Archive for January 12th, 2008
Polizei Dogs
What’s German for “woof”, by the way?
The Mafia Is Back
Last Thursday, the Commission on Infrastructure presented its white paper on the future development of the internal and external transport infrastructure in Denmark. The paper drew some criticism for not taking sufficient consideration to environmental and economic issues but commentators agreed that the paper should mean the end of the infamous “Traffic Mafia” made up of B-list politicians with strong local bases who always managed to either block national infrastructure decisions or enter a piece of motorway in remote areas of Jutland as part of, say, agreements about inter-regional links (“Risgaard” and “Knudsen”, anyone?).
So, for how long did politicians manage to stay low and take a coordinated national perspective on road projects?
Answer: One day.
Despite the publication of the paper, Conservative and Liberal MPs on Friday resurrected the Kattegat bridge and called for an immediate start to planning investigations despite the commission’s conclusion that such a project would be complicated and costly and that a number of other projects – including alternative ways of improving links across Kattegat – should have priority (Danmarks Transportinfrastruktur 2030, p 286).
When politicians have a pet project, they have a pet project.
PS to non-Danish readers:”Risgaard” and “Knudsen” are the pet names for the motorway stumps between Aalborg and Hjørring and Frederikshavn, respectively. Risgaard-Knudsen was a Social Democratic MP elected in Frederikshavn.
links for 2008-01-12
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A bit belatedly, I’m reposting my piece on the Fin from last week, on background music, a topic we’ve discussed previously.
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Evidence from Israeli hospitals shows that medical care-givers aren’t accommodating patients’ preferences. This summary of the findings suggests how hospitals might better serve their patients.