First, I have to admit right off the bat.....that this is a questionable piece of German history, and possibly 0-percent true. But on the other hand, it might as well be 50-percent true, and if you wished 'more'.....yes, it might be completely and absolutely true.
So this story starts in the 1550s timeframe of central Germany, near Koln. The guy in this case? Peter Stumpf (different spellings often occur, and that is one problem with the story).
Pete was a marginally educated farm guy (no one can even cite if he could even read). His list of crimes? Well....murder, assault, witchcraft (this was still illegal in the 1550s era), cannibalism, and werewolfery.
I questioned the werewolfery accusation. In most cases, you can offer up the observation that this might be a nutcase guy who had paranoid schizophrenia, or that he just liked the legendary status of being referred to as a werewolf character.
The chief part of this story leads back to a pamphlet that was published in London in the late 1500s, and that leads back to the mid 1500s publication of a German story. Lets admit here that the printing press invention in 1525, helped provide an avenue for 'titillating' stories like this, and the public was all hyped up to read material like this. The Brits loved this kind of stuff.....as did the Germans.
As for Bedburg? It is an actual town, and Pete's history for the most part is that he was a farmer who had done reasonably well with what he had. No one ever suggested him to be a failure.
At some point in the 1580s, Pete got into some type of accusation business there in the local community. That part of the story is often left out and you have to wonder about things.
In 1589, a court case opened up and the chief charge against Pete was that he was a werewolf. At some point, under a lot of torture.....Pete came to confess that he'd done a good bit in the art of black magic (since his teens).
There's talk of a 'magic-belt' (never explained in detail) that Satan had given Pete, during these torture sessions.
There's at least eighteen people that Pete confessed to having killed, for various reasons. Course, under torture, Pete probably said a lot of things that just didn't line up with facts.....if this were a true story.
Toward the late fall of 1589....Pete (with a daughter and girlfriend)....was finally put to death (in an extreme manner which I won't go into detail about). Various efforts were made to ensure he didn't return from the dead (as was the chief worry in this era).
Since that point, in various literally productions....Pete's story has been used in different ways, and often repeated as 'fact' (lacking of course).
The thing about this 16-page pamphlet that arrived in London....people ate this up. The more gross....the more harsh the situation....the more dramatic that the story was......just led to people being consumed with the story, and thus believing it was 100-percent true, when at best it might have been 5-percent true.
Was there a real Pete? Historians argue over this point and the evidence is lacking.
Did the stories help to motivate the general public to accept more Christian behavior than normal.....to help prevent werewolves and Satan-situations? Well....yeah, that probably was one of the things that came out of this period, and the various stories.
So that's the story of Pete (the werewolf).
Thursday, April 9, 2020
Germany and the Coronavirus: 9 April 2020
1. Dead: 2,071. Infected: 108,193 (Focus numbers). Out of the Wiesbaden area, we are at 6 dead presently (most all over the age of 70), with 229 people infected (out of a population of 285,000). Even I will admit it is a fairly low rate of transmission in the region.
If you go to any grocery, social distancing is practiced by everyone.
2. This morning (9th), there is chatter by the Health Minister (Spahn) that various barriers will be removed after the Easter weekend. He's not saying everything will open immediately, but the path is now being cleared for some things to return to normal. More to likely come by Sunday evening in direct announcements.
3. If you use the graphic over at Focus.....Bavaria, Baden-Wurttemberg, and the state of NRW....has probably 75-percent of the infections in Germany.
4. Some experts are pointing out that since the restaurants have shut down.....the general public is having to cook more....so this explains why canned goods, pasta and flour are on the high demand list at grocery shops.
5. A summer without vacations? For Germans, this is something that probably hasn't occurred since 1948. Various journalists are bringing up the topic and asking how the public would handle this idea. Presently, there is no chatter about open swimming pools, and it'd be another month before the outdoor pools would officially open. Most pool experts do agree, with a strong dose of chlorine, you can have a pool with zero active Coronavirus. But the idea of no travel....no hotels....no exotic beach vacations in Thailand?
