Five Observations

 1.  Just odd....public TV.....ARD (Channel 1) actually managed to not utter a single syllable about the horrific subway murder in  Hamburg. 

But then they were about the raging, armed American who was shot dead by ICE folks in Minneapolis....delivering extensive reports over three evenings as the lead story.

2.  Talk from Denmark this weekend....there will be some law (likely to be challenged in court)....that if you were a non-citizen and commit a violent act (suggesting a felony)....automatic deportation.

Probably has to be a process involved, and the unlucky guy will wise up quickly....just quickly exit to Germany.

3.  German Defense Minister....Pistorius...gave a speech/talk yesterday....assuring young German men upon entry into the German Army....'humane treatment' upon conscription.

I paused over this.  Two meanings to the talk.  First, there's a lot of freaked-out young German men (age 18-to-20)...who don't want their dad's army reality....where Sergeants run around yelling at them, or dumping crap on them for unshinned boots.  Second meaning....perhaps some worry over perverted/kinky sex stuff being introduced them in the military environment....which is way more than the kinky stuff they are already into. 

4.  Oddly....also coming from a Pistorius talk...he's of the mind that Russia has zero interest in peace (of any type), and that the current model of existence...reflects upon a full-up war being good for the Russian society.

I pondered over this way of thinking (both from Pistorius and the Russians).  There's obviously a think-tank or two (in the EU and Germany) and sells this 'brand' of logic.  The Russians? They probably also have a think-tank or two....talking the same way.

How I might buy into it?  If I ran Russia, and wanted a lesser prison population...I'd recruit/order prisoners to be forever-Army members, and give the prison crowd medals upon war-field death.  

5.  Back on 30 January 1979....the city of Berlin, Germany, enacted the Berlin Nature Protection Act (Berliner Naturschutzgesetz), which includes the prohibition on using de-icing salt on sidewalks (within the city) under §39.

Well....this week, with all the ice and snow.....the city council wrote a waiver (basically for 2 weeks) to strongly encourage the public in Berlin to salt-up their sidewalks.  Tons of ice....threats of falling.

So some Germans on social media made the comment....literally no one  in the region (grocery or hardware store) sells/markets....road-salt.  You'd have to drive a minimum of 15 minutes outside the city limits....to find some place with road-salt to sell.

Kinda funny....amount of regulation created, and momentary lifting  the regulation has marginally any effect.

Hamburg Murder

 Thursday evening, Hamburg, at the subway station Wandsbek Markt (east of the Bahnhof)....a 25-year-old Sudan guy....dragged an 18-year-old woman onto the tracks in front of a U1 train....killing both. Presently, it does not appear that they knew each other.

What the cops say?  The 25-year-old apparently waited for an approaching subway train....then approached the 18-year-old and grabbed her. He then threw himself and her in front of the oncoming train. 

Sudan guy known to the police (a record)?  Well....so far, they've said he's got a record...mostly acts of aggression and violence.  Couple of days prior to the attack....he allegedly became violent towards city police.

His time in Germany?  He came in mid-2024, and authorities are clear that he was vetted in some way. I'm guessing that some examination of the vetting process will occur.

Paranoid schizophrenia 'player'?  They don't really lay out enough of his past two years to guess this problem.   If he had this issue....allowing him to integrate into a heavily metropolitan city was the wrong idea. 

The unfortunate side of this?  It becomes another hot-topic for AfD to talk about.  

Added: rest of the story....the 18-year-old girl....Iranian.

A Unique Public Transportation Problem

 If you live  in Wiesbaden....you know the 'game' to play if  you want a quick ride to the Airport, or into Frankfurt city.....you take the S-Bahn out of the Wiesbaden station and waste around 30 minutes just to get through Mainz and 3 or 4 odd-stops....to get to the  airport.....then it's a zero-stop situation if using a ICE-train onto Frankfurt. 

So regionally....there's this ultra high-speed railway....skipping Wiesbaden, Mainz....in a minute or two....reaching the Airport, and in 3 minutes reaching Frankfurt.

For probably 15 years....the city of Wiesbaden has been begging for a 'stop' to be built....out of thin air....the ICE train would halt for a minute or two....then race onto the Airport....then race onto Frankfurt.

Several  thousand Frankfurt workers live out of Wiesbaden, and this type of project would bring tears to their eyes....giving them back 70 to 80 minutes of the day.

This week, the ICE  upper-management held a meeting....discussed the matter, cost, and priorities.  The Wiesbaden 'fix' didn't  make the list.

The odd piece of discussion?  Well...this station being talked  about is  non-existent today....in Wallau.  Personally, I don't consider Wallau a 'part' of Wiesbaden.   It stands about 3 miles east of the Army Post.   

What the pro-stop folks intend?  They would find funds for  some part of this....building a station next to the line, and by the autobahn....with a fair  amount of parking  (say in the range of 500  to a 1k parking spots).  Right now today....nothing there exists.

With the trouble of planning (legendary in the region)....even if they got permission to proceed...it  might be six to eight years before the whole thing was connected up.

The odd factor?  Well...from the 6AM to 9AM Wiesbaden crowd....probably 50-percent of folks would  quit riding the line across the river to Mainz/Airport.  

But there is this one odd factor no one brought up.....if  you ride on ICE....even for 5 minutes....you pay for a higher cost railway ticket.  In a year....you could be talking about 800 Euro more.  Course, you'd get 350 man-hours back on your yearly travels.  Maybe folks would pay more 

TV Comedy Show That Got 'Serious'

I'll try to make this uncomplicated.

Germany has a regional public TV network....for the NW part of the country....name is NDR.  NDR runs what I'd call a intellectual-satirical TV program called "Extra 3."

It's been around since 1976....a weekly format...running 45 minutes.  

If you asked the question....yearly, do they ever cross the line and get into trouble?  I'd have to respond....yeah, on a average of probably 3 to 5 times a year.

So....this week....a crew from the show....traveled to Greenland's capital, Nuuk....with comedian Maxi Schafroth.

Chief aim?  Well...they (mostly Maxi) attempted to hoist a US flag outside the local cultural center as part of a filmed stunt intended to mock US policy toward Greenland, particularly referencing past American interest in acquiring the territory. 

Yeah....it probably didn't take more than two or three minutes for local residents to  confront him....halting the situation.  Then a massive amount of anger came out (from the Nuuk folks).

Police ended up being called, and involved.

By the end of the confrontation....Nuuk cops issued a fine to the production team, and an investigation followed. 

No one says much over the investigation....I'm guessing that Danish intelligence is  involved....with EU authorities close behind them.  I'm of the mind that they will just drop this after a week or two....putting the members of the crew on some forbidden to enter list (into Greenland). No....I don't think further charges will occur.

So....this all came back to NDR headquarters, and I'm guessing that ARD (the top dog in running public TV got involved as well).  What NDR said?  Well...they clarified that the action was purely satirical and not meant to offend Greenlanders, then expressing regrets for the pain-and-suffering caused. 

At the end of all this chatter....Nuuk's mayor urged responsible behavior from visiting journalists and creators. 

Yeah, it's a lot of BS....over stupid childish humor by the TV crew. I would imagine they got a long lecture about and how they should never leave the German border to do comedy.

But I sat and pondered two  things.   The crew probably spent near 10,000 Euro for the flight, and hotel....which had to be approved by NDR leadership....so they must have known about the  extent of the show.  Second thing, there is a total disconnect between Europeans and this Greenland topic....with the Greenland residents hyped-up to the max.  If you walked into a German or Italian pub, I think at least half of the people there see the whole Trump thing,  and Greenland discussion as a joke.

Atom Bomb Chatter

 This week....the former Foreign Minister...Joschka Fischer (born back in 1948)....who was a  prominent German politician from Alliance 90/The Greens...served as Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister from 1998 to 2005 under Gerhard Schröder...gave a talk.

So the topic of building nuke bombs came up.

He suggested Europe (didn't really say Germany) needs to build nuke bombs to defend against  the 'threat' (meaning Russia, without really saying it).

He says....the situation with  the US is not really stable, and Europe needs its own nukes.

First, based on treaty by West Germany, East Germany, the US, and Russia (1990)...unified Germany can never  build nukes.

Second, to have some Green Party guy suggest this...is absolutely crazy.

Third and final....this week....I noted some German scientist got dragged into a discussion like this, and he said....from day one on, if Germany wanted production of nuke bombs, they could be producing within 3 years.

If you bring this up with Germans over the age of sixty....lot of crazy talk that they never thought would come up as being rational.

30 Jan 2026: Germany: 5 Things

1.  INSA, the polling service, went and did a poll....every second German would be willing to do more to boost the economic recovery.

In this group....53 percent of those in employment would be prepared to work at least one hour longer per week or even per day.

2.  Arctic front this weekend in  Germany....some regions set to go down to minus-15 C (5 F).

3.  I watched RTL's 'Jungle-Camp' show last night. The TV crew has rules to live by in the camp, and there's some team of rule-breakage counters.  So in the first six days of camp operation....the 12 players had broken 146 rules.  Smokes were taken away last night to 'correct' behavior.

While amazed....I came to  think that my German wife often counts my rule violations (I probably exceed 40 per week).

4.  Absenteeism in Berlin schools have reached a serious level....where there is a discussion of mandating city health departments examine each kid who claims he's sick.

5.  Anyone traveling to the UK is required to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) in advance. 

Rule has been around for almost  a year....lax-enforced. Started at the end of  Feb...will  be strictly enforced.  Airlines will not be permitted to board passengers who cannot present a valid ETA. An ETA costs £16, which is approximately €18 to €19.

Bank Vault Mess To Clean Up

I sat this AM....reading a German piece over the Gelsenkirchen bank box robbery.

So there's this older gal.....who had a condominium that she sold. She 'SAYS'....she kept a sum of around 400,000 euros in cash in her safe deposit box....which got robbed with the others.

Cops have taken the report.

I paused over it....who would sell property....in cash?

Then, who would take the money to ONLY store in the bank-box?

It sounds like BS....but it's enough to make you wonder, and likely ends up as a court case against the bank.

