Same procedure as every year. At least: the same procedure as last year.

I am celebrating New Year's eve in Zurich again. On the lake of Zurich with its firework at midnight I'll herald the New Year along with friends.

Today's party theme is 'pure 80s'. And that is why the song Happy New Year by ABBA seems appropriate.

Ribonuff, a steady reader of my posts, noticed that I have not blogged about Rachelle for a long time. How come, you may wonder.

I have had a plan, and still have a plan - which, to my disappointment, has not yet fulfilled its purpose.

There are multiple answers to why I stopped blogging about her. I must say that Rachelle is still on my mind. Very instensly, in fact. It is nothing to do with her. So much for now.

When I wrote about my room mate, Ben, I tried to outline that he has been inclined to take a part in controlling other people's lives. According to my personal judgement, he strives to gain more control than other people do; more than many do, yet more than almost everybody else does. Sadly, I might add, he not always influences other people for their very best; but, rather for his own benefit.

This is the way he works. I do not blame him for doing this, but obviously I do not like him do this with me. (Ben: Sorry if I'm all wrong here.)

For instance, he has repeatedly claimed that he has not and would never give my blog's name or url to anybody else since he learnt about it. I am uncertain of whether this is true. After all, he has repeatedly used information from my blog posts during fights and has sometimes behaved in a way he could only have wheh knowing this blog.

And then, there's Nero, my other room mate. He often acts like a manqué amateur actor who dreams of studying with a professional drama school, like Lee Strasberg, to get the basics. I wonder whether it's the professionals duty to aid those at a dead loss?

At this stage, is it coprehensive why I choose not to 'say' too much?

My dreams and feelings about Rachelle are so strong and intense, so precious to me that I often feel fear and choose not to disclose any information whatsoever that may be related to her.

It is a way of protecting myself, my own feelings and values, that leads me to do this.

A game theoretic explanation of why there are no unisex bathrooms in Switzerland, and Europe in general

In the two preceding posts I outlined why men's rooms are dirty, and why women stand in line in front of ladies' rooms. Imagine what unisex bathrooms would look like: Every visitor would have to wait in line in order to visit a dirty restroom. Unlike certain restrooms in Scandinavia, in Switzerland you only have either a dirty restroom, or you have to wait. This is the perfect explanation for why the majority of restrooms are gender-specific.

What reasons are there to have unisex bathrooms? In Scandinavia, people argue it would be "unfair" if men had to wait for a shorter time simply because they are men. Social costs need to be evenly distributed between both genders, do they not?

Let us examine this argument in more detail. When changing from separated bathrooms to unisex bathrooms, men are worse off in any case: The bathrooms will not be tidier while waiting time increases. Women face an advantage and a disadvantage: While bathrooms get dirtier, waiting time decreases because fast men are added. We do not know whether an individual woman prefers to wait for a tidy bathroom, or get faster to a dirtier bathroom - there is no dominant relation between the two alternatives. I believe women generally like the fast dirty bathrooms equally, at most.

Regardless, unisex bathrooms would most likely become slow, dirty bathrooms. Due to the separation by single cabins, men would be in the same situation like women and therefore become slower. Existing unisex bathrooms are proof of this theory as men choose not to sit (too dirty), but still take more time than at the open urinal.



It is obvious that both groups are worse off with unisex bathrooms; in the best case, women are equal while men are worse off. For this reason, the argument of "fairness" does not hold water: Both groups are now in the equal situation, just in the equally bad situation. Social costs have not been equally distributed, but new ones have been created.


(The antecedent remarks are based on game theory, a branch of applied mathematics that is often used in the context of economics. The writing of my article was greatly inspired by Prof. Dr. Christian Rieck, a german professor who specializes in game theory. Visit his website at www.spieltheorie.de)

A game theoretic approach to the problem of why women need to wait in front of bathroom cabins

Ladies' rooms are allegedly cleaner than men's - this does not suprise us since we know about the dilemma relating the distance to the urinal. The ladies' dilemma takes place in front of the door. It's the ubiquitous line because the single cabins are occupied for an endless long time. Every lady is upset by this fact, but by the time it's her turn she gets no benefit from hurrying. This is why she takes her time.

As a critical femal reader you are most certainly argueing there's a biological reason why they spend more time in a bathroom cabin. This is untrue. If women hurry they need in fact less time than men because of their minor flow rate (ask an urologist for more information).

