Germany in 1966

 It was june of 1966 and I had just graduated from high school.  One of my classmates and I decided to travel through Europe together since we were heading  back to the States at the same time to attend college.

We made two stops in Germany.  The first stop of West Berlin and the second stop was Munich.  In West Berlin, we had to visit the US Embassy and request special permission to cross over into East Berlin.  Since we both had diplomatic passports, we could not cross at Checkpoint Charlie, we had to take the underground.  The Berlin Wall was still standing.

East Berlin for all intents and purposes was dead.  Dead of commerce.  Dead of People.  Dead of Vehicles.  There were absolutely NO COLORS at all in that city.  When we got off the underground, German soldiers with machine guns checked our passports and allowed us to enter.

We had informed the US Embassy that we would only be in East Berlin, 3-4 hours and if we had not checked back in with them in that amount of time, they would have sent someone to look for us.

That night we went to a bar in West Berlin trying to enjoy everything that East Berlin had not offered.

In Munich, we visited several places that were on the list for tourists to visit but to tell you the truth we had the most fun at the Hofbräuhaus München.

When we were there it, the house had 3 floors and the most roudy, boisturous floor was the first floor.  Long tables with chairs on either side, you just sat down and ordered beer that was brought in huge clay mugs.  At that time, the record was to drink more than 5 mugs in an hour.

I am pretty sure that the beer that was being served was Löwenbräu  and remember that it was the best tasting beer I had ever drank at that time.  The version that is exported to the US is not is good and has probably been watered down.

By the time you got to the top floor, you were in a relatively quiet family atmosphere, with families and their children were sitting around individual tables having dinner.  The second floor was a cross between the first and third and no doubt was meant for an older group of customers.

We visited all three floor but spent most of our time there on the first floor.   

There were nothing but good memories of Germany.

Most Popular Sausage in Germany

In Germany, sausage is serious business. As soon as you walk off your plane, it’s likely you’ll smell some cooking within minutes. And when it comes to variety, there are well over 1,500 to choose from, and many regions have their own special recipes.

However, most Americans may have only tried one or two types of German sausage (or what we like to call German sausage, as many Germans would say).

Here is a list of some of the most popular sausages in Germany.

1. Bratwurst
2. Frankfurter Würstchen
3. Bierwurst
4. Thüringer Rostbratwurst
5. Weißwurst (Weisswurst)
6. Wollwurst
7. Ahle Wurst
8. Pinkel
9. Leberwurst
10. Currywurst

TO READ MORE ABOUT GERMAN SAUSAGE, CLICK HERE...

Filling Up On Beer in Munich, Germany

With nearly 1,000 years of brewing tradition in Bavaria, the brewers in and around Munich have fine-tuned their craft and growing a global reputation. In fact, 6 million people come from 40 countries around the world just to attend Oktoberfest. Alongside Munich’s major breweries and despite Germany’s strict purity laws, craft breweries are starting to emerge in Munich, bringing fresh flavors to the beer scene here in Munich. 

We’ll begin by exploring some of the history, culture, and traditions of Bavaria’s relationship with beer, including some facts and prices. Then I’ll profile the six biggest breweries in Munich – known as the “The Big 6”, help you plan the best brewery tours, day trips, and beer-related activities, and finally uncover emerging craft beers.

A Brief History of Beer in Munich
The Munich area is home to the world’s oldest brewery still in action, dating back to 700 AD. So, it is safe to say that Munich’s beer history is long and embedded in their culture. But, to make a long story short-ish, most breweries in Munich have religious roots. 

Monks living in monasteries were the first brew masters. Churches would use beer as incentives to encourage people to attend church, with many German receiving free beer on Sunday and other religious events. Religious roots still exist today, and Starbierfest is an event during lent to drink strong Doppel beer during the fasting period.

It wasn’t long before the royalty got involved in the profitable beer industry, and beer was soon taxed to provide income for the royal families and government. Production quickly spread to prominent families that owned restaurants, and the brewing industry boomed.

