If you gaze across newspapers and news media sites in Germany, you will notice this odd trend. Various public pools (not all of them, and I have doubts that it's even approaching half of them) are now enforcing a no-camera and no-photo rule at the pool. This is also being used at public lake swimming areas as well.
Being a non-German and having never seen a rule like this....I had to go to an authority on this and ask the question....why. So, I went to my German wife, a keen pool advocate.
The wife listens to the question intently and then responds...."Refugees".
What?
A trend started up in 2014, at least as she observed it, where a fair number of immigrant guys were showing up at indoor and outdoor pools. It was mostly immigrant guys....not immigrant women.
Her impression was, that while they might have come for a swim.....this was mostly a visual-thrill type visit and German women felt that they were being observed too much.
I didn't want to say much, but generally...most all guys (even German, American, and even Russian) sit around at the pools or lakes and gaze at women.
She says that the trend went a step up and they started to photograph women at the pools and lakes. The immigrant guys would photo young women, older women, and even young ladies. So the women went to the pool 'bosses' and harped on the trend. Across not just Germany, but several other countries....the trend is starting to take root.
It's an odd rule. For decades, Germans have photographed action at the public pools. Some of it was innocent....some probably provocative. Now? My guess is that some guys will sneak in their cameras or try to sneak in a smart-phone photo.....get caught....and face the pool suspension (getting kicked out). Fights might erupt. Frustrations might be expressed.
It's an odd social problem. If you had suggested a decade ago that a no-photo would occur....people would have laughed at you.
Friday, May 19, 2017
Thursday, May 18, 2017
The Mechanism Story
I stood two years ago in an Athens historical museum, and observed the Antikythera Mechanism for the first time. I'd read a piece or two before over the device, and it is of a very curious nature for me.
What you can generally say of the story....a diver or two went down in the Med around the region of Greece, and found an old wreck. In the midst of this...he finds this mechanical-like device. He brings it up. All of this discovery business is in 1902.
It's only been in the last decade that a serious amount of attention has been poured into the remains of this mechanism. Shock might be the least of the comments offered by experts.
It's dating? The experts put the age of the device at roughly 200 to 70 BC in terms of construction.
The purpose? With all the gears and drives? It tracks the sun, the moon, the planets, the eclipses, and the Olympic schedule.
The amount of knowledge to assemble all of this into one single box.....in the 200 BC period? If you went to a PhD guy today, and said....build this....but without any connection to the internet, and it has to be a gear-like device....they'd laugh and just say it's impossible.
Why the necessity of such intense tracking? That's my chief question.
If you walk around and talk to 10,000 people....other than the date and time....99.9-percent have no need for information going beyond that. Throwing in the moon and it's position? No one would care. Toss in the position of five or six planets? No one would care. Talking about eclipses? No one would care. Assembling the Olympic schedule? No one would care.
Here's the thing which ought to make you sit and ponder. The first four purposes of the mechanism could have been around for 10,000 or 20,000 years. The first Olympics occurred around 776 BC. The curious interest of the Olympics in Athens might have been simply one feature added to the construction formula of this mechanism box.
How many were ever made? Unknown. Maybe one. Maybe a thousand. The thing is that you'd have an engineer guy who'd draw the plan, and develop the parts. I doubt if he'd do this for free....so he probably had a little business operation and sold a couple each month. Maybe some guy did this in 4,000 BC and just left enough parts sitting there for several thousand years to keep building these.
But this only draws you to this odd question....who would want to buy or own such a mechanism? Simply suggesting a traveler or trader....would not be enough. My pet theory is that an Olympics 'middle-man' had a boat hired up two years prior to the Olympics and toured around the Med and Black Sea....looking for under-classed sportsmen who just needed a bit of training and coaching to reach top level, and he used the mechanism to help him figure out the remaining days, weeks or months left before the big event.
So it sits. If ever in the Athens area....it's worth an hour of your time to step into the exhibit and survey the mechanism. Presently, I'd regard it as the second main attraction in the city worth surveying.
What you can generally say of the story....a diver or two went down in the Med around the region of Greece, and found an old wreck. In the midst of this...he finds this mechanical-like device. He brings it up. All of this discovery business is in 1902.
