 PM on Monday night (prior to 'Hart Aber Fair'....what ARD (public TV, channel 1) did run....was a 45-min documentary piece called "Future in East Germany."

I watched the bulk of the documentary piece.  My description?  ARD sent a team to talk to people in Eastern Germany, and laid out their negative views of migrants.  The selling point of the documentary?  To convince the non-eastern Germans that these poor people in the east....just don't get it (they aren't like us).  Skepticism?  This is the key part of the overall story, which I think the journalists  missed.  It's just a lot of skepticism building up within the working-class community, and some journalists telling you a story....doesn't mean you buy any part of it.

8.  Chatter yesterday....health insurance for Germans will likely climb in the 20-percent range for 2025.

9.  The coalition gov't (SPD-Greens-FDP) gave a news conference after their meeting on the migration 'problem' yesterday.

Basic description....nothing happened of any consequence.  

The funny side of this developing mess...is that migration woes have now moved up to a top-three problem, and we are within a year of the federal election.  As long as they just 'stall'....it's just adding 'points' to the CDU-CSU voter-base.  I feel confident that they know the consequence.

10.  VW came out yesterday and said 'job-security' is gone.  Within 2025....a number of positions will be eliminated.  

11.  Heino (the popular German singer) came out and said something to the effect....'Germany needs a political figure like Trump'....then referenced it to the safety factor....saying 'it can't possibly be that in Germany, people are fearful of going out on the streets'.

While he'll be stigmatized for the Trump reference....the truth is that there is no such politician existing in Germany....so you don't need to fear for the arrival of a German-Trump.

But his other reference....the fear factor?  I don't think it exists in small towns or villages.  But when you come to cities of 100,000 or more....probably a good thirty-percent or more of the population....pay attention now to the surroundings and are more vigilant than five years ago.  The knifings and personal assaults/robberies....add up.

The only thing that the politicians can do?  Add more police....stage more patrols....frisk people at random....talk about more deportations while being unable to accomplish them.  Vicious circle.

12. WELT analysis article, published today....worth a read if you can find the paper.  Topic?  The dismantling of the German nuclear power capability is a mess.  By their numbers, shutting them down worsened the C02 balance even more, and the true money-cost is around 600 billion Euro.  

13. Draft of the 2025 German federal budget published yesterday.....3,000 pages long. 

14.  BMW gave a warning yesterday....profitability is now a problem for stock-holders.  

In Terms Of Immigration, Why Is The Better 'Deal' In Germany?

 Back around eight years ago....I watched some German public forum show (I'll admit....maybe 60 percent of the time...they do present a good discussion and sometimes a audience member asks a 1,000 Euro question).

In this forum...migration and immigration was the key topic, and someone stood to ask...why is it that migrants usually ONLY want to migrate toward the UK or Germany?  

It was a legit question I thought, and no one could give much of an answer....so they just moved on.

What people have quietly said since then....both the UK and Germany offer better 'allowances', benefits, and more likely to accept migrants.

The fact that the EU has never established a 'standard'?  Well....yeah, I've often wondered about that.  

The essential problem here?  Well....in the mind of a typical Greek or Portuguese political figure....they are not about to offer a German 'standard' for a migration situation.  The German political figure?  He's not about to accept a low-ball Greek figure for the migrant.  

It's the same essential argument when you talk over qualifications....where the Poles or Spanish folks would readily accept people with nursing backgrounds or engineering degrees....but they really don't want to bring in 15,000 folks who only have a background in running a fruit-carts (in the old country).

The EU folks trying to re-balance this discussion?  Good luck on that.

10 Sep 2024: Eight German News Stories

 1.  Interesting WELT article from Monday....worth reading if you can find the paper.  Kurd who immigrated into Germany back in 2015....now a successful lifeguard in Germany....interviewed.  He says from work-experience (from the pool business)....a fair number of migrants arrive and want to impose the old country rules upon Germans.

2.  AfD Party in Thuringia....asked two parties to coalition talks (CDU and BSW).  Both refused to participate.

Zero chance of a AfD coalition gov't, but you have 30 days typically to attempt to form one.

3.  Push to bring minimum wage in Germany to 15 Euro an hour.

4.  BSW Party stirred the migration-issue 'pot' yesterday.  New idea.

So in their plan.....as the migrant enters Germany and asks for paperwork to start their application....the police would ask.....how did you arrive?  Answer...via France, Poland, Austria, etc?  These are safe  countries....you need to return there and apply in those  countries.

Only way you could pass via this strategy?   You'd have to fly in (remember airlines check for passports/visas) or boat in (from the Atlantic or Baltic). 

Odds of passing?  I think right off the bat....the CDU/CSU would support the idea. 

5.  Asylum center planned in Rott am Inn (hour's drive SE of Munich)....in village of 4,000 residents.....had a protest situation start up.  Majority of town has said 'no' to the center.  I looked at the size planned out for this 'center'.....would have taken 500 guests....so it is a sizeable place on the plan.

6.  Some talk going on in the grocery chains....lack of skilled deli-department people.  Actual suggestion going on.....that they would temporarily bring in non-Germans to do the work.  

7.  Weather folks talking about a huge 'wet' front coming through on Thursday....expect flooding.

8.  By order of the Interior Minister....for next six months....'control' will be established at the border.  Massive amount of police effort.  They've already warned the Ministry that this can't run indefinitely, without a manpower 'fix'.  

