1. They could be working for the city, the state, or the federal folks. Never get the idea that city cops are any lesser on authority than federal cops.
2. The traffic and speeding tickets they hand out....earn them zero on “bonuses”. The money all goes to a state fund and a national fund. Other than points on their yearly evaluation....they really don’t get nothing out of this deal.
3. They don’t get hired because they are Uncle Larry’s nephew. There is a physical test of a fair and tough nature....along with an intelligence test. Based on a news episode I watched over their selection process....I doubt that even half the folks taking either test get to the point of being invented into the selection process.
4. There is an academy that you attend to be a cop. There are various tests and evaluations before the end. The best graduate and move on. The folks lacking....don’t graduate.
5. When a German cop stops you and asks questions.....answer them and don’t put up a hassle. If you chose to argue or become a problem....he has full authority to toss you on the ground and handcuff for a trip downtown. Either you give him respect or you lose.
6. Police brutality used to be almost impossible to prove. With video coverage available now....judges are willing to act on cases.
7. Every German cop knows ten basic judo moves and can lay you on the ground in a second or two.
8. Never use the friendly version of “you” (du) with a German cop. Always use “sie” instead. If you want trouble....just toss in one “du” and you’ve got problems immediately.
9. If the German cops said you were speeding....take it as an absolute fact. They will even show you the video.
10. If the German cop pulls his weapon....he will use the weapon with no hesitation. Don’t think otherwise. There is a legendary story that in a normal average year across Germany.....there's usually less than 30 rounds fired by all German cops combined.
Thursday, April 5, 2018
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
The Salafist Story
There's a short piece today, with ARD (German public TV, Channel One) that talks to the number of Salfist folks in Germany (the extremists of Islam).
If you go by the German Federal Ministry of the Interior....there's a minimum of 11,000 Salafists currently living in Germany.
They say (the Ministry) that this is double of what it was in 2013.
The concentration? Berlin and Hamburg.
Roughly 400 of them are qualified into a category as being 'potentially violent'.
The problem here is that you end having to qualify every statement when you talk about Islam in Germany, and noting 'these' Muslims are normal, and 'these' Muslims are Salafistian type individuals. For a typical German, trying to accept some qualification is a bit of a problem.
Potentially more growth? No one really says that. One problem I see with this group is that you have to go and work for a living, and that means having to work around German women, a progressive society, and accepting the German cultural landscape. It's awful hard to maintain your Salafistian values, while in this type of environment.
If you go by the German Federal Ministry of the Interior....there's a minimum of 11,000 Salafists currently living in Germany.
They say (the Ministry) that this is double of what it was in 2013.
The concentration? Berlin and Hamburg.
Roughly 400 of them are qualified into a category as being 'potentially violent'.
The problem here is that you end having to qualify every statement when you talk about Islam in Germany, and noting 'these' Muslims are normal, and 'these' Muslims are Salafistian type individuals. For a typical German, trying to accept some qualification is a bit of a problem.
Potentially more growth? No one really says that. One problem I see with this group is that you have to go and work for a living, and that means having to work around German women, a progressive society, and accepting the German cultural landscape. It's awful hard to maintain your Salafistian values, while in this type of environment.
Youth Welfare Topic
There's hardly a day that goes by with German public news these days without some report or mention of Hartz IV (the German welfare program). A decade ago.....it was hyped a good bit by the news folks as a lousy program, but the general public didn't buy into the story or theme. In recent months.....the trend has reversed, and the public now believes Hartz IV is doomed and bound to be replaced.
The newest story? ARD (public German TV, Channel One) discussed the issues with young Germans affected by Hartz IV.
One in seven German kids under the age of 18 are dependent on Hartz IV, with the newest numbers or statistics that have come out.
Where the recent increase comes from? Well....they readily admit that the incoming number of migrants and refugees....which usually end up on Hartz IV....pumps up the recent increases. If you went back five years ago....before the migrant episode started up....it was one kid in eight who were in the welfare situation.
Using the German gov't numbers.....roughly two million German kids (under 18) were on Hartz IV at some point in 2017. It's a hefty number.
