Swiss Reviews

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noreply@blogger.com (Climate Patrol) — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 18:41:00 +0000

Swiss Reviews with more style

Swiss Reviews.wordpress.com will make it easy for you to navigate from one topic to another and from one language to another

Go to new Swiss Reviews

"Schwarzes Schaf" ins Schweizer Parlament gewählt

noreply@blogger.com (Climate Patrol) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:13:00 +0000

Ricardo Lumengo ist stolz, erster Schwarzer zu sein: "Ich bin ein schwarzes Schaf, das gewählt wurde." So präsentierte sich der Bieler Jurist gestern dem Bieler Tagblatt. Das Blatt sprach auch mit dem Berner SVP-Präsidenten über Lumengo: "Die Schweiz ist multikultureller geworden." Er glaubt nicht, dass Lumengos Wahl eine Reaktion auf die umstrittenen SVP-Plakate sei. "Seine grosse Publizität war ausschlaggebend."

Wer ist der gebürtige Angolaner?
Lumengos politische Karriere verlief rasant: Seit drei Jahren politisiert der 45-jährige Jurist für die PSR im Bieler Stadtrat. Letztes Jahr wurde er für die SP in den Grossen Rat im Kanton gewählt. Nun darf er für die nächsten vier Jahre zusammen mit Parteikollege Hans Stöckli Biel und Umgebung im Bundeshaus vertreten.

Politischer Flüchtling
"Die Wahl freut mich sehr", sagt Lumengo, "besonders nach den heftigen Attacken der Freiheitspartei". Das sei eine "grosse Befriedigung". Nach einem Autounfall zeigte ihn die in Biel bekannte Freiheitspartei FPS (von Polizeidirektor Erich Scherrer) wegen pflichtwidrigen Verhaltens an und betitelte ihn im Internet als Lügner. Für das Vergehen wurde Lumengo gebüsst. Seine Wahl sei eine Antwort der Bevölkerung auf die Kampagne der SVP. "Ich bin ein schwarzes Schaf, das gewählt wurde", sagt er in Anspielung auf die SVP-Plakate.

Jurist und Integrationsfigur
Lumengo will sich im Parlament für die Integration von Ausländern und deren Rechte einsetzen. Das Bildungswesen und die Bekämpfung der Arbeitslosigkeit liegen ihm ebenfalls am Herzen. Nachdem er in Schweiz eine Aufenthaltsbewilligung als politischer Flüchtling erhalten hatte, studierte Lumengo in Freiburg Jura und arbeitet heute als juristischer Berater am interkulturellen Begegnungszentrum Multimondo in Biel.

Swiss Elections 2007 Result Update 22-Oct-1:00 p.m.

noreply@blogger.com (Climate Patrol) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:15:00 +0000

Far right wing clipped despite Swiss People's Party's victory jig!!

A much exposed right-wing member of the Swiss National Council NR Ulrich Schlueer has lost his mandate after this year's election despite the phenomenal result of the Swiss People's Party in the Swiss National Council. Ulrich Schlüer was interviewed before by The Independent in connection with the campaign about the black sheep posters during his election. He had been identified with the black sheep campagne even before the pre-election riots in Berne, Switzerland.

Those of you who think that the Zurich wing of the Swiss People's party - as formerly cherished by Government member (Bundesrat) Christoph Blocher - has thus been weekend enough because of the widely hated black sheep campain, may be disillusioned later again. Schluuer has particularly lost votes because of his harsh tone which made many SVP voters embarrassed about Switzerland and its reputation. In Zurich, by the way, the result of the 'Upper Chamber' is not out yet. The first round came up with Dr. Felix Gutzwiler, FDP, as winner for the first mandate. The second round might turn out in favor of Ueli Maurer, president of the SVP party, as the second Zurich representative of the upper chamber, which means...
...Dr. Ulrich Schlüer as runner-up will be in parliament again by taking the MP seat of Maurer!

For more detailed results for both the parties and its elected members in both chambres, click National Council (Nationalrat), Upper Chamber (Ständerat) and Overview in German.

