Remember Monika ?

I've been wondering whatever happened to Monika Rathgeber ? Haven't heard from good old Moni in quite a while.
You don't remember Monika ? 
Well, let me refresh your memory: She is the Lady employed by the Provincial Government of Salzburg in the Finance Department. She is the one who gambled with tax payers money, She's the one who, it is said, forged a letter from the building department, giving her access to some huge amounts of Euros, which she promptly placed into some high risk investments, thereby causing a loss to the Province of some 340 Million Euros. Handwriting experts testified that the letter was a forgery. It was clear that this forgery could only have come from Monika's office.
So much for the back ground.
Now Monika has written a book: "Am System zerbrochen" (destroyed by the System)
(I have not yet read the book and am only quoting from an article in today's "Kurier")
During a news conference, introducing her book, Monika is quoted as follows:
"Yes, I have made some mistakes: I should have communicated better and made more notes".
Isn't this just lovely. What should she have communicated ? That she forged signatures, whole documents, gambled with taxpayers money in High Risk Investments ? 
Other than those admitted "mistakes" she would have done everything else the same? Committed forgeries on a grand scale? Yes! Because everything she did was "done to keep harm from my country."
And here is a quaint quote:
"For me it is unimaginable how the Power Apparatus can operate against an individual."
I suppose that Al Capone could have said the same.
No, I am not comparing Monika to Al, only to the extent that the "Power Apparatus" (Government) will direct its might against an accused criminal.

If you want, you may obtain one of the 5000 copies printed for €17,90.

An intrepid reporter asked:  "How do you see your future?
 Her answer: "I would like to continue my work in the financial area, however, I have not yet made a decision.  The fact that at the moment there is a law suit pending, does not simplify the job search.

Let me issue a word of  caution : So far, Ms Rathgeber has only been accused of these crimes and misdemeanors. Various testimonies during  Court proceedings may prove Monika innocent of all charges.

What do you think?

Bertstravels has difficulties spelling the words: "Aleged" 

65 : 35 in Switzerland

65.3% of the voters in yesterdays Swiss plebiscite rejected the proposition to limit top salaries to 12 times that of the lowest paid employee. This means that an astonishing 34.7% would have liked to see such a limit.

This proposition, tabled by the "Young Socialists" would likely have had the following result:

As posed earlier in this Blog, top salaries would have been capped somewhere around 180,000.
(Assuming an income of the lowest paid worker of, say,  15,000.)
So, please follow me on this scenario:
Company "XYZ Enterprises" employed an "Executive Vice President, in Charge of Everything" and for this highly responsible position, the company paid him  300,000 per annum.
In a tax bracket of say 50%, the state would have syphoned off  150,000.
Now with a top earning limit of 180,000, again assuming a 50% tax, the state would have to be satisfied with  90,000, loosing  60,000 in tax money.
XYZ Enterprises would have an increased bottom line by 120,000, (having to pay in wages only 180,000 instead of 300,000) which, most likely, it would have paid out in increased Dividends to its shareholders, thereby making investors, who are most likely already richer than the above mentioned "Executive Vice President In Charge Of Everything" even richer.
This highly competent EVPiCoE would probably not be all too happy about his loss of well deserved income and would  look for employment somewhere else. Neighbouring Lichtenstein, Austria Germany and Italy come to mind. It is also not far fetched to consider that "XYZ Enterprises" might seriously have considered re-locating its base of operation to one of these countries, since, to stay competitive, it would have to attract the best in their field, and, if the Market says 300,000 is the rate, then you cannot attract "the best" with 180,000.
The re-location of the entire company (and XYZ Enterprises would surely not be the only one) would have a devastating effect on the country.

"Not a problem", would the "Young Socialists" say, "we will simply pass laws that these increases in the bottom line may not be paid out to share holders as dividends, but must be distributed among the rest of the staff, and furthermore we would pass another law, prohibiting the EVPiCoE from leaving XYZ Enterprises and then we would pass a further law, making it illegal for XYZ Enterprises to re-locate their company in another country and additionally we would pass another law and then another one and then one more.
Finally "We, the Young Socialists" would control everything...
...and then we would re-name the country: "The Democratic Socialist Republic of the Alps." 

I am exaggerating, you say? Maybe!...

Consider this, however: Where controlling countries, like Russia, China, Cuba give more Economic Freedom to ABC Company Ltd., the Young Socialists of Switzerland would opt for more strangling controls.
Thank the Good Swiss Franc, over 65% of the Swiss were smart enough to see through this grab for political and economic power.

That's  the way

Bertstravels sees it, anyway.
.

Hurray for the Swiss

Just heard on the News that the Swiss did NOT accept the proposition to cap Salaries.
More later.

They call this Democracy !!

The Swiss, most admirable people, like to think of themselves as the most democratic of all democratic people. It seems that they conduct a plebiscite every other Sunday. This may be a slight exaggeration, but, as I said, it seems so. Today is a Plebiscite Sunday and the question, which the voters of Switzerland are asked to answer is this:

"Should any employee of a company be paid a salary higher than 12 times that, paid to the lowest paid member of the staff of this same company ?"

There are many who will say "No" to this question and if, indeed, the majority so vote, then what is deemed "excessive" salaries will be a thing of the past.

So, if you employ a cleaner, whose job it is to keep the parking lot free of debris, and you pay him , say $15,000 per year, the President of this same company, whose job it is to manage a multi million dollar firm, employing hundreds of men and women must not earn more than $180,000 per annum.