It's only been in the last decade that a serious amount of attention has been poured into the remains of this mechanism. Shock might be the least of the comments offered by experts.
It's dating? The experts put the age of the device at roughly 200 to 70 BC in terms of construction.
The purpose? With all the gears and drives? It tracks the sun, the moon, the planets, the eclipses, and the Olympic schedule.
The amount of knowledge to assemble all of this into one single box.....in the 200 BC period? If you went to a PhD guy today, and said....build this....but without any connection to the internet, and it has to be a gear-like device....they'd laugh and just say it's impossible.
Why the necessity of such intense tracking? That's my chief question.
If you walk around and talk to 10,000 people....other than the date and time....99.9-percent have no need for information going beyond that. Throwing in the moon and it's position? No one would care. Toss in the position of five or six planets? No one would care. Talking about eclipses? No one would care. Assembling the Olympic schedule? No one would care.
Here's the thing which ought to make you sit and ponder. The first four purposes of the mechanism could have been around for 10,000 or 20,000 years. The first Olympics occurred around 776 BC. The curious interest of the Olympics in Athens might have been simply one feature added to the construction formula of this mechanism box.
How many were ever made? Unknown. Maybe one. Maybe a thousand. The thing is that you'd have an engineer guy who'd draw the plan, and develop the parts. I doubt if he'd do this for free....so he probably had a little business operation and sold a couple each month. Maybe some guy did this in 4,000 BC and just left enough parts sitting there for several thousand years to keep building these.
But this only draws you to this odd question....who would want to buy or own such a mechanism? Simply suggesting a traveler or trader....would not be enough. My pet theory is that an Olympics 'middle-man' had a boat hired up two years prior to the Olympics and toured around the Med and Black Sea....looking for under-classed sportsmen who just needed a bit of training and coaching to reach top level, and he used the mechanism to help him figure out the remaining days, weeks or months left before the big event.
So it sits. If ever in the Athens area....it's worth an hour of your time to step into the exhibit and survey the mechanism. Presently, I'd regard it as the second main attraction in the city worth surveying.
If You Wanted to Run for German Politics
It's an interesting German side-story.
You wake up one day and decide as a German citizen...you'd like to run in your district for the Bundestag. Naturally, it helps to be part of the party apparatus. You walk in and have a conversation. They let you know right up front....for the next election....you need to have 70,000 Euro in your hand. That's the typical average cost of a localized campaign. My guess is that in more urbanized areas (like Dusseldorf or Munich), you could be look at double that.
You go and talk to experts on the matter, and they kinda hint that 70,000 just gets you into the general field....that 100,000 is likely a better figure to aim for, and plan on spending.
For most Germans (probably in the 80-percent range)....having a hundred-thousand Euro to spend on a 100-day campaign is just not possible.
A grassroots campaign for less? Maybe if you had dozens of volunteers (students, neighbors, friends, etc)....you might be able to do this for a lot less.
I sat and watched a public TV program last month which talked about two small-town candidates and their efforts for a mayor campaign several months ago. In both cases, they went out and hired a special guy who has handled a lot of small town elections. He came in...spent an hour taking pictures of them around town, and produced a brochure (to be handed out in the village). He worked their speech, and coached them on oral presentation. Charges for his services? Kinda left out of the show, but I would take a guess that it was in the 10,000 Euro range.
If you make it to the Bundestag, your salary level is between 8,500 to 9,000 Euro a month. But you can do the math and figure....every four years....you have to find 100,000 Euro to run a decent campaign. Donors of importance? You can't help but look at the interaction with donors as being now a critical part of the whole process of politics in Germany. Making a promise here and there....helping to hire someone's son to a city job, or ensuring a city contract goes a certain way....all helps to pay back the donor in the end.
You wake up one day and decide as a German citizen...you'd like to run in your district for the Bundestag. Naturally, it helps to be part of the party apparatus. You walk in and have a conversation. They let you know right up front....for the next election....you need to have 70,000 Euro in your hand. That's the typical average cost of a localized campaign. My guess is that in more urbanized areas (like Dusseldorf or Munich), you could be look at double that.