The Purity Law
Along with it, many laws and regulations began to govern brewing. In 1516 a law was passed that beer must be made with only barley, hops, water (yeast was later added), or it could not be called beer. This law still exists today here in Germany. If any additional ingredients are used in the brewing process, such as orange, sugar, or chocolate, it can not legally be called beer. 

If you’re thinking about some of those German craft beers you’ve tried and are confused, brewers can use the official name for the brew, such as IPA, Stout, etc., but it can’t be called beer.This ensures the highest quality of beer is being produced in Munich.  READ MORE...

The German National Football Team

The Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft represents Germany in men's international football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball-Bund), founded in 1900.

 Between 1949 and 1990, separate German national teams were recognised by FIFA due to Allied occupation and division: the DFB's team representing the Federal Republic of Germany (commonly referred to as West Germany in English between 1949 and 1990), the Saarland team representing the Saar Protectorate (1950–1956) and the East Germany team representing the German Democratic Republic (1952–1990). 

The latter two were absorbed along with their records; the present team represents the reunified Federal Republic. The official name and code "Germany FR (FRG)" was shortened to "Germany (GER)" following reunification in 1990.

Germany is one of the most successful national teams in international competitions, having won four World Cups (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014), three European Championships (1972, 1980, 1996), and one Confederations Cup (2017). They have also been runners-up three times in the European Championships, four times in the World Cup, and a further four third-place finishes at World Cups. East Germany won Olympic Gold in 1976.

Germany is the only nation to have won both the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women's World Cup.  At the end of the 2014 World Cup, Germany earned the second highest Elo rating of any national football team in history, with 2,223 points.  Germany is also the only European nation that has won a FIFA World Cup in the Americas.

On 1 August 2021, Hansi Flick became head coach of the team, after Joachim Löw announced that he would step down after UEFA Euro 2020.  SOURCE:  Wikepedia

Moving On With FCAS Warplane Development

Scale models of the Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System (FCAS / SCAF), 

Europe's next-generation fighter jet, are seen in Paris, France, February 20, 2020. 

REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo

BERLIN/PARIS, Nov 18 (Reuters) - France, Germany and Spain have reached agreement on starting the next phase of development of a new fighter jet dubbed FCAS, Europe's largest defence project at an estimated cost of more than 100 billion euros($103.4 billion), the German government said on Friday.

The Defence Ministry said in a statement that an industrial agreement was achieved after intense negotiations, confirming an earlier Reuters story saying the three countries and their respective industries had struck a deal.

The ministry said it was agreed at the highest government level that a cooperative approach on an equal footing would be pursued in the project, which is under overall French responsibility.

The Spanish Defence Ministry said Madrid would spend 2.5 billion euros ($2.58 billion) on the project, of which 525 million euros ($542 million) would be paid in 2023. The ministry said that the cabinet agreed to this expenditure but did not give other details.  READ MORE...

The IMF Predicts for 2023

The International Monetary Fund predicts global growth will slow to 2.7% next year, 0.2 percentage point lower than its July forecast, and anticipates 2023 will feel like a recession for millions around the world.

Aside from the global financial crisis and the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, this is “the weakest growth profile since 2001,” the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook published Tuesday. Its GDP estimate for this year remained steady at 3.2%, which was down from the 6% seen in 2021.

“The worst is yet to come, and for many people 2023 will feel like a recession,” the report said, echoing warnings from the United Nations, the World Bank and many global CEOs.

More than a third of the global economy will see two consecutive quarters of negative growth, while the three largest economies — the United States, the European Union and China — will continue to slow, the report said.

“Next year is going to feel painful,” Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, the IMF’s chief economist, told CNBC on Tuesday on the back of the report. “There’s going to be a lot of slowdown and economic pain,” he said.  READ MORE...