Nestles, the large producer of foods has already announced that if this actually were to become legislation,

they "would have to examine their future in this country", since it would negatively effect a great number of their upper echelon staff.

In my humble opinion, the Swiss, should they approve of such restrictive legislation, will have made the first step into an economic dictatorship, which would have none, but negative impact upon their business climate.

I am all in favour of the Government controlling wages of Civil Servants, which are paid with Taxes, but an overall control of private industry is, to say the least, undemocratic lunacy.

 

Welcome to the Great Zimbabwe

"Great Zimbabwe" is a ruin in what is today
south/central Zimbabwe.
It is situated near the town of Masvingo,
near the Chimanimani Mountains

It was likely built by ancestors of todays Shona people
and was the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe.
Archeologists place these structures as between
the 11th and 14th Century.

The white Government of Southern Rhodesia, it is said,
placed pressure upon archeologists
to suggest that Arab Traders were the builders
and not the native, black population.

Here is a long shot of the Inner Court.
The entire area housed up to 20,000 people.

The Great Zimbabwe

This human figure (my wife Gladys )
shows the height of this wall. Surely a formidable
defencive structure in its time.

On top of this wall runs a snake like pattern,
said to be a fertility symbol.
Does it make a lot of sense to weaken a defensive
wall by the addition of a symbol of any kind ?

The end of this Inner Wall shows clearly
that no binding agent of any kind was used.
Only a good fit from stone to stone
and gravity made this a solid structure.

A grain silo ?
Not likely. Its centre is not hollow.
The entire structure is a solid work of stone.
Since it had no apparant practical use,
it must have had symbolic purpose.
What did it symbolise? Since it was higher than the wall,
it was clearly visible to anybody approaching.
Was it just a "bragging tool" ?
A message saying to a peaceful visitor:
"You are coming to a very special place"
Or was it meant to tell an approaching foe:
"Don't even try ! If we can build something like this,
we can beat the hell out of you too."

Anyway, here is a peaceful visitor,
who was duly impressed and had
Lunch amidst the "Great Zimbabwe"

SOME BIRDS

Scarlet Tanager
an American song bird
(not to be confused with Ella Fitzgerald)
recently re-classified into the Cardinal family.

Red headed wood pecker
This tri-coloured bird is found in Southern Canada
and the Eastern Central United States.

Red winged blackbird
lives in North and Central America,
breeds from Alaska to Newfoundland,
South to Florida, Mexico and Guatemala

FRANZ BRANDL ( some of his work )

"Dialog  ended"
this work commemorates one of many
failed discussions between
the Slovenian and the German speaking
populations in and around Bleiburg.

 

 

 

 

Musings

I started this Blog, egged on by my daughter, Lianne, on the 19th day of June 2008. Just about 2000 days ago.
During this time I posted 1100 entries and had, by the built in counter, exactly 27971 views. That is almost 14 views per day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.
There were, of course, stretches of time during which I posted nothing, just like now, when I note that I last posted anything on the 4th day of November. Before that there was a hiatus of 5 weeks, during which time I was in Canada.
The strange thing about this is, that, once started, such a Blog becomes almost an obligation. I feel a sense of betrayal of my faithful viewers and readers and I imagine them opening this site and finding the same pictures and the same comments. I think that it would be the very same if I were to open a book, to read from it a little every night, only to find the same page staring at me. Very soon I wouldn't bother opening this book anymore. I would just put it aside, because it no longer gives me any joy.
The disappointment about it for me also is, that none of my viewers wrote a comment on the Blog, nor wrote me an e-mail urging me to continue ... come on Lianne, Scio, Anton, don't let me hang there, thinking that you don't care, because it wasn't challenging enough. For a little while I got e-mails when I talked about my opinions concerning Religion, The Bible and Roman Catholicism... some people wrote whom I did not know.
How did they get my e-mail?? and don't they know how easy it is to put a comment directly on the Blog?
Maybe I have to start talking about the above again. It is a subject about which I could go on for quite a little while.
                                          **********************************

A few days ago I was asked to contribute a show I had done about three years ago about Franz Brandl, a local artist painter. Franz died at the age of 84 last year. He had become a friend of ours and I felt his loss more than I cared to admit. 
One day, during my photographing him at his work and many of his completed paintings, we talked about "the Creative Process". He told me something quite interesting: 
He said:
                       "I just get the urge to paint... paint something.. then I                          sit down in front of my easel and start.When I feel                            that it's ready, I get a very unreal feeling and I                                    inevitably ask myself: 'did I really do that?'
                        If I do not get this urge, but paint something because I think I ought to, I am never very satisfied with the outcome. I have to feel "the Urge" to create something with which I am             happy."

Now Franz Brandl is dead and the local Art Gallery is putting on a "Franz Brandl Retrospective" to celebrate what would have been his 85th birthday.
The show, I was asked to contribute and which I had done about two years before his death,  is to be shown during this exhibition via a 'beamer' on a large screen. In the meantime I had photographed many more of his paintings and I enlarged and improved this show. I hope I can do justice to Franz's memory.

On the Trampolin

My grand daughter and her
exchange student friend from Bern
are having some fun on the Trampolin

 

 

BLEIBURG VS LENDORF

A nice cross from the Bleiburg right striker

The keeper got this one

Refereee ! Are you blind ??? 

...more disandat

Lake grass

The deck in the morning fog.

early visitor

which is bluer, the sky or the lake ?