guy's mind

Richard Dawkins on BBC's Hardtalk

2009-03-30T07:01:00.002+02:00

"For too long atheism has been the belief system that dare not speak its name," so says my guest today; a world renowned scientist who has set out to debunk the world's monotheistic religions. His book, The God Delusion, has sold more than a million copies and prompted a deluge of criticism.

Is this brand of muscular atheism any less fundamentalist than the religions it seeks to replace?

Simply the Best

2008-09-26T00:04:00.003+02:00

Tina Turner

I call you when I need you, my heart's on fire
You come to me, come to me wild and wired
When you come to me
Give me everything I need

You're simply the best, better than all the rest
Better than anyone, anyone I've ever met
I'm stuck on your heart, and hang on every word you say
Tear us apart, baby I would rather be dead

Each time you leave me I start losing control
You're walking away with my heart and my soul
I can feel you even when I'm alone
Oh baby, don't let go

You're the best, better than all the rest
Better than anyone, anyone I've ever met
I'm stuck on your heart, and hang on every word you say
Tear us apart, baby I would rather be dead

Oh, You're the best...

You're the best, better than all the rest
Better than anyone, anyone I've ever met
I'm stuck on your heart, and hang on every word you say
Tear us apart, baby I would rather be dead

Oh, You're the best...

Breakin' Free

2008-09-04T23:56:00.002+02:00

This is from HSM 1 - High School Musical 3, as you may know, is about to hit the box office.

Zac Efron(Troy Bolton):
We're soarin'
Flyin'
There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach

Vannesa Anne Hudgens(Gabriella Montez):
If we're tryin'
So we're breakin' free

Zac(Troy):
You know the world can see us
In a way that's different than who we are

Vannesa(Gabriella):
Creatin' space between us
Till we separate hearts

(Both):
But your faith it gives me strength
Strength to believe

Zac(Troy):
We're breakin' free

Vannesa(Gabriella):
We're soarin'

Zac(Troy):
Flyin'

(Both):
There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach

Zac(Troy):
If we're tryin'

(Both):
Yeah
We're breakin' free

Zac(Troy):
Ho
We're breakin' free

Vannesa(Gabriella):
Oooh
Oooh

Zac(Troy):
Can you feel it building
Like a wave the ocean just can't control

Vannesa(Gabriella):
Connected by a feelin'

(Both):
Oooh

Vannesa(Gabriella):
In our very soul

Zac(Troy):
Very soul
Oooh
Oooh

(Both):
Risin' till it lifts us up
So everyone can see

Zac(Troy):
We're breakin' free

Vannesa(Gabriella):
We're soarin'

Zac(Troy):
Flyin'

(Both):
There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach

Zac(Troy):
If we're tryin'

(Both):
Yeah
We're breakin' free

Zac(Troy):
Ho
We're breakin' free

Vannesa(Gabriella):
Oooh
Oooh
Runnin'

Zac(Troy):
Climbin'
To get to the place to

(Both):
Be all that we can be

Zac(Troy):
Now's the time

(Both):
So
We're breakin' free

Zac(Troy):
We're breakin' free

Vannesa(Gabriella):
Oooh

(Both):
Yeah

Zac(Troy):
More than hope
More than faith

Vannesa(Gabriella):
This is true
This is fate
And together

(Both):
We see it comin'

Zac(Troy):
More than you
More than me

Vannesa(Gabriella)
Not a want
But a need

(Both)
Both of us
Breakin' free.......

Vannesa(Gabriella)
Soarin'

Zac(Troy)
Flyin'

(Both)
There's not a star in
Heaven that we can't reach
If we're tryin'

Zac(Troy)
Yeah
We're breakin' free

Vannesa(Gabriella)
Breakin' free
We're runnin'

Zac(Troy)
Oooh
Climbin'

(Both)
To get to the place to be all that we can be
Now's the time

Zac(Troy)
Now's the time

Vannesa(Gabriella)
So we're breakin' free

Zac(Troy)
Oh
We're breakin' free

Vannesa(Gabriella)
Aah..

(Both)
You know the world can see us
In a way that's different that who we are........

Dont'cha

2008-08-15T18:14:00.000+02:00

Have one of these moments
- every now and then
lost in thoughts
lost in thinking

Is this who I am?
Is this what I do?

What is fun?
What is best?

A constant feeling
- always wanting to excel
Excel at what you do
No - excel what you do

Me
Me - me - me
Started golfing
Stuck-up environment

I knew.
Is this fun.
Yes, the sport is fun.
People are, too.

Perhaps, we are supposed to
- To feel comfortable in one social group
Stay where you are.
Where you've landed.

To pretend
- Often does not work
Playin' flashy - won't work
More importantly - nor does the opposite

So why not
Live life
as you can
when and if you can

Landslide

2008-08-10T17:20:00.003+02:00

I love this song.

Pefect for one of these nights, after reading a book that makes you think. Man's Search for Meaning - by Viktor E. Frankl.

I took my love, I took it down
I climbed a mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills
'Til the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I'm getting older, too

Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I'm getting older, too
Oh, I'm getting older, too

Oh, take my love, take it down
Oh, climb a mountain and turn around
And if you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills
Well, the landslide will bring it down

And if you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills...
Well, the landslide will bring it down
Oh, the landslide'll bring it down

Obviousy

2008-07-30T23:48:00.002+02:00

What can I say.
Really.

How would anyone else feel
- in my position.

Excited.
Happy.
Prancy.
Lucky.
Fearful.

Leaving my home country
My environment
My past - in part
For eighteen months

Although
My job
My opportunity
Tailor-made

Temporary home

2008-07-27T17:16:00.002+02:00

As I announced some time ago, I am going to work in the States for over a year. I made plans on where exactly to live yesterday, and here is some images I can share with you guys:

This is the living room:

And here is the kitchen:

I have not received images of bedrooms yet.

I Wont Back Down

2008-06-27T16:46:00.000+02:00

by Tom Petty

Well I won't back down
No I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down

No I'll stand my ground, won't be turned around
And I'll keep this world from draggin me down
gonna stand my ground
... and I won't back down

Chorus:
(I won't back down...)
Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out
(and I won't back down...)
hey I will stand my ground
and I won't back down

Well I know what's right, I got just one life
in a world that keeps on pushin me around
but I'll stand my ground
...and I won't back down

(I won't back down...)
Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out
(and I won't back down...)
hey I will stand my ground
(I won't back down)
and I won't back down...

(I won't back down...)
Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out
(I won't back down)
hey I won't back down
(and I won't back down)
hey baby, there ain't no easy way out
(and I won't back down)
hey I will stand my ground
(and I won't back down)
and I won't back down
(I won't back down)
No I won't back down...

So much news

2008-06-26T23:36:00.001+02:00

To all of my readers who have kept returning without finding a new post; well, here it is. Finally :-) And, there is so much news. Well, let's see if I get to cover it all.

I want to clear things up by saying that there are several reasons why I stopped blogging on a regular basis. First of all, the reason which made me start in the first place is no longer around, the operative word being around, geographically. I am thinking ... is it truly reason or reasons?

In addition, I am doing a lot better than in my early blogging days. Some 'issues' are still in the back of my head -- but you can't always get what you want, right?

I've just had a quick look at some of the older posts I wrote. In retrospect, some things seem clearer than upfront. I hate to go into all the would, shoulda, coulda line, but some things I feel I could have done differently.

Summer has finally arrived where I live. It's going to take my thyroid some time to adjust - but I guess we're all on the same boat on this one. I cannot wait to get more of it. All the sun, the warm weather, going swimming, it's perfect. I guess some people really are more of a summer type than others.

And that's why I hope to be going to calif soon. A dear friend of mine is actively presenting me to companies the minute I'm writing this, can you believe this? I'm so lucky. We reworked my CV so that it's competitive in the US labor market. I had no idea it was that different. So, now we're in contact with two companies interested, he said there were more to come.

In the meantime, I got to finally, finally, finally get rid of the armed forces. No nothing is what I need submit to. Thanks to my enthusiasm for running some years ago.

Upon review, this is a rather crappy post. I will take it up at a later stage and call it a night.

Mixed Martial Arts

2008-06-25T12:28:00.002+02:00

Is not martial arts a great way to get in touch with your body, get a better body feeling and self consciousness, and get fitter and healthier all at the same time?

I have always believed that human beings were born to move. By move I am trying to outline a human’s need for physical education. The farther we look back on the history of our ancestors, we clearly see that they all lived in nature and that couch potatoes are rather a phenomenon of our time.

In order to get started with mixed martial arts, you will need the right MMA Gear. The best spot to grab your gear is groundandpound.com. I can highly recommend their online store as they have the real gear for real fighters!

For instance, if you are interested in cage fighting you will need a pair of MMA Gloves. They are the best.

From my own experience, I can say that if you do not have the right gear for the sport you want to try, it will not be fun. Therefore, it is truly important.

When watching sports on TV the other day, I noticed that the sports stars wear exactly the same gear.

Make money as a FOREX Affiliate?

2008-06-03T10:31:00.000+02:00

Well, the short answer as to whether to be a FOREX affiliate will make you money is, yes and no!

If you are willing to put some effort and time in and don't give up for a couple of weeks you can earn an almost endless pot of money from promoting Forex products and services as an affiliate.

If you are going to quit just because you haven't had a user sign up within the first few weeks then the answer is probably no, you can't make money promoting Forex.

Promoting FOREX products is a niche. That is why many webmasters believe it just doesn't convert. Rubbish. ANY niche can convert if you put the effort in. Fortunately for people like you and me - every person who decides this niche is not for them is leaving more money on the table for us.

Avoid bad FOREX programs

The thing you should also be aware of are scamming Forex affiliate programs. Forex is well known for less than 'above-board' companies.

I should know, I was scammed by a Forex affiliate program. I sent them several sales in a few months and never got the $1,500 they owed me despite several phone calls and emails.

It turned out that a few weeks later they got shut down for fraud. This was a clear warning to me that I had to pick and choose who I promoted extremely carefully.

I should warn you that they have since set-up a new company called 'Forex Investments LP' - avoid them at all costs.

So what Forex affiliate programs DO work?

The Easy-Forex Affiliate Program

Personally I have had my best results through two Forex brokers. My best performing broker is Easy-Forex which converts for me at less than 1 in 50 and also offers a far superior backend than any other Forex affiliate scheme I have seen.

With the Easy-Forex affiliate program you can earn up to $250 CPA commission for every new trader you refer PLUS at least 10% of all of the profits they bring in during their time with Easy-Forex. When you consider Forex trading often involves 5 or 6 figure value trades you can see just how profitable this is.

Because of the great backend, conversion rates and earning potential Easy-Forex is a great place to start promoting Forex.

Click here to become an affiliate with Easy-Forex.

The eToro Affiliate program

The other Forex affiliate program I highly recommend you join is eToro. This broker also converts really well and has a decent backend reporting system.

Unlike with Easy-Forex, it is wiser to choose a revenue share that is higher in percentage. I currently get 25% of the profits. Compared to 10% with Easy Forex this sums up very nice as most players will invest large sums of money. However, there is no fixed commission. It will take some time longer to start earning money with eToro. But once you do, you won't want to miss it :-)

Click here to join eToro affiliate program.

Anyway that should be enough to get you started. Remember you need to take the time to learn, stick at it, avoid the scam companies, and join the programs you know others are having success with like Easy-Forex and eToro.

If you do all of that then you could well be on course to a Forex affiliate fortune!

Good luck!

Barbara Walters: Audition

2008-05-09T12:25:00.008+02:00

Young people starting out in television sometimes say to me: “I want to be you.” My stock reply is always: “Then you have to take the whole package.”

And now, at last, the most important woman in the history of television journalism gives us that “whole package,” in her inspiring and riveting memoir. After more than forty years of interviewing heads of state, world leaders, movie stars, criminals, murderers, inspirational figures, and celebrities of all kinds, Barbara Walters has turned her gift for examination onto herself to reveal the forces that shaped her extraordinary life.

Barbara Walters’s perception of the world was formed at a very early age. Her father, Lou Walters, was the owner and creative mind behind the legendary Latin Quarter nightclub, and it was his risk-taking lifestyle that gave Barbara her first taste of glamour. It also made her aware of the ups and downs, the insecurities, and even the tragedies that can occur when someone is willing to take great risks, for Lou Walters didn’t just make several fortunes—he also lost them. Barbara learned early about the damage that such an existence can do to relationships—between husband and wife as well as between parent and child. Through her roller-coaster ride of a childhood, Barbara had a close companion, her mentally challenged sister, Jackie. True, Jackie taught her younger sister much about patience and compassion, but Barbara also writes honestly about the resentment she often felt having a sister who was so “different” and the guilt that still haunts her.

