If there is one aspect of private life in Portugal which I kind of adore but deeply despise in a professional arena, it will be to be amidst a group of people who joined for a common reason, without a set agenda, all conversing at the same time.
There is the cliché projection of a family (in the very wide meaning of the word) underneath an olve tree, around long table, men, women and children more or less separated, some will sit silent, while others stand gesturing and crying out for attention. The combined sum of image and noise just appears one big disarray towards an outsider, yet there is a strong sense of hidden harmony, after all, it's family.
We all know what the conclusion of discussion will be in the end; none. Everybody goes home with their fair share of delicious left-overs and perhaps some hang-overs until some next event calls.
Very joyful when at an evening dinner in the home of friends and family. Outright annoying when on a nearly daily basis this concerns the formation of a national government of a country. Perhaps even insulting.
I have always felt that the Portuguese population is held hostage by its politicians and even Aung San Suu Kyi's famous quote on how fear corrupts more than (political) power, strikes me as relevant in Portugal's society.
For whom is still wandering why Portugal ever arrived at it's current position, grap a seat and join the apparent debate at the table. Now is your opportunity to observe why a nation has accumulated so much experience in struggling and muddling. No need to rush, this is tradition and will linger on for quite a while.
Portugal had its regular national elections on 4 October. The two governing political parties were wise to join into a single electorate list as only this allowed them to claim victory in number of votes over the several politically leftish parties. After all, getting the highest number of votes is what it is all about so that egos can have their momentum and rub it in with those that were defeated on election day.
However, the election winners failed to present a government programme acceptable to a parliamentary majority. In a normally functioning society credible politicians would then seek to change negotiations perhaps even the tone of dialogue in order to arrive at the much greater good of a country with a government.
Not in Portugal. Here, president, parties and parliament all need to go through the legal steps of nomination, formation and inauguration totally ignoring the "p" of population or Patria, while defeated parties get together on their own initiative to formalize an alternative government plan, all very secretly and equally disregarding informing a nation.
It gets worse. Simultaneously political parties and media commentators (usually ex-politicians) actually find the time to debate what presidential candidates would have to say about all this if they already were elected to an extent one would almost wonder if there is anything else happening in the world.
Can this get any worse ? It can. Portugal has democratically conceded to losses of sovereignty as a member of the EU, the Eurozone and eventually a bailout programme also involving the IMF. In other words there is not that much room for manoeuvring, whomever will come to sit in government or at the Presidential seat.
Now nutshelling international headlines read how communists caused a government to collapse or speculate on Greece like scenarios with all the cascading side threats in the immediate future.
The sum of image and noise just appears one big disarray towards an outsider .... and I'm afraid that is indeed exactly what it is. There is harmony in a narcissistic desire for media attention and in a lack of submissiveness and plain honour towards a nation but I guess it would be naïf to hope otherwise.
Here too we will know what the conclusion will be albeit at the expense of a population's hangover, with plenty of delicious left-over pensions and titles for a relatively small group of individuals but frankly much too many of them. Shame on you!
2015-11-10
2015-07-03
Concilium Plebis
So now we know what has been constantly upsetting politicians in the many crunchy and childish Greek creditor conversations ... a word that will have been repeatedly corridor whispered, then officially mentioned or even shouted and eventually tabled .... referenduuuuuum .... ooohhh ...on a mere national level the tyranny of the majority, a terrifying event for modern day politicians who claim to persistently and properly represent their electorate but which is really as civilized and old as ancient Rome.
On the multi-national level though which so pluri-characterizes the troika group, the tyrannical threat comes from a very small minority, that is the Greek electorate. It's not going to work. It seems ages ago but it really was just at the end of 2011 when Merkel and Sarkozy rushed to the Cote d'Azur to convince the then Greek prime-minister Papandreou to withdraw his outspokenness on a referendum under very scaringly similar conditions.
I am going have to admit that Varoufakis' early tweet to subscribe his prime-minister's outcry for a referendum - returning the issue back to the people - with an additional remark of "funny how radical that sounds" bore a very evident truth. The current Greek government has done and to some extent is still doing what it can and that does not include impressing not to mention convincing their creditors and still political partners in the first place.
Let's be real, the neh or oxi shouting people that occupy "Constitution" square in Athens are not saying yes or no to an increase of a VAT rate or a retirement age but they are, once again, driven by their perception of whether their great nation should be looking west or east, liberal or orthodox for some sense of belonging and that does not create a basis for a very clear referendum, but then again working out the details has just not been part of their culture and that is indeed something an EEC, EU or Eurozone has dealt with rather poorly albeit patiently.
