25 June 2026: Germany: 9 Things

 1.   That big train shut-down from Tuesday night (nationwide)?

Well....it appears to be a technical problem with the secure radio that the engineers have....to talk to the regional 'authority'.  It's a fairly old system (2G).  It's on the to-be-replaced list, but frankly....they ain't got the funding.

This led to big 'stink'....lot of folks were left in the middle of nowhere....hotel-the-night away....to move on in the morning.

2. ZDF this week (the public TV folk) are on a heat-agenda.  This graphic was from yesterday....telling you to disconnect your router when not in use. What they didn't tell you.....your phone calls lead through  it.....so if someone was calling you....it went to a dead-number.

I'm not saying they were 'stupid', but obviously, they probably don't have a phone in the house anymore.....just using a cellphone.

I'm waiting today....for them to  suggest disconnecting your TV.....to save on heat, and get less ZDF 'advice'.

3.  19 million retirees in Germany....receive 421 billion Euro yearly.  Of this....1.48 million former civil servants receive 67 billion Euro.

Yeah.....if you do the math....big chunk for public office people.

4. Watched the Switzerland-Canada World Cup game.   Must have been 300 occasions where players were laying on the ground wounded/fake-wounded.  Also....from the Swiss guys.....they all seem like male models....even the coach.

5.  This AfD Party 'congress-meeting' for this weekend.....Erfurt.....cops say 50,000 protest folks expected.....with 2,500 described as 'threatening' (meaning they are prone to violence).

6. 200 cops were used in a raid on a apartment building in Hamburg....refugee-fraud accusations.

7.   Mandated-siesta talk going on in Germany...unions now advocating a temp-setting to trigger the siesta. 

8.  N-TV went to talk about the DC algae-in-the-pond story.  They say: "New theory is circulating: US President Trump himself could be responsible for the peeling sealant."

After reviewing things.....I think it's a alien conspiracy situation.....aliens dropping in algae nightly....to bring down Trump.

9. Social media chatter.....to safeguard young people from risky content and excessive social media use....the German Family Minister says there has to be a age limit.  

The platforms question how this would work, and if the kids might be clever enough to get around it.

After pausing....I have three solutions:

First, go back to 56-speed (what we had in 1998).

Second, mandate a maturity test.....even for adults.  If you aren't clever/mature-enough....even at age 35....no internet/social media.

Third, create some unbelievable tax-rate to have social media of any type....like 12 Euro per hour.