9 Sep 2024: Ten German News Stories

 1.  Concerning that machete-Albanian guy who walked into a Koblenz area police station at 2:30 AM Saturday and threatened to kill police....being apprehended and charged-up.

When you walk into a German police station (I've walked into a couple)....there's the outer door which is controlled, so you usually have to buzz your way past it.  Then you enter into a customer-room, with a security glass area where the cops are sitting.  If they invite you past the customer-room....you have to get 'buzzed' to enter their area. 

So, this nut-case who made the threat....got locked right there in the customer area.  Once they got the taser out, and had a couple of police in the parking lot.....this guy was 'toast'.  

On police-threat charges?  I would imagine he's looking at enough to get a full-year in jail.

2.  I sat and watched a N-TV news piece yesterday....on the 'recovery' of ISIS in Germany.  They give various reasons for this, but the bottom line?  The experts told N-TV.....there's likely to be wave after wave of terror acts coming over the next year.

3.  Business report out there indicating a 2025 expansion plan of McDonalds in Germany....indicating several hundred new buildings to be established, and possibly up to 10,000 new employees.

I gazed over the story....mostly in disbelief.  Their focus seems to be getting more drive-in points established....where folks picked up food on their way to work, or on their way home.  

4.  Lot of political talk over the weekend about VW financial problems.  Some suggestion now that the EU should get involved and offer help in terms of Euro.

5.  Political chatter over the weekend by Chancellor Scholz.  He seems to believe that the SPD will confirm him as a candidate in the fall 2025 fed-election here in Germany, and that the public will get him the votes.

I give it....zero percent chance of the party re-confirming him.  

6.  Lindner, the Finance Minister (FDP)....gave a talk this weekend.  Two protest ladies stopped the talk....disrobing and going topless for their 'speech'. 

7.   CDU came out over the weekend with a plan to 'control' p0rn.  They want to create a p0rn-pass.  You would have to have a pass to enter any digital p0rn site.  In getting the pass, you'd have to establish your age.  

This working?  Well....VPNs would defeat the idea.  I would imagine teenagers would figure the way around this.  Then the 16-year old crowd would demand adult-status.....which I doubt that the CDU wants to give them.

Magazine and video p0rn to still exist?  Yeah.

I'm not sure this is a priority but the typical conservative voter will probably list it as a top-100 issue.  

8.  From WELT, Harold Martenstein wrote an interesting political piece for Sunday, if you can find a copy....worth reading.  Topic?  He points out three odd factors...the German CDU Party (right-of-center) ought to win the next election.....they will likely be forced to partner in some way with the BSW Party.....and that the BSW Party is in some ways similar to the AfD Party (far-right). 

Yeah, naturally, the CDU gov't (anticipating this)....would be handcuffed in a way to left-wing agendas.....something that Merkel vowed a dozen years ago...would not happen with the party.

I'll just say this....as the CDU does partner-up with BSW....I see a fair  number of German conservative voters being disgruntled after a year or two, and likely exiting the door to a more right-wing type party.  Come the 2029 fed-election...it's possible that the AfD Party picks up 3-to-4 points over their 2025 results...over this disgruntled crowd.

9. Interesting N-TV news piece this AM.....over 140 German villages (of size)....don't have a post office.  Reason?   These are usually 'contracted-out' to tobacco shops, lotto shops, or corner grocery shops.  Well....in these 140 villages....no commercial operation has applied for the contract (either they don't want the trouble, or it doesn't pay enough for the hassle).

In my village, for over 20 years, it's been run by the stationary/school supply shop/lotto shop.  

10.  ZDF (public TV, Channel 2) is based out of the Mainz area.  Yesterday....they were attempt to run a live music show ('Fernsehgarten').  Massive storm came up at the last minute, and the crowd was dismissed (it is typically a outdoor operation).  They found some empty studio, and ran the show from there.

8 Sep 2024: Six German News Stories

 1.  Another stabbing, Karlsruhe train-station....Friday evening.  Standing on one of the platforms....32-year old guy got stabbed.  Culprit made it away.

2.  Up in the state of NRW (NW Germany).....a company was given the contract to shut-down a nuke plant (billions paid to them).  Well....company went bankrupt.  Dissolved now.

Gov't says they will have to step in and re-fund the shut-down themselves....at least a couple billion would have to be generated out of thin-air.

3.  This odd partnership between BMW and Toyota.....to build hydrogen-powered cars?  Well....it came out this past week, and might have serious implications, but it's a decade away.

Meanwhile,  I'll just say when the topic comes up with middle-class/working-class Germans, there's minimum enthusiasm for E-cars.  I'd say presently.....ONLY around one out of five Germans seem willing to go the E-car route.

Harsh reality of hydrogen cars?  Well.....in my circle of 20 miles around Wiesbaden....I know of ONLY ONE single fueling station (was made for hydrogen-buses originally).  

Even if you came up with a 40k Euro hydrogen vehicle....it'd take 15 years minimum to get stations set up and geared to fuel-up H-cars.  Course, the selling point is that you'd probably only require seven minutes to fuel up a H-car.  