All of this—the financial responsibility for her family, the fear, the love—played a large part in the choices she made as she grew up: the friendships she developed, the relationships she had, the marriages she tried to make work. Ultimately, thanks to her drive, combined with a decent amount of luck, she began a career in television. And what a career it has been! Against great odds, Barbara has made it to the top of a male-dominated industry. She was the first woman cohost of the Today show, the first female network news coanchor, the host and producer of countless top-rated Specials, the star of 20/20, and the creator and cohost of The View. She has not just interviewed the world’s most fascinating figures, she has become a part of their world. These are just a few of the names that play a key role in Barbara’s life, career, and book: Yasir Arafat, Warren Beatty, Menachem Begin, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chávez, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Roy Cohn, the Dalai Lama, Princess Diana, Katharine Hepburn, King Hussein, Angelina Jolie, Henry Kissinger, Monica Lewinsky, Richard Nixon, Rosie O’Donnell, Christopher Reeve, Anwar Sadat, John Wayne . . . the list goes on and on.

Barbara Walters has spent a lifetime auditioning: for her bosses at the TV networks, for millions of viewers, for the most famous people in the world, and even for her own daughter, with whom she has had a difficult but ultimately quite wonderful and moving relationship. This book, in some ways, is her final audition, as she fully opens up both her private and public lives. In doing so, she has given us a story that is heartbreaking and honest, surprising and fun, sometimes startling, and always fascinating.

Pretty Woman

2008-05-08T20:10:00.003+02:00

a true classic - re-runs today

by Roy Orbinson

Pretty woman, walking down the street
Pretty woman, the kind I like to meet
Pretty woman
I don't believe you, you're not the truth
No one could look as good as you
Mercy

Pretty woman, won't you pardon me
Pretty woman, I couldn't help see
Pretty woman
That you look lovely as can be
Are you lonely just like me
Wow

Pretty woman, stop a while
Pretty woman, talk a while
Pretty woman, gave your smile to me
Pretty woman, yeah yeah yeah
Pretty woman, look my way
Pretty woman, say you'll stay with me
'Cause I need you, I'll trear you right
Come with me baby, be mine tonight

Pretty woman, don't walk on by
Pretty woman, make me cry
Pretty woman, don't walk away, hey...okay
If that's the way it must be, okay
I guess I'll go on home, it's late
There'll be tomorrow nigh, but wait
What do I see
Is she walking back to me
Yeah, she's walking back to me
Oh, oh, Pretty woman

Gold it is

2008-05-07T12:27:00.008+02:00

not the Swiss Armed Forces
they want to see me again
clarify my capability
to join

why now
why again

our decision is clear
by all means
time is all they take from me
time that is worth gold

and my step grand-mother
going to be engaged
on Whitsuntide she said
bluntly in a blunt card

only joy today
my gold VISA has arrived
makes me happy
earn and spend in USD

Boris Johnson

2008-04-28T14:29:00.002+02:00

Even though indispensable, conservatives are rarely really cool. Boris Johnson accomplishes to be, without effor. Numerous fan clubs have formed around the Tory front runner for Mayor of London who is a descendant from the upper class. The advocat of good manners and traditional values is a star; prior to the elections at the Thames supposedly the most popular political character.

The great-grandson of the last osmanian home secretary and former publisher of an intelligent magazine named Spectator, has transformed Tory ideas into pop. On all TV channels, what many voters find appealing is analyzed: his life style, his assumed affaires, chaotic TV appearances, fould in celebrity soccer games, politically incorrect statements about natives. His sense of humor, his intelligencem and crankiness make him a hero for the urban, young elite.

The night mare of his political opponents may become reality. According to the polls, Johns is ahead of Ken Livingston. A victory of the Tory party against the fallen in disgrace as autoritative party pooper, would certainly be of historical meaning. Twenty-seven years after last conservative Mayor, such a triumph would even accelerate the decline in popularity of Gordon Brown. Johnson scores with his reliable, right-wing, euro-sceptical program; and his talent of its popularization. «Vote conservatively; your wife will get bigger breasts and your chances at a BMW M3 will increase.»

Somehow it is not his successful, left-wing forerunner who is most afraid of his potential victory; it is more likely his own people. It would not be the first time of an eccentric at the top of a world city. In London, the Mayor has unlimited authority solely with the police and local traffic. But exactly he - who will help the Tories on Thursday because he is favored by the global distributing center - will endanger their victory in the nation-wide parliamentary elections.

Rosie on GMA

2008-04-18T23:54:00.003+02:00

DIANE SAWYER: But first, 11 time Emmy winner Rosie O'Donnell joins us this morning back on live TV with us right here, a year now since she left "The View." And over the years, as you know, she's made her mark as a comedian, a stand-up comedian. 30 years ago she started out. An actress, a talk show host, author. And now she's getting ready to add another title to her resume. We'll tell you about that. Always outspoken, funny, original. Her own show debuted in 1996. Seconds later, with 11-Emmys she was queen of daytime TV.

[Clip of Rosie talking to Barbara Streisand on her first show.]

ROSIE O'DONNELL: I don't remember my life without you in it. It's the truth.

BARBARA STREISAND: Oh, my God.

SAWYER: Ten years after that, she joined "The View," an odyssey of ratings success. With good days, combative days. Pop culture to politics.

["View" clip]

ROSIE O'DONNELL: You just said our enemies in Iraq. Did Iraq attack us?

ELISABETH HASSELBECK: No, I'm saying al Qaeda--

O'DONNELL: Okay. Did Iraq attack us, Elisabeth?

HASSELBECK: Iraq did not attack us, Rosie. We've been there.

O'DONNELL: Correct.

SAWYER: Everyone knows the story. It ended in controversy. Since then, she's continued to give her singular take on the world through her free association about so many things. [Onscreen graphic: "cause I was drinking too much cause I didn't want to anymore cause it is hard to lose weight wen (sic) drinking cause I never have only one"] For instance, how she feels about drinking. How the once queen of TV doesn't allow her own kids to watch TV and Rosie O'Donnell today. The next chapter. Rosie O'Donnell, right here.

O'DONNELL: Hi.

SAWYER: Good morning.

O'DONNELL: Good morning.

SAWYER: Great to see you.

O'DONNELL: You too.

SAWYER: So, I don't want to go back and rehash all of "The View" stuff again. But I just want to know from this vantage point a year later, any regrets? Anything you would do differently?

O'DONNELL: You know, I think you can't be at a place that you haven't arrived at yet, you know? So what I was doing when Barbara asked me to do it, was I thought how is it going to feel to go back in the big wave, so to speak? It was a little bit of a trial period to see what I thought. And, you know, almost made it to the end. I did eight months. I got out -- two months early.

SAWYER: Short of the finish line. But talking to you now, are you, are you calmer now? Do you feel more in control now of yourself and who you are?

O'DONNELL: Yes, but I will say that if we start to talk about the current political situation, there's a chance that it might get heated.

SAWYER: I'm going to talk about that.

O'DONNELL: I'm the same person I always was. But on my show there was no one with a conflicting point of view. And I was also the boss of everything, which frankly for me works well.

SAWYER: Do you watch "The View?"

O'DONNELL: I do, occasionally. I catch it. Yes. I see it on YouTube when something big happens?

SAWYER: What about you and Elisabeth? Any contact?

O'DONNELL: Yes, after she had the baby, I e-mailed her. And, you know, she doesn't e-mail me back often, but she occasionally does. And, you know, I keep saying this and it's not in any way, shape or form to diminish or disparage, but she's very young. You know, when I was that young and had a newborn baby and one in diapers, you know, your life is a little bit more black and white than when you get to be 46 and you have gray hair all over.

SAWYER: You have no-- You have no gray hair. I'm skipping right over the all over.

O'DONNELL: Well, there are some parts of your hair you can dye. Yeah, exactly.

SAWYER: You have no gray hair.

O'DONNELL: Well, because there's a very expensive hair dye in there. But, frankly I would be all gray.

SAWYER: All right, then. With apologies then to your former gig let's do some topics.

O'DONNELL: Okay.

SAWYER: Politics. Not the views of the management, whatever they are here. Hillary or Obama?

O'DONNELL: Both. I've been saying both from the beginning. I think that the only way that they're going to be able to really serve the nation and democracy is to put down their own egos and to combine forces, in some way, shape or form and save democracy, this 200-year-old experiment that we're trying to, you know, not have fall apart in this world. To be the beacon of hope that America used to be. This woman, this African-American need to look at each other and go, "Oh, my God can you believe we're here. Let's get together."

SAWYER: They're going to have to decide at some point.

O'DONNELL: Well, maybe they're going to get together. How do you know? That could be the dream ticket. I think if enough people believe it, if they hear it enough from America-- We need both of them is what I believe.

SAWYER: What about "Dancing with the Stars" moving from the sublime to the television here. You've said I will never do "Dancing With the Stars." Why not?

O'DONNELL: No, are you kidding me? First of all Marie fainted. Okay? I'm fatter than Marie and I'm more out of shape and I never was a dancer to begin with. I'm doing "No, No Nanette" at the City Center Encores.

SAWYER: Oh, right. I heard that.

O'DONNELL: Yeah, I'm doing that in April or May. And so I'm tapping now. So, I have a tap number in the show. And, that, believe me, learning one number has taken me three months. And there's no way I could do "Dancing With the Stars."

SAWYER: You've gone online and talked about drinking beer, and said you stopped drinking beer.

O'DONNELL: I did.

SAWYER: Probelm with alcohol?

Well, I read the day after I wrote I stopped drinking beer, I read I was a raging alcoholic going into rehab. So, you know, on the blog what you say people can take and how they perceive it -- the truth is, it was too many calories and I was doing it too often and I just thought no more beer.

Porch

2008-04-18T23:10:00.000+02:00

My mother loves to constantly re-decorate our porch. Spring has sprung; summer is around the corner. A nice, comfortable, and inviting porch is key to every barbecue and garden party.
Love my Patio offers outdoor furniture to bargain hunters at consumer prices. They have Market Umbrellas, and many other accessories.

A Tragedy

2008-04-07T13:38:00.003+02:00

is it?
- not too sure, sure for now

last friday
I went to college town
books, a meeting, no cruelty in mind
an hour after arrival
it was to happen

attentive bloggers clearly will know
the reason, a person(al)
dreams kicked in, a grin on my face
it's not the end of it
not now

and then on saturday
big party at my parents' friends
baptizing a 6' wooden giraffe
guys in suits, me and my smokes
what next

sunday was my sun day
sun sun sun
no work, no writing, no books
recharged for today
happy again

Wine & Dine II

2008-03-30T22:22:00.002+02:00

This afternoon, we went to Bern in order to have dinner with my aunt. We met her in a restaurant in the city, or well, we intended to meet. After she did not show for about half an hour, we decided to call.

What seemed unbelievable proved to be true: My aunt forgot to set her clock this morning and was late for an hour.

We made plans to celebrate my uncle's birthday on the lake of Zurich.

So much so.

Call scheduled

2008-03-29T12:09:00.003+01:00

This weekend started off just great! I have ordered 'Sex and the City - The Complete Series.' That is hours and hours of my long-time favorite TV series.

Even though I've loved this show since I first saw it, I have not yet seen all episodes. This is going to be a truly exciting TV-watching-all-day-and-night-weekend.

As all of you know, I have been looking for a job. I am looking to work either part-time and start my Master's degree in September, or - and that would be the real deal - work for some time somewhere abroad.

And so I have scheduled a call with John this afternoon. He is a friend of my aunt and truly lives the life style. Not only does he live a thoroughly healthy life (no alcohol, no cigarettes, and hours of sports per week), but he also seems to be much happier than average people. I wonder whether the first part of the last sentence is positively correlated to the second?

What more is interesting about John is his passion for cars. He regularly takes part in Ferrari car races across Europe. John is a native of Scotland and moved to Switzerland about 10 years ago. He still spends his vacations in Scotland next door to the Queen's summer residence.

I truly hope he can find me some work abroad..

Is this news?

2008-03-27T13:46:00.004+01:00

Reading news papers online is convenient. I read major Swiss, German, and Northern American news papers on-line on a regular basis.

When I read about Jamie Lynn Spears' recent engagement to her long-time boyfriend Casey Aldridge, I couldn't help but wonder "Is this news?".

The story was on the homepage of blick.ch, the most read newspaper in Switzerland, for an entire day.

Is this truly news?

2008-03-26T15:23:00.000+01:00

Is not this the true romantic feeling - not to desire to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping you?

Tom Wolfe

Wine & Dine

2008-03-26T15:05:00.004+01:00

My grandmother turned 80 some time ago. On this occasion, she invited reams of people for a huge diner, an extended follow-up birthday party so to say.

Being entartained by a live singing choir, we drank, we ate, we had a wonderful and jaunty time.

My grandma often tells me stories about the time when she was young. When times were different, when two wars were in everybody's memory, when social classes were visibily separated, and when true luxury was truly exclusive to the well-to-do.

