Song of the executioner

As I slowly walk across Canton Schaffhausen I come across a number of small hills that bear the name “Galgenbuck”(Gallows Hill). The cantonal capital Schaffhausen itself was a Reichstadt, an imperial free city, meaning it was directly subject to the Holy Roman Emperor and no other government. He granted it the privilege of being allowed… Continue reading Song of the executioner

Old dog, new tricks

I have, of recent days, acquired two new gurus: Blogging 101, a site that is helping me “grow” my blog to its ultimate potential, and Patrick Castaglia, my co-worker Nathalie’s brother who earns his “bread and butter” bringing buyers and sellers, people and products, ideas and innovation together. Both have been invaluable. Both have suggested… Continue reading Old dog, new tricks

The dark side of the red light

It is called the world’s oldest profession and it can be found everywhere in the world. It tends to be an industry of women serving male clients, but of course variations on this theme also exist – males servicing males, males servicing females, females catering to females. When one looks at sex in history, we… Continue reading The dark side of the red light

Probus Scafusia: Timeless river, timely man

There is an old saying (so old that no one knows for sure who coined it) that “in business the three most important factors are: location, location, location”. Making the best of where one is remains a constant challenge, but as any resident of a metropolis like London, New York or Tokyo would attest where… Continue reading Probus Scafusia: Timeless river, timely man

Follow the money, Dennis

In the movie V.I. Warshawski, Kathleen Turner as Vicki Warshawski, explains that the first rule of detecting is to “follow the money” if you want to know what the reality of a situation was. In Schaffhausen, I had looked at where the money wasn’t… (See Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution.) So I then began to look… Continue reading Follow the money, Dennis

Oops! Did we do that?

At least seven people were killed on Monday when a warplane mistakenly dropped a bomb on a residential area in Baghdad. The Iraqi plane dropped the bomb on Ne’iriyah district in southeastern Baghdad, destroying six houses and damaging several nearby buildings and civilian cars. (Deccan Herald, 6 July 2015) The more things change, the more… Continue reading Oops! Did we do that?

Tough to be the Chosen

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” (Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzche, 1844 – 1900) We live in strange times, built upon the past which itself was strange at times. Today, the world’s fast growing religion is Islam, yet simultaneously also one of the most hated since 9/11 is Islam. The main enemy of Islam?… Continue reading Tough to be the Chosen

Oh, oh, Canada!

Yesterday was Canada Day, our celebration of nationhood since 1867. Wish I could have been up on Ottawa’s Parliament Hill to see the fireworks, but whether increased security would have diminished the fun factor is problematic. Two days ago at the Allerheiligen Museum in Schaffhausen I came across a German-language magazine, Transhelvetica: Schweizer Magazin für… Continue reading Oh, oh, Canada!

Along Trail 34

“Most of Canton Schaffhausen lies on a plateau dominated by the Hoher Randen. The summit of this mountain is 912 metres/2,992 feet. The slopes of the mountain are gentle towards the south where it reached the Rhine River valley. Short and narrow valleys interesct these gentle slopes. The Klettgau is one such valley.”(Wikipedia) There is… Continue reading Along Trail 34

Underdog University

“There is only one road to human greatness: through the school of hard knocks.” Albert Einstein There are moments that show me how very different at times my way of thinking seems to be from the general Swiss philosophy of looking at life. Here in Switzerland documents rule. One cannot do anything without the accompanying… Continue reading Underdog University