Swiss Elections 2007 Result Update 22-Oct-10:30am

noreply@blogger.com (Climate Patrol) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 08:38:00 +0000

Provisional Results of Swiss National Council as of 22 Oct, 10:30 a.m. p.m.
Provisorische Hochrechnungen der Wahlen des schweizerischen Nationalrates per 22. Oktober, 10.30 Uhr. MESZ

Party... Mandates 2003.. Percentage 2003.. Mandates 2007.. Percentage 2007
SVP........55.........................26.7%...................62......................29.0%
.SP.........52.........................23.3%...................43......................19.5%
FDP........36........................17.3%....................31......................15.6%
CVP........28........................14.4%....................31.....................14.6%
GPS........14..........................7.7%....................19.......................9.6%
OTHER....15..........................9.1%....................16......................11.8%

...CSP..............................................................1.......................0.4%
...EDU.............................................................1.......................1.3%
...EVP..............................................................2.......................2.4%
...GLP..............................................................3.......................1.4%
...LEGA............................................................1.......................0.5%
...LPS..............................................................4.......................1.8%
...PDA..............................................................1.......................0.7%

Winner/Gewinner: SVP + 7 Mandate(s)
Loser/Verlierer: SP - 9 Mandate(s)

GLOSSAR(Y)
***********
SVP - Schweizerische Volkspartei (Swiss People's Party)
SP - Sozialdemokraten (Social Democrats)
FDP - Freisinning-demokratische Partei (Radicals/Liberal Democrats)
CVP - Christliche Volkspartei (Christian Democrats)
GPS - Grüne Partei Schweiz (Green Party)
OTHER - (CSP, EDU, EVP, GLP, LEGA, LPS, PDA)

CSP - Christlich-Soziale Partei (Christian-Social Party)
EDU - Eidgenössisch-Demokratische Union (Federal Democratic Union)
EVP - Evangelische Volkspartei (Evangelical People Party)
GLP - Grün-Liberale Partei (Green-Liberal Party)
LEGA - Lega Ticinese (League in Ticino)
LPS - Liberale Partei Schweiz (Liberals)
PDA - Partei der Arbeit (Labor Party)

Swiss Elections 2007 Results

noreply@blogger.com (Climate Patrol) — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 21:01:00 +0000

Provisional Results of Swiss National Council as of 21 Oct, 9 p.m.
Provisorische Hochrechnungen der Wahlen des schweizerischen Nationalrates per 21. Oktober, 21 Uhr. MESZ

Party... Mandates 2003.. Percentage 2003.. Mandates 2007.. Percentage 2007
SVP........55.........................26.7%...................62......................28.8%
.SP.........52.........................23.3%...................43......................19.3%
FDP........36........................17.3%....................31......................15.8%
CVP........28........................14.4%....................31.....................14.7%
GPS........14..........................7.7%....................19.......................9.6%
OTHER....15..........................9.1%....................16......................11.8%

Winner/Gewinner: SVP + 7 Mandate(s)
Loser/Verlierer: SP - 9 Mandate(s)

GLOSSAR(Y)
***********
SVP - Schweizerische Volkspartei (Swiss People's Party)
SP - Sozialdemokraten (Social Democrats)
FDP - Freisinning-demokratische Partei (Radicals/Liberal Democrats)
CVP - Christliche Volkspartei (Christian Democrats)
GPS - Grüne Partei Schweiz (Green Party)
OTHER - (EVP, EDU, GLP, LP, SD, LEGA, PDA)

NY Times on Swiss Pre-Election Riots

noreply@blogger.com (Climate Patrol) — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 12:09:00 +0000

The electorial compaign of the SVP (Swiss People's Party) as discussed in the most recent post has brought forth some strange fruits. Not only did they provoke with posters showing white sheep (lawful citizens) kicking out a black sheep (criminal foreigner). By the way, the idea has found copy cats:(Forum Thiazi.net

The poster is not the creation of a fringe movement, but of the most powerful party in Switzerland’s federal Parliament and a member of the coalition government, an extreme right-wing party called the Swiss People’s Party, or SVP. It has been distributed in a mass mailing to Swiss households, reproduced in newspapers and magazines and hung as huge billboards across the country.The poster is not the creation of a fringe movement, but of the most powerful party in Switzerland’s federal Parliament and a member of the coalition government, an extreme right-wing party called the Swiss People’s Party, or SVP. It has been distributed in a mass mailing to Swiss households, reproduced in newspapers and magazines and hung as huge billboards across the country.

About 28% of the voters are expected to elect MPs of this party. The people who vote are not extreme right-wing, but the methodology can be called "extreme right wing". Extreme right-winger NPD in Germany obviously likes the methodology. But still, the program of the Swiss People's party should not be compared with any movement abroad.

