An American in Europe

Ben Franklin, full of it. from C. Hitchens

2011-12-14T20:55:00.003+01:00

I am ready a collection of essays from Hitchens called Arguably. He supports his claims but the more I read the more I feel he is choosing his arguments not on evidence but on belief, but that he has a pre choosen narative and he is streching in every way possible to make as many peices fit into his narative as possible. The latest was his essay on the writtings of B. Franklin, US of A founding father. As Hitchens couldn't find in any support for his argument that franklin didn't believe in god he argued that Frankilin didn't mean what he wrote. That his famous almanac and its earthy wisdom was written in jest and that any intellectual could see that. W it is a well written essay and argument. I am not convinced. I, never having read any of Franklins work would have to read it myself to make that determination.

And that beings me to my point. From reading a few of the works of Hitchens. I think, as good of a philosopher as he is, is more interested in being interesting and sensational than being correct or arguing to find the truth. And I guess now i take this grain of salt in every thign of his I read now.

ps

I love how he quotes all these great sources to read myself.

Geico Auto Insurance / uses for your car

2011-12-14T20:47:00.002+01:00

So I just set up auto insurance through Gieco. I had to list what the car was for. I had three options:

Commute to school
Commute to work
Recreational use

There was no option for a stay at home father (or mother in that case).

I had to put down that the car was for recreational use which of coarse means a higher premium. Are there not people who stay at home with their children and don't work? apparently not according to Geico.

...and what about retirees. are all thier cars only for recreatinoal use as well?

Back in the US of A / Comcast

2011-12-13T20:23:00.002+01:00

So I back in the US. Ever since I have moved here to Milton VT Comcast has been trying to get me to subscribe for thier cable TV service. They try to contact me 5 to 7 times a week though phone calls ( I am on the national do not call registry) and snail mail. I do not answer thier calls and throw away the mail because I have no television set. Also, my internet is provided through my phone company ( fairpoint comunications).

today I finally picked up the headset when they called and said "hello, I have no television set, thank you) . No one repleid on the other end of the line. I then hung up the phone. Lets see if this stops them.

Schweizer Bär

2011-05-24T19:31:00.000+02:00

Ein Bär wandert noch mal in die Schweiz hinein. Ich wundere mich, wie lange es sein wird bevor eine Feigling tötet ihn. Es kann nicht die Lösung sein, jeder unschuldige Bär zu töten die über ein Linie am Landkarte überschreitet. Der Bär weißt nicht was das bedeutet. Die Schweiz muss Platz für Bären machen. Wenn die Schweiz stolz auf sein Natur und Naturschutz haben Willst, dann Sie sollten den Bär nicht töten. Bären fressen Tieren und dass sollte kein Tötungsbefehl kriegen, Das ist Nature.

“Buying” cars in America vs. Switzerland

2011-04-27T21:25:00.002+02:00

Finally, something good to blog about.

I read a story about what percentage of cars are leased here in Switzerland. The news article
compared the differing region of Switzerland, which also happened to conform to stereotypes of
the people who live in these regions. ( long story short, fewer French speaking and Italian speaking
persons pay cash for their cars)

I read that and wondered what it was like in the US. Were the Americans just as likely as to buy
their cars on credit as the French Swiss?

Well here are the results.

US car purchases
Pay cash ....................................11%
Lease .........................................18.5%
Buy on credit ...........................70.5%

Swiss car purchases
Pay cash ...................................... 75%
Lease .........................................14%
Buy on credit ..............................11%

Conclusion, the German speaking Swiss should look at how many Americans buy their cars on
credit before they stick their noses in the air speaking about the lazy French speaking Swiss.

81% of the german speaking Swiss pay cash for thier cars.

American stats. source

swiss stats. source

disclaimer:

When I lived in America, I bought a huge SUV on credit.

saga khan again ( mägenwil)

2011-04-15T21:53:00.003+02:00

After 5 years I went back to saga an in Mägenwil CH to try some more.

here is what I had eaten last time.
Alligator
Antelope ( springbok)
Buffalo
Chicken ( + egg )
Conch
Clams
Cow ( + calf )
Crab
Crayfish
Crocodile
Deer
Duck
Eel
Elk
Fish ( many species )
Goat
Goose
Grasshopper
Horse ( + foal )
Kangaroo
Lamb
Lobster
Mussel
Octopus
Ostrich
Oyster
Pig
Quail eggs
Rabbit
Reindeer
Rock Hen
Shrimp (many species )
Snail
Squid
Turkey

Now I have a few things to add to the list. All were delicious.
Wildebeast, Kudu, kangaroo, eland antelope, camel, zebra, impala, Zebu and donkey.

crocodile is still the best.

Swiss person in Europe

2011-04-12T19:18:00.000+02:00

I am now swiss, so now I am a european in europe.

an american in europe

2010-12-19T21:08:00.001+01:00

What happened to my posting? o I not have anything left to say?

Opium Poisoning

2010-04-05T09:53:00.001+02:00

From Chambers’s Encyclopedia, 1887, Voume V. , page 705

“In case of poisoning by opium, the first most essential point is the evacuation of the contents of the stomach. The stomach-pump, if it can be procured, should be employed, and strong coffee should then be pumped into the stomach after the removal of its contents. The next best remedy is an emetic of sulphate of zinc ( about a scruple), and if this is not at hand, a dessert-spoonful of flour of mustard, stirred in a tumbler of warm water, will usually produce the desired effect. The patient must, if possible, be prevented from falling asleep, and for this purpose he should be kept walking between two strong men, while a third person in the rear, at short intervals, should flick him sharply with a rough wet towel, or ( if procurable), a good birch rod. Cold water should also be occasionally dashed over the head and chest. In a few apparently hopeless cases, death has been averted by artificial respiration, and by the application of electromagnetism.

poem

2010-01-24T09:16:00.003+01:00

There once was a PC from Nantucket
Whom wished to be a Mac, but couldn't Hacket
But then he remembered Macs were overpriced
and that Windows sufficed
and a year later his job involved a bucket.

ps, contains 20% original content

Inadvertent terrorist(s) attack

2009-12-28T10:36:00.003+01:00

The terrorists are making headway, gaining ground and I want it to Stop!

No, I am not speaking of the failed explosive device attack aboard a plane landing in Denver. I am speaking of the incidents that happened in the next days. The person who spent too long in the bathroom and the non-white looking passengers that were watching an action movie and standing with the seat belt light on. (btw, on my last flight I think 25% of the passengers stood at some point while the seat belt light was on, but not me, that really also annoys me, but It is not suspicious behavior in any way.)

The terrorists, well meaning imbeciles that they are, are the people who overreact. They are the passengers, cabin crew, the police, the news media and many others are the people spreading fear. The quote "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” is becoming tired and I think that people no longer know its meaning or wisdom. This post 9-11 world we live in was not created by the terrorists, it was created by us. We must be vigilant, but we must not act fearfully. The actions taken this week against those people were not actions of vigilance, but of fear. They are not acceptable. It is what the extremists want.

I have made it my duty to my birth country, to combat the terrorists, and that means combating those that are spreading the fear. These are the politicians, the media, and any who say that an unjust action is just because we live in a post 9-11 world. There were terrorists that wanted to kill us before 9-11, just as there are today. What has changed is that now, people are being driven by fear of religious extremists. This fear and irrationality however is created from within. When we give into it as what happened this week, and as we do so often, the extremists win.

-To hell with those inadvertent terrorists that would give in now! Yes, I may be speaking to you!
David

Fuel taxes

2009-11-10T20:35:00.002+01:00

Do you know I pay several dollars per gallen in fuel taxes here as compared to 23cents per gallon federal fuel tax in america.

I hope you know the bridge and road inferstructure in america is in bad shape. These thigns should be repaired with gasoline taxes. raise the taxes up to european levels. Only then will you people stop driving around white elephants.

Car

2009-11-10T20:19:00.002+01:00

I am buying a new car! A VW Polo with a 1.2L (yes that is small) TSI (turbochaged) gasoline engine. For the price it is very effiecient I think. There are better engines out there but not many. The hybrids can get more miles to teh gallon but are mch more expensive. SMaller engine also do much better but they would have trouble getting up the hill to my new house. Diesel engines get also get more miles to the gallon but then that puts the engine in the hybrid price range.

The reported numbers on my care are ca 55 miles to the gallon (though in real life I will get lower). At the last moment we decided to wait for the 105 HP TSI instead of going with the 85HP 1.4L gasoline engine that is not turbocharges. It gets ca 50 mpg. The engine that gets 5 more mpg cost ca 1600 franks more. At the current gas prices of 1.6 franks per Liter I will have to drive about 150,000 km before I see a cost savings. That is about 100k miles. But that is with todays gas prices. If the cost of gas skyrockets again I can realize the savings much quicker.

But that does go to show that the really effcient motors i.e. ; hybrids, and the turbo and super charged diesels (ca 70mpg) don't really save you money over a efficient gasoline engine. That is unless you are trading in a huge SUV.

I really like VW's idea of super and turbocharging really small engines to make really efficient engines (the TSIs and the TDIs). They are cheaper and almost as efficient as hybrids. I wonder how far they can puch this technology.

Or if in the end, that is before we are all driving electric cars, we are driving hybrids powered by these really small turbocharged engines VW is putting out there. I wonder how efficient they a hybrid would be right now with combining these two technologies.

A Year!

2009-11-10T20:16:00.003+01:00

It has been more than I year since I have posted. Wow. I guess I have been too busy to give my banal commentary. Don't worry nobody, I still have commentary, And I bet I still get hits because of my Pentago "how to" , I was going to make that bigger one day but I just don't play it anymore. We play Tayu now. Maybe I should make a Tayo strategy guide.

Later

The Auto Industry Culture

2008-05-30T10:20:00.002+02:00

GM is getting rid of some workers because of the economy and more so the lack of demand for large American trucks and Sport utility vehicles. This is not surprising. Fuel is too expensive, and will remain so.

Why didn’t these people see this coming? It is not as if this hasn’t happened before. The industry execs will say they were producing what the public wanted, bigger vehicles with more power. It is my point here to refute this argument of theirs.

The demand for these large vehicles was created by the large auto industries. They were not filling demand of customers but creating it with advertising so that it could be filled. There is a difference. They were of course doing this because there is a greater profit margin in larger behemoths than in economy cars, though I don’t think this has to be so. The auto execs dug this hole themselves out of greed, and now they are going to loose a bunch of money. If we bail tem out, they won’t learn.

