Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III

What is happening in the Templehof Project is a microcosm of what is happening across Germany as the last big infrastructure project was just after WW II that was started by Chancellor Lang and that was almost 30 years ago and it may be time for another infrastructure bill to be proposed by the government and local and state governments will join in with their own wish list to be combined with the larger items that could be proposed.
The SDP will want more mega projects with the use of concrete and steel, the DEP will want "Greener" projects with more protected lands and a smaller ecological footprint, and the National Liberals will object very loudly to the potential price tags but still want the money spent in their strongholds.
 

ferdi254

Banned
Actually the rules of who pays are set in stone since the early 1900s. If a new road has to be built 90 to 95% of the cost will be carried by the owners of the ground next to the road. Same with fundamental improvements. Running maintenance is to be paid for by the local municipality. That is of course unless the road in question is a B(number) then it is Germany to pay.

The real game is that sometimes a local municipality tries to have a road getting that kaputt that it can claim that the final repair amounts to a new construction which then has to be paid by the owners of real estate along said road.
 
Actually the rules of who pays are set in stone since the early 1900s. If a new road has to be built 90 to 95% of the cost will be carried by the owners of the ground next to the road. Same with fundamental improvements. Running maintenance is to be paid for by the local municipality. That is of course unless the road in question is a B(number) then it is Germany to pay.

The real game is that sometimes a local municipality tries to have a road getting that kaputt that it can claim that the final repair amounts to a new construction which then has to be paid by the owners of real estate along said road.
I saw that the other day when I looked this matter up. Where it gets weird though is what happens when the Government of a local municipality exists at several different levels. It seemed that in this case the Neighborhood exists within a City that is also a State within a larger Federal System. The odds of there being a bureaucratic circle jerk developing over a relatively unimportant matter like a back alley needing to be repaved are rather good.
 
The real game is that sometimes a local municipality tries to have a road getting that kaputt that it can claim that the final repair amounts to a new construction which then has to be paid by the owners of real estate along said road.

The odds of there being a bureaucratic circle jerk developing over a relatively unimportant matter like a back alley needing to be repaved are rather good.

This then goes back to "who is going to decide that this then belongs as Kat's problem"?
And who is going to be brave enough to tell her?
 

ferdi254

Banned
PM sorry but the rules are clear and there is no circle involved. May be a US thing but federal level is completely out and it is the city who is the sole responsible entity. As I said law since the early 1900s.

The only question would be if the city (the state is also out of the game for city roads) plays the long game.
 

ferdi254

Banned
Just to elaborate a bit more. In Germany it starts with an A it is an Autobahn fully paid by the federal government. Same for anything with a B (Bundesstraße). Then you have roads starting with an L (Landstraße) which are paid for by the state. Then you have roads with a K (Kreisstraße) paid for by the Kreis meaning the rural government. All else is paid for by the cities. Pretty clear rules.

No chance for a bureaucratic circle.
 
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I saw that the other day when I looked this matter up. Where it gets weird though is what happens when the Government of a local municipality exists at several different levels. It seemed that in this case the Neighborhood exists within a City that is also a State within a larger Federal System. The odds of there being a bureaucratic circle jerk developing over a relatively unimportant matter like a back alley needing to be repaved are rather good.
The usual bureaucratic gridlock in OTL Germany is that the local municipality will not begin renovations until it has secured most of the required funds from higher administrative levels under some development program or other. Ideally nothing has to be paid locally because the municipality manages to apply to two or three grants under different programs from state or federal budgets (infrastructure, agriculture, environment, ... ) at once.

That way there is also always a distant scape goat to point to about why nothing gets done.
 
The repair of the ally way could be depending on how it is classified, is it a public road or a private access road where only residents, their guests, public services like garbage pick ups among other things and private contractors doing work on the residencies are allowed to use it.
If it is the latter then the local government would then assess the cost of the repairs (x) divided by the number of properties (y) over the number of years needed to pay off the costs times the percentage of interest charged which would equals (z) to each property holder.
 

ferdi254

Banned
Ejpsan such things hardly exist in Germany.
Dain unlikely as repairing roads hardly qualifies for higher level funds.
 
Part 130, Chapter 2211
Chapter Two Thousand Two Hundred Eleven



12th April 1973

Münsingen Proving Grounds, Württemberg

The 76th Motorized Artillery Brigade was doing a number on the hill that the 8th Dragoon Brigade was conducting a mock attack on as a live fire exercise. That included the 140th Regiment and Manny was watching through his binoculars as the big 15-centimeter “Evergreen” howitzers were dropping high-explosive shells onto the hilltop. If someone were uneducated, they would think that nothing could survive a bombardment like that. After having lived through the Battle of Paso de San Francisco and been on the receiving end of that sort of barrage, Manny knew better. The man standing next to him, the American who was acting as an Observer in the name of peace and international cooperation, clearly did not. Despite the fact that he was wearing the uniform of US Army Special Forces Studies and Observation Group. Captain North seemed to personify what Manny’s father had told him about how it seemed like a big mouth was almost always attached to an empty head or at least a closed mind. The night before at the formal reception, North had asked Manny about the PLM that he had been wearing. That question was a major faux pas that someone in North’s position should have known better than to ask. Manny had sarcastically replied that it came as a set with his Patagonian War victory medal. North had then asked if they really did things that way and Manny had no idea if the American was really that dim or if he had been yanking Manny’s chain.