4.  Hessen (the state) is saying now....a thinking process to help save VW is going on....to save jobs.  Wouldn't shock me if the state found half-a-billion to funnel into some zero-percent loan deal.

5.  Odd brawl....2:30 AM Saturday morning....two 'gangs' met up in the area of a Breitenbach am Herzberg (Hersfeld-Rotenburg) 'fair' (here in Hessen).

At least six folks arrested....one guy sent to a hospital. 

Yes, knives were involved.  Police still investigating.

6.  For a couple of hours Saturday...railway traffic was halted in central Germany....radio disruption was blamed.

German Fashion Trend

 In the past two weeks....Hessen state summer vacation....for schools....ended.  The kids are back in school.

So as kids come back in....you start to notice two obvious German youth fashion trends that have developed over the summer.

Back around 12 years ago....Goth existed in teen fashion.  Even in the city of Wiesbaden....we had one attire shop which specialized (at the time) in Goth.  Then it mostly up and disappeared over one single year.  

Well....walking around in the past two weeks....it seems like Goth is now making a comeback.  I've probably noticed forty German juveniles in the city of Wiesbaden dressed up in Goth.

The second trend?  Japanese Anime-style.  The blue hair, the green hair, and the dress/attire....set to what you'd notice in Tokyo.  Just yesterday, I probably counted at least twenty kids dressed in the style.

Two odd trends?  Well....fashion among teens has to constantly evolve (it can remain the same).  It's just odd how the green/blue hair thing comes into style.

7 Sep 2024: Three German News Stories

 1.  Grocery operation Edeka...says it will lessen the deli-meat-counter personnel in their operations...mostly over two reasons: meat consumption overall is lessening, and skilled labor shortage.  

My local Edeka (at least in mid-afternoon shifts) still has four people on the deli counter.  But they also handle the cheese counter as well.

2.  Linke Party observing the VW car mess...says that stock-holders should prepare to pay back dividends....to cover the cost instead of a austerity program for VW.  

If this were to be the plan....VW stock would drop like a rock.

3.  If you were a drinker of the German discount soda 'River-Cola'....you might want to stock up while you can.  The operation is going to halt production....not enough profit.  The only place you could ever buy it....was the Aldi grocery chain.

This Migration Solution Using the Rwanda Idea?

 Well....if you remember for the past five years....the Brits attempted (via the Tory gov't) to create a path for failed migrants to exit the UK....going to Rwanda.  You'd get an apartment....some limited start-up money, and never come back.  Once the courts read everything.....they said 'NO'. 

This week, it came up in Germany....they are examining the Rwanda deal.  This mostly comes out of the FDP Party circles.

How it'd work?  Unknown.  I'm guessing the Germans would pay a entry fee to Rwanda....probably 10,000 Euro minimum.   You'd probably have a choice....go to your original homeland, or go to Rwanda.  

Court issues here?  Yeah...it'll be challenged. 

After pondering over this....I think it's about 90-percent BS, and mostly there to stir the pot on conversation.  There are still over 50,000 on the deportation list, and I think both the CDU and SPD are desperate now....trying to take AfD down a step or two....that they'd engage on a number of crazy ideas. 

5 Sep 2024: Eleven German News Stories

 1.  IFO spoke up and said Germany....at least until 2026....is in stagnation.  Cause?  Poor orders, no new investment money, and consumers have lowered 'consumption'.

Would imagine it'll be a top 3 discussion for fed-election in 2025.

2.  Heated talk going on in the Bundestag....with the CDU 'boss' (Merz) giving the SPD a deadline to rig up a fix on migrants (Tuesday).  It looks like there's finally going to be a limit created.  How this works?  Unknown.

3.  From Wed...FC Schalke 04 had a 'friendly' match with a regional Dutch team (NAC Breda).  

Well...things went south after the game....with 300-odd fans from the two groups attacking each other.  Football fan all-out brawls are pretty rare these days.  Local cops are saying.....there's going to be consequences with the folks arrested.

4.  Oasis has announced two MORE concerts in 2025.  Lot of hyped-up Brits over the 'comeback' of the rock band.

5. I watched a regional (HR) talk yesterday...on the business spiral for pharmacy operations in Germany.  On average....one pharmacy every single day...is shutting own (due to lack of profit).

6.  That shooter in Munich?  18-year old Austrian, radicalized Muslim.  

7.  German teacher's association says things are rough in schools, and they want 'security'.  Not sure how they mean this.....sounds like they want actual police within the building.  

Manpower for this?  NO.  Could they hire folks?  Pretty sure there are a number of retirees with military background, but you'd just stir up more problems.

8.  Putin 'says' he wants to put support behind Kamala Harris.  Odd statement and there are various ways you might interpret the support.  

9.  Saxony CDU 'boss' says after the election...a minority coalition situation is 'not an option'.  One way or another....they will partner with BSW. 

10.  This morning, a guy walked into the Koblenz police station, with a machete....waving it around.  Threat was to kill policemen.  Cops kept him cornered....used a taser on him....then arrested the guy.  Guy identified as a Albanian.  Just based on description of the incident....this being 2:30 AM....I'd say he was drugged-up or drunk.

11.  Starting to be conversation videos....where VW employees kinda admit....even 12 months ago, there were signs of economic collapse going on with the car-maker. 

AM Attack in Munich?

