- eating Grapes, Feijoas and Persimmons
- last preparations of the garden for the cold seasons
- music: working on various albums
CALENDAR
Europe's Sustainable Development Goals
Brussels (B-EU) Nov. 12-13
All countries are called upon to act and speed up transition towards greener, fairer, more inclusive
development patterns by 2030.
Radio Europa
Perugia (I-EU) Nov. 13-14-15
Three cultural days in Perugia (that will be European Capital of Culture in 2019).
UN Climate Change Conference
Paris (FR-EU) Nov. 30 -- Dec. 11
The decisive decisions about climate changes will be taken there. Last chance!
BLOG
November / December 2015
THIS MONTH's THEME:
Love Europe!
Today those who have perceived the reasons for
the present crisis in European civilisation
are seeking each other, and are trying to plan future.
In fact they are gathering the inheritance left by all those movements
which worked to raise and enlighten humanity,
and which failed because of their incapability to understand
the purpose to be achieved or the ways how to achieve it.
The road to follow
is neither easy nor safe.
But it must be pursued and it will be.
Hi everybody,
I will be back blogging soon, on Tuesday the 3rd of November.
I will write about Europe.
Something I care a lot about, as an incarnated World Citizen, and Europe has indeed been my world for so
many years.
There is a lot to be worried about regarding its present state, and a lot of its values to protect as an antidote to the
worst scenarios.
There are many individuals, groups, politicians, powers, trying to destroy Europe at the moment.
I quoted the Spinelli and Rossi's manifesto for a reason, to show that there have been other times even worse than
this.
Europe stayed, it will once more.
As long as I will live I will do whatever I can to defend it.
More than 11 years ago I did a similar blogging.
While you wait you are welcome to read/reread it:
June 2004: "Elections in Europe"
If you think I was sharp in my writing at that time,
just wait for this one...
Luca will be back!
An idealistic Union versus a miserable nihilism
The attentive aficionados of this blog have got used to November being the month when I
dedicate it to a self-ironical celebration up to my birthday, on the famed 27th.
Rejoice: this time I won't say a word about myself, I'll tell about the situation in different countries
and areas that populate todays Europe.
Of course a lot of my own experiences will emerge from time to time, as I have been living in or visiting
about 20 States that compose the European Union (and would gladly visit all the rest if there ever will
be a chance for that)
I will celebrate Europe in stead then, as we too often forget how historic and idealistic a success it
has been to create the European Union.
It's a time when it does not go a minute without a newspaper, or a Radio or a TV or a politician or
anyone else violently insulting it or accusing it of all the World's evils.
Let me be very clear from the very beginning: it is for the most tribal arrogance, nearsighted
and conformist nonsense, destructive and nihilistic will, all in all just random idiocy..
It would be a fatal ingenuity to just ignore it then.
No, it is absolutely something everybody should worry about, as I have done for many years.
My warnings have been steady and always ignored but the situation has been constantly degenerating and we
are seeing the results now.
In fact, as much as EU has succeeded in giving us peace and freedom, the fanatics too are having a lot
of success trying to destroy it, and bringing us back to the dark times of wars, nationalism, xenophobia,
misery.
As already said, I will try all what I can to defend our highest values, that are the values of the whole
civilized World.
No matter if my words will be ignored or mobbed again, I won't stay still.
Even more fanatic than I feared
Well, I restarted blogging after a long time, and the very next day a total Internet black-out affected
the house where I live. So, I could not do anything for days and it kind of cut my wings.
Not at all comparable to what happened in Paris in the last days.
May be I should shut up in stead of being so damned prophetic.
The prophecy being simply self fulfilling though. Not on my side for sure (I am just a committed observer),
but on that of all the destructive anti-European forces mentioned above.
Fanatics, violent people, terrorists are vile. They are impregnated of tribalism, conformism, gang mentality.
They don't attack, as we might think, strong targets, rather what they gregariously despise as weaklings.
In their paranoid and completely self-referenced self-righteousness they act to punish and destroy what lies
already down in the collective pillory.
One could almost quote the whole Shakespeare's Macbeth to support it, for ex. when Macbeth's wife
with her hands smeared red of the killed King's blood says to him:
“my hands are of your colour;
but I shame to wear a heart so white”
Violence is acted upon screens where they project their own misery. They are victims of their own ideological,
religious, political or generally fanatic cages. Being part of a herd gives them the illusion of being strong,
but in reality they live a miserable life, and they constantly seek what they outrageously
see as equally worthless victims, while the latter are just full of life.
As Eric Fromm in "Escape from freedom" put it:
“the more the drive toward life is thwarted,
the stronger is the drive toward destruction;
the more life is realized,
the less is the strength of destructiveness.
Destructiveness is the outcome of unlived life”
Of course I am not equating criticizing the EU and terrorizing it.
