The Gold and the Green

Congratulations to the two Swiss skiers, Didier Défago and Dario Cologna, who won gold medals for Switzerland at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver yesterday!  Although it was not as if either came from nowhere, the victories were very pleasant surprises considering the quality of the competition.   For Défago in particular, it was a sweet victory as he has not been considered the strongest "Didier" on the Swiss team.  Called the "Unlikely Swiss" by the New York Times, he nonetheless came in first in the men's downhill.  Teammate Didier Cuche, who came in 6th, will undoubtedly have other opportunities to even the score.

I, for one, got a kick out of the way that the Tribune de Genève is reporting the medal counts today.  In the official talley that considers the total number of medals won, as found on the Vancouver 2010 website, Switzerland is ranked fifth.  In the Tribune, however, Switzerland is ranked No 1.  Although it has only won three medals so far, all three are gold.  It's all in the perspective.

The "Green" in today's title stands for ecological.  Today's Coopération magazine reports that the Coop grocery chain is supporting an innovative automobile concept that is designed to improve rail travel options and reduce automobile emissions.  The Swiss automobile manufacturer Rinspeed has developed a new electric car model, called the "UC?."  The "UC" of the name comes from the English expression "urban commuter."  The two-seater, measuring 2.5 meters in length, is designed to be driven from one's home to the railroad station and there put onto a specially designed rail car reserved in advance on the internet to travel with the commuter to his destination city, recharging along the way.  Once arrived, the commuter merely gets into the car and drives to the local address, generally avoiding traffic hassles.  Wired provides a report in English, together with the photo below.

 

How can one not admire, empathize with and encourage Frank W. Rinderknecht, the "Father" of the UC?, who has taken as his inspiration the chorus from John Lennon's "Imagine?"

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one.