Three Things

1.  I learned this AM....takes about 20 days for a LNG-container ship....to get from  the US east coast...to the port in Hamburg.  How many make the trip...monthly?  Five, on average.

2.  This  Deutsche-Bank raid yesterday (Frankfurt/Berlin)?

Some employees (maybe just two or three at each site)....were money-laundering for 'someone' (probably the mafia).

3. Bundestag President Klöckner wants to use information from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Germany's domestic intelligence agency)...to check for security checks of Bundestag employees in the future.

I just find it curious....they weren't doing this before.

My No-Good Reason Theory

I sat and read a social media comment today: 

"Germans are autistically efficient about everything" is the fakest stereotype in the world.  Germans are reactionary brutes (lovingly) and do tons of things very stupidly for no good reason."

I paused over it for ten minutes.  

Yeah....you can walk around on a simple day...noting fifty-odd things which are efficiently-design....that make little to no sense.  

In fact, you can go back to the 1980s in Germany and suggest the same thing. More intense over the past 40 years?  You could probably make that assessment.

But I would describe Germany this way....out of 84-million in residents....there's probably 12-million Einstein-like Germans who'd like to branch out and do some radical stuff...but they are held back by the 25-odd-million anti-Einsteins.

Day in and day out.....the Einstein-crew does tens of thousands of weird stuff....to keep the anti-Einsteins off-guard, and continually trying to hinder anti-progress agenda.

 So, settle back and just enjoy the show.

29 Jan 2026: Germany: 4 Things

 1.  This AM...Berlin Zeitung piece: Several German companies (BMW, ZF and Henkel) moving to new factories in Hungary....lower costs.

2.  Pfalz scandal brewing?  Well....around 10 to 12 years ago...a couple of folks who were upper-level state employees...found new civilian jobs.  Curiously, as they departed....a deal was worked up where for 6 to 12 months.....they had state benefits (maybe even a salary of some type).  In the last month.....this has unfolded....investigation being done.  Probably illegal.

3.  WELT piece this AM.....German population...despite refugees entering...now on a decline.  

4.  Survey of Russians....50-percent now consider Germany to be hostile (a  threat).  Not sure on German perception....but it might be 40-to-50 percent who see Russia as a threat.

Interesting HR - Police Problem

So....Berlin-City found the funding over the past year to recruit and train up 1,224 folks for the city police.

However....they were unable to fill a quarter of the training positions because many applicants fail the German language test.

I read through the piece.....you can blame the education-sector to some degree, or the better potential folks finding better choices for their employment situation.

My Impression Of The EU Deal With India

Basically....it creates a 'BIGGEST' trade deal that either side has ever signed, creating a free trade zone covering about 25-percent of global GDP and over 2 billion people. 

Central feature? It aims to strengthen economic and political ties amid geopolitical tensions, boost bilateral trade (currently over €180 billion annually), and promote rules-based trade. 

The EU claims....the agreement is expected to double EU goods exports to India by 2032, save around €4 billion per year in duties, and support job creation, with the EU estimating nearly 800,000 jobs already tied to this trade. I'm not saying this is accurate or BS....just the broad suggestion.

So in the package....Indians will get work/study permits fairly easily.  The wording suggests that.

Negatives?  This will be challenged in court....just like the South American deal from a couple of days ago.  Anyone thinking there are hundreds of thousands of Indians with German language ability....is imagining things.  A wave of Germans with a criticism over Indians.....yeah, that's probably a problem to occur.

My best guess over India-to-Germany air traffic?  Presently....10 flights out of Germany per day....to India.  I would imagine within 3 years....it'll  be near 40 flights a day....half being cargo-only.

Finally, just speculation....EU quietly gave a message to China....the idea of  getting a better 'partner' is key to this situation.  

Sunday Night's ARD Tatort Episode

 I ended up this past Sunday evening (8:15) watching the Tatort series on ARD.  To describe Tatort....it's a crime  drama....running for 90 minutes...which weekly features one out of a 15-odd cities.  Yes, there's been a murder....which they spend the whole show with a couple of police-characters.....trying to tie up loose ends.

To be honest....I might watch eight of these per year.  I'm just not into krimi-dramas unless it's really decent script-writing and  unusual characters.  The Wiesbaden-drama from six years ago...featured some scenario where 40-odd bad-guys were killed over 3 days...is an example of great writing.

So this Sunday evening's event?  Out of Bremen, and entitled: If Only One Could Be Saved.

It took about 3 minutes to lay out the murder....German college girl...some lounge-pimp....cash handed over.....girl end up pushed down a stairs...dead.  But you never see who pushed her down.

The two female detectives arrive, and the show spends about sixty minutes laying a fairly lame situation. German university 'kids' can't afford housing....side-story develops around a messy partnership apartment and outrageous rent.

At some point near the end....some 15-year old kid is part of the crime...drives off in a RV. Some 2-minute 'race' through side-streets of Bremen.

The sad side story?  I basically had this....a NFL football situation....'Jungle-Camp'....or some cooking show from 2018....to pick from.

What You Don't Want To Occur If You Don't Have A Rail Ticket

About six to ten times a year....I get ticket-checked on the bus or train (here in Germany).  About once every two years....I'll stand there and note a 'conflict' where some 'guest'  of the  bus/train...fails to produce a ticket.

So, I noted a interesting story from the weekend (Sunday)...over at Halle.

This was near the Halle-Neustadt subway station....where a dispute between a train conductor and a passenger started-up.

A physical situation occurred....both injured. 

Late afternoon...a 38-year-old passenger from Cameroon was checked....refused to produce a ticket....things got heated, and the fight started.

From what they describe (witnesses)...the train conductor was struck in the face, fell to the ground, and hit the back of his head so hard that he briefly lost consciousness. 

Charges? The Cameroon guy will be dragged into court....probably getting a mental eval situation.  Even if sane....he'll be charged up with two  or three things....could be looking at a minimum of 12 month in prison.

My general  advice....if riding the train without a ticket....have 60 Euro in your mind as the fine.  You  might  ride 200 times in a year without a ticket....never being audited.  But one day.....it'll come.

Heating Numbers

 With 2024 data....German numbers and the heating:

- Oil, 17-percent

- Natural gas, 56-percent

- Heat-pump, 4.4-percent

-  District station, 15.5-percent

-  Electrical: 2.5-percent (usually the most expensive way)

- Coal: .2-percent (fairly rare)

- Wood: 4.1-percent

Back in the early 90's....I was assigned to  Bitburg, and a co-worker had a house-rental with only electrical heaters.  It was an enticing low rental price....but heat was six times what I was paying for natural gas heat.   

LNG Over The Weekend

 I noted Sunday morning....the national natural gas reserves in Germany hit around 39.7-percent. If you go state by state....it gets pretty harsh in Bavaria.  If nothing happens over the next week or two, and the temp stays near  0 C....it's a problem.

But....three LNG ships arrived around Friday evening near Hamburg....to ditch their loads.

The catch?  There is a testing requirement for each ship's LNG...required before they can hit the port and 'unload'. 

Amusingly, the test facility and personnel....don't work evenings, or weekends.  So the three vessels sat there....until testing can conclude this  AM.

If tests work out?  One would imagine the national reserves to get back up into the 65-percent range.  

Germany And 2025 Bank Insolvency Pattern

 I saw this an hour ago.....insolvenz situation for the 16 states....over 2025.

Worst state? NRW, with Bavaria following closely.

Eastern states less affected.

Blame?  Lack of orders, and liquidity bottlenecks contributed to a broader recessionary environment....for 2025.

Improving in 2026? There's no sign of that yet.

If you view banking 'trust'....why would you loan out huge  sums of money, if you felt the system was still unstable? 

26 Jan 2026: Germany: 3 Things

 1.  Odd story out of BILD for the  weekend.....estimation of 8,000 asylum-seekers in Germany....who've disappeared into Germany.

Facts?  No...simply a state-by-state assessment (best guess) by individual gov't organizations. Personally?  It wouldn't shock me 100,000 were disappeared into Germany.

2.  16/17-year olds in Baden-Wurttemberg for this upcoming state election....will have the right to vote.  No  clear poll how this might affect the outcome.  

3.  Black-ice warning across probably a quarter of Germany this AM.

If The US Army Exited Wiesbaden

 I could write this over four to five locations....but this essay is purely over problems/issues....if things went 'south' enough to cause an exit.

First, you might want to note the 'area' of Mainz-Kastel where the old US Army property was located....is still in a planning/acceptance stage (I think it's  now up to the 7th year).  Their last suggested use plan by the city....was not acceptable to the general public.

You can also say the re-use plan for the American Arms Hotel property....took a long time to develop.  Execution  was four years ago, with the site mostly a grocery/condo use.

Second, the properties in mind?  Well....you have the air-base area, the Hainerberg post area, and roughly two housing areas.

Third, virtually no one in the city gov't wants to drag out the re-use concept for the air-base.  They don't want the runway re-used....nor have any part of the Frankfurt Airport operating some part of it.

If you asked me on re-use of the air-base....the runway might be kept as a recreational spot, and 90-percent of the structures torn down to be another major 'burb' of the city (probably in the range 10,000 new residents).

The two housing areas....likely to stay as is....converted to public housing.

As for Hainerberg? The hill overlooking the city is prime real estate, and likely to become some high-end condo district....all new housing to be built.  If I were guessing....it's another 10,000 resident development in the end.

The chief issue....getting to some point of acceptance of a city-planning commission and the general public.....likely taking a full 10 years.

Was it this way in Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Hahn, Hanau?  Well...yeah, after each closure....it was a good decade before 'changes' started to occur, and a re-use plan accepted.

If you go around Frankfurt today....the old BX-property is 'high-end' use.

Mental Aspects Story

I sat down this week and eventually asked Grok/AI if Danes had any recent build-ups over mental health issues (over anything....even Trump). 

So after 10 minutes...Grok responded.....based on recent surveys and reports from Danish sources, a significant portion of Danes do report experiencing mental health challenges, such as increased worries, anxiety, and stress, and yes...linked to Donald Trump's presidency and actions.

