Wot's happening in Fribourg?

TODAY'S JOKE

2012-01-26T00:30:00.000-08:00

CLICK ONTO THIS: RACHMANINOV HAD BIG HANDS

SWISS HOUSING MARKET BUBBLE

2012-01-25T10:23:00.000-08:00

Read these interesting comments from the UBS on the overheating of the Swiss housing market:
http://www.thelocal.ch/2331/20120119/

Social mobility and the income gap

2012-01-24T09:40:00.000-08:00

Read this interesting article on the debate on social mobility (or lack of it) and the gap in income between the rich and the poor. It seems that the "American Dream" is now a "pie in the sky" as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and the concept of social mobility has been thrown out the door:
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/davos-attendees-confront-a-new-wave-of-anger/?ref=global-home

RECORD-BREAKING NUMBER OF BANKRUPTCIES IN SWITZERLAND LAST YEAR > 12000

2012-01-23T00:47:00.000-08:00

A shadow over the Swiss Economy

According to La Liberté yesterday: http://www.laliberte.ch/content/record-de-faillites-de-societes-et-de-personnes-en-suisse-en-2011
companies and individuals declaring bankruptcy is on the rise.
At the same time, statistics for new company registrations and de-registrations (28'278 in 2011) is also breaking records.

A tightening of liquidity was particularly noticeable last December and the number of insolvent companies rose by 19,4%, for a total of 406.

For 2011, the total number of bankrupt companies and individuals was greater than 12,000 (12,409) - a record-breaking figure.

Company de-registrations increased by more than 20% in the cantons of Bern and Zurich in 2011.

sources:
www.sda-ats.ch
laliberte.ch
Swiss info

HOW TO MEASURE WEALTH

2012-01-21T09:30:00.000-08:00

Off the Charts In Europe, Cars Stay in Showroom
By FLOYD NORRIS Published: January 20, 2012

THE new passenger car is becoming an increasingly rare item in some European countries.

Click on the graph below - see Belgium comes out top
Multimedia

Graphic

Off the Charts: New-Car Registrations Decline in Europe

Total new registrations of passenger cars in the European Union fell by nearly 2 percent in 2011, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association reported this week. It was the fourth consecutive year of declines.

The sales performance varied widely from country to country, reflecting the diverging economic fortunes on the Continent. New-car registrations set records in Belgium and Austria. German registrations were up nearly 9 percent, although they remain below their levels before the credit crisis.
But in troubled Greece, fewer than 100,000 new passenger cars were registered. That had not happened since at least 1990. In 2007, nearly 280,000 new cars were registered.
In Belgium, more than 50 new cars were registered for every 1,000 people. In Greece, the number was under nine. In Hungary, where new car registrations are less than half their level of four years ago, the figure is about half the Greek level.
New-car registrations in Europe provide an economic barometer of national conditions because no one really needs a new car. A family may need a replacement vehicle, but a used car can be purchased. Within the Common Market, it is easy to fill demand for used cars in struggling countries with trade-ins from customers in more prosperous economies.
The accompanying charts show the trends. Levels of wealth in the European Union were never close to equal, but the disparities have grown rapidly since the credit crisis began. Signs of a recovery in automobile demand in late 2009 vanished as the sovereign debt crisis emerged, first in Greece and then in other countries.
Over all, the 13.1 million cars registered in 25 members of the European Union was the smallest figure for any 12 months since data for the enlarged union began to be calculated in 2003. For the first 15 members of the European Union, data goes back much further. This was the lowest year for them since 1997, a year before the euro became the common currency for many countries.
The charts show the rapid decline in new-car registrations in the countries most hurt in the sovereign debt crisis. In 2007, Spain had 36 registrations per 1,000 residents, well above the European Union average of nearly 32. In 2011, the Spanish figure had dropped by half, and it was well below the European Union average. Ireland fell just as rapidly, although registrations did begin to pick up in 2011.
The figures reflect registrations of new passenger cars, and do not include small trucks. Figures for the United States, which do include such vehicles, are not directly comparable. But they showed increases in both 2010 and 2011.
All told, the countries in the European Union registered 15.8 percent fewer new passenger cars in 2011 than they had registered in 2007, the last full year before the credit crisis. The figure was up in seven countries, but down by 50 percent or more in eight nations.
Floyd Norris comments on finance and the economy at nytimes.com/economix. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/21/business/global/in-debt-laden-europe-new-cars-stay-in-showroom.html?ref=business

