A few days ago I touched on the problem of statelessness and I gave some examples of individuals who went through terrible hardships because of their situation. Today I would like to offer a million or so examples: the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Coverage of the dire situation in which they are in is often in the news and last August the UN issued a report calling for the investigation into the "gravest" crimes against civilians under international law, including genocide, by top military commanders in Myanmar. February saw more concrete action with the UN's:

"Joint Response Plan bringing together 132 partners, including governmental bodies and multiple UN agencies such as UNHCR, to improve conditions and facilities for Rohingya refugees and their hosts in Bangladesh."

Here are some short but harrowing stories highlighting the plight of these people:

Ukraine's 10 Friends

As the fifth anniversary of Russia's annexation of Crimea approaches, which culminated in an "illegitimate" referendum on the 16th March 2014, eleven Foreign Ministers produced a statement condemning Russian aggression and calling on the world not to abandon the cause of Ukraine and Crimea. The eleven countries in question were: the three Baltic states, Ukraine, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Romania, Great Britain, Czechia and Canada. The joint declaration highlighted Russia's "contempt for the principles of international law" and the threat it poses to European security. It also expressed concern regarding the eroding of civil liberties within the occupied territory.

"Ukraine of today is profoundly different from Ukraine pre-2014, and has never before been so close to Europe and European values. By contrast, Crimea under Russian occupation is moving backwards. The people living there are ever more isolated, and the situation with respect to human rights and socio-economic conditions continues to deteriorate.

The annexation sets a dangerous president in a world order that was abandoning imperialism for cooperation.What is now going to stop Putin from planning his next strike, or President Xi from invading Taiwan, for instance? The threat is serious and real. So, the surprise  is: why is it that, apart from Ukraine itself, only six former Eastern Block nations, three other European countries and Canada signed the declaration? When the US had some moral standing in the world, it would have probably made the loudest noises, but of course it won't do now for Trump to upset the Russians too much. What about Germany, then? Oh, right, it needs Russian gas. France? No, just eleven.

Today I want to provide a quote from Yuval Noah Harari's book Homo Deus - A Brief History of Tomorrow. The extract presents a clear idea of what the author intends by Homo Deus: a climb up the Tower of Babel from the hardships of humanity's past to perpetual longevity and earthly bliss, until that final shot at godhead itself.  

"Success breeds ambition, and our recent achievements are now pushing humankind to set itself even more daring goals. Having secured unprecedented levels of prosperity, health and harmony, and given our past record and our current values, humanity’s next targets are likely to be immortality, happiness and divinity. Having reduced mortality from starvation, disease and violence, we will now aim to overcome old age and even death itself. Having saved people from abject misery, we will now aim to make them positively happy. And having raised humanity above the beastly level of survival struggles, we will now aim to upgrade humans into gods, and turn Homo sapiens into Homo deus."

Pieter Bruegel the Elder: The Tower of Babel

Carl Th. Dreyer: Vampyr

Here is another gem from the silent film era: Vampyr (1932), by the Danish Director, Carl Theodor Dreyer (1889-1968). I already introduced one of Dreyer's friends, namely Benjamin Christensen, whose amazing film, Häxan, I posted on the 27th February. Christensen was also an actor and was the protagonist in Dreyer's, Michael, a pioneering film in gay cinema. The Passion of Joan of Arc is considered, by many film lovers, Dreyer's masterpiece, but this film is also outstanding. Here too, the main character was no ordinary actor; it was Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, a socialite, who would become one of the world's leading editors. Gunzburg (Julian West in the credits), actually funded the film himself and thanks to the direction of Dreyer, managed to give a convincing performance. 

The Decline of Well-read and Well-mannered Politicians

If you happen to be from Slovenia or Slovakia, you would have probably given up tearing your hair out at the frequent displays of ignorance by foreign politicians, event organisers and others who should know better... Indeed, a bear would not have enough hair to tear out in keeping up with the many times the two countries have been mixed up! The litmus test came last year, when, for unrelated reasons, the Prime Ministers of both countries resigned during the same week in March. Confusion over the two countries is not limited to lower rank politicians, however, and includes the likes of George W. Bush and Silvio Berlusconi. Still, there are some things that make ignorance in world affairs and political geography even worse, for instance, when the ignorance is coupled with diplomatic clumsiness. That was the case when Jeremy Hunt, the UK Foreign Secretary, gave a formal speech in Ljubljana yesterday.

Mr. Hunt commended Slovenia's progress from its recent position of a "vassal state" of the Soviet Union to a modern European democracy. Slovenia, as part of Yugoslavia, was never a part of the Soviet Union and was, in fact, a member of the Non-Aligned Movement founded by President Tito himself. Tito had a reputation for standing up to the Soviet leadership and vigorously defended Yugoslavia's independence. Still, not only did the Foreign Secretary get his history wrong, but he insulted his hosts in the process by referring to them as recent vassals. If Hunt were addressing Slovakia, he would have perhaps been closer to the facts, but his statement would have been offensive, nonetheless. The "insult" was soon picked up. The former Speaker of Slovenia's national assembly, Milan Brglez, for instance, criticised  Hunt for "arrogantly lecturing" his country. Basic diplomacy is not "rocket science", as the famous British physicist, Brian Cox, tweeted referring to the gaffe, but as time goes by it seems as though 'diplomacy' may have to replace 'rocket science' as an expression of something beyond the reach of ordinary mortals... and high ranking politicians.