Most of the time, I enjoy her talking. It clearly shows that many things have not changed at all.

Good Friday

2008-03-21T16:41:00.010+01:00

and it's snowing!!

Who would have thought it would snow in late March when this was one of the mildest winters I had experienced in my entire life? Is this global warming at play?

Either way, I must admit that it feels great to be chilling and relaxing inside the house while outside winter gets what it's due.

And this is exactly what allows me to keep up with my reading projects. My bachelor's paper aside, I now have time to finish Obama's 'Audactiy of Hope' (less interesting than I had thought, in fact, but I still decided to finish reading it).

The last two books I read, 'Herr der UBS: Der unaufhaltsame Aufstieg des Marcel Ospel' (The boss of UBS: The unstoppable advancement of Marcel Ospel) by Dirk Schütz and John Gray's 'Straw Dogs - Thoughts on humans and other animals,' were way more exciting.

Does anybody have any book suggestions that may top these?

cute

2008-03-18T21:11:00.000+01:00

Brunch

2008-03-16T19:46:00.003+01:00

What a day! I met with friends this morning for brunch. Interesting as their lives are, we shared all the latest news. Regardless of some prior tattle, I tried to take the high road.

Each and every one of my friends were amazed today that I was released from the Swiss Armed Forces after none of my efforts to escape yielded fruit; even more so as I had planned to be "away from my regular life" for over 6 months.

I currently feel my life is in full swing. I am truly looking forward to spending some time abroad. Today, I even made plans to spend a week in New York to meet up with them.

All of this gives me motivation to quickly come to terms with my final paper. I am pretty sure it won't be long before it's done.

Someone offered me to live in her apartment for 2 months in Zurich as she won't need it. I guess I will accept, and try to find some internship before college starts again.

Or ... should I wait with collge for another year to really start over and totally break with my former college town and all that is associated to it? I'm wonderin'.

Curious

2008-03-13T18:15:00.004+01:00

What first felt like a tremendous relief suddenly turned into emptiness. My release from the Swiss Armed Forces in the nick of time has brought about new questions to my life: What now??

I literally thumped the table this morning and first went for a run. The fresh air, the nice weather, animals and a few co-runners brought some clarity into the picture.

I must say I am curious like my cat of what is going to happen next, of where life will lead me. Yet, as I have faith in my strengths and power, I need to take a decision sooner or later as to where I would like to work.

My final paper for college is evolving and will eventually be finished even though I cannot foresee when exactly it will be done.

Currently, my heart is set on an internship, or rather, on various internships. Most probably I will only begin my master's degree in about one and a half year. Therefore, I need to plan for more than a year.

I am curious.

Short

2008-03-11T12:19:00.003+01:00

Some time ago, a friend of mine advised me to always have a "plan B". This is exactly what I was carrying in my mind yesterday when entering the caserne.

And it worked! At 5 o'clock in the eveing I was out again. And here is the result: I do not have to do any military service, nor do I have to join the civil defense. No nothing!

How I did it? Well, I did not contribute much effort to it. After some talks, it turned out that the guys with the recruitment center erroneously decided to have me do a service.

Certainly, I can pursue my life goals again, and finish my bachelor's paper as soon as possible.

I am so happy!

It is time

2008-03-09T19:37:00.003+01:00

In about 18 hours I will arrive at the caserne for my basic training with the Swiss Armed Forces. It will take 18 weeks until I am released. A 3-weeks accounting course will follow, based in a Geneva hotel. At least, this is what they have said.

As with anything new I am pretty excited about the experience. So far, I have believed the service will be an interruption in my life, an utter loss of time.

From the first minute on, I will be happy to have me convinced of the opposite. "Make the best of a bad job" - they say. And so, I will be looking at things closely in order to find something nice, interesting, and useful about it.

When worse comes to worse, I will be carrying two books with me. (Barack Obama's "The Audacity of Hope" - I wonder whether my subconscious was inspired by the title to bring the book along -, and Cunningham's "The Essays of Warren Buffett".)

Soon, I will know what the service is all about.

skiing

2008-03-07T19:28:00.005+01:00

Last night, I came home from my trip to Zermatt. I decided to leave one day early in order to assist my sister in preparing her birthday party on Saturday. She will be 26 - which somehow seems unreal, it seems like yesterday when we last were at each other's throats.

Zermatt was simply terrific. I went there with my parents and a friendly couple of theirs. He was pretty impressed by me since I managed to solve an issue for him and his wife in particular. Nobody else had been able to bail him out. To make a long story short, he shipped a 6-foot-large-wooden giraffe from Namibia to his home town in Swtzerland. The freight was supposed to arrive in Switzerland between 2-3 working days. Unfortunately, the giraffe never arrived and, in addition, he had lost the tracking number.

This year, the weather in Zermatt was simply great. Last time I was there, winds on the Klein Matterhorn were so strong that my mom was having a hard time breathing.

Surprise, Surprise

2008-02-27T11:16:00.008+01:00

This morning started off in great astonishment.

I think of myself as someone who is an active reader. Currently, I finish at least one book per week. Not only do I like reading, but also do I love to buy books and neatly line them up in my bookshelf. Somehow it makes me feel sage and sapient, maybe sincere, to have so many books around me.

Every now and then I want to know more about someone. This is what happened with Vera Dillier last week. In Switzerland, she is well-known for her marriage to Peter Dillier which ended in a harsh battle. A battle that many married-couples suffer when they decide to separate and Vera Dillier wrote a book about.

When I saw her on a television show last week I wanted to know more about her story. I intended to make her book, suitably named «Heirate nie einen Schweizer» (Do not ever marry a Swiss), my next reading project.

Unfortunately I was unable to find it, because no bookshop was selling it anymore. I decided to write a letter to her and ask her for support.

Et voilà: To my great amazement, I found a copy of her book in the mail this morning. And what is more, she signed it and written in a dedication in which she wishes me well for my education. Payment order missing.

I am truly looking forward to reading her book!

Heidi Klum

2008-02-25T01:42:00.002+01:00

Germany's top model Heidi Klum is an ideal of health, discipline, and neat hair. A role-model to ambitious belles of the village who do not want to change from school into consultation hours for mothers-to-be. A dream to protecting daughters and inhibited men who are looking for fun wihtout paying for it. A constantly clean nose and a controlled head are her hallmark.

With Claudia Schiffer, there was erotic and sealed lips. The latter may have related to the first. Either way, this is different with Heidi Klum. She recently revealed how she keeps her mariage alive: «We simply make appointments to have sex. Hey, baby, at two o'clock in the attic! And at six in the walk-in cupboard.» In Klum's latest commercial for «Victoria’s Secret» you see her, the mom of three, play with «Franz» and «Hans», her brassiered breasts, and how she is hopping and screeching and jodelling. «I have got great breasts», she yells, and «You guy don't know about breasts», and then Klum orders to fire off, squeezing her two friends as if they were to splatter the entire world with milk.

In doing so, Heidi Klum looks like a giggling girl scout who pretends to be a dangerous vamp. Nonetheless, this scene turned into a YouTube hit which caused a stir throughout the world: They tauntingly ask whether Klum «sniffed at glue» or whether there was «something in her tea». They are worried: «Why does she suddently talk so oversexedly?»

In fact, for the first time Klum reaches a level in terms of sex – that of silly German soft porns in the 1970s. The (failing) attempt of adding a shot of aggression makes her a child of her own time. And that her show hineinzubringen, macht sie zu einem Kind ihrer Zeit. Sex was brought to the dry-cleaner's by people like Heidi Klum. Anything uncontrolleable was removed spotlessly.

Lazy

2008-02-23T18:54:00.005+01:00

Last week was truly thrilling, from Monday morning until Friday night. In fact, the thrill was initiated the precedent week when I tried to find out about my past.

I outlined in an earlier post that I think I annoyed Rachelle at a party a long time ago, and never even said I was sorry. I was never sure whether the incident had really taken place or, well, whether the piece of vague memory was created in one of my night mares. Sad enough I was still drunk when I woke up the next morning, I was unsure what to do about it.

I mean, what was I supposed to do? Apologize for making her feel pestered would have been pretty sappy if she did not know what I was talking about. After all, I would love her to think highly of me. She is the woman of my dreams.

On the other hand, if I had known for sure that it was reality, I could have stepped up to her, try to make amends and prove my reliability.

Instead of making a decision I remained inertial.

A major change in finding truth occured when my former roommate, whom I formerly named Nero, alluded to my uncool behavior. It was worth gold to me; to know what had really happened. At least that is what I thought for a few minutes. Only by knowing what had occured would I have been able to act. Consequently, I asked him to corroborate my findings last week. To my astonishement, he refused to do so. Whatta loada hooey!

That's what I thought first. But then, he may be truly ignorant. Again, left in uncertainty, I simply don't know what to do.

What is more, I start feeling tired. My mind has focused on Rachelle for such a long time. I would do anything to see her again. Rather today than tomorrow.

Up to here, my lines and heartache may seem romantic.

My other ex-roommate simply calls this stalking. Who would want to be a stalker? I don't.

And so, I will be joining the Swiss armed forces in 2 weeks. At the moment, two possible outcomes seem realistic to me: Either I will be going on with my seesaw, or Rachelle will gradually disappear from my mind and my life. After all, nothing is happening on her side to keep up my hope and feelings.

After doing research for my college paper, and my disappointment and frustration above all, I decided to really relax this weekend and lay on the couch all night. When shopping this afternoon, I bought some delicious meal to fix, pop corn, and everything else you need for a lazy TV night. I am so looking forward to it!

Tomorrow will be all about sports. My sister and I are planing to go for a run.

Mohamed al Fayed

2008-02-22T23:55:00.002+01:00

Due to Al Fayed the Lady Di file is still not filed. Neither the inquiries of the French police nor a million-dollar, 832 page British follow-up examination have been able to convince him that Diana and his son, Dodi, died in an accident. To him it was homicide. And the last example of social barriers that he, the Egyptian and muslim, has fought since he turned up in London nearly fifty years ago.

In plain language, he calls Tony Blair a cock sucker, Prince Charle's wife, Camilla, a crocodile, the Windsors a dracula family and Prince Philip the manipulator who killed Diana and Dodi because he did not want to have muslims in his family. This Philip, he calls a Nazi, on record, in court.

Between insults he spreads his own preposterous theory: The secret service carried out the murder, Tony Blair, two London superintendents, and Diana's family were assisting. As much as he is currently meting out, he was once struggling for recognition by the British upper class. He donated millions to charity, bought indigenous British institutions, such as shirt-maker Turnbull & Asser, the Fulham Football Club and the department store Harrods, by means of bribery he tried for British citizenship.

All without avail – until Diana came into the picture, the mother of the future King, and fell in love with Dodi, his Dodi. She was to marry him, to meld the house of the Fayed with the Windsor's.

Paris, a drunk chauffeur and a column of the Pont de l’Alma brought this dream to an end, and this is what the latest examination will confirm. Mohamed Al Fayed, however, will never leave the British whom is connected to in deep love-hate. He willed to be entombed in a glass pyramide on the roof of Harrods.

FOREX Daily Outlook

2008-02-22T10:36:00.000+01:00

Here's all you need to know about what is currently happening in the Foreign Exchange Markets. The information is highly reliable, provided by my personal FOREX broker:

Maudlin

2008-02-16T13:16:00.003+01:00

What more can I say. Yesterday was the last day to spend in my college town. Even though the initial reason was exactly to move away again (with a degree in my pockets), leaving my place was anything but easy. Farewells are never easy - they say. And yet, I imagine, saying good-bye is much easier when nothing is left unsaid, and even more so when you actually get to say good-bye.

It may sound like an unending story, but I truly hoped to say good-bye to Rachelle. Or, at least, to the person I believed to be her. Confused as I currently am, I think final strokes should be considered a human right. My letters, gifts, and questions have equally remained unanswered. Looking upon my last months, I know this is what bothers me most. I simply cannot imagine how someone could not have cleared up my confusion; if, in fact, it was a confusion.

What feelings does this evoke in me? Sadness, excitement, and a lack of comprehension above all. The latter is what I've strived to eradicate. Unsuccessfully, I must add.

Certainly, there is more. More of what bothers me. Even though the incident took place a long time ago, it hurts as much as if it had been yesterday. After a (too) wild night in a club, I experienced memory lapses on the following day. Very rarely had I not been able to remember what had happened the night before. Even worse that on the subsequent days, it dawned to me that my drinking way too much, my tomboyishness which resulted in inappropriate talks, dicta, and gestures may very well have involved Rachelle.

What I remember is that I hugged her, and asked her inappropriate questions. I remember she gently slapped me in the face.

Did this truly happen? Was it a mere nightmare? How can you say sorry to someone and make amends if you are not sure whether it happened?

I have been trying to find this out for a long time. My feeling told me that it was so. And then, there was my room mate who re-enacted the scene in front of me. He veiled the situation in a joke. A joke that contains so much truth to me.

