Wednesday, June 20, 2007

We’re not that broke

Making decisions isn’t always easy, especially if you are a German politician. In typically hilarious fashion (especially if you are not a German politician), the Berlin city government has failed yet again to make a decision concerning the future of the once futuristic-looking International Congress Center (ICC) and has chosen instead to ask for just one more Gutachten (expert opinion) on the matter before deciding what not to do next. Honest we swear this is the last time really.



The thirty-year-old convention center was supposed to be renovated, then not. Then it was supposed to get torn down, then not. Who knows? Maybe now they’re secretly planning to do both. It all has to do with money, you see, money that the city government simply doesn’t have. But they do have enough for another one of these high-speed and way cool Gutachten, it seems. After all, 400,000 euros is chump change in a city like this. Or as one Berlin newspaper notes, six of these just aren’t enough.

Germans just love Gutachten you see, Gutachten and consensus. That the Gutachten are always biased and the consensus a myth is another matter altogether and belongs neither here nor there. And maybe that’s why they love them so much. At any rate, nothing gets done or even not done fast in Germany. But when it goes get done or not done, it gets done or not done properly.

Or maybe they’re just scared about what they might find down there under that thing if they tear it down.

In der Ruhe liegt die Kraft.

Kommentare auf Deutsch? Selbstverständlich.

PS: Ouch! Thanks for the endgadget link, Indeterminacy.

Posted by clarsonimus at 08:31:34 | Permanent Link | Comments (3) |
Comments
1 - Why don't they just burn it down and collect the insurance money? That seems to me to be the elegant solution. (Comment this)

Written by: Indeterminacy at 2007/06/20 - 12:54:54
2 - Don't feel too bad, my home town of Long Beach, CA., has been alternately trying to get rid of or promote the Queen Mary since 1967. I saw in the paper the other day that one of the possibilites was to make it into a state prison. The ACLU immediately sued! (Comment this)

Written by: Pat Patterson at 2007/06/20 - 16:45:55
3 - I think the native obsession of the day is "Ich will meine Ruhe haben."

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/20/annoyed-hospitalized-teen-unplugs-neighbors-life-support/ (Comment this)

Written by: Indeterminacy at 2007/06/21 - 09:07:36
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