Extract: The Bench on the Edge

Here is another extract from my book, The Bench on the Edge:

Then another emotion began to surge in Karel: anger. “Is this the game of some sadistic god! On earth we are left like infants exposed on mountain tops, to live or die, as chance would have it; to become kings or slaves. We are at the mercy of the elements, wolves or peasants. And here too the charade continues! In this timeless dimension, somewhere all evolution is complete, so why is it that, the supreme being or beings are still hiding away, letting us stumble and fall with nothing more than a hazy impulse to guide us! Perhaps I am a fallen angel, after all, full of rebellion, impatience and ingratitude. Why shouldn’t I be, if God is so elusive and uncaring!”

The Disgrace of the Invisible Millions

There are, according to Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, about 12,000,000 stateless people in the world today. That is more than the combined populations of Norway, Jamaica and Albania. Clearly, then, statelessness is not an aberration: a rare hexagonal peg in a world of round and square ones. The numbers indicate that there is something seriously wrong with humanity's definition of nationality. Statelessness is, per se, an impossibility. It is as good as telling a man that he does not exist, or a woman that she is on the wrong planet, as there is nowhere on earth where she could be allowed to live in peace. The general consensus is that one is entitled to the nationality of one's place of birth (jus soli), although there are other criteria, such as entitlement through the nationality of one's parents (jus sanguinis), or citizenship through marriage. Chaos reigns, however, and many countries do as they please. For instance, there are about 27 states that accept the jus sanguinis criterion, but only with regards to the father, so, if the father happens to be unknown, well, welcome to Limbo! 

Mehran Karimi Nasseri who spent 18 stateless years (1988-2006) in Terminal 1 of  Charles De Gaulle Airport, Paris

This brings me to the case of Shamima Begum. Early this week, the British government revoked her citizenship. This is a gross abuse of power. If Ms. Begum broke the law, she needs to be tried like anyone else who breaks the law. Fine, it may be costly and and the exact details of her involvement difficult to ascertain, but surely that cannot be an excuse for British law enforcement to renege on its responsibilities. The Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, justified his actions by claiming that Ms. Begum was also a Bangladeshi national and that therefore the decision would not make her stateless, since otherwise his decision would not have been allowed under British law. This is not actually the case. Yes, she is still within the age-limit (21) to apply for a Bangladeshi passport, but as with all applications, acceptance is not guaranteed; and indeed, the Bangladeshi authorities have already made it clear that the request would be rejected. There is also the fact that Ms. Begum is in a remote refugee camp in a war zone in Syria, with no access to consular assistance, so that applying for another citizenship would have been, and remains, a real hurdle. Of course, many people in the UK would rather see the back of this woman and her newborn baby and Mr. Javid was no doubt emboldened by this when pronouncing decision. He would have done better if he had explained the mechanisms that could ensure that Ms. Begum would have not longer been a treat to the British people, while dealing with the case as the law and decency dictates. 

Bobby Fischer, made stateless in 1992 by the US

I will conclude with another notorious example, namely the US revoking the passport of the Chess Grandmaster Bobby Fischer, allegedly because he had taken part in a tournament in Yugoslavia, which was at  the time under US sanctions. The US wanted Fischer behind bars and long-term rival and friend, Boris Spassky of the USSR, wrote to President George W. Bush pleading for clemency, or at least to allow him to share Bobby's cell, together with a chess set! Eventually, it was Iceland that went to the rescue by granting Bobby Fischer, who was at the time stranded in Japan, Icelandic citizenship in 2005.

Nationality is a convention: birds and clouds fly freely across borders. Perhaps it is a necessary one while we are still so insular and small minded. However, no person or convention, ever has the right to deprive people of their right to belong to the earth. Ever!

The Silence of the Wolves: Religion and Complacency

When, many years ago, I informed my mother that I had become a vegetarian because I was against animal cruelty, her argument against it consisted of three words: "Jesus ate meat." And that was that. The added issues around the environmental problems caused by the meat industry were not as prominent then, but even if they had been, it would have made little difference. Religion was a fossil, impervious to changing times or human development, though of course, there were countless inconsistencies in my mother's religious attitude, which was, and is, typical of many Christians. 

The same can be said of most people who follow a religion founded on a canon they consider to have been revealed by God. An unkind, and limited, assessment of this phenomenon would be that people are inherently hypocritical. I do not believe this to be the case. I think that despite people's allegiance to the "word of God", they are instinctively aware that something may have been distorted through refraction. So, while the New Testament (Paul 1 Corinthians 14: 34-35; 1 Timothy 2:9-15), instructs women to be submissive and subordinate to men, for instance, this is easily dismissed by most Christians, as are the repeated instructions to kill the infidel, in the Quran. The problem is, that some people are more categorical, one could even say, consistent: it is either the word of God in its entirety, or it is not. Can we blame them? 

Simon de Myle: Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat  

I am not talking here about allegory that is taken literally by simple minds, like Noah's Arc. I am referring to actual instructions or laws. The Abrahamic religions are full of them. Many of these laws are violent. So, can we blame people who take them literally? When the British teenager, Shamima Begum, who had joined Isis when she was 15, was recently asked by a journalist whether she was appalled by the sight of decapitated heads, she said that she was not, as beheading was not contrary to Islam; a naive, but honest answer. This remorseless reply, no doubt influenced the British Government in its decision to strip her of her British citizenship. But who is to blame? Should  we condemn her consistency, or should we not, rather blame religious leaders who turn a blind eye to all that is outdated, misleading or abhorrent in the religions they serve? As long as religious institutions tolerate the intolerable, condone their violent histories and ignore the tyranny within their customs and laws, it is they who are to blame, not the Shamima Begums of this world (whose case I will discuss tomorrow). 