Caritas slams child poverty in Switzerland

2012-01-10T06:44:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, 10 January, 2012, 11:36

In Switzerland, 260,000 children live in poverty—which equals about 13,000 school classes.
Caritas says despite Switzerland’s high standard of living an abnormal number of children live below the poverty line.
It denounces what it calls “hereditary poverty” due to a “lack of social mobility” in the country.

http://worldradio.ch/wrs/news/wrsnews/caritas-slams-child-poverty-in-switzerland.shtml?28470

SWISS SPENDING SPREES ABROAD ... 4 -5 BILLION FRANCS WORTH IN 2011

2012-01-10T05:56:00.000-08:00

10/01/2012

Commerce de détail: entre 4 et 5 milliards envolés à l'étranger

Le tourisme d'achat à l'étranger a fortement augmenté en 2011, entraînant une perte du pouvoir d'achat estimée entre 4 et 5 milliards de francs, selon une étude de Credit Suisse. L'année 2012 s'annonce mitigée pour le commerce de détail en Suisse.

"Le tourisme d'achat a connu une explosion en 2011", a expliqué Credit Suisse. Il n'existe pas de données officielles pour quantifier ces achats à l'étranger. Selon l'étude, le phénomène aurait augmenté l'an dernier de 20 à 30%: "Entre 4 et 5% du total du chiffre d'affaires du commerce de détail s'est envolé à l'étranger".
La branche devrait continuer à souffrir de cette tendance en 2012, mais les chiffres ne devraient pas empirer. D'une manière générale, le commerce de détail restera sous pression. Credit Suisse table sur un léger recul du chiffre d'affaires nominal.

www.sda-ats.ch

http://www.laliberte.ch/content/commerce-de-detail-entre-4-et-5-milliards-envoles-letranger

DEATH OF THE "VIGNETTE"

2012-01-04T08:44:00.000-08:00

Friday, 30 December, 2011, 14:07

End of the road for bicycle stickers

As of Sunday, mandatory bicycle insurance stickers will no longer be required in Switzerland.
For decades, the “vélo vignettes” have been a presence on Swiss bike frames—or at least they should have been.
Each year, cyclists were obliged to buy a sticker for six francs, which provided liability insurance for accidents.
But earlier this year Parliament voted to do away with the stickers.
Centre-right parties argued they were no longer necessary as 90 percent of the population is covered for bike accidents under their personal liability insurance.
Pro-cycling campaigners argued in vain that this would leave 10 percent of cyclists uninsured. They also said it would make it more difficult to trace lost or stolen bikes.
One insurance company has warned that uninsured cyclists could be liable for hundreds of thousands of francs in damages in the event of an accident.
http://worldradio.ch/wrs/news/wrsnews/end-of-the-road-for-bicycle-stickers.shtml?28313

Norway and Switzerland have priciest ski passes: study

2011-12-23T04:29:00.000-08:00

Photo credit: Noel Abejo (File)

Published: 23 Dec 2011 10:35 GMT+1
Updated: 23 Dec 2011 10:25 GMT+1

One-day ski passes in Norway and Switzerland can be up to three times as expensive as in other European countries, a new study has shown.

The average daily rate for a ski pass in Norway and Switzerland is 51 francs ($54) and 47 francs ($50), respectively. In third place is Italy, with an average price of 46 francs, putting it above fourth-placed Sweden.