I am reminding that weakening our continent exposes it to the violence of the paranoids.
So, those who do contribute to the daily populist attack on our European moral climate ought to think twice before they
keep doing it. To quote Macbeth again:
“we but teach bloody instructions,
which, being taught,
return to plague the inventor.
This even-handed justice commends
the ingredients of our poison'd chalice
to our own lips.”
In times of sheer madness one can sometimes find some comfort in the words of wise people.
The European and World leaders are sitting right now and trying to agree on a common strategy to deal with the
latest events. Let's hope everyone will act responsibly and using their highest judgment.
While we are at quotes, I will gladly bring this older one, by one who knows everything about being persecuted by
fanaticism:
“The fundamentalist seeks to bring down a great deal more than buildings. Such people are against, to
offer just a brief list, freedom of speech, a multi-party political system, universal adult suffrage,
accountable government, Jews, homosexuals, women's rights, pluralism, secularism, short skirts, dancing,
beardlessness, evolution theory, sex. They are tyrants, not Muslims.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that we should now define ourselves not only by what we are for
but by what we are against. I would reverse that proposition, because in the present instance what we are against
is a no brainer. Suicidist assassins ram wide-bodied aircraft into the World Trade Center and Pentagon and kill
thousands of people: um, I'm against that. But what are we for? What will we risk our lives to defend?
Can we unanimously concur that all the items in the preceding list -- yes, even the short skirts and the dancing --
are worth dying for?
The fundamentalist believes that we believe in nothing. In his world-view, he has his absolute certainties, while
we are sunk in sybaritic indulgences. To prove him wrong, we must first know that he is wrong. We must agree on
what matters: kissing in public places, bacon sandwiches, disagreement, cutting-edge fashion, literature, generosity,
water, a more equitable distribution of the world's resources, movies, music, freedom of thought, beauty, love.
These will be our weapons. Not by making war but by the unafraid way we choose to live shall we defeat them.
How to defeat terrorism? Don't be terrorized. Don't let fear rule your life. Even if you are scared.”
Salman Rushdie
"Step Across This Line: Collected Nonfiction"
(1992-2002)
Totally agree, minus the bacon sandwich of course...
Tell me why I don't like millennials
Right, I don't like 'millennials' because I don't like any label put on people.
We should really all stop with this bad mania of categorizing people in all possible ways. People are individuals not labels, and when they really have become labels that's the root of many evils.
As it means they have stopped following their own personality, interests, way of being and talents, dissolved and
vanished in collective nonsenses.
One never knows where it can lead to: they have basically become nothing and at that point anything can become
everything for them. Even anorexia, bulimia, play station all day long, violent uproar, nihilism or totalitarian
and fanatic faith.
Anyway, as the attentive reader has already got, this month, or at least this week, I let others speak.
So it will be them to be unheard...
Following, a photo link to where the title finally gets its context, an Independent article.
My musician colleagues too often say silly things. Always worth to hear when Bob Geldof speaks out though:
Reality seems to be leading this blog, this month, and I feel like a willing puppet.
I wanted to finally get to the point: what Europe is and why it is so important to support the union.
Then I got lots of mails with newsletters from USA, reminding me today is Thanksgiving.
Something I did not even know existed until some years ago, but everybody over there seem to love it so much and
want to celebrate it with the year's best commercial offer ever...
So, how could I possibly resist a pun, commenting the latest event: the Russian-Turkish crisis?
We lack objective facts still, so at the moment one can only suppose that both parts involved might be
playing a dirty game, similar to what is happening in the other conflict with Ukraina
Putin's Russia has got the habit of letting their fighter airplanes flying over the borders, it happened many times recently,
over Scandinavia, Canada and Ukraina of course. It's no news, as you could already read in this article from last year:
"Full list of incidents involving Russian military and Nato since March 2014"
Was it one more provoking and showing off military muscles?
Erdoğan's Türkiye on the other side continues with its very ambiguous borderline dance amongst democracy and
fundamentalism. Being part of the NATO alliance and at the very same time being more busy with exterminating
the Kurds than fighting Daesh.
Was it just a sneaky and indecent attempt at stopping the dialogue and increasing collaboration in between USA,
Europe, Russia (and even Iran)?
One thing they have in common is: they are not part of the EU.
They should have been long ago, in my clear opinion EU should include all the geographical Europe, what you can see
in the beautiful blue aerial photo on the top of this page.
In that very dangerous conflict you can clearly see what I have been stating for decades:
that the problem is nations.
They have always been playing dirty games in history, as they are based on borders, closeness, conflicts, power,
concurrence, egoism, caging ideologies, cultural traditions and state religions, unilateral views at reality.
That is one of the most important reasons why a bigger union is better than those single arbitrary unities.