Hieronymus Bosch's Portrayal of Hell

I will conclude with an example from Catholicism. The Vatican is now holding a long overdue summit on child sexual abuse by its clergy. All well and good. But what about the child abuse that is not in the press, like the terrorising of children with eternal hell, just for masturbating or missing Mass on Sunday? It may sound silly, but the bouncing of a child from heaven to hell, is far from trivial, especially when that child believes and vividly imagines the cruel tortures of an infernal eternity. Religions are full of such abuse and tyranny and it is time to put an end to it once and for all. All religions have much beauty and truth within them: they should have the courage to shed what is not, or what is no longer, acceptable. Only then can they truly be said to be a force for justice and harmony.

C. P. Cavafy: The Arrows of Eros and Outrageous Fortune

Today I would like to introduce the Egyptiot Greek poet Constantine P. Cavafy (1863-1933). He was well-travelled and had spent some years in England and Constantinople as well as his native Alexandria. Cavafy resisted publishing his poems and preferred to circulate them personally to his friends. Many of these poems are homoerotic, so some caution was not out of place in the times and milieu in which he lived; and the thought of scandal was probably never far from his mind. His poem, In the Twenty-fifth Year of His Life, highlights this fear. It speaks of young man who goes to a saloon night after night in the hope of once more meeting the man who, for just one night, had let him experience exquisite sensual delights. The young man tries to hide his emotions, but his passion is stronger and he is "beyond caring" as he asks around and spend hours on end fixing his gaze to the saloon door, in the hope that the vision would reappear. The poem ends in a resigned note:

"It is not improbable that this life he leads will expose him to some ruinous scandal."

 David Hockney: In the Dull Village

In Days of 1896, Cavafy describes a man on whom the blow had already fallen. "He is utterly disgraced..." the poem begins, blaming public opinion, but after a brief description of this downfall, he springs to the young man's defence:

"There is another point of view, and seen from that angle
he is quite appealing; a simple and true
child of Eros, who without hesitation,
placed far above his honour and reputation,
the pure pleasure that his pure flesh could give."

In other words, it may be society's sense of honour and reputation that is flawed. Cavafy's poems are generally short and they leave one with that simple, but profound feeling that is so characteristic of the haiku. He leaves plenty of shades that invite the reader's mind to fill with the light of imagination. In the dull village, which was portrayed in the 1966 etching by David Hockney, pictured above, Cavafy describes the erotic yearning of a youth who longs to leave for the metropolis in order to fulfil his romantic dreams. Will they or will they not come true? 

"And in his sleep, pleasure came upon him; in his sleep
he sees and holds those limbs, the flesh he desired..."

A blessing that perhaps far exceeded the dubious reality that may, or may not, have awaited him in the real world. 

Cavafy, of course, wrote more than just about love, but his insights are equally simple and potent, whatever the theme. In Waiting for the Barbarians, for instance, he describes the flurry of a city-state on the eve of a barbarian invasion. The barbarians, however, fail to show up and the people are left at a loss as what to do next:

Now what’s going to happen to us without barbarians?
Those people were a kind of solution.

Here is one of his most well known poems, Ithaca. The poem likens life to the adventures of Ulysses, who had to face all sorts of monsters and challenges before finally returning to Ithaca, his homeland, and in so doing Cavafy hints at the very meaning of life:

As you set out for Ithaka
pray that your journey be long,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
angry Poseidon- don't be afraid of them:
you'll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
wild Poseidon- you won't encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope the voyage is a long one.
May there be many a summer morning when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you come into harbors seen for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind-
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you are destined for.
But do not hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you are old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you would not have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won't have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

Bigotry's Many Faces

One of the most outstanding film comedies of the 20th century is the original 1988 version of Hairspray. At one point, the main character, Tracy Turnblad, triumphantly declares: "I'm big, I'm blond and I'm beautiful!" There's nothing wrong with that, is there? Then why was the veteran football commentator, John Motson, humiliated and forced to apologise for calling a Millwall stricker "big, black and brave"? The TalkSport radio station said that it treated the incident "very seriously", even though it was clear that the remark was meant as a compliment. Really, has political correctness lost any sense of common sense and decency? Which of those three words is actually and insult?

It is the same with much of the Me Too Movement. Fanatics in that camp are destroying the line between rape, sexual assault and serious harassment, on the one hand and healthy flirting and courtship on the other. Are adult women, or men, so precious that they feel violated if someone attempts to flirt with them, hold their hand or touch their knee? Thank heavens for people like the iconic French actress, Catherine Deneuve, who with another 99 signatories made up of female French artists and intellectuals, wrote an open letter trying to infuse some common sense into the controversy. At one point the letter states:

"Next we’ll have a smartphone app that adults who want to sleep together will have to use to check precisely which sex acts the other does or does not accept."

This is scary stuff, because throughout human history, bigotry has kept reappearing in different forms: religious intolerance, nationalism, homophobia, political indoctrination and so on. Narrow minds love it and the danger is that it can take any fashionable form, including atheism. Sometimes, people are even having to think twice before hugging their children in case they get accused of child abuse! The open letter was published at the beginning of last year, but it is still as fresh and relevant as it was then and well worth reading; you can read it in translation here. 

