Local Election Prep, Pro-Auto Party

 Wiesbaden area is preparing for the city-election in mid-March.

So....a new party has arrived and intend to campaign....the  Pro-Auto Party.

Their emphasis?  Urban development, the economy, security, and public order.

Mobility remains a key issue

They will be advocating for the rights of motorists....opposing a potential light rail system....preserving parking spaces.....reversing traffic measures deemed problematic by the party, and rejecting the Ostfeld project. 

Other points?  Safety and cleanliness in the city center, the reduction of bureaucracy, structural reforms of municipal companies, and a reduction in property and business taxes. 

Picking a weakness of the top three parties (CDU, SPD and Greens)?  Yeah.

I would suggest that two-thirds of the  residents have a negative opinion over traffic, parking and see 'planning' as marginal process.

The Ostfeld project?   If you draw a line from the center of town....toward the Army Airfield....there's a 500-acre area that was formerly a garbage dump....renovated to a nature area, and some portion of it...is supposed to change into a housing area.

AfD-Alice Weidel Stance: Next Election Topic: Leave The EU?

 Over the weekend....Alice Weidel (boss of the AfD Party)....spoke up to the  idea that a major stance of the party for the next election (2029)....is to leave the EU.

No polls to rely upon, but I would imagine somewhere around 20-to-25 percent of Germans have a negative opinion about the EU, and leaving  might bring up a broad discussion.

Here's the accompanying odd factor....the Linke Party...making up around 12-percent of voters....isn't exactly pro-EU.  They want a number of reforms within the EU....to make them more 'left'.

The branding of the AfD in this direction?  Well...exiting the EU probably isn't on the top hundred things in Germany to 'fix' for the majority of working-class Germans.  Most will tell you.....they aren't pro-EU, but they aren't anti-EU either.  

What This Greenland-Denmark-Trump Story Reminds Me Of

Back around 1975....as a kid....I watched the 1959 British satirical comedy film The Mouse That Roared.

It's based off Leonard Wibberley's novel.  Chief star?  Peter Sellers, who is in multiple roles as the Grand Duchess Gloriana XII, Prime Minister Count Rupert Mountjoy, and Field Marshal Tully Bascomb. 

So the story follows the tiny, fictional European Duchy of Grand Fenwick, nestled in the Alps, whose economy relies solely on exporting its famous Pinot Grand Fenwick wine. 

Things were fine for years and years....then some California winery produces a cheap imitation called "Pinot Grand Enwick," which causes the duchy to go into financial woes and bankruptcy. 

To save the duchy....the scheming Prime Minister Mountjoy proposes declaring a 'fake-war' on the United States.  The gameplan?  They expect a swift defeat followed by generous American reconstruction aid, similar to the post-World War II Marshall Plan. 

The Duchess Gloriana hears the whole thing, and readily approves, but says in the end....no one gets hurt. 

Mild-mannered game warden Tully Bascomb is appointed to lead a ragtag invasion force of about 20 medieval-armored soldiers equipped with longbows and arrows. 

The boys tend sail off to New York City on a old freighter....with intent  to surrender upon arrival.

Oddly....they arrive during an city-wide air-raid drill, where they're mistaken for invaders from Mars (this is NY City where people believe almost  anything).

In the confusion, they accidentally capture a top-secret "Q-bomb" (a super-destructive weapon capable of destroying the world), its inventor Professor Kokintz, his daughter, a U.S. general, and some police officers. 

Instead of losing, Grand Fenwick unwittingly "wins" the war, returning home victorious with their prizes. 

This unexpected triumph forces the duchy to navigate international diplomacy, as larger nations vie for control of the bomb, turning the tiny country into a global power broker. 

We've reached a point where the Greenland-EU-Denmark story could easily fit into this type of movie.....where 15 German soldiers can only get to Greenland....onboard a regular passenger flight, and utilize local  hotel  accommodations while performing 'recon'.