You go and talk to experts on the matter, and they kinda hint that 70,000 just gets you into the general field....that 100,000 is likely a better figure to aim for, and plan on spending.
For most Germans (probably in the 80-percent range)....having a hundred-thousand Euro to spend on a 100-day campaign is just not possible.
A grassroots campaign for less? Maybe if you had dozens of volunteers (students, neighbors, friends, etc)....you might be able to do this for a lot less.
I sat and watched a public TV program last month which talked about two small-town candidates and their efforts for a mayor campaign several months ago. In both cases, they went out and hired a special guy who has handled a lot of small town elections. He came in...spent an hour taking pictures of them around town, and produced a brochure (to be handed out in the village). He worked their speech, and coached them on oral presentation. Charges for his services? Kinda left out of the show, but I would take a guess that it was in the 10,000 Euro range.
If you make it to the Bundestag, your salary level is between 8,500 to 9,000 Euro a month. But you can do the math and figure....every four years....you have to find 100,000 Euro to run a decent campaign. Donors of importance? You can't help but look at the interaction with donors as being now a critical part of the whole process of politics in Germany. Making a promise here and there....helping to hire someone's son to a city job, or ensuring a city contract goes a certain way....all helps to pay back the donor in the end.
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
26 September 1980
Well....it's not over.
26 September 1980....at 10:19PM...at the Oktoberfest in Munich.....an explosion occurred. After the smoke cleared, 13 people were dead and roughly 200 wounded or maimed.
Politically, it came at a bad time with an election just four weeks away. Cops were under pressure to solve the whole quickly.
They ended up figuring out some part of the puzzle by looking at the folks who were dead and reaching a conclusion that Gundolf Kohler (21 years old) who was among the dead folks....was the guy who placed the bomb. It apparently went off early.
The public was happy. The politicians were happy. It was done.
Well, there was a fair number of problems with this Kohler-piece-of-the-puzzle. The more that you try to say it was a singular act by one single guy....the less it fits.
Three years ago....the federal cops reopened the file. There's an active investigation going on. Trying to look over this case 37 years later? Yeah.
One of the odd features to this crime is that Kohler used a British-made mortar for the components. Where did the Brit mortar come from? No one ever attempted to ask this question. Some Brit connection? Some weapons dealer?
About 30 minutes prior to the bomb going off.....witnesses place Kohler at some location in the fest and chatting with two individuals. Neither of the two have ever stepped forward.
The body parts problem? There's this hand that was found on the ground after the blast. Cops generally place the hand with Kohler and just closed off the episode. Well, it's not his hand. There's a nurse from the region who recalls having a patient come in within a few hours after the blast who was missing a hand. Doctors treated the guy and he spent a few days in the hospital. Cops never came to question him, The guy just gets up one day and leaves. No ID on the guy or paperwork.
Last night, public TV here in Germany ran a piece on it's 'XY' crime show and invited to the public to respond if they know more about the episode. Cops are hoping for some new details.....37 years later....to come out.
The general feeling is that this was a neo-Nazi group, and that Kohler was just one of two or three individuals at the fest who was part of this conspiracy. But to pick this up 37 years later? It'd be like wanting to discuss the assassination of Crown Prince Ferdinand from 1914 and some shady characters who were out on the street at 8AM.
26 September 1980....at 10:19PM...at the Oktoberfest in Munich.....an explosion occurred. After the smoke cleared, 13 people were dead and roughly 200 wounded or maimed.
Politically, it came at a bad time with an election just four weeks away. Cops were under pressure to solve the whole quickly.
They ended up figuring out some part of the puzzle by looking at the folks who were dead and reaching a conclusion that Gundolf Kohler (21 years old) who was among the dead folks....was the guy who placed the bomb. It apparently went off early.
The public was happy. The politicians were happy. It was done.
Well, there was a fair number of problems with this Kohler-piece-of-the-puzzle. The more that you try to say it was a singular act by one single guy....the less it fits.
Three years ago....the federal cops reopened the file. There's an active investigation going on. Trying to look over this case 37 years later? Yeah.