The gut feeling with most Germans is that Hartz IV is on some path in 2018 to be changed by the SPD Party (the ones who invented Hartz IV), and likely tossed/rebranded/redesigned. The new product for German welfare? Likely to have more cash infused into it, which means a tax issue by spring of 2019. This two to four extra billion that will be needed for the new brand name of German welfare? It'll have to come from the wealthy or middle-class.
The newest story? ARD (public German TV, Channel One) discussed the issues with young Germans affected by Hartz IV.
One in seven German kids under the age of 18 are dependent on Hartz IV, with the newest numbers or statistics that have come out.
Where the recent increase comes from? Well....they readily admit that the incoming number of migrants and refugees....which usually end up on Hartz IV....pumps up the recent increases. If you went back five years ago....before the migrant episode started up....it was one kid in eight who were in the welfare situation.
Using the German gov't numbers.....roughly two million German kids (under 18) were on Hartz IV at some point in 2017. It's a hefty number.
The gut feeling with most Germans is that Hartz IV is on some path in 2018 to be changed by the SPD Party (the ones who invented Hartz IV), and likely tossed/rebranded/redesigned. The new product for German welfare? Likely to have more cash infused into it, which means a tax issue by spring of 2019. This two to four extra billion that will be needed for the new brand name of German welfare? It'll have to come from the wealthy or middle-class.
The Apprentice Story
This got brought up today within ARD (German public TV, Channel One).....the drop-out rate for apprenticeship is going up.
Most German kids around age thirteen and fourteen.....have to start thinking hard about life after basic school, and apprenticeships come up. At some point, you have to pick a profession.....type up resumes....apply....and eventually do interviews for apprentice positions.
ARD discusses the fact that the drop-out rate is now around twenty-five percent. For example....ARD discusses that in 2016....146k training contracts were tossed before completion across Germany.
They even discuss that three professions are heavily affected by this problem: security professionals, hairdressers, and cooks. The drop-out rate goes near 50-percent.
Why the high rate? There are differing opinions. Some suggest that the compensation money for the 'kids' isn't high enough to keep their interest. Some suggest conflict with the instructor personnel, while others cite crappy working conditions or faulty job descriptions. Some experts will even go and suggest that apprentice motivation isn't what it used to be twenty to forty years ago.
The problem here is that you end up with a 16 or 17 year old kid.....who invested six, twelve, or perhaps eighteen months into some training program, and never reached a finished point. Now....what do you do as a Job-Center with this kid? More tests? New direction or focus in life? Another apprentice deal? Or do you push them off at age eighteen to the Bundeswehr (German Army)?
My son brought up a friend of his from school who'd spent an entire year in some program and then dropped it....total dissatisfaction with the job area, and then convinced the Job-Center for a new chance as a cook. Five years ago, the kid wrapped up his training....fully qualified cook. And recently, the kid got bumped up for a better job up in Hamburg.
The problem I see is that most kids at age fourteen....have no real idea what profession they'd really fit into, and this 1960s-type funnel used to push kids off into a profession....isn't working anymore.
But if you sit and view this.....146k kids who invested six months to a year into wasted training, with nothing to show for it.....it's a developing mess, with no real solution on the horizon.
Most German kids around age thirteen and fourteen.....have to start thinking hard about life after basic school, and apprenticeships come up. At some point, you have to pick a profession.....type up resumes....apply....and eventually do interviews for apprentice positions.
ARD discusses the fact that the drop-out rate is now around twenty-five percent. For example....ARD discusses that in 2016....146k training contracts were tossed before completion across Germany.
They even discuss that three professions are heavily affected by this problem: security professionals, hairdressers, and cooks. The drop-out rate goes near 50-percent.
Why the high rate? There are differing opinions. Some suggest that the compensation money for the 'kids' isn't high enough to keep their interest. Some suggest conflict with the instructor personnel, while others cite crappy working conditions or faulty job descriptions. Some experts will even go and suggest that apprentice motivation isn't what it used to be twenty to forty years ago.
The problem here is that you end up with a 16 or 17 year old kid.....who invested six, twelve, or perhaps eighteen months into some training program, and never reached a finished point. Now....what do you do as a Job-Center with this kid? More tests? New direction or focus in life? Another apprentice deal? Or do you push them off at age eighteen to the Bundeswehr (German Army)?