For the study, German online travel service ab-in-den-urlaub.de looked at ski pass prices at 488 resorts in Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Finland, Liechtenstein, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Sweden. Other criteria, such as the length of skiing tracks, altitude or the number of ski lifts were not taken into account.

The least expensive locations for skiing are the Czech Republic (20 francs, $21), Slovakia (25 francs, $27) and Germany (26 francs, $28).

However, the average figures can be somewhat misleading, since in countries like Austria, for example, prices range from “very expensive” to “advantageous.” In Switzerland, almost all ski resorts charge high prices, the study shows.

The average price for daily ski passes in the eight surveyed countries is 41 francs ($44). The most expensive location is Norway's Hemsedal with a price of 59 francs ($64).

The most wallet-friendly passes are to be found in the Swabian Alps, in southern Germany, and Erzgebirge Krusne hory, in the Czech Republic. Both cost 17 francs per day ($18).

In Switzerland, the priciest ski resorts are in Graubünden and the Valais. The cheapest passes can be snapped up in the Fribourg and the Mittelland regions.

For weekly prices, Switzerland tops the list, with a ski pass costing an average of 280 francs ($300). Here, Norway falls to fourth place with average prices of 241 francs ($258), behind Italy (260 francs, $278) and Austria (249 francs, $266).

Meritxell Mir (news@thelocal.ch)

Concern as asylum seekers forced onto street

2011-12-21T04:24:00.000-08:00

Dec 22, 2011 - 21:18

Switzerland has a shortfall in accommodation for asylum seekers (Keystone)

by Jessica Dacey, swissinfo.ch

Stories of asylum seekers being turned away from full asylum shelters amid freezing temperatures have sparked upset.

Both humanitarian organisations and politicians have sharply criticised the moves at asylum centres in the Swiss cantons of Basel City, Ticino and Vaud in recent weeks in which people were forced to seek shelter in private homes, train stations or under the care of the Salvation Army.

While temporary solutions have been found in some cases, the situation has once again magnified the underlying issue of a nationwide shortage of accommodation for asylum seekers.

Parliamentarians have called on the government to take action. Meanwhile the Swiss Refugee Council told swissinfo.ch the government should do more to encourage Switzerland’s 26 cantons to do their bit.
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/Concern_as_asylum_seekers_forced_onto_street_.html?cid=31821802

THE TRAILING SPOUSE

2011-12-15T05:05:00.000-08:00

15 December 2011 Last updated at 00:03 GMT

How an overseas job can affect family life

By Kim Gittleson BBC News, New York

Imagine finding a family home in four days flat in a town you've never been to. Now imagine that involves moving country, too.

That's something Nicki Thorogood knows all about.

In the autumn of 2008, her husband's company said it wanted him to move from England to New York, starting in January - four months later.

Nicki moved almost immediately because she didn't want to make her three children uproot themselves halfway through the school year.

"Basically, I moved with the boys on my own into a house, into a town, into a country I didn't know," she says. The transition hasn't been easy.

While Nicki says her children were treated like "rock stars" at their new school, she had to leave her job at a childcare centre and found suburban life to be a struggle.

Now, more than three years later, her house in a New York suburb is filled with images of the union jack, and she still dreams of returning to England.

"I'm torn between going home and staying," she says. "If someone said I've got a one-way ticket, I'd take it."

Given such high stakes, companies from Shell to Dupont are looking at the factors that can lead to successful stints abroad for their employees. A happy spouse has long been, and continues to be, the best predictor of a successful move.

"The number one reason for assignment failure is the family's inability to acclimatise and adjust to the new location," says Andrew Walker, the director of global mobility at WorleyParsons, which oversees more than 3,000 employees who move abroad.

"As long as I've been in field, it's been an issue," he says. "But it's only within the last five or 10 years that organisations have been more pro-active about addressing it."

On average, about 80% of expatriate workers move with their spouses.