I suspect that a no vote will actually bring more comfort and even stability (back) to the negotiations than a yes vote.
A no vote will generate more of the sad same and we are already seeing hints that another pardon of debt is the financially responsible step to take under the circumstances. A yes vote, however, will probably cause a current government to step down and thus introduce an unprecedented situation wherein a population of commoners will legally and directly bind themselves with foreign institutions without a government of their own to commission the execution of what is consented.
In the very early stage of this blog I sought to observe that politicians too are human beings and which person even if only driven by a passion for his people and country would want to take up public office just to scroll through messages decreed from foreign soil before his/her (divided) population. I'm a afraid that in a best case scenario that messenger will be killed slowly.
Then we certainly will arrive at an ungovernable situation. Does the current Greek government know this ? They probably do. Do they care ?
On the multi-national level though which so pluri-characterizes the troika group, the tyrannical threat comes from a very small minority, that is the Greek electorate. It's not going to work. It seems ages ago but it really was just at the end of 2011 when Merkel and Sarkozy rushed to the Cote d'Azur to convince the then Greek prime-minister Papandreou to withdraw his outspokenness on a referendum under very scaringly similar conditions.
I am going have to admit that Varoufakis' early tweet to subscribe his prime-minister's outcry for a referendum - returning the issue back to the people - with an additional remark of "funny how radical that sounds" bore a very evident truth. The current Greek government has done and to some extent is still doing what it can and that does not include impressing not to mention convincing their creditors and still political partners in the first place.
Let's be real, the neh or oxi shouting people that occupy "Constitution" square in Athens are not saying yes or no to an increase of a VAT rate or a retirement age but they are, once again, driven by their perception of whether their great nation should be looking west or east, liberal or orthodox for some sense of belonging and that does not create a basis for a very clear referendum, but then again working out the details has just not been part of their culture and that is indeed something an EEC, EU or Eurozone has dealt with rather poorly albeit patiently.
I suspect that a no vote will actually bring more comfort and even stability (back) to the negotiations than a yes vote.
A no vote will generate more of the sad same and we are already seeing hints that another pardon of debt is the financially responsible step to take under the circumstances. A yes vote, however, will probably cause a current government to step down and thus introduce an unprecedented situation wherein a population of commoners will legally and directly bind themselves with foreign institutions without a government of their own to commission the execution of what is consented.
In the very early stage of this blog I sought to observe that politicians too are human beings and which person even if only driven by a passion for his people and country would want to take up public office just to scroll through messages decreed from foreign soil before his/her (divided) population. I'm a afraid that in a best case scenario that messenger will be killed slowly.
Then we certainly will arrive at an ungovernable situation. Does the current Greek government know this ? They probably do. Do they care ?
2015-06-23
Either you're with us or against us
During my childhood I spent many hours mounting, painting and positioning little soldiers and ranges of military vehicles and equipment at a 1:20 scale. At some point that came all together to take up half the attic at home, scening both seaborn and airborn landings in Normandy, with a good amount of detail my father was proud of. I probably took tenfold the time Eisenhower had, to plan the allied forces' D-day in WW II but then again I was the sole and only commander of troops for as long as my financiers allowed me to.
It highly bothers me whenever the word D-day gets used each time some 21st century public office politicians claim the word "travail, arbeit, work ..." possibly the most mentioned word in their press statements upon yet another summit to postpone decisionmaking, as if they too are in await for a full moon to favour the tide. I can assure anyone that 70 years from now, no private nor public museum or place of worship will be showcasing the wrong letter send by Varoufakis or the pen eventually used by Merkel to sign for another bail out.
With that being said, it appears to me there is more of a military factor to yesterday's sudden and to many surprising shift in tone towards mutual consent in the Eurozone summits than the mere € 200 million Greece is to cut its defense budget with next year, a fragment of the values the latest proposals must promise in additional Greek tax revenue.
While EUro finance and prime ministers were meeting at Le Barleymont this Monday, only a few kilometers north halfway at the Boulevard Leopold III, the agenda for NATO defense ministers was being set for their summit later this week. On one location Greece was being taught a lesson on state financing while on the other Greece was praised along with the USA, the UK, Poland and Estonia as the only member states that were meeting the targeted defense spendings. This in addition to last week's EU foreign affairs ministers arriving at the legally necessary unanimous (thus including Greece) vote to extend the embargos against Russia.
