Forum Chatter From Last Night

 Last night (Monday).....ARD (public TV, Channel One) ran their weekly show....Hart Aber Fair (Hard But Fair) public chat forum.  Topic?  Well....saving boat people in the Med.

First, lets go and admit this....the public is 'filled-up' on frustration on Covid-19 and it's probably best if these public chat forum shows just lay off the Covid dramatics for six months.  

Second, if you did have a chat with a hundred working-class Germans....the save-the-boat-people situation doesn't rate in their top one-hundred or even their top three-hundred problems.

Maybe if you limited your chat to just one-hundred journalists, or one-hundred Green Party members....this save-the-boat-people would rate in their top ten issues.  But that's how things shape up at this point.

At this point, just about everyone remembers the 2013 to 2016 open-door period, and the chaos that followed.  Maybe if this was 2031 and half of Germany had forgotten the period....different attitudes would prevail.

The chief problem in discussion?  Well...if you opened the policy-door, and said that 40,000 boat-people would be put on buses and taken from Italian camps to Germany.....then a million-odd people in non-European lands would get the idea that a new open-door policy exists.....with 10,000 people each week paying some 'broker' to haul them on a raft to some key point where a charity foundation boat would rescue them, then deliver to Italy, and they'd get a chance to get the next bus ride to Germany.

This debate from last night?  It was probably a fair summary for most of the 75 minutes of the public debate.

The pro-asylum/pro-migration folks did their talk.....the reality folks did their talk.  

At the end of this....at least from my view, the answer was simple.  Mandate applications for asylum/migration only occur at German embassy operations in the world, and once accepted....pay for a one-way airline ticket into Germany.  Stop the boat chatter, and the save-the-boat-people chatter with this simple solution.  You'd control the flow and establish that there is a certain number of people that can enter through this doorway.  

Property Tax 'Wave' Coming

 The German court system came out a couple of years ago and basically told the government that the then property-tax system....was unfair.

If you had to go and pick something that the vast majority of Germans didn't want you to touch....property-tax was at the very top of the list. 

A lot of chatter has occurred since then over the topic.  I noticed in regional news (Hessen, my state)....that the regional government has opened up the mess and will discuss how it changes.

HR (out public TV folks) discussed this matter.

What the CDU-Green coalition government says.....they will start a process where all three-million properties in the state will be reviewed over the next two years.  The implementation point?  2025.

It's pointed out that in some weird way.....you could have a flat 'zero' rate, and pay absolutely no property tax at all.  The odds of this?  I'd put it at 1-percent chance.

It's also pointed out that your property tax could be going up by several hundred Euro.

You could be sitting there on property in a decent village twenty kilometers outside of Frankfurt.....having paid 300 Euro a year for thirty years, then finding out in 2025 that your new property-tax is near 750 Euro.  

All of this likely to draw a significant amount of pain and political discomfort?  I suspect that Germans will start to review local projects and ask pointed questions why the mayor overpaid on a landscaping project by 50,000 Euro, or asking why the city needed to buy a 15,000 Euro statue.  

For 2025?  It'll be a very unpleasant year as the new tax numbers arrive and get people all hyped up.  

Anis Amri: The Case That Never Dies

 For a few brief days after 16 December 2016, Amri had 'status' and was front-page news as he drove the tractor trailer rig into the Christmas market crowd in Berlin.  He would escape from the scene, and be a target for around a week....then shot dead in Italy by police there.

There should have been a fairly organized review of the event, his background, and some 300-page report wrapping up the situation a year later (after his death).

Well....the review and case.....has never concluded.

Today, RBB (Berlin public TV) went back to another detail.....the roving telephone numbers.  I'd strongly suggest a reading of the article, because it digs deep.

At the moment of Amri's escape....the investigative team asked for full cellphone details in the region.  There were tens of thousands of phones noted.  

Out of this listing....there were 18 telephone numbers that overlapped with Amri's movement around the city.  

The general belief (not shared by the police)?  Amri had an associate or 'helper'.  The police view?  They've generally said 'no' and walked away from this discussion.  

What about the 18 numbers in the investigation?  Well....this gets interesting.  They go number by number and cross off 16 of them.

Then you have these two numbers which they don't seem to be interested in.  One is a Russian number.  RBB even called the number, and had a conversation with a person who seemed to speak perfect German.  What he was doing in Berlin on the 16th of December 2016?  Well....they seem to skip that question and never ask.  

The second number?  It leads off with 0088.  It's not a real telephone number....it's the module that you have in cars for emergency purposes where you could contact the police or fire department in an accident.  Beyond that....no one can seem to identify the owner (they know it's a fairly recent BMW).  

The police interest in either the Russian or the BMW angle?  Zero....absolute zero.

I read the piece twice over....it's obvious that a ton of investigative work was done by the Berlin police, and the guy is stone-cold dead.....so the rest of this story probably shouldn't matter.  But there's been various 'breadcrumbs' left on the ground, and people just keep wondering.....did Amri get help as he left the Christmas market area?  

I suspect....even a ten years into the future....the Amri case will still be existing and people believing in a second suspect.  

The Situation of the Danish Soccer Player

 Well....we are about 48 hours since the heart attack on the field, and it requiring animation on the guy (he was probably at death's door for a minute or two).  What the doctors are saying (at least via N-TV) is that he's in a recovery phase....has chatted with team-mates....zero doubt that this was a heart-attack.

Chief criticism now?  The team coach for the Danes says it wasn't correct to continue the game, and I suspect most viewers say the same thing.  The fact that this occurred at almost half-time?  Well....the only alternate way of handling this was to dismiss the players for 24 hours, and play the 2nd half then.

Speculation on how the heart attack occurred?  A lot of that going on.

