Basel Police Use Social Media in Recruitment Drive ; Basel Tattoo Battles Music Rights ; Stiff Sentences for Drag Racers ;Third Wave Coffee Techniques Keep Basel Cafés in the Vanguard

">In their ongoing effort to keep the police rolls properly staffed, the Canton of Basel started using Social Media outlets like Facebook to reach potential recruits.  The Facebook page has been up for almost two years and has attracted over 10000 likes, with messages and feedback being positive enough that the department is planning to expand its social media efforts into the use of Twitter as well.  It is hoped that these efforts pay off in a larger recruitment pool that sits for the stringent entrance exams required of those that aspire to serve on the Basel Police. 

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">Organizers of the Basel Tattoo and the SUISA Foundation (a cooperative of Swiss music authors and publishers) have landed in Federal Court in Lausanne over royalty payments.  Suisa collects royalties on behalf of copyright holders and distributes the proceeds to the artists and publishers.  In the case of Basel Tattoo it acts as a clearinghouse to which the organizers pay for all the music played on behalf of the exhibiting military bands.  The dispute arises from the fact that an ambiguously worded rule requires exhibitors such as Basel Tattoo to only pay half the normal copyright compensation when the music used is only part of the overall performance such as a choreographed dance or stage act.  The specific legal case is focused on the 2009 Basel Tattoo event, where a ruling favoring SUISA and the artists would require Basel Tattoo to cough up an additional 200000 francs for the use of copyrighted works that year.  A ruling in favor of the exhibitors would of course mean reduced costs for the producers of the annual show.  A decision is expected shortly.   **************************************************************************

  On monday two young men were sentenced for their participation in a drag race across the dreirosenbrucke in late 2012 which resulted in significant damage.  The drivers offered conflicting accounts of how the race began across the streets of Basel, one driving a Smart car with Pizza Delivery Paint from a local restaurant, the other in a BMW 318i.  The facts are clear: starting at the Voltaplatz the two cars gunned their engines as they turned toward the bridge and had both their speeds clocked in excess of 100km/h by traffic surveillance equipment.  As the cars raced side by side (one on the tram tracks going over the bridge) they struck a safety railing at the edge of the tram station on the bridge, causing the car to overturn and damage the station.  The other driver sped off- driving through a red light and nearly ran down a bystander - only later turning himself in to the police.  Expressing remorse for their recklessness, the judge found the drivers unsympathetic and handed down sentences of 20 and 24 months of imprisonment, loss of driving privileges and financial responsibility for the damage.   **************************************************************************

  First came drip, then the now ubiquitous baristas, and next...the Cold Drip machine.  Using what looks like equipment from the labs of the local life science companies, and with skills to match, Benjamin Hohlmann employs elaborate glass vessels, thermometers accurate to tenths of degrees and a stopwatch to prepare the perfect cup of Joe.  Part of what has come to be known as the third wave of coffee making, Benjamin's techniques are employed at the Cafe Fruhling in Kleinbasel where one can get a coffee made using an Aeropress, Syphon Pot or Cold Drip.  The proprietors claim that these new techniques liberate flavors from the coffee unavailable with the previous methods and hope that they can educate consumers to appreciate and differentiate coffee the way they do fine wines.  In case one were inclined to dismiss all this coffee hub bub as a fad, the First Swiss Championship of Coffee will be held in Basel this upcoming march with prizes for those demonstrating the best techniques using the latest gizmos.