World Economic Forum, Davos 2008

I meant to do a post on this earlier in the week but I forgot so you will hopefully forgive that little misdemeanour. Anyway the World Economic Forum is being held at the moment in Davos, Switzerland. Why is it important enough you ask that it would grace the pages of this blog [sic]? Well the WEF according to that fantabulous source that is Wikipedia (because I could not find it anywhere else!).....

"is designed as a place for dialogue and debate about the major social and economic problems of the planet because: representatives of both the most powerful economic organisations and the most powerful political organisations are present; intellectuals also participate; and there is a generally informal atmosphere encouraging wide-ranging debate" (Wikipedia).

However the Co-Chairs of this years meeting quiet note-worthy people also for differing reasons.

* Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1997-2007); Member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum
* James Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, JPMorgan Chase & Co., USA
* K.V. Mamath, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, ICICI Bank, India
* Henry Kissinger, Chairman, Kissinger Associates, USA
* Indra K. Nooyi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo, USA
* David J. O' Reilly, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Chevron Corporation, USA
* Wang JianzhouChief Executive, China Mobile Communications Corporation, People's Republic of China

I know there is a few other names that are floating around but they escape me for the moment. However, the above list in itself is quiet the XYZ of Who is Who in the World. Anyway what reminded me this morning about Davos was a story which Bono & Al Gore yet again broke about Global Warming. Also upon perusal of CNN's excessive coverage of the conference, which one has to pay some $12k to even become a member, I came across an video interview with Henry Kissinger which was quiet good and is available here. (Select the Kissinger Video from the playlist in the bottom panel.) Davos continues from the 23rd until the 26th January.

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World Economic Forum : http://www.weforum.org
CNN's Coverage: http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/news/davos/

German fuming after Swiss told him to learn German

A 70-year old German seeking Swiss citizenship was told to go back to school to learn his own native tongue despite being proficient in German, a Swiss newspaper said.

The Swiss town of Dielsdorf ordered Ulrich Kring – who lived in Switzerland his entire life but is only now applying for citizenship – to take a German language course to the tune of 250 Swiss francs ($NZ290), the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper said.

The class was obligatory for all foreigners seeking a Swiss passport and the town would not make an exception for the German national, the newspaper said.

Kring had lodged an appeal against the decision with a higher local authority, but had not had a reply yet.

Roughly two-thirds of Switzerland's 7.5 million inhabitants are German speakers. Many German nationals find the Swiss spoken dialect hard to understand, although the official written language taught in schools is the same as in Germany.

There is a hot debate about immigration in Switzerland, where some 20 per cent of the population are foreigners, and some newspapers have criticised the big influx of immigrants from neighbouring Germany.

Source: Stuff.co.nz