From that moment, I was sure it must truly have happened. And, of course, thoughts and see-saw followed as to what I can do.

What I am currently doing is to find out why he played this joke. I truly hope to find clarity soon. Is not it all about clarity, and knowing what is real?

Sex & the city

2008-02-08T17:25:00.000+01:00

Do you remember? Four women of the new generation - young, money dosn't matter, pleasure is everything - wander about New York on irritatingly high heels, and it was a hoggish prey for all life has to offer.

«Sex and the City» was one of the most popular TV series and a triumph of brand fetishism. But also of feminism in the sens as to having as much vigor as men, not least in sex. Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and especially Samantha (Kim Cattrall) showed décolleté and brains, they loved the men, and they used them.

But sex and relationship - oh, that was mutually exclusive. These women wanted orgasms, not comprehension. They did not want to put the tea on, discuss problems, and «develop their personalities». They did not sleep with teir men only that they would once listen afterwards. If they wanted a boyfriend they bought a stuffed dog. No, never did it occur to these women to transform the wild beast - passion - into a useful anomai. Now, that is how it was in the beginning. Women, however, who chose their role models from this series soon had to relearn. One day, one was no proud number anymore even in «Sex and the City». The affairs became longer, there were children, marriage, buying houses. In other words: the establishment repulsed. The continuance in the movies does not know any better: even more children, even more marriages, even more houses.

Sad, but true: Not only in real life, but also in the entertainment industry do children and husbands seem to provide more dynamite than overly exciting affairs in series. It was T. S. Eliot, der sagte: «This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.»

Carla Bruni

2008-02-08T13:35:00.000+01:00

The ex-model, the ex-lover of numerous sounding names, the chanteuse. Carla Bruni has always moved in an environment that encourages everybody to creat themselves, to celebrate, and to exploit by every trick in the book. Bruni may be tailored to french penchants what Paris Hilton is globally: rich, flamboyant, and popular to be popular. Whereas Paris Hilton is the superficial slattern who barely hides that she she can do little else than by using her millions stage herself and her millions.

Next to her, Carla Bruni is the professional melancholic - a rainy day goes along with her songs perfectly. One year ago, she said that she had been in psycho-analysis for years, «a real Job» it was, «four times a week». She is interested in the length of her eyelashes («beauty deals with intelligence») as well as in Proust («In my modeling times, on long-distance flights, I had time for this»). She shines as the cheerleader of sensitive hearts who suffer from inaneness and who long gor surprises. She flaunts her political affinity (for Ségolène Royal during the election campaign and recently against Sarkozy's DNA tests with immigrants) as much as her carry-ons (Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Vincent Perez, Arno Klarsfeld, or Donald Trump). As first lady of the Paris Bobos, she does not keep her neuroses to herself: «I often feel guilt», Bruni said, «because I have a good life but often cannot see that».

And now, after the popstar, actor, hotshot solicitor, director, philosopher she messes about with Monsieur le Président. He offers her worldwide clangorous diversion. She does so as well: Bruni was the story he let the awkward Lybian president be buried in in oblivion by. The difference between and her is attracts attention: Carla Bruni diverts herself, Sarkozy by himself and his politics. Either way the power of love has always been the one of distraction.

Moment of truth

2008-02-08T11:39:00.000+01:00

Oh come on, bloggers, didn't you wonder how my story with Rachelle proceeded?

If you did, well, there's some news for you. I have believed that she lives in my neighborhood for quite a long time. I have believed this to be true at a probability approaching 100 percent.

But then, when something so extraordinary happens in your life, doubts set in. And I started to doubt. I have doubted a lot. And somehow, doubts and "not knowing for sure" have left me inactive.

On Tuesday evening, I did what I had to prepare for some time. I walked to her house and hit the door bell.

Guess what happenend? Nobody opened. Nobody opened the door! Even though I saw her in the window a mere hour ago.

It goes without saying that I will ping her bell again. I simply need time to get my courage together again. Does this sound strange to you? Or maybe, does it sound familiar? The feeling of excitement you feel when apporaching the woman of your dreams? The woman you love so much, whom you look at like she is a goddess? The fear of being refused, of being dismissed is lingering in my heart.

Wong Kar-Wai

2008-02-05T18:37:00.000+01:00

Globalization may rapidly make us more clever. Nobody has proven this more ipressively than Chinese film director Wong Kar-Wai. His Hongkong metropolis epic «Chungking Express» was a remake of the novelle vague; yet more elaborate, liverlier, more vital than anything shown in the Europe of the 1990's. His gangster movie «Fallen Angels» was the perfect sublimation of the asian brutalo genre, a laconic poem. His love romantic movie «Happy Together» traced the story of a gay amour fou in Argentina so precisely that even a heterosexual was unable to break free from its spell. No wonder Wong Kar-Wai ultimately took the world by storm with «In the Mood for Love», the most perfect video clip in movie history.

However, globalization may terribly plumpen us. The free flows of trade of codes and traditions end in caricatures and clichés. «I intended to shoot a true American movie», Wong Kar-Wai says in his interview on his latest work «My Blueberry Nights» in Paris. As usual, he wears pitch-black sunglasses, and he looks a bit like a rock star from the 1970s. The romantic movie, starring Norah Jones and Jude Law, is the first Wong Kar-Wai that was shot in English. «It is an homage to the pieces of Tennessee Williams, to the movies of John Cassavetes, and to the painting of Edward Hopper», the producer says. That is also how the film came out: an excessively baggaged American Pie made of sentimentalities, wordy dialogs, and expectable Roadmovie-mismatches.

«In ‹Chungking Express› the story is about a takeaway», Wong points out. «My movies could be set everywhere in the world.» Wong Kar-Wai has a point in there. Also, his movies are grasped everywhere over the world. Though only if he sticks to his own, aesthetic language.

Michelle Obama

2008-02-02T22:45:00.000+01:00

When Barack Obama was elected senator and triumphally moved into the Capitol three years ago, his wife rolled her eyes: "Perhaps he is going to accomplish something that will legitimate this jubilation," she allegedly told a journalist who was standing next to her. In May, 2007 she frankly said "Barack should become President because he has managed to deal with a strong woman like me." She was talking about how he keeps forgetting to put the butter back into the fridge, and that a five year old was doing his bed better than himself. Bantering among a married couple. Only a few months ago she replied "Do we talk about political issues? Well, do you believe I can shut my mouth?"

This has stopped. Because Michelle Obama has realized that she may not turn into a Hillary Clinton. With regard to Americans' taste, Hillary wanted to be too much of a president as a first lady. That is why Michelle Obama now remarks that she is not a political advisor to her husband.

Neither will she become a new Nancy Reagan who used to stand next to her Ronald like he was a god; not only because of her 5' 11". The recent modesty will not last long with 43 year old ivy league graduate and mother of two daughter.

Michelle Obama does not want to expect too much from the American people at a time. After all, she has been in a presidental campaign in which up to now it has remained unclear what role skin color plays. Her husband has a white mother and a black father. She is black. If he is elected the sample family of the United States of America will be, for the first time, black. This would be a huge leap in a country which knew racial segregation only in the 1960s. Therefore, the potential new first lady need not re-invent her role as well. Not yet.

Self-reflection

2008-02-01T17:40:00.000+01:00

After a random fight with my roommate this afternoon, I got to think about self-reflection.

As I have outlined several times before, I feel betrayed by him, feel made a fool by, and above all, I feel dismissed by.

So what can you do in such a situation? Over time, I have come up with a wide variety of approaches to influence his behavior.

First of all, you can talk to a person directly. To call a spade a spade – as they say. Did not work.
You can mirror the person’s behavior, and thereby try to make them realize what they are doing. Did not work.
You can make sarcastic and ironic remarks in order to allude to something. Did not work.
You can take things into your own hands. Did not work.
You can give a twist to the entire situation. Did not work.
You can tell the person straight to practice self-reflection, and advise them to sit down with themselves in order to think about the entire situation, to imagine how they would feel in someone else’s shoes, how they would act and react. Will this work?

I wonder.

The Blocher Principle

2008-01-25T22:39:00.000+01:00

For numerous reasons, Christoph Blocher is well known in Switzerland. Not only has he made a fortune estimated at USD 1.4 b, but also does he make waves with his politics. He had been a member of the Swiss parliament for 24 years before he was elected member of the Federal Council in 2003.

Blocher was not re-elected by the Swiss parliament in 2007, and has been in opposition to the Swiss government since. He is the party leader of SVP (Schweizerische Volks-Partei), but has never presided it.

Of particular interest are Blocher's principles of leadership which is often criticized as out-dated, conservative, and military. We have to admit, however, that Blocher's biography is proof of the opposite.

His maxims of life may be summarized in 10 points:

You should not primarily live from the company, but for the company - according to the policy: "The good man thinks of himself - at last!"

You should love your staff like yourself, so that you may make great demands on them - like on yourself.

You should always focus on the job, not on the human person - certainly not at the own human person.

You should not that, in good times, everybody wants to co-decide and push for responsible positions; in distress, you are alone. You know to bear this solitude.

You should know that, especially in times when team spirit is resounded throughout the land, that responsibility is indivisible.

You should bear the responsibility of your area of responsibility completely - for everything that happens in it, no matter whether "I am to blame for it or not". But you are not responsible for the entire world.

You should, in knowledge of one's own boundedness of force and resources, adhere to a shoemaker's entrepreneurial policy: "A cobbler should stick to his last."

You should behave as you are, with all your strengths and weaknesses - this is how you win the trust of people.

You should only say what you think, but not say everything that you think. What you say is what you should subsequently do, and you will not have to hold workshops on motivation.

You should acknowledge that life is not always bullish, but also bearish every now and then; but not always solely bearish, but again bullish. This is called a healthy faith in God.

Without You

2008-01-25T13:28:00.000+01:00

by Mariah Carey

No I can't forget this evening,
Or your face as you were leaving.
But I guess that's just the way the story goes.
You always smile but in you eyes your sorrow shows.
Yes it shows.

No I can't forget tomorrow,
When I think of all my sorrow,
When I had you there but then I let you go.
And now it's only fair that I should let you know
What you should know

I can't live, if living is without you.
I can't give, I can't give any more.
Can't live, if living is without you.
Can't give, I can't give any more.

No I can't forget this evening,
Or your face as you were leaving.
But I guess that's just the way the story goes.
You always smile but in you eyes your sorrow shows.
Yes it shows.

I can't live, if living is without you.
I can't give, I can't give any more.
Can't live, if living is without you.
Can't give, I can't give any more.

I can't live, if living is without you.
I can't give, I can't give any more.
Can't live, if living is without you.
Can't give, I can't give any more.

A snake-oil salesman

2008-01-24T00:19:00.000+01:00

This is really something. Richard Cohen has been on many TV shows with his unconventional views of how things work.

Transcript:

Jim McGreevy is back in the headlines this week. You will remember him; he’s the New Jersey governor who resigned when he revealed that he’s gay. He was also married to a woman at the time of that revelation. He has released excerpts of his memoir which will be published in September, and he described his life as a closeted gay man in politics as a slow march into hell. Now, to come out or not is a struggle for any gay person, but a few choose a third and very controversial option: therapy to make them straight. Deborah Feyerick has tonight’s eye opener.

If you’ve been watching the Sopranos on HBO, then you know the secret. Vito, a mob guy, married with kids, on the run, knowing he’ll be killed because he’s gay. It may sound like a plot line the reaction from Vito’s TV wife that there’s a cure is very real, and it’s a reaction many gay people and their families wonder about in the beginning. Is it possible to change, to not be gay?

There are groups who believe that it is possible. Some use religion, others more unusual techniques; more on that in a moment. But, whether it’s faith-based or secular, Dr. Jack Dresher of the American Psychiatric Association says that the practice of so-called conversion therapy is dangerous:

People who have done anything approximating a scientific report admit that the majority of people who tried to change their sexual orientation do not change.

And yet this man who tells us he was once gay claims to have helped hundreds of men like him. Richard Cohen, now married with three kids, is a leader in the so-called reparative therapy moment. With just more than a thousand members it’s not a particularly big movement, but because it’s so controversial and despised within the gay community it tends to get a lot of attention.

What you’re suggesting is, being gay is a switch, you can turn on or off.

People have a right to determine how they wish to live their life. If they choose to live a gay life – great; o.k. But, to say that I have to live as a gay man because I had those desires, that’s discrimination.

Cohen who had several boy-friends spent years in various kinds of therapy searching for answers. It wasn’t until he remembered being sexually abused by a man when he was a child that, what he calls, his conversion process began.

I knew it wasn’t for me, and I knew it in my gut I wasn’t born this way.

Cohen is an unlicensed therapist. He offers the theory that some sort of childhood trauma triggers homosexuality, that all it takes is figuring out what it is, healing from it, and moving on.