As voters prepare to go to the polls in a general election on Oct. 21, the poster — and the party’s underlying message — have polarized a country that prides itself on peaceful consensus in politics, neutrality in foreign policy and tolerance in human relations. Suddenly the campaign has turned into a nationwide debate over the place of immigrants in one of the world’s oldest democracies, and over what it means to be Swiss.

Actually, there were more extreme people's initiatives in the past. One of them asked for a referendum vote that the Swiss constitution should generally limit the portion of foreign residents in this country to 18% (September 2000). This was before the bilateral treaty with the European Union regarding free movement of workforce within Europe came into effect, but still AFTER the number of foreign residents had already exceedeed the hurdle of 18%.

As part of its platform, the SVP party has begun a campaign seeking the 100,000 signatures necessary to force a referendum to let judges deport foreigners after they serve prison sentences for serious crimes. The measure also calls for the deportation of the entire family if the convicted criminal is a minor.

Well, the new initiative in fact goes like this:Bottom line: It aims to expel from the country all foreign citizens who commit a crime or who abuse the social system. It is feared that, if it is the supporter of a family who will be subject of such a "spell", the whole family (under given circumstances) may face deportation. I didn't explicitly find this in the draft though.

A week ago, a march of several thousand SVP supporters in Bern ended in clashes between hundreds of rock-throwing counterdemonstrators and riot police officers, who used tear gas to disperse them. The opponents of the rally, organized by a new group called the Black Sheep Committee, had tried to prevent the demonstrators from marching to Parliament.

They didn't like it. It reminded them too much of the Nazi marches of the thirties. Exponents of two left wing parties including the Green Party and a local community officer stirred up this anger against the SVP party. Out of their hiding places, once the police was busy in other areas downtown, the Black Bloc activists (not black sheep) started to beat down women, children, musicians, their instruments, anything that came in their way on the Bundesplatz, benches, tables, and completely devastated the square of the SVP festivities in front of the Parliament House (Bundeshaus).

The NY Times also mentions the new election campaign video "Heaven and Hell" which contrasts riots like last weekend's with the SVP heaven. Now they (SVP) managed to provoke enough anger among left wing activists in order to stage a reality show in the Swiss Capitol with black bloc devils destroying the SVP heaven.
Vido "Heaven or Hell" (Himmel oder Hölle)

Swiss Xenophobia for a Cause

noreply@blogger.com (Climate Patrol) — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 12:51:00 +0000

Has Switzerland become Europe's Heart of Darkness?
This provoking sentence was found in the lead of an article of
THE INDEPENDENT as published on 7 September 2007. Switzerland is under U.N. observation for its occurrences of racism. Commenting recent incidents of discrimination, the Federal Council of Switzerland wrote an official reply to Mr. Diene, UN Special Rapporteur on racism in March this year. However, they also pointed out that the asylum act referred to by the special rapporteur had been approved by the sovereign with a large majority. It was convinced that the implementation of the act would not lead to acts of discrimination.

The Anti-Racism Law of Switzerland

Who publicly calls for hatred or discrimination against a person or group of people because of race, ethnics, or religion;
whoever publicly spreads idiologies that aim systematic libel of the members of a race, ethnic group, or religion, who stimulates, organises or takes part in propaganda action plans;
whoever publicly belittles or discriminates or denies, downplays or justifies out of one of the reasons "genocide or "other crimes against humanity" vocally, written, visually, by gesturing, violence or in any other manner a person or group of people because of their race, ethnics, or religion in a way that is beneath human dignity;
whoever refuses a service which is indended to be for public use, to any person or group of people because of their race, ethnics or religion;
will be charged with emprisonment or fines.

What do Switzerland and the U.S. have in commmon? They reflect "the promised land", garden Eden, and whatever bed of roses that may pop up in the minds of people all over the world who do not know the whole picture about living in Switzerland. Yes, there is the desire to live in peace, freedom, prosperity and in one of the world's most advanced civilizations and democracies. Fact is, Switzerland is much smaller. It consists of numerous little valleys, remote places in 26 cantons (provinces), each one of them with their own culture, identity and even numerous German dialects next to French, Italian and Romansh...The typical Swiss is somewhat cosmopolitan but likes to withdraw to his or her cosy home again after some exposure to foreign cultures.