I also believe it has to do with the personality type of people that choose to go into the auto industry and design cars. I think this group of people, more so that the general population, are filled with people of the bigger, better, faster mindset. These are people that grew up watching sport racing, tractor pulls and working on their classic cars and trucks at home. I am not saying there is anything wrong with that, I am just saying that there are more types of these people choose to study engineering in college and then go design cars for a living. I also think if you take a group of these people and tell them to design a car; they are much more likely to think that most people, like them want a big powerful truck or car. These people see cars as more than just a tool to go from point a to point b.

Disclaimer

I don’t write this because of complaints for the price of fuel as I don’t drive a car.

Schreber Gardens in America

2008-05-07T11:38:00.003+02:00

Well, it looks like America has discovered Schreber gardens. They are nice but are nothing new to the civilized world. It would be nice to start seeing them in some of the larger run down urban areas of Indiana

Reader Test, things I like at thinkgeek

2008-05-04T16:03:00.000+02:00

Meine Antwort vom SBB

2008-01-20T16:37:00.001+01:00

Mein Brief

delagate counts for the nomination of presidential candidates

2008-01-20T13:11:00.000+01:00

Clinton took more of the popular vote in the Nevada caucases. Obama took more delagates though. In my book that means Obama won. Like the national election, this is not a popular vote

Favorite Wines

2008-01-13T22:21:00.001+01:00

I had been, every time my wife and I drank a new wine we enjoyed, saving the bottles above my cupboards in my kitchen so that we would remember which wines we liked and what to purchase in the future. I cleaned out above my cupboard and decided I would dispose of the bottles to make space and just write down the names. So here is my list, in no particular order.

Villa Antinori Toscana
Club des Sommeliers Cabernet d'Ajou France
Chateau Tuyttens Sauternes Bordeaux
Pétillant deListel Framboise
Yvorne Chasselas Vaudois
J.P. Chenef Chardonnay France
Dr. Loosen 2005 Riesling Germany
Baran deHoen 2005 Riesling Alsace
Graševina 2002 Krauthaker Croatia

2+2=5 BS, the 2008 presidential primaries, and the idiot newscasters who cannot count

2008-01-09T19:19:00.000+01:00

Today, the big news is that Hillary Clinton has won the democratic primary in the state of New Hampshire. You should only believe this if you cannot count to ten on your fingers. Obama has won 9 delegates in this state and Clinton won 9 delagates in this state. Amoungst people who can count, this means they tied. 9 is not greater than 9.

I am not mad because I prefer Obama over Clinton, I don't, I see little difference between the two. My problem is fundamental and on principle. I do like liars(i.e. new organisations) and I expect people( i.e. newscasters) to be able to count. I have found no national news site pointing out that the two candidates "won" the same number of delagates in NH.

Ignorance is not strenght, war is not peace, and 9 is not greater than 9.

Food in Aluminium Tubes

2008-01-06T15:42:00.000+01:00

America needs more food sold in tubes. Normally I love to take the time and cook everything from sracth but if I am short on time and want a quick dinner or snack, food out of tubes really help. Examples of good food that you get in tubes here are; gravey (pictured), tomato paste, pâté, mustard, and mayonaise. The great thing about tubes is you can use exactly how much you want, put the cap back on, and back in the fridge. This is especially great for things like tomato paste that is usuallly only sold in cans in America and if you don't use the whole can then there is no good way to store the paste until you want to use it again. With the maynaise and mustard, there is no need to get a knife dirty to spread the condiment on your sandwich. The gravey is so good because it tastes better than the powder gravey mix one can buy (but not as good as making your own), and you can keep it in your cupboard just like the powder stuff. Americans, toothpaste isn'ty the only thing you can put in a tube.

So american food producers, I WAN TUBES!

SBB Billette Kontrolle

2007-12-27T15:20:00.000+01:00

Ich habe deiser Brief an SBB vesant. Ich werde auch die Antwort heir herausgeben, falls ich eins kriege. Ich habe eine Antowort gekriegt.

Schweizerische Bundesbahnen SBB
Division Personenverkehr

Kundendienst
Brückfeldstrasse 16
3000 Bern 65
Schweiz

24.12. 2007

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren

Ich habe in der „Beobachter“-Zeitschrift von 7. Dezember, 2007 gelesen auf Seite 32 in Artikel „Im Zweifel schuldig“. Es steht in diesem Artikel, dass wenn ein Billetteautomat ausser Betrieb ist und man deswegen kein Billet lösen kann, man wird trotzdem bestraft wenn im Zug kontrolliert wird. Ich will nicht schwarz fahren aber letzten Monat war ich in Reinach, AG an der Haltestelle „Reinach Central Schulhaus“. Ich wohne im Basel. Ich musste zurückfahren aber der einzige Billetteautomat funktioniert nicht. Was hätte ich tun sollen? Ich kann nicht zu der nächsten Haltestelle spazieren. Ich habe ein Foto mit meinem Handy gemacht von dem „Ausser Betrieb“-Zeichen an dem Billetteautomat und bin schwarz gefahren, bis ich in Aarau umsteigen musste. Was hätte ich tun sollen? In diesem Fall, wäre ich bestraft worden, wäre der Zug kontrolliert worden?

Mit freundlichen Grüssen,

David Tagliaferri

Amsterdam

2007-10-23T21:00:00.000+02:00

The Intro
So I spent the last few days in Amsterdam on a three day autumn break. It was great. Plenty of things to see and do even if you don’t smoke marijuana or fuck prostitutes. I have separated this into chapters of no particular order. Read a couple chapters that interest you. Pictures to be uploaded later

The SEX, DRUGS, and Amsterdam

Well let’s get right to it. It seems that Amsterdam has a reputation. It is deserved and on the other hand wholly undeserved. There is sex and drugs everywhere but the city has so much more than that to offer and it would be a shame if a person stayed away from this city just because of these things. Just ignore them and have a good time. If you are curious, here is how it all works, not that I did any of this. I was here with my wife. Soft drugs and prostitution are illegal here. The city just chooses to look the other way. This gives them the advantage that they can close any of these coffee houses down at any time. If you want pot, and you are over 18, go into a building with the words “coffee shop” written on the outside. If you want a coffee, go into a building with the word “café” written on it. Pot costs 7 euro a gram. Good shit starts at 15 a gram and you pay about the same but get less as the quality and strength increase. You can smoke the pot you bought at the coffee shop of buy a cup of coffee and sit in the restaurant or out on the terrace and smoke your own. Most coffee shops have bongs at the counter that customers can borrow. You can smoke also in public, as long as it is not too public or in dance clubs. E is also allowed in the clubs, just as long as you only have 1 or 2 pills for personal use and are not dealing. Smart shops sell magic mushrooms, though this will soon end as ‘shroom trips are decidedly more dangerous. Every souvenir shop sells seeds (for pot). The nice upscale flowers shops do also, but who can blame them as it seems that Americans only come to Amsterdam for pot and they specialize in growing plants. (see flower section). Prostitutes cost 50€ for the 15 minute suck and fuck. It probably would be the least romantic thing you have ever done. Not that I have ever shopped for prostitutes, but the ones in the red light district looked better than any I have ever seen on street corners before, though not of them were what I would consider “hot”. My wife noticed that they all had long hair. I found it curios the not one had short hair. The eerie part was walking by the windows that had the red light in it but the chair was empty, ‘cause you knew what was happening right behind the door in the back of the room.

The Museums

I though that the Van Gogh museums was the best museum I had ever been to. I enjoyed it more than the Met or the d’Orsay or even the Louvre. I tend to enjoy classical art more than modern art, and Van Gogh was one of the first modern painters, but despite this the people who put this museum together put together more than a collection of art but told a story of history. You walk in, first on display is the artwork that Van Gogh would have seen before he started painting, then they show you what he painted after seeing this art work. Then the he made friends like Paul Gauguin, they show his paintings and influence, then they show what Vincent painted. Everything is in chronological order. You can really se how his style developed. Vincent did many self portraits but what I found most interesting was the display his group of friend painters all painted a portrait of each other, with a picture of themselves in the background. What makes this museum great is that it is not just a collection of priceless masterpieces as most art museums are, but it has a purpose and tells a story.
The Rijksmuseum has an excellent collection of Rembrandt. If you like classical art it is a must see. I am lost for words when I look at a Rembrandt and see how well he uses light in his paintings. Even four hundred years later people cannot copy this skill.

The Food
Amsterdam has the best Indonesian food outside of Indonesia. I don’t know why, it just does. It is spicy and sweet and complex with its flavours and it did a number on my stomach, but it was well worth it. One can also buy a decently priced Argentinean steak if one is hungry. The pancake houses are a must. They serve waffles but you would be and idiot not to order a pancake. Sweet or savoury, they are all good. If you want a waffle, go to Brussels. I found these awesome chewable toothbrushes in the bathrooms of many restaurants in Amsterdam and they work pretty well. They come out of a gumball like machine by the sink, you pop the capsule open and chew on the plastic horse pill sized toothbrush and them spit it out. It works very well. DO NOT eat at FEBO. I cannot understand why people do. It is fast, cheap, and horrible. I am also so proud of myself. I never get any decent fried chicken here and Amsterdam has a KFC, but I stuck to my principles of never eating American fast food in other countries.

The Flowers
I am not much into flowers but even I was impressed with the flower market. It floats on a canal alongside a city street and, being fall, they had an unbelievably great collection of bulbs. (which are planted in the fall). I bought a planter for our window sill. In the spring I just have to open it like a can of sardines, pour water in and out comes flowers and strawberries. They actually have flowers there that I would consider cool looking. They all also sell seeds (for pot), but being that they are experts in horticulture, I would say they are better people to buy seeds from than the guy that works the counter at a coffee shop. Anyways, why shouldn’t they make a buck off of the stupid high tourists? I just think, if it is not your thing, ignore it. (Though even though I am quite open minded, I was a little offended when I saw an English mother shopping for pot seeds with her two very young daughters, explaining to them the differences between the seeds.)

The Bicycles
Amsterdam has to be one of the greatest cities for bikes, even better than Basel. There are few hills, and bike lanes and traffic lights everywhere. Don’t bring your own, the risk of it getting stolen is too high, rent one. They also don’t have mountain type bicycles there. This was the first time I rode a “city bike” and I have to say it was unbelievably comfortable. I may actually buy myself one for Basel. I got used to having only three gears. Bikes are the fastest best way around town.