In fact, the EU has been an incredible success, as we will remind tomorrow.
Incidentally, how can someone say thanks by killing an innocent animal?
So many connections in between wars and carnivorism, is it the latter not a war against most animals, and
both paving the way against all life in the end?
Will there be a future for this blog?
Yes, the attentive and slightly obsessive reader might have noticed it already: given this has been a month
with more interruptions than days writing, I will extend it to next month too.
Will there be a future for this Earth?
Well...less likely, honestly.
It is not a matter of being optimist or pessimist, I have long been writing that all considering it seems evident
we are heading right into extinction.
Unless...some real, massive, no compromise, binding decisions will be taken in the next days at the UN Climate Change Meeting (Cop21)
Having to witness, one more time, that the meeting was 'welcomed' by the usual anti-Europe / anti-World /
anti-Everything / anti-antagonists street riots might leave us no doubt any more: there is really no hope for
humanity when such violently brainless idiots exist.
Despite that, and of course a lot of more serious things like previous fiasco meetings, political unwillingness,
commercial and power interests at play, I might be pathetic but this time I nurture just a little more hope
for a decent outcome.
For the following reasons:
there have been massive caring and constructive initiatives before it
media are covering it widely
scientists have been flooding us with lots of research and of communications with the worst possible
scaring scenarios
Barack Obama wishes to close his final mandate letting us finally appreciate him as the President
we all hoped he would be, especially right on the environmental side.
other world leaders seem to take it also more seriously than usual, for once.
José Maria Bergoglio will hammer them in the head with devoted fury if they won't deliver.
all the troubles in our Planet, and the recent terror events in particular, in all their negativity
are having a positive effect, that of uniting us more, understanding that we have to stand side by side.
everyone seems to agree, this is really the last chance.
So, let us all hope this time I will be a positive Cassandra!
Extinction or not
The fact my last post stayed for so many days was actually intended.
The message was: there is really nothing else more important than this, so I am not going to write about anything else,
just do keep on reflecting about it, until we finally know what decisions have been taken.
I used the word 'extinction' and it was a strong word indeed, so I would like to explain what I meant.
First, it does not regard the Earth as a whole.
Unless some very unlikely cosmic event will happen, say a giant asteroid hitting its surface like in a billiards,
or a voracious black hole gulping it, our precious Earth will exist practically forever.
Second, life will continue, in so many possible forms.
It does regard us as human species.
Difficult to extinct 7 and more billions all together, the problem is how life will be for us.
It is very likely bigger and bigger areas will become uninhabitable, mass migrations will follow,
islands will disappear, coasts will be flooded, fertile grasslands will turn into deserts, ice will melt,
many animal species will succumb and biodiversity will be reduced, catastrophic meteorological events will become
more and more frequent and devastating, primary resources like water will get more and more scarce,
with wars as a consequence.
'Will'? No, it is not future, all that is already happening now!
I wrote: "Unless...some real, massive, no compromise, binding decisions will be taken in the next days at the
UN Climate Change Meeting (Cop21)"
Was it that the result of the meeting? Yes and no.
There is really no better answer that can be given by now. If you have read the papers and all the reactions given,
you will already know they were highly different.
It was yet another fatal failure and an historic success at the very same time.
A few great results were actually obtained out of the meeting, but what matters is how they factually will be
implemented in the next years.
Only time will tell, if time will not extinct as well of course.
Fragmentation vs. Union
Good results or not, the COP21 can be seen as a model for coping with global issues.
When the representatives for the whole World unite and try to take the best decisions for everybody.
Something so much better and worthy than the egoism, inadequacy, shortsightedness shown nearly every time such fundamental
choices are left to the national, regional or local parliaments.
EU is not the whole world, it is a continental institution, so it is not an end point in itself, but well on the way of
a global entity.
Tonight I will follow the elections in España.
Very much related to what I was writing, as an intricate blend of Nationalism and Europeism, of political fragmentation
and possible alliances.
Something particularly evident in the new Ciudadanos party for example.
Praiseworthy opposition to catalan nationalism, strong Europeism, liberal attitude and at the same time definitely
too much of a flirt with nationalist, xenophobic and sexist populists.
Right wing parties never seem to grow up...
On the other side the center-left and leftist parties will, no need to say, once more participate separated,
at least in three: PSOE, Podemos and Izquierda Unida, plus the usual sea of minuscule
communist/socialist/revolutionary/alternative/oh-so-hard-and-pure parties. All so self-righteous and none big enough
to avoid the most probable outcome: an alliance PP / Ciudadanos.
Left wing parties never seem to stop inflicting pains upon themselves...
We will see though,
It is very open.
Give Peace a thought
Christmas time is expected to be a time of peace.
Something we should never take for granted.