Three Side-Stories Over Greenland

 1.  The sudden end to the German Army deployment?   Well....they flew out in business-class.

I asked the wife  (German in nature)....if she thought they went to the business lounge at Nuuk Airport.  She responded....if free beer were in the  lounge, yeah, they probably lounged.

2.  There's some rumor that Germany was told that US EUCOM in Stuttgart....had  a order to evaluate the idea of closing bases if any European country was working against the Greenland acquisition.  

I'm not giving the rumor much thought.  There's probably a meeting every month where a priority list is drafted and reviewed....over and over.

3.  Finally...some social media story came up that the US was gathering up data on airports and ports in Greenland.

Why bother?  The intel-guys have the ASSotW 10-thousand page document which is a world index of all ports/airports....which has this data already existed....for 60-odd years.

There's simply a lot of BS going around this subject.

Mission Complete

 At  some point (after sun-down) on Friday.....the 15-man Bundeswehr (German Army) unit arrived in Greenland.

They spent Saturday accomplishing the mission.

Today (Sunday)....AM, the unit boarded a plane...leaving for Iceland.  

What they did for Saturday?  If you watch N-TV news....the term 'recon' came up several times.

Trump's threat causing the early 'end'?  Well....no....as the Berlin announcement occurred....the recon was successful, and a full report would be issued shortly.

If I were viewing this from a Air Force prospective.....they have enough text from Saturday to write up a Achievement-Medal citation....giving each man/woman....a medal.  If they had a good officer planning this....he probably wrote up a new operation 'name'('Orange-Thunder', 'Polar Bang', or 'Cold Ice').

Also from a Air Force prospective....it's possible that the guys got into trouble (boozing-up from Friday night).  I'd give this a remote possibility...say one in fifty odds.

It's also possible upon arriving there....the boys discovered that their Arctic gear wasn't top-notch....or that they hadn't budgeted enough funds to cover bullets or hotel cost. 

Material for German comedians?  Yeah, there's fresh new material....for a good  8-minute dialog.  

The 1,405 Over-Time Hours Story

 I paused over this story...coming out of Spain this week.

So a city-department-worker...typically in a 3-man office....found himself mostly for 2025...in a one-man situation because of sick-leave and retirement of one employee.  So, he put in extra hours.  

If you do the math....for a 40-hour week....he had to work roughly 35 extra hours a week...or 6 hours a day extra.

You also have to assume for most  of the year....there was no comp-time or leave-time.

Is There A Energy Crisis In Germany?

 Well....you have to define crisis in detail.

Germany is facing an ongoing energy crisis, characterized by high electricity prices, supply vulnerabilities, and economic strain. 

There were paths taken over the past 20 years....but this primarily starts from the phase-out of nuclear power plants (completed in 2023), the loss of cheap Russian natural gas imports following the 2022 Ukraine invasion, and over-reliance on intermittent renewables like wind and solar. 

Chancellor noting this?  Yeah....on 14 January 2026, he publicly admitted that shutting down the nuclear plants was a "serious strategic mistake," noting it has led to unaffordability and forced imports of nuclear-generated electricity from neighbors like France. 

All of this leading to a economic impact?  Yeah....you could use the term stagnation, with GDP expected to grow only 1.2-percent in 2026 after contraction in prior years. 

Critics now argue "green" policies have sacrificed the economy, with calls to re-engage Russia for gas supplies.  The natural gas 'path'?  It can't happen unless the Ukraine war comes to an end.

Hamburg Stabbing Incident?

Yesterday (17 Jan)....there was a stabbing incident in Hamburg, Germany.

Occurring near an anti-Iranian regime protest, where at least two people were seriously injured, one of them critically. 

I read through three accounts....what the police say....this attack took place around 5:13 PM on Jungfernstieg, close to the Alsterhaus department store. 

Police arrested three suspects, with some unverified reports suggesting they were Afghan nationals/locals.....maybe linked in some way to pro-Iranian regime elements. 

 Motive?  Unknown.

 This demonstration?  Well....NDR says it was attended by thousands.....locals showing solidarity with ongoing protests in Iran against the Islamic Republic.