Getting there
If you just happen to be heading there from Switzerland, Citynightline is the best. I have travelled with this train before but this time I went first class. I got a great deal on the nicest room class in the train. It was like a miniature hotel room, private restroom with shower, room service, and all. I had enough room to stretch out my legs in bed even though I am 6’4” and the bed was comfortable, much more so than the beds in the couchette. Star gazing through the skylight while lying in bed on a train is a one of a kind experience. So was the shower. The water really didn’t become very warm, though it wasn’t cold. I think they need to add a propane heater. I could also dine in the restaurant for a late dinner or hang out in the bar. Breakfast is brought to your room, you have a dinning table with two large windows for watching the sun rise, or set.
It is more expensive than flying, but there is absolutely no stress involved and in the end you have either more time in the city or more money in your wallet. The train leaves at 9 or 10 in the evening and you arrive around 8 or 9 in the morning. Most flights, that I have seen, fly either around 5pm on Friday, or 9 am on Saturday, so in the end, if you fly, you either have to pay for a hotel room Friday night, or you lose half of Saturday to stressful travel. I spent three days in Amsterdam but the city night line is perfect for two day weekend trips where you can easily have two full days in the city of your choice but only pay for 1 night in a Hotel. FYI two full price round trip tickets are about 1250 USD.

The Language
The language almost is German. My wife and I can almost understand it, though we could not come close to speaking it. IT is like a dialect of German that is also written, and no harder to understand than what the people speak in Wallis, though Walliserdeutsch is not easy to understand. It doesn’t really matter though. Everyone seems to be able to speak English, and if not, High German. I guess that is what tourist dollars do. Her are some useful phrases phonetically spelled if you ever happen to stop by.

Ahpe teet = breast of a monkey
Ik be grip hat neat = I don’t understand you.
Mine feets is geh stoh len = my bike was stolen
Ik ben under influte van pade stolen = I am on a mushroom trip
Post seagulls = stamps
Dag = hallo
Fet = cool
Var zin mun Klumpen = where are my clogs
Trauhme = marry me
Lekker = tasty
Ek ben drong can = I am drunk.
Moosed ye coma = did you have to come?
Gezelich = cozy

Boston Airport bomb hoax no hoax!

2007-09-21T22:44:00.001+02:00

It's 31-1-07 all over again.

This is not a bomb.

This is and LEd sign on a t-shirt connect to a battery. It is harmless you stupid PIGS!! sorry about the swearing, I am really pissed. Here is the story.

FYI this is the definition of Hoax.

hoax /hoʊks/ Pronunciation[hohks] n
–noun
1. something intended to deceive or defraud.

There is a police officer quoted in the article as saying the the woman was lucky she was not shot in the head. I guess he is right to say that considering how stupid police officers, fear and guns do not mix. She is lucky she was not killed by him, so are most peopel he arrests.

Here is a good quote I saw on slashdot.

Even if they did overreact at first....after the situation was ascertained, why in hell did they charge this girl with a crime and set bail? Can police no longer find they made a mistake, and just LET YOU GO without penalty??
That's what I don't understand - sure, if the person at the desk alerts them to a suspicious device, the police need to respond. Once they have responded, and found the suspicion unwarranted, they should let the kid go about her business. From reports, she was just in the entry hall to pick someone up, she wasn't trying to get on a plane or anything.

Someone need to ask teh police this question. It is a good question. I talking to you reporters. Why can you people not ask the tough questions.

Train vs Air Travel in Europe

2007-09-16T10:39:00.000+02:00

This post is just an observation I have made. When travelling between major European cities, one will almost always save time if one chooses to take a train ride that may take twelve hours instead of a flight that takes one or two hours. This is not just due to having to show up at the airport early to catch ones flight. (I have never had to wait long at security at the Basel airport.)

One saves time because of the schedules. i.e. Consider a weekend trip to a city. I have noticed in my travel planning that the flight schedules for the weekend leaves one with the choice of flying on Friday afternoon at about 16:00, or flying the next morning around 9:00 or 10:00. (This is mostly the easy jet schedule as easy jet has one of their main hubs in Basel.) This means if you want to spend a full Saturday or Sunday in the city of your choice, you have to take Friday afternoon off work or else you loose half of Saturday to travelling as you land usually just before lunchtime. It is in my experience very difficult to find flights that either leave later on Friday, or earlier on Saturday.

The solution is taking a ten to twelve hour train trip instead of a one hour flight. I prefer Citynightline. The city night line leaves Basel around 22:00 , and is usually in the destination city around 9:00. This way one does not have to take Friday afternoon of work, plus one has the entire Saturday morning in the destination city. The added advantage is saving on hotel costs. You only have to pay for a hotel room for Saturday evening and you get to full days in destination city. The Citynightline usually will leave around 21:00 on Sunday and I'll be back in Basel fully rested 7:00 with plenty of time to get to work. It is about as expensive to fly, more or less, as to take the Citynightline in a double room, though you can always take the less expensive tickets on the Citynightline and then you will save time and money. Though I do not think you would be as rested if you do not have a bed on the train overnight.

Well, this is just my experiences.

Here is the Citynightlinepage and the Easyjet page if you want to do the comparisons yourself.

CNN typo

2007-09-16T10:34:00.001+02:00

CNN editors should use more than spell check before posting something online. (note the 2nd headline under "Midwest")

In the article correctly describes having found 100 rounds on the man. I can no longer find the article. as you can see from the EI snapshot I took this pic at work so I could post later. I knew it wouldn't be around for long.

And if it was correct, WTF kind of weapon takes 1 pound rounds. Who does this guy think he is, Duke Nukem? That is one hell of a hand cannon he had with him.

2007-09-16T10:34:00.000+02:00

Truthfulness in Politics; i.e. Thou Shall Not Lie

2007-09-05T13:17:00.000+02:00

Senator Craig may not resign.

If Craig did not engage in disorderly conduct in that restroom, Doesn't that mean Craig perjured himself in court when he admitted guilt? Isn't perjury much worse of a crime than a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge? Isn't perjury (lying in court) a felony.

I wonder how his lawyers are going to argue this one? It is a sad state of politics when a man would rather commit a felony then have people think he is gay. I personally don't care what he did in that bathroom. His sex life is between his wife, himself and whoever he inserts his penis into.

What I do mind is that he lied, and that people don't seem to care. What ever he did, he has undeniably lied at some point. It doesn't matter if he lied when he admitted guilt or when he denied guilt. he has/is lied/lying. What are so many people ok with this? Is it because he has a good excuse? What excuse? Is his excuse he didn't have a lawyer present to tell him not to admit guilt to something he didn't do?

he either lied

here

or

here

period

My Birthday Cake

2007-09-02T18:17:00.000+02:00

My wife made me a birthday cake. Can you see that she is no expert in chess? Can you find the three errors in the placement of the peices?

Die Linde von Linn

2007-09-02T18:07:00.000+02:00

I went hiking as saw one of the oldest and largest trees in Europe. I doesn't compare to the giants of the american west but it is still a massive site. The base is not solid though with holes large enough for children to fit inside.

Geography

2007-09-02T18:05:00.000+02:00

I cannot believe I haven 't posted since April. Well here is a picture I took in a book store in Nashville, Tennesee.

2007 French Presidential Race (round 2)

2007-04-24T19:33:00.000+02:00

The fisrt round of the french presidential election is over and in two weeks the second round will occur. While everyone is playing nice and entertaining the hope that France will have its first female president, this is unfortunaly not going to happen. It is not because she is a woman, it is a simple fact of numbers. She doesn't have enough. She cannot win enough of Bayrous supporters. In Addition to this, history is not on her side. François Mitterrand was the only french president of the fifth republic of France to lose the first round and win the second.

On a side note I would love the introduction of Frances two round voting system for president to be intruduced in the United States. That and a direct election. I think it will never happen though. The effect would be the tearing apart of the two party system that currently controls the goverment. The right and the left may not agree all the time but they are not stupid enough to give up what they have.

With Frances two round system you wouldn't have to worry about throwing your vote away on a third party candidate. You could vote for the person that best represents you in the first round and then in the second round you would still have a chance to vote against a candidate that you think would be horrible for the country.

As an example; this would eliminate my need to vote democratic just because they are lesser of two evils. If america had Frances system, I could vote for an indepedant candidate in the first round and then in the second round I would still have a chance to vote against the Grand OLD Party if it came down to that. This way third party candidates would recieve enough votes to obtain federal funding for elections in the future and the presidency would become less likely to be only for the mega rich.

I leave you know with some eternal words of wisdom:

"Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos"

Playboy Kinderbettwäsche

2007-04-15T19:32:00.000+02:00

Interessant

gefunden bei Manor

My Wife Trying to Take a Picture

2007-04-14T16:55:00.000+02:00

This is a short video clip of my wife trying to take a picture of me eating outside a restuarant in Brussels. Unfortunatly she makes a video instead and you can hear her asking "why is the camera just blinking" after the camera didn't click and take a picture.

Atonium

2007-04-14T16:34:00.000+02:00

Went to Brussels the other day. THey have a 100 meter tall building shaped like a steel crystal. Isn't that something. Well I thoguht so. Here it is.

Berlin embassy

2007-03-05T20:36:00.000+01:00

I was in Berlin over the weekend and was in the area of the embassy row. It was very interesting to see every embasssy built in a style representing thier country. I took a picture of the Swiss embassy then headed over to take a picture of the American embassy. Unfortunaly you are not allowed to do this. The american embassy really does seem to represent our country with armed police surrounding the building with high fences, with securty cameras everywhere,with street blocked off to all traffic and with signs posted everywhere saying not to take pictures of the embassy. I have a picture here of the swiss embasssy for contrast.
and I didn,t take a picture of the american embassy but someone else did.
typisch Amis

31-1-07 NEVER FORGET

2007-02-03T10:28:00.000+01:00

Stupidity Attacks Boston: The Aftermath

2007-02-01T16:06:00.000+01:00

Yesterday there was a bomb scare in Boston. The police are blaming an advertising campaign. I am blaming the Boston police and the Mayor Thomas Menino. The advertising company did not terrorize Boston yesterday, the police did. The Boston police shut the bridges down, the Boston police told the news outlets there was the possibility of bombs being around the city, The Boston police should have known better. The advertising company has some responsibility for the scare on 31-1-2007 in Boston, but the police and mayor are times more responsible.

Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis called it "unconscionable" that the marketing campaign was executed in a post 9/11 era.

I find it unconscionable that these advertisements were not immediately determined to be harmless by the police that found them. If someone reports suspicious activity, send a patrol by, but don’t spend tens of thousands of dollars unnecessarily. It was not Turner broadcasting or the advertising agency that cost the government so much time and money. It is the police and mayors fault. The placements of the advertisements were a mistake, but how stupid do you have to be to think a bomb would be lit and have a cartoon character on it. This is just not one officer that could not think rationally. This seems to be the entire executive branch of the Boston.

"It had a very sinister appearance," Coakley told reporters. "It had a battery behind it, and wires." Said Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley.

Well we better go out and arrest everybody that has a device with a battery and wires.

I call for Mayor Thomas Menino’s resignation. He is obviously unable to think rationally or lead. I do not know if it was stupidity or fear that made the decisions but he is unfit.

The list of places shut down,
Boston University and Longfellow Bridges and block boat traffic from the Charles River to Boston Harbor.

p.s. They keep referring to these devices as hoaxes. For theadvertisements to be hoax devices they would have to be made up to be fake bombs. They are not.

FREE Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens, well ok, they are free but you all get the point.

My New Word that I Have Invented

2006-12-19T00:05:00.000+01:00

Osat

verb, irregular

To take place or occur by chance when the odds of the occurance are very very slim. Often used when an idiot is agruing against logic and good science.

example:

Some fool asks an astronomer in an open forum if the sun will explode on 20-10-2010. The scientist replies, "no, almost definatly not." The fool asks, "But it could happen. right?"

The scientist cannot say the sun will not explode on this day.

s/he has the option of saying, "yes, it could happen."

or s/he could say, "yes, it could osat."

2nd example

On 20-10-2010, if the sun explodes, an acceptable remark on seeing this event would be, "Oh crap, it osate!"

it is an irregular verb

osat
osate
has ositten

Earthquakes in Basel

2006-12-09T18:10:00.000+01:00

Remember the plot of the original superman movie? Think that man being able to cause massive earthquakes is science fiction? I did. I was wrong.

A magnitude 3.5 earth quake hit Basel last night. (where I live) This in not extrodinary as the city was actually destroyed in 1356 by an earthquake. What is interesting is that it was caused by man. They are drilling a 5Km hole in basel to tap geothermal energy on the fault line. They were expecting this to project to create earthquakes, but no big ones. I had no idea humans could create somethign as destructive as an earthquake.

It was my first ever earquake. Anybody else been in a bigger one? It was fun. I was on a private tour of Basels natural history museum at the time. It was after the museum had closed, and as part of a christmas party someone had arranged a private tour of the musuems collection that is not on display. The museum was old, dark empty, after hours, and then an earthquake. Pretty cool/erie in my book.

Coffee Cup

2006-12-06T20:31:00.000+01:00

My coffee cup may not look very durable.....

.
.
.
.
.
...but it is.

Why Knives Make Dangerous Screwdrivers.

2006-11-27T22:02:00.000+01:00

It is hardly a bad wound but the knife just slipped right through my fingernail.

Taschenmessers sind gefärlichen Schraubendreheren.

My Humble Pentago Strategy Guide: The Outside Line

2006-11-19T20:31:00.000+01:00

There are a couple of main points when going fo rthe plain old striaght line in Pentago. First, it is best if you do not try to use this strategy by building a line through a center hole in one of your four blocks. This has the same problem of the Diagonal strategy that it is very easy to block. (Though if you did try to employ the diagonal strategy, and you were stopped, then trying to build a line through a center hole in this case might be a good stategy. But I digress.

The problem with this strategy, unlike the three square strategy is that your opponent will easily see what you are doing. The first step to a straight line as opposed to a diagonal is getting three marbles in a row on one block. I like to start out placing my marble to look as if I am going to try a three square diagonal strategy.

You then place a marble in the corner. Your oppenent cannot block both holes and you obtain a row of three in the next turn.
There are now eight good holes to put your marble in. Maybe you even already have a marble in one of these eight holes.
Now, you simply place a marble next to the one you just played in your last turn. After you have this it is simply am matter of twisting to win. As seem above, the way I do it, the two blocks need to be twisted in opposite directions to win. Provided of course you are blocking your opponent well.

See the other pages in this series

Three Square

The Diagonal

Intro

Fürstentum Liechtenstein

2006-11-12T20:12:00.001+01:00

I travelled to Liechtenstein recenlty just because it was there. It was a great day and I took a few pictures. The first is of some castle our bus drove buy. There are no trains going into FL so we took a train from Basel to Sargans and then took the Postauto from Sagans to Vaduz. It was a very nice autumn day.This is my wife posing by the bus. She wanted this picture as "proof" we actually went. Inside the bus there was a safety award for 2005 for the bus hanging up. The "safetest bus in 2005. I was thinking, well... how much competition for this award is there? How many busses does this country have? Since this is an annual award I would expect most busses to have at least one or two of these awards given the number of busses and the frequency of the prize.This is a castle where the ruler lives. Vaduz is a picturesque town great for walking around. You can see everything in a matter of hours on foot. FYI, the town only has 5,100 some residents, and only has an area of 17 square kilometers. Unlike other small principalities it is not overdeveloped with housing. It is a great place for hiking.

super duper miracle wonder cleaning product

2006-11-12T19:49:00.001+01:00

Have a pesky stain that won't come out? Think your carpet or couch is ruined.? Have you tried everything? Are you sure you have tried everything!!

This is not an advertisement but is instead sarcasm.

I found this product being sold at a local festival. It is Oxes Gallbladder.

It is sold as a cleaning product for clothes, carpets, and couches. It claims it works on grass, fat, candlewax, Tar, chewing gum, and ink.

My Humble Pentago Strategy Guide: Three Square

2006-10-25T21:58:00.000+02:00

This is a good strategy that I like to use. When using this strategy there are many opportunities to deceive your opponent to what your goals are and if you are stopped by your opponent in trying this strategy it leaves you well developed for other opportunities and strategies.

I'll refer to the 3x3 blocks that move as quads or blocks and then describe where in the quad I placed a marble i.e. Lower left quad, middle left hole. (This hole is empty in the above picture.)

Let us play Black. White goes first and places in the center square of the top left quad. To be safe we block the center of the opposite corner. Twisting at this point doesn't matter

White places in the center of another quad and we place in the top middle of the lower right quad. Black doesn't twist the lower right quad.

White places just below blacks line of two marbles in the lower right quad because it is not a good idea to let your opponent get a block with three in a row. White twists this block clockwise. It would have however been better for white to block black by placing a marble in the middle of the lower left quad. It is just as effective of a block but leaves white with more opportunities.

Black places again in the lower right, starting to set up the three square attack. He twists the lower right quad counter clockwise. Notice that white must again defend against black getting three in a row on a single block.

White blocks by placing in the lower left center. White twists the lower right clockwise. Black places in the upper left now. He has a choice of four good places and picks the middle row left. Black twists the upper right.

White places in the lower left quad in the upper right corner of that block. White then twists the upper left block clockwise. Black places in the upper left quad in the middle right hole. Black twists the lower left block clockwise.

White, without question, knows black is trying for the three square win, but there is not much white can do. White tries to complete the diagonal win but there are now four holes white has to block black from but only one turn. (the four holes are the four corner holes of the upper right quad.

White places it's marble in the lower left quad, in the upper left corner. White then twists counter clock wise. White has three in a row diagonal and the center of the opposite corner, which in most cases is a good thing, but here it loses white the game.

Black places in the upper right quad in the lower left corner. Black twists the upper left block counter clockwise and wins.

Whites mistake was to mot place in the upper right quad in the lower left hole. White would probably have won the game if it had done so. Blacks mistake was to let white gain opposing centers. Black should have taken the it's time in development of its marbles and have not risked white getting a diagonal later on in the game. That is the main advantage of the three square attack, you can take you time to block your opponent and not be blocked yourself because there are so many ways to set up. You just need two marbles next to each other in outer diagonals of opposite squares.

My Humble Pentago Strategy Guide: The Diagonal

2006-10-24T21:20:00.000+02:00

This is a beginners strategy. You start by placing marbles in the center of the square in two opposing corners. You then try to get three in a row diagonally on one square and then two in a row diagonally on another. It is then a game of twisting and blocking your opponents moves. This is a poor strategy to have in mind when you start laying down marbles because it is easily stopped and then leaves you less developed strategically than your opponent . If one does have the marbles places in the centers of opposite corners one can try, but don't begin your game like this. On the other hand make sure you don't let your opponent get his marbles placed for this strategy.

As you can see in the above example, after five moves, black is blocked and less developed and white is a couple moves from winning.

My Humble Pentago Strategy Guide: Intro

2006-10-24T21:12:00.000+02:00

What Pentago is...

from Wikipedia

Pentago is a two-player abstract strategy guide invented by the Swedish company Mindtwister.
The game is played on a 6x6 board divided into four 3x3 sub-boards. Taking turns, each player places a marble of their color (black or white) onto an unoccupied space on the board, and then rotates one of the sub-boards by 90 degrees either clockwise or counter-clockwise. A player wins by getting five of their marbles in a vertical, horizontal or diagonal row (either before or after the sub-board rotation in their move). If all 36 spaces on the board are occupied without a row of five being formed then the game is a draw.

So basicaly it is tic tac toe on a 9x9 grid with twisting. This makes the game complex and challenging.

The Rules

This page is a basic strategy guide to this new game. I will keep adding to pages as I have time and this page is by no means complete. If you have good strategy to add, please post.

Other pages in this series

Three Square

The Diagonal

The Outside Line

A Great Invention.

2006-09-14T14:42:00.000+02:00

Just had to post this great invention that I found, in a pickle jar! A French pickle jar no less. Vlasic, listen up, by the time I get back in the states I want your pickle jars to be so equiped. Basically, it is a plastic instert that helps with removing the pickles. No more trying to stab the last pickle with a fondue fork or getting vinegar allover your fingers. It is called Tire Croq'.

Modern Art's Failure to Communicate

2006-09-07T17:22:00.000+02:00

Art is a form of communication, but beyond that, art communicates more than Ideas and history, it adds a sense of feeling to communication. Art is communication with extra depth added. This could be in the form of paintings, writings, buildings, or anything really. To communicate sorrow, joy, excitement, despair, beauty, love, and the millions shades of all emotions is the noble endeavor art is.