6. The hyped-up purchase of toilet paper hitting a peak. There's a couple of suggestions out there in the news that say that toilet paper is finally appearing on shelves, and not being bought at a hefty pace. Course, for a lot of people.....they've got 200 rolls in the basement and it makes no sense to buy more.
7. Last night, video of the arrival of Germans at Frankfurt's Airport occurred....coming out of Australia and New Zealand.
8. Frankfurt is going to start up a Corona-test bus.....to be used for retirement home visits.
If you go to any grocery, social distancing is practiced by everyone.
2. This morning (9th), there is chatter by the Health Minister (Spahn) that various barriers will be removed after the Easter weekend. He's not saying everything will open immediately, but the path is now being cleared for some things to return to normal. More to likely come by Sunday evening in direct announcements.
3. If you use the graphic over at Focus.....Bavaria, Baden-Wurttemberg, and the state of NRW....has probably 75-percent of the infections in Germany.
4. Some experts are pointing out that since the restaurants have shut down.....the general public is having to cook more....so this explains why canned goods, pasta and flour are on the high demand list at grocery shops.
5. A summer without vacations? For Germans, this is something that probably hasn't occurred since 1948. Various journalists are bringing up the topic and asking how the public would handle this idea. Presently, there is no chatter about open swimming pools, and it'd be another month before the outdoor pools would officially open. Most pool experts do agree, with a strong dose of chlorine, you can have a pool with zero active Coronavirus. But the idea of no travel....no hotels....no exotic beach vacations in Thailand?
6. The hyped-up purchase of toilet paper hitting a peak. There's a couple of suggestions out there in the news that say that toilet paper is finally appearing on shelves, and not being bought at a hefty pace. Course, for a lot of people.....they've got 200 rolls in the basement and it makes no sense to buy more.
7. Last night, video of the arrival of Germans at Frankfurt's Airport occurred....coming out of Australia and New Zealand.
8. Frankfurt is going to start up a Corona-test bus.....to be used for retirement home visits.
The Five German Political Figures Who Gained Attention in the Crisis
This is my list of the five figures who seem to have positive traction over the past two months. You will notice, I didn't include Chancellor Merkel. For the most part, she has remained in the background. She was out for two weeks for self-quarantine, but just in general.....has not tried to anything more than speeches.
So my list:
1. Julia Klöckner (CDU), Agriculture Minister. She's taken a number of actions that ensured the food supply and inspire the farmer community. Strawberry and asparagus season will only occur because of her actions to get Romanian farm-workers into Germany.
2. Jen Spahn (CDU), Health Minister. He's been on TV....sometimes five to ten times a day, and generally handed out guidance that had value. While mostly a political figure, he has generally adapted to the medical aspects and proven himself to be a multi-task guy. Respected by the public now.
3. Olaf Scholz (SPD), vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister. While Merkel was out for two weeks....he did a pretty fair job. On the finance front, he's been noted on several dozen times as handing out decent advice and observations. Proven to be fairly competent at financial matters.
4. Markus Soder (CSU), Bavarian Premier-President (Governor). Very positive role model over past two months, and interviewed on at least forty occasions for public TV. Probably elevated himself into a possible candidate to replace Merkel next year.
5. Hubertus Heil (SPD), German Labor Minister. Was brought onto a number of live public forum shows, and displayed a lot of common sense values. Helped to focus programs on the labor market and ensure less chaos. Fairly recognized political figure at this point.
So my list:
1. Julia Klöckner (CDU), Agriculture Minister. She's taken a number of actions that ensured the food supply and inspire the farmer community. Strawberry and asparagus season will only occur because of her actions to get Romanian farm-workers into Germany.
2. Jen Spahn (CDU), Health Minister. He's been on TV....sometimes five to ten times a day, and generally handed out guidance that had value. While mostly a political figure, he has generally adapted to the medical aspects and proven himself to be a multi-task guy. Respected by the public now.
3. Olaf Scholz (SPD), vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister. While Merkel was out for two weeks....he did a pretty fair job. On the finance front, he's been noted on several dozen times as handing out decent advice and observations. Proven to be fairly competent at financial matters.