Then Grok responded....Danish women were showing higher rates of impact in some data (over men). Not a lot of explanation....why more women than guys?  I might assume guys worry or get hyped-up over 'other' things (like soccer, Grand Prix, beer shortages).

So....a survey was conducted by Epinion for the pension company Sampension, polling about 1,000 Danes, found that 48-percent reported more worries negatively affecting their mental health following Trump's inauguration in January 2025.  (bt.dk)

This figure rose to 54-percent among women in particular.   Looking past this....53-percent of respondents anticipated increased worries impacting their mental well-being due to global developments under Trump, escalating to 60-percent for women. 

The health 'boss' at Sampension...analyzed things....then suggested coping strategies like taking news breaks (lessening news) and conducting more physical outdoor activities. 

Danica....a Danish health insurance company....noted a mid-20's spoke in anxiety-related inquiries to their online psychologists since Trump's January 2025 inauguration, with anxiety accounting for about one in five consultations. 

The same guy then suggested that daily Trump stories....covering pardons, tariff chatter and Greenland threats....were layered on top of  already pre-existing anxiety tendencies. 

Added burden?  A 2024 Opinion survey indicated roughly eight out of ten Danes would have voted for Kamala Harris over Trump if eligible.

If I were asked where this all comes out of?  Well....simply a lot of news being dished out....from one-single view creators.  The sad thing.....non-Danes gaze over at this, and just shake their head....something  going on in terms mental stress, and other than 'meds', cannabis, alcohol....not much to confront the 'pain'. 

By the end of 2026....I would imagine some mental health clinics there will have a rehab program up and running....mostly trying to get Danes away from news programs.

Knockout-51....Criminal Gang or Terror Group?

 This is a rather odd story.

Roughly halfway between Leipzig and Frankfurt (more so on the Thuringia state side)....lies the city of Eisenach. Forty-thousand residents, and mostly known as the town where Bach was born.

Somewhere around 2018/2019 (depending on who tells the story)....some group of German guys started a club, criminal gang, or terror-group  (again, depending on who tells the story).

As far as I can tell....it's strictly Germans....not 'guests' or EU folks. 

This guy....'Leon' started the group.  Their original intent?  They (probably no more than a dozen in the beginning....had some interest in right-wing ideology and were into martial arts (Kung Fu, Krav Maga, MMA) BS.  Some folks say over the next year or two....the KO-51 guys tried to get attention as private security (lounge-bouncer-status).  

This led the local law enforcement (the police/DA)....to eyeball them as some type of threat. However, in their view.....they weren't criminals or thugs....they were seen as terrorists.

Somewhere around 2021 (Covid  era)....one of the KO-51 guys made the statement about ending the lives of some left-wing extremists. This  got the KO-51guys deeper  into  terror status.

In this period 2020 to 2023....the group took up a anti-Covid agenda....which got them deeper into a terror status.

Then in 2022, there was this party in town.....where a 'suspected' KO-51 member  with an associate....got into a fight with a off-duty policeman (severe beating from the description given).

 This all led to a raid in early 2022....where four guys were identified  as Neo-Nazis....where a year goes by, and a state court says.....yeah, you can proceed on criminal charges, but the group isn't a legit terror group.

Various  raids occur, and charges continue to maneuver  toward terrorism....while the state court says 'no'.....they are basically criminals....not terrorists.

So this past week....the federal court of Germany came to a end-point....the  group is  criminal in their  existence....not terrorists.

But the fed court also said  a number of things that were handled on the four guys kept in jail....were 'wrong', and they want a complete review of the case.

This mostly a story of  a group  of a dozen-odd German guys who were hyped up on martial arts and having a anti-Covid view of things?  Well....I think it's a five-star script for a German comedy movie.

24 Jan 2026: Germany: 5 Things

 1. Lot of chatter developing  over the Mercousur/EU/South America trade deal.

Everyone  from 10 days ago were super-positive....now with the EU vote....there has to be a judicial review....with some believing the treaty might be dismantled, or take years to  approve.

The people being blamed?   Some elements of the Green Party.   Chancellor gave a talk yesterday....fairly peeved at the way this trade deal was halted.

2. Ten countries declared 'SAFE' yesterday....so if you were on the deport-list from these countries....up until now....they were unsafe, and you could delay your exit. The ten?

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Ghana, Kosovo, Moldova/Republic,  Montenegro, North Macedonia, Senegal, Serbia.

To be honest....there are probably a couple thousand Germans each year who were going to  Albania on summer vacations. 

More pressure now to  increase deportations.

4. 6,700 conscientious objectors listed since December.  List grows....day by day.  Would imagine by end of 2026....nearing 80,000.

5.  German news media preparing public for 'over-throw' of Cuban gov't. 

Yeah, they might go defend the Castro-era and hype a severe criticism over the  Trump effort. 

Why Do People Complain About DEVOS Food Options

 I watched about 4 hours of clips this week (economic forum), and at least three folks commented on the crappy food, or cost situation.

Back in 2022....same meeting, a burrito was priced at around $51, French fries at $22, and a hot dog at $43 at one prominent hotel venue.

A lot of this...simply high-end catering?  Yeah....there's no doubt that the vast amount of food  is 'brought-in'.

Just in general....food menu's in Switzerland being on the high-end?  Back in 2019....the wife and I spent six days there.  I admit....the hotel-breakfast (free) and a light after 'snack'....saved us on cost....but the evening dinner usually ran $150 by the time you figured food and beverages (eating at high-end places).  Yeah, we could have done the McDonalds routine but still spent $45.

Marriage 'Contract' Story

 So...BILD has some story out this AM....concerning Koln.

Police in the region did some raid....with this document system coming to light.

I'm not saying this is accurate, or just faked-up stuff by the crime-gangs....but the story goes this way.

What the cops found....under the heading "Marriage Obligations," is the sale of underage girls in the clan membership which is regulated by contract. Yes....names and purchase price are listed.

BS?  I sat there looking at the limited story....no real analysis by the police/DA yet....just some 'forms'.

I could see the crime-gang laying out fake marriage obligations....so the police would spend hundreds of man-hours investigating a bogus story.

Where were the underage girls from?  Not in the story, and I seriously doubt that they were German or EU-born.  So for the story to be somewhat true....it means Syrian or Iraqi underage girls were 'brought' in. 

The underage defined?  No.  Could just be 16-year old girls. But you are left to wonder.

Why the gang has to be in the marriage-contract business?  Well....that's the big unknown.  I would assume you have 20-year old crime-clan members who are mostly losers (halfway-doped-up throughout a day), and on the get-happily-married-index (1-to-10)....they are mostly '3's'.  But the gang-boss probably figures happy members are less likely to do stupid things.

The police chief of Koln? He's got no choice....he'll dedicate several detectives on the case and ask....are there 15-year old wives of gang members?  The worst scenario?  This leads them to 20-odd German cities where those gangs are engaged in contracts as well. 

Voting Story

 If you asked how Germany votes....district by district....this graphic shows the lead vote-getter in each district.

Eastern Germany (old DDR)?  Yeah...mostly AfD.

SPD?  Mostly in high urbanized districts.

Bavaria and western Germany?  Mostly CDU-CSU.

It is a major discussion.....how divided things are presently, and fractured discussions become.   

How Polling Looks In Baden-Württemberg For The State Election?

 Poll released today:

CDU would  win with about 29-percent, with the Greens in second-place with 23-percent.

AfD, at 20-percent.

SPD, at 8-percent. Linke at 7-percent. And FDP at 5-percent.

Yeah, it would be a dismal situation for the SPD to explain.  As for the coalition?  Probably CDU-Greens. 

The EU 'We'-Platform (Alternate to X/Twitter)?

Well....yeah...it was announced at Davos in the last day or two.

So....it's a ongoing initiative in Europe to launch a social media platform called W, positioned as a European alternative to X (formerly Twitter). 

'W' is being developed by a group of European organizations, businesses, and former politicians, with a focus on combating disinformation/misinformation, ensuring user verification (including your national photo ID), prioritizing data privacy, and hosting servers within Europe to maintain digital sovereignty. 

Naturally, you will ask about 'We' and it's meaning.....the platform's name stands for "We," with the two Vs symbolizing "Values" and "Verify."

So....does the EU financially support the development?  No....at least from what I've read....it's a non-support position at present.

The W-technicians/controllers....currently emphasize free speech balanced with human verification to reduce bots and misinformation (noble-stuff, I will admit). It aims to allow easy data migration to other platforms, avoiding user lock-in, and complies with EU digital regulations like the Digital Services Act. How they comply?  Not fully explained yet....more of 'trust-us' in the mix.

When it launches?  Mixed conversation....some say before end of 2026.

Naturally, you would lead off asking....would Germans sign up for 'more'?  

I asked Grok/AI to assemble the data:

YouTube: 65-M Germans have accounts.

WhatsApp: 53-M.

Instagram: 31-M

Reddit: 29-M

TikTok: 23-M

Snapchat: 23-M

Facebook: 23-M

Pinterest: Approaching 23-M

Twitter/X: 22-M

Telegram:  17-M

So I'll offer 6 observations:

1.  Most Germans will state WhatsApp is their preferred media platform....doesn't  matter on age-groups.

2.  If you drag up the topic of accounts, memberships, use of social media....I believe that 90-percent of Germans are happy and satisfied with what they typically use (mostly TikTok, WhatsApp and YouTube).  If you asked this group....do you really need another social media account....they'd mostly start laughing.

3.  This 'We' effort....is about a decade behind the times.  If they'd started this in 2013 timeframe.....they might have assembled real numbers.  Presently....if started in 2026....I would imagine that fewer than 5-million Germans will engage in this....with half  of them frustrated by the user-verification situation.

4.  Will German politicians attempt to mandate membership?  It'd be awful stupid,  and probably ten-million would take an immediate hardline against a mandate situation.  Doesn't matter if you ask  left-wing or right-wing.