Therefore it is not biological. It is rather the high speed which is related to more effort - exactly as with men who would have to take an extra effort to check the floor before deciding what distance to the urinal to choose. Hence, John Nash is in the ladies' room, too.


(The antecedent remarks are based on game theory, a branch of applied mathematics that is often used in the context of economics. The writing of my article was greatly inspired by Prof. Dr. Christian Rieck, a german professor who specializes in game theory. Visit his website at www.spieltheorie.de)

Why are men's rooms always dirty? Could not we all simply stand closer in order to avoid the problem? Everybody would be better of this way. Correct - but...

What is a single man's benefit of standing closer to the urinal? In the best case, his benefit is that the man behind him does not get wet feet (if only it was 'wet'). In the worst case, his 'benefit' is that he himself is standing in his forerunner's urin which he will not discover without close examination. This is especially upsetting if you have to stand in front of the urinal barefoot (as, for instance, in a swimming pool's restrooms).

Regardless of whether the forerunner was standing too far from the urinal: You are always better off not standing close (a close examination of the floor is already more time-consuming than simply standing at a footstep's distance). It is the dominant strategy to keep distance.



This situation is called a prisoners' dilemma; everybody chooses the dominant strategy even though everybody is worse off. Guests of men's rooms behave just the same way.


(The antecedent remarks are based on game theory, a branch of applied mathematics that is often used in the context of economics. The writing of my article was greatly inspired by Prof. Dr. Christian Rieck, a german professor who specializes in game theory. Visit his website at www.spieltheorie.de)

In the pool with a flannel suit


Do you like to wear three piece, grey flannel suits and a tie? I do not. I even do not know anybody who claims to love to wear them. But I know many who wear them, and many who want others to wear them. But, why is this?

Imagine the situation of a middle manager who is about to hire a new employee: He wants somebody who takes a lot of work from him and who does not cause a any trouble.

A creative worker thinks for himself, critizies, has new ideas, tries many things and is inattentive to details because he needs his time for important issues, not the the red tape. He is every supervisor's of the middle management nightmare when he offends people, bothers them with new ideas, and loses one or the other form. This is why this kind of people hardly have a chance to be hired. A supervisor certainly prefers a harmless, uncreative worker.

A harmless, uncreative worker is gray. You will recognize him by his gray suit, a gray shirt, and a time. Fortunately, these prominent features have one important characteristic: they are unsafe for counterfeit. Therefore, a colored worker can easily pass for a gray worker: by wearing a gray suit, a gray shirt, and a tie. And that is what they do. We now understand why all business people walk around so gray.

In game theory, this is called a "pooling equilibrium in a signalizing game". A signalizing game is a game in which a player knows more about himself than his opponent. He can send a signal from which the opponent may learn something from his secret knowledge. While sometimes the signal does include information about the secret knowledge, in other games the players hide in a "pool" wheareas they camouflage so well that the signal does not contain any information. This is exactly what suit wearers do: They hinde behind uncreativeness. Even if they are in fact creative they can easily camouflage by sending the gray signal.



In short, the message of the gray suit and tie is: "I am truly small and gray. I will well-behavedly do my work and will not protest. Even if in fact I were not gray I am at least willing to redeem my feeling of self-worth inasmuch as to behave as gray as you are just experiencing me. You will definitely want to hire such a well-behaved human being!"

At this point, we know why all business people are gray and wear a tie. (By the way, we also know why the fairly successful and the fairly unsuccessul do not.) What we do not know yet, however, is why everybody is walking around gray, but constantly insists not to want to.

The answer is quite easy: Nobody likes to admit to really be uncreative and gray. In their private life, they prefer to appear colored and creative even if they in fact are not. Fortunately, this is no problem at all since they can argue as follows: "Of course I do not like ties, but my business colleagues who are all so awfully gray and uncreative want me to wear a tie. I do in order not to be at risk. In order not to run a risk of any kind, I will have my team do it as well."

Since everybody has to camouflage in gray, ad libitum each can claim to be truly gray or colored. The best part is that everybody may now feel colored on the inside while being allowed to appear gray because if those who are colored and creative do it this way. Thanks to the pooling equilibrium!

