“Chronicle of an Announced Death”

New Economy: A case history. For a year the Neuer Markt was a playground for visionaries, loudmouths, nimble founders and audacious fraudsters alike. Meanwhile most of the companies have collapsed, been sold or gone bankrupt. In the midst of them, and still going: Fluxx.com AG. Following the “telecommunications” share (Telekom) and the “sex” share (Beate Uhse), Fluxx wanted to become the “lottery” share. The second oldest profession in the world and all that kind of thing. On March 6, 2000, Fluxx briefly hit the 120 euro mark. For a very quiet, very loud moment in the eye of the hurricane the small company with its staff of 170 was worth 1.2 billion marks, even though the 1999 losses were almost as high as the turnover: some 17 billion euros. But the decline had already begun. It gradually dawned on the people at Fluxx that they were never the true protagonists in this lottery. They were only meant to be the jackpot. The game sucks.

SPIEGEL interview with Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer about his past and how it affects his present standing

“Vision of a Town Residence”

Architecture: The decisive phase in the quarrel over the reconstruction of the Hohenzollern residence in Berlin has begun. The think-tank set up by the local and federal governments on the subject is soon to begin work. The sweet revenge for the barbaric blowing up of the mansion under Ulbricht’s regime could well be successful.

SPIEGEL cover story: Part one deals with the present crisis in the Schröder government. In part two, the question of how agribusiness can be reformed and consumer protection guaranteed is discussed.

“Meat Must Not Be Junk Food”

SPIEGEL interview with EU commissioner Franz Fischler on the chances of the new German agricultural policies:

“People who are politically in favour of ecological farming, are going to have to support it through funding. … The French blocked many ideas during the Agenda negotiations in Berlin, for instance the milk reform. But before that, the German agricultural minister also put on the brakes. … Thinking in terms of demand is a good thing. The key to biological farming is the supermarket counter.”

“Battle in the Waiting Room”

Health service: An expertise commissioned by the government comes to a damning verdict about German doctors. Now they are to be sent for follow-up training. According to the expert’s investigations, only half of all chronically ill patients receive optimum treatment. The medical ineptitude is a result of a flagrant lack of training. Unlike in other European countries, doctors in Germany are allowed to practise until retirement without attending any further training courses.

“Stalin’s Disneyland”

Turkmenistan: Golden statues, triumphal parades, epic songs – the personality cult in Turkmenistan has taken on absurd dimensions. But the United States, Russia and China are all courting the dictator Niyazov: his country is floating on natural gas – and it is the key to Central Asia. Turkmenistan is extremely reserved about exporting its natural resources – forgoing billions. At the moment only small amounts of natural gas are flowing exclusively to Russia and Iran. Far more could be extracted and transported to the West, particularly via a pipeline being propagated by Washington which would lead through the Caspian Sea to Turkey. But Turkmenbashi keeps putting off signing the agreement.

“Swallowed up by the Jungle”

Malaysia: Murder, a tragic accident or an act of macabre stage-management? The Swiss rain forest activist Bruno Manser has disappeared in the jungle of Sarawak. He had devoted his life to the 300-strong Penan tribe – a mixture of Fitzcarraldo, William Tell and Robin Hood. He brought to the world’s attention the resistance of the native inhabitants to the rapacious logging companies which have cut down over 70 percent of Sarawak’s forests over the past two decades with Kuala Lumpur’s approval.

“Diving Expedition into the Underworld”

Oil prospecting: Geologists have recently started journeying into the bowels of the earth using 3D simulators, in order to investigate oil fields hidden there. Clever computer technology makes it possible to develop deposits that have so far been inaccessible – such as the huge oil deposits in the deep sea. Even more or less known deposits can be exploited much more fully using the 3D technology. But before the computer can conjure up the magnificent three-dimensional images of the ocean floor, research troops have to comb the terrain to obtain the necessary data.

“A Snip in the Crotch”

Medicine: Men with foreskins catch the AIDS virus more easily. Doctors are therefore recommending mass circumcision. Particularly in Africa this recommendation could save lives. There the virus is mainly spread via sexual intercourse between men and women.

“Buffalo Gone Wild”

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with Cologne cycling pro Marcel Wüst about his serious fall, the looming end to his career, dirty tricks during the mass sprints and the occupational risk of the cyclists:

“I’d call it my powers of perception rather than my vision. If I close my good eye, I can still see differences in brightness better with that one than I can with the open bad eye. The optical nerve is simply in shreds. … I’ve set myself a limit until the end of June. If I haven’t taken part in any races by then, I’m going to pull out. … The risks faced by a professional cyclist are simply higher than are those of an employee who goes off to the office every morning. … During a mass sprint you feel as if you were in a herd of buffalo gone wild. Your pulse is 185 and your nerves are stretched to their limits, because at 70 kph you only have a fraction of a second to decide: is the gap ahead of me big enough or am I risking too much? In that kind of situation you could actually do with three eyes.”

“A Foiled Affair”

Animal kingdom: For years biologists have been trying to save the last specimen of a Brazilian parrot species still living in the wild. Now the bird has disappeared. For at least ten years the “loneliest bird in the world” (The Independent) eked out a miserable existence in the north-east of Brazil. Biologists coupled its fate to the preservation of an entire species. For some three months now, virtually all hope has been lost. The possible death of the reluctant feathered hermit marks the latest climax in an animal tragedy.

“The Pleasure of Protest”

The German capital: An unusual celebrity duo is putting pressure on Berlin’s politicians by threatening them with an East/West conflict. In an ingenious political move, the head of the orchestra, Daniel Barenboim, who is accustomed to success, has hired the former head of the PDS party, Gregor Gysi. The Berlin lawyer is to give him legal assistance: the celebrity duo wants to overturn the cultural affairs senator’s so-called master plan.