Facebook says, I am in a relationship

Why would one wanna do that?, he asked. I wouldn't want anybody to know. Shall I run now? He does not seem to value a relationship.....tough, I hardly know him, which is why I actually should not give up straightaway, or should I.

Still receiving charming texts

I am still receiving charming texts, even though we have slept together several times by now. So, he is still around, always nice and always diplomatic. He said You are special and I am happy when I am dancing with you, on the dancefloor or in d#=+, u seducer....I am sinking deeper an deeper into something I am scared of, I think.

Kerkeling ueber Humor

"Eigentlich ist Humor doch nichts anderes als das Verhindern von Eskalation. Ein Ventil. Wer von Herzen lacht, signalisiert: ich bin nicht gefaehrlich." (Hape Kerkeling in Ich bin dann mal weg. Meine Reise auf dem Jakobsweg. Muenchen: Pieper, 2006.)

How everything started on 12th October 2010

After 2 years, hours of dancing, thousands of smiles and touches exchanged, he kissed me. And I gave in.
I guess, everybody knows what this is about. A man, entering my life. yes. I was not really expecting nor looking for anything whatsoever. :) :)

Final Paragraph of "Shantaram"

"For this is what we do. Put one foot forward and then the other. Lift our eyes to the snarl and smile of the world once more. Think. Act. Feel. Add our little consequence to the tides of good and evil that flood and drain the world. Drag our shadowed crosses into the hope of another night. Push our brave hearts into the promise of a new day. With love: the passionate search for a truth other than our own. With longing: the pure, ineffable yearning to be saved. For so long as fate keeps waiting, we live on. God help us. We live on."

Well, this is the last five lines of Gregory David Roberts' Shantaram, meaning Man of God's Peace. (London: Abacus, 2004)

Wow. Take a deep breath now.

Sweets from All Over the World. Hmmmm

This one was from Uruguy....

Societies and Fulfilling Dreams

"When societies set things up so the only way people can achieve their dreams is to go outside the law, it automatically loses any opportunity to control the chain reaction. "(from Val McDermid's Blue Genes, 1996)

Eurozone in 'Different Light'

Hape Kerkeling schreibt in seinem Buch Ich bin dann mal weg. Meine Reise auf dem Jakobsweg. (Muenchen: Pieper, 2006, p. 62):

"Ein spanischer Koenig hat mal etwas gesagt, woran ich heute viel denken muss:
In Italienisch singt man,
in Englisch dichtet man,
in Deutsch verhandelt man,
in Franzoesisch liebt man,
und in Spanisch betet man."

Ahhh, wie poetisch.....

Information the British vs American Way

"If I had to pick one thing that demonstrates the key differences between the UK and the USA, it would be their attitudes to information. Americans get everything unless there's a damn good reason why not. Brits get nothing unless a High Court judge and an Act of Parliament have said there's a damn good reason why we should." (from Val McDermid's Blue Genes, 1996) (Picture: Amazon.co.uk)

The Welsh

"Call me a racist, but when it comes to the Welsh, I immediately summon my irregular verb theory of life. [...] And in my considered opinion, the Welsh are a humourless, clannish bunch whose contribution to the sum total of human happiness is on the negative side of the ledger." (Val McDermid's Blue Genes, 1996)

Personal Testimony of 2 Days after NZ Earthquake

My friends in Christchurch are ok:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YV9qHrGn84

It is the Year of Earthquakes!

This time it is New Zealand, which got hit by an earthquake. Its magnitude was 7.5, as strong as the one that struck Haiti in January 2010. No death toll was reported, fortunately, but lots of houses and infrastructure around Christchurch were destroyed. I am just worried about my friend who lives in the middle of it.....

Money for Pakistan

Now, southern province of Pakistan is affected. In Germany, all TV channels are constantly calling for donations....last night, 8 million euros donated alone! Impressive. 

Main Concerns: Still Russia and Pakistan

All major news agencies, such as BBC, Bloomberg and the German Focus still report extensively about the natural disasters ongoing in Pakistan and Russia. In Pakistan, the floods now affect ca. 20 million people, who are threatened to be killed by Cholera and other diseases if not by the waters. In Russia, the wildfires come dangerously close to nuclear facilities around Sarov. Even though Russian officials claim that the fires are under control, nobody can be sure about that or another outbreak of fires. Everybody around here is concerned, donates and perhaps prays, as this is all one can do.

