“Dear Mr. President Come take a walk with me. Let´s pretend we´re just two people and You´re no better than me.” (Pink, “Dear Mr. President”) Landschlacht, Switzerland, 30 May 2016 What if the unthinkable actually happened? What if Donald “Duck!” Trump became the President of the United States? New York City, New York, USA, 1… Continue reading Walking with the President
Tag: USA
Riding the Rails
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 19 May 2016 The problem with travelling is that you begin to compare things. For example, the way things are done at home as compared to the way things are done in the other place(s). Of course, with most of us, home things are considered superior to foreign things as we know and… Continue reading Riding the Rails
Canadian home sickness and the Excited States of America
As a Canadian resident in Switzerland there are many things I miss about life in Canada: I miss old friends and family. I miss the magnificent splendour of my home and native land. And I miss small things too: Food like Habitant pea soup, poutine, tourtiere, Canadian breakfast, perogies, microwave dinners, beavertails… Comedians like Lorne… Continue reading Canadian home sickness and the Excited States of America
Giving Thanks
For Canadians a typical aspect of what we label as “American” is the tendency to steal the credit for someone´s idea. So often Americans have the notion that if something is a great idea then it must have been America that came up with it. Now, there is no denying that the United States has… Continue reading Giving Thanks
American roulette
As one wanders the world one sees different games played by the locals. For example, the Swiss have the card game Jass (See The cards we’re dealt of this blog.), the Russians love a good game of chess and Americans have a version of gambling, a variation on Russian roulette, an addiction they can’t seem… Continue reading American roulette
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?
Through the looking glass
Everyday there are constant reminders of the difference between how we are perceived and how we perceive ouselves, between one´s reputation and one´s self-image. Yesterday I dropped into St. Gallen for a day of “Adam is good to himself today”. Chatted with Starbuck´s colleagues, had a meal and a movie with my good friend Adrian,… Continue reading Through the looking glass
Lessons from old Europe (and India) to America
Consider the teenager… Prone to emotion, quick to enrage, quick to find fault, filled with self-doubt, impatient, quick to hate, acting prouder and wiser than actual experience justifies, a dreamer but not much of a thinker, a braggart in victory, overly-sensitive in defeat, a bully who feels might makes right unless it is he being… Continue reading Lessons from old Europe (and India) to America
USA: Unlimited sadness allowed
I am just one voice. A Canadian resident in Switzerland with unimpressive credentials and thus uninspiring credibility. I am far removed from the problems in America and thus unlikely to restrain America from its determination to self-destruct, a determination that is as old as the history of the United States itself. The news out of… Continue reading USA: Unlimited sadness allowed