5.  I am reminded historically of the US effort with 'MySpace'....that ultimately failed, but also of the German effort to create it's alternate....Lokalisten.de

Lokalisten had between 5 and 6 million members at the peak.  What ended Lokalisten?  I'd generally say that alternates (Apps) came around and developed....plus you had all those data-privacy laws that the German gov't put into place to protect you (a thousand times over).

I wish the developers at We luck.....we probably will get hours of introduction via public TV here in Germany.....hyping the product.  Then six months later....the same journalists will admit that everyone is mostly happy with what they already have.

Are There Alternates In Germany to US-Based Amazon-Video, Netflix or HBO-Max?

Over the past month, there's been some German chatter....about dumping US-brand video-streaming services.  So  the question is....are there alternates?

Well...yeah:

RTL-Plus: A German streaming service from RTL Group, focusing on local TV shows, reality TV, sports (like Bundesliga), and originals. Presently, they have about 10 million subscribers in Germany and come 'bundled' with HBO Max ....basic price at 7-Euro a month, and 13-Euro for premium.

Joyn: Owned by ProSiebenSat.1, it offers free ad-supported streaming of German TV channels, movies, series, and some exclusives. Their price is similar (7-Euro). If you asked me to rate against RTL-Plus....it's sufficient but one step down.

Sky/WOW: Sky (now under Comcast) provides premium streaming via WOW, with a focus on movies, series, live sports (e.g., Premier League, Formula 1), and has HBO content. Their monthly starts at 10-Euro.  I used the WOW service for 6 months in 2025....would rate their product almost at the RTL-Plus level. 

Free....ARD Mediathek and ZDFmediathek: These are free apps from Germany's public broadcasters (ARD and ZDF). They stream live TV, on-demand shows, documentaries, news, and some international content. No subscription required, though funded by public fees (Rundfunkbeitrag).  

Arte Mediathek: A free Franco-German cultural channel app offering high-quality documentaries, films, concerts, and European arthouse content in multiple languages. It's ad-free and focuses on educational/international themes.  If you asked Germans in general about use of Arte (normal) or Arte-Mediathek...probably 90-percent would respond they've never watched either.

So, here's the thing....with my ranking.....most all of these alternates have US-productions...some more....some less...of what you'd expect.

I'd even suggest if you wanted non-US productions/movies/shows.....Netfix is still way ahead of everyone else.  I'm partial to Netflix because of the Japanese/South Korean shows/movies/series offered (sub-titled). My belief....almost 50-percent of what is stored on Netflix-Germany....is non-US programing.

As much as people think they can punish Paramount, Netflix, Amazon....to be honest....the German streaming platforms are pretty well entangled in partnerships. 

23 Jan 2026: Germany: 6 Things

 1.  German Chancellor Friedrich Merz did a talk at DEVOS....said in a straight-forward way....the EU has a problem....."Germany and Europe have wasted incredible potential. We have become the world champion of over-regulation and zero growth."

I doubt if anyone will argue against him.

2.  That Gelsenkirchen bank vault robbery (all the private boxes)....has drawn 350 investigators now.  But I would remark....probably half of them are interviewing the owners of the bank boxes and the listed contents.

3. Curious Wednesday night ZDF docu-news piece on Ausland Journal show (9:45)....they did a anti-Trump piece.....telling the Minneapolis story.  Used a protest-character....William Kelly.  

If you asked me on the extent of the whole story....they spent about 20 minutes to tell a 3-hour story....strictly from Kelly's prospective.

So...by Thursday afternoon, oddly enough....Kelly is arrested and charged-up for the church demonstration act from the weekend (which ZDF's folks never detailed on Wed night).

A bit funny, if you follow the Minneapolis spiral....how most Germans think/feel about things, but gas-lit to follow a belief.

4.  EU to have a discussion on defense....without the US help....basically replacing NATO.

Healthy discussion from several aspects....but eventually, they will have to discuss budget issues, and admit each having to double their military budget.....while buying Russian natural gas/oil (helping them re-arm).

5.  German farmers plan to protest despite the halted Mercosur agreement.  They are very much anti-Mercosur.....some aspects hurting CDU-SPD-Green voting trends.

On the Maybrit Illner Show last night...public forum event (live)....guest came up and suggested that the final acceptance of the Mercosur treaty....may be 25 years away, by the time the  EU system settles everything.

6.  The Bahn (railway folks) say they are now at the point to cut 1,000 management positions.

Bus Story

 Was reading Berlin-City news....curious problem.

Over 100 e-buses are out of service. The entire Ebusco fleet is waiting for repairs/modifications.

What they say?  Well....cracks in the frame....thus making them dangerous.

New buses?  No....these are 3 and 4 year old buses.  

Germany and Slot Machines Story

 Slot machines are legal in Germany.....under a fair number of regulations.  You (as a pub, bar  or restaurant) go to the city and get a permit.  You admit....x-number of machines, and pay a taxation fee.  Most will tell you that it's a marginal profit by the end.   

If you asked me how many Germans actively play slots?  I'd say it's 95-percent male-orientated....probably one German guy out of fifty.

So this week....in my town of Wiesbaden....a police raid occurred.  What the cops say....they busted the maintenance facility of such machines, and this goes hand-in-hand with a two-year investigation of the region....with unlicensed slots.

Yeah, these pubs/bars....had machines in operation....with no license. 

From what they figure....locally....forty-odd machines....there was a five-figure amount of untaxed income flowing back to someone.

So the parties involved....in trouble for unlicensed operations, and then dealing with the German tax folks. 

22 Jan 2026: Germany: 5 Stories

 1. Couple  of shots fired last night in Dortmund....guy (unknown nationality) was hit and died. Police are investigating.  All the cops say....occurred at north part of town....near midnight.  

Shootings in 1980s/1990s were awful rare. If you follow the news these days....there's probably one every couple of week...usually crime-clan related.

2. Out of Thuringia.....a 34-year-old man from Georgia on asylum-status (supposed to be deported)....got into some argument with two aid workers.   What cops say....the guy beat the two refugee aid workers so badly they required hospitalization. 

3.  The only 'big' gain in this Trump-Greenland deal?  All military facilities on Greenland....end up with US operational control.  Besides what the US already had....if Grok/AI is correct....six non-US sites end up in this deal. 

Difficult to say if these are going to be US-manned, and 3,000-odd US Army guys end up in some 1-year Greenland temp-duty situation.  

Yeah, and most likely they create a medal for the one-year deployment.

4.  Out of WELT: now costing 5k Euro a month for a 'spot' in a German retirement home.  Reaching a point where half of folks can't really afford the monthly bill.

5.  For 25 years....this Mercosur deal has been attempted.  The Mercosur-EU deal refers to a comprehensive trade and partnership agreement between the European Union (EU) and the Mercosur trade bloc, which consists of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay (with Bolivia as an associate member and Venezuela suspended). 

It was supposed to create one of the world's largest free trade areas, covering over 700 million people and facilitating tariff reductions on goods, services, and investments while enhancing political cooperation. 

It settled agricultural standards, environmental protections, and market access.

So....they signed the deal on 9 Jan 2026....done deal.

Well....NO....yesterday....the formal group in  the EU....said we want a judicial review.  EU court?  

First, you can expect the review to take 12 months minimum....maybe on up to 26 months.

Second, this ECJ assessing?  It'll list compatibility with EU treaties, focusing on issues like a "rebalancing mechanism" that lets Mercosur countries challenge EU legislation (e.g., environmental or agricultural standards), potential regulatory autonomy erosion, and alignment with EU climate commitments. 

Potential destruction?  Lot of South American folks figured this was a done deal....hyping up their economy over 2026/2027.  Now?  Even  if the ECJ were 'nice'....saying no issues....you won't see any benefit occurring in 2026, and possibly even in 2027.

If the ECJ fails the deal....go expect a mini-economic crash.

The odds of total abandonment?  Well....I'd give it a 10-to-20 percent chance.  Maybe there's just one or two problems to re-engage upon and resolve.

The cheap steak path to Europe?  This got brought up this past week....where both Argentine and Brazilian beef would be arriving in a few months.

Natural Gas Chatter

 If you go by the European gas storage database....GIE AGSI....the current fill level of German natural gas storage facilities on 21 January....is 40.7 percent.

No one really says the 'breaking' point where leadership gets worried.  I would imagine if we reach a 30-percent point before the middle of February....there will be warning given and some lecture on conserving heat.

If you ask me about this current winter season....it's a bit more 'brisk' than most of the past decade.....at least in my valley.  Two brief snow falls....most of the past month are minus-5 C temperatures for evenings.

DEVOS Chatter

 I sat and watched a DEVOS talk....Finland's President, Alexander Stubb, says Europe can "unequivocally" defend itself, without the Americans.

It's pretty much a true statement...ONLY because Putin wiped out his military over a four-year period.  

If you add up....rebuilding stage/era required (minimum of 30 years)....with the  population issue (1-million dead men, and a bogus advertised population), and a limited manpower situation for decades to come....the Russians are simply not a key-threat anymore.

Keeping Ukraine armed and carving off Russian numbers...month by month....has shown the regional dynamics.

Cherry on this conversation?  Well...once you establish that the Putin-team is not a threat....who will be able to dedicate military funding?  Very quickly....France and Germany will want a cut in funding.

AkademikerPension Chatter

I sat and read through a news piece today....$150b Danish Pension Fund ‘AkademikerPension’ ready to sell all of US Treasury bonds amid rising Greenland tensions.

So there are three parts of the story left out.  

First, the total amount in Treasury bonds....around $100-M or .4-percent of their total.....so it's not exactly a lot.

Second, AkademikerPension is a public pension fund....which is designed for college graduates and government employees....who know their regular pension from Denmark....is limited.  You won't find heating technicians, plumbers, or car mechanics participating in their  program.  

Third, yes....the college graduate crowd probably put a lot of internal pressure on the managers of the fund.

Finally, the prime question I have....after they sold the bonds....did they at least break 'even'?  If they didn't break even....how exactly will they explain the loss?  

Oh, and a odd  final question....you have $100-M now in your hand.....where will you invest it? German bonds?  Swedish bonds?  Greek bonds? 

German Police With Language Problems?

This is a story I noted about a month ago and I asked Grok/AI to lay out references.