 What the police say.....this AM...(anniversary of the 1972 Olympic attack)...some 'guy' exchanged gunfire near the Israeli Consulate General. 

All the cops say is this guy fired a few rounds, and the security folks there fired some rounds....in the end, the guy was shot dead.

No ID.  No motivation angle.  

No one else wounded or killed in the episode.

German Elections, Mail-In Ballots, and the AfD Party 'Complaint'

 First, a rare thing....there's at least three or four investigations being conducted by the German police over ballot 'woes' from the past weekend in Saxony and Thuringia.  

If you asked me on the numbers of problem-ballots...based on the news stories told...I'd say it's between 300 and 400.  I should state here...there are various ways that they seem suspicious.  They may all be legit...but just having some element of suggesting a problem.

Fair number of them being mail-in ballots?  Yes.

Germany allows a mail-in situation, but there are some general rules.  You are supposed to present yourself at the county/city office and say that you will be gone that Sunday, or on some vacation, or in a hospital.  They issue you a ballot, and you fill it in at home....then post it at the local mail-box.

Absentee ballots started in 1957 in Germany, and in the past decade....has been rather popular (2021 election....47-percent of voters went and picked up a ballot).

So in today's news....it came out that the AfD Party (the  right-wing folks) feel that something illegal is going on, and against them.  Proof?  No.  Their intent?  I would imagine they want the absentee ballot restricted in some way.     

The only suspicious thing I've noticed?  A lot of retirement homes have 'helpers' who help retirees to fill out the ballots.  It's possible that 'help' might be corrupted in some way.  Proof of this?  No.  

All of this conversation drawing negative conversation?  Well....yeah, that is the trend I see.

A higher rate of Germans voting in the two states?  Yeah, I noticed that trend....going from the mid-60 percentage range....to the mid-70 range.

As for convincing folks it's a 4-star problem?   That has yet to occur.  

Just An Odd Thing I've Noticed

 Since the election in the UK (back in early July)....I've come to notice an odd thing.

I browse a bit on social media....across various sites.  And I've come to notice almost daily....some Brit asking questions over jobs, relocating, and how life might work beyond the Isle.

I'm not saying huge numbers....just that almost every day.....I'll notice five to ten folks.  The odd thing....prior to the election...I might have noticed one or two a year.

I don't converse with them or ask questions.  I just assume that these are people who see some type of exit-path required and are taking the initial steps in leaving.  

I looked up the numbers for 2023.  202,000 EU people living in the UK.....left.  For Brits-only?  Around 98,000 said 'adios' and left.

From my social media observations?  Well....I can't readily tell if the people talking of leaving are 'pure' Brit, or some EU person who has had 'enough'.

A trend to worry about?  Well....I'm pretty sure if the 98k were to escalate to 130k.....it wouldn't really worry folks about exiting people.  If 300,000 Brits in 2025 were to leave?  Yeah, that would start to worry the bean-counters and taxation people.

Disgruntled people?  No one tells their personal feelings....they just ask....what  does it take to get working-papers for Germany, or can you do a immigration request to Australia.  

I admit....it'd be interesting to have a couple of these folks at a round-table, and just let them share their feelings.

All of this leading back to some failure of BREXIT?  Well....I might say 50-percent of this is a woeful tale of BREXIT, with incompetent leadership.  Some of this is simply poor Tory strategies for the economy. 

Bottom line?  You really don't want a status for your country as a place where folks are excited to leave.  

Oasis Story

 This is an amusing story.

Back in the early 1990s....this rock-band formed in Birmingham, England.  Name of the group?  Oasis.  You may have heard of them.

Two years into their 'adventure'....a record label signed them up, and they put out their first record.

It's safe to say from 1993 to 1999....they were on the fast-lane....widely known, and mostly in disagreement about their music.  In 1999....two of the original members of the group got stressed-out and  left.

As the next decade went on....more members came and went.  What remained were the two brothers...Liam and Noel, and a replacement group.

Around 2009, various issues came up and trying to get Liam and Noel to be functional....were lost.  The band dissolved.

In the past month....Liam and Noel have found some path to regroup, and have concerts. 

So the ticket process opened up.....tickets sold out (mostly to people who are 35 to 60).  Yeah, tickets sold out.....then they popped up on various outlets....priced at a hefty profit.

Yesterday morning....it came out that the British authorities are disturbed by the profit business with the band's tickets.

Not  to be outdone.....the EU stood up yesterday and said they need to be in the middle of this....so there will be some kind of EU commission investigation (yeah, we really need that going on).

Regulations likely to come out of this crap?  Yeah.  

But here's the thing....if you start messing with concert tickets....won't you open up a can of worms?  Why would you price X-band tickets at 120 Euro?  Isn't pro-soccer in the same  discussion?  Why should I pay 40 Euro for a soccer game?  

All of this political hype....occurring over a stupid re-grouping of Oasis?  Yeah, that's the amazing part of the story.

5 Sep 2024: 6 German News Stories

 1.  This VW spiral?  This is now the top developing story in Germany.  

From the prospective of the Union and workers...disaster.  They want answers, and this BS about closing down plants is going 'turbo'.

The gov't?  So far, it's just a discussion.  To help VW?  Financially, it's in the 5-billion Euro range.  My humble view is that the gov't could rig up a interest-free loan...whether it meets the 5-billion or even half that amount....is the question.  