One of the odd features to this crime is that Kohler used a British-made mortar for the components. Where did the Brit mortar come from? No one ever attempted to ask this question. Some Brit connection? Some weapons dealer?
About 30 minutes prior to the bomb going off.....witnesses place Kohler at some location in the fest and chatting with two individuals. Neither of the two have ever stepped forward.
The body parts problem? There's this hand that was found on the ground after the blast. Cops generally place the hand with Kohler and just closed off the episode. Well, it's not his hand. There's a nurse from the region who recalls having a patient come in within a few hours after the blast who was missing a hand. Doctors treated the guy and he spent a few days in the hospital. Cops never came to question him, The guy just gets up one day and leaves. No ID on the guy or paperwork.
Last night, public TV here in Germany ran a piece on it's 'XY' crime show and invited to the public to respond if they know more about the episode. Cops are hoping for some new details.....37 years later....to come out.
The general feeling is that this was a neo-Nazi group, and that Kohler was just one of two or three individuals at the fest who was part of this conspiracy. But to pick this up 37 years later? It'd be like wanting to discuss the assassination of Crown Prince Ferdinand from 1914 and some shady characters who were out on the street at 8AM.
The Statistical Game with German Elections
Out of the 2013 German national election, five parties made the cut (needing 5-percent or more). Those included: CDU, CSU, SPD, Greens, and the Linke Party.
This meant that they would divide up the 598 seats between the five. Well....four years have passed now.
This 2017 election? It's a curious thing. Most polls now expect the AfD and FDP parties to get the 5-percent minimum.
If you do the math, that means that everyone will be giving up some seats....even if the other parties do win in the same fashion as in 2013.
This will end up forcing most of the parties to engage upon the more senior and older members....suggesting that they go ahead and retire.
As for the win capability of the FDP and AfD? Some are suggesting that the FDP might be able to take 8-percent. The AfD is polling nationally around 9-percent (down a couple of points from the spring of 2016).
This meant that they would divide up the 598 seats between the five. Well....four years have passed now.
This 2017 election? It's a curious thing. Most polls now expect the AfD and FDP parties to get the 5-percent minimum.
If you do the math, that means that everyone will be giving up some seats....even if the other parties do win in the same fashion as in 2013.
This will end up forcing most of the parties to engage upon the more senior and older members....suggesting that they go ahead and retire.
As for the win capability of the FDP and AfD? Some are suggesting that the FDP might be able to take 8-percent. The AfD is polling nationally around 9-percent (down a couple of points from the spring of 2016).
Criticism of ARD/ZDF
For two years, I've been yanking on various German state-run or public TV news stories and funneling them off to my Facebook Schnitzel Republic page.....telling a few lines of the story, and attaching the link. Out of a thousand stories....a thousand links....all successful.
In the past two weeks, it's an odd thing.
Any story which relates to anything of a right-wing nature (AfD, some immigration story, etc)....the story still appears to be there and linkable. Then as you hit the submit button.....Facebook lets you know that the story is not there, and it can't be linked. You can even go to your page and insert the URL, and it says the same thing.....it's not there.
This has happened at least 15 times over the past two weeks.
Intentionally designed so it can't be passed around?
I sat and tried to imagine this simply being a poor administrative act of a couple of folks. The thing is....it only occurs with ZDF, ARD, HR and SWR. Commercial or newspaper sites? No issue. Regular stories on ZDF or ARD with puppies, business, or crime? No problem.
It does cut back on commentary or criticism....if the item doesn't exist.....you can't cite it. But it's an odd behavior problem to start up with. Why bother even reporting the item if viewers or readers can't cite it?
In the past two weeks, it's an odd thing.
Any story which relates to anything of a right-wing nature (AfD, some immigration story, etc)....the story still appears to be there and linkable. Then as you hit the submit button.....Facebook lets you know that the story is not there, and it can't be linked. You can even go to your page and insert the URL, and it says the same thing.....it's not there.
This has happened at least 15 times over the past two weeks.
Intentionally designed so it can't be passed around?