At this stage, I am interested in a rather empirical question: What is the true proportion of gray and colored? Perhaps there is a bone-crushing majority of colored, and nobody realizes it?


(The antecedent remarks are based on game theory, a branch of applied mathematics that is often used in the context of economics. The writing of my article was greatly inspired by Prof. Dr. Christian Rieck, a german professor who specializes in game theory. Visit his website at www.spieltheorie.de)

Actor Bea Arthur, best known for playing Dorothy on The Golden Girls, narrated PETA’s “Kentucky Fried Cruelty” video, which illustrates the worst abuses suffered by chickens at the hands of KFC’s factory-farm and slaughterhouse suppliers. Bea also lent her talents to 30- and 60-second radio and TV public service announcements calling on consumers to boycott KFC until it agrees to make changes in the treatment of the animals raised for its restaurants.

Transcript

Hello, I’m Bea Arthur, with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. You may have heard of the Kernel's Secret Recipe? But you probably have no idea what goes into the making of a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken’s fried chicken. Sadly, the main ingredient is cruelty.

The more than 700 million chickens raised each year for Kentucky Fried Chicken are treated like meat machines, not animals. They’re crammed by the tens of thousands into sheds, their throats burn as they try to breathe air filled with ammonia fumes from accumulated waste. They routinely suffer broken bones from being bred to be top heavy, from rough handling, and from being shackled upside down at the slaughterhouse.

Many chickens are still conscious as their throats are cut, or when they’re dumped into tanks of scalding hot water to have their feathers removed. When they’re killed, chickens are still babies not yet 2 months old out of a natural life span of 10 to 15 years. These chickens never feel the sun on their backs or the earth beneath their feet.


Debeaking

Despite Kentucky Fried Chicken’s claims, parent birds on supplier farms have their beaks chopped off soon after they’re hatched. This horribly painful procedure can make eating excruciating for weeks and the shock of it sometimes kills the birds. Cutting a beak off is not like trimming your nails, it’s like having the tips of your fingers chopped off. The pain goes on for weeks and can even result in slow starvation.


Lame and Crippled Chickens

Because broiler chickens are bred and drugged in order to grow at an unusually fast pace, the birds become so fat so quickly, that their bodies cannot keep up. Their hearts, lungs, and other organs find it difficult to support their massive size and can fail. Their weak legs cannot support their heavy chests and often snap underneath them resulting in lameness.


Catching of Chickens

Catching the birds for transport to slaughter is extremely harmful to them, when done by poorly paid workers. The catchers gather four or five birds at a time and violently hurl them into crates, often breaking their bones and bruising them.


Slaughter of Chickens

When KFC chickens arrive at the slaughterhouse, they’re dumped out of their transport crates, and their weak, bruised, or broken legs are snapped into metal shackles. The birds are then run through an electric stun bath. The company will often set the voltage in the stun bath so low that the birds are not rendered and sensible to pain and, instead, often suffer painful shocks before they’re stunned. The birds then have their throats slit. Finally, they’re dumped into a tank of scalding water to remove their feathers. Some birds are still alive and conscious through the entire, frightening, and painful procedure.


We need your help to convince KFC to take some key steps to reduce the suffering inflicted on these gentle animals. Please, visit KentuckyFriedCruelty.com to learn what you can do to help, and please, call 1-888-VEG-FOOD for a free Vegetarian Starter Kit.

Thank you.

During the past holidays I've had a lot of time to think about the new year that is around the corner.

I wonder what 2008 holds for me. Certainly, a major shift - at least geographically - will take place by the end of February. Up to now I have shared an apartment with 2 fellow students. As two of us will graduate in early 2008 we are going to part companionship.

One of the guys, let us call him Ben, has been a dear friend of mine for over three years. We have had good times as well as bad times.

Like I said, I consider him to be a very dear friend of mine. And as it goes with bosom buddies, my relationship to him has been affected by pride, prejudices, distrust, envy, and yealousy.

A theme song from the movie Mame precisely describes such a relationship in a quaint manner.



Bosom Buddies
by Bea Arthur and Angela Lansbury

Vera and Mame:
[singing]
We'll always be bosom buddies,
Friends, sisters and pals;
We'll always be bosom buddies,
If life should reject you,
There's me to protect you.