4. Markus Soder (CSU), Bavarian Premier-President (Governor). Very positive role model over past two months, and interviewed on at least forty occasions for public TV. Probably elevated himself into a possible candidate to replace Merkel next year.
5. Hubertus Heil (SPD), German Labor Minister. Was brought onto a number of live public forum shows, and displayed a lot of common sense values. Helped to focus programs on the labor market and ensure less chaos. Fairly recognized political figure at this point.
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
The Fine Chatter
Fines being discussed for the failure to stay at home after a out-of-country visit? Well....this morning, public TV (ZDF) has said that the draft is being thrown around and yet to be finalized.
But the talk leads to this suggestion....you would be cited if you failed to self-quarantine, and the amount would be between 200 and 5,000 Euro. The police would cite you and write the ticket...saying you will stay home, and after that....a judge-hearing will be held to assign the amount of the fine (weeks later).
My humble guess is that most people would be cited for 200 to 400 Euro. If you failed on the first warning, and repeated it days later? Well.....that is probably where the judge would grin, and suggest you bumped yourself up to a 1,000 Euro. Anything beyond the 2nd warning? That's where the 5,000 Euro probably gets discussed.
They aren't kidding.
Most of this is geared toward the guy who thinks he can travel to Turkey or Russia, and quietly return with no regard to self-quarantine. The government's idea is that you will do 14 days, period.
How many people are doing this and violating the standard? Unknown. I just don't see that many Germans traveling right now....even within the country itself.
But the talk leads to this suggestion....you would be cited if you failed to self-quarantine, and the amount would be between 200 and 5,000 Euro. The police would cite you and write the ticket...saying you will stay home, and after that....a judge-hearing will be held to assign the amount of the fine (weeks later).
My humble guess is that most people would be cited for 200 to 400 Euro. If you failed on the first warning, and repeated it days later? Well.....that is probably where the judge would grin, and suggest you bumped yourself up to a 1,000 Euro. Anything beyond the 2nd warning? That's where the 5,000 Euro probably gets discussed.
They aren't kidding.
Most of this is geared toward the guy who thinks he can travel to Turkey or Russia, and quietly return with no regard to self-quarantine. The government's idea is that you will do 14 days, period.
How many people are doing this and violating the standard? Unknown. I just don't see that many Germans traveling right now....even within the country itself.
Germany and the Coronavirus: 8 April 2020
1. Deaths: 1,577. Infected: 98,945 (Focus numbers). Baden-Wurttemberg, Bavaria and the state of NRW make up almost three-quarters of the deaths.
2. Lufthansa, in an act with the German government, is trying to airlift out of Australia and News Zealand....several thousand stranded Germans.
From Frankfurt, a series of five Airbus 380s and three 747s will be flown to Thailand, where the crews will be switched (leaving one crew for roughly 24 hours), and the flights will continue on to either Sydney or Auckland. One crew will apparently get off there, with a rested crew from that flight....flying them back to Thailand, where another refueling will take place.
This should wrap up the 'stranded' Germans in the Pacific problem. One oddity about this flight business is that all of the flights are scheduled after 11 PM at night, at Frankfurt, which is typically 'forbidden' to occur.
3. Some crime chatter starting up that since restaurants and bars have been shut down for a month.....virtually no money-laundering is taking place in Germany. True or false? No one can say. Virtually no restaurant is making money unless they have a take-out operation going on. Bars are absolutely empty.
4. The Love-Parade court case is under an advisement to halt. Here, in this case....it concerns an event from July of 2010. There is a ten-year limit on the crime....so if they stop now....the court will not be able to convict anyone after July of 2020, and the guilty parties (if there ever were any) would walk away. The court is asking for the prosecution and defense, how they want to go forward.
5. I've been to four grocery stores over the past 24 hours.....none of them had any toilet paper. Same story for flour, and a diminished quality of canned goods. I tried to go and make a tire purchase (new summer tires), and the German guy was insistent.....no sales until the ban on operations is concluded. The funny thing is that I can go online and order the tires to be delivered to my house (mounting them would be the next problem though).