My son brought up a friend of his from school who'd spent an entire year in some program and then dropped it....total dissatisfaction with the job area, and then convinced the Job-Center for a new chance as a cook. Five years ago, the kid wrapped up his training....fully qualified cook. And recently, the kid got bumped up for a better job up in Hamburg.
The problem I see is that most kids at age fourteen....have no real idea what profession they'd really fit into, and this 1960s-type funnel used to push kids off into a profession....isn't working anymore.
But if you sit and view this.....146k kids who invested six months to a year into wasted training, with nothing to show for it.....it's a developing mess, with no real solution on the horizon.
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
TV Story
Focus (the German news magazine) brought up a topic about a week ago, which deserved more research....and they actually went out and spent the week digging into it.
The topic started off with the discussion over how how much TV people make. All of this circled around the Monday night public forum show....Hard But Fair.
The moderator for Hard But Fair? Some research has been done and folks say that Plasberg....back in 2010....was pulling in 17,000 Euro per episode (you can figure that he does around forty episodes per year). You can do the math and figure he (at least in 2010) as a public TV moderator, was pulling in 680,000 Euro a year....more or less. Course, you can also figure that the tax system took around 50-percent of his income.....bringing closer to 340,000 Euro a year. It's a fair sum.
Then Focus went and talked to salary.de's CEO....Philip Bierbach, and he gave a glimpse of the TV system's salary structure.
TV production managers in Germany make near 58.416 euros per year on average.
TV editors make near 47,651 Euro on average.
The lesser-known moderators make near 45,629 Euro on average.
Cameramen 33,910 Euro on average.
Sound engineer: 43,997 Euro on average.
One can view the deal and figure that one single show (one-hour in length), by the time you wrap up the weekly show, and look over the entire team assembled....there's been well over 300,000 Euro spent for one single show.
The topic started off with the discussion over how how much TV people make. All of this circled around the Monday night public forum show....Hard But Fair.
The moderator for Hard But Fair? Some research has been done and folks say that Plasberg....back in 2010....was pulling in 17,000 Euro per episode (you can figure that he does around forty episodes per year). You can do the math and figure he (at least in 2010) as a public TV moderator, was pulling in 680,000 Euro a year....more or less. Course, you can also figure that the tax system took around 50-percent of his income.....bringing closer to 340,000 Euro a year. It's a fair sum.
Then Focus went and talked to salary.de's CEO....Philip Bierbach, and he gave a glimpse of the TV system's salary structure.
TV production managers in Germany make near 58.416 euros per year on average.
TV editors make near 47,651 Euro on average.
The lesser-known moderators make near 45,629 Euro on average.
Cameramen 33,910 Euro on average.
Sound engineer: 43,997 Euro on average.
One can view the deal and figure that one single show (one-hour in length), by the time you wrap up the weekly show, and look over the entire team assembled....there's been well over 300,000 Euro spent for one single show.
Monday, April 2, 2018
Knife Story
It's been discussed on several German news sites, but I'll reference it to Deutsche Welle.....the German Police Trade Union (DPoIG) has stood up and said knife attacks are now a problem and they want them charged under attempted murder situations.
The quote that gets your attention? "It requires only the smallest altercation and knives are pulled," comments the DPoIG.
Right now, if you get into a stabbing situation....it involves no minimum period of detention because it's a lesser law situation (aggravated bodily harm).
Generally, at least with German youths.....you just never noticed kids carrying knives or getting into some disrespect situation where someone said some insulting thing and they had to be assaulted. This is a rather new trend over the past decade.
If you upped the charges? Even with the teens....I don't think it'll get their attention. My suggestion would be a more open 'stop-and-frisk' situation with teenagers....day or night. Find a kid with a illegal knife....detain them for twenty-four hours in some teen facility, and force them to fill a hundred sandbags over Saturday morning.
The quote that gets your attention? "It requires only the smallest altercation and knives are pulled," comments the DPoIG.
Right now, if you get into a stabbing situation....it involves no minimum period of detention because it's a lesser law situation (aggravated bodily harm).
Generally, at least with German youths.....you just never noticed kids carrying knives or getting into some disrespect situation where someone said some insulting thing and they had to be assaulted. This is a rather new trend over the past decade.