Vera:
If I say that your tongue is vicious,

Mame:
If I call you uncouth;

Vera and Mame:
It's simply that who else but a bosom buddy
Will sit down and tell you the truth.

Vera:
[speaking]
Tho' now and again I'm aware that my candid opinion may sting,

Mame:
Tho' often my frank observation might scald;
I've been meanin' to tell you for years
You should keep your hair natural like mine.

Vera:
If I kept my hair natural like yours, I'd be bald.
[singing]
But darling,

Vera and Mame:
We'll always be dear companions,

Vera:
My crony,

Mame:
My mate;

Vera and Mame:
We'll always be harmonizing,

Vera:
Orphan Annie and Sandy,

Vera and Mame:
Like Amos and Andy.

Vera:
If I say that your sense of style's as far as off as your youth;
It's simply that who else but a bosom buddy
Will tell you the whole stinkin' truth.

Mame:
[speaking]
Each time that a critic has written, "Your voice is the voice of a frog!"
Straight to your side to defend you I rush;
You know that I'm there ev'ry time that the world makes and unkind
remark.
When they say "Vera Charles is the world's greatest lush!"
[singing]
It hurts me!

Vera:
And if I say your fangs are showing,
Mame, pull in your claws,
It's simply that who else but a bosom buddy
Will notice the obvious flaws!

Mame:
[speaking]
I feel it's my duty to tell you it's time to adjust to your age;
You try to be "Peg O' My Heart", when you're "Lady Macbeth."
Exactly how old are you, Vera? The truth!

Vera:
Well, how old do you think?

Mame:
I'd say somewhere in between forty and the death!

Vera and Mame:
[singing]
But sweetie,

Vera:
I'll always be Alice Toklas,
If you'll be Gertrude Stein.
And tho' I'll admit I've dished you,
I've gossiped and gloated,
But I'm so devoted.

Mame:
And if I say that sex and guts made you into a star,
It's simply that who else but a bosom buddy
Will tell you how rotten you are.

Vera and Mame:
Just turn your bosom buddy
For aid and affection,
For help and direction,
For loyalty, love and for sooth!
Remember that who else but a bosom buddy
Will sit down and level
And give you the devil,
Will sit down and tell you the truth!

Before
It actually starts
It really gets going
It is truly here

Christmas seems everywhere
Stores have sold for weeks
In the name of
And on behalf of
Christmas

My sister
Completely grief stricken
Thinking back at times
When spending the holidays
With her beloved soul mate

All over now
All past now
All gone now

So, almighty Christmas
Now you tell me
What are you
All about?

I keep wondering

after posts which might be found
unspecial understandably
a new one
all about me
all personal -- all authentic

my life and the currents of my life

today's 2 exams are all done
book sciences
an essay on ragtime and waterland
all behind

it feels great to have done
accomplished something
a great amount of prepartion had been involved

reading books, sparknotes
watching the ragtime musical, a pbs special about it

yet still hardship is present
more than ever my life

mentioning 'understandably'
another time: cannot be uttered
yet?

Business ethics has become the topic of the hour, partly because recent accounting scandals (e.g., Enron, and WorldCom) have left the world in dismay. The change in global climate, growing differences between the western and the developing world, and other major concerns have called attention to companies’ ethical responsibilities. Even though mankind has been concerned about ethical behavior for several millennia, the link between ethics and business is quite new.

In a time when the vast majority of people in Switzerland need not worry about having enough food anymore, it has become important to them under what circumstances the goods and services they consume were produced. Most consumers feel it is not fair to maintain a high living standard at the expense of suppliers who cannot afford to enjoy western comforts and amenities. Sympathy for those in need has become more intense than ever: While several centuries ago people in Switzerland counted themselves lucky if they simply had enough food, many consumers are now greatly concerned whether the goods they purchase were produced ethically.

Whether it is Max Havelaar which stands for fair trade, Bio Suisse which guarantees organic cultivation, or Qualivo which assures animals’ health and happiness – labels that provide information on the production process of a good have come to fashion a new world of consumer awareness.

As William H. Shaw has observed, it is important to follow our moral principals in the business context. Companies should take consumers’ claims regarding ethical issues seriously as their (un)ethical comportment affects purchasing decisions. Because of the fact that customers are the only source economic profit can be made, a company’s ethical commitment may decide on its economic success.