6. Luxembourg has asked in a strong way for the border controls to be 'relaxed'. They depend a great deal on German and French workers.
7. The virus is now noted in 300-plus nursing homes in Germany. So the death count will probably double up shortly.
8. Car sales in Germany are virtually down to ZERO. So there is fear at this point, and suggestions to help jump-start sales. Three of the ideas being discussed: (1) temporarily dumping the C02 tax, (2) temporarily dumping the diesel bans in several cities, (3) Adjust electrical prices for electric car use (Germany is one of the higher cost countries for electrical usage). They also are suggesting a cut of some type on the VAT for new cars.....but that's probably a forbidden topic.
9. Spain is going into discussion of creating a 'Basic-Income' situation for the crisis period, where every Spaniard adult would get x-amount of money on each normal pay-day. Details are not really existing (for example, the amount).
Where would the money come from? Well....either they'd invent new tax vehicles, or the government would go and borrow a sum of money to make it for the time being. How long would this last? Unknown.
The idea that this might be permanent? You'd have to pass massive taxes to make this possible, and that would make Spanish products, services, and tourism a difficult topic to sell. It does make sense for a 60 to 90 day period to carry something like this. But I also think people might be shocked to find that the amount is only 700 Euro, and marginally just enough for food and wine. Making it 2,000 Euro a month? There's a lot of debt to be created and you have to wonder how this will be resolved when the crisis ends.
10. General negativity against the WHO? If you asked 99-percent of people (not just Germans).....they have a marginal idea of what the WHO is about and most have no value upon the organization. Negativity? Well, what you can say is that in early days of Wuhan (throughout January)....they should have been there and suggesting ways to control the virus from spreading. Declaring it a pandemic? Some people would suggest they were four weeks too late.
11. If you leave the Federal Republic of Germany (even for just a day)....unless you are a political figure, a trucker or in some capacity of the health support....you have to do 14 days of self-quarantine. There's a proposal going on for fines now.....if you fail on the self-quarantine.
12. If you look at Wuhan news of the past day or so.....the ban on exits is wrapped up, and tens of thousands are lined up to leave. I kinda think that they won't be coming back. Losing a million residents in six months? It wouldn't surprise me at this point. The question would be....if the herd starts moving.....does it influence the rest of the city as well?
2. Lufthansa, in an act with the German government, is trying to airlift out of Australia and News Zealand....several thousand stranded Germans.
From Frankfurt, a series of five Airbus 380s and three 747s will be flown to Thailand, where the crews will be switched (leaving one crew for roughly 24 hours), and the flights will continue on to either Sydney or Auckland. One crew will apparently get off there, with a rested crew from that flight....flying them back to Thailand, where another refueling will take place.
This should wrap up the 'stranded' Germans in the Pacific problem. One oddity about this flight business is that all of the flights are scheduled after 11 PM at night, at Frankfurt, which is typically 'forbidden' to occur.
3. Some crime chatter starting up that since restaurants and bars have been shut down for a month.....virtually no money-laundering is taking place in Germany. True or false? No one can say. Virtually no restaurant is making money unless they have a take-out operation going on. Bars are absolutely empty.
4. The Love-Parade court case is under an advisement to halt. Here, in this case....it concerns an event from July of 2010. There is a ten-year limit on the crime....so if they stop now....the court will not be able to convict anyone after July of 2020, and the guilty parties (if there ever were any) would walk away. The court is asking for the prosecution and defense, how they want to go forward.
5. I've been to four grocery stores over the past 24 hours.....none of them had any toilet paper. Same story for flour, and a diminished quality of canned goods. I tried to go and make a tire purchase (new summer tires), and the German guy was insistent.....no sales until the ban on operations is concluded. The funny thing is that I can go online and order the tires to be delivered to my house (mounting them would be the next problem though).
6. Luxembourg has asked in a strong way for the border controls to be 'relaxed'. They depend a great deal on German and French workers.