I am not a conspiracy theorist but a simple down to earth acknowledger that politicians and truth or transparency are like oil and water and will admit that often to be motivated for good reasons. The figures presented at the European Commission's HQ or the logic of tying any national defense budget to that country's GDP at the NATO's HQ do not convince me but I am comforted with the suspicion that most of those who eventually come to sign for them in the name of their populations will be neither.
So in this part of the world everybody's right. The bail out package that Troika creditors and Greece will come to agree upon at the end of this week is not about the viability of collecting more taxes from Greek pensioners, businesses or visiting consumers or yacht owners nor so much about protecting the investment from tax payers in creditor countries.
Who wants to bet that in the months ahead we will see NATO deploying and indefinitely settling naval bases inside Greece with all the benefits that will bring to international institutions as well the local economy ?
It highly bothers me whenever the word D-day gets used each time some 21st century public office politicians claim the word "travail, arbeit, work ..." possibly the most mentioned word in their press statements upon yet another summit to postpone decisionmaking, as if they too are in await for a full moon to favour the tide. I can assure anyone that 70 years from now, no private nor public museum or place of worship will be showcasing the wrong letter send by Varoufakis or the pen eventually used by Merkel to sign for another bail out.
With that being said, it appears to me there is more of a military factor to yesterday's sudden and to many surprising shift in tone towards mutual consent in the Eurozone summits than the mere € 200 million Greece is to cut its defense budget with next year, a fragment of the values the latest proposals must promise in additional Greek tax revenue.
While EUro finance and prime ministers were meeting at Le Barleymont this Monday, only a few kilometers north halfway at the Boulevard Leopold III, the agenda for NATO defense ministers was being set for their summit later this week. On one location Greece was being taught a lesson on state financing while on the other Greece was praised along with the USA, the UK, Poland and Estonia as the only member states that were meeting the targeted defense spendings. This in addition to last week's EU foreign affairs ministers arriving at the legally necessary unanimous (thus including Greece) vote to extend the embargos against Russia.
I am not a conspiracy theorist but a simple down to earth acknowledger that politicians and truth or transparency are like oil and water and will admit that often to be motivated for good reasons. The figures presented at the European Commission's HQ or the logic of tying any national defense budget to that country's GDP at the NATO's HQ do not convince me but I am comforted with the suspicion that most of those who eventually come to sign for them in the name of their populations will be neither.
So in this part of the world everybody's right. The bail out package that Troika creditors and Greece will come to agree upon at the end of this week is not about the viability of collecting more taxes from Greek pensioners, businesses or visiting consumers or yacht owners nor so much about protecting the investment from tax payers in creditor countries.
Who wants to bet that in the months ahead we will see NATO deploying and indefinitely settling naval bases inside Greece with all the benefits that will bring to international institutions as well the local economy ?
2015-02-24
Das Programm
I am not sure if Mr. Juncker was entirely conscious of his words when he spoke at the EU's traditionally undervalued Economic and Social Committee, but I perceived his statement on the occasion of long terms policy guidelines as potentially historical.
He literally stated that "on a peché" against the dignity of peoples in Greece, Portugal and Ireland and are to learn from the past to avoid the same mistakes, questioning the (democratic) legitimacy of the troika triangle and pointing towards a too passive predecessor who had his political career in the country Germany is now using as a show case. Back in junk creditworthy rated Portugal people continue affirming and denying their government's unsovereign submissiveness, with a touch of envy of the apparent pride parading of Greek counterparts.
It will have been a Rotschild descendant who proclaimed something around the lines "give me access to a country's money supply and I shall not care about who makes its laws". That was in the midst of the 19th century, more or less around the time that the Pan-German Alldeutsche Bewegung or the German Question, supported by very long term demographic research, ceased being secretive and started taking shape in society at large (and I suggest to any reader to google it up to what human disaster that movement led into the following century).
Today, Mr Wolfgang Schäuble is pursuing the functions of his mandate as much as Mr Tsiparis and both are limiting themselves within the boundaries of their electorate's interest, that is with a responsibility only towards their own country, with hardly any room for some multilateral European sharing environment. In a modern world, power also comes with accountability and I sense a spreading sense of frustration at all levels within Europe towards the burden of responsibility that Germany has been hiding from.
When we think of Germany, we do remember because we must, but really try to forget the dominant role it has played in relative recent history and prefer to pinpoint its contribution in science and industry along with the effects that continues to have on business, trade and even culture. The size of German enterprise and the extent of foreign investment, within a global economy then tend to cloud our views of how much of an introvert country or society Germany really is, especially if compared to the world wide colonizing empires that it has had its territorial military conflicts with.