And here is the blond and beautiful Catherine Deneuve with Nino Castelnuovo in the romantic masterpiece, Les Parapluies De Cherbourg (1964), with music by Michel Legrand, who died a few weeks ago:

Parajanov the Magician

Today I would like to introduce an outstanding, though little known film director. Every seasoned film enthusiast would have heard of the great Soviet director, Andrei Tarkovsky, but not many may know his good friend Sergei Parajanov (1924-1990), who was so loathed by the Soviet authorities, that he spent much time in prison. The first time he was arrested was in 1948, for "homosexual acts", although his friends claim that it was really because of his rebellious views. Even when not in jail, his life was not easy. Parajanov's first wife, Nigyar Kerimove, whom he married in 1950, was murdered shortly after by her Tartar Muslim relatives for having converted to Christianity in order to marry him. Parajanov was arrested again 1973 and sentenced to five years hard labour (of which he served four), in Siberia. Many of the greatest film directors of the time sprang to his defence and Tarkovsky wrote an impassioned letter to the Central Committee of the Communist Party, highlighting, amongst other thing, the distinction of his friend:

"In the last ten years Sergei Paradjanov has made only two films: Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors and The Colour of Pomegranates. They have influenced cinema first in Ukraine, second in this country as a whole, and third in the world at large. Artistically, there are few people in the entire world who could replace Paradjanov. He is guilty – guilty of his solitude. We are guilty of not thinking of him daily and of failing to discover the significance of a master."

The director was once arrested again in 1982 and though he was released after a year, his health had suffered considerably as a consequence. In 1985 he released The Legend of Suram Fortress, which was widely acclaimed. Parajanov died of cancer aged 66 while working on his last film, The Confession. As he had predicted, he died in Armenia:

"Everyone knows that I have three Motherlands. I was born in Georgia, worked in Ukraine and I'm going to die in Armenia."

A joint condolence telegram by many of the greatest artists of the time was sent to Russia, it read:

"The world of cinema has lost a magician."

Parajanov's films are dreamy, but vivid; simple, but profound and haunting. Here are two of his best, The Legend of Suram Fortress and The Colour of Pomegranates:

The Periodic Table and the Poetry of the Elements

Celebrations for the International Year of the Periodic Table were inaugurated at the beginning of this month, as 2019 marks the 150th anniversary of Dimitri Mendeleev's publication of his Periodic Table of the Elements in 1869. Since then, as Mendeleev predicted, gaps have been filled in the Periodic Table, while the list grew thanks to scientific research. Some of the newly discovered elements hardly stop to say hello, such as number 113 that just lasts a mere millisecond.

If you have ever wondered, as I have, how far we can go with the discovery of elements (by adding protons to the atomic nucleus), here is a clear answer from an article in Phys.org, by the Michigan State University:

"All elements with more than 104 protons are labeled as "superheavy", and are part of a vast, totally unknown land that scientists are trying to uncover. It is predicted that atoms with up to 172 protons can physically form a nucleus that is bound together by the nuclear force. That force is what prevents its disintegration, but only for a few fractions of a second. 

These lab-made nuclei are very unstable, and spontaneously decay soon after they are formed. For the ones heavier than oganesson, this might be so quick that it prevents them from having enough time to attract and capture an electron to form an atom. They will spend their entire lifetime as congregations of protons and neutrons.

If that is the case, this would challenge the way scientists today define and understand "atoms". They can no longer be described as a central nucleus with electrons orbiting it much like planets orbit the sun."

Oganesson is number 118 and it is worth noting that only the first 94 elements have been found to occur naturally.

By Offnfopt - Own work, Public Domain

Elements, like words, are where science meets magic. They are the demarcation line between reality and the reality beyond that reality; they are, so to speak, the guardians to the gates of Paradise. We need only marvel at these magic words to appreciate the inspiring poetry of existence. Before I get too gushy, here is my lighthearted token to the celebrations, Tom Lehrer's brilliant Elements Song:

And I'm afraid I cannot refrain from adding the equally adorable version by Daniel Radcliff:

Thumbs Down to Thumbs Down

What has Simon and Garfunkel's single, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Julie Andrews singing the opening song of The Sound of Music and Dvořák's Cello Concerto, performed by Jacqueline du Pré and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim, got in common? The answer is that they are 20th century treasures: they stand apart as icons, like Michelangelo's David or the Great Pyramid. "Nah, I think David would look better dressed, or sitting:👎👎👎 And so, on YouTube, the first had almost 5,000 thumbs down, the other two, a few hundred each! If one does not like or understand a particular style of music or film genre, one ought to move on gracefully; why try to demean it with a thumbs down? The Cello Concerto combined four of the greatest musical forces and still, it managed to score a few hundred thumbs down. Was it perhaps that the film was in black and white? Jacqueline's dress? Barenboim's haircut? Or was that it one of the strings broke halfway through? I may not like the moon, but if I meant to disparage it, a thumbs down would be ridiculous, because the moon is what it is and to register my disapproval I would need more than an emoji, which would only serve to highlight my stupidity. 