So reports in 2025 indicated that a significant portion of new Berlin police recruits require additional German language training due to insufficient proficiency.

Back in the spring of 2025, out of 240 cadets who began training, 132 of them  (around 55-percent) needed remedial German classes, particularly in written skills, during their first semester. (brusselssignal.eu)

What the leadership has said?  It's a repeating issue....affecting about half of new entrants on average, and attributed it to broader societal trends like declining language abilities, teacher shortages, and increased classroom diversity rather than a problem unique to the force. (brusselssignal.eu)

Oddly, the requirement now  mandates that recruits in training....must ultimately reach C2-level fluency (near-native proficiency) before graduating. 

Odds of this occurring across all sixteen states?  Well....no one says that.  I would  imagine have some  issue brewing and quietly mandate additional language classes.

The Suggested Boycott

 German politician Jürgen Hardt (CDU) has proposed a boycott of the 2026 World Cup which is to be held in the United States, regarding Greenland.

Pausing over this....it's a curious idea.

Most breweries, pub and  bars in Germany need the European Cup and World Cup (alternating every two years) to occur....for the month-long period in summer.....to help profits and business to 'survive'.

Most German bar owners will tell you that a Cup-action for a month....makes about 40-percent of the yearly income, and it MATTERS.  They also do NOT want the  televised action to occur at 6 AM or noon.....they'd rather have hefty consumers of beer for late afternoon or evening games.

The same crowd have gotten use to beer-gardens being used....with weather being a major factor for beer consumption.  Just having a one single rain-storm cancel out the bar garden situation....could mean a 10-percent loss in beer-profits for the month.

I'm not saying this idea of a boycott is good or bad....just that brewery industry and bar-owners don't agree with the idea.

The Odds of NATO Evolving Into Something Without The US?

 In the early 1990s....I was giving this a 80-percent chance of happening....where most all of US forces in Europe would exit. This NATO versus Warsaw Pact....was dissolving.   But I was wrong.

 By the 2005 era....I was giving it a 10-percent chance of happening....very unlikely. 

Here in 2026....I'm giving it a 99-percent chance of happening.  The evolution will involve 'hate-Trump' chatter, keeping Russia alive by buying their oil/natural gas after the war ends, and some weird EU creation of NATO-plus-up with Ukraine as a active member-player.

The comical side of this evolution?  Well...Europe has a arsenal of US-designed weapons.  So they need to replace them....with limited to marginal funding available.  To make this successful....taxes need to escalate...meaning public funds get more troublesome.

US commerce has to be punished in some way.....with several hundred thousand Europeans in such jobs....getting laid-off.  Explaining this will take care of a number of political parties....triggering them to be more punished than usual

All of this acceptable to all members of the EU?  I don't really buy into that....there's probably five or six European states which aren't going to buy into the 'path' designed.  Poland, Hungary and Czech might go against the path....so might Italy.  

All happening in 2026?  No....but it'll be like the 1966 event in France, where the exit plan is drafted and finalized.  I would imagine somewhere between 2027 and 2028....this 'end' will occur.

Financial chaos to occur?  Yeah, but the more things change....the more they stay the same.

It's not the end of the world scenario....it's just a new evolution.  

This RyanAir-Elon Musk Chatter

 Here in Germany, this RyanAir 'comedy' where they got into Elon's business by saying 'no' to the Starlink being used on RyanAir flights for internet service.  They could have lightly said 'no'....suggesting their flights are ultra-cheap and they don't offer gimmicks (that cause a upswing on tickets). But they decided to go a step or two beyond that.

This Elon hyped-up, and he asked (mostly as a joke)....how much was RyanAir if  he were to buy them.

So this discussion has  taken off....without much German notice unless  you are on Twitter.

Cost, if Elon was serious?   Folks suggest $35-B  if you were to buy RyanAir.

My general take?  I used RyanAir twice (2000-2005 era)....out of Hahn....to Shannon (Ireland) and some poverty-airport near Rome.

My experience....Hahn runs like a Greyhound bus station, and you spend an hour looking for parking...before you finally start walking to the terminal. The airplane?  You feel like it's a Greyhound bus situation out of Memphis (yeah, I did that experience in 1980).

The ticket is ultra-cheap...but logically coming because RyanAir refuses to use prime airports, and most are these mostly 'dead' airports that died out in the 1970s.

If your priority is just to get from point A to B...cheaply as possible, and rent a car for four days.....to see X and Y....then it makes sense.  

If you board the plane and want a Coke? It's not free.....figure a minimum of four Euro.....on up to 6 Euro....if it is a long distance flight.  You want a particular seat?  Pay for that as well.

If they could figure a way to charge for toilet services on the plane.....yeah, they would likely charge 5 Euro for that.  So far, it hasn't happened.

If Elon did buy them?  I don't see it as a huge profit situation.  Elon would re-name them....either Air-X or  X-Air.  He'd likely add some membership deal....50 Euro a year.....where you got cans of soda for 25 Euro-cents. And yes, Starlink would be on each plane.

A tip here....don't let German bureaucrats drag Elon into a nuke energy discussion.  He's likely to go and anchor some platform off the north coast of Germany by 12 miles....put five or six mini-nuke stations on it...and offer to sell cheaper power to  Germans....by a 30 to 40 percent discount than what they current produce with solar and wind energy. Another tip....don't get Elon talking to the Poles about mini-nuke stations....engaged in selling cheap  power to Germans.  

G7 Rumor

 Started about 2 hours ago....new European rumor.

Macron (France) proposes G7 meeting with Russia's Putin.

BS?  I think it's strictly a creative moment....bring in Putin to be the 'good-guy' and pretend he's the replacement for Trump.  

If I were Putin....accept and then dictate a anti-US situation for Greenland.

Yeah, this starts to sound like a WWE-wrestling script....bad-guys flipping to good-guys, and vice-versa.

My bet....both the UK and Germany will support this.

The 923 Story

It is a somewhat  funny story to lay out....which some folks don't laugh over.

This involves the state of the Pfalz (across the river from my Hessen state).

Every day, checks are carried out at the country's asylum reception centers to ensure all asylum seekers are still present. For 2025 and half of 2024....currently.....923 folks 'departed'....missing....without explanation. 

Yeah, they just got up and walked away.

The state Integration Secretary....Janosch Littig (Greens) will have to address the Integration Committee of the State Parliament in Mainz on Tuesday afternoon, and this topic will come  up.

Where the 923 folks went?  Unknown.  They apparently don't show up on the listing of the other 15 German states....at least not yet.

Did the state cut off their subsidy?  Unknown.....you would think within 30 days of disappearing....the 'free-money' would be cut-off.

Did the 923 folks go 'home'?  I doubt it.....but maybe so.

Did the 923 folks go to France or England?  It's possible.  I doubt that either nation chats over incoming/outgoing refugees.

What I think occurred?  If you asked general questions....I believe that the majority of the 923 were men...with skill-sets, and they were offered jobs under-the-table (meaning black-work). The group are still in Germany....working...without a status. But you really don't want to stand there as a state official and suggest this to the public.

Same thing going on in the remaining 15 other German states?  No one says much, but I'd wager....yes.

20 Jan 2026: Germany: 12 Things

 1.  For the over-40 German crowd....ZDF (Channel 2 of Public TV) finally decided to go forward with the revival of the 'Wetten Das' Show. 

The new host (plural)?  Well....from Tokyo Hotel fame (kid rock band from 2005 to 2015 era)....the brothers Tom and Bill. 

Yeah, from the top 100 Germans who are recognizable.....I would agree.  However, if you ask anyone under age 25...they don't know Tom or Bill, or Tokyo Hotel.....same probably for those over age 70. For the crowd between 25 and 60....everyone follows the adventures of Bill  (husband of German model Heide Klum).

Oddly, this is 'hot' trending this AM across Germany.

2.  German gov't agreed on a E-car subsidy.....no problem.  Then they turned around and allowed Chinese-made E-cars on the list as well.   Some public folks are grumbling....it should have only been German-made E-cars.

3.  Piece on Focus written by Ulrich Reitz....commenting how the German deployment of 15 soldiers into Greenland resembles the script in some ways to the comedy....Dr. Strangelove.

I would suggest before this analysis came out....a number of Germans were writing comical pieces over the 15 guys, the mission, and how this was organized.  It would not surprise me if some German writer puts forth a movie script.  My suggested title?  Forty-Four Hours.

4. EU rumor (out of Brussels).....the EU is examining the idea of creating a new NATO-like 'creature'....without the US,  but would include Ukraine.  What they haven't discussed....Ukraine is still at war, and any such creation would get the attention of Putin (asap).  

My suggestion....call up Putin and suggest that a new alliance occur....if  he ends the war....to  allow Russia to be the 'partner'  of the EU.

5. From this rail accident in SW Spain....forty dead, 24 seriously injured, and another 150-odd passenger hurt in some way.  Couple of Germans noted among the dead.

6.  Berlin.....group of seven guys smoking in Hermannplatz subway station (something you aren't supposed to do.....maybe for 20 years now)...when 4 security guards for the rail-network....confront the men about it.  Guards get insulted and then beaten up. Two of the BVG employees had to be taken to the hospital with lacerations/cuts.

Police investigating.  Security cameras probably have decent images of the six.

7.  Bavaria's Soder (Premier) put up the idea of merging several German states.  Like taking Saarland and merging into the Pfalz.  

Some survey was done over the weekend.....two out of three Germans oppose merging.

To be honest....you might find more support to split several German states into multiple states (instead  of 16 states....having 25 states).  Several cities would like to have the status of Bremen or Hamburg....city-states.  I suspect residents of Stuttgart, Hannover and Munich would approve of this idea.

8.  Mayor of Aschaffenburg comments a year after a knife attack in the city: "Safety is not something to be taken for granted."

I'll offer the analysis....in my village or a small town of 10,000....I feel 100-percent safe.  When in a metro-situation (town of 200k or more)....especially at night....I have a watchful eye, and obviously care more about safety.  No-go zones are more obvious.