One of his clients is a 42 year old program analyst who we’ll call Rob. Because it’s such a sensitive subject he asked us to shield his identity. He began seeing Cohen three years ago after years of struggling with unwanted homosexual feelings.

I had a mother that basically committed emotional incest with me because they had a very bad marriage. She used me as her husband, a stand-in.

Cohen explains Rob’s same-sex attraction is typical of the men he treats: Cold, distant dad, overbearing mom, and overly sensitive kid. He showed us some of his unconventional techniques like touch therapy, in which he encourages Rob to seek out same-sex mentors to basically recreate a healthy father-son bond.

It’s nonsexual, it established like parent-child relationship. So he didn’t experience this growing up with his dad.

Rob, do you feel a sexual connection right now?

No, I don’t. I feel very save, and very competed, and it just feels wonderful.

Another technique: bioenergetics, designed to help clients release memories stored in the muscles, in this case, by hitting a pillow with a tennis racket.

I was angry at my mother, so I started to say, mom, mom, mom, mom, why did you do that to me?

So, is being gay a matter of nature or nurture? Doctors say they don’t know for sure. There is no gay gene, and no definitive scientific proof that one’s family or environment triggers same-sex attraction. That’s why mainstream mental health experts have had such a huge problem with Cohen and those like him who promote reparative therapy as legitimate.

It’s like this person has landed on earth from Mars and is doing things that the rest of us don’t believe in and that we don’t do. And it’s just unfortunate that there are people who are willing to except, because of the desperate homosexual feelings, to except these kinds of treatment.

48 year old Xavier Yager spent five years in reparative therapy.

It drove me to the edge of suicide several times.

He says it was so damaging it took years to recover.

From my farthest back recollection, I was always gay. I just, you know they always say it’s a choice to be gay, I chose to try to be straight, and I found that it was unattainable.

Yager is now happily gay. Rob is also happy, but for the opposite reason.

I know what I’m experiencing; I know the freedom that I feel now. And, as a result of the work, I don’t have same-sex attractions anymore.

He’s even been chatting with women on the Internet, hoping to line up dates.

Do you see yourself now as an ex-gay?

I see myself now as a much happier person.

A person who seems to have found his own inner peace.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Bowe, Maryland.

Loki and Smoky

2008-01-23T19:35:00.000+01:00

Since January 1, 2008 smoking bans have become effective in large parts of Germany - to former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and his wife Loki it's all hallow words. The couple merrily continues to chuff - and is even handed an ashtray.

Throughout Germany, smokers may groan about the numerous bans of smoking which are effective in many federal states - not so for former Chancellor Schmidt and his wife Loki. The couple does not allow anybody to deprive them from their smoking pleasure: like at the traditional New Year's punch in the Hamburg theater "Winterhuder Fährhaus" on January 6. They were even handed an ashtray.

The couple does not even think about stopping to smoke. Loki Schmit told a newspaper that even their doctor discouraged them from quitting. The change would be too straneous for their bodies. The 88 year old lady added that she had started smoking when at age 10.

What tax dodgers should know

2008-01-22T20:43:00.000+01:00

If you write number «9» too often in your tax return you will arouse suspicion.

Common sense is often a difficult thing to deal with – especially in math. We should think that stock prices should all start with a 1 as with 2, or with any other number. At a probability of 11.1%, each of the nine numbers should be the first digit of a stock price. In addition, we would assume that no single number is preferred in population figures, and in physical or mathematical constants. As a matter of fact, in many numbers that have social or physical meaning, however, numbers are not equally distributed.

The first person who made this observation was Simon Newcomb, a Canadian physicist who found the first numbers in log tables to be worn more than those in the back. He concluded that his colleagues dealt more often with numbers that start with 1, or 2 than those beginning with 8, or 9. The seemingly fanciful assumption sank into oblivion, and was only rediscovered in 1938 by a physicist named Fran Benford.

Benford, however, went one step further. He tested his assumption with data from different subject areas – results of the American baseball league, atom weights of chemical elements, experimental data in scientific journals, and numbers in articles of «Reader’s Digest» magazine. Permanently he got the same result: While more than 30% of numbers start with 1, merely 5% start with 9.

You will come to the same conclusion when analyzing closing prices of stocks at the New York Stock Exchange. 33.3% of stocks have a value that starts with the number 1. Only 16.4% of securities start with a 2, and only 6.1% with 9.Incidentally, this phenomenon does not depend on currencies. You would find the same distribution of numbers when calculating with Euros, Yen, or Swiss Francs.

Benford’s distribution of numbers is everywhere. After a census of population in 1990, it turned out that the population figures of 3000 counties obeyed it, as well as the length of rivers, and numerical data in scientific papers.

The distribution remained curiosity until conclusive evidence had been found. It was only in 1995 that the mystery was solved by a Theodore Hill, a professor of mathematics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His complete demonstration would be a bit of a stretch, but the phenomenon may be illustrated as follows: Suppose a stock is valued at USD 100.00 and appreciates at a 10% annual rate. For 88 months – until its value reaches USD 200 – the stock price begins with 1.The stock only has a leading 2 for 52 months until the stock climbs to USD 300. The stock price will start with 9 only for 12 months because this is how long it takes it to rise from 900 to 1000. Again it will take 88 months for the stock to reach the 2000 mark, and during this period of time the stock price will begin with 1.This roughly complies to the distribution Benford observed. In mathematic terms, it is a logarithmic distribution. The frequency f of a digit d (1,2, … 9) is calculated by the formula f = log (1 + 1/d).For d = 1 we get f = 30.1%, for d = 9 we get f = 4.6%.

After this phenomenon was taken from a mere curiosity to the level of a mathematical law, professionals started to look for practical applications. A professor of accounting subjected 170 000 tax returns to a deeper analysis. He examined whether the numbers in the tax forms obeyed the Bredford distribution. Not only did they obey it, and this is how he was able to detect erroneous tax returns. Since that time, American tax authorities have used this approach in order to identify tax fraud. And computer scientists want to avail the fact that small numbers occur more often as the first digit by adapting a computer’s architecture.

Big Yellow Taxi

2008-01-22T15:25:00.000+01:00

by Joni Mitchell
The cartoon music video is from the 1970s.

They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

They took all the trees
Put em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see em
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Hey farmer farmer
Put away that d.d.t. now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Late last night
I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi
Took away my old man
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Tell Him

2008-01-22T15:04:00.000+01:00

by Celine Dion and Barbara Streisand

I'm scared
So afraid to show I care
Will he think me weak
If I tremble when I speak
Oooh
What if
There's another one he's thinking of
Maybe he's in love
I'd feel like a fool
Life can be so cruel
I don't know what to do
I've been there
With my heart out in my hand
But what you must understand
You can't let the chance
To love him pass you by

Tell him
Tell him that the sun and moon
Rise in his eyes
Reach out to him
And whisper
Tender words so soft and sweet
Hold him close to feel his heart beat
Love will be the gift you give yourself

Touch him (Oooh)
With the gentleness you feel inside (I feel it)
Your love can't be denied
The truth will set you free
You'll have what's meant to be
All in time you'll see

Oooh
I love him (Then show him)
Of that much I can be sure (Hold him close to you)
I don't think I could endure
If I let him walk away
When I have so much to say

Tell him
Tell him that the sun and moon
Rise in his eyes
Reach out to him
And whisper
Tender words so soft and sweet
Hold him close to feel his heart beat
Love will be the gift you give yourself

Love is light that surely glows
In the hearts of those who know
It's a steady flame that grows
Feed the fire with all the passion you can show
Tonight love will assume its place
This memory time cannot erase
Your faith will lead love where it has to go

Tell him
Tell him that the sun and moon
Rise in his eyes
Reach out to him
And whisper
Whisper words so soft and sweet
Hold him close to feel his heart beat
Love will be the gift you give yourself

Oooh
Never let him go

Enemies of Reason

2008-01-19T23:43:00.000+01:00

There are two ways of looking at the world – through faith and superstition or through the rigours of logic, observation and evidence – in other words, through reason. Reason and a respect for evidence are precious commodities, the source of human progress and our safeguard against fundamentalists and those who profit from obscuring the truth.

Yet, today, society appears to be retreating from reason.

Apparently harmless but utterly irrational belief systems from astrology to New Age mysticism, clairvoyance to alternative health remedies are booming.

Slaves to Superstition

Richard Dawkins confronts what he sees as an epidemic of irrational, superstitious thinking...

He explains the dangers the pick and mix of knowledge and nonsense poses in the internet age, and passionately re-states the case for reason and science.

Prof Richard Dawkins tackles the epidemic of irrational, superstitious thinking which is blotting the light of logic and evidence. After garnering tips on psychics' entirely earthly trade secrets from the illusionist Derren Brown, Dawkins attends a seance and confronts the medium. Time and again, the interviewees appeal to personal revelation or second-hand anecdote to justify their belief.

Uri Geller: exposed

2008-01-16T12:33:00.000+01:00

A German television show named "The Next Uri Geller" currently rocks the boat. Performer Uri Geller who claims to have psychic powers is looking for his successor.

Where once there was reason, now there is confusion.

While some of the candidates' tricks have been proven counterfeit shortly after the first episode was aired, Uri Geller himself has repeatedly been exposed.

Nonetheless, many people believe in Uri Geller's power. It seems apposite to ask whether they wish to believe that some human beings truly have psychic powers?

Have a look at the first part of how James Randi exposes all the popular tricks and hocus-pocus of Uri Geller:

Queerer Than We Can Suppose: The Strangeness of Science

2008-01-15T18:41:00.000+01:00

Richard Dawkins is best known from his controversial best selling books like "The God Delusion," and "The Selfish Gene." He is a reknowned ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and popular science writer. Dawkins is well known for his views on religion as he is an outspoken antireligionist, atheist, secular humanist, and sceptic.

In his talk, entitled "Queerer Than We Can Suppose: The Strangeness of Science", which he delivered at the TED Conferences in 2006, he suggests that the true nature of the universe eludes us, because the human mind evolved only to understand the "middle-sized" world we can observe.

He argues that science, as opposed to technology, does violence to common sense: Every time you drink a glass of water the odds are that you will imbibe at least one molecule that passed through the bladder of Oliver Cromwell. The number of molecules per glass full is hugely greater than the number of glass fulls, or bladders fulls, in the world.

Dawkins further outlines that there are most probably more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of or can be dreamed of in any philosophy, and wonder whether there are things about the universe that will be forever beyond our grasp, but not beyond the grasp of some superior intelligence.

So far, science has thaught us, against all intuition, that apparently solid things like cristals and rocks are really almost entirely composed of empty space.

Please, have a look at Dawkin's talk yourself to learn what science can mean to our daily lives:

Zachary Stockdale

2008-01-14T13:24:00.000+01:00

'The Vagina Song'

Both sad and funny.

She wants to say,
everything’s gonna turn out the right way.
She believes all of this was meant to be.
A margarita, a little walking.
She did a little too much talking,
then she told me about her STD.

I’m running away, don’t want to stay.
Sorry if it seems kinda mean.
But my balls mean so much to me.
You got an STD, girl,
no it’s just not for me, Girl no.
A clean bill of health is all mine-a
I don’t want to touch your,
Dirty Vagina.

I’m gonna lock my door.
Never want to see your panties on my floor
Close your legs watch some Star Trek.
Just don’t forget to take your Valtrex
I’m in my Corolla and I’m flooring the gas
Cause I think you need a little Neosporin for your ass.
Looks like you sat on Papa John’s Pizza.

Or your bush was attacked by a cheetah.
I know you just wanna be a good lover
But like R.L. Stine you got Goosebumps on your cover.
Your cookie must burning like an Easy-bake Oven.
Cause, Girl, I smell something.

I’m running away, don’t want to stay.
Sorry if it seems kinda mean.
But my balls mean so much to me.
You got an STD, Girl.
No it’s not for me, Girl, no.
A clean bill of health is all mine-a,
I don’t wanna smell your,
Stinky Vagina.

You tell me it burns when you pee,
but you still think you got a clean pussy.
I don’t believe it. It can't be true.
You gotta find somebody else to screw.
You want sex, I got a better proposal.
How bout I stick my penis in a garbage disposal.
I’m grabbing my jeans. Hitting the road.
Gonna find somewhere else to blow my load.

Don’t get me wrong, Girl, I think you’re a cool chick.
But I don’t want you playing with my hockey stick.
Cause it looks like your crotch caught on fire,
and the doctor tried to put it out with a brick.
And that makes me nervous, just a little bit.

I’m running away, don’t wanna stay,
You got more crabs than San Francisco bay.
More cheese than a high school cafeteria tray,
on macaroni day.
Now if you’re thinking, there’s nothing she can do.
Bullshit, I’ve got some advice for you.

