27 August 2025: Germany: 10 Things

 1.  Dresden....another knife assault.  On Wednesday evening, a Syrian (16) and a Tunisian (24) got into a confrontation....each pulling out knives against each other....this time in the city center.  Both were wounded enough....to get ambulance care.

2. The German Bundeswehr Reservists Association.....has invited Green Party member Habeck (former vice-Chancellor) to come and join.  He's leaving/resigning out of the Bundestag.  I doubt if he'd take up the idea.

3.  Some suggestion of Switzerland joining the EU.  This would resolve the tariff problem with the US....however...vast majority of Swiss don't want the deal.

4.  Five-story apartment building in Berlin  deemed unstable....residents  have been tossed out for the moment.  It has been secured with steel cables for the moment.

5. Mainz drug gang (5 members) taken down by court....sentences handed out.

6.  State of NRW has written a draft law....as you are arrested/detained....your nationality would  be listed (something not currently done now).  Some people are saying it would help the AfD....if non-Germans were picked up for most crimes.

7. France in serious economic trouble....wants to put up a national austerity program.  PM does  NOT have the votes to carry this.   National unions now talking of a big nation-wide strike.

8.  The new German draft-law stipulates that starting in 2026, all young men and women will receive a questionnaire on their 18th birthday.  The way they describe it....it's supposed to lay out questions....where they might engage with you on your interest. Men have to complete the questionnaire.  Women?  Voluntary situation. After that...if suitable, you get a medical examination. In the first 'round', there is no compulsory military service.  If that fails....then compulsory comes up.

Older folks?  The Bundeswehr will also contact them and later and send them informational materials. 

Higher pay in the mix?  Yeah....conscripts will be paid as temporary soldiers, thus earning more than €2,000 net per month.

Do I believe this will work?  I'm pretty skeptical of the recruitment angle.

9.  WELT article: Three-quarters of all German hospitals are in the 'red'...meaning they have debt.

10. Bodo Ramelow (a Linke Party member, VP in the Bundestag), wants a new German national anthem. 

If I were selecting?  “Wind of Change”  by the Scorpions (1990).

I should add....Ramelow also wants a national vote on the flag (keep/replace). He says a fair number of Germans don't identify with it (presently).

4 August 2025: Germany: Six Things

 1.  Malte Arnsperger wrote up a political piece for Focus yesterday, which has been on my mind.  So the object?  There's chatter in a couple of German cities (major urban sites) of  bringing Palestinian Gaza 'kids' to Germany....in some kind manner to 'save'.  

Note, they haven't said adults...just kids.

The CDU-CSU-SPD folks....they haven't walked into this discussion yet, and frankly....I think 90-percent of them would rather not engage upon this, and start giving happy feelings about where this would go.  If this got traction?  Well....those 'evil-AfD Party' folks would engage, and it'd probably pump up their ratings another percent or two.

Who would 'manage' such a thing?  Unknown.  Money for support?  Unknown. Accommodations?  Unknown.   Distribution forced down to each state?  Probably.  Mostly a lot of unknowns where this idea would lead to.

Worst case scenario?  Well....kids 14 and under?   Best estimate is around 750,000 total existing in the Strip population. I'm pretty sure no one will sign up for that kind of number, or even for 100,000.  I would offer an assumption of 10,000 in this mix.

As for heavy questions (with no answers)....I would imagine the AfD adding a minimum of two points onto their polling. 

2.  SPD Party chatter over the weekend.....they want new taxes for the 'super-wealthy' of Germany.  They didn't clearly state the 'line' but figure there's room to discuss this with the CDU-CSU.

3.  Ulf Poschardt wrote a piece for WELT....over the topic of public TV  reform in Germany....saying that the system cannot really be reformed, and leans mostly toward the Green Party and left.  A one-sided viewing?  That's the business model and the general path of things.

I hate to suggest this.....but already in the early 1960s....some folks felt this way, and that was the creation vehicle for ZDF to be created (Channel 2).  Once created (with state money)....lawsuits occurred, and the court said the way that the Constitution read....ONLY one network can exist in Germany (Channel 1, ARD), and then gave ZDF to ARD to manage.  

4.  Because of the warm/dry spell in the spring....bee operations  are on a massive up-swing....best year in Germany in 15 years, for honey.

5.  Business report via HR...here in my state of Hessen.....cool/wet spell for the past four weeks....have damaged outdoor cafe/pub and restaurant industry....major losses on income.

I was at a Asian restaurant on Friday....covered by umbrellas, with showers/wind.   It was brisk....but just warm enough to sit and eat dinner.

6.  First six months of 2025.....asylum applications at 70,000 here in Germany.   That's half of what existed in the first half of 2024.