Morning Stories

Wanderlust or Homesick? Anyone who has always lived behind the moon or under a rock won't be surprised by the state of the world today. Because they don't catch any of it. The news? A Canadian was behind the moon. But only briefly.

If a single word can set the entire arsenal of emotions spinning, then those few letters must be carrying an enormous payload of associations. When spring announces not only itself but is heralded by the writing and rhyming guild, many things begin to sprout anew.

No, I'm not entirely certain — but appearances suggest: most fingers are already finished by the time a human arrives in the cradle. They're still a little small. And still a little clumsy. But as fingers go, they're perfectly fine and ready to feel their way through the world.

The newspaper hits just as hard in print: overwhelming. Anyone who ventures past the first two pages in the morning will likely feel buried under an avalanche of information. Probably.

Hmm. All right. Let’s start with a little brain teaser. Imagine you’re a member of a venerable old club. One member – let’s call him Uncle Andrew – gets kicked out of the club because he was friends with a certain Jeffrey Epstein. Understandable. Embarrassing. Out he goes.

For fifty years, the family has lived next to the same neighbour. Every morning, a friendly nod across the driveway. They share an access road, a river, a history. Life and community work seamlessly and peacefully. Then one day, a dark cloud appears — one nobody saw coming. The cloud arrives as a document in an anonymous envelope in the mailbox. This single sheet of paper is pure dynamite for the neighbourhood. The document states that you and your family represent a serious and present threat to your neighbour’s interests. Excuse me?

When someone does business with the sick, something is wrong with the system. The association forced itself on me when I took the German word “Krankenkasse” — health insurance, literally “sick cash” — a little too literally to heart. Then I turned westward and noticed “Health Care” in Canada. Which translates, roughly, as “help for the ill.”

The elegant living room has always been an aspiration — ever since civilization, and interior design, were invented.

Risk? What reads here like the name of a chocolate bar turns out to be far more complex in practice — and rarely comes with any sweetness attached.

How America lost its allies — and they started building for themselves.

"Excuse me, what?" When two umlauted vowels land in the same word, things get suspicious — and decidedly Basler. "Wottsch e weeneli im Chläppergässli spaziire, hösch?" (Do you want to go for a walk on Slap Alley?) is a prime example.

My dual citizenship is demanding. And binding. I read the Swiss news, watch Swiss broadcasts, and follow the country that shaped me for sixty years.

Why is Canada renaming the Americano to Canadiano? CanaChris tells the story behind the viral coffee rebrand — from WWII history to 2025 politics.

For a long time, Kurt had slipped from my memory. But here in 2026, he's back: Kurt Tucholsky, the passionate, pen-wielding fighter against war.

What exactly does this norm look like — the one that every person in a community is supposed to be, look like, and behave according to? The norm, or rather normality, is a chameleon in both meaning and effect. Come again?

The word “trust” belongs in the top tier. Not just as a sound, but as an expectation — a fundamental condition. Trust is the glue. The mortar. The invisible thread that holds a society together. And that’s why people are so careful about how — or whether — they give it. Or avoid it altogether.

Two hundred and two years ago, the Monroe Doctrine was introduced to the American people. No, this Monroe has nothing to do with the dazzling Marilyn — though both versions had explosive potential.

Old Shakespeare really has very little to do with this sentence. William, in this case, is entirely innocent. So much for the facts.

Disputes are the daily seasoning of human existence. Empathy, respect, and humour — those are the better side effects of being Homo sapiens.