Modern art lacks the ability to communicate well. Modern art enthusiasts would simply respond to this statement by telling me that I just don't get "it". Well, they are right, and that is my point. I am well educated, open, and love going to art museums. If I fail to understand why something hanging in an art museum is art, it isn't because of a lack of something on my part, it is because of a lack of the artists ability to communicate. I am not saying that modern art isn't art, I am saying modern art is bad art because of its inability to communicate.

I recently went to Museum Tinguely in Basel, dedicated to the artwork of Jean Tinguely. He specializes in modern art that moves, so it was a bit more interesting that most modern art museums, but not much. I hope you understand my point in the examples below.

I must add this as an ending. There are a few pieces of modern art that do communicate well. Picasso's Guernica comes to mind as one of these few examples of good modern art. If you are an artist, do not try to be new and different, try to communicate.

Labor Day is a joke on the proletariat.

2006-09-04T10:55:00.000+02:00

Labor Day was created to be a day of rest for the working class American. This however is no more. As America has moved away from a industrial economy to a service economy, Labor Day has lost it’s meaning.

Here is how. The average low wage worker in the past worked in a factory. Today they work at Wal-Mart or TGIF’s. The college educated white collar office worker gets the day of. the CEO gets the day off, the dentist gets the day off, but not the people for who this tradition was started. These people want to go out and spend money on their day off, so the low wage worker, gets to spend their Labor Day, serving the wealthy.

Like I said…

It’s a damned joke.

Foie Gras

2006-08-14T20:13:00.000+02:00

On August 22, foie gras will become banned in the city of Chicago. In protest, above, you see my dinner, foie gras and some french cheeses. There is a reason people have been force feeding birds since the days of ancient egypt.
On a more seroius note, I would like to speak of the cruelty to animals issue at hand. The birds used live "free range" in the production of Foie Gras. Only in the last two weeks are they force fed. The chickens that people in america eat do not live so well. They live thier entire lives in small cages. So if you are going to ban Foie Gras on the grounds of animal cruelty, ban chicken as well. Simple web searches can yield much more information on this issue.

post scriptum
For those foie gras connoisseurs that notice the bottle of rose wine in the picture, I was not the one shopping for this meal. It was my wife. I properly told her that in the future foie gras should be served with white wine.

That's France for you

2006-08-13T22:07:00.000+02:00

I know what an eagle carrying an olive branch or borken arrow in it's claws symbolizes, but what does an eagle clutching a bottle of wine symbolize? This picture was taken in Saint Louis, France.

Swimming Places, A Comparison, Indiana and Switzerland

2006-06-18T15:25:00.000+02:00

One of the great things about where I live in Switzerland is how they do swimming places. Bathing area designers do not feel obligated to have a sandy beaches. This is great. They have grass lawns to stretch out on, and usually trees that provide a fair amount of shade.
Where I grew up in Indiana, when a park puts in a swimming hole, they always trucked in sand. Not nice sand mind you, not the type you would find on an ocean beach, but dirty sand that gets into everything. People in Indiana don’t seem to be able to think that you can have a nice “beach” but no sand. Sand gets to hot in the summer to walk on, gets all over everything you bring to the beach, and is not natural by a swimming hole in Indiana. I don’t mind the sand along the great lakes. It supposed to be there. It’s as if Hoosiers cannot separate the idea of swimming and sand. It annoys me.
Am I the only Hoosier that wants a nice grassy beach to bathe by?

My trip to Croatia

2006-05-30T09:55:00.000+02:00

I vacationed on the Island of Hvar, which is in the Dalmatian islands, along the Adriatic coast of Croatia. This island has some of the cleanest waters in the Mediterranean because it doesn't have that many tourists, and the pollution they bring. The above picture was taken in the beach if Island Palmazina. The beaches there are as great as any in the French Riviera except they don't have all those tourists. Swimming out in almost 20 meters of water I could still see the bottom the water is so clean. Though it's a good thing the water is so clean as you have to watch out for the sea urchins. I took a wrong step and got six spines in my foot. It could have been much worse if I had stepped on the whole animal. I just limped to shore, pulled the spines out and was back in the water.

Croatia is one of the countries that make up the former Yugoslavia. Back in the Eighties this eastern European country decided that they could make a car just as good as any western country, but for less. The resulting Yugo is widely considered one of the worst cars ever manufactured. They were last manufactured around 1990. They are everywhere in Croatia and still running. If this really was one of the worst cars ever built, why do so many still run? They also don't seem that rusty or load as they drive by. These cars are bare minimum 16 years old and run better than most more expensive 16 year old cars.

This is the remains of Dioclacision's palace in Split. (The wall running through the middle of this pic) He was the emperor of Rome around AD 300. Most things in this picture are ancient but the wall is what is left of his palace. You can see that it makes up the fourth wall of a few houses. People dry their laundry on it's 1700 year old ramparts. People attach their satellite dishes to it.

This is part of the harbor of the City of Hvar. Notice the castle in the back on the hill.

This pic was taken from that castle.

An artsy pic of a village that was abandoned 40 years ago. (I'm too lazy to edit this photo and rotate it. )

Another pic of the ghost town. The buildings are still in great shape.

These stone walls cover hundreds of acres of the interior. They contain no binding material. They were built for growing lavender. An industry that went away when the communists came.

The view from my hotel window. My hotel must have been magnificent when it was built in the 30's. Now it is really run down but the marble halls and staircases, and the wood ballroom floor looks like some of the most magnificent craftsmanship I have seen in a hotel, despite their deep scratches.

More stuff from this trip to come later if I feel like it.

Weather Predictions

2006-04-25T15:09:00.000+02:00

Everybody gathering around to see if a rodent could possibly see it's own shadow has got to be one of the most boring weather predicting traditions on this here rock. Yesterday in Zurich an effigy of father winter was burned. The head loaded with explosives blew ten minutes twenty eight seconds in. I guess this is a good because the experts here say that means a nice summer for Zurich. Even though I don't buy into all this superstition, watching an effigy explode is much more interesting that watching a bunch of crazies in top-hats torture a rodent.

Luck does not exist.

2006-04-19T13:13:00.000+02:00

'
Luck does not exist.

When someone wins the lottery, it is probability. When you roll the dice, it is probability. When you get struck by lightning or not struck by lightning, it is all just probability. Some might say that luck exist and that luck is just anouther word for probability. I have a problem with this though. The word luck implies that there is not randomess to it, it implies that a person can possess randomness or probability. A person cannot have luck. This is not possible. They can only be the recipients of favorable probability.

And for those that you think are lucky, People can exist outside of the bell curve of probability, but not forever.

Not everything however is probability. Getting in a car accident or not getting in an accident, part probability, part driving skill. Winning a game of Euker (a card game) , is part probability and part skill. The sooner people figure this out the better their world will be. That is because probability can be calculated and luck cannot.

A case in point. If one thinks they need luck to win the lottery, they might buy a ticket, but if that person just looks at the probability of winning the lottery, they will save themselves some money.
'

Bush

2006-03-28T10:59:00.000+02:00

I typpically don't read the opinion page of newspapers. I find that the people who write to the paper have shallow opinions of issues they don't have the intelligence to understand the complexity of. I was recently shown an opinion I found funny. Well if not funny then cute.
The president of Venezuela recently called or compared GW Bush to a donkey. A man wrote in complaining that this comparison was unfair. He explained that in his experience he has found donkeys to be intelligent animals.

Insane Americans and Shakespeare

2006-03-25T08:51:00.000+01:00

I listened to the commentary track of The Merchant of Venice recently. It was very interesting. Of most interest was the comments on what had to be edited out for the American television release. Now this movie has a few prostitutes in it that show their breasts. These are understandably (to a point) removed. The director even went to the trouble of shooting all scenes of nudity separate for TV with cloths. This was not good enough. Here is a list of things that did not make the American T.V. cut.
Two Kisses had to be removed from the film. These were not even erotic kisses, just little pecks on the lips. You say that's not enough to get the scene cut. It is if it is between two men. Now in the original play s all kisses were between men. Look how far we have come.
They are cutting out the scene of Shylock buying raw meat. God forbid someone shows meat on T.V. Oh and FYI, the scene of the lamb being butchered is fake. No animals were hurt in the filming of this movie.
There is a scene where two servants present their master with a basket of doves heads. A very traditional gift of the time. It's cut.
Oh and the last is the best. They were able to film a few of the scenes in Venice in some sixteenth century villas. One scene was shot in a room with all the walls covered with art masterpieces. The director estimated that there was 100 million dollars of sixteenth century art covering walls for this scene. This all has to be “paint boxed” out so none of it is seen. Why you ask. Well the Sixteenth century artists forgot to draw cloths on one or two of the subjects. Now I don't know how many art museums you have gone to but many of this worlds masterpieces, tend to have scantily clad subject. Should we not look at them because of this. Oh I know, A small child could be watching Shakespeare and be forever scarred at seeing the art in the background of this scene. I didn't notice these paintings until I watched the film with the commentary track on. These paintings are nothing compared to the dialog. Shakespeare plays are filled with crude sexual jokes. The only reason they are safe from the American censors is because the Americans are to stupid to get the jokes.

selected syllables

2006-03-24T20:50:00.000+01:00

To become offended for hearing a syllable. It doesn't harm you, you should live and let live. What makes one syllable bad and anouther ok? It's meaning? If someone was yelling "intercourse", I doubt people would be that offended. Everyone take a fucking chill pill.

Square roots

2006-03-22T10:49:00.000+01:00

So there was this CS major math minor I new in college who could extract square roots of any number in his haed. Well , as long as the number wasn't too big. People always just assumed well, some people are just gifted in math. That is true but extracting square roots in your head is really easy. As long as you can add subract multiply and divide, so pretty much fourth or fifth grade math, you can extract square roots in your head.

Here is how you do it.

Lets try to extract the square root of 79.

Make a guess.

You guess a close square you know.

Here your best guess would be 9. ( you should know 9 squared is 81, a number close to ours.)

Remember the number 9.

Our number, 79, minus 81 equals -2

Twice our guess equals 18

9 plus negative two eightteenths is the square root of 79.

Really

OK to clean up the answer.

9 equals 162 over 18. So now you can subtract 2/18ths. So that is 160/18.

two goes easily into both. ( maybe something else does also but keep it simple, you aredoing this in your head.)

That is 80/9ths

Nine times 8 is 72. So now we have 8 and 8/9ths.