Some social media commentary indicates he had a Covid-19 vaccination in the past two weeks.  Whether this played a role or not....zero information to form a conclusion.  

If another incident occurs like this in the EM series?  Well...some people are suggesting that if any additional heart attacks occur on the field....it's going to trigger a lot of talk related to the Covid vaccine business.  Course, this could end being a one-only episode.  

Sunday Outing

 Yesterday was probably the first day I spent out-and-about....for the most part, without a mask since October of 2020.  

I ventured to the Limburg Abbey at Bad Durkheim, and had lunch at the site's outdoor restaurant.  To note....while you enter the sitting area in a mask (state mandates), as you sit down....you can remove the mask.  Yes, they do want contact information....but they are a hell-of-a-lot more relaxed than they were four months ago.  

The character of the Abbey?  This was originally built as a fortress on the hilltop overlooking the town back in the 9th century.  For about three-hundred years, it served it's function, and then was vacated around the 11th century....to become a monastery.  This function lasted for about 500 years and then ended in the 1600s.  What remains today?  Mostly ruins.....walls, no roof, and a covered eating area.  

Venturing there?  I'd strong suggest using a GPS, and keep in mind that the eating establishment is only open in spring/summer months.  

Folks going maskless?  Yes....virtually everyone.

Chatter in Germany of the mask mandate going entirely away?  There's supposed to be state-by-state discussion this week, and there's a belief that half the states will dump the mask rule except for perhaps bus/train situations.  

As for the abbey trip?  If you just wanted to see an older ruins situation and have a outdoor dinner....I'd give it a thumbs-up.  

The 'Blue' Forest Project

 This came up in regional news of Hessen today, and I have to relate a Brother's Grimm story to the news piece.

Most people have no recognition of the Grimm story of the 'Blue Light', so I'll lay out the basic six-line description.

A war has occurred, and this German soldier has been dismissed for ill health....sent home.  On this path leading home, he ends up at a witch's house (yeah, it has to be a witch involved).  

The witch hands out tasks for room/board, and eventually....he's sent down into her well to retrieve a 'blue' light.  The 'blue' light carries this gift status....a dwarf who grants free wishes.  

The story goes on....the soldier eventually gains control of the light, with the witch ending up being arrested for illegal witch activity (then later hanged).  Then the dwarf grants a few more wishes....some involving the king's daughter, and eventually....the soldier ends up marrying the princess.

As Brother's Grimm stories go....I kinda rate this as a two-star effort.  But around Kassel, where the Grimm guys were hanging out....it's a fairly well-known story.

So a open project came up in the city....where they could put 10-million Euro to a park project.  The pick?  A 'blue' pine forest in the center of town.  HR carries the bulk of this story.

The project centers on planting a number of pine trees, and having a blue-light unit shining up into the tops of the trees.  On the ground would be a misting machine which would lay out a fog-like atmosphere at night (with the lights shining on it).  All of this would bring out tourists....at night....to see the blue light and fake-fog....at least that's the idea.

Acceptance around town?  Well...NO.  You see.....tall pines tend to fall over because of the root system, in a good wind.  The term 'misty-art' gets uttered a bit in discussions as well.

I sat and contemplated this type of situation....putting out a lot of extra mist/humidity....among pines.  You certainly couldn't run the machine in the winter months, and there's probably some 'chief' of mist in this effort.....some guy who maintains the mist machine on a weekly basis.  

So it's a bit of a battle in the city at this point.....trying to sell the 'blue' forest to city residents, and no one really interested in spending 10-million Euro in this fashion. 

Police Story

 A curious event unfolded on Saturday morning up in Dusseldorf's airport.  Several news sites carry the story....Focus probably has the better version.

In this group at the airport....were around fifteen members of a Kurd-German group....flying out (legally apparently) to Erbil, Iraq.  Their deal?  Well....they were a political group of some type, and on a 'peace-mission'.  Chief purpose?  To see if Turkey was infringing on the northern area of Iraq.

This odd event happens at the airport....the group gets stopped by the German federal police.  All total in this group.....the political group, and friends?  Around fifty.  

Among this group held back....a Hamburg political associated with the Linke Party....Cansu Ozdemir.  

So questions have now started to arise....under what authority did the federal police use for holding back the group or briefly detaining Ozdemir?  Oddly enough, it's written into the Constitution of Germany....you can't hold back any standing political figure on a functional mission, with no exceptions.  The Linke Party has apparently sent notice to the federal police....they will have to stand and explain themselves.  

Athens, Greece Story

 One of my ten big adventures in life....was a week-long trip to Athens, Greece.  We ended one day....spending most of a afternoon at the Hekatompedon Temple....the Parthenon ruins.  

So for those who've never been there....from the city drop-off point for buses....you have to walk up a small hill to a point where you buy some entry-ticket.  It's at that point where you kinda realize....it's a fair bit of walking....up the hill for the rest of the effort.

There was this zig-zag path that made the effort slightly easier, but probably twice as long on distance.  Add on the temperature, and you got a pretty run-down as you neared the top of the hill. 

So last year, the Greek management folks had this splendid idea.....during Covid.  They built a new walking path....one straight up concrete pad.  Yep, six-percent grade.

You can imagine chaos with wheel-chair folks.  It was already pretty bad with the zig-zag deal, but with a straight path and 6-percent grade?  If you lose control, either going up or down....it'll turn into a pretty chaotic episode. 

There were a hundred things you could have done....even adding a 30-person electric tram to take you from the bottom to the top.  But this straight 6 percent grade path was probably the worst conceivable idea possible.  

What'll happen?  My bet is that they end up hiring some German engineer to review the whole situation and come up with a easier access deal.