7. The virus is now noted in 300-plus nursing homes in Germany. So the death count will probably double up shortly.
8. Car sales in Germany are virtually down to ZERO. So there is fear at this point, and suggestions to help jump-start sales. Three of the ideas being discussed: (1) temporarily dumping the C02 tax, (2) temporarily dumping the diesel bans in several cities, (3) Adjust electrical prices for electric car use (Germany is one of the higher cost countries for electrical usage). They also are suggesting a cut of some type on the VAT for new cars.....but that's probably a forbidden topic.
9. Spain is going into discussion of creating a 'Basic-Income' situation for the crisis period, where every Spaniard adult would get x-amount of money on each normal pay-day. Details are not really existing (for example, the amount).
Where would the money come from? Well....either they'd invent new tax vehicles, or the government would go and borrow a sum of money to make it for the time being. How long would this last? Unknown.
The idea that this might be permanent? You'd have to pass massive taxes to make this possible, and that would make Spanish products, services, and tourism a difficult topic to sell. It does make sense for a 60 to 90 day period to carry something like this. But I also think people might be shocked to find that the amount is only 700 Euro, and marginally just enough for food and wine. Making it 2,000 Euro a month? There's a lot of debt to be created and you have to wonder how this will be resolved when the crisis ends.
10. General negativity against the WHO? If you asked 99-percent of people (not just Germans).....they have a marginal idea of what the WHO is about and most have no value upon the organization. Negativity? Well, what you can say is that in early days of Wuhan (throughout January)....they should have been there and suggesting ways to control the virus from spreading. Declaring it a pandemic? Some people would suggest they were four weeks too late.
11. If you leave the Federal Republic of Germany (even for just a day)....unless you are a political figure, a trucker or in some capacity of the health support....you have to do 14 days of self-quarantine. There's a proposal going on for fines now.....if you fail on the self-quarantine.
12. If you look at Wuhan news of the past day or so.....the ban on exits is wrapped up, and tens of thousands are lined up to leave. I kinda think that they won't be coming back. Losing a million residents in six months? It wouldn't surprise me at this point. The question would be....if the herd starts moving.....does it influence the rest of the city as well?
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
Frankfurt Airport Shuffling
This morning, the Frankfurt Airport came out and said that Terminal Two (the newer of the two)....will be shutting down until further notice.
What's still running? Out of the older terminal....only hallway B and C.
If you go by numbers, the airport is operating with only 4-percent of what you'd consider normal passengers.
Expectation? No one says much. There is some talk of things relaxing after Easter, but I would suggest that positive side of the virus business for April and talk of more flights? It might be the end of May before you start seeing a 'surge' to 25-to-40 percent of normal passenger flights. Tourism for the summer in Germany with 'guests'? It's hard to predict anything.
What's still running? Out of the older terminal....only hallway B and C.
If you go by numbers, the airport is operating with only 4-percent of what you'd consider normal passengers.
Expectation? No one says much. There is some talk of things relaxing after Easter, but I would suggest that positive side of the virus business for April and talk of more flights? It might be the end of May before you start seeing a 'surge' to 25-to-40 percent of normal passenger flights. Tourism for the summer in Germany with 'guests'? It's hard to predict anything.
The German 'Solution'
There's not a day over the past two weeks where German journalists have hyped the fact that Germany never reached the stages of the virus....like they had in Italy, France or Spain. To be honest....a similar rate of infection and death rate....exists in Austria as well.
I would suggest six things which fell into play since the 'beginning':
1. Doctors forbid patients with the virus from coming into their practice or clinic. You called....they asked you questions, and then referred you to a meeting point in the region where the test was administratored. If 'positive'....you were directed to stay home and if you got really bad-off.....then you were sent to a particular hospital with stringent rules (like no visitors).
2. The social distancing game? Germans went at this in a maximum fashion. No matter where you went, people practiced it.
3. Older folks were told in a direct fashion...not to allow visitors in the house (even grandkids).
4. Everything did get shutdown. You want a cup of coffee at the cafe? You can get it and then leave the establishment. No one sits in the company of others. Restaurants marginally exist (for pick-up only). Even the bordellos were shutdown. Bars were shut down....so your option is mostly to buy at the grocery and find some chair on your balcony to sit and sip off a beer.