The 4 months very conditioned extension Greece has been given is far from slicing a Gordian's knot, but probably time enough for Tsiparis "The Great" to continue his guerilla resistance to conquest sufficient international public and political support for the Greek cause, in order to reshape some of the conventional thinking that we have rather become bored with over the last 4 years. Poli kala!
With that being said, Yanis, come on man .... even if you believe that Karl Marx's is referring to capitalists in his quote on the good intentions on the road to hell, the paper you handed in early today (in accordance with Greek time but just before midnight as per Mr Dijsselbloem's time zone) only has two numbers, 56% referring to non-personnel expenditures and the number 10 in terms of ministries to remain.
If any academic or professional would handover this to me as a performance or business plan I too would send them back home for some more work or just maybe forget about it and go out for a drink and just talk about the joys of life.
He literally stated that "on a peché" against the dignity of peoples in Greece, Portugal and Ireland and are to learn from the past to avoid the same mistakes, questioning the (democratic) legitimacy of the troika triangle and pointing towards a too passive predecessor who had his political career in the country Germany is now using as a show case. Back in junk creditworthy rated Portugal people continue affirming and denying their government's unsovereign submissiveness, with a touch of envy of the apparent pride parading of Greek counterparts.
It will have been a Rotschild descendant who proclaimed something around the lines "give me access to a country's money supply and I shall not care about who makes its laws". That was in the midst of the 19th century, more or less around the time that the Pan-German Alldeutsche Bewegung or the German Question, supported by very long term demographic research, ceased being secretive and started taking shape in society at large (and I suggest to any reader to google it up to what human disaster that movement led into the following century).
Today, Mr Wolfgang Schäuble is pursuing the functions of his mandate as much as Mr Tsiparis and both are limiting themselves within the boundaries of their electorate's interest, that is with a responsibility only towards their own country, with hardly any room for some multilateral European sharing environment. In a modern world, power also comes with accountability and I sense a spreading sense of frustration at all levels within Europe towards the burden of responsibility that Germany has been hiding from.
When we think of Germany, we do remember because we must, but really try to forget the dominant role it has played in relative recent history and prefer to pinpoint its contribution in science and industry along with the effects that continues to have on business, trade and even culture. The size of German enterprise and the extent of foreign investment, within a global economy then tend to cloud our views of how much of an introvert country or society Germany really is, especially if compared to the world wide colonizing empires that it has had its territorial military conflicts with.
The 4 months very conditioned extension Greece has been given is far from slicing a Gordian's knot, but probably time enough for Tsiparis "The Great" to continue his guerilla resistance to conquest sufficient international public and political support for the Greek cause, in order to reshape some of the conventional thinking that we have rather become bored with over the last 4 years. Poli kala!
With that being said, Yanis, come on man .... even if you believe that Karl Marx's is referring to capitalists in his quote on the good intentions on the road to hell, the paper you handed in early today (in accordance with Greek time but just before midnight as per Mr Dijsselbloem's time zone) only has two numbers, 56% referring to non-personnel expenditures and the number 10 in terms of ministries to remain.
If any academic or professional would handover this to me as a performance or business plan I too would send them back home for some more work or just maybe forget about it and go out for a drink and just talk about the joys of life.
2015-02-16
We are all Norwegians
Some pretty powerful words were chosen by the 6 heads of European states gathered in Rome on 25 March 1957 to describe their feel for a (joint) future, such as "determination", "decision", "desire" , "resolve", "direction" to write up an appeal for an ever closer union and balanced trade among the European peoples, eliminating barriers which divide them and improving living and working conditions and to ensure harmonious development by reducing the existing differences between the various regions and by mitigating the backwardness of the less favoured.
They signed for it and as the democratically and legally empowered signatories that would bind them on complying with the 248 articles (and subsequent revisions in Maastricht, Nice and Lisbon).
Only 2 years later the EEC and Greece concluded an association agreement and a further 3 years ahead, the next wave of applicants lodged their official intent to co-sign, which took 10 years, with the exception of Norway who decided not to ... lucky bastards. There have been times before 2008 where a majority of the Norwegian population would have favoured joing the EU, but that certainly has inverted and apparently any coalition agreement since dictates that new EU membership negotiation requires immediate new elections first. Interesting. Norway has been opting in and out of transnational law pieces since and they seem to be doing just fine.
Much of what Greece has been tabling these day has to do with those 1957 fundamentals and that then does include some harsh references to what had caused nations to come together at the time as the only way forward to avoid a return of warfare and xenophobia. The very EEC accession of Greece was arguably forced or perhaps rushed in order to avoid a clawback to the military regime or sidetrack to communism, while Turkey invaded Cyprus.