The fact that the board of VW is not stable?  Well....that makes for a more interesting development.

2.  Chatter of the FDP Party being on a 'death-bed'?  This goes to the idea that in the fall 2025 fed-election....the party might not get 5-percent or more of the vote.....thus losing all seats in the Bundestag.  

3.  There's political chatter on tobacco bans.  So the talk goes to 2 issues: (1) banning of 'flavored' vape E-cigarettes', and (2) banning of cigarettes' at kiosks and gas stations.  

What's left if they did the bans?  Mostly buying smokes at grocery stores, tobacco shops, and the machines at restaurants/pubs.  

4.  AfD Party has seats in the NRW state assembly.  They went asking about 'gang-rapes' in the state, demanding information.  Well....the police delivered and the bulk of the reported gang-rapes leads you to a migration-issue.  I don't think the state expected this fall-out.

5.  There's pressure building in German eastern states....onto the CDU Party.  Voters want the party to exit the public TV broadcasting treaty.  In simple terms, these voters are suggesting that public TV (ARD/ZDF) don't represent their views of Germany or the world.  

Whether the CDU parties within individual states go this far?  Unknown.

If you asked most Germans about supporting the monthly TV tax.....it's a generation thing.  Older Germans still think public TV  is needed.  Younger Germans think the tax is out-of-whack and they don't use public TV or public radio.

6. There was a public talk by the Chancellor yesterday.  Number of hard criticisms leveled at Scholz and the coalition by members of the audience.  There's no doubt a majority of Germans now want a early election.  

Election Fraud Chatter

So, there's some added investigation going on in Thuringa and Saxony now.

Dresden area?  Suggestion of manipulated ballots.

Saxony? Police looking at  130 manipulated ballots.

Radeberg area? Police have in their possession....14 faked-up ballots (2 different stations).

Added to the Dresden investigation?  Well....17 ballots that seem to have been marked in one way.....later changed to another way. All of these ended being marked for the Free Saxony Party (fair far-right wing group). 

Yeah, it's a bit odd to have this much manipulation and police efforts.  

Political Chatter

 I sat and watched a N-TV segment this AM on a delicate German topic.....how the CDU/CSU Party might partner-up for a coalition situation with the BSW Party.

So the summary goes this way....the CDU/CSU folks can't work deals with the Linke Party or the AfD Party....this is apparently written in stone.

Some folks on the far conservative side of the CDU/CSU Party....now indicate the same problems exist with BSW.

Who is the BSW?  It's a newly created party....coming in the past two years. The  Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance – Reason and Justice (BSW).  Yeah, it belongs to Sahra Wagenknecht....former big player of the Linke Party.

About four years ago....you could tell that Wagenknecht was being pushed aside in the Linke Party....so she decided to exit, and make up her own party.

Ideology?  Left-wing populism to some degree....with elements of nationalism. Absolutely grounded to Socialism.  Showing some element of Euroscepticism.

Yeah....they aren't really a right-wing or neutral party.

Pro-Russia?  I'd say they've taken various positions of not supporting Ukraine, and that ending the war is a priority.

This element of the CDU/CSU parties....having a point?  I'd take a guess that among the CSU members....more than half won't sign off on a partnership....at the national level.  Course, that's a Bavarian attitude.  Among the CDU folks....it's probably a 20-percent level where folks have a problem  in accepting this type of partnership.

Are we coming to a point in German national politics where building a coalition is near impossible?  Well....lets go to a scenario where the AfD gets near 20-percent in a national election, and the BSW Party also gets near 20-percent.  This would lead a CDU-CSU Party to only partner-up with the SPD and Greens.   It's not a terrible deal...but when you write 'promises' to make the partnership work....you end up diluting a lot of what you told voters.  

If There Were a German Federal Election Today (Instead of Fall 2025)?

 Well....if you use the latest INSA poll....CDU-CSU would win (in the 31-percent range).

2nd place?  It'd go to AfD...around 19-percent.

SPD would be near 15-percent, with the Greens near 11-percent.

BSW?  Around 9.5-percent.

FDP?  They would fail to reach the 5-percent point....thus getting zero seats.

Linke?  Same story.....fail to reach 5-percent.

So you'd sit and ask....coalition-wise....where does the CDU-CSU situation go?  Well...since they can't partner with AfD....you are left with only two options.

Option 1: CDU-CSU, with BSW and SPD.

Option 2: CDU-CSU, with SPD and Greens.

All of this assumes that  the  Greens don't falter over the next 12 months....that BSW continues it's trend upward, and that AfD doesn't get 3-to-5 points higher.  It also assumes that the FDP doesn't repair it's problems and doesn't get back to the 5-percent point.

This Thuringia Election Fraud Chatter

Well....folks felt sure the fraud stuff was over yesterday, but it appears that a investigation has to start up.

This came up during the counting of votes on Sunday evening.

Best I can describe this?  In one district of Dresden....folks were filling out ballots (paper-type) in an extremely professional manner.  This leaves the counting folks puzzled....like this was already filled out ahead of time.

The idea that other districts may have the issue?  This started today.

The idea that the CDU candidate benefited?  Well....yeah, there is that issue.

Some of this chatter revolving around two retirement homes (older voters)?  Yeah.

