Switzerland

Dear Switzerland, You welcomed me with open arms as a child immigrant from 1997-1998. You unknowingly shaped my life in immeasurable ways. I attended your schools and played in your community bands. In short, I love the cheese and wine you produce, not to mention your beautiful landscapes. I’ve even made a lifelong friend. I get that you have this image of yourself of being all progressive and such. Sure, you helped broker the peace between the United States and…

Dear Friends, I’ve been informed that my radio piece on the rise of the Pirate Party in Europe (including France, Switzerland, and yes, Estonia) is airing today. It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams): NYC – 3 pm Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org Washington, DC – 8 pm Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org Los Angeles – 12 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg Boston –…

Two videos recently came across my radar: Best line: “You can deny the Holocaust all you want, but you can’t deny that there’s something between us.” [via Noah Breuer] This is a public service announcement by the firefighters (sapeurs-pompiers) of Geneva. Apparently people still confuse the emergency fire number (118) for the old information number (111). They’ve been inundated with calls and figured that the best way to solve this problem was to make a rap video featuring rapping and…

In 12 hours, I’ll be on a train bound for Paris. In 16 hours, I’ll be on a plane bound for Chicago. In about 36 hours, I’ll be home in Oakland. My trip to Geneva has been, like many of my other quick stops, has been productive, short, and yet just the right amount of time. Luca picked me up from the airport, having taken time out of his vacation in Ticino to do so, and took me to his…