Floods in Pakistan

Whilst fires rage in Russia, water washes land away in Pakistan, and with it the homes of app. 14 million people, which equals a quarter of the UK population. Even though the world is alarmed and mobilised, the enormity of the catastrophy hampers all efforts.

Moscow still smog-covered

Komsomolskaya Pravda issued a map of the wildfires sweeping through western and southern Russia. Smog still persists in Moscow and reaches as far St Petersburg and Ekaterinburg, 1,500km west of Moscow.

Wildfires in Russia Continue to Burn

Wildfires in Russia are  still partiallyout of control. Flames are also raging around Tschernobyl, potentially causing the release of radioactive particles into the air, government officials warn. Moscow is still under a thick smog blanket. See Pravda photogallery for image documentation.

Rich Russians

What Dostoyevsky said in his novelle The Gambler is true 145 years on in the face of fires and smog in Moscow: whoever can afford it, leaves the Mega City: "Because all Russians who have grown rich go to Paris, [...]." (Chapter XV).

Wildfires in Russia

For the first time in my life, I experience extensive coverage of a natural catastrophy in Russia. Either such things did not happen in the past (unlikely) or the Kreml simply did not let the news spread (likely). Anyway, Pravda amongst other news agencies report that countless fires rage in Central Russia sparked by the heat wave. It has been the hottest July since record, giving Moscow temperatures of ca. 35C and more as opposed to usually 23C average.
Fires are sweeping across all western and southern counties surrounding Moscow, dramatically increasing pollution in the capital. So far the fires have claimed 48 victims. The respective counties are in a state of emergency. Authorities fear that they will not have enough professional firefighters and that the flames could reach a nuclear plant near Sarov (south of Moscow), the Nuclear Research Center of Russia. (Source picture: Pravda)

On When Men Reveal Thoughts and Feelings

Gregory David Roberts writes in his book Shantaram: "Karla onces said that men reveal what they THINK when they look away, and what they FEEL when they hesitate. WITH WOMEN, she said, it's the other way around. (Chapter 23)

Fake Blond

What is all that fake blond hair all about? Wandering London's streets, I have noticed more and more women with fake blond hair. The roots are often pitch black and then changes straigth to this ugly ash yellow. Why can't women just accept their natural hair colour?

Moon Rock & Perspective

"Whenever arguments [...] heated up beyond reason, I would interrupt and say, 'You see that rock? It's 3.6 billion years old (moon rock). We're all just passing through. Let's calm down and go back to work'. That moon rock gave me a whole different perspective on history and the proverbial 'long run'. Our job is to live as well and as long as we can, and to help others to do the same. [...] All we have is the moment." (Bill Clinton's My Life, 2002)

Nuclear Waste in Germany

Nuclear waste is hard to dispose of. Often far-away countries or the oceans serve as dumping grounds, but this time a deserted salt mine in Lower Saxony/Germany tells the story. Having been a deceptively safe 'storage' of Germany's nuclear waste for almost 50 years, the mine has grown instable, is filling with water and on the verge of collapsing. Now, a new solution must be found quickly before more radioactive water leaks into the environment. (National Geographic)

This is how it looks above the hazardous source:

Men & Toilet?

Garcia Marquez in his book Love in the Time of Cholera: "The toilet must have been invented by someone who knew nothing about men."

Whose Six Packs are those?

(German Focus No 24/2010)

Ticket Prices in England 2010

The Guardian (29/06/2010) compared ticket prices and revealed a stunning number for football tickets...

Worldcup Chatter

I chatted with an English academic about football, the classic game England vs. Germany in particular.
He coolly said that the best team should win. However, upon leaving the room he mumbled: “But my money is on Germany” and grinned all over his face. Well, Germany won (4-1).

On Knowing Love

"She [Sara Nariega] would defend herself, saying that love, no matter whatelse it might be, was a natural talent. She would say: 'You are either born knowing how, or you never know!" (from Garcia Marquez' Love in the Time of Cholera, 1985).