Trojan, Durex, Comet, Windex Can of Pledge with the lemony scent.
I like that best. Prescription drugs.
A bath tub plug, Automatic Shower Cleaner with the Scrubbing Bubbles
cause I think we all agree you tub has got a little trouble.
Make it double. Snow blower, lawn mower,
Vietnam flame thrower. Bubble gum, Shotgun.
fuck it. Call a bombing run.

Maybe you can stuff it with some babies breath,
Then it won’t smell like you gave birth, to death.
Think that was all that’s left, let me check…yup.
Hope you’re not upset.

«e-»

2008-01-13T22:09:00.000+01:00

e-mail, e-book, e-journal, e-commerce, e-banking, e-trading, e-shopping, ...

What would the world look like if the «e-» part wasn't there? Countless people cannot imagine what their lives would be without the Internet. And every so often, we take fron granted what has only existed for a comparatively short amount of time.

The Internet had its breakthrough only in 1989 when the WWW Hypertext System was introduced by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Even six years later, in 1995, a mere 25 million people worldwide had access to the Internet. The number of users increased to 840 million users in 2002, and to over 1.262 billion in 2007. While currently 70.9% of the population of Northern America access the Internet, only 19.1% of the world population do.

The main social and economic implication is a drastic change in the way we communicate with each other. While information is ever more available at our fingertips, information is democratized.

There is no doubt that the Internet turns our world into a global village.

Marco Cribari

2008-01-12T15:26:00.000+01:00

Marco Cribari (* July 7, 1985) is a Swiss athlete. The sprinter runs for LC Zurich. At the European athletics championships of 2006 he took part in the 200 meter race and is a member of the Swiss 4 x 100 meters relay. In 2007, he ranked fifth at the European U23 championships and became Swiss champion in the 100 meter race. At the Wold athletics championships in 2007 he ranked 25th in the 200 meter race.

Until Cribari was 18 he played soccer and then decided to focus on athletic sports. He has been a medical student since 2006.

Personal best performances
100 meter race: 10.35 seconds, July 28, 2007 in Lausanne
200 meter race: 20.54 seconds, June 9, 2007 in Geneva
60 meter race (Halle): 6.87 seconds, February 17, 2007 in St.Gallen

Why don't I ...

2008-01-11T21:38:00.000+01:00

... just go more often for a run?

Here's Cribari. He's just great!

Brawny's Profile

2008-01-11T16:59:00.000+01:00

Simon
male
22 years old
Business student
Switzerland

Simon's Interests
General: sports, health, reading, & fun, fun, fun
Movie Stars: Dustin Hofmann
Books: interesting ones
Heroes: my friends

Simon's Details
Hometown: Bern
Zodiac Sign: Gemini
Smoker/Drinker: we'll see/casual
Children: Undecided

Better Be Good To Me

2008-01-10T21:10:00.001+01:00

This is, by far, my most favorite of Rosie O’Donnell’s Jahero movies. Jahero, you may be wondering, is a nickname for the morning video blogs posted by Rosie O'Donnell on her website during part of her tenure on The View. The name was created using the first two charachters of the participants Janette Barber (O'Donnel's writer and produer), Helene Macaulay (make-up artist who is in charge of O'Donnell's hair and make-up), and Rosie O'Donnell.

This particular video is especially interesting because it outlines several difficulties Rosie faced when on The View.

Transcript:
('Better Be Good To Me' by Tina Turner is playing in the background, sung parts are desplayed in italics)

Good morning, bloggers.

A prisoner of your love, entangled in your web.

Helene: Is today a double feature?
I don't know

Hot whispers in the night. I'm captured by your spell.

My favorite part, right here

Oh yes Im touched by this show of emotion? Should I be fractured by your lack of devotion? Should I, hm, should I?

No, no, you better be good to me. That's how its gotta be now. 'Cause I don't have no use for what you loosely call the truth. You better be good to me.

This is for the whole FOX network
Helene: We're very depressed we're leaving The View. We liked it
Yeah, it was fun.
Helene: I could've done another year
Yeah
But we're not sad, people.

We dont need to fight. We could stand face to face and you present your case

This is about Donald.

I know you keep telling me that you love me, and I really do wanna believe. But did you think I'd just accept you in blind faith? Oh sure babe, anything to please you. You better be good to me. Thats how its gotta be now.

Come on in Janette, isn't this funny?

'Cause I dont have no use ... for your over loaded lies

Alright. Somehow I just felt Tina Turner was really a good way to start off today. Are you all well?

Helene and Janette: Yeah, we're good.

OK, everybody's good. This is our second blog of the day, the first one was utterly boring.

Background: Here's me. (Confetti gun shoots off.)

Confetti! That scared the hell out of me, I thought the light bulb broke. Isn't that appealing?

Helen: Right now I have Tinnitus in both ears. Excuse me. Get out of my way!

Alright. A lot of the blog entries are the same. "We're sorry you're leaving, we're sorry you're leaving, we're sorry you're leaving."

"If I was stranded on a desert island," Lisa said "what five CDs should I bring?"

I think Tina Turner.

I can't feel, I surely cannot see. Why can't you be good to me? If it's not real I do not wish to see.

That's why I didn't watch all the crap last night.

Helene: I didn't watch any of it.

Janette: I didn't watch any either.

Helene: I don't watch television.

good to me ... Why can't you be good to me?

Here comes the cow bell. Ready? It's got a big solo coming up. Here we go. And now, cow bell every body. Oh, it's not there.

for your overloaded lies

I love Tina Turner.

for your overloaded lies ... I don't have no use for what you loosely call the truth, you better be good to me

I think that's my new theme song. 'You better be good to me.'

Alright, ladies. We're gonna do a few quick questions for the people.

"FOX twist the news about as much as ABC, CBS, ... . Oh, that's right their news leaves just to the left as always. That's why you applaud them. Keep applauding while FOX will dominate the ratings."

Peggy, I don't know what to tell you. If you wanna go to, you know, eat fast food every day even though you know it's not healthy for you, abd it's not really good to do, go ahead. FOX News I don't have no use for what you loosely call the truth. I'm quoting Tina Turner.

"A major bummer, where will I get my broadway fix as well as my mind jump-started by your provocative comments. Don't do a game show! I wanna hear what you have to say."

Oh Regi, thank you Regi. Alright, go ahead Janette, here take Gary.

Janette: Ok Gary. "If people focused on the good non-sexual qualities of the gay community they would feel different. Why do people always think of the sexual side? Thinking of Mary Lou having sex makes me want to puke."

Who is Mary Lou? Neither do I.

Janette: But see, here's my thing, I don't wanna think about anybody having sex, quite honestly nobody.

Helene: I'd like to think about myself having sex.

I'd like Helene, too, have sex. So maybe she could, ... yeah calm down a little.

Alright "It's amazing how these shows with experts boost their own ratings talking about one person leaving a talk show. Not Gonzalez, not Tilman, not Iraq. Over 6 shows."

I think it was more than that, Barbara, but you get the point.

Helene: "Where can I see the OutFOXed documentary?" Netflix. You can see almost anything on Netflix.

Go to Netflix. I'm a big supporter of Netflix. And get that OutFOXed documentary so that you can understand what it is you're watching there. You're watching a purposeful slant for a financial game of a couple of very rich, sick people.

Helene: While you're at it, you should rent 'Smartest Guys In The Room,' Enron. Smartest Guys. And I think that's gonna be ob PBS this week in New York, anyway.

Yes, and Bill Moyer's bravo series on PBS. Bill Moyer, I'm gonna send you something, I don't know what.

Janette: "What's your view on global warming," Tiffany wants to know.

It's real, and it's happening, and no matter what anyone tells you folks, we're in big trouble.

Janette: Yeah, and don't invest in a lot of sweaters.

Helene: Invest in real estate in Northern Canada.

"Is it weird being famous?" says Allan. Yes it is, and I've written a book about it, and it's called 'Celebrity Detox,' and it comes out on September, 18.

Janette: Cindy has "Jahero, thanks for showing the world: women can be sexy, and smart, and funny all in one. Ro, will miss you. But no, we'll see you still. Hope stories really open people's eyes to spin, spin, versus truth." Well, that's always show biz. That's actually another word for showbiz.

"All this talk about you leaving the view as though we'll never see you again." Tracy, you're totally right, and I know I will. And you're correct. "Do you think this is what you call a distraction?" Yes. "Another 9 troups killed in Iraq." I hate when they call them troups, because you know what a troup is? A human being! 9 troup, no, 9 people, 9 sons and daughters, 9 families destroyed, for what is my question, for what.

Alright, take one, Janette.

Janette: OK, "How about a movie, I loved you in a leage of their own. It's gonna be pretty boring without you, where am I gonna find my morning smile now?" Right here.

Yeah, we'll still do the blog. Cindy: "What a journey you're on, awesome" I agree, life's a journey, honey, there is no destination.

"The responder's story saddened me so" You have no idea, wait until you see it tomorrow, it literally, it's hard to explain. "You will be a voice for them." I hope to God I will be. "I watched American Idol last night, our reponders need a show like that" Yes, they do, Dana.

Alright, we're at 8 minutes, and oh, we got flowers from who? Oh, you two little cute boys. Men. Celebrating their 10th anniversary, I sent them to see a show.

Alright, we're at 8 minutes, we're gonna go now. OK, Helene, take one, they miss you.

Helene: "Canada loves our neighbor's ... . You speak for so many Canadians with your view on the Bush administration. We're so going to miss your view up here. God bless and come up visit us. aight."

Aight, I will.

Helene: Those Canadians say that all the time.

I love the Canadians, aight. "Rosie, I don't swear, but for F sake will these idiots of society shut up and leave you alone? The road is rocky for those who make a difference. Rock on! D. T. and Bush, fire them both!"

Let's just end this blog the same way we began it, ok? With what? A little Tina Turner. Take it Tina, take us home. ... Here we go. Oh, I love the song. Two ... three ... four.

Prisoner of your love
...

Merk Dr Das

2008-01-10T18:29:00.000+01:00

'Merk Dr Das'
by Dash

Part 1:
Während däm dir heit glacht hani dehei mini Beats gmacht
Ha mir gseit es isch besser dehei z'blibe um Texste z'schribe
Es het sech glohnt und jetz stahni da, jetz stahni uf dr Bühni aso los dä Shit a
Chum i läbe Hip Hop und das sit Johre
Während däm dir tröimed bini hingedürre am score
Dir heits nid gmerkt, dir heits nid begriffe, dir heit wahrschinlech dänkt i machi nüt wüu i kiffe
Aber fautsch dänkt und fautsch überleit, i hoffe nach däm Track isch d'Nachricht ändlech übertreit
Jetz isch fertig luschtig, man jetz bini da
Fertig luschtig, i blibe no vili Jahr

Refrain:
Merk dr das
Shit schnurre bringt nüt
Merk dr das
Ig chumme ging zrüg
Merk dr das
U los lo keiä, es isch gschider, man du wiesch genau i chume immer wieder

Part 2:
Dir heit mi gseh und nech säuber es Biud gmacht
Sit jetz gschockt denn i ha verdammt viu gmacht
viu gschafft, viu grafft, viu pafft
I ha no viu Zit, no viu Chraft
Mi weiss i ha no viu Saft
No viu Energie, no viu Motivation
Aso tritti jede Tag wieder in Aktion
Dir heit mrs nie gönnt
Am liebschte währed dr zu mir cho und hättet au mini Texste vrbrönnt
Dir heit viu chönne lache, heit nech viu amüsiert
I bi ungedürre, ha aber z'Läbe kapiert
Viu meine immerno i sig e Absturz
Aber uf die Vorurteil gibi doch e Fuck druf
Dir sit scho ging vo euem Ich uf dr Flucht
Verzeuet Gschichte und bewiset so numme Iversucht
Jetz isch schluss, i hoffe dass drs merked
öii Fautsch-Ussage mache mi no stercher

Refrain

Phill:
I gib e Figg druf
I gib e Figg druf
I gib e Figg druf
Nim e Hit vo mim Stick u gib e Figg druf

Part 3:
Immerno z'gliche Smile, immerno dr glich Style
Immerno z'gliche Läbe, numme nie dr glich Rhyme
D'Melodie vor Ewigkeit
D'Wuet womi treit
I gseh dä ganz Shit wo nach Bluet schreit
Aber i blibe mir tröi, blibe zueversichtlech
Ha wenigschtens no Fröid am Beatä und am Dichtä
Das isch aus wo mir blibt, das cha mir niemer näh
So vertröimi mini Zit sibä Täg ir Wuchä
Chasch mi liebe oder hasse
I wirde ni verblasse
I bi i und bruche ke Maske
I verfoge mi Plan, chume vouer Elan
Gloube nüm a Gott, gloube nid a Satan
Die exischtiere höchschtens i dir säuber
I gloube jetz uf au Fäu a mi säuber

Refrain

Outro, End

straightforward

2008-01-06T03:19:00.000+01:00

Have a look at the stunning firework we saw on the lake of Zurich:

The new year started almost a week ago, and only now is there a new post about my life; my soul life, and my pursuit of finding someone and something I truly love, truly love to do.