Most Read German Newspapers

BILD
With a circulation of currently about 1,37 sold million copies daily, the BILD newspaper published by the Axel-Springer Publishing Company is Germany’s largest and most popular tabloid. The online version of this paper also gets a lot of hits each day. If you like a mixture of news, gossip, and sensationalism, be sure to bookmark bild.de.
www.bild.de

DIE ZEIT
“Independent, liberal and often at odds with the rest of the world” is how the former publisher, Countess Dönhoff, once described the weekly newspaper, DIE ZEIT, which has enriched the German newspaper scene each Thursday since 1946.
www.zeit.de

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has appeared under the title of “Zeitung für Deutschland” (Newspaper for Germany) since 1949. Conservative political views, a feature section leaning towards the left and a liberal understanding of the business world - that is how one of the paper's earlier editors, Friedrich Karl Fromme, characterized the profile of the quality newspaper. These properties are also reflected in the independent online service, FAZ.NET.
www.faz.net                             TO READ MORE, CLICK HERE...

Elvis in in the House

 

THANK YOU

The following countries have visited this blog more than once and are continuing to visit.  That support and loyalty is greatly appreciated.  

These countries are listed below:

1. USA
2. Germany
3. Phillippines
4. Italy
5. India
6. Canada
7. Ireland
8. United Kingdom
9. Russia
10. Australia
11. France
12. Nigeria
13. Venezuela
14. South Africa

I will devote a day, posting several articles about your country as way of drawing attention to where you live.  This is my way of showing appreciation for your support.  I will continue to focus on all of your countries throughout the year.  It will be my pleasure to help us draw attention to who we are and what we are all about.

ITS JUST ABOUT PEOPLE... like you and I...

Classic Sunday Morning Newspaper Cartoons

 

Aliens or Extraterrestrials & Our World

Our solar system lives in the Milky Way Galaxy.  There are millions perhaps billions of solar systems in the Milky Way Galaxy.  There are billions and billions of Galaxies in the known universe.  It is believed by many that there are multiple universes, referred to as the multiverse.

But, there is only one race of human beings or other living creatures in this vast amount of space.

If you believe that then you most definately have your head firmly inserted up your ass.

The US Government has admitted to UFOs being around since 1945/47 and there is no telling what they really know but have not yet admitted to...

Many scientists believe our DNA was altered by aliens which accounts for our unprecedented evolutionary growth...

So, is there a God?  

Quite possibly yes...  but, that God is actually an alien or an extraterrestrial who came to our planet to create a new religion to see what would happen over the years.

That God is also our creator.

That God sent his archangels to earth to modify our DNA.

Jesus was God's extraterrestrial son.

What we don't know is who created the BIG Bang that created the universe.

That answer has got us stumped.

Does this mean that religion is dead?  NO...

There is religion, in fact, there are 122 major religions, all of which point to the heavens for answers...  it is just not the same religion that we have previously envisioned it to be.

Curious

 

Controlling Global Assets

 Most of us live in our own little worlds, regardless of our politics...  we could be democrats but focus on our own lives regardless of who is in power.  We could be republicans but focus on our own lives regardless of who is in power...

This is the way it has been for Americans ever since our rapid economic growth in the 1960s.

SMOKE SCRENES

1. racism
2. management/labor disputes
3. piss poor education
4. cost of healthcare
5. religious differences
6. abortion issues
7. gun control issues

These seven are not the only ones but these seven are enough to keep Americans fighting each other rather than focus of the real problem that is lurking over the horizon....

TO WHAT DO I REFER???

The Global Billionaires that have become so powerful that they are joining forces as they control the global resources and decide where they want to take the world and all of her countries...

The world economic forum (WEF) in 2022 has decided that in 2030, the world will be controlled not by the USA or Russia or China....  it will be controlled by a consortium of several countries:

USA

RUSSIA

CHINA

INDIA

EUROPEAN UNION (EU)

What does this mean???

It means that the economy of the USA must come down while the economies of Russia, China, India, Japan, and the EU must come up...

If one country has a stronger economy than another country, then the stronger economy is still the LEADER...

In order for power to be shared, then economies must be shared.

Otherwise it will never work.

The economy of the USA must be destroyed a little in order for this to happen.

