#123: Protestors delay rescue, bye-bye Schönefeld, Iran vigil attacked
Also: Berghain makes bank (but we already suspected as much)
Howdy 20 Percent!
I’m in my final week of vacation at my parents’ place in the United States and we walked over to a Halloween block party Monday evening. The street was filled with parents and kids in hokey costumes. The trees here in Denver, Colorado are all über-autumn-like and the air is cool, almost cold. The Rocky Mountains always loom in the background.
For a brief moment I thought: What a beautiful world. I can’t believe we’re destroying it.
After the block party I gathered my notes from the last few days to write this newsletter and there they are, the never-ending stories about the Final Generation protestors in Berlin — and Europe. Throwing food on famous paintings. Glueing themselves to highways and major thoroughfares. Of course they’re the wrong kinds of protests but at the same time nothing else seems to be working. So maybe they’re right.
Yes, I always have trouble making decisions.
They may need to change their strategy after a fire department truck was held up by their protests (see below) but at least every time we debate whether or not their methods are correct, we have to say “climate change” half a dozen times and at least think about it a little bit, because it does seem to be getting critical.
Sure I’m aware of my role, what with trans-Atlantic flights and the American love of the combustion engine. But I’m doing what I can — now I think politicians should too, on a much broader scale.
It really is a beautiful world. And thanks for being part of it. Have a good week!
Andrew
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Berlin corona stats for Tuesday, November 1
New cases in one day: 2,534 (2,672 Friday)
Total deaths: 4,941 (+19 over Friday)
🔴 7-day Covid-19 incidence (cases per 100,000): 299 (353 Friday)
🔴7-day hospitalization incidence (also per 100,000): 13.7 (16.6 Friday)
🟡 Covid-19 ICU patient occupancy: 6.5% (7.9% Friday)
Source: Berlin’s corona page
Cyclist injured, protestors made matters worse
A woman was critically injured Monday in Wilmersdorf after she was run over by a cement truck while cycling on Bundesallee, according to RBB24. Her rescue was delayed after a fire department equipment truck got stuck in a traffic jam created by climate protestors from the Final Generation, who had again blocked traffic in western Berlin Monday. In a bizarre twist, the driver was stabbed by a witness after exiting the cement truck to check on the cyclist. The witness then fled. Fire officials said the protestors were putting people’s lives in danger by blocking traffic while the protestors said they’re always careful to leave room for emergency vehicles. The Monday climate action followed a Sunday protest where two activists glued themselves to the metal supports of a 66-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton at the Naturkundemuseum.
Iran protestors attacked
Four people manning a permanent vigil in front of the Iranian embassy were attacked early Sunday morning, apparently by members of Iran’s secret intelligence force, according to the Tagesspiegel. At 1.15am, a police officer guarding the building saw three men pulling flags and banners from a camper that serves as the vigil and asked them to stop. When four protestors got out of the camper, the three suspects attacked the men, possibly stabbing one and beating another with a flagpole. A protestor reportedly chased the suspects when they fled — and they then threatened the man with a pistol while leaping into a getaway car. A special political crimes unit is now investigating the violent attack.
No new terminal after all
The federal government will no longer build a special terminal for politicians and official visitors at BER after the costs climbed to a reported €500 million, according to RBB24. The government will instead continue to use the €70 million temporary terminal built for government mucky-mucks. The terminal is on the north side of the airport between the former Schönefeld airport (now officially known as Terminal 5) and the new airport. Speaking of the former Schönefeld — it now seems unlikely the airport will ever be used as a terminal again, as was originally planned. Re-opening it would cost €120 million in upgrades and just keeping it as a standby costs €25 million per year after it was closed during the corona travel slump, according to a recent Märkische Allgemeine article. Its fate will be decided during a November BER board meeting.
Factoid
Despite the rumors, Berghain doesn’t appear to be closing but have you ever wondered how much money (profit) it makes? Business Insider got a few figures recently:
2019 just over €1 million
2020 €2.7 million
2021 -€86,000
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