As recently as 20 years ago, most of these so-called "trailing spouses" were women who stayed at home with the family.

But over the past decades, more and more are looking to find work.

Kathleen van der Wilk-Carlton, the director of the Permits Foundation, which lobbies governments to allow spouses to get work visas, warns: "Employers ignore this at their peril."

Career coaching

Finding a job as a trailing spouse is difficult - and it's getting harder.

According to a 2011 study of global employment trends, 60% of trailing spouses were employed before relocating, but only 15% found work after they moved - down significantly from the peak in 2006.

"This is a huge problem for corporations because they are now finding it increasingly difficult to find a significant talent pool candidate to staff these overseas assignments and these transfers internationally," says Scott Sullivan, executive vice-president at Brookfield Global Relocation Services, which produced the report.

Brigitte Hug, who runs Dupont's global relocation office in the US, says that the company tries to tailor relocation packages to the employee, and that the package typically includes some sort of career coaching both before and after the move, as well as relocation support and job assistance for spouses.

But even though the number one reason for assignment failure is spousal unhappiness, only 18% of spouses felt they had been adequately supported by their partner's companies, according to a 2009 survey conducted by the Permits Foundation.

Switzerland may tip into recession: economist

2011-12-12T09:08:00.000-08:00

Photo credit: Photopress/Gaetan Bally

Published: 12 Dec 2011 09:30 GMT+1

The Swiss economy could tip into recession this winter, a noted economist warned in a newspaper interview published on Saturday.
Growth slowed in the third quarter to only 0.2 percent over the previous three months, amid a drop in exports blamed on the strong Swiss franc, which is seen as a safe-haven currency in times of financial turmoil.
"It is quite conceivable that we will observe two negative (growth) quarters," Aymo Brunetti, chief economist of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), was quoted as saying by the Aargauer Zeitung.
But he added that "as a whole, the Swiss economy is still doing well".
Brunetti pointed to a weakening in the July-September quarter, when the growth of 0.2 percent over the previous quarter was the lowest rate since the the first half of 2009 when Switzerland was last in recession.
Asked about the eurozone debt crisis, Brunetti said he did not expect the worst-case scenarios to become a reality and assumes that "a solution can be found" -- adding that otherwise "it would really be a disaster".
"The bankruptcies of countries could trigger a massive banking crisis" that could be worse than the 2008 global downturn, he was quoted as saying, adding that in many countries "the public coffers are empty".

AFP (news@thelocal.ch)
http://www.thelocal.ch/1994/20111212/

No mercy for naked Swiss hiker

2011-12-01T05:53:00.000-08:00

Photo credit: Guido H. (File)

Published: 17 Nov 2011 14:41 GMT+1

Switzerland’s Supreme Court dealt a fierce blow to naked hikers on Thursday as it sided with an eastern canton that fined a 47-year-old man for strolling unclothed through the mountains.

The court was far from unanimous, with a verdict eventually reached by three votes to two.

Ultimately though, the Supreme Court ruled that the decision by canton Appenzell-Ausserrhoden to ban naked hillwalking was not unconstitutional.

“It is not arbitrary [on the canton’s behalf] to consider naked hiking in public a gross breach of decency and convention,” the court said.

The case began when a woman reported to police seeing a naked man wandering near a picnic area where she and her family were seated in Appenzell-Ausserrhoden in October 2009. Local authorities fined him 100 francs ($109), but the naturist refused to pay.

His case was heard by the cantonal court in Appenzell in May 2010. He admitted he had been hiking without clothes, a practice he said he had indulged in for two years, but denied he had been acting indecently.

The judge acquitted him, arguing that the case was beyond the canton's jurisdiction since the Swiss Penal Code regulates all crimes involving sexual integrity.

But the prosecutor decided to take the case to the court of appeals, which disagreed with the acquittal, concluding it was the duty of the local authorities to uphold public morality and ordering the man to pay 200 francs ($218) for “indecent behaviour.” It was this ruling that prombted the hiker to take the case to the Supreme Court.

