[Abernathy]

Reports coming in of another incident involving a vehicle being deliberately driven at speed into crowds of people at a Xmas market in Magdeburg. One person known to have died thus far.

Appalling.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Yep.

[kreuzberger]

Here we go again. Just on the day that Musk proclaims that only the AfD can save Germany.

Jesus Christ ...

[Oboogie]

Musk has called for the chancellor to resign immediately.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

A completely rational response...

[Crabcakes]

Musk has called for the chancellor to resign immediately.

Musk is getting annoying enough for enough people that it’s only a matter of time before he annoys the wrong person/government. I include the US government in that.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Seems the attacker was AfD...

[kreuzberger]

Seems the attacker was AfD...

Quite, and he had seemingly interacted with prominent Nazis on Musk's foghorn. An AfD fan boy, 50 years of age, a self-proclaimed atheist and keyboard warrior - he is fitting much of the profile of just another murderous, right wing nutter: Only Brown.

[Oboogie]

Inevitably the latest hot take on Twitter is that the attacker is a Zionist who was targeting Muslims.
Of course, a far-right, atheist, Saudi Arabian is bound to be Jewish and, if your desire is to kill Muslims, a Christmas market is the obvious prime target.

I'm still waiting for the first sighting of someone blaming Keir Starmer, Owen Jones has me blocked.

[Bones McCoy]

Seems the attacker was AfD...

Quite, and he had seemingly interacted with prominent Nazis on Musk's foghorn. An AfD fan boy, 50 years of age, a self-proclaimed atheist and keyboard warrior - he is fitting much of the profile of just another murderous, right wing nutter: Only Brown.

The Fash aren't buying it.
If he's brown he must be a Shariah P-word.
They say.

[Oboogie]

Seems the attacker was AfD...

Quite, and he had seemingly interacted with prominent Nazis on Musk's foghorn. An AfD fan boy, 50 years of age, a self-proclaimed atheist and keyboard warrior - he is fitting much of the profile of just another murderous, right wing nutter: Only Brown.

The Fash aren't buying it.
If he's brown he must be a Shariah P-word.
They say.

Yes, he can't be Fash cos he isn't a blue-eyed blonde like Uncle Addy.

[kreuzberger]

The only part that doesn't really tally is that he targeted Magdeburg which, given the political complexion of the city and to coin a phrase, is shooting fash in a barrel.

[Tubby Isaacs]

I would think his thought process was "Look at those fuckers in the Christmas Market having a nice time, I'll kill em". I doubt the charmer who decided to kill kids at Ariana Grande had any particular philosophical beef with her, Killed because they were on hand to be killed.

[Oboogie]

The only part that doesn't really tally is that he targeted Magdeburg which, given the political complexion of the city and to coin a phrase, is shooting fash in a barrel.

This is a bloke who believes he can make value judgements about people based solely upon their race or religion - logical reasoning is not his strong point. I dread to think what kind of psychiatrist he is.

[kreuzberger]

The story about Germany's firework-excesses of New Year's Eve seems to have escaped our shores and made the wider press.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/ ... ive-deaths

And so it should. The pyro-politik is just one more of the mad anomalies in a country which otherwise prides itself on order and orderly behaviour. Driving like a thing possessed on the Autobahn is deemed acceptable, as is spending three nights a year recreating Sarajevo at the height of the Yugoslavian war.

It's mental. 5 deaths and 400 arrests in Berlin, alone.

These so-called Kugelbomben create a deep, throaty growl which gives way to the tinkling of a thousand shards of broken glass coming back to earth. It is utterly terrifying and I pity the poor souls who find themselves on the street once this annual absurdity finds it feet.

Ban them all. Oh, and be sensible about speed limits.

[Tubby Isaacs]

[mattomac]

What’s the likely outcome, can’t see Union going with the AFD but we’ve been here before in so many countries.

[satnav]

It looks like the Afd are heading for about 20% of the vote in February's election but all the other parties have refused to work with them so they won't be part of any new government. The real test will be if any new coalition can stay together long enough to turn the economy around. If the economy stagnates the Afd will probably see it's popularity increase especially if Elon Musk throws his weight behind them.

[kreuzberger]

That is all true, but there is some nuance in there. And it is not merely the political undergrowth. The former East looks likely to fall in hard behind the AfD with the reverse happening in the capital and the old West. Arithmetically, that won't be a national schism, but it will be portrayed as one and will probably feel like one.

More to the point, many an arse will be going tanner - half crown in the aftermath of the results on Sunday, 23 February. It is conceivable that the 50% barrier could be breached by the CDU together with Adolf's spawn, and I wouldn't trust Merz and the Bayern clique as far as I could throw them. That is the current trajectory, albeit by a whisker, although there haven't been any meaningful polls in the last few days, reflecting the impact of the Musk intervention or the demented dyke railing against "windmills of shame".

What's German for "buckle up"?

[mattomac]

Merz seems so categorically against it that you feel he will do it. Though it is one of those things that will likely backfire.