GOING GREEN WILL DESTROY OUR ECONOMY to the point that these other countries can catch up to us...  and when we do...  POWER WILL BE SHARED...

Who is making this happen?

GLOBAL BILLIONAIRES...

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is controlled by all the global billionaires...  they forecasted shared power by the year 2030 and they will make sure that it happens...

Walk This Way

 

Cleaning House

My wife and I have lived in our current house for 22 years and during those two decades have collected an enormous amount of useless shit that we are now in the process of gathering up, taking out to the curb for collection or driving it to the landfill ourselvses and throwing it away...  

Now, that we are almost finished with that task, I am looking at my clothes to see what items in that area can be thrown away.  I have several suits and sports jackets I wore to work that I no longer need...  maybe 1-2 suits for funerals but the rest can go... along with all those dress shirts and ties...  I betcha I have over 50 ties...

In addition to those clothes, I betcha I have over 50 T-shirts as well as over 50 knit shirts with and without collars that I seldo wear as I have my favorites that I keep wearing over and over again.  It started out with T-shirts with pockets to carry my cigarettes but I stopped smoking at age 40, so for the last 35 years, I have not really needed any of those T-shirts with pockets and yet many are still here.

Many are still here because companies in the USA 30 years ago make products that lasted a long time...  now they make products that only last 2-3 years, maybe 5 years at the most...  They need REPEAT BUSINESS for profits and dividends paid to stockholders.

If I had my way, I would only need two pairs of jeans, one blue and one black.  Maybe 5-6 T-shirts and 5-6 knit shirts with collars, and maybe 1-2 knit/nylon type pants, along with 2 pairs of sweats and 3-5 pairs of shorts.

How many times a week or a month or a year do you think a 75 year old is going to need to dress up to go out into the public other than appointments with doctors?  not many...  I can tell you that.  So, why all these damn clothes?

My visits outside this house maybe average 5 a month during a busy month.  I don't need to shower and dress just to get gas for the cars or lawnmowers...  and, if the Dems had their way, I would have an electric car and just need to plug that bad boy into an outlet before going to bed.

Magic

 

HOLIDAY -- BLACK FRIDAY

The day after Thanksgiving has been regarded as the beginning of the United States Christmas shopping season since 1952. The practice may be linked with the idea of Santa Claus parades. 

Parades celebrating Thanksgiving often include an appearance by Santa at the end of the parade, with the idea that "Santa has arrived" or "Santa is just around the corner" because Christmas is always the next major Christian holiday following Thanksgiving.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Santa or Thanksgiving parades were sponsored by department stores. 

These include the continuing Toronto Santa Claus Parade in Canada since 1905, originally sponsored by Eaton's, and Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade held in Manhattan, New York City since 1924, sponsored by Macy's. 

Department stores would use the parades to launch a big advertising push. Eventually, it became an unwritten rule that no store would try doing Christmas advertising before the parade was over. 

Therefore, the day after Thanksgiving became the day when the shopping season officially started.

Thanksgiving's relationship to Christmas shopping led to controversy in the 1930s. Retail stores would have liked to have a longer shopping season, but no store wanted to break with tradition and be the one to start advertising before Thanksgiving. 

For this reason, in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a presidential proclamation proclaiming Thanksgiving to be the fourth Thursday in November rather than the last Thursday, meaning in some years one week earlier, in order to lengthen the Christmas shopping season.

Most people adopted the President's change, which was later reinforced by an act of Congress, but many continued to celebrate Thanksgiving on the traditional date. Some started referring to the new date as Franksgiving.

In 2015, Amazon.com was the first to offer "Black Friday in July" deals on what they called "Prime Day", promising better deals than on Black Friday. Amazon repeated the practice in 2016 and 2017, and other companies began offering similar deals.

Analyst Marshal Cohen of The NPD Group claimed in 2020 that Black Friday is declining in favor of online shopping, and that the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated this process. The pandemic also resulted in holiday deals being offered over a longer period of time, even as early as October.

