Monday, December 31, 2018

Loving farewell to 2018



HAPPY NEW YEAR dear friends! 




















For many New Year's Eve is celebrated at evening social gatherings, where many people dance, eat, drink, and watch or light fireworks to mark the new year. For others it is a time for resolutions. For me New Year Eve is a moment to connect with my love, to forget about the passing year, to stand still and enjoy the moment, be grateful for all my blessings, and plunge into the best of my memories.

I thought of ending the year 2018 with a note of joy. 
True on the wider sphere, 2018 brought so many disappointment, I have to acknowledge that on the personal level, it was a good year.


I am grateful & thankful for the blessings of 2018!





Saturday, December 29, 2018

New Year countdown

In 2018 we discovered that there's mineable ice on Mars, we found a way to grow vegetables without earth or daylight, we discovered a warm blooded fish called Opah, we created a DNA Nano robot that can kill cancer cells, and we did tremendous advancement at the level of using stem cells to cure many diseases and open windows of hope for MS, Leukaemia, Alzheimer, and blindness.

So many interesting, intriguing, and positive developments! I ought to be hopeful and happy about 2018.  So why am I down and depressed?

I am afraid of the rise of intolerance all over the world, populism in the US, the Putin syndrome, Brexit, and the rise of the national socialism or if you want the extreme right in Sweden, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Czechia, and many more.

I feel hopeless when I see the world turning a blind eye to the rehabilitation of a dictator that barrel bombed and gazed his people to stay in power in Syria. 

I am saddened by the lack of empathy to the haunted looks of so many children living in refugee tents. These children are Rohingya, Syrian, Yemeni, …. many in Europe say "not in my backyard!"

I am angry at the erosion of women rights in the Middle East. 

I am angry that the Russian Parliament adopted controversial legislative amendments that decriminalized first battery offenses among family members – a serious setback that in 2018 reduced penalties for abusers and put survivors at even greater risk.

I am angry that in Europe women rights are eroding. 
In Poland women’s rights activists live in climate of fear as they work in the shadow of a government that denies that domestic violence occurs in marriage and disdains efforts to advance gender equality. Less than 20% of Romanian MPs are women. Levels of violence against women remain shockingly high in Europe and depending on the country women are more or less protected by the justice systems, which still struggle to remain impartial in rape cases, for example, even those involving violence. Women in the UK risk losing hard-won equality and human rights protections, including employment rights and funding for women’s services, when the UK leaves the EU.

and so much more….

I just hope, because I need to hope, that in 2019 we will witness less violence, tolerance, empathy… in short, sanity!

How far we are from the dawning of the Age of Aquarius as I dreamt of it in the 1970s!

Lyrics
When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
The age of Aquarius!
Aquarius!
Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the mind's true liberation
Aquarius!
When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
The age of Aquarius
Aquarius!



Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Japan resumes whaling, why?



Why? why butcher intelligent complex animals?  Many experts define them as having a 'culture'. They grief for their dead offsprings, learn, and even relay their knowledge to others.

I could go on and on.

So why now, after almost half a century, hunt them again to extinction?


I know that many will say, why do we eat meat. I do not want to enter this discussion.
Enough to say we raise animals for food. There is no danger of driving cows or pigs or lambs to extinction. The main issue here is to insure their wellbeing from birth to death.

There is not reason for hunting whales for food. Japan is a wealthy country. There are no food shortages in Japan and there are no health benefits in butchering whales according to main stream science.
So why?

It is a fact that commercial whaling is no longer a valid economic activity.
Nanami Kurasawa of the Iruka and Kujira (dolphin and whale) Action Network (IKAN) told CNN "Actually many (regular) people don't have any interest in whales or whaling now in Japan,"
While the Japanese political class has sought the resumption of commercial whaling activities, campaigners say eating whale is becoming "less and less popular."

So why ?

The strange argument is the statement "Engagement in whaling has been supporting local communities, and thereby developed the life and culture of using whales."
So we ought to preserve all habits communities have since the beginning of times.
Super! Let's allow girls genital mutilation, GVB, exorcism, cannibalism, human sacrifice, and so many other 'cultural' rites and 'rights'!
Get real!

Japan is not the only culprit, Iceland and Norway, countries that pretend to be upholder of human rights, object to the moratorium and continue to hunt whales commercially without relying on science as an excuse. Shame!

I am so sad to hear the news of resumption of commercial whaling by Japan as 2018 is coming to its conclusion. 2018 is a year that witnessed many horrible events and seem to end on a horrible note.





Monday, December 17, 2018

Is Corbyn hearing his base?


