I lived through the minaret referendum and it was awful. The lengths in which people went to make derogatory commentary about Islam or Muslims was saddening.

The Swiss in general are pretty xenophobic but the SVP party takes it to a whole new level against blacks. For three years I saw these and even more disgusting posters plastered all around the country.

Yeah, one would think it would be the oldes driving such ultra national conservatism and right wing populism but SVP indeed does commands a large share of the youth vote. They are the strongest political party in Switzerland.

During the Bush years, companies were sitting on even higher amounts of uninvested capital. The government even tried to get them to invest by giving an incentive on repatriation during the Homeland Investment Act. It didn't work. Companies brought back money on shore and literally did nothing with it.

It has very little to do with Democrat/Republican controlled presidencies and senates.

The Anti Black/African sentiment from the far right wing parties is utterly depressing. Even more disgusting is that a lot of them are the popular parties in some European countries.

This poster was plastered all around Switzerland during my first year there. Great way to feel welcomed....

That's easy.

I can easily see Anita singing that song. Their voices and delivery are similar though Anita has far more volume and power. Her phrasing is also immaculate!

Sometimes I spend hours on Youtube just listening to tracks from 89 through 97, reliving the nostalgia.

So many of those songs played along the pivotal moments of my teenage years and those feelings have been etched in my memories forever.

My brother and I were reminiscing the other day about all the casette tapes we had of songs recorded from the radio from stations Power 99 (Philly) and Hot 97 (New York). I think some of them might still exist. Crazy!

Great music and great times!