Fewer people shopped in person on Black Friday 2020, and most business took place online. Market research company Numerator said sellers of clothing, tools and other items considered nonessential during lockdowns were not promoted as heavily because lower production meant less available to sell.

Adobe Analytics reported that online sales reached $9 billion in 2020, 22% more than the previous year. Foot traffic to stores fell 48% in 2020 from last year, according to RetailNext, while Sensormatic Solutions reported a 52% decrease.  SOURCE:  Wikipedia

HOLIDAY -- Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Liberia. It began as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. Similarly named festival holidays occur in Germany and Japan. 

Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and around the same part of the year in other places. Although Thanksgiving has historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, it has long been celebrated as a secular holiday as well.

A BRIEF HISTORY
Prayers of thanks and special thanksgiving ceremonies are common among most religions after harvests and at other times.  The Thanksgiving holiday's history in North America is rooted in English traditions dating from the Protestant Reformation. 

It also has aspects of a harvest festival, even though the harvest in New England occurs well before the late-November date on which the modern Thanksgiving holiday is celebrated.

In the English tradition, days of thanksgiving and special thanksgiving religious services became important during the English Reformation in the reign of Henry VIII.   Before 1536 there were 95 Church holidays, plus 52 Sundays, when people were required to attend church and forego work. 

Though the 1536 reforms in the Church of England reduced the number of holidays in the liturgical calendar to 27, the Puritan party in the Anglican Church wished to eliminate all Church holidays apart from the weekly Lord's Day, including the evangelical feasts of Christmas and Easter (cf. Puritan Sabbatarianism).

The holidays were to be replaced by specially called Days of Fasting and Days of Thanksgiving, in response to events that the Puritans viewed as acts of special providence. Unexpected disasters or threats of judgement from on high called for Days of Fasting.

Special blessings, viewed as coming from God, called for Days of Thanksgiving, which were observed through Christian church services and other gatherings.  For example, Days of thanksgiving were called following the victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588 and following the deliverance of Queen Anne in 1605.

An unusual annual Day of Thanksgiving began in 1606 following the failure of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 and developed into Guy Fawkes Day on November 5.  Days of Fasting were called on account of plagues in 1604 and 1622, drought in 1611, and floods in 1613. 

Annual Thanksgiving prayers were dictated by the charter of English settlers upon their safe landing in America in 1619 at Berkeley Hundred in Virginia.  SOURCE:  Wikipedia

For What Might You Be Thankful?

 It is so easy to live our lives like we do and have no thoughts in our heads as to that for which we might be thankful...

That unawareness can continue for years perhaps decades until something happens where we experience something that gives us pause and starts us thinking about a shortened life span.

For me, it was a couple of issues that did not take place until the age of 60...

• diagnosed with cancer
• experienced a severe heart attack

While my heart attack was corrected with diet, exercise, and stents, my cancer has been an on-going monthly reminder.

For 170+ consecutive months, I have had constant reminders that I have cancer and that at any point in time my cancer could turn aggressive and my life becomes terminal...

Now what might you think I could be grateful for...  and on a regular basis?

I am in my 15th year of surviving on-going cancer treatments...  so, I am thankful for:

• still being alive
• still having faith
• still having my mind
• still having my thoughts
• still being able to cook
• still being able to write
• still being able to see a sunset or sunrise
• still being able to enjoy a cappuccino
• still being able to play with cats
• still being able to walk around the block

HOLIDAY -- Happy Political Thanksgiving

 

Jean Michel Basquiat - African American Artist

Jean-Michel Basquiat was a Neo-Expressionist painter in the 1980s. He is best known for his primitive style and his collaboration with pop artist Andy Warhol.

Who Was Jean-Michel Basquiat?
Jean-Michel Basquiat first attracted attention for his graffiti under the name "SAMO" in New York City. He sold sweatshirts and postcards featuring his artwork on the streets before his painting career took off. He collaborated with Andy Warhol in the mid-1980s, which resulted in a show of their work. Basquiat died on August 12, 1988, in New York City.