Party activists pile pressure on Corbyn to back second vote

Among Labour supporters 65% favour the idea of a second referendum against 21% who oppose it.
So why is Corbyn set against another referendum?
Maybe because as a long life Eurosceptic he himself would vote for Brexit. He is not a remainder and his convictions were crucial to Labour lukewarm efforts against Brexit.

While approval for the prime minister over her handling of Brexit is low, it is virtually unchanged since a month ago, while Corbyn’s approval rating on Brexit has dropped and is below that of May’s. The survey found 53% of UK adults disapprove of May’s handling of Brexit against 28% who approve. But only 16% of UK adults approve of Corbyn’s handling of Brexit, against 55% who disapprove. Last month 19% approved and 50% disapproved.
The argument of that a shift would lose Labour votes is clearly not valid given that Corbyn's rate of approval is dropping

What is happening at Labour today may be a good example of why people are taking to the street all over Europe. People are disanfrised by parties who seem to be lead by politicians who don't hear them or take their opinion to value.
It is a failure of the 20th century democratic model. People do not feel anymore that their representatives represent them.

Populism and elitism have united Left and Right in discontentment. The result people feel forced to take the streets to be heard, and extremists from both side are benefitting.

I wonder if after World War II Europe did not witness a similar trend, today amplified by the revolution in communication technologies.Brexit



Sunday, December 9, 2018

Brexit: a playground squabble?


Cabinet splits over second referendum on Brexit deal

Split over what?

From where I stands it looks to me like a squabble of children over who wins rather than a discussion over people lives and the future of a nation.

The Brexiteers want to restore the old empire status by replacing the EU 'queue jumpers' with immigrants from old colonies. Because it seems that culturally these people are closer to the British culture than Europeans. Don't we all know that island England has nothing to do with savages on the continent!
Because let us be realistics there are not English people to fill all the jobs in construction, services, care, and so many other sectors. Not scientific but if one visits England you meet EU citizens in all hotels and restaurants and shop rather than 'true Brits'.

The Brexiteers want sovereignty over laws and mainly to get rid of social justice regulation for workers and health regulations over food and so many issues related to quality of life. Good luck to blue collars who, by voting Brexit, voted for less job security, no pay guarantees, no social benefits, and  for mothers who voted for permissive health standards for the food they give their kids. Won't everybody be happier in a tax haven and non regulated trade zone!

The Brexiteers want to trade with the world, but not with kraut and snail eaters who today are one of the biggest prosperous trade zones in the world. No trade barriers with EU cannot equate with no trade barriers with India or China. They are sure the trade balance with these countries will be in favour of the Empire. (sic)

The Labour party wants... do you have any idea what they want?
Except getting Corbyn to become Prime Minister, even if it means ruling an economically broken country. Or more probably being in opposition in a country of rampant unabated capitalism.

Cheers to all!
The English political class is very responsible and has the interests of the people as priority. Really?
And the English people are driven by primal nationalist sentiment with no access to real information or knowledge.
They are not alone, democracy is working well also for the Russians, Americans, Austrians, Italians and so may others.....
Salute to a disappointing century.

Friday, December 7, 2018

Human rights when it comes to Syria is a matter of opinion

Human rights when it comes to Syria is a matter of opinion. International media is not interested to keep Assad accountable, after all it is no in their background. The interests of  Russia and the US are the rallying point. The Syrian people are just rooks in an international game of chess. They do not bleed and have no rights.

A Syrian young man in his thirties worked as a concierge in a building in Beirut. Last time I saw him, he looked thin and pale. I got to know that he was diagnosed with rampant stomach cancer. 
After surgery, he was informed that he is in metastasis stage. They gave him a prognosis of few months.

He decided to go to visit his old mother in Syria.
He took his medical file and headed to the borders. He was detained.
The accusation, he did not serve his military service.
He was hurled to prison, not allowed to see his mother, 18 days later he passed away totally dehydrated.

He was not a political person. He was not an opposition man. He escaped to Lebanon because his house was bombed and he was afraid for his family.
I will never forget the haunted look reflecting in the eyes of his small girl, a month after his demise.

And today I read an article that says
1,230 refugees returned to Syria from Lebanon today. Lebanese General Security reported that UNHCR was present for the operation. Can UNHCR do anything to protect these refugees after they’ve crossed back? The answer is no. But could UNHCR’s presence at the border give the illusion to these families that they can rely on UNHCR for protection in case anything goes wrong? The answer is yes. And this is incredibly dangerous. There are no guarantees of safety for any refugee that returns to Syria today. People continue to be detained and forcibly disappeared by the Syrian regime.

Do you understand now why I started my blog with the statement
 Human rights when it comes to Syria is a matter of opinion.