I am not saying that a person has to approve of everything that the majority likes. One may go to see a film that is all the rave, for instance, and end up finding it a huge disappointment. I remember feeling like that after having seen La La Land, which would certainly received a 👎 from me. I am talking about masterpieces that have withstood the test of time and speak for themselves. YouTube is full of outstanding works that have been snubbed with hundreds or thousands of thumbs down that reveal absolutely nothing, other than, perhaps, the unrefined tastes of thousands of people. So, when a clip is genuinely bad, say because it is a poor copy, or it finishes too abruptly, it is impossible to know, because too many people use the negative ideogram as just a "Nah, I don't like it." So why bother having the thumbs down at all? The ratio between thumbs up and the number of views is probably a safer indication of the quality of the clip. Of course, removing the thumbs down would deprive thousands or millions of people the satisfaction of putting up a middle finger to a great artist. Good, let it! 

The Bench at the Edge

Today I am posting another extract of my book: The Bench at the Edge. The story is set in the 'afterlife', so the narrative is pretty jarred at first as Karel, the protagonist, comes to terms with a very different reality; it develops into a quest for love and a mission to save Satan himself.

               

Karel returned to his refuge without the slightest difficulty and it was just as he had found it on his first visit: the orchard, the grass, the defining mist... Only this time there was an old-fashioned park bench underneath an apple tree in the middle of the garden. “I guess this could be Paradise.” He concluded after a while. “Sharing it could prove dangerous in the long run. After all, I’m not unhappy here and it’s as close to reality as I may ever get.” He was sitting on a bench, as he had been for millions of years, but it was not desolate here and he felt as though he was the centre of something, rather than an insignificant piece of scenery. Yes, after all he had been through, he could settle for that. Loneliness was not such a bad thing and as for ‘wonder’... “Stuff it!” He concluded. No sooner than he had said that though, than a pang of guilt started to prod him. It was the promise that he had made to Satan. 

“Do I really want to find that love? If I did find it, I have no doubt that the first thing I would do is use my imaginary hand to punch it on its imaginary nose! I would not treat a worm with the sort of contempt this supposed love is behaving toward me. I cannot think of any acceptable excuse, unless my love is being held captive somewhere and is prevented from communicating, or is as lost as I am. But if my love is God, can that be said of God? Is the divine being then a pathetic prisoner to the Fates, those ghouls Satan mentioned?” Anger started to well up within him, coupled with a sense of powerlessness. It felt as close to Hell as he had ever been. “Enough!” He decided. He did not want his Paradise to be contaminated by these infernal thoughts. “I have done what I could; let love find me, now!”

Then with a sigh, he added: “No, it had its chance. It won’t bother.” 

Karel sat there motionless, half-hoping that he would hear the cicada again, or be hit on the head by a falling apple, or be startled by a talking snake, but nothing happened and the moment passed like millennia again. At last, Karel decided to walk back into the mist and let himself be born again, if that was what was meant to be. The mist played the same games as before, but then gently embraced him once more. It felt fine at first, comforting even, but not for long: it started to get darker, and thicker and tighter... He tried to escape from its grip, but this time he could not despite struggling as hard as he could. He did not feel as though he was being born again, rather it was as though he was finally being recycled into pure impersonal energy after having exhausted all the consequences of all his individual will. For the first time in his endless existence, he felt as though he was really dying and that his quest had been nothing more than the wolf howling at the moon.

Picture this...

Imagine the protests of the 'Gilets Jaunes' escalating to such an extent that the infrastructure of France and its economy begin to totter. Then, Marine Le Pen, hijacks the movement and declares herself President of France. Bizarre, no? And would it not be even more surreal and objectionable if the USA, Canada, Britain and other European countries suddenly decided to back the usurper?

Venezuelan National Anthem 

Well, in a way, that is just what is happening in Venezuela. Of course, President Maduro is not Macron, and his inept (at best) policies and repression are by no means a marginal problem. The 2018 presidential elections, besides, were anything but free and fair, with many in opposition harassed and barred form the process. Have we not, however, learned anything from the chaos and bloodshed we caused in other countries like Iraq and Libya, were hundreds of thousands have died because of  foreign interference? Writing in the Palestine Chronicle, the editor, Ramzy Baroud, sums up such interventionist motives nicely:

"The West’s love-affair with intervention has little to do with restoring democracy, either in Venezuela or anywhere else. In fact, “democracy” has been the tool throughout the 20th century to provide legal and moral rationalization for US and Western meddling around the world."

And is it not hypocritical for the USA to send food parcels to a country that it is partly responsible for bringing to the brink of starvation through its aggressive sanctions? US Security Adviser, John Bolton, made it clear that he has an interest in Venezuela's oil, as he no doubt did on Iraq's when he was one of the leaders of the charge against Saddam Hussein. Macron can sleep in peace, after all: it is unlikely that the lure of French wine will make Trump or his associates drool enough to bother about interfering too much into French politics.

Of the three types of parasite

There are many kinds of parasite, but ultimately they boil down to three: 

1. Those that develop a symbiotic relationship with their host (like the bacteria that helps us digest our food)
2. Those that annoy their host (like bedbugs)
3. Those that kill their host...

Although these are not evolutionary stages (it would be the opposite of evolution if they were), human beings seem to have followed that trajectory. They started off by living natural lives (one could say in harmony with the earth); moved on to stressing mother nature and finally, they settled on a course of action that will ultimately destroy enough of the ecosystem to guarantee the extinction of the human race. 