I am not surprised about the above "Little sheep poster". It is election time. The Swiss peoples' party (SVP) which stirres this campaign that is being noticed as racist by many foreign citizens of this country, is and is expected to be the strongest political party in Switzerland. Either you hate them or love them. Those posters with Bundesrat (minister) Blocher, the SVP representative in the Swiss government, had to be removed. Blocher's face was mistreated completely. The poster with the white sheep kicking out a black sheep 'for security reasons' is more prominent. Every child knows it. Children play using "SVP" or Buh-bad instead of "get out" when another child is not wanted in a group!

This is only the tip of the iceberg. I believe the more the U.N. tries to intervene against racism, the stronger xenophobia in Switzerland will become. We have much to lose, this is what our problem is. Expect more political action plans which will be within the above law. When it comes to Islamic minarets, the whole world will look at Switzerland. How come? The Swiss probably maintain the most advanced democracy in the world. This is the reason why there has started a great discussion about the yes or niet of Islamic minarets in Switzerland. It is sometimes seen as if Swiss christians would build crusaders' fortresses in an Islamic country, and the establishment of parallel Islamic law in Switzerland is feared (Sharia). In the eyes of a commitee against the building of minarets, the building of such towers have nothing to do with integration but with a symbol of Islamic conquest. Expect more from my end or my country about this subject.
Link to the committee:
Minarette.ch

Die ganze Welt entrüstet sich über die Schweizer

noreply@blogger.com (Climate Patrol) — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:51:00 +0000

Die Schweiz - eine Heimat des Friedens und der Neutralität oder Europas neues Herz der Finsternis? Ist dies eine unschuldige Kinderkarikatur oder ein finsteres Symbol eines neuen Rassismus? Diese Frage bringt den UNO Sonderbotschafter für Rassismus aufs Tapet

Spagat Antirassismusgesetz - freie Meinungsäusserung

Das Antirassismusgesetz (ARG)

Art. 261 bis, in Kraft seit 1. Januar 1995
Wer öffentlich gegen eine Person oder eine Gruppe von Personen wegen ihrer Rasse, Ethnie oder Religion zu Hass oder Diskriminierungen aufruft,

wer öffentlich Ideologien verbreitet, die auf die systematische Herabsetzung oder Verleumdung der Angehörigen einer Rasse, Ethnie oder Religion gerichtet sind,

wer mit dem gleichen Ziel Propagandaaktionen organisiert, fördert oder daran teilnimmt,

wer öffentlich durch Wort, Schrift, Bild, Gebärden, Tätlichkeiten oder in anderer Weise eine Person oder eine Gruppe von Personen wegen ihrer Rasse, Ethnie oder Religion in einer gegen die Menschenwürde verstossenden Weise herabsetzt oder diskriminiert oder aus einem dieser Gründe Völkermord oder andere Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit leugnet, gröblich verharmlost oder zu rechtfertigen versucht,

wer eine angebotene Leistung, die für die Allgemeinheit bestimmt ist, einer Person oder einer Gruppe von Personen wegen ihrer Rasse, Ethnie oder Religion verweigert,
wird mit Gefängnis oder Busse bestraft.

Was haben die USA und die Schweiz gemeinsam? Die Hassliebe, die ihnen der Rest der Welt entgegenbringt. Es sind beides begehrte Staaten für die Immigration wo Freiheit, Wohlstand, Friede und Demokratie herrscht. Der wesentliche Unterschied: Die Schweiz ist viel kleiner, besteht aus unszähligen Talschaften in 26 Kantonen (oder Kantönli) - jede mit ihrer eigenen Identität und Kultur. Wenn man an ein Trachtenfest geht, sieht man wie man sich freut, Leute aus anderen Regionen zu treffen und über sie zu witzeln. Emmentaler, Oberländer, Walliser, Glarner, Bündner, Welsche, Tessiner, Basler...Der typische Schweizer ist weltoffen, zieht sich aber gerne wieder in sein Heimetli zurück. Ich bin auch einer von ihnen.

Ich wundere mich nicht, das Schäfliplakat in der jetzigen Zeit, wo unzählige Wahlplakate das Quartier um den Bahnhof herum schmücken, anzutreffen. Das andere Plakat der Schweizerischen Volkspartei (SVP), der wählerstärksten Partei der Schweiz mit ihrem Vertreter der Landesregierung, Bundesrat Christoph Blocher, ist unterdessen verschwunden. Diesem Blocher haben die Jungen so richtig das Gesicht verschmiert. Wenn das in Thailand passiert wäre...Ach ja, König Bumibol hat der Schweiz kürzlich einen buddhistischen Tempel gestiftet, der jetzt in der Olympiastadt Lausanne aufgerichtet werden soll, wo der thailändische König seinerzeit studiert hatte. Es wird der grösste Tempel dieser Art in Europa sein.

Gegen Asiaten ist die folgende Volksinitiative gewiss nicht gerichtet. Die Tamilen haben sich seit den achtziger Jahren gut in unserem Lande integriert. Manche haben sich hier zum Christentum bekehrt. Ganz anders die Thailänder, die haben ihre Tempel in der Schweiz und die Türken ihre muslimischen Gebetsräume.

Jetzt erwarte mal ja niemand eine Hasstyrade gegen irgend eine Religion oder Volksgruppe. Deshalb habe ich ja auch das Antirassismusgesetz oben angeschlagen, das jeder patriotische Schweizer in Ehren halten sollte. Dabei zielte der Artikel im englischen "Independent Online Edition", der für Aufsehen gesorgt hat, ja nicht einmal auf diese "Minaretthetze", sondern nur auf die Wahlkampagne der SVP "Sicherheit schaffen", die jetzt hier zu Lande jedes Kind kennt. "Buuuh, uuuse, SVP" kommt aus manchem Kindermund. Ich will hier auch nicht näher auf das Schäfli-Plakat eingehen, denn die Volksinitiative, die da gewisse aus dem Gefängnis entlassene Straftäter und eventuell sogar deren Angehörige ausschaffen will (genannt "Sippenhaft"!! gemäss "Independant") steht noch gar nicht. Es braucht 100'000 Unterschriften. Hingegen ist die Unterschriftensammlung für ein allgemeines Minarettverbot schon voll im Gange. Die Diskussion, welche die schweizerische direkte Demokratie damit in Gang bringt, dürfte weltweit verfolgt werden.

Zu den Minaretten kann ich etwas mehr sagen, ohne Furcht.

Minarette haben in der muslimischen Welt nichts mit Glaubensinhalten zu tun. Weder im Koran noch in der Hadithe werden Minarette erwähnt. Im Laufe der islamischen Eroberungen wurden Minarette zuerst als militärische Wachttürme, später als Gebetstürme gebaut.

Quelle: EDU
Was würden Gegner eines Minarettverbots zum Bau von Kreuzritterburgen in einem muslimischen Land sagen, wenn es denn möglich wäre? Genauso sind Minarette Macht- und Eroberungssymbole und stehen nicht etwa für Religionsfreiheit. In Saudi-Arabien gibt es gemäss einem kürzlichen Vortrag übrigens keine Minarette. Von dort aus wird aber fleissig in Minarette investiert, die weltweit dort gebaut werden, wo es zugelassen wird!

Der Bau von Minaretten hat mit Integration absolut nichts zu tun. In Deutschland gibt es bereits Parallelgesellschaften, welche als Gesetz die Scharia aufrichten wollen an der Stelle von Integration in die deutsche Gesellschaft mit ihrer Rechtsordnung. Wollen wir das? Wir müssen uns Schweizer aber selber an der Nase nehmen. Die Ex-Jugoslawen aus der Tito-Zeit in unserem Lande kannten den Islam kaum. Wir haben es verpasst, sie in unserem Lande mit Interesse zu integrieren. Auf sich alleine gestellt, lassen sie sich heute von aussen im Islam festigen.

Die Schwäche der Christen und der westlichen Welt ist die Stärke der Muslime

Muslime schätzen und respektieren uns, wenn wir zu unseren Werten stehen und klare Grenzen setzen. Sie verachten uns aber dann, wenn wir keine klaren Werte mehr haben und uns zügellos benehmen, und gleichzeitig Minarette erlauben. Auf der anderen Seite muss ein generelles Minarettverbot mit einer Zuwendung gegenüber den wahren Anliegen der Muslime in der Schweiz verbunden sein, nicht mit Hass oder Gleichgültigkeit. Wir müssen es wert sein, von Muslimen angehört zu werden, sonst hören sie auf militante Strategen.

Link zum Initiativkommitee:
Minarette.ch

Roger Federer - the Winner Takes it All

noreply@blogger.com (Climate Patrol) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 18:18:00 +0000

The US Open is Federer's 12th grand slam title, two short of Pete Sampras's record. He has won four times at Flushing Meadows, five times at Wimbledon and three titles at the Australian Open. But the French Open title still eludes him.
Source: Swissinfo

2.400.000 $$$. That's too much!!! I overslept the final between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. But being Swiss, I really wanted to see the final ball at the Swiss news channel Tagesschau. This should have been Number One coverage on Swiss TV.