5. Travel has virtually halted. Trying to fly out of the country is impossible. Trying to find hotels that are open within the country....is near impossible.
6. Socializing outside of the house? Near impossible. Germans will actually call the cops on you if they see you with five folks at some picnic table in the open. Fines are established and the cops don't hesitate to cite you for bad or risky behavior.
I would suggest six things which fell into play since the 'beginning':
1. Doctors forbid patients with the virus from coming into their practice or clinic. You called....they asked you questions, and then referred you to a meeting point in the region where the test was administratored. If 'positive'....you were directed to stay home and if you got really bad-off.....then you were sent to a particular hospital with stringent rules (like no visitors).
2. The social distancing game? Germans went at this in a maximum fashion. No matter where you went, people practiced it.
3. Older folks were told in a direct fashion...not to allow visitors in the house (even grandkids).
4. Everything did get shutdown. You want a cup of coffee at the cafe? You can get it and then leave the establishment. No one sits in the company of others. Restaurants marginally exist (for pick-up only). Even the bordellos were shutdown. Bars were shut down....so your option is mostly to buy at the grocery and find some chair on your balcony to sit and sip off a beer.
5. Travel has virtually halted. Trying to fly out of the country is impossible. Trying to find hotels that are open within the country....is near impossible.
6. Socializing outside of the house? Near impossible. Germans will actually call the cops on you if they see you with five folks at some picnic table in the open. Fines are established and the cops don't hesitate to cite you for bad or risky behavior.
Germany and the Coronavirus: 7 April 2020
1. Deaths: 1,577 Infected: 98,945 (Focus numbers)
2. Limited study by some Australian scientists has gotten a fair amount of German interest. There's this drug commonly used in Australia for head lice and scabies.....Ivermectin. Apparently, once you hand the pills to a guy to take....two days of treatment rapidly kills off the virus in your body. Here's the other remarkable thing about the drug....it's real cheap and fairly common. Rapid test in Germany? One might suspect that.
3. The soccer rumor is that the league will start back up in three weeks, with semi-ghost games.....meaning that they will allow some fans into the stadiums. The number of 'other fans'? Well.....roughly 220. Yeah, there will be one guy sitting there and eight seats over, the next guy. It's better than cancelling the entire season.
4. Car discounts coming? Big-time. But most of these revolve around diesel vehicles. In the case of Jeep.....it could go as high as 11,000 Euro. Mercedes is talking about a 3,000 to 5,000 Euro discount (for any vehicle). Seat is talking about a 2,300 Euro minimum discount. If you were pretty sure about your job and status....it would be the time to go and call up the dealers and see how far they'd go for a deal.
5. Odd reversal in Hessen.....picnics in public are now prohibited once again. Don't ask. It probably won't matter.....people are looking at 20-plus C temperatures and sunshine.....with nothing much to do. They will picnic even if it's against the rules.
2. Limited study by some Australian scientists has gotten a fair amount of German interest. There's this drug commonly used in Australia for head lice and scabies.....Ivermectin. Apparently, once you hand the pills to a guy to take....two days of treatment rapidly kills off the virus in your body. Here's the other remarkable thing about the drug....it's real cheap and fairly common. Rapid test in Germany? One might suspect that.
3. The soccer rumor is that the league will start back up in three weeks, with semi-ghost games.....meaning that they will allow some fans into the stadiums. The number of 'other fans'? Well.....roughly 220. Yeah, there will be one guy sitting there and eight seats over, the next guy. It's better than cancelling the entire season.
4. Car discounts coming? Big-time. But most of these revolve around diesel vehicles. In the case of Jeep.....it could go as high as 11,000 Euro. Mercedes is talking about a 3,000 to 5,000 Euro discount (for any vehicle). Seat is talking about a 2,300 Euro minimum discount. If you were pretty sure about your job and status....it would be the time to go and call up the dealers and see how far they'd go for a deal.
5. Odd reversal in Hessen.....picnics in public are now prohibited once again. Don't ask. It probably won't matter.....people are looking at 20-plus C temperatures and sunshine.....with nothing much to do. They will picnic even if it's against the rules.
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