                                     

We are destroying the balance of nature in more ways than one: climate change, weapons of mass destruction, deforestation, pollution, pesticides... The earth is facing its sixth mass extinction. The statistics are shocking, but sadly, the will to do anything about it is confined to a few Cassandras. Some, like Trump, actually mock the science; his Tweets are full of ridicule towards these serious issues, but whether you mock them or not, unless drastic action is taken to reverse the trend, we are well and truly DOOMED! 

This week, a report published in the journal, Biological Conversation, highlighted the crisis of plummeting insect numbers. For the moment the decline is staggered. In Puerto Rico, for instance the there has been a 98% fall of ground insects over 35 years. Overall, insect populations are falling by 2.5% a year, meaning that they could all be gone within a century. One does not have to be an expert to realise that this will be the last blow to our ecosystem. Whether you love them of hate them, insects are the most fascinating and varied creatures on earth... Still, the good news is that when they go, we shall not have long to mourn them.

Twelve Not So Angry Men

Today, the trial begins in Madrid of twelve not so angry men; to be precise, nine men and three women. Somewhat angry, of course... The defendants have been charged with some of the most serious offences in the Spanish legal code: rebellion, misappropriation of public funds and civil disobedience, and have already spent many months in prison. 'Rebellion' and 'civic disobedience', because in 2017 they pushed ahead with the referendum on whether Catalonia should remain a part of the Kingdom of Spain; 'misappropriation' because they used public funds to organise the vote. 'Rebellion', in this legal context, involves that sort of anger which expresses itself in violence, but we are dealing here with seasoned politicians who, if anything, witnessed the aggression of the Spanish police who were heavy handed when sent in to suppress the separatist rallies.Writing in The Guardian, Carles Puigdemont, the former President of Catalonia, who is now in self-imposed exile in Belgium to avoid arrest, claims that:

"Prosecuting these peaceful advocates of the ballot box marks yet more of the authoritarianism we saw on referendum day."

                               Firefighters protecting the people from the Spanish police in October 2017 (Photo: Reuters)

He points out that similar referendums were held in Scotland, Quebec and New Caledonia, with anything but oppression, accompanying them. In Catalonia, of the 43% who voted, 92% backed independence.

Separatism is not, however, a clear cut issue and there are so many considerations that need to be taken, with each claim having its own particularities. Currently, there are 43 members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, which includes Catalonia, Tibet, Taiwan, Somaliland and Abkhazia. The desire for independence does not always spring from genuine cultural or legitimate differences. The Northern League, the party of Matteo Salvini, Italy's Deputy Prime Minister, for instance, wanted northern Italy to break away from the south out of a sense of superiority and to rid itself of the less economically developed south: all in perfect alignment with Salvini's racism and far right populism. So, what does constitute legitimate separatist movements? An internationally approved list could cause havoc, as opportunists would jump on the bandwagon for their own  gains, so it would have to be drafted very carefully. Nevertheless, criteria should exist, and these should be revised as situations change. In the next few days, I will propose some criteria and would love to receive ideas in the meantime.

The Islamic Republic of Iran turns 40

February 11, 2020 marks the 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran that ended the pro western monarchy under the despotic rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and ushered in the Islamic Republic headed by tyrannical Ayatollah Khomeini (from the frying pan into the fire, as the saying goes). Reza Pahlavi, the founder of the dynasty came into power following a 1921, British backed, coup d'état. He ended up falling foul of the British, however, owing to his pro German sympathies and was forced to resign in favour of his son, the Crown Prince Mohammad Reza, after the British and Soviets invaded the country in 1941. The new Shah was not as ruthless as his father, but was authoritarian, nonetheless, and in the early 50's he found himself in conflict with his democratic Prime Minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh. Once again, the British interfered; this time with the help of the CIA, and democracy was crushed in 1953, in what was known as Operation Ajax. Mosaddegh was confined to house-arrest until his death, but many of his associates were not so lucky and were cruelly purged. Against this backdrop, it is not difficult to see why the revolution garnered so much support. The documentary below provides a perfect example of the excesses of the Shah and his neglect of his duties towards the citizens of Iran.

Abdurehim Heyit: Another Song Silenced

Abdurehim Heyit, the Uyghur poet and musician who has been in custody for the last few years for his artistic activities, which Chinese authorities view as a threat, has recently died, allegedly, as a result of torture. Details are sketchy, but the Turkish Foreign Ministry has announced that:

“We’ve learned with great sorrow that dignified poet Abdurehim Heyit, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for his compositions, died in the second year of his imprisonment...”

Turkey condemns the treatment of the Uyghurs in the Xinjiang district of north-west of China  as an "embarrassment for humanity" and has deplored their brutal treatment:

“It is no longer a secret that more than one million Uighur Turks – who are exposed to arbitrary arrests – are subjected to torture and political brainwashing in concentration centres and prisons...”

 The Chinese people are generous, inventive and gentle and their government was beginning to go the way of the people with the positive reforms started with Deng Xiaoping. Now, however, it is sadly turning towards authoritarianism and bullying. A government that turns against its own artists and journalists is like a cancer, sowing the seeds of its own destruction, but how much suffering will there be in the process?