The idea that fifty-to-eighty odd votes in some district might be 'created' at the retirement homes?  This is generally what is driving the chatter.

I'll say this....generally....Germans don't walk into a voting booth with a ruler and do straight-line drawing on the ballot, which is what they are talking about here....with absentee paper ballots.

So this fraud chatter might be about a couple of nursing home folks...helping the retirees vote?  More or less....yes.

If the vote is figured out fraudulent?  It might be enough to flip one seat over to the AfD, but you'd have to dig deep into this to resolve the stuff.

Know Any Good Tunes?

So I'm going to tell a BS story, which existed until the last week or so.

In recent months (going back into 2023)....things were hyped up in urban areas of Germany, with folks fearing knife assaults.  

It's a honest feeling, and people are worried.  

So the Berlin police got a bit of advice (over a year ago)....it's not advice developed by themselves or some security guy....it came from a professional-association for psychiatry (consider it a suggestion of theirs).

The advice?  If you were standing there in some public place and some nutcase launches a knife assault....they (not the police's idea) said you should 'irritate the aggressive guy through unexpected behavior.....such as singing'.

The police took this tip, and put on their home-page as advice.  My gut-feeling....the older police probably were shaking their heads and suggesting this is a BS idea.

So for a long time....this was up on the page, and in the past week or two....finally removed.

My humble view?  Generally, in dealing with nut-cases.....as irrational as they are....they will react in some way to another nut-case or irrational person.  I'm not saying it's a positive move, or that it lessens the mess you are viewing.   But added to this 'moment'......if the aggressive person is on some drugged-up high....none of this irrational idea stuff or singing....really matters.  You can sing 'Louie Louie' or 'Wannabe' (by Spice Girls), and it's not likely to resolve a drugged-up guy.  

But here's the thing....there's probably a couple thousand Germans who read this stupid advice in 2023....memorized it to some degree....and even now....as the knife-nut approaches....they will  launch into 'Cherie Cherie Lady' by Modern Talking....thinking it might save them.

Yeah, it's a weird world we live in.

Six Questions

 1.  How much money does VW need to 'save' itself....based on the chatter of the past 24 hours?

Well....the rumor talk is 5-billion Euro to dig VW out of the pit.  But with this.....since the board is mostly resigned, you'd have to draft some new people, rig up a union deal that isn't very pleasant, and start to think about the gas/diesel car business in a different way.

2.  Does the SPD-coalition have 5-billion Euro to 'give' VW?

HA....that's a BS question.  Lindner, the Finance Minister, will tell you hell-no.  However, if you said this is the collapse of VW in slow motion....that you have to do something....they will invent 2 or 3 billion Euro for 2025/2026 and arrange a loan for the rest.  

3.  Does the VW collapse lead to serious mess across all of Germany?

It's a trigger....meaning there are dozens of medium-sized companies in serious jeopardy at present, and banks getting tight with money....would harm them as well.

4.  Does the state need to dump ownership of 20-percent of VW's shares?

Well....just about everyone will say yes.  Who would buy the shares?  No one can show that kind of interest.  Even  China doesn't have the money to buy into this (four years ago...yes, they would obviously make a deal).

5.  Doesn't a lot of this spiral lead back to Merkel's 'end' to gas/diesel cars?

Yeah, with China making the quality E-cars for 30-percent less than VW can.  If you dumped the ban on gas/diesel?  Well....that would reset the stage, but who is willing to dump the ban?

6.  Could Germany survive without VW?  

It's an unanswerable problem.  The question really ought to be.....where can you find 5-billion Euro?

Political Chatter

 After Sundays state election in Thuringia....the question is...how do you form a coalition to lead the state government?

Well.....AfD won but no one will partner-up with them.

CDU is in 2nd place, and would partner with anyone....except AfD.  But the only mathematical way to make this work.....CDU would partner with BSW and the Linke Party....to reach a majority (with the seat-business).  Partnering with BSW and SPD?   It won't give them an edge on seats.

So there's this vow that CDU made about a decade ago with Merkel....they would never partner with the Linke Party (the far-left).  People are now asking....will they dump this vow?

If CDU goes into this Linke partnership....would it hurt the 2025 federal election?  My guess is that far-right elements of the CDU and CSU won't be happy.  

CDU trying to run a minority government?  It's been done but it's not that successful.

The Linke folks being dragged to a conservative middle-point?  Well....it'd just hurt them in the next election.

All of this brings me to the 'showing' of voters.....almost three out of four voters showed up and voted.  So it was a pretty dramatic vote. 

Getting this coalition mess cleared up?  There will have to be a huge 20-odd page script on projects, acceptability, and promises made.   State cabinet posts?  That will be a key matter.  

And just for the record, in case you were wondering....BSW is kinda on the left side of various agenda items.  

3 Sep 2024: Four German News Stories

 1.  Some odd stabbing...Mönchengladbach area (NW Germany).....3 AM, Monday morning.  What cops say....20-year-old guy (Grevenbroich) was stabbed on the side of the road....along state highway 59. Died at the scene.

Knife guy?  Witnesses say he took off  after the attack.

No motive.

2.   In case you were wondering on 2025 elections in Germany....ONLY TWO.

State election in Hamburg (SPD/Greens should win around 50-percent between the two)

Then in the September period....Federal election. (Unless an early election occurs).

