#148: Masks, €49 ticket, city bonds

Berlin now has a cryo start-up

Just go home. Your vote won’t count. The election in September 2021. Photo: IMAGO

Dear 20 Percent,

As you already know from reading this newsletter, Berlin is holding its 2021 election again on February 12 because of irregularities the first time around.

Voters will cast their ballots for the state parliament and district councils. EU citizens aged 16 and older residing in the city can participate in the latter.

I’m typing this sick in bed. For a little entertainment I checked out the Wahl-o-mat, a quiz designed to help voters find a party platform that matches up with their concerns and beliefs.

The Wahl-o-mat presents you with 38 political policies. The user can selecte “agree”, “don’t agree” or “neutral”. Some of the policies are rather niche, such as the following:

Circuses with animals in their programmes should not be allowed to use state-owned land.

To be honest, that’s not something I’ve ever thought about but I’m guessing it’s from the manifesto of the Tierschutzpartei - the Animal Protection Party. I ended up clicking “neutral” on a lot of the questions.

In the end, the Wahl-o-mat always matches me with some fringe party. This time, The Humanists, with whom I agree 67.8% of the time.

If nothing else, the app is a good way to practice your German while getting a sense of the issues in this election beyond rules about circuses.

Thanks for reading!

Maurice

P.S. Support this newsletter by purchasing an attractive 20% Berlin coffee mug!

Speaking of the election

Ah, the slow wheels of German justice: This country’s constitutional court Tuesday denied a motion to halt the re-election but said it won’t rule on the re-election’s constitutionality until early March, according to Tagesspiegel. It could theoretically then toss out the results of the re-election but their first ruling (not halting the thing) is supposedly an indicator of how they will ultimately rule. 43 politicians sued to halt the re-election because they say it’s unconstitutional.

No more masks

Face masks have been required on public transport since April 27, 2020 — nearly three years ago. From Wednesday, no more. BVG said it will need some time to remove all the stickers asking people to mask up. But they’re not disappearing entirely: Masks will still be required at hospitals, doctors and care homes, and probably by some doms.

Deutschland Ticket

The federal government and Germany’s 16 states have agreed to co-finance a successor to last summer’s popular €9 ticket, according to Taz. The ticket will cost €49 per month and probably be valid from May 1 — sales are expected to start April 3. You’ll be able to use it on local public transport (buses, U-Bahns, trams) as well as regional trains across the country. Whether the ticket will cover a dog, bike or kid as well depends on the state.

Invest in Berlin

The state of Berlin says it will issue a new kind of sustainability bond to finance projects centering around ecological and social transformation. The bonds will raise €750 million and will fund 38 projects, ranging from electrifying BVG’s bus fleet to a programme offering free school lunches. Consumers will be able to buy the 10-year bond with a minimum investment of €1,000. No info about the interest rate or when the bond will become available has been released.

Berlin’s cryopreservation start-up

I used to think having your corpse frozen was limited to eccentric Californian millionaires. But no: Cryonics has made it to Berlin: Start-up Tomorrow Biostasis will deep-freeze your body (€200,000) or just your brain (€60,000) just after your die. For €25 per month, you can get on the waiting list! When you do actually die, they will pick you up in their “ambulance” to make sure you get chilled very, very quickly. According Tech.eu, “They’ll keep your body or brain in a state of stasis until medical technology advances in future decades to not only treat the original cause of your death but revive you to enjoy a second or extended life.” You and Walt Disney partying together in 2323 (yes, we know the Disney thing is a myth)!

Factoid

Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Photo: A_Peach via Creative Commons.

Berlin’s first Fernsprechkiosk or “telephone kiosk” opened on Potsdamer Platz in January 1881. Deutsche Telekom removed the very last working phone booth from the city at the end of last year.

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