From gigli.saw@dplanet.ch Sat Nov 9 09:28:27 2002
From: gigli.saw@dplanet.ch (Vance Roy)
Date: Sat, 9 Nov 2002 10:28:27 +0100
Subject: [Culturechat] New things on my homepage
Message-ID: <9A786EFE-F3C5-11D6-9389-0003936A3F2E@dplanet.ch>
At the URL below my name, you will find a winter newsletter and under
the photo page, there is a nice view of a winter moon from Sachseln.
Vance Roy
gigli.saw@dplanet.ch
http://homepage.mac.com/fredch
From Kraut907@aol.com Thu Nov 28 03:59:12 2002
From: Kraut907@aol.com (Kraut907@aol.com)
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2002 22:59:12 EST
Subject: [Culturechat] And yet another Untour
Message-ID: <18.28f72ee3.2b16ee90@aol.com>
Yes, I was "untouring again". In October, I spent one week in Berlin, and
another two in Ticino, the Italian part of Switzerland. Us usual, I had a
wonderful time and and had real nice and interesting fellow travelers.
I happened to be in Berlin on October 3, the National Day of Reunification,
and the man of the hour was our Bill Clinton, invited to unveil to
restaured-to-former glory Brandenburg Gate.Hey, his German pronunciation was
better than some other people's English.
Then came Switzerland, right during the frightening and tense sniper episode
in the Washington. Again, another American took over the media: Police Chief
Moose. I heard the man in English, German, Schwyzer-Deutsch, Italian, and
French. Amazing,and he was treated with a great deal of respect and
sympathy.
I was back in the States when the case broke, and I am sure there was just as
great sense of relief in Europe as was here.
Happy Thanksgiving, and Peace.. Sigrid Washington.
From gigli.saw@dplanet.ch Thu Nov 28 08:58:26 2002
From: gigli.saw@dplanet.ch (Vance Roy)
Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2002 09:58:26 +0100
Subject: [Culturechat] Daughter's Day
Message-ID: <8E764588-02AF-11D7-8296-0003936A3F2E@dplanet.ch>
In CH, as well as, other places, women tend to seek traditional roles
as work. Nurses, teachers, etc. The Swiss are concerned that women have
equal chances for all occupations, so Daughter's Day was conceived. On
this day, a daughter, (or daughters) goes to work with a parent. Some
with dads and some with moms. That way they are exposed to everything
from railway workers to watchmakers.
Don't suppose that is needed in the USA, but here, it works well.
Vance Roy
gigli.saw@dplanet.ch
http://homepage.mac.com/fredch
From lenlewis@netcarrier.com Thu Nov 28 16:30:09 2002
From: lenlewis@netcarrier.com (Lewis & Helen)
Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2002 11:30:09 -0500
Subject: [Culturechat] Daughter's day
Message-ID: <001a01c296fb$6b96d540$c058b2d8@lenlewis>
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We have a Daughter's Day in our community, but now there is pressure to =
include the boys as well in this undertaking. And why not? Gives =
everyone a chance to see what their parents do at work. Helen
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We have a Daughter's Day in our =
community, but now=20
there is pressure to include the boys as well in this undertaking. =
And why=20
not? Gives everyone a chance to see what their parents do at=20
work. Helen
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From WesTexas@aol.com Thu Nov 28 16:41:16 2002
From: WesTexas@aol.com (WesTexas@aol.com)
Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2002 11:41:16 EST
Subject: [Culturechat] Daughter's Day
Message-ID: <3b.30673f50.2b17a12c@aol.com>
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In the Seventies, there was a semi-famous episode of the TV show "All in the
Family" that had the following riddle. A father and son were traveling by
car. They were in a traffic accident. The father was killed. The son was
injured and needed emergency surgery. The boy was taken into the operating
room at the local hospital. The surgeon, upon arriving in the operating
room, said "I cannot operate on this boy because he is my son." Who is the
surgeon?
I recently asked my daughter this question. She finally got it, but I was
amazed at how long it took her--30 years after the All in the Family episode
originally aired--to grasp the obvious answer.
Jeffrey Brown
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In the Seventies, there was a semi-famous episode of the TV show "All in the Family" that had the following riddle. A father and son were traveling by car. They were in a traffic accident. The father was killed. The son was injured and needed emergency surgery. The boy was taken into the operating room at the local hospital. The surgeon, upon arriving in the operating room, said "I cannot operate on this boy because he is my son." Who is the surgeon?
I recently asked my daughter this question. She finally got it, but I was amazed at how long it took her--30 years after the All in the Family episode originally aired--to grasp the obvious answer.
Jeffrey Brown
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From gigli.saw@dplanet.ch Fri Nov 29 10:50:34 2002
From: gigli.saw@dplanet.ch (Vance Roy)
Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 11:50:34 +0100
Subject: [Culturechat] Swiss vote on asylum seekers
Message-ID: <6336CDEF-0388-11D7-B3F5-0003936A3F2E@dplanet.ch>
Last Sunday, the Swiss voted on a new law to regulate asylum seekers to
CH. I don't know all the details of the proposal, but one provision was
that no one coming into CH from a so called "safe country" would be
eligible for asylum here. Since there are no "unsafe countries"
bordering CH, this would effectively stop asylum here.
The proposal was put forth by the SVP (People's Party), a far right
conservative member of the "Magic Formula" coalition that has so
effectively run things here for many years. The SVP's most vociferous
member is Christoph Blocher, an industrial tycoon from Kanton Zuerich.
He is a member of the CH parliament and would love to be more, but his
views will likely not let that happen. This being so, he uses the SVP's
other members to push his policies.
Now, come a surprise. Out of 2,240,000 votes cast (about 47% of
voters), 3,422 votes was the margin of defeat for this motion. To beat
that, one third of the kantons used machines to count votes without
government authorization. The fit has really hit the shan about this.
Now, there is to be a hand recount with results sometime next February.
This was the closest vote on an initiative since 1891. It has pointed
up the deep division amongst the CH people about this issue. It is true
that there is a long standing tradition of the Swiss accepting anyone
who wants asylum because of political, religious, or racial
persecution. It is also true that today, in CH, there are more people
of foreign origins than ever before. A lot of these are seekers of
asylum. It is true that on occasion, these folks are repatriated if it
is known that the source of persecution is now gone. Still, there is
now good evidence that half of the CH voters are disturbed by the
government's lax efforts to control foreigners entering the country.
Those granted asylum in CH, now enjoy a place to live and a daily
stipend from the government. After a number of months, they can seek
work and are encouraged to "intergrate" into CH. This usually takes two
or three generations.
The more liberal French and Italian Swiss voted against the initiative,
while the German Swiss were more in favor of it. Initiatives here have
two possible roles. One is to get the initiative applied, and the other
is to apply political pressure on the government to rectify a
situation. The latter is seen as the role that this vote will play. No
matter how the final count turns out, the far right here is going to be
able to pressure the government on the question of asylum seekers,
since it can show that half of the vote is behind them.
When I go back to the USA, I am always amazed at the number of new
languages, ethnic groups, etc. that i see in all parts. A friend who I
hear from about once yearly, wrote me the other day that there were a
lot of foreigners in the USA now. This guy is not a rabid radical
either.
Time, and a recount, will tell what is going to be the situation here,
but the government has had its notice served.
Vance Roy
gigli.saw@dplanet.ch
http://homepage.mac.com/fredch