3.  VW came out yesterday and started talking about layoffs and plant closures...because business is sliding into negative numbers.

Blame?  Goes to 2 issues: First, 20-percent of company is state-owned...meaning each time that the union came for a new contract....it was politically set-up to give them what they wanted.  Adding to this problem....E-car business has hit some peak and not progressing.

This becoming a big issue?  Oh yeah.

4. Hildesheim (between Hanover and Frankfurt)....police were called.  Another stabbing.  

What's said so far....the operator/manager of a refugee shelter in the area of Sarstedt....was stabbed at the local train-station.  Manhunt conducted....culprit located and arrested.  Motive?  Not given yet.

The 'Ineffective 9-Euro Monthly Rail/Bus' Ticket?

 Back in 2023...the SPD/Green/FDP gov't pushed up an idea of creating a 3-month long ticket....costing  per person....per month...9-Euro.   You could go anywhere in Germany....rail or bus....except by fast rail (IC or ICE).  This 'success' led onto the 49-Euro monthly ticket.

Today....someone finally sat down...analyzed the 9-Euro ticket, success, and ARD (Channel 1 of public TV) published the story.

Basically....it was ineffective and expensive. 

Pretty much everything they discussed....people already knew.

To make the 9-Euro monthly ticket work in 2023....they had to 'steal' from the national budget a great deal.  Even today....to make the 49-Euro monthly ticket work....you still have to steal from the national budget.  Locally, before this gimmick came along, the same ticket would have been around 105-Euro per adult.

Political Chatter

 What one can say over the past two years in Germany....an awful lot of effort has been put out...to have anti-AfD protests/marches.  This has been a regular agenda in both the western side of the country and the eastern side.

So the measurement of effect?  I'd say after the Saxony and Thuringia state election of yesterday....marginal effect.  

Public TV (ZDF and ARD) have actively covered the protests....done interviews to 'prove' value, and had the 'experts' to say results were achieved.  

I would suggest, looking at the actual vote numbers....the counter-protests had little to no effect, but would also suggest go full-speed ahead in conducting future marches/protests.  

Why the right-wing trend in the eastern states?  I would go and suggest three observations:

1.  After WW II ended....the Brit/US/French 'push' on West Germany....was to force a fair amount of 'feel-guilty' for the war....so feeling guilty over right-wing business prior to the wing was maximized.  That's not the way that East Germany went....after the Soviets arrived and controlled matters (they just wanted you to accept socialism/communism more readily).

2.  You have an awful lot of skepticism in eastern German states over the news media.  More so than in western states of Germany.

3.   Migrants/immigrants were a big deal in 1950s/1960s West Germany.  You don't see that trend much in East Germany.

This result situation from the two states?  It'll be discussed a great deal in the coming weeks.

2 Sep 2024: 6 German News Stories

 1.   Impeachment for Macron?

Well....it goes this way....the left-party (NFP) did not get their candidate appointed as PM.  Macron went to the right-party instead....even though NFP has more seats in the national assembly.  So there is a impeachment action going on.

First step?  At the assembly level....NFP has the votes to advance the impeachment.  Second step coming up this week?   NFP doesn't have the votes to carry it any further.

Big deal?  Well....it's the drama that Macron arranged in having the election early, and likely to repeat again.

2. Thuringia state election results from yesterday:

AfD: 33 percent (prior to the election....AfD polled at 30-percent, so it was more than expected).

CDU: 24 percent.

SPD: 6 percent.

Greens: 3.2 percent (so they won't have any seats).

Linke: 13.1 percent

BSW: 16 percent.

In a majority of districts.....AfD won.

Forming a gov't coalition with AfD?  Zero percent chance.

3.  Saxony state election?

AfD: 30.6 percent (2nd place)

CDU: 31.9 percent (winner)

BSW: 11.8 percent

SPD: 7.3 percent

Linke: 4.5 percent (gets zero seats)

Greens: 5.1 percent 

CDU forming a coalition?  Well....with Greens, BSW an SPD....it'll just marginally work.

4.  In the state of NRW (NW state of Germany).....after the Solingen knife episode (3 dead)....news media folks tried for several days to contact the 'head' of the deportation efforts of the state....nothing seemed to work.

Head?  Green Party member...Josefine Paul.  

This is drawing a fair amount of criticism....on how the deportations are marginally working at present.

5.  I watched a NTV news item...discussing the ideas of bears in Germany. Pro-bear folks keep wanting to introduce bears back into the 'wilds' of Germany.  It's just hard to sell the public on this concept.

6.  I went to a fest in Wiesbaden yesterday.  Cops on duty compared to the past?  Probably double the 'old' number.  Folks in attendance?  Probably half  the normal number.  I'm not saying the knife assaults worry folks....but yeah, that feeling is there.

Brawl and Police Action

It's a page 2 type story this AM....but some brawl/fight started up yesterday at a wedding reception for two Afghan families and their 'friends'.  

What the cops say....at some point, an argument started up and someone called the police (in Wuppertal, about 30 min east of Dusseldorf). 

Some how....even the police were attacked....with five officers injured in some fashion.

Main fight focus?  Just glasses, bottles and fists.

Police reaction?  Well....they ended up using teasers and batons.