Already at the time transformation and aid programmes were put in place to literally overcome the geo-social and economic distance between Greece and the other 9 member states. What has (not) happened since we now all know. So now what?
Now, Greece is regarded as dispensable and in absence of boardgame rules, the majority of players is getting set to send Greece back to start or scratch and recommence accession negotiations if it so desires, whether for full membership or piece-by-piece item.
In time, Greece will probably gain a stronger sense of belonging amongst surrounding neighbours who the EU also does not really want to (fully) onboard either and in particular Turkey. That does not withstand that the founding and joined member states are in violation of a treaty and also does not resolve the continuing gap between politicians and growing numbers of populations in what continues legally together.
I do hope that the Greek effort to have national and transnational institutions run by us all once more what did effectively go wrong, will continue, and would welcome individual politicians to be given the appropriate credit as well as debit for their policy making.
They signed for it and as the democratically and legally empowered signatories that would bind them on complying with the 248 articles (and subsequent revisions in Maastricht, Nice and Lisbon).
Only 2 years later the EEC and Greece concluded an association agreement and a further 3 years ahead, the next wave of applicants lodged their official intent to co-sign, which took 10 years, with the exception of Norway who decided not to ... lucky bastards. There have been times before 2008 where a majority of the Norwegian population would have favoured joing the EU, but that certainly has inverted and apparently any coalition agreement since dictates that new EU membership negotiation requires immediate new elections first. Interesting. Norway has been opting in and out of transnational law pieces since and they seem to be doing just fine.
Much of what Greece has been tabling these day has to do with those 1957 fundamentals and that then does include some harsh references to what had caused nations to come together at the time as the only way forward to avoid a return of warfare and xenophobia. The very EEC accession of Greece was arguably forced or perhaps rushed in order to avoid a clawback to the military regime or sidetrack to communism, while Turkey invaded Cyprus.
Already at the time transformation and aid programmes were put in place to literally overcome the geo-social and economic distance between Greece and the other 9 member states. What has (not) happened since we now all know. So now what?
Now, Greece is regarded as dispensable and in absence of boardgame rules, the majority of players is getting set to send Greece back to start or scratch and recommence accession negotiations if it so desires, whether for full membership or piece-by-piece item.
In time, Greece will probably gain a stronger sense of belonging amongst surrounding neighbours who the EU also does not really want to (fully) onboard either and in particular Turkey. That does not withstand that the founding and joined member states are in violation of a treaty and also does not resolve the continuing gap between politicians and growing numbers of populations in what continues legally together.
I do hope that the Greek effort to have national and transnational institutions run by us all once more what did effectively go wrong, will continue, and would welcome individual politicians to be given the appropriate credit as well as debit for their policy making.
2015-02-15
It's not all we need but ...
A reasonable amount of years of experience of being loved, falling in and out of love with people and places, public and private causes, making love and attempting to teach to love, and now, for the very first time this burning desire came over me to investigate what Mr Valentine would have done to become such a worshipped man, to only find out that even the Roman Catholic Church says to be uncertain of his doings.
Valentinus would have lived before the fundamentals of canon law were first set in 325 and will have been beheaded on a 14 February, on the order of Emperor Marcus Aurelius Claudius (II) for violating his prohibition against (Christian) wedding ceremonies distracting much needed soldiers in the victorious military campaign against Germania.
Eventually the Church of England did adopt a day for Valentinus, arguably to introduce a much more individual romantic perspective surrounding the relationship between women and men in rebellion against the Roman fertility fest of Lupercalia to simply promote procreation for the benefit of a wider community. The Orthodox Church known for glorifying all saints, has come to designate 6 July as Valentine's Day.
So that's where the notion of love starts to split between different cultural perspectives, or perhaps the differences were already in place long before, but simply oppressed by overwhelming religious rules in all arenas, away from those who knew how to read and write history.
Many wars have been fought and avoided since in the name of love for someone or something. Whereas different parts of the world progress in their own pace and level of freedom, pretty much everywhere religious or otherwise community fundamentals are gradually side tracked in the manner wherein people seek to connect between each other. Some parts of the world have come accustomed to much more liberal manners in the way friendships (are allowed to) evolve whereas people in other places still appear to be struggling with moral restraints behind high and old borders and it appears to be always in the latter where legal and economic systems show to be chasing the facts relevant for individuals.
I have no intention to be a broken John Lennon or Bob Marley record and am certainly a chivalry defender of cultural sovereignty and tradition but also admire the pursuit of individual self-government. I also believe in reaching out a helping hand, maybe even turning the other cheek every now and do not turn away for the relevance of thriving love for material matters.