Companies which intend to act ethically face the crucial question of what ethical behavior actually stands for in practice. A glance at the history of ethics shows that answers to this question provided in antiquity, medieval times, and modern times are confusingly different.


Due to the lack of longtime experience with business ethics, there is no magic formula that can successfully turn companies into ethical partners of our society. It is a fact, however, that customers’ interest in a company’s ethical commitment is increasing. The near future will prove business ethics’ ongoing relevance and clarify the patterns to be followed by companies.

(Based on an essay written in January, 2006)

not much time for blogging
this weekend
my 1st exam is tomorrow
2 more 2 go on thursday

making my bones
as they say in NY
love this expression

off again

Since my last post, there has been a lot of news. The most important to me (and you may not fully understand this) is, I bought a skateboard. Inspite of. And by inspite of I mean; inspite of what other people may think. Inspite of whether I will often use it.



At age 22, studying at a reknowned business school, having previously worked in the P/E industry, people would not expect me to become a skateboarder, at this stage of life. Well, let's see.

During the next three weeks, I will sit three exams. One on Distribution & Channel Management (very interesting, by the way), another one on the Book Sciences (ok), and an essay on the novels Waterland and Ragtime.

And after the following week; guess what? I will be returning to my Sister's for Christmas time. And somewhere between Christmas and New Year's Eve, sometime between these comforting days of the old year passing by, I'll watch out for a skatepark.

To see how brave and courageous a guy I am to first ride down one of the ramps. I am so excited.

(Can anybody understand, by the way?!)

readers have written in
complained about my changing focus
not true
all i can say
so many different areas of interest i have

a reading corner has been added
everybody can watch american tv now
all for free, not my commercials there
proven true
- two things i truly adore

plan on writing book reviews in the future
if time allows
but for now
college and exams come first
time is rare

and so - longevity
personal word of the day
implies strength and growth
thinking about fairness lately
not just because

but because
of numerous reasons -
why make each other's lives a misery
when it needn't be
shouldn't be i wonder

and so
personal lumps
have made me understand
why fairness often
should be thought about

the betrayed often say
retaliate
at all cost
not to be left behind
not to be shown weak

and there i go
following other people's path
all has been lived before
to learn for myself
if they were truly on the right path

Joy Behar, co-host of the ABC daytime talk show The View, speaks out on the show's success, on the Rosie feud with Elisabeth Hasselbeck, on Donald Trump telling her she had no talent, and, of course, on her new book, When you need a Lift, But Don't Want to Eat Chocolate, Pay a Shrink, Or Drink a Bottle of Gin.

Rosie O'Donnell is a TV celebrity in the United States, however not well known in Europe and in Switzerland, in particular.

Comedienne O'Donnell started touring standup clubs in 1979 and got discovered by Star Search in 1984.

In 1996, O'Donnell started her own daytime talk show, named The Rosie O'Donnell show. The show proved extremely successful, winning multiple Emmy awards.

An openly gay American celebrity, O'Donnell joined ABC talk show The View in September, 2006, replacing Meredith Vieira as a co-host. A downside of O'Donnell's generally being spontaneous and putting her views in front of a national audience was that comments of her were recirculated by other media outlets.

Rosie O'Donnell found an argument partner in Elisabeth Hasselbeck, a catholic, right-wing conservative who formerly was cast in Survivor: The Australian Outback.

It was a dispute with Elisabeth Hasselbeck over American war policy that was the last straw for O'Donnell to leave The View. Rosie O'Donnell had previously uttered controversial comments on many other issues and people including Donald Trump, Kelly Ripa, 9/11, 7 WTC, and conspiracy theories.

Have a look at an excerpt of The View which would make O'Donnell leave the show:



Rosie O'Donnell published her latest book in October 2008, Celebrity Detox, in which she describes her journey throughout her appearance on the show.

Simply choose your favorite category and TV channel using the listboxes.
The volume can be controlled by right-clicking the video.
Double-clicking the video will give you a full-screen video.


As Europeans cannot watch American TV channels on their TV, I would like to share this gadget with you. It allows you to watch live American TV Channels from anywhere in the world. In my opinion, the broadcast quality is just great. All for free, of course.

Channels include Fox5, Fox News, ABC, CBS, CBC, BBC, Discovery Channel, Madface TV, MTV, and many others.