This is the answer I would give. Converting into decimal takes time and reduces accuracy.

But as a comparison 8 and 8/9th s equals 8.888888888888 ect.

By calculator the square root of 79 is 8.8881944173.

Pretty close huh.

A little advise. The larger the number the more accurate the result so for numbers under ten mulitply the number by 100 and divide the result by ten.

A little predictable...

2006-03-21T14:30:00.000+01:00

This is the funniest movie review I have seen in a while. It states that the movie Ten Things I Hate about You is "a little predictable" . I am just guessing that is because it is a modern adaptation of Shakespears The Taming of the Shrew. How in the world do you do make Shakespear "unpredictable". It's been the same for the last 400 years. Well here's the link.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0147800/

QOTD

2006-03-15T14:30:00.000+01:00

"I am the head of state," Saddam . "You used to be a head of state. You are a defendant now," Abdel-Rahman ,The judge in his trial.

I am not one to support the Amis actions in Iraq but I liked that exchange that took place in court today.

A better blog than this one.

2006-03-01T13:28:00.000+01:00

Just thought I would put up a link to a weblog I found.

http://muhammadandme.blogspot.com/

I think this really captures many peoples opinions about the muslim caricature protests.

Fastnacht

2006-03-01T09:44:00.000+01:00

Ok, Americans are a pretty gluttonous people, so I can't believe they haven't come up with something I ate last night. A Bailey's Berliner. Alcohol and doughnuts! Wow! Two of the worlds most gluttonous consumables. Together. It was heaven. I wonder if they would fly in America. Well anyways if you are wondering how to get Bailey's Irish cream in to doughtnuts it is simple. Make a creme filling, like one for an eclare, and fill your pastry with it.

Fastnacht was great last night even though I had to go home early. It was-5 and snowing hard. Great Guggenmusig, great food, but no boobs. (see above weather report)

Iran’s response Cartoon

2006-02-14T09:01:00.000+01:00

An Iranian newspaper put out a contest to test the freedom of the press by asking for submissions of cartoon that Americans would find offensive. I have seen one. It is of an American bowing before a golden calf made by a Jewish person. The calf is saying “holocaust”. The Headline reads “The Holocaust is a lie”. This doesn’t really offend me. It doesn’t either convince me the Holocaust didn’t really happen. I don’t know how you could construe that Americans worship the holocaust. It does however show the racism of this author. I think the author really doesn’t understand Americans if he thinks that this will upset many Americans. I am sure it could upset a few though.
The cartoons published in Denmark at their worst said that the Islamic faith led people to violence. I think that an appropriate responsal cartoon should show how Christianity in America has led Americans to violence. But to deny the holocaust. It just doesn’t make any sense. They already did that , I wanted something new and more insulting to look at. BE ORIGINAL PEOPLE. Their hate for the Jews is old and boring.

On Cartoons

2006-02-13T13:17:00.000+01:00

The response in the Muslim world to the caricatures of Mohammed perplexes me.
I understand that to draw Mohammad is a sin in Islam, but isn’t it even a greater sin to not believe in Mohammad? Why are these Muslims not rioting about the fact westerners don’t, for the most part, believe in Mohammed. Why are these Muslims only rioting about this one rule of their faith? Are there not more important rules of their faith that we westerners break?
They say that the caricatures are insulting to their faith. Well my response is they have never then seen how insulting a cartoon can be. I am looking forward to see what cartoons come out of Tehran about the holocaust. (not that I would believe them)
They want an apology from the government of Denmark. Whether Denmark should give in and give one is endlessly debatable, but I think this goes to show how the people in these Muslim countries cannot understand that the opinions of the government and the press are separate. I agree that it would have been wrong for some government agency to put out drawing of Mohammed.

My Auslanderausweis

2006-01-23T14:30:00.000+01:00

Ok, I have been meaning to write about his for a while now. It is just a quirk. In order to live in Switzerland you need an Auslanderausweis. This is no problem for me to acquire as I am married to a swiss citizen. This of coarse costs money. 65 CHF here for this copy at this government office 35 CHF at another for a different copy. This is to be expected with any government. Later on , when I found a job, it was going to cost another 100 CHF to get my Auslanderausweis amended to also be a work permit. This was also to be expected and not a problem, since my company paid for it. After getting it amended, instead of shipping it directly to me it was shipped to the local town hall and I received a letter that I could pick it up there. When it arrived there ( I had already started my new job) I received a letter from the local government telling me to come pick it up and that it would cost 65.65 franks for my Auslanderausweis. This cost ws not for them to make an official copy of do anything, just hand me MY document. So I was like, well, since I already have a job and am not planning on getting a new one anytime soon, I really don’t need to have this document with me. I’ll just let the town government hold on to it for me and if I ever need it then I would go pay the 65 CHF. This was not acceptable, but what could the town do, They knew I really didn’t need this document anymore now that I was already in Switzerland and had a job. I would only need it if I was to change apartments or change jobs. So they sent me an ultimatum. Pay now or we will increase the charge by 10CHF every week until I pay. So I paid. When I went to go pay, I noticed that the town government closes for lunch every day, for two and a half hours. 11:30-14:00. must be nice to get two and a half hours for lunch and charge people outrageous sums to hand them things.

A survey to cover all four possibilities

2006-01-16T14:06:00.000+01:00

My un-named employer has a survey on it's intranet page today asking about the high gasoline prices and if thier employees are having to change thier behavior. As I am very green enviormentaly natured I wished to reply to this poll. Unfortunatley these were the four option to respond I had.

Yes, I am driving less and plan to keep the heat low this winter

Yes, I am planning on buying a more fuel efficient car

No, I have to drive to work/my kids to activities

and ..No, I love my SUV and I'm not worried about prices

They have no option for people that already don't waste thier money on gasoline. Before you start saying that I am in some great minority, as far as I know, everyone in my office takes public transportation to work or walks, even if they own a car. I just see this as anouther example of how people in America cannot comprehend things outside of thier way of life. The person who wrote this poll wouldn't think that there are places in thier company where the majority of people don't drive thier car to work.

Pat is at it again

2006-01-06T07:30:00.000+01:00

Pat Robertson, everyone’s favorite right wing radical, suggested that God smote Ariel Sharon for letting Israel leave Gaza. I guess saying god should kill democratically elected leaders is better than saying that someone here down on earth should kill democratically elected leaders. *this is of course in reference to Bob’s suggestion that someone should kill the democratically elected president of Venezuela. Pat Robertson also says that Sharon is dead, which he is not as of this posting.

Now who am I thinking of here?

2005-12-24T17:25:00.000+01:00

The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding. -- Justice Louis D. Brandeis

Democracy

2005-12-21T13:46:00.000+01:00

I've found the loophole in democracy.

It's stupid people.

Vast masses of stupid people.

end of year greetings

2005-12-21T09:19:00.000+01:00

(shamelessly copied from the Internet, various sources)
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all...

...and a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2005, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great, (not to imply that America is necessarily greaterthan any other country or is the only "AMERICA" in the western hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform, or sexual preference of the wishee.

(By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.)

The lowering of more education standards?

2005-12-19T14:54:00.000+01:00

Are the standards for the SAT's going to be lowered? There are complaints that the SAT's 3.75 hours long test is too long. Well Yea, it's probably more difficult that most high school tests but freshmen college students should be able to concentrate for that period of time. So the MTV has reduced their attention spans , so what. Yea, many students will not do as well as they would have if they test was divided into three parts but that is the point. The test is supposed to separate the cream from the milk. Doing something easy is not as valuable as doing something difficult. Anyways, these whiners should take a look at the German abitur and thank god how easy they have it.

Dusting

2005-12-07T14:22:00.000+01:00

If you're dusting a room to remove dust, what do you call it when you try to add dust? Isn't that dusting???

Things you can’t mail to places "Part 2"

2005-12-05T14:20:00.000+01:00

Here is a list with the most interesting items. If you know why a certain is restricted please post a comment explaining by clicking the "posts" link. These are not complete lists but just items of the lists I found very interesting.

This information is all available at the USPS website.

My comments are in brackets []

For some reason the United states information was not available at this webstie (USPS website)

Syrian Arab Republic (Syria)
· Margarine and other kinds of artificial butter and materials for its manufacture.
· Footwear of all kinds and parts thereof.
· High frequency radio receivers (above 100 megacycles).
· Salt.
· Soap, except shaving soap.
· Stockings of all kinds except wool stockings.
· Television equipment.
· Used clothes made of silk or cotton.

Saudi Arabia
· Books and prints contrary to the Islamic faith. [ a no brainer]

Lebanon
· Artificial butters and adulterated or harmful products.
· Automatic and electrical gambling devices.
· Essences, essential oils, and products derived therefrom for the use in the manufacture of · imitated beverages, ices, and pastries.

Jordan
· Advertisements concerning treatment of venereal diseases or medicinal preparations intended to serve as preventives against those diseases. [ are they kidding?, they refuse to let their citizens know how to treat diseases they may have]
· Essences and oils for use in making adulterated or imitated beverages.

Iran
· Used clothing.
· Fashion newspapers [ now this is in good taste but still excessive]
· Games involving profit and loss (for example, dice or card games).
· Musical instruments. [ everyone knows that these are just evil]
· Sugar, brown sugar.
· Radio systems that are equipped with a single sideband; upper sideband; lower sideband; beat frequency oscillator; continuous air wave band; police band; or an FM band having a frequency range of 76 to 87 MHz.

United Arab Emirates

· Polished, whitened, artificial, or imitation pearls [ I think these may contain lead, and therefore · be harmful, but I an unsure]
· Pork products.

Israel
· Agricultural tools and accessories
· Blank invoices with headings
· Games of chance.
· Soil and sand.

Tunisia
· Aspirin, sulfa drugs, and vitamin compounds; chalk; pencils; soap; and detergents containing it; leather and articles of artificial leather; carpets, tapestries, and bed coverings; footwear of rubber or plastic; hosiery of cotton or synthetic fibers, except women's stockings; jewelry made of precious metal or plated with it; household articles of galvanized iron, galvanized steel or aluminum; and nonelectric cooking and heating appliances for household use.
· Nursing bottles, nipples, and pacifiers that are not made of pure rubber and marked accordingly, and vulcanized by heat.
· Playing cards
· Saccharine and similar products, except in very small amounts imported as remedies by pharmacies or physicians.