A Different Kind of President

Almost exactly five years ago, on February 7, 2014, the UN published a report in response to Resolution 22/13 (21 March 2013) on the dire human rights situation in North Korea. The Report of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republicof Korea delves into  a number of worrying areas:

·    Violations of the right to food
·    The full range of violations associated with prison camps
·    Torture and inhuman treatment
·   Arbitrary arrest and detention
·   Discrimination, in particular in the systemic denial and violation of basic human rights and fundamental freedoms
·   Violations of the freedom of expression
·   Violations of the right to life
·   Violations of the freedom of movement
·   Enforced disappearances, including in the form of abductions of nationals of other States

The report was damning on all accounts and concluded that:

Systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations have been and are being committed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, its institutions and officials. In many instances, the violations of human rights found by the commission constitute crimes against humanity. These are not mere excesses of the State; they are essential components of a political system that has moved far from the ideals on which it claims to be founded. The gravity, scale and nature of these violations reveal a State that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world.

The atrocities, of course, did not stop there; here are a few examples since then:

• Kim Kyong-Hui, Kim Jong Un's aunt was poisoned in May 2014 for objecting to the execution of her husband Jang Song Thaek (the previous December)
• O Sang-Hon, Deputy Minister of Public Security, was burned alive with a flame thrower for alleged corruption in December 2014
• Hyon Yong-chol, the Defence Minister, was blasted by an anti-aircraft missile for disloyalty
• Ri Yong Jin, an Education Ministry official and Hwang Min, an agricultural official,  were blasted with an anti-aircraft gun in August 2016 because they were deemed to have disrespected Kim Jong Un
• Kin Jong Un's half brother, Kim Jong Nam was assassinated on February 13, 2017 in Kuala Lumpur International Airport with a chemical nerve agent, allegedly on the Leader's orders because he was considered a threat...

Is any of this surprising? I guess not; not if one follows the news. And perhaps, by the same token, nor is Trump's February 9 Tweet eulogising Kim Jong Un: 

North Korea, under the leadership of Kim Jong Un, will become a great Economic Powerhouse. He may surprise some but he won't surprise me, because I have gotten to know him and fully understand how capable he is. North Korea will become a different kind of Rocket - an Economic one!   

Whether Trump actually believes this, or whether he is just trying to ingratiate himself with Kim, is besides the point.This is not just a case of dubious opinions or negotiating tactics. No decent person, let alone the President of the United States of America, should be cosying up to leaders who commit such atrocities. Of course, this just one example of many (Putin, MBS, Netanyahu...) and Trump has made it clear that when it comes to human rights... HE DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN!

5P-42 Filin: More of the Same?

A recurring preamble to apocalyptic or dystopian films is robotic or biological weapons going wrong or getting out of control. Well! Perhaps Armageddon has already started... Last week the Russians announced a new weapon that causes its enemies to hallucinate. As Russia Today put it (Feb 4):

A new weapon installed on Russian warships can make enemy soldiers miss targets by blinding them, while also causing hallucinations and making them want to vomit.

Just look at some of the leading world politicians today: stark raving mad! We have Trump: blind to climate change and obsessed with his wall; May hallucinating over Brexit; Putin's bloody scheming, Xi dragging China backwards, MBS smiling as he oversees the bombing of school children and the crushing of journalists (literally in some cases!), Italy's Salvini and Di Maio behaving like bullies in a school playground... The list is endless and the consequences are indeed that many of us really do "want to vomit"!

Does it not, then, seem as though the agent, 5P-42 Filin (eagle-owl) has already escaped into the atmosphere in such proportions as to drive us all crazy? Or is the weapon a just waste of time, seeing as we are all hallucinating, deranged or nauseous anyway?

ICONS - From the Mortal Void

I have finally revised my first book, Icons, which I had written years ago. I have not had a looked at it in decades and seeing as many parts of it are autobiographical, it was quite an emotional experience. The book is a series of snapshots around the central character, Stavros George, coalescing into a story of friendship, love, defeat and drastic solutions. The struggles of the protagonist are contrasted with both spiritual and sensual moments, which are often expressed in fairly poetical language. You may buy the book or have a better look at it by clicking the image.

Here is the preamble:

        "The clay becomes stone,

The stone: sand,

And from sand comes glass.

Every world is like a picture:

Alone, self-contained and wrapped in chaos.

A little meaning unfolds after every death

As we are hurled to unknown forms

And states of being.

All we can do is be kind to life, for we are now in the world of feelings and we understand them somewhat by comparison.

The only other law is to enjoy every sweetness this world of ours has to offer.

To these ends should our creativeness strive. And of these two, kindness comes first, for it can bring joy to our world, as well as to the world of others. Thus, our ability to appreciate life is enhanced by our veneration of its universal value."

Comic relief...

And now for something completely different!

Eliminating Cervical Cancer

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has highlighted the needless deaths to cervical cancer on World Cancer Day (February 4) and is urging people to mobilise against the killer.  Cervical cancer is still one of the greatest threats to women's health, with a yearly death toll in the hundreds of thousands. This is the grim situation, despite cervical cancer being one of the most "preventable and curable" forms of cancer, according to the WHO, as long as it is "detected early and managed effectively".

WHO is working to eliminate cervical cancer as a global public health problem.

Now is the time to get vaccinated.
Now is the time to get screened and treated if necessary.
Now is the time to eliminate cervical cancer.

Winners Take All

'Winners Take All' by Anand Giridharadas is pure genius! The book starts with a description of the inequalities plaguing our societies (with some very shocking statistics!) and moves on to discuss how the practice of philanthropy and certain forms of globalisation only exacerbate the situation. This counter intuitive stance is brave, but also convincingly argued. By the end of the book I found myself challenging many of my own comfort zones and seeing the world in a slightly different light. Whilst the author acknowledges that entrepreneurs are "by nature problem-solvers" and that they are motivated by a challenge, his argument is that when they take on the world's ills, they do so primarily with their own interests at heart. 

