Schroeder decries welfare at CeBIT

CEBIT 2005 opened with a bongo player, a New Age Harpist, and the German Chancellor. Although none of these things have any thing in common with the re-burgeoning ITC industry or the half million visitors expected in Hannover, things continued to progress at the opening ceremony.

Although CeBIT is trying to shake off its image as a German market trade fair, only 16 words of Englisch were spoken, and two that we think might have been Italian. However, the stereo bongo effect was deemed to be quite thrilling.

At the end of the ceremony held at the Hannover Congress Centre, German Chancellor Gerhard Schoeder opened the CeBIT 2005 Trade Show by warming up a business audience with a political speech in Hannover, his home state and where he had formerly been governor.

Throughout the speech, where his efforts towards reducing the tax rate from more than half to nearly 40% were extolled, little mention was made of the crux of the event-- the ITC business sectors.

As is the imperative, the 2500+ attendees and the German Chancellor then adjourned to consume voluminous quantities of a brewed yellow liquid generally identified with hallucinations and visions of grandeur. Vast quantities of various dead fish and strange neck ties were also seen. µ