On 6 January 1941, in his State of the Union address, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proposed four fundamental freedoms that people everywhere in the world ought to enjoy: 1. Freedom of speech and expression 2. Freedom of worship 3. Freedom from want 4. Freedom from fear Is Switzerland enjoying these freedoms? The Swiss media… Continue reading The four freedoms
Tag: history
Sign of the times
Arrived back home in Switzerland late last night, left for Freiburg im Breisgau at 0500 this morning. Am fighting fatigue like a woolen blanket over my head in the desert. To save a spot of cash I am in the Black Forest Backpackers Hostel for the next two nights. In the stairwell between reception and… Continue reading Sign of the times
Life among the Oxonians
Back in the south of England after some time spent up in Oxford, a place I once called home for a number of months over two decades ago, a place that still has a hold upon my heart, and happily a place where I still have friends. It was and remains one of the fastest… Continue reading Life among the Oxonians
The glory departed
Every time I read about English King Henry VIII I have great difficulty feeling sympathy towards the man, a lustful harsh egotistical king who married six times for the purpose of securing a male heir to the throne, severed England from the Roman Catholic Church and dissolved monasteries for financial gain. To be fair, there… Continue reading The glory departed
Canada Slim and the Dickensian Moment
Two days ago my hosts in England and I did a very English thing… We visited the Charles Dickens Birthplace Museum, at 393 Old Commercial Road, in Portsmouth. “He created some of the world’s best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His work enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Dickensian Moment
Gold and orange / triumph and tragedy
Day Three in England…a full day…a knife to the throat…the gold of victory…the first port of a legend… Last year, prior to my best pal’s wedding, we arranged to have a barbershop shave to ensure that no five-o’clock shadow faces would cloud the perfect nuptial day. Iain thought it might be a lark to have… Continue reading Gold and orange / triumph and tragedy
The Queen is dead, long live the Queen
Rule Two regarding life in England: The press is generally horrid. I have only been on English soil two days and already the press exasperates me. I rarely see people buy newspapers as they either subscribe online or they read the free newspapers found at any rail or Tube station. The free paper Metro, suitable… Continue reading The Queen is dead, long live the Queen
A sense of accomplishment (my favourite SOB)
I know that I am probably not alone in this – “Why can´t you be more like (Insert name here.)?” – situation. I am certain that there are, or have been, people in your life who seem to shine brighter than those around them. They radiate success, confidence, achievement and accomplishment, and are the envy of… Continue reading A sense of accomplishment (my favourite SOB)
The Memory Music Project
“I spent a large part of one of the evenings I was in Uganda thinking about what precisely the memory of a person is. What do I want people to remember about me? What would I prefer to have suppressed? Do I have a number of secrets that I shall take with me to the… Continue reading The Memory Music Project
Delivery refused
Sins, that which is counted against you when one´s life is assessed, come in two basic forms: commission (what you did but shouldn´t have) and omission (what you should have done but didn´t). Clearly, there are no innocents, alive or dead, in the world. This lesson was powerfully demonstated to Ute and I yesterday when… Continue reading Delivery refused