Kerkeling ueber Rhythmus und Menschen

"Rhythmus und Tempo trennen die meisten Menschen auf dem Weg. Es ist schwer, jemanden zu finden, der in einem aehnlichen Takt ueber den Weg tanzt. [...] Erst muss man sich seines eigenen Tempos ganz sicher sein und kann sich dann vielleicht jemandem anschliessen. Die Pilger sind, fuehlen und denken, wie sie laufen." (From: Ich bin dann mal weg. Meine Reise auf dem Jakobsweg, 2006)  

Journey to Mecca - Watch the Trailer

The film Journey to Mecca  is about Ibn Battuta, a great explorer of the 14th century, whose journey started 1325 in Tangier and ended 1326 in Mecca. It was an adventure, dramatic and perilous, marking the first Hajj (annual pilgrimage to Mecca) as made by millions of Muslims today. Watch the trailer here.

Invasive Ants from the Alps Spread North in Germany

The German magazine FOCUS features an article about ants which seem to be exceptionally aggressive as they keep heading north. Nothing can really stop them. Coming from the Alps, where they are from, they have come as far as Munich. As soon as people sit down outdoors on benches, in parks or playgrounds, they ‘attack’ their invader by crawling all over. Experts say that not even poison does the job because the queen who is the only one producing eggs is fed with the best food. Hence, the ants workers may end up taking poison to their ‘quarters’ and eliminate part of the brood, but in several months, if not weeks, they have compensated the loss. The queen is not affected.
National Geographic issued findings of a study on ants living in the city as well. Scientists revealed that they have never before seen an ants species invading cities and building like this. As they move on, their colonies become larger and more complex than before, which makes them invasive. On the other hand, ants spreading in the city is not surprising since it is the ideal place to nest and eat for them. (Source Photo: National Geographic)

Graduates' Favourite Work Places

(German Focus No 24/2010) 

Adjustment to Rhythm

William Golding in Lord of the Flies (1954) writes: "[...] the northern European tradition of work, play and food right through the day, made it impossible for them to adjust themselves wholly to this new rhythm."

Read Heart Pill from Imperial College

Since May 2010, Imperial researchers have been recruiting 2,000 volunteers to participate in a study on a polypill. This polypill shall help people who have a heart condition and are at risk of stroke or heart attack. According the Reporter (Issue 220), Imperial's news magazine, the following aims are pursued:


-Reducing risk of cardiovascular problems by reducing blood pressure and lowering cholesterol,
-Combining medications in one,
-Enabling people in low-income countries to have access to cheap preventive medication,
-Allowing people easy preventive treatment.


The pill is to take once a day and contains aspirin in a low dose, a statin and blood pressure-lowering medication. Because of its all-in-one nature, it is expected to be much cheaper.


Seemingly, the cost effect is the main drive to this study. Generally, it is a noble intention, but hopefully people will not forget to live in such a way that heart medication is not needed in the first place.

SOFIA Science Center - What is it?

SOFIA stands for Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy and is a Boing 747 with a German telescope. Cruising 12km above Earth, it is able to capture photographically and study 80% of infrared light that is normally studied by telescopes orbiting in space. Even though the development of this project cost $1 billion dollars, it is thought to reduce maintenance cost in the long run since space telescopes are a lot more expensive to upgrade or repair. There we have another interesting achievement of science & technology, costing the tax payer hard-earned money. Hopefully it serves mankind well.

(Picture: www.sofia.usra.edu)

Kaminer on Cheaters

"Betrueger sind oftmals nett und sympathisch, das gehoert einfach zum Beruf. Kein Mensch wird einem unsympathischen Betrueger sein Geld aushaendigen. [...] Nicht umsonst speist er sich aus den besten menschlichen Eigenschaften in Vertrauen, Naechstenliebe, die Bereitschaft zu helfen oder auch die kindliche Faehigkeit, an Wunder glauben." (from Wladimir Kaminer's Es gab kein Sex im Sozialismus, 2009)

Kaminer on Relativity of......

