On My Mind All Week

Odd news item came up about a week ago....involving the Cambridge University folks and Jason Arday (now deceased).

The word 'autoethnographies' got used.  I had to look it up.

Definition....you, the writer, ask a number of questions....which YOU yourself answer.....based off your life, experiences, woes, sorrows, etc.  Yeah, it's a self-interview.  

So in writing his thesis paper.....he uses his own information, his own quotes, and submits it as a paper.

Accepting this?  Yeah, Cambridge fully accepted the paper

I'm not a education-wiz, but it's a bit unusual to accept the idea that PhD results out of this 'gimmick'.  

Gone All Week: Belgium

 I spent a week in Belgium...returning last night.....ten observations.

First, there's a ton of road renovations going on throughout Belgium.  What was supposed to be a 5.5-hour return drive....turned into nearly 9 hours yesterday.

Second, I stayed in one single hotel...in Ghent.  Ultra-ultra-quiet.  Guest-house....1920s built...22 rooms. Next to a city park.  Only negative I can say....from the 'free' parking spot (under shaded trees)...ton of bird-poop by Friday morning.  I had to actually take the car over to car-wash....it was so bad.

Third, the wife and I did walking 'adventures' of Ghent, Bruges, and Brussels.    I give a thumbs-up on Ghent and Bruges....both worth seeing....very safe.  Brussels?  Marginally worth seeing, and about every 20 minutes...there was a police siren passing by.  

Fourth, food-wise....it reminded me of a Disney-operation....mostly American-style food.

Fifth....use of public transportation?  I downloaded the Ghent App, and bought rides very easily.  They seem to have figured out how to make the system work.

Sixth....'Beer-Central' is the best Ghent pub....300 beers offered either in a glass or bottle.  Covered shade.

Seventh....only time to wander into a crime situation....in Bruges....siren came up and the wife/I walked past a up-scale tennis shoe shop.  Private security had latched-onto two guys attempting a shop-lifting situation.  Two cop cars pulled up....within 60 seconds....they had possession of the two and tossed them into the car.  By the 3rd minute.....cars left.  Amazingly fast apprehension.

Eighth...the only odd thing over the hotel pick.....the toilet seat was mounted about 12 inches higher than normal.  I though originally....it might be a handicapped room.....but was corrected (normal room).  If you ever tried to do 'it' while sitting with your legs in a awkward position....it marginally works.

Ninth. My description of Bruges and Ghent....if Walt Disney had been challenged to make cities instead of parks....this would be the result.

Tenth....arriving there Sunday evening of last week....odd development.....most all restaurants are closed.  My choice was a local pizza shop.

I Owned A Smart TwoFour 3.5 Years (What I Learned) (Ten Things)

 1.  It was a 2004 model of the car (bought used....used for 3 years)....with max  horsepower of 40. This meant that as you entered the autobahn....you needed every inch possible to get the car up to around 90 kph, and roughly 12 seconds later....you'd finally hit 130 kph (81 mph).

2.   The glass roof was crap.  In summer, it pumped the interior heat index up by 200-percent.

3.  The suspension was 4-star CRAP.....meaning a trip of  one hour....gave you roughly three hours of backache.

4.  To give some decent traction in winter....you needed a 100-pound sand-bag on the passenger side.

5. There was no drain-plug for oil. My local mechanic said it had to be vacuumed-out....and he didn't have the fancy 'box' to do that.  So it meant once a year to visit the dealer shop for a 200 Euro oil change.

6.  Headlights were impossible to change out.  I'd have to get my son (8 at the time)....to reach through a tiny area....handle the old bulb, and install the new one.  I went to the mechanic once....thinking it could be more  easily done.  He had to spend 40 minutes removing the whole front hood physically from the car.

7.  On the autobahn, in a storm.....you could feel tons of 'push' going on.  It was dangerous to drive the car in a storm.

8.   The gas tank held just enough fuel to drive to work and back....4.5 days a week, and then you had to refuel.  Twenty-two liter tank (just over 5 gallons of gas).  

9.  The door swung so wide....that a 500-pound guy could easily sit in the driver's seat.

10.  The AC unit was about the size of two soda cans, and anything above 32 C (90 F)....was impossible to actually cool.  

What Was The Stab-In-The-Back Myth In German History?

 Well....the stab-in-the-back myth (in German: Dolchstoßlegende)....was beer-hall type chatter....which mostly formed around being an antisemitic and anti-communist conspiracy theory (lot of German veterans believed it)....coming after 1918.

In simple form....the Imperial German Army did not lose World War I on the battlefield, but was instead betrayed by certain citizens (Jews/communists).

If you were looking at public standing....especially in 1919.....there were a lot of folks talking about this.  Fake-news type of BS?  To some degree....yeah.

I will point this out....on the lack of 'winning'....the German Army from 1914 to 1918....burned through  manpower....without much success to talk of.  As the US entered the war....1917/1918...there was no winning formula or strategy to reverse the issues at hand. So this stab-in-the-back BS is the only thing to fall back upon.

If you walked into a beer-hall in Munich or Frankfurt in 1925....the odds are....within ten minutes....you'd be engaged in chatter about the war, losing, and who to blame.  Even in 1932....14 years after the war.....it was probably the same way.