In recent years, nudist hikers have become much more common in Switzerland, with German naturists in particular often crossing the border for mountain walks.

Tired of seeing people walking naked in their mountains, citizens of the canton voted overwhelmingly to ban the practice on April 26th 2009. Nudist hiking is not outlawed in the rest of the country.

The Local (news@thelocal.ch)

Queen Victoria's big bloomers fetch £10,000

2011-11-02T09:05:00.000-07:00

The silk bloomers sold for three times their original estimate

1 November 2011 Last updated at 18:27 GMT

A large pair of silk bloomers that belonged to Queen Victoria have sold for more than three times their original estimate.

The undergarment, auctioned alongside hundreds of other royal artefacts, sold for £9,735.
Two pairs of silk stockings worn by Britain's longest serving monarch also went under the hammer in Edinburgh - one pair selling for more than £5,000.
The collection belonged to the US publishing dynasty, the Forbes family.
It had previously been held in Old Battersea House - the London home of the family.
More than £3m was made in the sale of Victorian treasures held by auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull at their Edinburgh salesroom.
Two paintings were sold for more than £500,000 each.
A painting by Sir John Everett Millais titled "For The Squire" went for £553,092. Another - "The Princess Chained To A Tree" by Sir Edward Burne-Jones - made £505,000.
'Global interest' And an oil painting of Queen Victoria and her faithful servant, John Brown, went for £145,250.
Nick Curnow, managing director at Lyon & Turnbull, said the 20in by 24in painting was particularly valuable, because it was a personal gift from the Queen to Mr Brown.
It depicts the pair on 26 August 1876, the year her servant celebrated his 50th birthday.
The sale also included more than 500 royal paintings, letters, furniture and other items from the Forbes home.
Simon Edsor, director of The Fine Art Society and art adviser to the Forbes family, said: "This is a great result and demonstrates how much interest from around the globe there is in royal memorabilia."
The Forbes family home hosted many public visitors over the years, including former US president Ronald Reagan and Hollywood star Dame Elizabeth Taylor.
The bed slept in by Dame Elizabeth and her seventh husband Lord Fortensky made £9,375.
Old Battersea House was bought and restored in 1970 by Malcolm Forbes and his son Christopher Forbes, vice-chairman of the Forbes publishing company, under the guidance of architect Vernon Gibberd.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-15525849

a Linear regression .... ?? !!

2011-10-31T11:26:00.000-07:00

NOT AMUSED?

2011-10-25T11:41:00.000-07:00

NOT AMUSED? The Queen, pictured here at Government House in Canberra on Sunday, was allegedly mooned by Sydney man Liam Warriner.

ALEX ELLINGHAUSEN/Fairfax Media

Brits outraged at Queen's mooning in Brisbane

DAN NANCARROW

Last updated 14:18 25/10/2011

An Australian accused of "mooning" the Queen in Brisbane yesterday has been condemned by angry Britons.
Sydney's Liam Warriner, 22, admitted to reporters yesterday that he exposed his rear end to the monarch as she travelled along Kingsford Smith Drive on her royal visit.
According to reports, he had the Australian flag wedged between the cheeks of his bare bottom when he exposed himself at about 11.40am.