Everybody knows about what Wladimir Kaminer captures in his book Es gab keinen Sex im Sozialismus (2009) once again: "Morality as well as the sense of taste, is relative." (Picture: Amazon.de)

Satellite - Love - Eurovision

How does that go together? Well, easy: A love song called 'Satellite' wins the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. And it was Lena who sang and won for Germany. Nice surprise. As an expatriat living in the UK I heard of Germany's victory several days later and checked out the song. Well, I am surprised that she won. Was it because of her cheaky innocence, the casual freshness and clumsy dancing? Well, whatever the reason, she won! She touched people's minds, which is more important than a perfect voice or perfect artistic performance. Hear the song here.   (Photo: Amazon)

"Power on Earth"

"That ordinary thing [power] is like an illness. After you get used to it you almost prefer life with it, though you know it will take you to the grave. I think it is a terrible vice, and one that isn't so easy to give up." (Leonardo Padura Fuentes.  Havana Black. 1998, 2006 English) (Picture: Amazon.co.uk)

Eurozone Shocker

All members of the European Union violated their own rules: not to exceed debt of 60% of the GDP and 3% deficit. Even Germany cannot put on an innocent face....(source: bbc.co.uk)

"Horror on Earth" (A. Seebold)

"It was that day that I knew I wanted to tell the story of my family. Because horror on Earth is real and it is every day. It is like a flower or like the sun; it cannot be contained." (Alice Seebold. The Lovely Bones. 2002)

Second World War Bombs Still Kill

In Goettingen,in the heartland of Germany, a 500kg bomb from the time of World War II was found during excavation works to build a stadium. The alerted specialists, experienced sappers and combat engineers, evacuated the surrounding area immediately and initiated defuse action. But before they  could actually deactivate the bomb, it exploded. 3 specialists died. Bombs, which where dropped by allied air fighters in the 1940s, are still found quite often. Normally they do not explode unexpectedly, but they become increasingly instable with age. Sadly, despite its official end 65 years ago, WW II has claimed further three casualties. (Adapted from BBC; Photo: Spiegel)

World Famines (1693-2005)

A report dealing with historical famines caught my eye. 2 countries are re-occuring, such being China and Russia, mainly in the 19th and 20th centuries. China lost approximately 32 million people to hunger and Russia approximately 16 million in the course of ca. 100 years to famine only. The reasons for those famines (listed in 'Observations') range from merely natural ones such as drought or floods to political ones such as war and policy failure.

(Source: Survival. Global Politics and Strategy. June-July 2009. Vol. 51 No.3)

Garcia Marquez about Coffee

"Coffee is poison." (Garcia Marquez in Love in the Time of Cholera, 1985)

Cousin performing in Dutch Play 'Titanic'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGP2vzEENfw

Russians and their Tsar

"He was the old Russian yearning for the tsar or a god, for somebody to impose discipline on the nation's ancient anarchy and indolence." (from Among the Russians by Colin Thubron, 1984).

Lentulov's Depiction of Moscow

A marvellous artistic depiction of Moscow, done by Aristarkh Lentulov. He was one of the famous Russian avantgard painters during the first decade of the 20th Century. Lentulov also used Cubist elements. This painting was painted in 1913.

Who is the Boss?

The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology published the findings of a study about what kind of people often become leaders. The surprising news: Those who speak loadly and speak well, offering lots of ideas, are likely to be followed. Offering loud and quick answers seems to be the key, and the answers don't have to be correct....

The Cyclical Destiny of the Golden Buddha

I heard a story about a Golden Buddha making it from China to Cuba. The statue, standing up right, made of pure gold, emerged during the T'ang Dynasty between the 10 and 7th century bc . It survived the first great purge of Buddhism in China in the 9th century BC. Then it just had disappeared, for the first time.

Even before the Spanish kings, vessels traded with the Philippines, which was Asia's trading hub where Cina, Japan, and other Asian merchants had met for centuries and were joined by the Spaniards from the end of the 16th century....Spanish ships brought back invaluable treasures, resting in the Caribbean before moving on to mainland Europe. This is how the Golden Buddha eventually landed in Havana because the Spanish somehow got hold of the statue and sailed on the Manila galleon back to the Carribean at the beginning of the 17th century, via Brazil and Mexico. Normally, at the time, art works were rather melted down to pure gold or silver, but this statue must have impressed the new owners so much that they wanted to present it to the Spanish king in tact.