Libya
· Tea
· Salt. [these actually appear very often]

Albania
· Extravagant clothes and other articles contrary to Albanians' taste.
· Literature, publications, and other articles prejudicial to the State public order.
· Used articles.

Botswana
· Honey and preparations of honey including royal jelly, preserves sweetened with honey, and flypaper.
· Prison-made goods.
· Used clothing for sale; used boots and shoes

Burma(Myanmar)
· All goods manufactured outside Her Majesty's dominions and bearing the British Royal Arms or imitations thereof; or bearing as a mark or label a portrait of any member of the Royal Family of England.

Malaysia
· Circulars or advertisements containing amulets, charms or talismans. [uhhh… explanation anyone]

Vietnam

· Unused postage stamps.
· Used clothing, blankets, mosquito nets, and shoes. [ banning mosquito nets in a country filled with mosquitoes….. you bastards]
· Paintings, pictures, books, newspapers, cinema films, photographic films, records, miscellaneous articles for the stage, all other literary and artistic productions, objects of art and of sculpture, all kinds of children's toys must have the authorization of the Ministry of Culture of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Nigeria
· Hardware of all kinds. [Hmmm … explanation anyone?]

Niger
· Publications in Arabic.
· Weights and measures not of the metric system.

Nicaragua
· Police whistles. [a popular thing to ban in central and south America for some reason]
· Telegraph equipment. [goddamned 19th century technology]
· Communist material or literature.

Nepal
· Bearings of all kinds. [ bearings, bearings, ?????, If anyone knows why some of these things are banned please post why]
· Cameras.
· Cardamon. [A rhizomatous Indian herb (Elettaria cardamomum) having capsular fruits with aromatic seeds used as a spice or condiment.]
· Cinnamon. [ Principle Skinner: two independent thought alarms in one day, time to take away the colored chalk Willy. Willy : I waarrrrned ya , I waaarrrned ya, this chalk was forged by Lucifer himself]
· Cloves. [ CLOVES?]
· Synthetic fibres (75 denier or less).
· Watches and spare parts.[ I think this has to do with controlling gold]

China
· Articles in hermetically sealed, nontransparent containers
· Used clothing and bedding. [ as popular as this is to ban I think it is to prevent the spread of disease]
· Wrist-watches, cameras, television sets, radio sets, tape records, bicycles, sewing machines, and ventilators.

Kazakhstan
· Deer horns, hooves, and antlers

Iraq
· Binoculars. [tapes and cassettes seem a popular thing to ban, but binoculars?]
· Tapes or cassettes.

Great Britain and Northern Ireland(Includes England, Scotland, Wales,Northern Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey,Alderney, Sark, and the Isle of Man)

· Horror comics and matrices.

Guatemala
· Telegraphic apparatus. [ And I was going to mail a telegraph machine to Guatemala]
· Police whistles. [many places don’t allow police whistles, I wonder why]

Germany
· Playing cards, except in complete decks properly wrapped.
· Melatonin.

Fiji
· Dyes and coloring materials.

Indonesia
· Books and periodicals printed in any Indonesian language and published outside of Indonesia, except educational books approved by the Indonesian Department of Commerce.
· Cloth and batik designs and sarongs.

Korea, Democratic People's Republic of(North Korea)

· All merchandise is prohibited. [no surprise here]

Republic of(South Korea)
· Salt.
· Textile fabrics.
· Weights and measures

Paraguay
· Batteries.
· Most foodstuffs including butter and cheeses; sugar; peanuts; salt; fats of vegetable origin; rice; fruit; and tomato juices.
· Plastic toys.
· Soaps.
· Stocking and socks except those made of jersey.
· Suitcases; leather bags.
· Used clothing and apparel.
· Wool blankets.

Peru
· Accessories and personal items.
· Artificial flowers and interior ornaments. [ this is in good taste but excessive]
· Ceramic products and imitation jewelry [ceramic? Explanation??]
· Clothing, accessories, and underwear.
· Communist propaganda.
· Contraceptive products, remedies, or apparatus. [ ahh.., a bush ally I see]
· Electrical household appliances.
· Footwear, shoes, boots, and accessories.
· Furs and clothing made of fur.
· Gloves and hosiery.
· Household articles of iron, steel, copper, and aluminum.
· Household linens.
· Perfume products or soaps.
· Playing cards.
· Sound recorders and reproducing devices.
· Textiles and carpets.
· Toys and dolls of all kinds. [ toys are for weak capitalist children]
· Travel articles, suitcases, attache cases, kits, or similar articles.
· Waxes and creams for shoes.
· Wooden utensils.

Canada
· Commercial tags of metal.[weird]
· Oleomargarine and other butter substitutes, including altered or renovated butter.[ this is in good taste but too ban it is a bit excessive]
· Prison-made goods being sold or intended for sale by a person or firm.
· Used or secondhand hives or bee supplies [this appears so often I think it is to prevent the spread of bee illnesses?]

Trinidad and Tobago
· Honey [ I am seeing this so often I am now thinking they are trying to prevent the spread of infected honey]
· Saccharine requires the permission of the Trinidad health authorities.

France
· Measuring instruments marked in units not complying with French law.
· Saccharine in tablets or packets.
· Feeding bottles.

Italy

[now this is not where you would expect to find extreme regulars, but here they are. I think they are to protect Italian companies and not because the listed items are illegal]

· Bells and other musical instruments and parts thereof.
· Clocks and supplies for clocks.
· Footwear of any kind.
· Haberdashery and sewn articles of any kind, including trimmings and lace; handkerchiefs; scarves; shawls, needlework including stockings and gloves; bonnets, caps, and hats of any kind.
· Hair and articles made of hair.
· Leather goods.
· Nutmeg, vanilla; sea salt, rock salt; saffron.
· Perfumery goods of all kinds (except soap).
· Playing cards of any kind. [so many places restrict playing cards????]
· Postage stamps in sealed or unsealed letter-post shipments
· Ribbons for typewriters.
· Roasted or ground coffee and its substitutes; roasted chicory
· Saccharine and all products containing saccharine.
· Toys not made wholly of wood.

RussiaRussian Federation
· Color copiers[ against counterfeiting maybe?]
· Honey, pollen, wax, and honeycombs. [ because of contamination?]

Things you can’t mail to places "part 1"

2005-11-30T14:25:00.000+01:00

Here comes a series of posts entitled Things you can’t mail to places. This information is all available at the USPS website

Syrian Arab Republic (Syria)

Margarine and other kinds of artificial butter and materials for its manufacture.
Footwear of all kinds and parts thereof.
High frequency radio receivers (above 100 megacycles).
· Salt.
· Soap, except shaving soap.
· Stockings of all kinds except wool stockings.
· Television equipment.
Used clothes made of silk or cotton.

An E-mail exchange with my wife

2005-11-29T10:10:00.000+01:00

I read a german e-mail from my employer, I then forwarded it to my wife to read as well to make sure I didn’t miss any thing.

My email
“Read this for me please , I think I have the gist”

Her response
blah blah blah,… “ps. what do you mean "Gist'?”

My response was to email her the definition.

Her response
“I thought it was some kind of sickness :-P”

If you are not part of the solution...

2005-11-22T13:14:00.000+01:00

You are part of the precipitate.

If I had a dollar ...

2005-11-22T13:13:00.000+01:00

every time I had sixty cents.

I would be in Canada

Take fair shots

2005-11-21T16:10:00.000+01:00

Ok, I am no fan of G dubbya, but the above picture is a low blow. It has nothing to do with if he is smart or if he is a decnt leader. So what if he tried to walk through the wrong door. A good leader could have done the same thing. If you want to go after Bush, go after his policy.

o come on now

2005-11-17T16:35:00.000+01:00

Iraq's interior minister defended allegations of torture in Iraq prisons by saying that they only found 7 torture victims out of 170 detainees in the prison. Not torturing prisoners is not virtuous, it is expected.

Interacting with other people is a part of life.

2005-11-15T13:38:00.000+01:00

If you are traveling on a train, and the train is crowded. Your ticket does not entitle you to a seat for yourself plus a seat for your bag. It certainly does not entitle you to a seat for yourself, a seat for your bag, and a seat for your feet, as the man currently sitting across from me seems to think it does. There are people without seats sitting in the stairwell. If you are some deity and deserve such decadence, then pay for a first class ticket. To be honest, my wife does this as well to prevent anyone from sitting by her. It drives me crazy.

Beinwil am See

2005-11-13T19:09:00.000+01:00

Ich lebe in Beinwil am See. Es liegt am Hallwilersee westlich vom Zürichsee. Nur zweitausendfunfhundert Leute leben in meinem Heimatdorf. Wir haben nur einen Markt, einen Kiosk, eine Bäckerei, und einen Bahnhof. Jedes Geschäft ist am Wochenende geschlossen. Beinwil ist ein gutes Dorf um einen Spaziergang zu machen. Wir haben viele Wanderweg beim See und durch Wäldli. Wenn es heiss im Sommer ist, du kannst einfach schwimmen gehen. Das ist gut weil in der Schweiz nicht viele Gebäude Klimaanlagen haben. Beinwil liegt an einem steilen Hügel. Ich muss jeden Tag den Hügel nach dem Bahnhof steigen. Das ist gut für meine Gesundheit aber Hügel steigen im kalten eisigen winterlichen Morgen gefällt mir nicht. Ich lebe in Beinwil weil es der Geburtsort meiner Frau ist. Beinwil ist sehr verschieden von meinem Geburtsort.

Support the Fine Arts

2005-11-12T19:41:00.000+01:00

Shoot a rapper.

Our Rutabagas

2005-11-12T19:12:00.000+01:00

We carved these on the 11th of November, it is swiss a tradition where the town children parade through town with these carved vegetables in honor of Saint Martin. Despite being smaller than pumpkins I like thier glow more.

Viva la Révolution

2005-11-07T14:53:00.000+01:00

The riots in Paris have been occurring nightly for the past eleven nights now. The Riots started when two teenage immigrants, fleeing from police or not fleeing from police depending on who you ask, tried to hide in an electrical sub station and electrocuted themselves. The large minority populations blame their deaths on an atmosphere of police brutality against the large Muslim and African populations living in communities surrounding Paris.
Even if the police are brutal and racist against minority groups, remember who the French president is, how could this event set off riots. The poor teenagers died because of their own stupidity. The two dead teenagers were not at the moment in the custody of police. Nor would I consider the chasing of suspects that are fleeing overt police brutality or racism.
In America we have police brutality but the events that set off riots are much more severe. If the police in America beat a man lying motionless on the ground or sodomize a man in handcuffs in a police station, then I would support, non violent, public outcry and demonstrations to bring severe justice to the offending officers. I would not doubt that the Parisian police may discriminate and treat the immigrant populations poorly, but the minority population should choose better victims to champion. The deaths were tragic but the police, save a policy of not perusing criminals, could have not prevented it. It should be noted that the suspects had not yet been convicted of any crime. This makes it sad that their deaths could have been a misunderstanding but it doesn’t justify rioting.
I hope the french goverment puts this uprising down better than the one 215 years ago. Then again guillotining a few leaders would shake things up abit.