Key point in the brawl....some Afghan guy pulls a kitchen knife out, and police gave him a taser-dose.

The three gentlemen arrested?  I would imagine they will get court action, and end up with some charge of assault upon the police.  

My advice always upon encountering the German police....they don't BS around.  If they say 'quiet' and tell you to behave.....you need to obey real quick.  

What Makes the German 'Supreme' Constitutional Court Unique?

 Well....there are six courts:

1.  Federal Constitutional Court

2. Federal Court of Justice

3.  Federal Administrative Court

4.  Federal Labor Court

5.  Federal Social Court

6.  Federal Finance Court

Depending on what your challenge is....it can only go to one court.  I'm not saying it's a better design system....but the judges are locked in and can only hold power over their particular area of concern.  

Book Chatter

Around 2010....Thilo Sarrazin wrote and published a book in Germany...entitled:  'Germany Abolishes Itself'. 

First to speak to Sarrazin.....he's a bank-guy and was a SPD Party player.  For seven years (2002 to 2009), Sarrazin was on the German Bundesbank board.  He is an intellectual guy and fairly knowledgeable on commerce, banking and economics. 

What Germany Abolishes Itself was about?  It was a long analysis of how Muslim migration (to a great extent being the Turks at this point in time) was not working and integration was showing problems (already in 2010, by his summary).  

Naturally, this got Sarrazin fired out of the SPD Party, and he was condemned as a right-wing guy.

So here's the thing....about four years after this book....comes the Syria-Iraq civil war, and the migration of 2-million-plus folks into Germany. 

In some ways....whatever he said in 2010.....is laying there to be examined a second time.

So, he's written a 2nd book...entitled: "Germany On the Wrong Track".  Same topics? Yeah.....economics, crime, integration problems, etc.  He's also added education problems, digitalization, climate change, oddly enough sports, and the gender business.  

His 'slant'?  Well....a minority of folks seem to be in a bully-status....dishing it out....to the bulk of society.

Here's the thing....the folks who condemned him in 2010....will likely do the same thing in 2024.  The folks who supported him  in 2010....will likely support him even more so in 2024.  But you have those folks in the middle....who never read the book of 2010....who might pick up this book, and read through the 200-odd pages, finding various things they agree with.

This book affecting the fed-vote of 2025?  Well....that's an interesting conversation item now.

Back in 2010....you had a lot of neutral folks with no opinion on the conversation.  But now? You drag up migration issues, crappy education, digitalization, climate change, and gender stuff?  People between the ages of 18 and 30...have some basic opinion and it probably doesn't align with most journalists.

This is a weird time to be around Germany, with people focused on various issues that didn't seem to exist in 2010.    On top of that....a lot of political folks don't really want to engage in controversial topics.

(Comment: my wife will confess to having read the 2010 book and described it as a torture-situation....it's a economist perception of the German world, and a serious amount of data/facts laid out.  It's not for the faint-of-heart reader)

Explaining The Thyssenkrupp Mess

 The way that Thyssenkrupp (Germany's chief steel maker) survived over the past couple of decades....was via cheap Russian natural gas.  So when the war started, and Germany vowed  not to buy the natural gas....this industry was in serious trouble.

This week....the CEO  and five members of the board...resigned.  There had been a deal in the works to sell off part of the 'empire' to a Czech billionaire....but as part of the deal....the Czech end wanted more 'cash' to ensure the survival of what they were buying.  That wasn't  working out.

Value of the stock for Thyssenkrupp now?  Around $3.30 per share.

What'll happen now?  Well....some stock-holder meeting....new board elected....select a new CEO....rig up some gov't help, and stall the sell-off to the Czech billionaire.  All of this while the stock slips another Euro (or two).

1 Sep 2024: Five German News Stories

1.  Lot of hype over the election in Thuringia (the state) for today.  No doubt that AfD will get near 30-percent of the vote.  CDU will get 2nd place.  SPD will have a problem in even getting to the five-percent level.  

This election mostly about the Merkel situation left on the table with migration/immigration?  Yeah, a fair sum of these folks from the eastern side of the country have a sour test over the program.  

But I'll add....the election is also about the quality of schools, economic conditions, and perceptions over the Ukraine-Russia war. 

2.  Some conflict arose yesterday in Berlin.  46-year old German guy demonstrated a pistol and made a threat on a 2nd guy.  Cops called.

At the end of the discussion with the police....no resolution....police ended up shooting (fatally) the gun-guy.  

No terrorism  angle.  But it does hype people up about threats in society at present.

3.  AfD (the right-wing party) made a curious political promise yesterday....if they come to power....they would ban Antifa.  How?  Unknown.  If you asked most Germans to explain Antifa....less than 20-percent could give you details or consider them a 'threat'.

4.  On that deported Afghan guy (sent back to Afghanistan this week)....who had rape charges/conviction from 2019....he has a wife here in Germany who is pregnant (kid will be a German citizen once born).  Lawyer for the guy says....in the end....this gentleman will find some way to return.

5.  On this day, 50 years ago....Audi started production of the Audi 50, which was the vehicle to push the VW Bug 'out'.  VW eventually had to react, and started production of the VW Polo.....taking the  Bug out of action.   Audi 50 cost in 1974?   Around 8,100 West German Marks (roughly $4,000).