Democratic governments are complex dynamic collections of people with diverse ideas working with and against each other in response to a multitude of internal and external forces in an increasingly complex world. Such groups can really only be expected to slowly move forward via messy compromise. Why then would we expect governments to act decisively […]
Archives for 2019
Swiss vote results on gun laws and tax and pension reform – 19 May 2019
Today, Swiss voters voted on changes to gun laws and tax and pension reform initiatives. Both the votes on gun laws and tax and pension reform were accepted by 63.7% and 66.4% of voters respectively. Majorities in all cantons voted for the tax and pension reform initiative. Only in Ticino did a majority of voters reject the government’s changes to […]
Switzerland 4th in Eurovision song contest
With his song “She Got Me”, Luca Hänni came fourth in the Eurovision Grand Final in Tel Aviv, Israel on 18 May 2019. The winner was Duncan Laurence from the Netherlands with the song “Arcade”. Winners are selected based on the results of a combination of public tele-votes and votes from a panel of judges […]
Switzerland qualifies for Eurovision final
With his song “She Got Me”, Luca Hänni made it through to the Eurovision Grand Final in Tel Aviv, Israel. Hänni, a 24 year old Swiss singer-songwriter, was born in Bern and taught himself to play guitar and piano at primary school. After school he worked as a bricklayer before giving it up to pursue […]
Swiss votes 19 May 2019 – tax, pensions and gun laws
On Sunday, Swiss will be asked to vote on two federal referenda, one on gun laws and another on tax and pension reform. Gun laws Following the gun attacks in Paris and Brussels, the EU tightened gun rules in 2017. In 2018, the government of Switzerland, a nation outside the EU but within the Schengen […]
FILM: REPORT FROM CANNES FILM FESTIVAL – May 13 – 26, 2019
10 May 2019. By Neptune Cannes Film Festival – Where anything is possible! The French/Serbian animation director Enki Bilal, one of the 9 (4 women, 5 men) Jury members in Cannes for the main Competition selection of 21 films, put it quite succinctly during their press conference when he said cinema is the best and […]
Swiss open to the idea of raising retirement age, according to union
Employees Switzerland, a union organisation representing Swiss workers, is resigned to the idea of raising the retirement age, according to Swiss broadcaster RTS. Speaking to the newspaper NZZ am Sonntag, Stefan Studer, director of the association, said raising the retirement age is inevitable because of the financial difficulties facing Switzerland’s state pension system, known as […]
Protests against 5G mobile continue in Switzerland
Last week, a crowd assembled in Bern outside Switzerland’s federal parliament building to protest the roll out of 5G mobile technology in Switzerland. Frequencia, the organisation behind the demonstration, claims that around 3,000 people attended. Switzerland’s “Stop 5G” movement is demanding a halt to further roll out of the technology in Switzerland, a process already […]
Swiss discuss banning young drivers from roads at night
Nights, particularly weekend nights, are when most accidents involving young drivers occur. Between 2013 and 2017, 2,267 young adults between 18 and 24 were seriously injured on Swiss roads and an average of 32 were killed annually, around 14% of Switzerland’s total road deaths. Because driving reflexes are less internalized among inexperienced drivers, distractions, such […]
More than 40 serious threats against Swiss politicians and judges in 2018
In 2018, 669 threats against politicians, judges and other public servants were reported to Swiss police, according to RTS. In 43 serious cases, Swiss police came to protect the threatened individual from danger. Victims of serious threats included parliamentarians (National Councillors), members of cabinet (Federal Councillors) and judges. The threats were mainly associated with refugees […]