(Photo: random buddha in Gold)
Again, the Buddha was lucky to survive Spanish inquisition and Counter-Reformation, a time when means of religious display other than Catholic ones were mercilessly persecuted. Apparently, so the history, the Buddha came to Havana in 1631. It disappeared a second time shortly after that from the governor's coffers where things where kept until departure to Spain. Two and a half centuries later, the Golden Buddha came back to life when a Cuban plantage owner intended to smuggle it out the country amidst the War of Independence. For another time it was brought to the acting Spanish Captain General's treasury who had been informed about its re-appearance, and Spain was still the lawful owner. In 1870, the buddha was put on the ship Las Mercedes, heading for Spain. But the ship never made it out of the bay. A storm made it sink and the buddha disappeared for the third time.

Then, as the legend goes, the captain of that ship, Nathaniel Chavarria, must have brought it to Uruguay because he was able to establish a rich cattle ranchat around 1880, the word of which spread all the way to Cuba by a Basque geneologist who knew the Chavarria family. This Nathaniel must have given the buddha to a man called Manuel Riva Fernandez, who showed the buddha in 1902 to friends as a family relict. Shortly after that he was invited to exhibit his treasure at an art exhibition in Paris, which is the way a wider audience got to know of its existence. Eventually, Manuel's daughter Zenaida Riva inherited the buddha, married a banker called Guevara, in whose house it was securely stored until thieves broke in and stole the buddha in 1951. The Golden Buddha had vanished for the fourth time.

In 1962, an old lady of a Cuban bourgeois family who had resided in the Guevara-Riva Villa died and all her possessions were confiscated by the now revolutionary Cuban authorities. Among these items was a valuable desk of French make with secret compartments. In one of these compartments a map was found, pointing to a secret location where the buddha was allegedly buried. But the story seemed so abstruse that nobody followed the trace and the story was forgotten again until 1978. Apparently, a Cuban official being responsible for looking after confiscated bourgois valuables, kept this secret hidden in order to prepare his own escape with it from Cuba. By 1998, the attempt to escape failed and the police who had tracked the secret location following the maps clues, nonetheless, did not succeed in finding the Golden Buddha which had been wrapped in mystery for about 15 centuries by then. Still, the buddha has refused to appear, finally.........

Lev Tolstoi ueber Schriftstellerei

In einem Brief vom 2. September 1908 an Leonid Andrejew (1871-1919) schrieb er: "Ich glaube, schreiben darf man erstens nur dann, wenn der Gedanke [...] einen derart packt, dass er einen nicht eher los laesst, als bis man ihn ausgedrueckt hat, so gut man vermag. Alle anderen Beweggruende der Schriftstellerei - Eitelkeit oder das widerwaertige Geld - kommen zwar zum Hauptanlass, dem Ausdrucksbeduerfnis, hinzu, koennen aber die Aufrichtigkeit nund den Wert des Werkes nur beeintraechtigen. [...] Die Bedeutung jedes literarischen Werkes besteht allein darin, dass es nicht in direktem Sinne belehrend ist wie eine Predigt, sondern den Menschen etwas Neues, Unbekanntes erschliesst, dass dem, was das grosse Publikum fuer unstreitbar haelt, entgegengesetzt ist." (Seiten 152-153 in Tolstoj. Insel-Almanach auf das Jahr 2010. Frankfurt und Leipzig: Inselverlag, 2009).

Wanna Fun Flying? - Avoid Ryanair!

The 'Verbatim' section of Time Magazine quoted Michael O'Leary, chief executive of the European budget airline Ryanair, as follows: "We're all about finding ways of raising discretionary revenue." He dropped this hint when talking about his thoughts about charging passengers to use the toilets on board of his aircrafts....(issue 19 March 2009) O'Leary is such a dinosaur when it comes to business: greedy, greedy, greedy with no sense for people and modernity. (Photo: Guardian)

Film Reel

Soon, film reels will be historical artefacts.....

Stunning Volcano Pictures

(Source: FAZ online)

(Source: FAZ online)

Eyjafjallajokull? Huh?