If you upped the charges? Even with the teens....I don't think it'll get their attention. My suggestion would be a more open 'stop-and-frisk' situation with teenagers....day or night. Find a kid with a illegal knife....detain them for twenty-four hours in some teen facility, and force them to fill a hundred sandbags over Saturday morning.
Sunday, April 1, 2018
RAF Story
Tomorrow night, fifty years ago (2 Apr 1968)....was the start of the Red Army 'war'. It began in Frankfurt at the old Zeil store in the downtown area....where the place was lit up and around 600,000 Marks of damage (roughly $300,000 US dollars) was reported. Oddly.....no one was hurt. Most of the damage? Because of the fire sprinkler system.
It took the Frankfurt cops around forty-eight hours to come up with the four individuals responsible: Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Thorwald Proll and Horst Söhnlein. The name that matters? Baader....who is to go on to create the Baader-Meinhof Gang.
It's not really a day marked down on the calendars of most Germans, and the Zeil store connection is rarely if ever brought up when you talk the RAF achievements.
Why Zeil? Zeil was the place where upper-class Frankfurt folks went shopping.
The Baader connection into this whole thing of the RAF? This is one of the odd parts of the thousand-page story, in which most all members of the RAF connected to some university setting....with the one exception of Andreas Baader.
Why Zeil was lit up? The comment made by Baader and his girlfriend, Gudrun Ensslin.....was that they wanted to make a message against the public acceptance of the war in Vietnam. Most people just accept this reasoning and never go back to dig into Ensslin or Baader in the month or two prior to the store fire.
Yep, the fifty year anniversary of the little 'civil' war in Germany.
It took the Frankfurt cops around forty-eight hours to come up with the four individuals responsible: Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Thorwald Proll and Horst Söhnlein. The name that matters? Baader....who is to go on to create the Baader-Meinhof Gang.
It's not really a day marked down on the calendars of most Germans, and the Zeil store connection is rarely if ever brought up when you talk the RAF achievements.
Why Zeil? Zeil was the place where upper-class Frankfurt folks went shopping.
The Baader connection into this whole thing of the RAF? This is one of the odd parts of the thousand-page story, in which most all members of the RAF connected to some university setting....with the one exception of Andreas Baader.
Why Zeil was lit up? The comment made by Baader and his girlfriend, Gudrun Ensslin.....was that they wanted to make a message against the public acceptance of the war in Vietnam. Most people just accept this reasoning and never go back to dig into Ensslin or Baader in the month or two prior to the store fire.
Yep, the fifty year anniversary of the little 'civil' war in Germany.
On Religious Trends
Focus (the German news magazine) brought up a topic today, which I've been observing for the past decade in Germany.....growth of non-traditional churches in Germany.
At some point, up until about 150 years after the Romans arrived....the Germanic people had free views on religion and had developed various groups. Then with the Romans....came the Catholic Church, and in this period of Rome-control.....came Jews into what is Germany today. In the early 1500s....Martin Luther brought the Protestant Church. In the 1800s and 1900s....there were a few of the lesser groups to appear.
In the last decade, a few of the American-creation religions have begun to arrive. An example....the Free Church of International Christian Fellowship. A bit of prayer, a fair amount of Christian rock music, some readings, and everyone goes home happy.
Mega churches? The largest one existing in Germany today has 4,000 members. It's not a big growth thing, but it's obviously taken root.
The style? Geared mostly to younger people.
I won't say it's in a massive growth pattern, but it's probably the only religious group in Germany which shows growth, while the majority of older and traditional churches are in a negative number sequence.
At some point, up until about 150 years after the Romans arrived....the Germanic people had free views on religion and had developed various groups. Then with the Romans....came the Catholic Church, and in this period of Rome-control.....came Jews into what is Germany today. In the early 1500s....Martin Luther brought the Protestant Church. In the 1800s and 1900s....there were a few of the lesser groups to appear.
In the last decade, a few of the American-creation religions have begun to arrive. An example....the Free Church of International Christian Fellowship. A bit of prayer, a fair amount of Christian rock music, some readings, and everyone goes home happy.
Mega churches? The largest one existing in Germany today has 4,000 members. It's not a big growth thing, but it's obviously taken root.
The style? Geared mostly to younger people.
I won't say it's in a massive growth pattern, but it's probably the only religious group in Germany which shows growth, while the majority of older and traditional churches are in a negative number sequence.
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