My inner desire of a major change is constantly increasing. Today it even leaves me sleepless, and makes me post early in the morning.

There are so many reasons why this is: I feel unhappy with my current college life, and do not exactly know why. I keep wondering whether it is my 'apartment situation' which includes Ben, a guy who I once thought was one of my best friends, and now I only feel betrayed by. At this time, everytime he's around I only feel rivalry on an utmost personal level, I perceive the world to be an evil place. Does it take only one person to give me this feeling? Nevertheless, I repeatedly feel he won't understand what I say, what I mean to say, and how I mean it.

Isn't life about doing what you really want to do? If you really, really want to? I think so. This is what I tell everybody who believes I am gay. "Don't you think I would have come out of the closet years ago if I wanted to live this lifestyle?" I don't think anybody wants to hide these days, or has to. So what would they think if they ask me? That I am not thinking?

If someone has the choice I truly believe they should do what they like best. This is the way I grew up.

I have always dreamt of spending some time in the States, somewhere on the West coast. (Not only because my dermatologist advised me to often go to warm and sunny places with a beach and salt water.)

From what I know the culture of people on the West coast is more open-minded, maybe more relaxed than what I perceive my present environment to be.

I keep wondering, why do I not just do it? Look for some job, rent an apartment, and get a ticket to San Diego; and off I go? I do not know.

Certainly, Rachelle is something I cannot let go, something I haven't been able to let go for a long time. Even though it seems so obvious. I used to belive (and still do) that she moved into the house next to where I live. Inspite of that, I wrote letters to her, made her presents, contacted her in so many ways. And there would be no answer to what I really said. No answer at all. What other explanation is there that she either does not actually live there, or is not interested at all? I'm coming to the conclusion there is none.

Why should I wait for something that is never going to happen? I might as well strive for my childhood dream and spend a couple of years somewhere abroad. I could take a sort of a 'vacation' from my life her. Make up for my wild teenage years I think I'm missing.

Life is never straightforward, right? I cannot plan everything. My life cannot ride like it's on rails. Nobody's life does.

I will have to fight for what I want to do. And, first things first, find a way to get out of the Swiss Armed Forces.

Happy New Year

2007-12-31T23:59:00.000+01:00

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.

nus

2007-12-28T16:09:00.000+01:00

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.

Why Are There No Unisex Bathbrooms?

2007-12-27T19:03:00.000+01:00

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)

Why Do Women Wait In Front Of Ladies' Rooms?

2007-12-27T17:57:00.000+01:00

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?

2007-12-27T17:02:00.000+01:00

A game theoretic approach to the problem of why men's bathrooms are always dirty

Please leave the toilet as you would like to find it.

(a groundkeeper's sign on a campground)

Stand close, the man behind you may be barefoot.

(graffiti on a men's room)

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)

Why Do We Wear Suit And Tie?

2007-12-27T12:10:00.000+01:00

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)

the truth is ugly

2007-12-26T15:41:00.000+01:00

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.

outlook

2007-12-25T19:32:00.000+01:00

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!

Christmas Eve's Eve

2007-12-23T20:41:00.000+01:00

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

done

2007-12-21T15:50:00.000+01:00

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

2007-12-20T23:18:00.000+01:00

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)

making my bones

2007-12-16T16:14:00.001+01:00

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

I'm so excited

2007-12-14T20:44:00.000+01:00

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?!)

World Sunlight Map

2007-12-13T02:36:00.000+01:00

Longevity

2007-12-06T21:43:00.001+01:00

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 on Larry King 9/21/07

2007-12-06T19:50:00.000+01:00

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's Celebrity Detox

2007-12-06T14:50:00.000+01:00

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.

Watch Live American TV

2007-12-06T00:19:00.000+01:00

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.

All I Want for Christmas

2007-11-30T01:41:00.001+01:00

by Mariah Carey

I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
I don't care about the presents
Underneath the Christmas tree
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true...
All I want for Christmas is
You... yea yea

I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
(and I) Don't care about presents
Underneath the Christmas tree
I don't need to hang my stocking
There upon the fireplace
Santa Claus won't make me happy
With a toy on Christmas day
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you...
You baby

Oh I won't ask for much this Christmas
I won't even wish for snow
(and I) I'm just gonna keep on waiting
Underneath the mistletoe
I won't make a list and send it
To the North Pole for Saint Nick
I won't even stay awake to
Hear those magic reindeer click
'Cause I just want you here tonight
Holding on to me so tight
What more can I do
Baby all I want for Christmas is you
You baby

All the lights are shining
So brightly everywhere (so brightly yea)
And the sound of children's
Laughter fills the air
And everyone is singing (oh yea)
I hear those sleigh bells ringing
Santa won't you bring me the one I really need -
won't you please bring my baby to me...

Oh I don't want a lot for Christmas
This is all I'm asking for
I just want to see baby
Standing right outside my door
Oh I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
Baby all I want for Christmas is
You (You) baby

All I want for Christmas is you baby... (repeat)

Love, Explained

2007-11-29T18:53:00.000+01:00

This is an interview with anthropologist Helen E. Fisher, PhD, a Research Professor and member of the Center for Human Evolutionary Studies in the Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University.
She has conducted extensive research on the evolution and future of human sex, love and marriage and gender differences in the brain and behavior.

Q: In a nutshell, why do we fall in love?
Dr. Fisher: I’ve come to think that romantic love is one of three basic brain systems that evolved for reproduction. Each evolved for a reason: The sex drive evolved to get you out there looking for partners. Romantic love evolved to enable you to focus your energy on just one person at a time, conserving time and energy. And attachment, the feeling of security you can feel with a long-term partner, evolved to help you stay together long enough to raise kids.

Q: Why does being in love feel so good?
Dr. Fisher: Because some of the most powerful brain circuits for pleasure are triggered. The main chemical involved is dopamine, which produces feelings of euphoria, energy, sleeplessness, and focused attention on your beloved. Biologically speaking, you’re experiencing something similar to a cocaine high.

Q: Is there such a thing as love at first sight?
Dr. Fisher: Yes. It probably happens to men more than women because men are more visual, but I think we can all remember times when we felt an instant attraction to someone we barely knew. It has a practical purpose: In the animal kingdom you can’t spend three months discussing your résumé; you need to feel instant sparks to start the breeding process.

Q: Is falling in love all about timing?
Dr. Fisher: Timing is important. The perfect partner can sit right next to you at a party, and you might not notice him or her if you’re too busy at work, enmeshed in another relationship, or otherwise preoccupied. But if you’ve just moved to a new city, recovered from an unsatisfying love affair, begun to make enough money to raise a family, are suffering through a difficult experience, or have a good deal of spare time, you are ripe to fall in love.

Q: Is there anything we can do to make someone fall for us (or make ourselves fall for someone)?
Dr. Fisher: Do new things together. Novelty and excitement all drive up the activity of dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain. These neurotransmitters are associated with energy, elation, focused attention and motivation—central traits of romantic love. So as you do novel things, these chemicals hop into action and may just push you over the threshold to fall in love.

Q: Is there anything you can do to make yourself stop loving someone?
Dr. Fisher: Some people, especially women, tend to talk about a failed relationship so much that they re-traumatize themselves. Instead, get rid of your ex’s cards and letters. Don’t call or write. Get some sunshine and exercise, because both can change brain chemistry.

Q: What’s the difference between love and lust?
Dr. Fisher: Lust generally dissipates after having sex and returns hours or days later. You can feel it for several people at the same time and not necessarily feel jealous. But when you’re in love, you are very possessive. And romantic feelings don’t dissipate after having sex; in fact, they can intensify.

Q: Does having sex make people fall in love?
Dr. Fisher: Having sex can trigger love—probably because after orgasm, there’s a peak in dopamine activity. So watch out if you casually bed down with someone—you might unintentionally fall for them.

Q: Do feelings of love die over time, and is there any way to bring them back?
Dr. Fisher: The first intense period of love can last one to three years. After that, these feelings subside. But if two people are compatible, there are many ways to renew a flagging partnership. Novelty can spur romance; sex can trigger it, too. Do some of the things that you used to when you were first dating.

Q: How important a role does chemistry play in love?
Dr. Fisher: I believe that when the chemistry of one personality meshes well with the chemistry of another, it will continually combust throughout the relationship—keeping both partners together and happy during dry spells when feelings of romance are low.

Q: How do men and women experience love differently?
Dr. Fisher: Men fall in love faster than women do. Women take longer because they have to create a “memory trail” of their mate’s behaviors. She has to remember what he promised, what he’s done for the partnership, and what he failed to do.

Q: What do men look for in a mate?
Dr. Fisher: Men are more likely to choose women who display signs of youth and beauty—the first time that they marry, men around the world tend to marry women who are three years younger than themselves. Men are also attracted to women who “need” them. Men want to be helpful.

Q: What do women look for in a mate?
Dr. Fisher: Women are attracted to partners with money, status, and ambition—one study found that American women seek partners who offered financial security twice as frequently as men do. If men look for “sex objects,” then women look for “success objects.”

Q: Can someone truly love more than one person?
Dr. Fisher: No. I think you can feel lust for more than one person, and feelings of attachment for more than one person. But not love. As the Indian aphorism goes, “The lane of love is narrow; there is room for only one.”

Q: What’s the biggest mistake people make when it comes to love?
Dr. Fisher: Some people fall in love before they really know their partner and marry in this state of romantic rapture. They should probably wait until that intense early phase wears off so they can see the flaws in the relationship before they dive in for good.

Q: Having reviewed so much scientific data on love,what would be the most important thing we’ve learned?
Dr. Fisher: To me, the most important thing that scientists have learned is that romantic love was not invented by the troubadours in 11th century France. We have now found love poetry from the ancient Sumerians written some 4,000 years ago, as well as evidence of romantic love in over 150 societies. It’s given me a deep sense of connection to people everywhere: We’re all alike in some basic and beautiful ways.

Ragtime

2007-11-29T13:38:00.000+01:00

E.L. Doctorow's dazzling novel, Ragtime, was made into a Broadway musical by Garth Drabinsky and Terrence McNally. Currently, there are a book, a DVD, and audio cassettes available.

The novel, Ragtime, was about ordinary people like you and me who got caught in the currents of time.

Doctorow wrote the novel in the early 1970s and did not witness the Ragtime era. Nonetheless, he choses a history-based approach when he portrays a major turning point in America's history.

Ragtime includes three stories which surround three families from three entirely different backgrounds:

- The established, upper-class WASP family

- The Jewish immigrant family

- The Afro-American family

This apporach makes use of tipicality which is an often observed method used in literature.

E.L. Doctorow discovers, by means of attention to the historical period, the way those three families‘ lives intersected both with one another and with the events and currents of the time.

He sets the story spinning when Doctorow uses real-life lengends, such as Henry Ford, Harry Houdini, Evelyn Nesbin, or Stanford White, as metaphors and emblems for the currents of the time.

A truly beautiful novel.

facebook studivz

2007-11-27T23:59:00.000+01:00

If you are up-to-date with trends and fads in the virtual world you most certainly know facebook.com -- if you don't, well then, I guess every now and then, pigs can fly?

Either way, for roughly two years a German copy of facebook, called studivz, has attracted numerous German and Swiss students to sign up. The site was later translated into French, Italian, Polish, and Spanish.

Now have a look at how similar facebook and studivz are:

It is obvious that studivz is one-to-one a replication of facebook. I wonder why the founders of facebook do not care?

Early this year, studivz was acquired for US$ 112m.

Mala Malita Mala

2007-11-27T18:20:00.002+01:00

que yo te quise tu bien lo sabes
y luego tuve que aborrecerte
los besos tuyos no son sinceros
y ya no quiero volver a verte
(repreat)

(refrain:)
mala, mala malita , mala, mala
es tu condici�n
malo, malo malito malo, malo, malo
es tu coraz�n
(repeat)

no sientes nada de cuanto dices
prometes mucho siempre que hablas
por mas que tratas de convencerme,
yo no me fio de tus palabras (repeat)

refrain

no sientes nada de cuanto dices,
prometes mucho siempre que hablas,
por mas que tratas de convencerme
yo no me fio de tus palabras

no verte nunca ni hablar contigo,
y es el remedio para mis males
tu sabes bien que cuando lo digo
no son mentiras que son verdades

refrain

weekend fix

2007-11-27T17:23:00.000+01:00

a nu post is here
artistic it is supposed 2 be
every now and then
for a change

many nu ideas and thoughts
occured 2 me over the weekend
entrenched in my apt
for a rebound

i have 2 people i'd love 2 tell
2 my beautiful neighbor girl
who just won't spell
2 my rogue room mate
specializing in concern

for months and weeks
i have been wondering
if or not she is
the one i loved so much 2 be

an entire virtual world got to know
my see-saw - to and fro
cds, a letter, stuff straight from the heart
2 follow no reaction of hers

instead of depression
questions came about
of why a human can
not bother 2 react at all

and still
special i feel
when i think
i see her

and then
my room mate
about to leave
no question there

A piece of ...

