Or maybe you knew that already. This guy needs to get new research interns or something. This is just an example of blatantly making shit up to try and sound good on the spot.
From Media Matters: "Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed that the Red Cross 'historically ... adopted' its emblem 'because of the Christian philosophy of giving alms and giving assistance to people in need.' In fact, according to the American Red Cross website, it was '[i]n honor of the Swiss ... [that] the symbol of a red cross on a white background (the reverse of the Swiss flag) was identified as a protective emblem in conflict areas.'"
From Wikipedia: "The Red Cross on white background was the original protection symbol declared at the 1864 Geneva Convention. It is, in terms of its color, a reversal of the Swiss national flag, a meaning which was adopted to honor Swiss founder Henry Dunant and his home country. The ideas to introduce a uniform and neutral protection symbol as well as its specific design originally came from Dr. Louis Appia and General Henri Dufour, founding members of the International Committee. The Red Cross is defined as a protection symbol in Article 7 of the 1864 Geneva Convention, Chapter VII ("The distinctive emblem") and Article 38 of the 1949 Geneva Convention ("For the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field"). There is an unofficial agreement within the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement that the shape of the cross should be a cross composed of five squares. However, regardless of the shape, any Red Cross on white background should be valid and must be recognized as a protection symbol in conflict. Of the 185 national societies which are currently recognized by the ICRC, 151 are using the Red Cross as their official organization emblem. In addition, the Red Cross is currently used by the national society of Tuvalu which has applied for official recognition."
You've probably all seen this before, but it gave me a chuckle seeing it again. It's so much more comical when you see stereotypes acted out in real life.
In the past, I've written about how Western Europe seems to shut down during July and August (bringing with it a huge influx of summertime butt sweat and forehead sheen). But a new article out by the Wharton School of Business tries to offer some possible explanations to the divergent work and leisure perceptions between Europeans and Americans.
Two interesting statistics:
As recently as the 1960s, Europeans worked more than people in the U.S.
When it comes to quality of life, Geneva is #2 (snicker). According to a survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Geneva ranks just behind Zurich for the world's top city for quality of living. The study evaluated 250+ cities on several criteria:
Political and social environment (political stability, crime, law enforcement, etc.)
Coffee is a zero-calorie drink. This includes the fantastic-tasting coffee produced by Nespresso. (This is not a paid advertisement, although I'm open to suggestion).
Click here for calories on popular foods. Click here for a review of Nespresso machines.
Does anyone else ever miss those self-indulgent childhood days of looking through your books just for the pictures and not the words - because you had no idea what any of the words said? Well if you were ever curious, that's what Swiss junk mail is like.
So I was watching German MTV this morning and really enjoying not understanding much of the blah blah blah between the "25 Years of MTV" celebration, when a commercial for a German ringtone company came on. Now these things are hugely popular in Germany and for one VeriSign-owned company in particular, Jamba, a single ringtone made them millions of dollars and gave it a widely-recognizeable European mascot with the controversial genitalia: Crazy Frog. Now the order-a-ringtone-by-SMS craze in Europe is still a big thing and you're constantly bombarded with infomercials during late night cable TV. Combine all the Billy Blanks and Christie Brinkley / Chuck Norris spots, add all of the Magic Bullet and Ginsu knives infomercials, and you have about the volume of SMS ads late at night.
Well, it was nothing all that odd to me. What WAS odd was the fact they were advertising a ringtone called, and I shit you not, "Crazy Arab". The "Crazy Arab" ringtone consists of a man yelling gibberish, apparently cracking fun at the nearly incomprehensible verbal patterns. Now at any other point in time of my life I may have considered that a bit amusing, but my prudish American sensibilities were abit taken aback. To validate my disbelief, I flipped up 10 channels to CNN International to see Hezbollah rockets fired into Haifa while Israeli ground incursions were happening. There are some people, I will admit, who proclaim themselves to be a "crazy arab" like examples of this on MySpace and YouTube. And although I'm thoroughly amused at the YouTube rendition of Fast and the Furious: Dubai Drift, I find it hard to believe that today's Arab youths want to self-identify with the phrase.
Want to download the ringtone and offend your friends? Website is here .
I had heard all about it, but wasn't quite prepared for what it would appear like: during the months of July and August, a vast majority of Europeans head on multi-week vacations, leaving their workplaces as empty as a cube farm in Omaha during a Huskers game. Needless to say, productivity has dropped to an all-time low. Emails sit unreturned, Out of Office notifications come streaming in like spam, and the 5:30 tram home is as empty as a bus tour of Beirut.
An artcile from the WSJ online from 2004 blames low European productivity (overall, not just during the summer) on weak management. "Managing for mediocrity," a study published by Proudfoot Consulting, observed workers in nine countries for more than 10,000 hours and found that bosses are behind low productivity, a notion that debunks the conventional wisdom. 'The blame can be placed squarely at the feet of management, which is accused of insufficient management planning and control and of providing inadequate supervision,' says a statement accompanying the study." Blog entry with excerpts is here. This view of weak European management is one that's also held by buyout firms in the US who, for the past few years since the dot-com bust, have been snatching up poorly-managed European tech companies, replacing the management with multinationals or Americans, and selling it for a hefty profit.
Couple the incredible workload with the soaring heat and you can imagine what kind of ennui it might create. As I'm writing this, I'm sitting in an outdoor cafe feeling the sweat condense between my bum and the cheap plastic outdoor chair as the outdoor air temperature hovers somewhere around 80 degrees - and it's 10PM. Interesting enough, the cafe is called "Central Perk" and its early dispute with Hollywood has become the stuff of legend. It has good dinner specials and free WiFi (in case you're wondering why I might sellout).
So this song has been haunting me ever since we beat it to death on our trek through southern France during Easter. Couldn't find the original Time-Life infomercial, however.
