European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 16, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                June 2007 stars and stripes pages Cost of living allowance drops in Germany cola falling thanks to a stronger troops in Germany will receive less costo living allow Ance for the next two a look at other communities in Europe where cola will de crease Italy la Maddalena and Verona Netherlands the Valkenburg and Amsterdam Spain Cadiz and Rota rate unchanged in most of All of United kingdom by Matt Millham stars and stripes hang on to your wallets the costo living allowance Given to troops in Germany will de crease again according to the per travel and transportation allowance committee web in most other european to the allowance will continue at its previous two week level at least until the end of it is the second time this month the known As has decreased for servicemen Bers in today drop Lowers cola in the country by be tween 6 percent and 7 and brings it to its lowest level since mid december the decline will be reflected in troops Endo month according to a message posted on the per diem committee web the cola reduction in Ger Many was based on an Exchange rate from june 1 to thursday the Cost of a euro had dropped from to a difference of according to military Exchange rate the cola drop affects every military Community in Ger As Well As a handful of communities in the Spain and where the Exchange rate also caused a Down turn in cola the designed to partially offset the prices of goods and services did not change at military communities in the United Belgium or civilians who get Post allow Colas civilian counter now get about 7 percent More Money than troops get to compensate for the High Cost of living in parts of Germany where most troops Are a single e6 with four years service living off base in Kaiserslautern will get about a Day in civilians paid an an Nual salary of to the bracket into which the e6 would fall get about a Day in Post allowance if living in the same both cola and Post allowance can be adjusted As often As every two but Post which requires a higher thresh old for Hast changed in Germany since rocketing up 20 percent across most of the coun try in had held steady from March until the beginning of june when it fell Between 6 percent and 7 new Cost data also resulted in a cola reduction at the beginning of but that drop was offset by a weakened which effectively left the allowance in to Check the cola rates in your go to the per diem committees web site email Matt Millham at  on top of the headed under the table at base in promotions celebrated with foul tasting liquor by Ben Murray stars and stripes Greenland if s a pretty Safe bet that every person in the bar was about As High As he or she had Ever you just cant go much farther up the Globe and still have solid land under your so the folks at the top of the world club at Thule air base were having the worlds northernmost thursday night it was a big night in Thule be cause the air Force announced its promotion list earlier in the and a number of the bases 140 or so military personnel were awarded a it entitled them to buy a lot of people a lot of from tall glasses of danish tub org classic Beer to a Devilish two toned mix of tequila and Tabasco sauce de pending on whom you a Tornado or a Prairie so the airmen and a number of the approximately 550 danish and american support personnel came out for a rousing round of drinks at the Viking bar at the Tow As its because quite literally there is not another place that Doest involve an air plane flight to get to for a cold bottle of Bud and a plate of hot As it was somewhat crowded in the on room establishment with the rectangular is land set up to look and feel like a Good old american sports its Well lit and festooned with with two Pool tables in the Middle one for the regular game of eight the other with five wooden dowels standing up right in the Center and just three balls on the this is for a game called Dan ish Pool or pins according to a Man named the game involves trying to hit combinations of the one red and two White balls without colliding with the few tried their hand at the game on be cause the patrons of the Viking were somewhat More sin Gle minded in the Pursuit of an other Newcom ers drink rows of shots of increase Ben and stripes Ted and Henrik Kristensen take shots of red a Lightbrown at the top of the world club at Thule air on thursday As Many celebrated newcomers at the club were fed rows of shots that didst always go Down singly distasteful to be the most unique thing about a bar 500 Miles North of the Arctic Circle is the drink be because Greenland has historically been a danish the Only Beers on tap Are Den Mark the tub org and an Amber selection called though bottled Beers Are but its the danish liquors that separate the Thule drink Selec Tion from bars in More hospitable and descriptions of them run like a horror the first was called it comes in two Blue and both Are a viscous dark liquid of identical but of distinctly different flavor is like a Mouthful of fermented Good plenty and blues a sinus Clearing sour we have a tradition in Den Mark to drink said an other Man named so its on to red a Lightbrown liquor named after the town where it is its made of old Henrik its an Sopha Gus searing liquid with a bitter of smells like reads a scribbled note under the 86 numerous patrons lament that the Viking was out of the two most notoriously bad tasting Thule treats thursday a pair of drinks called Fisherman and Northern sea people Are waiting for Friday to delve into the most popular drink on the worlds big Gest Island in the planets North we have a tradition in Denmark to drink f f Henrik schnapps drinking Man Ern most american military instal that patrons will dip into pitchers of Orange Vodka and an unnamed Blue mixer that Are combined in an evil potion called Green for their it sounds but with 24 hours of Sun and Only a few roads on the at least its hard to get lost on the Way email Ben Murray at