Let's go out more often, shall we ? There is a world out there, which can be wonderful if we want it to be.
Valentinus would have lived before the fundamentals of canon law were first set in 325 and will have been beheaded on a 14 February, on the order of Emperor Marcus Aurelius Claudius (II) for violating his prohibition against (Christian) wedding ceremonies distracting much needed soldiers in the victorious military campaign against Germania.
Eventually the Church of England did adopt a day for Valentinus, arguably to introduce a much more individual romantic perspective surrounding the relationship between women and men in rebellion against the Roman fertility fest of Lupercalia to simply promote procreation for the benefit of a wider community. The Orthodox Church known for glorifying all saints, has come to designate 6 July as Valentine's Day.
So that's where the notion of love starts to split between different cultural perspectives, or perhaps the differences were already in place long before, but simply oppressed by overwhelming religious rules in all arenas, away from those who knew how to read and write history.
Many wars have been fought and avoided since in the name of love for someone or something. Whereas different parts of the world progress in their own pace and level of freedom, pretty much everywhere religious or otherwise community fundamentals are gradually side tracked in the manner wherein people seek to connect between each other. Some parts of the world have come accustomed to much more liberal manners in the way friendships (are allowed to) evolve whereas people in other places still appear to be struggling with moral restraints behind high and old borders and it appears to be always in the latter where legal and economic systems show to be chasing the facts relevant for individuals.
I have no intention to be a broken John Lennon or Bob Marley record and am certainly a chivalry defender of cultural sovereignty and tradition but also admire the pursuit of individual self-government. I also believe in reaching out a helping hand, maybe even turning the other cheek every now and do not turn away for the relevance of thriving love for material matters.
Let's go out more often, shall we ? There is a world out there, which can be wonderful if we want it to be.
2015-02-04
Stoessel for President
Yes I was one of the hundreds of thousands of parents that stood in line multiple hours on an early morning in order to conquer my fair share of tickets for The Violetta Tour, no less than 5 months in advance. Anything for my little girl at home where she has mounted a wall and stuffed shelves and drawers in devotion to Ms Martina Stoessel, age 17, singer and actress (and student I trust).
The way I see it, if Disney driven entertainment is unavoidable at this age, it might as well impulse some sing-along rhythm in a latino language, away from the usual US or Japanese produce.
I always have had a childish weakness for South-America, despite or perhaps thanks to its dos pasos adelante um paso atrás progress and Argentina is then certainly a consistent place of passionate potential. It is bothersome, to say the least, to see what once was one of the world's most developed and fashionable countries, to arrive into such a constant struggle for a balance between modern economics and populist movements, but generally always dependent on the egos of leading politicians who consciously or not restrain a nation from voiding its geographic distance with the rest of the world.
The most recent suspicions on Cristina Fernandez, wife of the former president, surrounding the murder of a state prosecutor in turn linked to a terrorist attack 20 years ago, along with all the plausible cover-ups promise to come to have all the soap opera ingredients for yet another major paso atrás.
So while back in the old world, Europeans see rising mixes of emotions towards the potential contagency of pop-politicians shaking up the establishment, from anything between the way they dress to the way a country and its population should be financed, I wonder if there is room for the rebellion to reach overseas territories where generally younger populations (no reference to rabbit behaviour) are in a higher need for a break through.
I think the time is right for some Violetta-ism to overrule the decades of Peronism, Menemism and Kirchnirsm and propose the presidential candidacy of Martina Stoessel to bring Argentina back to the place it once held on the world stage, before the word recession in today's meaning struck the planet.
That would also be a much prettier sight than on some wrecking ball in the near future and would thus also make my daughter and all here friends, as well as the Sumo Pontífice, much happier. Everybody wins.
The way I see it, if Disney driven entertainment is unavoidable at this age, it might as well impulse some sing-along rhythm in a latino language, away from the usual US or Japanese produce.
I always have had a childish weakness for South-America, despite or perhaps thanks to its dos pasos adelante um paso atrás progress and Argentina is then certainly a consistent place of passionate potential. It is bothersome, to say the least, to see what once was one of the world's most developed and fashionable countries, to arrive into such a constant struggle for a balance between modern economics and populist movements, but generally always dependent on the egos of leading politicians who consciously or not restrain a nation from voiding its geographic distance with the rest of the world.
The most recent suspicions on Cristina Fernandez, wife of the former president, surrounding the murder of a state prosecutor in turn linked to a terrorist attack 20 years ago, along with all the plausible cover-ups promise to come to have all the soap opera ingredients for yet another major paso atrás.