Often, as illustrated by many of the case studies presented in the book, some of the most serious problems societies are facing today are actually caused by the ruthless practices of big business and multinationals; the positive changes these may bring through their charitable foundations and donations ultimately serve to entrench a system that exploits the majority of people who are not members of the highly privileged class. The answer, according to Giridharadas, is in strengthening our political systems, in order to ensure that money is actually channelled fairly, democratically and consistently into areas that effectively and progressively improve the lives of people. 

If you would like a taster, you can read this brilliant one in The Guardian's Long Reads series: The new elite's crusade to save the world - without changing anything.

Democracy without Education is Tyranny and Exploitation

This heading reflects the end of my last post, but I believe that the assertion needs clarification. The ambiguity does not lie in the words 'democracy' and 'tyranny', which in this context are explicit enough. No, the problem regards how we define education. We need only consider the re-education programmes currently going on in Xinjiang China, fake news (and "alternative facts") or the general brain-washing tactics used by authoritarian states, for alarm bells to start ringing. So what education am I talking about? The one that fits nicely with my ideas of globalisation, open borders, tolerance and suspicion towards religious power? No, of course not: that would be indoctrination. I spent much of my adult life working in the Social Services sector in London and the accepted mantra when offering care was "informed choice". Sometimes, owing to advanced Alzheimer's or other such reasons, the choice may have simply boiled down to: "Elsie, would you like to wear the blue dress today, or the red one", as you dangled them out for Elsie to inspect. That is acceptable, but asking a group of elderly residents in a home what they would like to watch on television, would be totally meaningless, unless you informed them of what programmes were on offer at that particular time. Elsie may not remember what the red or blue dress looked like, hence the importance of holding them out to her. 

A bit like Brexit, really. Do you want to be in or out of the EU? What does that actually mean? Two years on and even the parliamentarians do not seem to know. Indeed, it is a complex issue and could mean different things depending on how you go about it. But were the people given an informed choice? Quite the contrary, campaigns, particularly (if not exclusively) those of the 'Leave' faction were full of disinformation. And yet, Prime Minister Theresa May, like an old fashioned record that got stuck, keeps repeating that the people had their say and that now their choice must be respected. If not, she asserts that democracy and trust would be jeopardised. "Nebulous", yes, but "stupid" to boot? I doubt she can be that stupid, though I could be wrong. Dishonest, then? Who knows what her ulterior motives are, but one thing is certain. The people voted in the dark. And that, sadly is what much of democracy is today.

If Elsie's son believes that foreigners threaten British culture and that homosexuals should rot in hell, should he be educated out of that? Education is like a light, but at the end of the day people still see what they want to see. But the light needs to be shone. There are no such things as "alternative facts".

       A refreshing view on Education and on e that should be taken seriously, despite the exquisite humour in the presentation

Let us take the example of threats to national cultures as an example. Dismissing these fears is not only counterproductive, but in most cases probably wrong. This attitude is dangerous and it is often the complacency of well-meaning ideologies that fuel populism. There may be threats. Do these, however, outweigh the benefits? Are they inevitable? How can can we ensure local cultures are preserved and allowed to evolve? How will the government help? So what people need are facts and choices. In the case of Brexit, more facts are now there, but sadly the choice is categorically denied. 

Democracy therefore needs education. Classes in social and political awareness, reasoning skills and critical thinking and... yes... tolerance. 

26 People Own More Than 3.8 Billion People

The last few weeks saw the publication of two important reports highlighting inequality and the disastrous impact this has on people all around the world:

1. World Inequality Report

2. OXFAM Briefing Paper

It is hard to imagine how a coachload of people can own as much wealth as half the world population, but the consequences, though hard to digest, are clear enough. The OXFAM Report highlights some of these -

Today:

• 262 million children will not be allowed to go to school.

• Almost 10,000 people will die because they cannot access healthcare. 

• 16.4 billion hours of unpaid care work will be done, the majority by women in poverty.

The answer is unlikely to spring from the billionaires themselves and it is up to governments to work towards readdressing the imbalance through fairer and more constructive policies. The problem is that even where democracy is well-established, voters are easily duped into electing right wing politicians, like Trump, who have no interest in creating a just and safe society. In other words: 

Democracy without education is the dictatorship of ignorance.

Ahimsa: "A Revolution with Silk Gloves"

The silkworm, Bombyx Mori, is the domesticated version of the Bombyx mandarina. Breeding silkworms (sericulture) has been going on in China for so long, about 5,000 years, that this scion of the Bombyx mandarina can no longer fly (I expect it took a much longer evolution to learn how to, so it’s a bit of a shame, really). As the larva enters the pupa stage, it weaves up to 900 metres of silk thread in order the protect itself during its transformation into a moth and would eat through the cocoon when fully formed. This of course would damage the thread, so the poor creatures destined to be immortalised into a robe or a handkerchief are boiled to death before they can emerge with their lovely wings and take to the air (no harm in trying).

It takes about 7,000 cocoons to make a kilo of silk, so billions are boiled every year. “At least 70 million pounds of raw silk are produced each year, requiring nearly 10 billion cocoons.” (Where would I be without good old Wikipedia!). Ahimsa Silk, however, is cruelty free and made from wild and semi wild moths without the cooking cauldron.