It was unlikely the Queen saw Warriner's exposed backside, a police spokesman said today.
While flashing a V for victory sign yesterday, Warriner declared "I mooned the Queen".
"Everybody's seen someone's butt, come on. You see it on TV all the time, you see it in movies, it's accepted in PG rated programming these days, but yet it's an offence to the Queen," he told The Courier Mail.
English tabloid The Daily Mail reported on the incident, labelling Warriner "remorseless".
The article drew a furious reaction from its readers.
"A citizen for Australia to be proud of. I bet his parents think he's wonderful!" Onthereceivingend, Somewhere in England, wrote.
"Maybe all the Australians who regularly write disparaging things about the English might like to consider the vulgarity of one of their own people. Not only was it disgusting and disrespectful but also a public offence. Hope he gets a good fine for it," Despairing citizen, UK, contributed.
John of Pompey wrote of Warriner's decision to put the Australian flag in between his cheeks: "All it is fit for if idiots like this are typical."
There were some messages of support for the Sydney man, with an American reader giving Warriner's actions the thumbs up.
"Well done! May the Aussies never loose (sic) their rugged, outback culture and sense of humor (sic). Too bad Slim Dusty is gone, I'm sure he would have appreciated that and then done an Aussie C&W song about mooning the Queen," wrote Pete Sagi, of St Louis, Missouri.
On his Facebook page, Warriner proudly showed off news reports of the incident, with friends praising him for "making a difference in this world".
This prompted a series of politically-motivated posts from the member of the Occupy protest movement.
"Just doing my job..." Warriner wrote of yesterday's incident on his Facebook profile.
"As should all people. The spirit of rebellion must rise in man if we are to overcome this elite corporate financial dictatorship we are currently selling our souls to.
"Otherwise nothing happens... nothing you may control anyhow.. centralised control is what its (sic) all about. while minimising education, and when educating always maintaining the current status quo of power."
Warriner is due to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday.
- Brisbane Times

Crazy cows attack Alpine hikers

2011-10-23T11:45:00.000-07:00

Photo credit: Brendan Gogarty (File)

Published: 24 Aug 2011 14:25 GMT+1
Updated: 24 Aug 2011 13:56 GMT+1

Switzerland's spell of sizzling weather seems to have left Alpine cattle a bit hot under their cowbell collars. For the second time in a couple of weeks, hikers in Canton Graubünden have been attacked by cows nursing newborn calves.

In the latest incident, a cow attacked a man and two women who were hiking in the Dreibündstein region on Sunday near Chur in south-eastern Switzerland, Blick newspaper reported.

The animal first went after the man with its horns, according to police. The two women who tried to escape to get help were then also attacked and injured. Swiss air rescue services (Rega) flew the injured parties to hospital.

Another cow who had recently calved attacked hikers on August 14th on Alp Maises. One woman was injured and a man who came to her aid was also attacked by the cow. The hiking trail leads through fenced pasture.

Bündner agricultural authorities recommend hikers, but also farmers, to stick to certain codes of conduct.

Anyone coming into contact with cattle is advised to keep a safe distance, while calves should not be touched under any circumstances. Also, dogs are to be kept on their leads except in emergencies.

Tanya Hogan (news@thelocal.ch)

"Heidi" shot in New Zealand

2011-10-22T11:47:00.000-07:00

Photo credit: YouTube screenshot

Heidi ad shot in New Zealand angers Swiss

Published: 13 Jul 2011 16:01 GMT+1
Updated: 13 Jul 2011 11:25 GMT+1

A TV commercial advertising a Swiss milk brand called “Heidi” was shot in New Zealand, a move that has angered Swiss tourism officials in the real Heidiland.
The commercial, portraying a typical Swiss setting with a merry Heidi frolicking in the bucolic Alps surrounded by peaceful cows, was actually shot in New Zealand using a local actress and local animals, said a report on the 20 Minuten newspaper.
Migros, the Swiss supermarket chain that commissioned the advert, argued that it needed a summer setting and filming had to take place place during the Swiss winter in 2004.
The move angered officials in Switzerland’s Heidiland, a popular tourist area stretching between Bad Ragaz and Amden.
“It's not very logical,” Björn Caviezel, the head of Heidiland Tourism, told 20 Minuten.
“We could have provided an ideal setting for Migros. And perhaps we could have mutually benefited from the situation. Also, coming here from Zurich is certainly a lot cheaper than a 24-hour flight to New Zealand," said Caviezel.
External link(s):
Migros Heidi advert »

source: