December 16, 2009

In front of Migros on Meierhofplatz, kreis 10, can you buy a Christmas tree imported from Denmark nicely put into a net using the tube on the photo above. Apparently Denmark is a huge exporter of Christmas trees even though I personally have never seen anything close to a forest in Denmark. It is somehow ironic that the trees are transported all the way from Denmark as Copenhagen is trying hard to become the symbol of environmentalism. Trying hard but so far we have not seen anything promising coming out from the conference, only a polarization between the rich and the poor countries. Both sides think that the other part should take the burden of saving the planet. They have three days left but you have to be a very stubborn optimist to still believe that anything fruitful will come out of this.

Another chapter in the Swiss-against-the-world-saga has just started. As the last one in a long row of countries trying to get their hands on escaped tax-money kept safe in Switzerland due to the bank secrecy, France is now using illegally obtained lists of bank accounts from a Swiss bank to get hold of their fraudsters.

December 8, 2009

A misty morning on Hönggerberg, kreis 10. Unfortunately I forgot the UV-filter at home so I did not manage to capture the magic.

The conference on the climate in Copenhagen started on Monday. So much hope is being put into this conference, some people call it the last chance to save the earth before it goes under due to the global warming. If the politicians take the threat seriously let's hope that they really get to make some important decisions. At the time being I have the impression that the pressure on saving the planet is mainly lying on the shoulders of us as individuals when the real burden should be placed on companies and be guided by political decisions. However, there is no reason to worry about the planet, the planet will always survive. It is the human species that might get erased, that's all.

Tomorrow Barack Obama will receive the Nobel peace prize. Many voices has been raised against it as he does not yet deserve it and that he has recently sent 30'000 more soldiers into Afghanistan. However, I don't really see that he has got much choice as he has inherited all these problems from the Bush-administration. I really think that he deserves the price anyway, he has decided to close down Guantanamo and is clearly pushing for a peaceful solution in the middle east. His visions are clearly peaceful and his election gave to the world something that we so badly needed, hope of a better future.

December 2, 2009

In Kreis 5 around Langstrasse you can find the shops selling all the things you didn't know that you didn't need.

Switzerland is not living its most glorious days. After having once again shown their intolerance towards other cultures by voting for an interdiction for the building of minarets last Sunday the problems are building up internationally as well as within the country. Countries all over the world are condemning the outcome of the voting, from Muslim countries as well from the European Union. Switzerland is adding another brick to the wall isolating them from the rest of the world. It will be interesting to see the economical impact of the now even worsened reputation of Switzerland. Many Muslim countries are encouraging people to withdraw their investments in Switzerland. However, business is business and so far I have never heard of an idealistic businessman no matter what religion he's from, so as long as it is profitable I guess that the money will stay in the country.

The internal problem that Switzerland is now facing is where they should go from here. Is it possible to accept the vote and install the interdiction? It is against the Swiss constitution, the human rights and freedom of religion. Democracy is supposed to be secondary in the country after the Rechtsstaat. This means that the will of the people are never allowed to win over the fundamental values defined in the constitution, to prevent tyranny of the masses. However, it is not trivial to go against the public will within the country. What probably will happen is that the people building minarets will get their case tested in the European Court of Human Rights where the right to build the minarets will be approved.

In the end, this whole voting had very little to do with minarets and more about the prejudices against Muslims in Switzerland. The people who started this initiative have won nothing but a well earned sea of troubles. The Swiss government has done a huge mistake in allowing this voting to take place as they knew already from the start that a positive outcome would be anti-constitutional. The second part to blame for this situation is the 48% of the people with the right to vote who didn't show up at the ballots Sunday.

My remark above that business is business was also shown in the elections last Sunday. Everybody is against a war but when it comes to protecting Swiss jobs the Swiss (or at least the 52% who actually made the effort of voting) still chose to continue the weapon export.