It was then as the StuG VIIIs from the 103rd Motorized Artillery and the SpZ-4 APCs started grinding forward as the towed artillery and mortars got into the act. Everything from 10.5-centimeter howitzers and 8-centimeter mortars all the way down to the 55-milimeter “Commando” mortars that had evolved from the old Japanese Knee mortars and 40-milimeter rifle grenades. A huge amount of earth was getting churned up. The StuG remained mostly unchanged in form since the late 30’s, the hull was now the same as the Panzer VIII Leopard I and Krupp had made them by the thousands. The ability to provide direct artillery support to advancing Infantry was always welcome. That much was happening as the three Regiments of the 8th started their charge. As heavy infantry they were all about momentum, once they got moving anything that got in their way was quickly obliterated.

For Manny it was a matter of keeping up with the Company he commanded while making sure that the American he was saddled with was on an extremely short leash as he had been ordered. If the High Command didn’t want North to see anything, why had they saddled Manny with him? As it was, Manny hadn’t even bothered to learn North’s first name and the arrogant twit had not even noticed. He didn’t seem to be the type to see what was going on just past his nose. Like todays live fire exercise having little to no coordination in combined arms for example. As the General in charge of this mess, Uncle Stefan had said that he wanted the men to have a chance to blow off steam after a long winter spent in the Fritz von Below Barracks in Wunsdorf-Zossen. Shooting off several million Marks worth of explosives would do the trick nicely. At the same time, Stefan was with his Staff observing the “battle” looking to see just who showed a bit more initiative than others. In a couple days they would come back and do a more credible job of it when the international observers were gone. Hopefully, they would take those who were easily impressed merely by blowing things up with them.

Looking over his shoulder, Manny saw that Captain North was following him closely. It was rather obvious where he fell among the observers.



Los Angeles, California

“They found him guilty” Big Mike said as he sat down in the passenger seat. The suspension of Frankenstein rocked under his weight.

He knew that Mike was talking about Dicky Scott because the jury had been in deliberation. From here it would the penalty phase of the trial and no matter how it turned out Dicky would be thrown into a cage and wouldn’t be getting out alive. The only question was the method by which that would happen. After decades of irrelevance or the Chamber after the appeals process had run its course.

“Whatever happens next, our involvement is over” Ritchie replied as he pulled a folder of papers out of the center console. “We lock that one up and move on to the next dozen sick fucks.”

Mike chuckled when he heard that. “This is because of the briefing this morning?” He asked, “The Rabbit?”

Of all the absurd things that they had been told during rollcall at the start of the shift, it had been to be on the lookout for a grey or blue Volkswagen Rabbit. There had been hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of cars that matched that description which had rolled off assembly lines over the last decade. No actual description of the suspect beyond his car, but to consider him armed and dangerous. Delightful. Whoever this guy was, Ritchie’s hope was that he would get popped somewhere far away where he wouldn’t become Ritchie’s problem involving multiple appearances in the Courtroom and way too much drama. Since becoming a policeman, Ritchie had learned that getting the headlines wasn’t worth the cost to him personally.
 
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Made it sound like he was Army and not a Marine.
Either Manny was mistaken which is probably not the case as Manny has worked with US Special Forces before or once again there has been plenty of butterflies to cause Oliver North to go in the Army instead of the Marines.
 
Either Manny was mistaken which is probably not the case as Manny has worked with US Special Forces before or once again there has been plenty of butterflies to cause Oliver North to go in the Army instead of the Marines.
Must of been Ollie's ring knocker training.
 
Something else to consider is what might have happened to the USMC without American involvement in WW2 or the wars in Korea and Vietnam. They would have remained a relatively small, specialized force much like they were in the Nineteenth Century.
 
Something else to consider is what might have happened to the USMC without American involvement in WW2 or the wars in Korea and Vietnam. They would have remained a relatively small, specialized force much like they were in the Nineteenth Century.
And if Harry had his way a mere regiment in the Army.
 

Paternas

Donor
Something else to consider is what might have happened to the USMC without American involvement in WW2 or the wars in Korea and Vietnam. They would have remained a relatively small, specialized force much like they were in the Nineteenth Century.
That would mean that strangely enough, the US could have an effective expeditionary/counterinsurgency force in this timeline. OTL the US Marines did all the Banana wars interventions in the 1920s and 1930s, quite effectively. That role lost out after the ampibious role in WW2. Something similar to the French Foreign legion and Colonial Marine infantry.
 

ferdi254

Banned
The British learned the very hard way at the Somme that even a very impressive artillery barrage will not clear out troops in well prepared trenches.
 
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