I sat and tried to imagine this simply being a poor administrative act of a couple of folks. The thing is....it only occurs with ZDF, ARD, HR and SWR. Commercial or newspaper sites? No issue. Regular stories on ZDF or ARD with puppies, business, or crime? No problem.
It does cut back on commentary or criticism....if the item doesn't exist.....you can't cite it. But it's an odd behavior problem to start up with. Why bother even reporting the item if viewers or readers can't cite it?
Frontal 21: Rest of the Story
I sat last night and watch ZDF's (public TV Channel Two in Gemany) Frontal 21 news documentary piece on immigration and asylum. It was a 11.5-minute piece which talks to several aspects of the migration situation going on in Germany, and throughout Europe.
The video is worth watching....although in German.
What the news folks point out is that the topic of immigration cannot be discussed today without talking about the smugglers. The smugglers themselves....are as much a part of the story, as the immigrants and asylum-seekers.
The smugglers are built into various networks. You can see evidence in Italy of them being part of the Italian mafia, and stretching down into Libya. You can see hints of the smugglers being connected to the humanitarian groups or rescue ships. In some minor ways, you can see the smugglers even being connected to social-change groups within Europe now.
How much are the smugglers making? No one will cite real numbers....it's only estimations. You figure one of these 100-person Chinese-made rubber rafts costing around 2,000 dollars. Toss in four hours of your time on some fishing vessel to launch the raft, and charge each person a minimum of $1,000 to be a passenger....maybe even $2,000. The profit for one single day could be in the $150,000 range.
It's an attractive scenario from a get-rich-quick type situation. You call such-and-such charity-rescue group and let them know that on Friday.....you will launch a raft and it'll be within a mile of such-and-such point. They 'rescue' the raft-people and dump them off at some Italian port. Some charity group will operate such-and-such camp where services and operations have a hefty price-tag attached and no one seems to audit anyone. Each migrant is viewed as human property. Some will move on with some legit future, and some will be errand-kids for some illicit mafia operation.
The news piece is worth watching, but by the end....you just sit there and wonder who runs the agenda and if you should feel sorry for anyone.
The video is worth watching....although in German.
What the news folks point out is that the topic of immigration cannot be discussed today without talking about the smugglers. The smugglers themselves....are as much a part of the story, as the immigrants and asylum-seekers.
The smugglers are built into various networks. You can see evidence in Italy of them being part of the Italian mafia, and stretching down into Libya. You can see hints of the smugglers being connected to the humanitarian groups or rescue ships. In some minor ways, you can see the smugglers even being connected to social-change groups within Europe now.
How much are the smugglers making? No one will cite real numbers....it's only estimations. You figure one of these 100-person Chinese-made rubber rafts costing around 2,000 dollars. Toss in four hours of your time on some fishing vessel to launch the raft, and charge each person a minimum of $1,000 to be a passenger....maybe even $2,000. The profit for one single day could be in the $150,000 range.
It's an attractive scenario from a get-rich-quick type situation. You call such-and-such charity-rescue group and let them know that on Friday.....you will launch a raft and it'll be within a mile of such-and-such point. They 'rescue' the raft-people and dump them off at some Italian port. Some charity group will operate such-and-such camp where services and operations have a hefty price-tag attached and no one seems to audit anyone. Each migrant is viewed as human property. Some will move on with some legit future, and some will be errand-kids for some illicit mafia operation.
The news piece is worth watching, but by the end....you just sit there and wonder who runs the agenda and if you should feel sorry for anyone.
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Hunter Story
Some German hunter has been fairly intent and busy over this period, and erected what I'd call a five-star hunter platform.
I stood and admired the craftsmanship to this.
When you usually come across these platforms....it's a four-hour effort and minimum wood involved.
In this case? I'd take a guess that some carpenter spent at least forty hours in the shop and there in the woods erecting this.
Windows on all four corners....a protected roof (allowing drainage), and a high prospective. No idea on insulation but I'd take a guess that it's water-proof and insulated to some degree (enough that a candle might heat the interior well).
This guy spent a fair amount of money on this platform. It's the kind of thing that you'd be thrilled to go out at 4AM and sit for an hour or two in the morning....hoping that some deer came by once a year and you got off one good round.
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