But guess what was shown: Pre-election intrigues, Switzerland 5 years in the U.N., Nawaz Sharif pushed away again(Pakistan's former President), U.S. troups to withdraw from Irak?, Maddie, Merckel and Sarkozy, Olmert and Abbas, Chicungunya raging (in Italy), Vienna Philharmonics in Lucerne with 26 year old musical director. Then the weather. That's it. Not a single word about Roger Federer. To think of it - it was not even covered in the newspapers because Federer won after midnight when the newspapers were being printed already. Has Roger Federer become too successful for us Swiss to bear?

noreply@blogger.com (Climate Patrol) — Sat, 05 May 2007 12:08:00 +0000

FEDERER FINALLY IN TAX PARADISE?

Oberwil, Canton Basel-Land and Wollerau, Canton Schwyz

"Tennis champion "Roger Federer" is leaving Basel-Land: He will move into a rented apartment. However, he doesn't want to pay his taxes on the Lake of Zurich, but still in Oberwil Basel-Land, at least for now."

The above lead was read in "Basler Zeitung" on it's May 4, 2007, issue. Yes, it IS an issue in Switzerland where "The World Sportsman" of the years 2005, 2006 AND 2007 and PR icon for Swiss Dairy Food products Emmi and Swiss Coffee giant Nespresso
should pay his taxes.

Roger Federer indead wants to move out - and since Wednesday, the whole of Switzerland knows it. "Tele Zueri" had the workmen in front of the camera, "Radio Central" had a group of regulars in front of their microphone and what about the BaZ newspaper? They had the parents on the phone. Although Lynette and Robert Federer don't want to comment on any of the rumours, they are very open, inofficially. "Roggie takes a rented appartment. But he stays registered in Oberwil", says the father and bids a firm yet polite good bye.

According to BaZ, this is not the first time that stories about moving plans of Roger are traded in the Swiss media. He presented his interest in a lot in Grandvaux, Canton Vaud, in the midst of Lavaux vignards high above Lake Geneva, with a view to the French and Swiss Alps.

WITH SAUNA. Well, Roger Federer will have to do without the alps in Wollerau but will instead enjoy a lake. As pictures as published by "Basler Zeitung" suggest, the tennis star will enjoy a beautiful lake view from his rented terrace house apartment on the forth floor in the village of Bäch (Wollerau town), "Canton Schwyz". The local newspaper "Südostschweiz" gossipped about the "very generously equipped apartment" with a sauna. But WHEN the very talkative workmen will have finished the interior construction remains a secret for now.

But this is also not the point. "Wollerau" and the neighboring "Freienbach" are two of the most tax friendly towns in Switzerland. This fact is being taken advantage of by UBS top banker "Marcel Ospel", CS top banker "Oswald Grübel", the tennis players "Martina Hinggis" and "Patty Schnyder" and even the Formula-1 pilote "Kimi Räikkönen" and "Felipe Massa" to file his tax return sheet in Oberwil, that costs him around 4,2 Millions Swiss Francs (almost 4 Million Dollars) of taxes a year according to boulevard tabloid "Blick".

Now the Baz newspaper rambles in "Swissness style" about talks of Mayors regarding the tax laws and potentials. I'll spare you all of it, well except for one interesting detail, as Rudolf Mohler, mayor of Oberwil puts it: "Our municipal finances will not be a disaster in case Roger Federer moves out for good. We ve'got more quiet co-citizens who pay more!"

Swiss Spring Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Climate Patrol) — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 19:58:00 +0000

Sechseläuten Snowman

Monday night, the head of a snowman blew up, which gave the symbolic final blow to the hard Swiss winter. Well, on this Monday, April 24, at 6:10 p.m., it felt more like the beginning of a summer night already. But fact is that there are still patches of snow at an altitude above 1000 meters above sea, that's a large part of Switzerland anyway. But here in Zurich at the "Sechseläuten" Platz (or Bellevue, it's here), as known by tourists who come from S-Bahn station Zurich-Stadelhofen, it was about 20 degrees in the shade. The only snowman visible was the böög. Huh? Here is a short historical outline about this rather peculiar Zurich event that takes place around the third weekend in April.

Burning the Böög

The festival goes back to 1818, when one of the city's traditional guilds held a night time parade complete with musicians and horseback-riders. The idea caught on, other guilds followed suit and in 1839 the first coordinated Sechseläuten parade of all the guilds took place. The name Sechseläuten, meaning "chiming six o'clock", goes back much further in history than the parades: it derives from the fact that in winter the working day was limited by the lack of light, but once spring had come work could be carried on until 6 p.m. The festivities open on the Sunday with a parade of children, mostly dressed in historical costumes. Unlike the adult parade, children from other communes, cantons or even countries are allowed to take part.This is followed the next day by the parade of the guilds. In mediaeval times the guilds were organisations grouping members of one craft or profession, but today very few of their members are still engaged in the work represented by their guild. However, they must all belong to old Zürich families and have a close connection with the city. Each year the guilds also invite a guest canton and a limited number of other guests of honour to join them in the parade.The culmination of Monday's festivities is the burning of the winter effigy, the Böögg. The Böögg, looking like a snowman and stuffed with firecrackers, stands on a huge woodpile which is lit when the cathedral bells ring out 6 o'clock. The moment when the Böögg's head explodes marks the official end of winter. And the faster this happens, the longer and hotter the summer is meant to be. Source: www.swissworld.org

Nowadays, the guilds give an elitish impression in their costumes, especially when riding on horseback. Never mind the historical "petit bourgoisie" backround as opposed to the aristocrats.
I was lurking behind horses, enduring the smell of horse shit for an hour and a half in order to get the best view of the Böög. I felt hyper like a tourist here in Zurich.

The snowman was kidnapped

The Böög almost didn't make it to the heap of wood this year. The "Revolutionäre Bewegung 1. Mai - Strasse frei" (revolutionary movement May 1 - Labor Day - clear the streets from motoric traffic!) stole the snowman in a garage in the outskirts of Zurich. They left the head behind, which was not fully stuffed, yet too heavy for transport. And then they attached the following note together with a chocolate Easter bunny. How cute!

“The Böög is fed up to give his head to the capitalists. He is now captive for the 'Revolutionäre Bewegung 1. Mai Strasse frei'. The 'Sechseläuten' festivities are an embarrassing and ridiculous open-air mascarade of the rich. The guilds belong to the dumping ground of history or maybe into the 'cabinet of curiosities' but surely not onto the streets!" More curiosities can be read on the website of this left-wing movement. I wouldn't be surprised if the Böög appears again on the streets of Zurich on Labor Day under different premises. Was this just a caper play or was it even an act as encouraged by "Zurich tourism?". Whatever the case, the substitute 'Böög' blew up in just a bit more than 10 minutes after the woodpile was set on fire, thus promising a hot summer just like the left-wing activists did promise in their letter to Böög creator Heinz Wahrenberger.

"Grounding": A Movie Review

noreply@blogger.com (Climate Patrol) — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 17:37:00 +0000

I watched the film "Grounding" yesterday. Based on the book "Der Fall der Swissair" (The Downfall of Swissair) , this docu-fiction is still the most watched movie in Switzerland even one month after its release.

I never expected such an almost perfect production from a Swiss moviemaker (Michael Steiner) targeting the limited home market of just 7 million potential spectators. Editor and co-script writer Tobias Fueter told Swissinfo that the film is "a faithful recreation of events leading to the demise of Switzerland's former national airline, despite utilizing a large dollop of creative license." And he added that "there is a fear that we could face legal action, but we tried to be as truthful as possible." I think he did a tremendous job.

Historical news clips and discussion forums were edited as authentical documentation of many juicy details which lead to the bankruptcy of the so-called "flying bank". Heart breaking stories of two families were plotted into this historical context. It was casted and performed so well that one could actually get convinced that it all happened just that way.

The question arose whether this movie could reveal new evidence on who were the “bad guys” who led to the downfall of this prestigeous national carrier. I was particularly interested in new light shed on the part that UBS played and whether the bank could be blamed for the chaos on this historical October 2, 2001. The portrayal of UBS CEO Marcel Ospel (Gilles Tschudi) as the local endorser of Basel's airline Crossair in an unfriendly competition against Mario Corti (Hanspeter Müller-Drossaart), Director of the board of Sair Group and CEO of the Zurich based national airline Swissair, was quite delicate but plausible.

The focal point of the movie were the last days of Swissair. At the time, the worst rivals in business, Crossair (in Basel) and Swissair (in Zuerich), were integrated in one group, Sair Group. Corti, in his vision for a merged operation of all flight operations of the group without reducing the fleet, kept trying to strengthen his good terms with the CEO of Crossair, Moritz Suter, László I. Kish. It didn't work out...