Three Discussions To The End Of World War I

 1.  Did Germany just run out of troops at the end?  

Well....from the beginning to the end....Germany had mobilized about 13.2 million men over the war, with around 2 million dead and millions wounded or captured by 1918. 

Conscription had caused problems  in the the population (especially younger and less fit men), but Germany still had reserves. 

The real issue was the inability to supply, equip, and sustain these forces, coupled with collapsing morale and political will (particularly the SPD Party).

2.  Was the end a surrender or a armistice?

Germany sought an armistice based on U.S. President Wilson’s Fourteen Points, hoping for lenient terms. 

The armistice gained.....simply halted fighting, but Germany’s army was never fully defeated on the battlefield, leading to the “stab-in-the-back” myth later exploited by nationalists. 

3.  Was the spring 1918 German offensive a big deal?

On paper....this March-July period was aimed to break Allied lines before American troops fully arrived. 

What you can say....there were some brief initial gains, then the offensive stalled due to overextended supply lines, heavy casualties (Germany lost about 700,000 men in 1918 alone), and effective Allied counterattacks, notably the Hundred Days Offensive (August-November 1918). 

Germany’s army were somewhat depleted....mostly due to poorly trained replacements (the conscripts of the fall of 1917). 

I need to add this final note.....war weariness (summer of 1918) had sparked unrest. The Kiel Mutiny (October 1918) by German sailors spread into the November Revolution, with workers’ and soldiers’ councils demanding peace and political reform. 

All of this added up to the Kaiser’s abdication on 9 November 1918, which signaled the collapse of the German monarchy, pushing the new government (led by the SPD) to seek peace.

Had the spring offensive been effective....had the Kiel mutiny not occurred with the revolutionary business...had the monarchy not have collapsed, then the war would have likely gone into 1919 (for another year).

Were There Fringe Groups Like Antifa or Brown-Shirts Existing in the 1918 to 1921 Era of Germany

 Yes. Examples:

Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund (1919-1921).  Antisemitic völkisch (folkish) group.  Probably near 200k toward the end....geared against "Jewish influence."  They were dissolved by 1922...by the Weimar Republic.

Black Reichswehr (1919-1920).  Probably near 10k by the peak.  I would call them more of a militia group....a private army of sorts.  Known for carrying out sabotage and assassinations.  They were also dissolved by 1922....by the Weimar Republic.

Spartacus League (1918-1920).  This was a leftist group....anti-war in nature.  Probably peaked at 5,000 members. As they were dissolved....they morphed into KPD, and later into Antifa. (Nifty name, you must admit)

Proletarian Hundreds (1918-1919).  Mostly active in the NW of Germany.  Worked in cells of 100.  They later were dissolved, and blended into KPD, and later into Antifa.

Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold (1918-probably throughout most of the 1920s).  SPD paramilitary....some say they numbered near 2-million total.  If you were to be asked if a 'good-guy' militia existed in this era.....this might be the only one....however, they clashed in physical violence with various groups.

If you could count all these groups, and suggested memberships....there's probably 3-to-4 million men....mostly all vets from the war.   Instead of fighting the French, British or Americans....they were mostly fighting amongst themselves.

The idea that the Brown-Shirts or Antifa were the 'start-ups'?  NO.....dozens of groups were starting up in late 1918, and carried through to the Brown-Shirt/Antifa era.

24 August 2026: Germany: 4 Stories

 1.  Over the weekend, Chancellor Merz gave a talk....wants the coalition on top-priority....reforming the economy....saving jobs. 

It's a topic they should have taken on....a year ago.

2. YouGov survey....majority of Germans have a belief that Merz will not be around at the end of the 4-year period of the gov't.

3.  State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern....20 Sep is the state election day.

Polling?  AfD is pulling around 36-percent currently.  SPD at 28-percent.  Greens, 5-percent.  CDU at 10-percent. Linke at 11-percent.  Everyone else....below 5-percent.

AfD will fail to form a coalition.....SPD ends up in  4-partner-deal....very marginal gov't.

4.  CSD-terrorist in Berlin (dead)....still lingering in the local news.

So...questions came up over his behavior, in the years prior to the attack.  Back in 2022....the authorities were having to handle the guy (then 16).   A German juvenile court looked over evidence....then certified him as "criminally responsible," but then said he was also considered to have "delayed maturity."

It would appear....a lot of the Berlin locals are shaking their head....disbelieving the court-system were protecting public interest. 

Q-and-A: Realities

 1.  On the Harry and Meghan saga 'plan'....what version are we up to presently?

I believe....if Meghan had started with 'plan-1'.....we've gone past 'plan-6' and this 'retreat' to the UK....is probably 'plan-7'.   And yes, there's likely to be a plan-8, plan-9, and plan-10.

2.  Merz gone in 2027 as Chancellor?

If there were a rock-solid replacement guy in the CDU....yes.  But presently.....I would argue that Merz is the best that they have to offer. (Note that I only suggested the CDU.....the CSU might have a better choice).

3.  2027 heat wave path.....allowing a gov't gift of AC-units for poverty folks?

It will not shock me if the SPD Party pushes the idea of poverty Germans getting 500 Euro for a small unit in 2027....then discovering that the grid price to run it....is massive.

4.  The typical average left-voter in Germany....flipping from SPD, to Greens/Linke?

If you lined up lefty-voters....say a hundred....only around 30 would go toward the SPD....with the 70 left....mostly leaning toward the Linke and Greens.