9.  Bus services in the Heidelberg area are experiencing delays/cancellations. This relates to newly delivered E-buses....that fail in below 0 C situations.

The operator is Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr (RNV).

Particular type?  Mercedes-Benz eCitaro G buses.

So what they say....around 50 were delivered recently, and half can't operate  at full capacity...unless the temp is plus-temperatures (above 0).  I would imagine that the battery area of the vehicle  has to be warmed in some fashion....to keep temperatures above zero.  If you read through the story.....modifications coming.  But you have to wonder....did M-B ever test the E-bus technology in harsh conditions.

10.  German statistics: Germans required almost 20 days of sick leave for 2025.  This is adding cost to German health insurance.  

11.   Since publicly known in 2024.....noting scandalous revelations surrounding a paratrooper regiment and sexual misconduct within the German armed forces....an investigation is to finally start.

To be clear....this is simply the beginning of the survey/report.....if the report is ever released to the public is still a unknown.

I'll predict....almost no one agrees to participate, and the final report isn't written until mid-summer 2027.

12.  After a little 'joke' by RyanAir social media folks on Elon Musk.....Musk asked the value of RyanAir (figured in the 35-B range).

Some folks think that Musk might buy and re-name the airline X-Air.

Having ridden twice on RyanAir....2000 to 2005 era....I'm not a big fan.  You feel like it's a Greyhound bus situation.  If I had 35-B euro.....I would find something better to buy.

Local Election Prep, Pro-Auto Party

 Wiesbaden area is preparing for the city-election in mid-March.

So....a new party has arrived and intend to campaign....the  Pro-Auto Party.

Their emphasis?  Urban development, the economy, security, and public order.

Mobility remains a key issue

They will be advocating for the rights of motorists....opposing a potential light rail system....preserving parking spaces.....reversing traffic measures deemed problematic by the party, and rejecting the Ostfeld project. 

Other points?  Safety and cleanliness in the city center, the reduction of bureaucracy, structural reforms of municipal companies, and a reduction in property and business taxes. 

Picking a weakness of the top three parties (CDU, SPD and Greens)?  Yeah.

I would suggest that two-thirds of the  residents have a negative opinion over traffic, parking and see 'planning' as marginal process.

The Ostfeld project?   If you draw a line from the center of town....toward the Army Airfield....there's a 500-acre area that was formerly a garbage dump....renovated to a nature area, and some portion of it...is supposed to change into a housing area.

AfD-Alice Weidel Stance: Next Election Topic: Leave The EU?

 Over the weekend....Alice Weidel (boss of the AfD Party)....spoke up to the  idea that a major stance of the party for the next election (2029)....is to leave the EU.

No polls to rely upon, but I would imagine somewhere around 20-to-25 percent of Germans have a negative opinion about the EU, and leaving  might bring up a broad discussion.

Here's the accompanying odd factor....the Linke Party...making up around 12-percent of voters....isn't exactly pro-EU.  They want a number of reforms within the EU....to make them more 'left'.

The branding of the AfD in this direction?  Well...exiting the EU probably isn't on the top hundred things in Germany to 'fix' for the majority of working-class Germans.  Most will tell you.....they aren't pro-EU, but they aren't anti-EU either.  

What This Greenland-Denmark-Trump Story Reminds Me Of

Back around 1975....as a kid....I watched the 1959 British satirical comedy film The Mouse That Roared.

It's based off Leonard Wibberley's novel.  Chief star?  Peter Sellers, who is in multiple roles as the Grand Duchess Gloriana XII, Prime Minister Count Rupert Mountjoy, and Field Marshal Tully Bascomb. 

So the story follows the tiny, fictional European Duchy of Grand Fenwick, nestled in the Alps, whose economy relies solely on exporting its famous Pinot Grand Fenwick wine. 

Things were fine for years and years....then some California winery produces a cheap imitation called "Pinot Grand Enwick," which causes the duchy to go into financial woes and bankruptcy. 

To save the duchy....the scheming Prime Minister Mountjoy proposes declaring a 'fake-war' on the United States.  The gameplan?  They expect a swift defeat followed by generous American reconstruction aid, similar to the post-World War II Marshall Plan. 

The Duchess Gloriana hears the whole thing, and readily approves, but says in the end....no one gets hurt. 

Mild-mannered game warden Tully Bascomb is appointed to lead a ragtag invasion force of about 20 medieval-armored soldiers equipped with longbows and arrows. 

The boys tend sail off to New York City on a old freighter....with intent  to surrender upon arrival.

Oddly....they arrive during an city-wide air-raid drill, where they're mistaken for invaders from Mars (this is NY City where people believe almost  anything).

In the confusion, they accidentally capture a top-secret "Q-bomb" (a super-destructive weapon capable of destroying the world), its inventor Professor Kokintz, his daughter, a U.S. general, and some police officers. 

Instead of losing, Grand Fenwick unwittingly "wins" the war, returning home victorious with their prizes. 

This unexpected triumph forces the duchy to navigate international diplomacy, as larger nations vie for control of the bomb, turning the tiny country into a global power broker. 

We've reached a point where the Greenland-EU-Denmark story could easily fit into this type of movie.....where 15 German soldiers can only get to Greenland....onboard a regular passenger flight, and utilize local  hotel  accommodations while performing 'recon'.

Three Side-Stories Over Greenland

 1.  The sudden end to the German Army deployment?   Well....they flew out in business-class.

I asked the wife  (German in nature)....if she thought they went to the business lounge at Nuuk Airport.  She responded....if free beer were in the  lounge, yeah, they probably lounged.

2.  There's some rumor that Germany was told that US EUCOM in Stuttgart....had  a order to evaluate the idea of closing bases if any European country was working against the Greenland acquisition.  

I'm not giving the rumor much thought.  There's probably a meeting every month where a priority list is drafted and reviewed....over and over.

3.  Finally...some social media story came up that the US was gathering up data on airports and ports in Greenland.

Why bother?  The intel-guys have the ASSotW 10-thousand page document which is a world index of all ports/airports....which has this data already existed....for 60-odd years.

There's simply a lot of BS going around this subject.

Mission Complete

 At  some point (after sun-down) on Friday.....the 15-man Bundeswehr (German Army) unit arrived in Greenland.

They spent Saturday accomplishing the mission.

Today (Sunday)....AM, the unit boarded a plane...leaving for Iceland.  

What they did for Saturday?  If you watch N-TV news....the term 'recon' came up several times.

Trump's threat causing the early 'end'?  Well....no....as the Berlin announcement occurred....the recon was successful, and a full report would be issued shortly.

If I were viewing this from a Air Force prospective.....they have enough text from Saturday to write up a Achievement-Medal citation....giving each man/woman....a medal.  If they had a good officer planning this....he probably wrote up a new operation 'name'('Orange-Thunder', 'Polar Bang', or 'Cold Ice').

Also from a Air Force prospective....it's possible that the guys got into trouble (boozing-up from Friday night).  I'd give this a remote possibility...say one in fifty odds.

It's also possible upon arriving there....the boys discovered that their Arctic gear wasn't top-notch....or that they hadn't budgeted enough funds to cover bullets or hotel cost. 

Material for German comedians?  Yeah, there's fresh new material....for a good  8-minute dialog.  

The 1,405 Over-Time Hours Story

 I paused over this story...coming out of Spain this week.

So a city-department-worker...typically in a 3-man office....found himself mostly for 2025...in a one-man situation because of sick-leave and retirement of one employee.  So, he put in extra hours.  

If you do the math....for a 40-hour week....he had to work roughly 35 extra hours a week...or 6 hours a day extra.

You also have to assume for most  of the year....there was no comp-time or leave-time.

Is There A Energy Crisis In Germany?

 Well....you have to define crisis in detail.

Germany is facing an ongoing energy crisis, characterized by high electricity prices, supply vulnerabilities, and economic strain. 

There were paths taken over the past 20 years....but this primarily starts from the phase-out of nuclear power plants (completed in 2023), the loss of cheap Russian natural gas imports following the 2022 Ukraine invasion, and over-reliance on intermittent renewables like wind and solar. 

Chancellor noting this?  Yeah....on 14 January 2026, he publicly admitted that shutting down the nuclear plants was a "serious strategic mistake," noting it has led to unaffordability and forced imports of nuclear-generated electricity from neighbors like France. 

All of this leading to a economic impact?  Yeah....you could use the term stagnation, with GDP expected to grow only 1.2-percent in 2026 after contraction in prior years. 

Critics now argue "green" policies have sacrificed the economy, with calls to re-engage Russia for gas supplies.  The natural gas 'path'?  It can't happen unless the Ukraine war comes to an end.

Hamburg Stabbing Incident?

Yesterday (17 Jan)....there was a stabbing incident in Hamburg, Germany.

Occurring near an anti-Iranian regime protest, where at least two people were seriously injured, one of them critically. 

I read through three accounts....what the police say....this attack took place around 5:13 PM on Jungfernstieg, close to the Alsterhaus department store. 

Police arrested three suspects, with some unverified reports suggesting they were Afghan nationals/locals.....maybe linked in some way to pro-Iranian regime elements. 

 Motive?  Unknown.

 This demonstration?  Well....NDR says it was attended by thousands.....locals showing solidarity with ongoing protests in Iran against the Islamic Republic.

Q-and-A

 1.  How did France come to expel US military personnel/bases in the 1960s?

France, under President Charles de Gaulle, announced on March 7, 1966, that it was withdrawing from NATO's integrated military command and required all foreign military forces (including US troops) not under French control to leave French territory.  The deadline given for their departure was April 1, 1967, providing roughly 13 months to complete the withdrawal. 

2.  Is it likely that some repeat performance (bigger in scale, to include all of Europe) is about to happen...in regard to Greenland and feelings over Trump?

As hyped-up as people are....there is this odd dynamic of Putin sitting in the corner of the 'room', and realization of a cost-factor to replace the US troops (the money simply isn't there).  

However, I could see the 1966-scenario repeating....with US bases/posts closing over a one-year period.  If you asked me about the consequences to the economy of Germany/UK...regionally, it's a big deal (go examine Kaiserslautern, Wiesbaden and Stuttgart).  