Draco of Athens or Goodman of Las Vegas

2005-11-04T18:05:00.000+01:00

CNN is reporting here that the mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman, suggested on television that grafitti vandals should have thier thumbs cut off on television as punishment. I don't want it to be said that I do not support tougher laws against crime but there exists a reason that draconian laws do not work. These people who lose thier thumbs probably wouldn't tag anymore and the city would have to pay less for cleanup. The state would however be paying more in the long run. These people will not be very employable without all thier digits, which means they will be collecting unemployment, which more than offsets the cost of cleaning up some grafitti.

Scary Wrong

2005-10-31T15:18:00.000+01:00

Beate Uhse has a policy that is coming under fire because it is illegal here. Beate Uhse is a chain of stores that sell adult lingerie and videos. In Switzerland you have to be 16 years old to enter such a store. Beate Uhse's policy is that all children under the age of 16 have to be accompanied by an adult. Now; I am quite certain that children are not asking their parents to take them into this store. That is weird. I think it is more that their parents are stopping at these stores while they are out running errands and taking their kids in with them. That would be a horrifying childhood memory for me as I am sure it is for many of these kids. It is just crazy wrong. I wonder how old these kids are that are being accompanied by their parents into these adult stores. I guess this experience would just be really confusing for younger children. Older preteens and young teens will have to recount these horrifying visits to psychiatrists. I am not saying it is wrong to be open about your sexuality, but some things should not be experienced with your parents.

Written Communication

2005-10-30T17:21:00.000+01:00

Many of my teachers of past and not so long past seem to have the idea that length is a contributing factor to how well a essay is written or how well an idea is communicated. This I have long believed is a very bad thing to be passing along to students. The length of an essay should be determined by the topic and the ability of the writer. The fewer sentences required to communicate an idea, the better the writer. Assigning an essay and then assigning a length is anti-productive to learning. The student is then thinking, “how can I fill one or two pages with this topic?” instead of thinking “how can I best communicate my ideas?” My faculty to communicate my ideas with few words hurt my grades during my education more than it helped them but now this belief of mine is a advantage.
Two students write an essay. One student writes one page and the other student writes two pages. THe two students papers have, for arguments sake, the same content of ideas. The student with the one page paper is the better writer and communicator. Assigning an arbitrary length of two pages would hurt the student with the ability to write a one page paper. The student would write a good paper, and then fill it with a page of filler.
The problem is most English teachers in America have never had real world experience in written communication. They are great with explaining Frost and Shakespeare, but a business memo has to be written with length and clear communication in mind. A memo should not be a literary work of perfection. It is an entirely different skill to write a memo as opposed to writing a literary essay in secondary school or university.

Herbst in Zürich

2005-10-30T11:11:00.000+01:00

Nur eine törichte Person würde Herbst mit Wörter beschrieben versuchen. Wenige Dichter können Erfolg haben. Herbst, wie alle Saison, müssen Sie Erleben. Sie müssen die farbigen bäume sehen. Sie müssen die heißen Kastanien riechen. Worte sind gar nichts. Keine Mann kann mit Buchstaben etwas so kompliziertes als eine Saison erklären.

Ice?

2005-10-28T18:19:00.000+02:00

Hurricane Wilma hit Florida causing widespread power loss. On the 26th of October, 2005 people were standing in aid lines waiting for their water and Ice. It was 63 degrees that day. What do they need ice for. Yes, in the middle of the Floridian summer, for elderly without power, ice is a necessity. It is however October. 36 degrees F (17 C) is not hot. Why are they passing out ice? Or even better question is, why are people waiting in line, some people twelve hours, for ice? Should or government be providing people with their needs after a disaster, or luxuries. Yes I consider a bag of ice a luxury, I cannot get one here, I would love to drink my beverages cold but it usually is not an option. IT is three degrees Celsius warmer here, I have no ice, I have no air conditioning, I am doing just fine. Since when is not having electricity for a few days an emergency requiring state aid?

Homeland Security (cough)

2005-10-25T16:18:00.000+02:00

The United States of America is now one of the least popular places to study English now. This is no surprise to me. The requirements to stay in America, if only for a month or two to brush up on your language skills; are outrageous. The fear of letting terrorists in is undoubtedly severely hurting many private and public education facilities in America. The operational cost of the homeland security department is not the only cost of Americas new found paranoia. The cost to American businesses should also be factored in. My brother in law just returned from Indiana where he spent two months studying for and then taking the TOEFL.

I remember my favorite part of the American Visa application was the one inch by two inch box were you are to write in every country you have traveled to in the last ten years, and when. This is probably easy for the average American but if you grew up in central Europe remembering every time you left your country is hard enough; and it is even more difficult to fit it all in a tiny box.

Australia and England are the two most popular places to study English. The US has fallen behind Canada in the rank of popular places to study. CANADA!

Animals I have eaten

2005-10-22T22:19:00.000+02:00

I decided to post this after eating at SagaKhan and adding five more to the list.
I will try to keep this list up to date.
Crocodile steaks are the best; with just a little seasoning. They are like a cross between a good red snapper and lobster. I bit chewy but I like it becuase there is substance to this fishy white meat. I really wonder who supplies SagaKhan with kangaroo meat in the Swiss Alps.

Alligator
Antelope ( springbok)
Buffalo
Chicken ( + egg )
Conch
Clams
Cow ( + calf )
Crab
Crayfish
Crocodile
Deer
Duck
Eel
Elk
Fish ( many species )
Goat
Goose
Grasshopper
Horse ( + foal )
Kangaroo
Lamb
Lobster
Mussel
Octopus
Ostrich
Oyster
Pig
Quail eggs
Rabbit
Reindeer
Rock Hen
Shrimp (many species )
Snail
Squid
Turkey

Rivella

2005-10-19T22:07:00.000+02:00

I read here today that Rivella was test lauched in Florida and failed. I think whoever decided to test launch Rivella in Florida should be fired. Florida is where the United States keeps many of its elderly. Now, I don't want to promote stereotypes, but I don't think the elderly are the most keen on trying new things. Rivella, for those of you who don't know, is made from whey. When cheese is produced it is compressed into large blocks. As this happens the liquid runoff is collected. This is whey. It is mixed with sugar and carbonatd and then bottled. I like to drink it. It however does have a unique taste. It is not as sweet as most all other sodas sold in the US and I think many closed minded Americans would be put off drinking a sweetened carbonated milk product.

truth in media

2005-10-18T20:07:00.000+02:00

Ok, only a short thought today. News agencies are reporting that the United Stated Air Force bombed an estimaded 70 insurgents today in Iraq near Ramadi. My imediate thought was this. Does this mean they estimated the body count or estimated if those dead were insurgents or not?

Driving

2005-10-17T20:55:00.000+02:00

I do not drive here in Switzerland. I use public transportation or my feet. I have however noticed differences in the driving stile over here in Europe. It is not simply different traffic laws; it is a whole other driving approach.
In America you have stop on go traffic. Busy intersections, for the most part, have either a stop sign or a stop light. The preference over here in Europe is the roundabout. The idea is a flow of traffic instead of stop and go traffic.
Another aspect, at least here where I live, are the narrow roads here rural Switzerland. If two cars pass, usually one of them has to pull on to the side of the road and let the other pass. That or both of them hug the edge and narrowly miss each other.
There are no hard set rules to say who must yield the center of the road on the narrow back roads. That is unless one side is unable to pull off to the side.
The way it works is the first to inch a bit from the center is usually the one who has to pull to the side and let the other pass. This creates a game of chicken every time two cars meet on a back road.
Here is what happened today. My 18 year old sister in law was driving down one such road with another car approaching. My sister in law Silvia rarely ever yields the center and today was to be no exception, despite the fact there was ample space. The approaching car did not want to scrape the paint of her car in the bushes on her side so she did not yield the center either. So she lost her side rear view mirror.
Many might inappropriately say that is what you get with teenage drivers, or that is what you get with woman drivers. I say, that is what you get in this society. In my experience I think that most people over here would have done exactly the same. This is not to put anyone down in any way. It is merely a cultural observation. I have much worse things to say about American drivers.

Sport

2005-10-16T15:57:00.000+02:00

The level to which many people get involved in watching sports boggles my mind. I simply do not understand it. How could people who have never even met these athletes on the stupid box (TV) care which side wins. I can sort of see the concept if one of the teams is from your city, but in most cases this is not so. These contests last hours. How these people can maintain interest for so long is mind numbing. Why don’t they do something else until the game is over and then go back and find out who has won. After some reflection on this topic I figured out why I don’t watch sports. I still have no Idea why other people do
I am too apathetic. I just don’t care who wins. I don’t think I will ever care who wins and furthermore I cannot see how other people do care. This is a multibillion dollar industry and I don’t see how they make a single penny.
Sports are meant to be played. I enjoyed playing pick up games growing up. I played some intramural sports in college. If I am actually playing a game I care who wins. I want to win. If you are not involved in a game what does it matter who wins.

Camellia sinensis

2005-10-15T11:01:00.000+02:00

A while back my mother in law asked me if I would like some tea. I said “sure.” I like tea but after taking a sip of it I realized it was like no tea I had ever tried. It was a bit minty but other than that it was bad. I leaned over and asked my wife what kind of tea it was. “oh, just normal tea” yea right.
It turns out that her family doesn’t usually drink tea with the leaves of Camellia sinensis in their tea. They drink “herbal tea.” Herbal tea is not really tea. It is water that had some weeds boiled in it. It has no tea flavor what so ever. It is amazingly popular here. I don’t understand it. If you want “TEA” here in Switzerland you have to ask for “black tea” or “green tea.” The fifty or so other varieties of tea in the grocery store are all “herbal tea” Yuck.

Post scriptum, Do you think “minty” is a word. MS office spellchecker doesn’t think so. I disagree.