UBS' Ospel demanded from Corti before 9/11 to sell the profitable companies of non-airline businesses like catering and logistics among many other restructuring (unpopular cuts of jobs) in order to secure liquidity to survive. When Corti repeatedly refused to take his advice which finally included the sale of the group's stake into Crossair, Ospel changed sides. The FACTS magazine just confirmed that one particular line was spoken exactly from Ospel's heart. "The whole matter is getting to delicate to handle ( Die Sache wird mir langsam zu heiss)", he muttered in the movie and in real life. One could get from the plotted meetings in the movie that Corti lost his last chance. So I don't agree that Ospel was simply the bad guy and Corti the good guy in the movie. (FACTS later commented the memorandum by order of Karl Wüthrich, attorney-at-law and final administrator of Swissair Group, which confirmed exactly this for Corti not flattering fact).

What is a reverse takeover anyway? Can it be fair? How could one expect from a bank to invest in transactions worth billions of Dollars with the pure motive to save Swiss aviation no matter what the cost? That was exactly what the Swiss did expect from the key Swiss banks between 9/11 and grounding date 10/02! "Grounding" shows how, in the last days, Corti made desparate pleas to UBS, Credit Suisse and the Swiss federal government to forward extra cash to keep the wings of the fleet of Swissair up in the air. One could also see how people took to the streets, venting out their anger against the banks.

Now this is what came out so clearly in the movie as the last happenings before the grounding. UBS, in a seeming conspiracy with Suter, managed to force Corti to sell the group's stake into Crossair . UBS later dictated with a 51% financial stake in the reverse billion Franc takeover deal where the money had to go and obviously didn’t care too much about an "ICU" treatment to keep the ongoing flight schedules of Swissair intact. UBS was out of the struggling group and into Crossair now! When finally cash flew from the pending transactions after legalistic bargaining, it was too late.

Suddenly, everyone demanded cash, after chapter-11-ish “Nachlassstundung” for Sair Group was broadcasted one day before the grounding. The project “Phoenix out of the ashes” revealed itself as such. Swissair was killed in order for Crossair and with it Swiss aviation to survive! But the takeover of Swissair’s long distance flights by the former daughter and freshly capitalized Crossair cost billions of tax money.

By the way: the not very loved "iron face" who presented himself to the media (a few days after the grounding) as the saviour of Swiss aviation, Marcel Ospel, is the only survivor in business up until now. Or is there another one? Matthias Molleney had the task to cut 8000 jobs as the personnel manager. He was later hired for "Grounding" as a consultant to secure the authenticity of board meeting scenes, but he ended up playing himself (See trailer).

It is my wish that everybody gets to see this movie in English who doesn’t speak (Swiss) German or French. Do you agree that there should be an English version for movie houses abroad?

UPDATES:

If you understand Swiss German, French or Italian, you may buy the newly released DVD
here

Der Kinospielfilm GROUNDING - DIE LETZTEN TAGE DER SWISSAIR wird am 18. und 19. Oktober 2007 (20.00 Uhr bzw. 17.30 Uhr) am Filmfestival Münster gezeigt (Schweizerdeutsches Original mit englischen Untertiteln).

Der Film wird im Rahmen des "Europäischen Spielfilmwettbewerbs" gezeigt und ist für die "Beste Regie" nominiert, einem mit 10 000 dotierten Preis.

Good news if you are an English speaker:

The movie GROUNDING - THE LAST DAYS OF SWISSAIR - will be shown at the Filmfestival Munster, Filmfestival Munster (Germany), for the first time with English subtitles, on October 18 and 19, 2007, at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.

The film will be shown in the premises of the European Contest of Feature Films (Europäischer Spielfilmwettbewerb), and has been nominated for "Best Production" (beste Regie).

...ist aber auch für alle anderen im Englischen bewandten Europäern, die mit Schweizerdeutsch, Französich und Italienisch wenig anfangen können, eine gute Nachricht:

Der Kinospielfilm GROUNDING - DIE LETZTEN TAGE DER SWISSAIR wird am 18. und 19. Oktober 2007 (20.00 Uhr bzw. 17.30 Uhr) am Filmfestival Münster gezeigt (Schweizerdeutsches Original mit englischen Untertiteln).

Der Film wird im Rahmen des "Europäischen Spielfilmwettbewerbs" gezeigt und ist für die "Beste Regie" nominiert, einem mit 10 000 dotierten Preis.