3.  Was this Trump-Greenland-watch NATO end strategy always laid out?

I'm one of those people who believe the Trump-team has a room with white-boards and yellow-sticker labels laid out for events to trigger situations to occur (like WWE wrestling scenarios).

To be honest....there was a point in the early 1990s....while still in the Air Force, where I would note some conversation almost weekly....'why-are-we-still-staying-in-Europe' would occur.  Had the Yugoslavia-break-up not occurred....I suspect Clinton would have approached some exit strategy. 

4.  All this end-trade-with-America.....who does it really hurt?

It's not a accurate strategy.....as much as you think Europe is unified/united....it's not.  As much as the Danes, Germans, and French might be headed toward this tactic of ending US trade.....the Italians, the Poles, and most of Eastern  Europe  aren't that  thrilled of a end-trade strategy.

I looked at 2023 data: the EU exports to US: €822 billion (€503 billion in goods + €319 billion in services).....the US exports to EU: €774 billion (€347 billion in goods + €427 billion in services).  

If this end-trade strategy were applied?  Well....you'd start to notice within 30 days....a recess-like wave to occur.   The companies in Italy and Poland for example....might not suffer as much because trade wouldn't 'dip'.

5.  Is the whole list of reasons for Greenland acquisition laid out?

Some people think so....some don't think so.

If you view German public forum discussions with intellectuals....this is a awful short list of logical reasons. It is odd....over the past month, I've heard the term 'Königreich Dänemark' (Kingdom of Denmark) a good bit....before this era....it was always just 'Dänemark'.

My general belief?  China (over the past decade) has shown the general strategy of walking in and establishing trade/commerce contracts as a 'tease'.  You can use the 2018 attempt to get into the airport build-up contract in Greenland as a example. It is possible that Team-Trump sees any action like this (Greenland, Venezuela)....as a long-term problem.

6.  Who is the bigger 'evil-character' Trump or Denmark?

Inuit people (who make up around 85-percent of Greenland) have a slightly different view than non-Inuit people in Greenland.   The memory of forced birth-control from 1960s/1970s....lingers.

The logic for this strategy?  Danish authorities aimed to curb birth rates as a means of population control, reducing welfare and childcare costs to alleviate economic pressures on the state (meaning Denmark).

I would imagine if you used a Inuit-women-only poll....the vast majority don't see Denmark in a pleasant way.  

I would also imagine if you use mostly non-Inuit society members for a poll....it's near 95-percent anti-US/anti-Trump. 

7. With all this hype going on....is there a talk going on in the UK about forcing an election?

People are showing a fair amount of disgruntlement....but the 2029 election is still the target.  

If a trade 'war' were to start and hinder the Brit economy....it'd only add to the woes of the current gov't.

Four Things I Believe Will Happen Over The Next Five Years (Germany)

 1.  If you write down the top 500 German companies that produce 'something' that requires a serious amount of electricity....at least half or more....will relocate production outside of Germany (leaving the HQ's and development site alone).

Reason?  They can't compete because of the grid rates.  Countries like Hungary, Poland, Czech, Romania, France....will benefit.

2. GDP will lessen.....by 10-to-20 percent...because of production moving elsewhere.

3.  Because of lessening pensions and cost of living....an increasing  number of German retirees will start to view leaving (for places like Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland). 

4.  I expect some national scandal to develop....where a quarter of all German 'kids' age 17/18...can't read/grasp beyond the 6th grade level. Politicians will ask....how was this possible, and how they can meet obligations to major companies.  

16 Jan 2025: Germany: 4 Things

 1.  I sat and read through a NIUS story this AM....thinking it was a joke.  Searched around....well....no,  facts are facts.  So the story.

10,000 inmates in Bavaria's (the state) prisons....so more than half of them aren't Germans.

This fact?  It comes from a response by the Bavarian Ministry of Justice to a parliamentary inquiry from AfD members of parliament.

You can do the numbers....amounts to several hundred million in operations/support cost or the state prison system.

The odds that the remaining 15 states also have the issue brewing?  Well....no one says much, but you have to wonder about that detail.

2.  The designated 'new' Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt, Sven Schulze, has advocated for requiring welfare recipients to perform social service . "People who receive benefits from the state should provide something in return, up to and including community service."

Legal?  It'll be challenged. 

The thing about this....if you ask a thousand working-class Germans about this....more than three-quarters fully support the idea, and probably another 10-percent want some type of 'duty' (maybe just 8 hours a week).  

Who would run this?  Unknown.  You'd have to recruit in a city of 200,000....at least forty managers to keep it functional, and where would this money come from?

3.  End of next week....weather guys say a harsh dry 'front' comes through Germany....day-time temperatures back down to minus-5 C (23 F) for probably three weeks (no snow).

My impression of the impending natural gas shortage?  The current reserves nationally....near 50-percent.  So if true....this 3-week period will likely bring the reserves down to the 25-percent point.  Hopefully, that's it for winter.....if anything else arrives...the gov't likely puts everyone on limited use of natural gas.

4. National crisis brewing in Germany....driving-schools are saying no one has money for classes.....job-cuts are coming in the next couple of months.

Vet Story

Originally yesterday....I saw this story from the UK....thinking it was a joke.  Well....no, it's no joke.

Talk has started up in the UK revolving a draft measure in the Armed Forces Bill, which....which seeks  to strengthen the country's military readiness amid geopolitical tensions, such as potential conflicts involving Russia. 

Under these changes, retired military veterans (specifically those in the strategic reserve, including ex-regular and recall reserves) could be liable for recall to service up to the age of 65, up from the current limit of 55. 

This is designed to make it easier and faster to mobilize experienced personnel in crises, including for "warlike preparations," rather than only in cases of national emergency or direct attack. 

It won't take effect until spring 2027, and it primarily affects currently serving personnel (who can opt out), while those already retired whose liability has expired aren't impacted unless they choose to opt in. 

How many in this manpower 'pool'? 95,000. 

Public perception?  Most Brits think it's humor or bogus.   Well...no....it's actually in the draft bill.

Three Things Over This Greenland Chatter

 1. Various European countries are in the process of  sending a handful of troops to Greenland....to defeat Trump invasion

After pondering it....I thought....why would Putin not get involved?  Russia ought to line up a 60-man 'team'.....deploy into Greenland and vow to fight the evil  Americans.  The Europeans would 'buy' into this and form an alliance with Russia.

2.  There are two (only 2) news sources in Greenland. First,  there's Kalaallit Nunaata Radio (KNR)...the public broadcaster providing radio, TV, and online news in Greenlandic and Danish. 

Second: Sermitsiaq.AG: A private media operation  which publishes two newspapers (Sermitsiaq weekly and Atuagagdliutit/Grønlandsposten twice weekly), online news, magazines, and a free local paper in Nuuk (Nuuk Ugeavis).

Even if a 'deal' is made....both would have to survive and continue on....sponsored by the US gov't.

3.  Reading through various material....I came across a study from the 1980s...on alcoholism on Greenland.

Roughly 50-perent of society is noted with some type of alcohol issue....with roughly half of that group noting binge-drinking coming up at least once a month.

On cannabis-use?  Roughly ten-percent are  noted as regular users.

The Promi Drinker

There are probably twenty-odd German reality or promi TV  stars that I follow....most have zero talent....other than goofing around or being a marginal comedian.

One of my favorites is Claudia Obert, a German reality TV star and entrepreneur known for her appearances on shows like "Promis unter Palmen" and her luxury lifestyle brand.

So her brand or gimmick....is a public persona heavily tied to champagne consumption....or you 'think' she consumes. 

Her brand?  It sells media depictions, social media posts, and memes that portray her as someone who frequently indulges in it.

One of the hosted events....the "Magic Champagne Party" and she promoted her own "Champagne Club".

Fake drinker?  Yeah, and Germans do eventually figure this out.

My buy-in?  At some  point....she was treating champagne as a "basic food". 

Greenlanders In Fear Of Invasion....Fleeing?

 I watched a German  news piece today....where they talked to a couple of locals (more so Danish, than native Inuit tribal folks....who make up 88-percent of the isle).

I'll just say the question was asked in a particular way.....if 'fear' or stress existed.  The typical Greenlander-Danes responded something to the effect that they feared the US invasion, Trump-was-a-dictator,  and they'd have to flee.

Oddly, no Inuits were asked the question.  I suspect if they had....there would not have been a 'fear' or panic. If you had said that the local breweries.....Godthaab Bryghus, Qajaq Brewery, and Grønland Ice Cap Beer (69°N)....were shutting  down for a month...yeah, it might have gotten more attention.

Now that this has gotten German news attention....I'm guessing the politicians are open to asylum offerings.....to help the poor Greenlanders out.  

The fact that around 1,300 Filipinos, Thais, and Chinese also live there?  I don't think anyone realizes that.

The 54 Germans?  No one mentioned them.

The 121 Sri Lankan folks?  No one mentioned them.

Should East German History (1945-to-1990) Be Taught?

 When I went through the German integration class (for my visa)....in the 30-day class....there was around two hours spent on the era (from the East German/DDR prospective).  It was enough to 'wet' your taste.  From the group I was with (mostly Iraqis/Syrians)...they knew next to nothing about the division and marginally got anything out of the 2 hours.

This came up today....Berlin-City authorities have finally decreed that secondary schools don't have to waste any history studies time on the DDR era.   Some folks complained, but it appears like 98-percent didn't care.  It wasn't like this thrilling era was fun-loving or dynamic.

What will fill the history hours?  Well....they left that blank.  I'm guessing Roman era stuff.....maybe a bit more of the Weimar-era. 

Täter, In English?

 Täter, when used by a German....means a guy who has committed some type of crime. The term Verbrecher also works.

If you go back a thousand years....the term was 'tat'.

I will also go and suggest that once a German suggests so-and-so is a Täter...even if the court case has yet to come up...the Germans zeroes out innocence....meaning he or she is to be  convicted.

Oddly, the term wasn't really written down anywhere until the 1850s....when the Grimm brothers made it a national term. Up until that point, it was passed around....mouth-by-mouth. 