Early Life
Basquiat was born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 22, 1960. With a Haitian-American father and a Puerto Rican mother, Basquiat's diverse cultural heritage was one of his many sources of inspiration.

A self-taught artist, Basquiat began drawing at an early age on sheets of paper his father, an accountant, brought home from the office. As he delved deeper into his creative side, his mother strongly encouraged him to pursue his artistic talents.

Basquiat first attracted attention for his graffiti in New York City in the late 1970s, under the name "SAMO." Working with a close friend, he tagged subway trains and Manhattan buildings with cryptic aphorisms.

Half a Century

 

I have been married for 53 years...

My first marriage lasted 23 years and my second marriage is going into its 30th year...

Although, for 5 of those 30 years we lived together and technically were not married to each other, but for us, it's the same thing.

Do we always get along?

Hell no!!!

While there has not been any real physical abuse, there has been plenty of verbal abuse on both sides.

Maybe...  just maybe...  we should have divorced several years ago, but we did not...  not sure why, but we didn't.

We have a lot invested in each other and we have experienced more than our fair share of both good and bad shit.

Her son got killed by a drunk driver in 2001 and my daughter decided to stop communicating with me in 2017... nothing in over 5 years.  As far as I am concerned she might as well be dead too.

During our marriage, we became debt free, took 12 ocean cruises (Caribbean, Mediterranean, Alaska, & Hawaii), vacationed several times in Mexico, around the US, and Europe, and still have 300,000 miles on Delta's frequent flyer program.

We been burned by timeshare purchases several times...  and, you would think that we would have learned our lesson, but we still keep believing in the positive nature of sales people.  Our last one is still active in the Berkshires.

We have managed to save enough money to pay our monthly bills for 40 years, but it is highly unlikely that we will actually spend all that we have saved.

We are 75 and 70 respectively and still do all our own yardwork each spring -  summer -  fall and plan to continue these activities at least until we are 80 and 75...  maybe 85 and 80...  who knows.

We have no desire to buy an electric car unless we absolutely have to, but if an electric car is purchased, our travels away from home will be limited.  The last thing we want to do, is find ourselves waiting in line to charge our batteries, and then waiting several more hours waiting for the damn things to charge.

I have no desire spending my last few years waiting for a car battery to charge while I am vacationing.

I cannot imagine what life would be like not being married, although I have fantasized about getting divorced a second time and how I would live.

Marriage is about companionship and not necessarily love as you get older.  Being with someone is better than being alone.

Strictly Political

 

Gratitude or Gratefulness?

GRATITUDE means being thankful.

GRATEFULNESSS means showing appreciation for being thankful.

We think of these two words as two different concepts but they are not...  they are one in the same.

We think of showing gratitude because we are thankful that we have been given life and we attribute that gift to God.   However, can we not be thankful for life without giving the credit to God?

Obviously, there is some sort of creator...  I mean that is a logical conclusion to draw, especially in light of the government admitting that they have been dealing with UFOs since 1947.  I would say that this is pretty good evidence of there being alien life and pretty good proof that aliens were somehow involved with the creation of the universe and everything inside the universe.

Yet...  despite all of that logic, one can still have gratitude and be grateful.

Not only are we thankful for the life that we have been given.  But, we are thankful for that life being in the United States of America as opposed to being born in another country.

I would also suspect that we are thankful for our spouse and our children, if we have any...  not to mention, our good health, if we have that as well.

I'm in a little bit of a different situation, as for the last 15 years, I have and continue to be treated for two different cancers...  and, I am still alive...  I survived a serious heart attack 15 years ago as well.  Recently, I had 5 disks fused and I survived that operation as well and am almost back to normal when I walk....

Those three things alone is enough to be thankful for and show one's gratitude.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow...  and, the holiday was created because the first colonists in this new land survived the winter and were thankful for that survival.  They showed their thanks by preparing food and sharing it with the Native Americans...

Until something terrible happens to you, I am not sure if you can fully appreciate the concept of thankfulness and showing gratitude.