You have to appreciate the hilarity of the Elvis meets Johnny Cash meets Lee Majors appeal of this guy.
Last month, we hopped a cramped morning train in Genoa (Genova), Italy and traveled towards the Italian riviera with a bunch of working-class commuters (the body odor gave them away) and sun-worshippers wielding beach umbrellas like jousting lances. As we neared towns like Santa Margherita Ligure and Levanto, the train started to empty out until all that were left were tourists armed with well-thumbed Rick Steves books.
The Italian riviera is a narrow strip of coastline is divided into two sections: the Riviera di Ponente (to the west), from Ventimiglia to Genoa, and the Riviera di Levante (to the east), from Genoa to La Spezia. The former includes wide sandy beaches and the rather commercial seaside resorts of San Remo and Bordighera, while the latter boasts small bays backed by rocky cliffs and more exclusive retreats such as Portofino and Cinque Terre. Portofino is the best known, with its small picturesque harbour full of sleek yachts, its luxury clothes shops, and its romantic villas owned by the rich and famous perched on the hillside. The beach at Santa Margherita Ligure, just 3 miles south of Portofino, is an excellent place to swim, with a magical view of the surrounding cliffs and villas from the warm and crystal-clear aquamarine water. Nearby Rapallo, 5 miles south of Portofino, is less fashionable and subsequently less expensive. At the southern tip of the Riviera di Levante, lies Cinque Terre, a series of five picturesque fishing villages linked by scenic mountainside paths and surrounded by vineyards, and lemon and olive groves. The beaches here are less exploited for a reason - they're hella hard to get to and the rocky beaches are reminiscent of that Annie Lennox song about broken glass. We debarked the train at Riomaggiore, the eastern-most of the Cinque Terra and obtained our train passes (a great deal that includes the train rides between all of the Cinque Terra and the hiking path fees as well). As we got off the train, the entire train seemed to hop right onto the hiking path. We waited for the queue to subside and timed our entry between a couple from the US and a tour group of children from Italy.
The easiest of all the hikes was the walk from Riomaggiore to Manarola, coined the "Lovers Walk". Various parts of the paved hike were decorated with quotes inscribed in marble. After Manarola, the hike became adventurous. The towns were a pretty distraction from the true attraction: the path between the Cinque Terra. Although Rick Steve touts the virtues of each of the cities, I think that the shopping generally sucks. If you can navigate your way around the tourists in each of the cities, the photo opportunities are great as well. But for us, the real attraction was busting our humps on the challenging terrain of the path. Word of caution: do not attempt to bring your suitcases or rollerbags on this path. We saw some unwitting British tourists who were rolling their bags out of Vernazza onto the path and heard them mumbling "that train sure sounds good about now".
In Vernazza, we dined on pesto pizza and gelato and rubbed our tummies like overfed buddhas. As we exited Vernazza, we were running out of daylight and decided to jump the train to Monterosso and live out the rest of our day there. The first warning should have been the packed train station with drunk people singing to an accordion player. Then, like lemmings, everyone got onto our train. We stopped in Monterosso and got off the train - along with everyone else. Flashing each other looks at the mosh-pit anxiety that was sure to ensue, we jumped back on the train and headed for Levanto where we joined the World Cup-watchers.
Wandering around the streets of Nice, France, we heard some reggae coming out of a jewelry / headshop. Not listening closely to the lyrics, we assumed it was some random French reggae artist. But, in fact, it was none other than Damien Marley, the youngest son of the late Bob.
If this album doesn't make you want to get up out yo seat, then call the coroner, because you're dead. Picks:
"I exercise strong self control. I never drink anything stronger than gin before breakfast." W.C. Fields
After returning from a recent trip to Italy, I found myself daydreaming of the fantastic limoncello and how in the US there isn't a comparable substitute. In fact, digestivos or after-dinner drinks were something completely foreign to me before coming to Europe. The closest that most of my friends get to an digestivo is probably the random glass of scotch or the drunken shot of tequila off off of a sweaty female belly button in some hazy Adams Morgan bar after dinner. No, nothing quite compares with the sticky-sweet smack of the limoncello on the tongue.
Want to try your hand at making limoncello at home? Try this receipe:
10 lemons
1 liter vodka
3 cups white sugar
4 cups water
Zest the lemons, and place zest into a large glass bottle or jar. Pour in vodka. Cover loosely and let infuse for one week at room temperature.After one week, combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. DO NOT STIR. Boil for 15 minutes. Allow syrup to cool to room temperature.Stir vodka mixture into syrup. Strain into glass bottles, and seal each bottle with a cork. Let mixture age for 2 weeks at room temperature. Place bottled liqueur into the freezer. When icy cold, serve in chilled vodka glasses or shot glasses.
Want to try some wacky digestivos? Try Cynar, which is an infusion of artichokes in grain alcohol. You can also sample Fernet Branca, which is alcohol with St. John's wort and 39 secret herbs. It can also be added to espresso to make "caffè corretto". Branca Menta is a mint-infused version of Fernet Branca and can be served over ice or with water.
For those of you not yet ready for the digestivo plunge, try some Limoncello mashups:
Limoncello Martini: Combine 1/2 ounce limoncello and 1 1/2 ounces vodka, shake with ice, pour into a martini glass and garnish with lemon peel.
Limoncello Iced Tea: Pour 1 oz. limoncello in a tall glass over ice. Fill with unsweetened iced tea. Add sugar to taste.
Limocello Cosmopolitan:Combine vodka, cranberry juice and a splash of limoncello. Pour into a martini glass and garnish with a lemon wedge.
Limoncello Bellini:Pour 2 oz. peach nectar and 2 oz. champagne into a champagne flute. Add a splash of limoncello.