2007-11-19T00:01:00.003+01:00

... true American television.

Ruby Wax meets Jerry Springer and provides a look behind the scenes of The Jerry Springer Show.

Rolling The Dice

2007-11-15T15:50:00.000+01:00

To my astonishment, a couple of bloggers have written in and asked how they can help since my post about my room mate's illegal activities. Your sympathy has flattered me and made me feel comfortable again. Comfortable to know that others feel the same way; that others can understand what it's like for me.

I have felt very much at ease these last days. In fact, the issue with my room mate gives me comfort. He makes me feel in control; he himself put me in the driver's seat -- as they say. I never intended to be, but it just kind of happened. What's more, I never would have imagined me speaking in such a 'nasty' yet strategically thinking tone. But it occurs to me I have to. Sometimes you need to take preemptive action in order for yourself not to get into trouble.

Currently, I'm sort of rolling the dice. Is there a chance he might ever put the blame on me for his illegal, criminal, and chargeable activities? Will nobody ever find out and try to haunt him down? I simply do not know. Not yet do I know.

Clearly, numbers 2 and 4 in my list of choices have become unlikely for me to pay any further attention. First of all, I do not want to live in fear. This seems an unwise alternative. And second, to blackmail him would make me no better than him; it's illegal, it's unwise, and it's simply not worth it.

So, what about the three monkeys or justice? From a reliable source, I know that I do not commit any kind of crime simply by knowing what is going on. Additionally, clear evidence has been collected that leaves no doubt that I was not involved in his offense.

But then again, my room mate has put me under pressure lately. He seems very frightened and appears to regret what he did, yet at the same time he does not stop what he does. He's repeatedly asked me whether I told someone what he's done, whether anybody else knew. Why does he care? Why suddenly?

For now, I need not take any decision. I simply wonder what thoughts and feelings are going on behin his words. If I were him, I'd cleary try to sympathize with me so that I would never want to do any harm to him (doesn't this seem obvious?) Not with mere words, but by actions. By doing things that he knows (and in fact he does know me very well) I will love and enjoy. However, it must be hard for him to presume what it would take; what he needed to do; what I wanted him to do; what would finally put this question to rest.

Honesty With A Spin

2007-11-09T23:58:00.000+01:00

It has been a while since my last post on this blog. This is because I have been busy with other interests lately, such as setting up two other web sites, starting my graduation paper, college, and many others.

At the same time, this 'pause of blogging' allowed me to win time. My room mate (who is said to abuse any personal information for blackmailig other people) found out the url of this blog. Certainly, I would not like him to diffuse cherry-picked information of it; and I am unsure whether to believe his promise that he won't pass around the url.

This is not what I wanted. Blogging only makes sense to me if I need not fear any disclosure of my most personal thougths and feelings. The reason for me to blog is to put my thoughts into order and to get feed-back from people who understand them. Certainly, I do not want to run the risk of being blackmailed, defamed, or ... We all have thoughts and feelings that we don't want to share with everybody, right?

But then, things with my room mate suddenly changed a short while ago. There has been an issue with him that allows me to feel at ease; in the very meaning of it. Wonder why?

My room mate is a boarderline person. Not so much in the psychiatric meaning of it, but most certainly in the eye of the law. Yes folks, my dear friend who's lived with me for more than three years is involved in illegal activites on the web. Now, what does this mean for me? Several options for me arise from the fact:

#1: Do what the three wise monkeys would: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil
#2: Fear. Fear all. Fear that I will be made responsible for this.
#3: Become active and bring justice into his life
#4: Blackmail him. Either on a fixed or on a percentage basis. Monthly. In cash.

The list of choices that he implicitely presents me with is stupendous. I need not fear his 'blabbing out' my blog. Oh no.

Somehow this all reminds me of Tina Turner's song "better be good to me" from the mid-70's -- anybody remember?

May the posting and commenting continue!

Richard Dawkins on the O'Reilly Factor

2007-11-09T23:30:00.001+01:00

nice nice nice

2007-10-21T22:00:00.001+02:00

Also

2007-10-18T10:55:00.000+02:00

I need to add that when I went to a party yesterday evening, I was almost certain that Rachelle was there, too. She looked very much like her, and behaved like her. A friend of mine ensured me it wasn't her. He even said she didn't look like her. But why did I think so? WHY? I thought she looked very much like her. What kept me from truly believing it, was that I couldn't imagine why she would have been there.
I've been confused ever since.

Why did I not dare ask her?

Common sense

2007-10-18T10:49:00.000+02:00

It's been nearly two weeks since I set my heart on the saying 'third time's a charm.'

It's been nearly two weeks since the day I made clear to my neighbor girl who this guy was that secretly made her presents. I thought I also made clear that I would be glad if she wrote back (and that I would be more than glad if she truly was Rachelle). I thought I did.

For nearly two weeks my questions have remained unanswered. And for nearly two weeks, every second's been like a minute, every minute's been like a day. (I love these lines in 'wish you were here' by Rednex).

After nearly two weeks, after revealing why I keep on doing what I've been doing, after telling her who I am, and after providing her with my name and cell phone number, I have not heard anything from her.

«Hmm...»

It's hard for me to stay rational when Rachelle is involved. In fact, I believe it's simply impossible. Nonetheless, I've come up with a list of alternatives that explain to me why she doesn't reply:

#1 The girl is Rachelle. She has been utterly flattered by my presents. She would love me to go on, to never stop and see what my next step will be. She does not respond because she wants someone who is serious about this.
#2 It's her. She was flattered in the beginning, but somehow has an akward feeling about it. She feels it's inappropriate what I did and chooses to ignore it. This way, she needn't come up with silly excuses.
#3 It's her. She lives in a relationship that she'd like to leave. For her, it was nice to see that there are other men out there. It gives her a good feeling to start watching out for others.
#4 It's her. She happily lives in a relationship and wonders why I try to get her interested. She chooses not to reply as the response might hurt my feelings.
#5 It's her. She happily lives in a relationship and doesn't take seriously what I've intented to say. She doesn't reply, hoping I'll stop by myself because this is really getting on her nerves.
#6 It's her. She was terribly freightened by the fact that someone watched her doing dishes. She's in contact with the local police to discuss further steps. She considers installing a security system as she's had bad experiences with men, dislikes them, and does not trust them. She now believes some old, haggard yet frightening looking man, dressed in a black suit, has been around wanting to fulfill his darkest and nastiest fantasies with her.

#7 It's someone who looks just like her. A true doppelgänger.
#8 It's someone who does not look like her at all. My phantasies took over my visual perception.
#9 It's someone who does not look like her at all. It's time to check with a shrink as I likely went thru an acute schizoprehnic episode.
#8 It's a straight guy who laughs off his a**.

Besides my 'elaborate' list; with some commen sense, what explanation can there possibly be for someone not to react at all?

I wish I knew.

rednex

2007-10-18T10:15:00.001+02:00

'wish you were here'

wish you were here
me oh my countryman
wish you were here

wish you were here
don't you know the stove is getting colder
and I miss you like hell
and I'm feeling blue

I've got feelings for you babe
do you still feel the same
from the first time I laid my eyes on you
I felt joy of living
I saw heaven in your eyes in your eyes

I miss your laugh I miss your smile
I miss everything about you
every second's like a minute
every minute's like a day
when you're far away

wish you were here
the stove is getting colder baby
wish you were here
a battlefield of love and fear

Jean-Paul Sartre

2007-10-17T01:44:00.000+02:00

«The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.»

A Brawny Hunk

2007-10-10T02:10:00.000+02:00

Many comment writers have asked me to post pictures of myself. (Some even asked by using words I unfortunately cannot publish...)

As most of you know, the blog was initially called 'nasty predator' mainly because I wanted it to sound like a nice place of an average young guy in his twenties.

Why not 'predator' I thought? David Beckham's cleats are called predator. I think he's a role model for many guys; so, why not? What's more, the Adidas brand stands for sports, health, fun, manhood, and many other desirable attributes.

Why not 'nasty' I thought? Given that predator leaves a brawny, male, sporty, and a bit a harsh impression, there could be a more intuitive, and probably wilder side to it? Nasty seemed o.k. to me. Seemed. I wanted to seem a tiny bit 'mean,' in order to prevent a narrow-minded image.

If I had a better command of the English language, I could have foreseen what the reactions would be. Tremendous reactions were to follow. Several blog readers felt that this name made the impression of a site they rather would not visit.

Please believe me when I say that I love to be visited. I love to receive innumerable comments. I love people spreading the word about my site. Because it is great to collect as many different opinions as possible from people with the most possible different backgrounds, ages, occupations, interests, and most of all, the most different opinions. It's the variety in my life that I love and cannot live without.

And so I changed. 'Brawny Hunk' was what sounded great to me. For several reasons.

Honestly, what man doesn't want to be brawny? Not to mention, who doesn't want to be a hunk? And what woman doesn't want to date a brawny man; a hunk?

Now, wannabe and be are totally different from each other. The first is what marketing strategists make of David Beckham; the latter represents reality.

So where do I fit in? I don't know. I believe everybody would have a slightly different opinion on my looks.

I live in a rather narrow-minded environment. Many of my colleagues at university strive to make big career in business. A part of me wants this, too. You can imagine there is competition going on at college already. For example, my room mate has repeatedly threatened me to use anything negative against me in the future. He said he could very well imagine blackmailing other people if he wouldn't suceed careerwise. Pretty scary, huh?

Therefore, I decided to shield my identity when I started this blog. I thought that only by writing anonymously would I be able to write all about myself. And I mean, all. My keenest dreams and strongest wishes, my biggest fears and deepest regrets.

But, every now and then I get weak. And change the attitude I initially had.

So, here is a picture of myself that partly reveals what I look like:

(click on the image to see it full size.)

Is Third Time A Charm?

2007-10-08T17:12:00.000+02:00

Recently, I was asked if I had ever seen Rachelle after I started making her presents. The answer is yes and no. Someone was home, but I did not see her in the window again. Interestingly, it seems as if the occupent of the apartment didn't live there on an every-day basis. At least only infrequently is there light in the apt.

This is why I went one step further and revealed my identity. I wrote to her a letter that said I was wondering whether she has moved in my neighorhood and that I was curious whether she was Rachelle.

And, implicitly assuming it is her who would read the letter, I added that I'd love to cook for her or go to the movies with her. Just anything. I ended the letter by a word of hope. Hope that she'll write back to me.

I have staied with my sister's for these past days. Therefore, I couldn't check my mail box and do not know if someone responded. I hope things will clear up soon.

I got to wondering if third time's a charm for me?

Chasin' Cars

2007-10-04T23:56:00.000+02:00

I have been waiting for a response from my neighbor, Rachelle, for several days.

After a time of uncertainty whether she truly lives in my neighborhood, I decided to get her a present. I went to a flower shop and bought a red rose. I burned the song Chasing Cars (Snow Patrol) on a CD and printed its lyrics on a blue sheet. Beneath the lyrics I added the words 'would you?' in order for her to trigger a question.

Only one day after I had laid everything in front of her door, it occured to me she possibly doesn't know who made her this present.

Therefore, I burned another CD which I named 'des chansons francophones' and put it into her mail box; along with a few words on a card and the lyrics of the song 'Message Personnel' (Les Enfoirés).

'Message Personnel' says more than a thousand words.

Love

2007-10-02T00:30:00.000+02:00

someone who cares, and shares
both joys and sorrows
both triumph and tragedy

someone who knows, and wants to know
what delights and enchants them
what's on their partner's mind

everybody strives for
what any words or any poetry
could ever capture

the lucky who've already found it
every so often take for granted
what is made the envy of others

A Man's Taste

2007-10-01T17:49:00.000+02:00

I went for a spontaneous appointment at the hairdresser's this afternoon. I wanted something new; something fresh and sassy.

The hairdresser was extremely loquacious and wordy. She noticed I had colored my hair a few weeks before. After a few sentences of breaking the ice, she asked who had picked the color of my hair. I said that I picked it all by myself. She was baffled. And there was an awkward silence in the room.

She added that if men wear colored hair that fits their complexion, it's usually their girlfriends who chose the color. How stereotyped.

Are men unable to improve their looks on their own? I keep wondering if only gay men, fags, and all other kinds of non-heterosexuals are in the position to have good taste?

Who is to say that average straight men can't have a feminine side to them which makes them aware of details that others simply don't notice or care about?

like the statue of david

2007-10-01T17:37:00.000+02:00

Zac Effron

checking out his valuables after a swim

Zac at some premiere

Sex and the City - parody

2007-09-30T01:21:00.001+02:00