So while back in the old world, Europeans see rising mixes of emotions towards the potential contagency of pop-politicians shaking up the establishment, from anything between the way they dress to the way a country and its population should be financed, I wonder if there is room for the rebellion to reach overseas territories where generally younger populations (no reference to rabbit behaviour) are in a higher need for a break through.
I think the time is right for some Violetta-ism to overrule the decades of Peronism, Menemism and Kirchnirsm and propose the presidential candidacy of Martina Stoessel to bring Argentina back to the place it once held on the world stage, before the word recession in today's meaning struck the planet.
That would also be a much prettier sight than on some wrecking ball in the near future and would thus also make my daughter and all here friends, as well as the Sumo Pontífice, much happier. Everybody wins.
2015-01-26
Δεν είμαι Berliner
Believe it or not but I actually once sat at a dinner party of Novo Demokratia. Frankly, I do not remember if at the time there were nearby elections or whether this was just an Athenian version of spending a regular Saturday evening.
I will have been rather indifferent to the rise of the occasion and just extremely grateful for being allowed into such an insiders event and good company, so early what was to become an interesting academic year away from what was familiar.
Perhaps the festive optimism in the room was partially attributable to the amount of whisky served during the meal, but it will have been principally because Pasok was in government and - therefore - it would soon be Nova Demokratia's turn. That's the way it had been and thus always would be ....
I find it hard not to be charmed with the literally unorthodox struggle of Syriza, with a young and rebelling leadership, eager and so far able to get into action alongside political groups that portray some very opposite beliefs, consciously causing the establishment at home and away wondering how to match what's coming, by conventional measures of left and right and the meaning of structural reform.
Syriza is certainly stirring things up and not only within the conventional political arena but equally so amongst the civil groups that have not been able to do much more than staging protests, sometimes very violent ones and it is exactly this combination or unification of powers that - rightfully - worries countries where a streetwise passionate extremism has been absent from the administration of their economies.
There is no question the Greek population will face some new hard shifts but at least there will be a reasonable general feeling it is by sovereign choice, which makes it easier to live with the consequences.
I will have been rather indifferent to the rise of the occasion and just extremely grateful for being allowed into such an insiders event and good company, so early what was to become an interesting academic year away from what was familiar.
Perhaps the festive optimism in the room was partially attributable to the amount of whisky served during the meal, but it will have been principally because Pasok was in government and - therefore - it would soon be Nova Demokratia's turn. That's the way it had been and thus always would be ....
I find it hard not to be charmed with the literally unorthodox struggle of Syriza, with a young and rebelling leadership, eager and so far able to get into action alongside political groups that portray some very opposite beliefs, consciously causing the establishment at home and away wondering how to match what's coming, by conventional measures of left and right and the meaning of structural reform.
Syriza is certainly stirring things up and not only within the conventional political arena but equally so amongst the civil groups that have not been able to do much more than staging protests, sometimes very violent ones and it is exactly this combination or unification of powers that - rightfully - worries countries where a streetwise passionate extremism has been absent from the administration of their economies.
There is no question the Greek population will face some new hard shifts but at least there will be a reasonable general feeling it is by sovereign choice, which makes it easier to live with the consequences.
2015-01-11
Bras d'honneur
It has been said that the second before Stéphane Charbonnier was murdered, he will have stood up and in the face of his assassins, raised his arm in the renown "up yours" L-shape. Under the circumstances I think that is just outright honorable, maybe even heroic and we can only wonder whether he would have mentally practiced this final act, knowing his time would come one day in this manner.
When I got the alert that some terrorist attack had struck in Paris, the minute I had an opportunity to browse into France's leading media, I had to admit that I was forced to dig deep into fairly solid memories of frequent visits to Paris to try to recall what was Charlie Hebdo.
Personally I do not particularly appreciate the style of the publications and I accept that to be attributable to my inability to capture the type of cultural ventures which tend to become worldfamous only in France.
Moi, je trouve that freedom of speech does not imply that anything goes even in private discussions and who seeks public-ation has an accountability not to offend or incite a wider community or society in general, which evidently includes the laws and courts of justice a population has chosen to have or indeed will have fought hard for, over centuries. Frankly I consider any intent to draw any line between the events and effects of the French revolution and the Charlie Hebdo massacre to be giving far too much (historic) importance to the defeated in the latter.
Let's be real, if the scum that executed the killings would have been caught alive, no prosecutor would have sought to charge them with a violation of article 11 of la Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen.
It would be equally naïve to consider that - in general - a hand holding a pencil is less dangerous than a hand holding a weapon. I note one particular emotional reaction of a Parisian Imam instantly blaming the abusive and horrific effects on youngsters in his community from what comes over the internet, the type of messages and images the Anonymous organization has declared war on, in the meantime.
I am afraid I am going to have to agree with a statement from Marine le Pen on this one occasion, that the attack should not be (simply) classified as terrorism but rather an outright contract murder.
That classification is more relevant than we may want to admit as it not only should cancel the need to spread unnecessary security measures at many other editorial and media bureaus, but especially because it should come to lay down the fundamentals of how we want to go about combating and preventing more of the scary same.
It is natural, beautiful and impressive to see the common Je suis Charlie denominator across so many popular and official demonstrations across the world, especially those which focus on the people that lost their lives. This Sunday a range of political leaders will join what may end up being the largest "manif" ever in the streets of Paris.
Any sense of unity that anyone would think to withdraw from these gatherings will be entirely false, however.
What may distinguish this occasion from so many other manifestations is that hardly anyone will be indifferent. Still, the far majority of people will be elsewhere doing something else and somewhere in the midst, an equally growing number of individuals on the wrong side of life will be busy getting organized and sponsored to seek future damage to generally free societies.
It should be clear by now that any threats to the preservation of fundamental freedoms in Europe no longer vest in nearby countries and their official military, but rather with the radicalism one or the other individual had left their mind, door or portal open to.
In a world, country, city, neighbourhood or school that intends to (continue to) promote pluralism there is some serious work to do to adjust to each other's senses not only of freedom, but pretty much anything else that people have carried with them from the diverse corners of the world.
One of my favourite cartoonists put it brilliantly in Luis Afonso's Bartoon concluding that we will not tolerate anything else than tolerance.
When I got the alert that some terrorist attack had struck in Paris, the minute I had an opportunity to browse into France's leading media, I had to admit that I was forced to dig deep into fairly solid memories of frequent visits to Paris to try to recall what was Charlie Hebdo.
Personally I do not particularly appreciate the style of the publications and I accept that to be attributable to my inability to capture the type of cultural ventures which tend to become worldfamous only in France.
Moi, je trouve that freedom of speech does not imply that anything goes even in private discussions and who seeks public-ation has an accountability not to offend or incite a wider community or society in general, which evidently includes the laws and courts of justice a population has chosen to have or indeed will have fought hard for, over centuries. Frankly I consider any intent to draw any line between the events and effects of the French revolution and the Charlie Hebdo massacre to be giving far too much (historic) importance to the defeated in the latter.
Let's be real, if the scum that executed the killings would have been caught alive, no prosecutor would have sought to charge them with a violation of article 11 of la Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen.
It would be equally naïve to consider that - in general - a hand holding a pencil is less dangerous than a hand holding a weapon. I note one particular emotional reaction of a Parisian Imam instantly blaming the abusive and horrific effects on youngsters in his community from what comes over the internet, the type of messages and images the Anonymous organization has declared war on, in the meantime.
I am afraid I am going to have to agree with a statement from Marine le Pen on this one occasion, that the attack should not be (simply) classified as terrorism but rather an outright contract murder.
That classification is more relevant than we may want to admit as it not only should cancel the need to spread unnecessary security measures at many other editorial and media bureaus, but especially because it should come to lay down the fundamentals of how we want to go about combating and preventing more of the scary same.
It is natural, beautiful and impressive to see the common Je suis Charlie denominator across so many popular and official demonstrations across the world, especially those which focus on the people that lost their lives. This Sunday a range of political leaders will join what may end up being the largest "manif" ever in the streets of Paris.
Any sense of unity that anyone would think to withdraw from these gatherings will be entirely false, however.
What may distinguish this occasion from so many other manifestations is that hardly anyone will be indifferent. Still, the far majority of people will be elsewhere doing something else and somewhere in the midst, an equally growing number of individuals on the wrong side of life will be busy getting organized and sponsored to seek future damage to generally free societies.
It should be clear by now that any threats to the preservation of fundamental freedoms in Europe no longer vest in nearby countries and their official military, but rather with the radicalism one or the other individual had left their mind, door or portal open to.
In a world, country, city, neighbourhood or school that intends to (continue to) promote pluralism there is some serious work to do to adjust to each other's senses not only of freedom, but pretty much anything else that people have carried with them from the diverse corners of the world.
One of my favourite cartoonists put it brilliantly in Luis Afonso's Bartoon concluding that we will not tolerate anything else than tolerance.
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