In fact just decades ago, one or two generation ago, as my parents and grandparents were living that era,
Europe had several dictatorships and was devastated by horrendous wars and crimes.
Relatively short time after, at present times, all that has become so much past that young generations
can't even believe it really happened.
We have actually seen a few similar conflicts, like in Bosnia or Ukraina, but that is in geographical Europe,
not EU.
European citizens can not imagine wars will ever been possible in the EU.
The sheer fact EU has completely changed the course of history, granted peace for decades and prevented wars for
the future, is enough to silence any anti-EU propaganda.
The role of EU for peace got the prestigious acknowledgement of the Nobel Prize organization. In fact EU got the
Nobel Peace Prize 2012.
Today I will let you virtually ask some people a simple question:
do you cramp to the good old nations or would you rather live in the EU (and luuuve it)?
When it comes to human rights at least.
Let me introduce you first to not less than 1 million people: the refugees that managed to survive and come to Europe, this year 2015. From such free, secure and rich countries
like Syria, Iran, Ethiopia, Iraq, Afghanistan etc. Sure they have heard you telling it is so awfully bad here, or...?
Some other magnificent Nations also provide us plenty of people to ask our question.
Let's take Saudi Arabia as a very significant example. Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nim is still waiting for his beheading.
How civilized, isn't it?
Compare here The European Parliament's resolution urging Saudi Arabia to stop the execution and death penalty, versus
the usual timid or distract remarks by national leaders, too busy with trumping human rights for the economical
relations sake. Raif Badawi is another persecuted man in the
same country.
Or you could ask women, who could not vote until a few weeks ago, or homosexuals, or other minorities.
Guess what, I am pretty sure they all answered: give me the EU!!!
Are you EU-rebels still not feeling the slightest embarrassed about yourself?
I take the opportunity to inform that I am close to having recoded all the previous blogs in the archives,
only a few are already visible, all the rest will appear in the next month. One here relevant one is ready: my
October 2009
"Someone still speaks out"
about global human rights in fact.
Last and, yes, the list
Last day of the year and for this theme, so I suppose the attentive and demanding reader does expect some
serious fireworks.
If we mean the material fireworks simply don't!
Time to stop that barbarian habit, for many compelling reasons, and one in itself enough for sure: they are a nightmare for animals!
Regarding the symbolic ones, I don't think I need more than already presented. This theme matters a lot to me,
and I wished I had written more posts, but not always life is enough free of troubles to allow it.
Would like to add a final Q. & A. though, so that it won't be said that I avoided critical issues.
No one takes the EU seriously in the World?
Sure about it? Under many respects EU is often quoted as a model of democracy, welfare, freedom, and rightly so,
as we have seen in many previous posts.
Just follow some debates in the USA about say gun controls or GMO and you will ascertain how many times they
will say: "Contrary to us, in the EU they..."
Also geopolitically the role of EU is becoming increasingly more and more relevant, see many recent events,
like in Libya.
EU is not really democratic, some countries dominate it, like Germany or France?
In part true, but don't you see the ironic in it? You put the blame on exactly what is causing the problem:
the good old dominant and colonialist nations! EU is not the problem it is the solution. p.s. it is exactly same problem in the UN by the way.
Is Euro the cause of all economical evils?
There is even more rabid and hysterical rage against € as there is against the EU.
Some nations haven't even adopted it, like UK and the Scandinavian countries, in their typical half-ideal
half-woeful-and-smallish-egoistic blend.
Are you old enough to remember the times when Interrailing or in other ways traveling through Europe
would mean:
bringing a huge bag with you with dozens of different currencies, all with their devilish small coins getting
all the time mixed up in a glorious mess?
There are many economists trying to put the blame for any economy problem on the €, but no matter how many slides
they show and how sophisticated analyses they produce, I won't agree with them, simply because their basic idea is wrong:
a competition in between national countries will never be better, for the EU population as a whole, than a unified
currency, that is the Euro.
EU is a puppet in the hands of the Troika?
The Troika being: European Central Bank (ECB), European Commission (EC), International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Of course the Troika in their minds is as well just a puppet in the hands of the
New World Order
ruling all of us. Why not adding Gods and Satans or Aliens and Extraterrestrial Invaders?
The funny is, you involve all those mighty powers and forget the most simple truth: you, any EU citizen, can vote for the political representatives your country will send to the EU Parliament.
So, in the end, you have the power!
Given the elections turn outs in most countries are ridiculously low, you attack the EU all the time while you don't even use
your power.
You can vote, read: change the status of our World, in so many other possible ways. If you don't want for ex. oil to
rule our world, simply don't use it. Oh, well, you go to violent demonstrations against EU driving your car... again and again
I hope you will have realized by now how much you make a fool of yourself.
You have still some hours to reflect about it so that you can change your behavior in the next year 2016,
hope you will do.