Greenland Poverty

 I sat and asked AI (Grok) how many Greenlanders were living at poverty-level.  It spent a good 8 minutes looking at data.

Based on the most recent available data (2023), approximately 9,850 Greenlanders live below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold.

Meaning?  They live at 60-percent of the national median equivalised disposable income (after taxes and transfers). 

Landscape?  It  represents 17.4% of the population, the highest such rate among Nordic countries. 

Oddly....Greenland does not have an official national poverty line, so this EU-SILC-aligned metric (measuring relative poverty) is commonly used. The figure reflects persons, not households, and highlights ongoing challenges like rural-urban disparities and limited economic diversification.

So....roughly one out of six Greenlanders aren't that thrilled over the current economic  situation.

Does Greenland's Unemployment Rate Screw Up Reality?

 I spent about an hour this AM....trying to grasp the 'true' unemployment rate for Greenland.

The latest data that you can find (and trust) is from 2024 (nothing for 2025).  That number is 8.7-percent (for Denmark, it's two points less).  Yeah, it's fairly high and a bad sign over the economy.

However....if you dig into youth-unemployment....projections go to 25-percent.

So when politicians for Denmark/Greenland talk over the 'woes' of Greenland....roughly 2,500 to 3,500 of the population under age 25....aren't that thrilled over the commerce and job-opportunities.

Having a open-vote?  If you lined up all 42,000 residents (who are 18 or over).....4,700 are in the youth category (18-25).  I would imagine the bulk of the younger voters want massive change. The remaining 35,000 are probably split, with most preferring to continue 'as-is'.  

15 Jan 2026: Germany: 5 Things

 1.  Total number of German troops deploying to Greenland for defense purposes?   13.  By the wording of the announcment....it didn't seem like it was going to be more than 10 days of 'ice-duty'. Arrival?  Thursday afternoon.  

2.  Interesting WELT piece: 'The Desperate Sex'.  Article discussing trend....mental disorders in young German women increasing....caused by over-parenting, social media and expectations beyond the norm.  

3.  Merz says 'nein' to the SPD plan for reforming (increasing) the inheritance tax.

4.  Watched a N-TV news-sports piece....over 2026 World Cup games....FIFA says with new higher ticket prices.....ticket sales in Germany is still 'hot'.

5.  For 2025....VW Golf was the biggest seller of  cars.

Ulm Attack

 Down in Ulm (SW Germany) today.....knife attack at a Media Markt electronics shop.  Two employees stabbed....one in really bad shape....the other less so.

It appears some 'disagreement' within the store started up with a Eritrean guy (29).  Cops were called....quickly arriving.  They gave the order to put the knife down....no response....they pulled guns on the guy...firing a couple of rounds.  Attack guy still alive but in serious condition.

Odd factor?  Well...back in the fall of 2025....he was arrested for several violent problems.  Judge found reason to release him around Christmas.  So he's been out for roughly two to three weeks...out of jail.

This affecting the Baden-Wurttemberg state election? Well....it feeds into the AfD 'machine'.  People see the story and ask why he was released back in December, or if he is a nutcase.

Soap Opera Chatter

 About ten days ago....(2 Jan 2026), oddly just a couple of hours before the Berlin blackout...Channel 2 (ZDF, public TV) had a police 'soap-opera' (krimi series "SOKO Leipzig")....which came up at 9:15 PM.

I was channel-flipping....watched about 10 minutes of the show, and continued channel-flipping.

The initial buy-in?  Some type of scenario with radical eco-terrorism....convincing you that they were lefty-environmentalists.

So the next day....number of Germans commented via social media over what developed during the 90-minute.

Basically....there was a kidnapping of environmental activists from the "Blühende Landschaften" (Flowering Landscapes) movement.

This was all tied  into a 2nd more radical eco-group "Kommando 5 nach 12" (Command 5 After 12).  Yeah, catchy names, I will admit.

Somewhere in the first  30 minutes....there's this odd twist with the plot.

The Command 5 After 12 is really faked-up environmentalist group....who are NOT left-wing extremists.  Nope....they are some Reichsbürger movement (extreme right-wing nutcases who want to trigger a coup in Germany).

Yeah....so the kidnapping script/show....is mostly a false flag.

So what is odd here....at 02:47 (roughly 3 to 4 hours)....the Berlin power grid went down because of the explosion.

Tied in?  No.  But if you were a Berlin resident affected, and the next couple of days went by with various explanations over the situation....you might remember the ZDF cop show and wonder....maybe it was a fake environmentalist (really a Reichsberger guy) who did the damage.

I'll end my commentary with this humble thought....back a decade or so ago....I quit watching these German public TV cop-soap-operas...mostly because the scripts were so faked-up and marginal.  It felt like watch 1970s 'Dragnet' shows.  Maybe  I'll have to reverse my stand and start viewing them again.

Bike Autobahn

 My local town (Wiesbaden, population of 295k)....has a 2026 'project'....to build a bicycle 'autobahn' from the Theodor Heuss bridge (far SE part of town, leading to Mainz)....to the city train station.

900,000 Euro figured in cost (mostly for development/asphalt).

Yeah...making this roughly a 25-minute ride from point to point. 

Yes, the bus already does the trip in 25 minutes.

Yes, the train does the same trip in about 10 minutes.

Germans Defending Greenland?

 WELT did a poll...politically....asking about Germans defending Greenland from the US.

Oddly....75-percent of Greens said 'yes'...meaning that roughly 25-percent were not open to fighting the US.

With the CDU membership....71-percent said 'yes', but 29-percent weren't interested in fighting the US.

With AfD Party folks? Only 37-percent said 'yes'....meaning around 63-percent were against fighting the US.

I would have asked from the 18-to-25 year old Germans the question...figuring  fewer than less 10-percent would engage in war against the US.  

Asking if it were Russia invading Greenland....I have my doubts if 50-percent of German society would say 'fight-them'.    

14 Jan 2026: Germany: 4 Things

 1.  Odd story....the Havel-Therme (Potsdam-Mittelmark area) is a upper-class spa center.  They've had some 'bad-boy' behavior the past couple of months.....“groups of men....alcohol”....so they are imposing stringent entry rules.  Yeah, in effect....rules established and enforced.

2.  Interesting WELT piece this AM.....talking of various areas of Germany where the electrical grid is maxed-out.  The solution?  Well....literally hundreds of millions of Euro to upgrade.   

While on the topic....Germany's electricity prices remain among the highest in Europe....with household rates averaging around 38-40 euro cents per kWh in the past year or two.  Blame?  Combination of policy decisions, infrastructure needs, and market dynamics. 

Several structural factors contribute to this, including the country's ambitious energy transition (Energiewende), which emphasizes renewables while phasing out nuclear and coal power.

If you built a index of German companies which rely upon electricity in the production of their products/services....listing a thousand...I'd mark off the top 30-percent as likely moving their service/production outside of Germany within 10 years....to be competitive.

3. Over the weekend, Foreign Minister Wadephul and Finance Minister Klingbeil happened to meet....in Iceland. Oddly, both were on a visit-Washington trip...on separate planes.

This got  in the news....because of 'tighten-the-belts chatter' that the Merz team has put upon the cabinet.  

4.  Just odd...no polling in past 4 months in Saxony-Anhalt (the state).  State election in September.

Last poll....Sep 2025....had AfD at 40-percent.  Some belief that AfD has progressed to around 45-percent since then.  No factual evidence to support this though.

The China-Greenland Airport 'Deal'

 Maybe if you read Danish newspapers intently, or bring this up with a Greenlander....you might know bits and pieces of the story....otherwise, a 99-percent chance as a EU resident....you have no knowledge of the situation.

The leadership of Greenland...wanted to expand and build onto three airports in the country....Nuuk (the capital), Ilulissat, and Qaqortoq. No support was appearing from the Danes, or the EU. No one ever asks why....but I would imagine they didn't see tourism growth ever coming to Greenland.

So....talks started up between Greenland and China regarding airport projects centered on Greenland's efforts to secure financing and construction for expansions.

This intent?  Development to boost tourism and economic growth, with an estimated total project cost of around 3.6 billion Danish kroner (approximately $560 million at the time).

In late 2017, Greenland's then-Premier Kim Kielsen led a delegation to Beijing to work up a deal with Chinese state-run banks and companies for funding and building the airports. 

Greenland could cover about 2.1 billion kroner internally but needed external financing for the remaining 1.5 billion. 

The Chinese side? China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), Beijing Construction Engineering Group (BCEG), and the Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM). 

Chinese interest was expressed, but financing was conditional on a Chinese firm handling the construction. Yeah....Greenland would have to allow Chinese construction workers, period.

A short list of bidders came up in the spring of 2018....with construction supposed to start in October 2018. 

So at this point....spring-to-summer of 2018.....security concerns from Denmark (Greenland's sovereign authority) and the U.S. came up over potential Chinese influence near the U.S. Thule Air Base and risks of debt dependency upon Greenland. 

To prevent problems....summer  of 2018...Denmark intervened by agreeing to provide 700 million kroner for a 33-percent stake in Kalaallit Airports (covering Nuuk and Ilulissat, but excluding Qaqortoq), effectively putting Chinese financing on hold and reducing the odds of CCCC winning the bid. 

In the aftermath of this funding decision....Greenland political tensions popped up....mostly negative about how the Danes got in the middle of controlling the outcome, and forcing a particular outcome.

The odds of some Chinese influence in the Greenland bidding and selection process?  You can make the analysis and suggest this....but no real facts to back it up.

So  as the Danes, Greenlanders, and US meet this week....the Danes are fairly aware of this episode, and the influence of the Chinese on Greenland.  As much as they publicly denounce Trump.....they also are probably aware that they can't rig this with any happy outcome for Greenland.

Oh, and I should add....since 2024....1,800 jobs in tourism have been created in Greenland (thanks to port visits and the nation's main airport).....105,000 guests have visited Greenland in 2025 alone  (with 2024 numbers of 54,000 airport guests). The upgrades in the airport?  Yeah, it was a big deal.