Europe should recognise this name. Eyjafjallajokull is the name of the powerful volcano in Island that catapulted so much volcanic ash into the air after a spectacular eruption on the 14th April 2010, that the airspace above Europe had to be closed for almost a week. The BBC issued an informative series of slides explaining:
1. Why the volcano has such an explosive power,

2. How the ash cloud evolved,

3. How ash particles endanger flying,
4. How the ash cloud spread over Europe in the course of several days,
5. How the ash cloud spread in satellite images, and
6. How the closure of the airspace above Europe affected the air traffic.
(Source of image: 'Island-large')

Another Earthquake Hits China!

China was hit today again by an earthquake of a magnitude of 6.9. 300 people are believed to have died and hundreds more hurt. The region is remote, which will make it difficult for aid and aiders to reach the people in need now. Poor souls.
BBC compiles a list of earthquakes in the last 100 years. Shocking, how many people died because of earth's tremors!! (Graph: Wikipedia)

Quote by Garcia Marquez

"[...], Judge Arcadio thought that life is nothing but a continuous succession of opportunities for survival." Quote from In Evil Hour (1996) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Bailout

Bailingout might be the most-used and most-hated word of 2009 and 2010, most-hated at least by those countries which have to pay the bailout bill. Last year governments in Europe and America had to bailout their banks. Now bailing-out has reached the highest ever form of preventing total and utter ruin: countries bailing out other countries. The bailout contenders in the moment of truth: Germany and Greece. The Germans - with utmost reluctance  and unwillingness - were forced to give billions to the Greeks because the Greek system had gone bust. It happened in April 2010.

There is one man who had predicted exactly that: Nouril Roubini, Economist. That was in March 2009! Time Magazine published his assessment.

EU to Bail out East European Countries?

Time Magazine in March 2009 incidentally reported in a few lines that the European Union dismissed a request of bailing out nine East European countries, which claimed to be hit too hard by recession in order to cope. They would need $240 billion. Hungary led this initiative, insisting that Europe soon would have a "New Iron Curtain" because of the unequal economic stands. Hopefully, the European Union with the strongest nations Germany, France and Great Britain at its centre will not become the cow that all countries in Europe can milk when they are hungry! (Source image: howstuffworks.com)

Garcia Marquez about Wisdom

"But if they had learned anything together, it was that wisdom comes to us when it can no longer do any good." (Garcia Marquez in Love in the Time of Cholera, 1985)

Lev Tolstoi ueber Verzicht auf Gewalt

Am 07. September 1910 schrieb Tolstoi in einem Brief an Mahatma Gandhi: "Die Liebe ist das Streben der Menschenseelen nach Vereinigung und ihr daraus sich ergebendes Verhalten untereinander. [....] Er (Christus) wusste, wie es jeder verstaendige Mensch wissen muss, dass jede Anwendung von Zwang unvereinbar mit der Liebe als dem hoechsten Lebensgesetze ist und dass, sobald Vergewaltigung auch nur in einem einzigen Falle als zulaessig erscheint, damit zugleich dies Gesetz negiert wird." (aus Tolstoj. Insel-Almanach auf das Jahr 2010 von Lux, Christian & Hans-Joachim Sinn (eds). Frankfurt und Leipzig: Inselverlag: 2009)

Who's Europe's Engine?

Cover of the magazine The Economist (March 13-19th 2010)

Fascinating vs. Normal Fate

There are as many different life courses as there are human beings. Everybody is born under different circumstances, in different environments and by different parents, which ultimately shape how the life is lead. People share each others’ lives stories by just talking to each other, amongst other ways. What is it then that makes a life story more intriguing and worth listening to or remembering than others? Perhaps it is an element of drama and otherness that evokes attention and interest. In this case, I think it was.

The other day a young woman told about a person she did not like in the beginning because of her too extravagant and weird behaviour. A few months and a few encounters later, her perception had changed since she had heard more about the woman’s fate, which has been something like this: Being a young, wealthy girl from a good English family, she fell in love with a Nigerian man and went along to live with him in Nigeria. That must have been in the 1960s; the family disapproved. In Nigeria, they had 2 daughters and pursued some business together. After some time, they fell out and she had to flee with her daughters because her husband sent the mafia after her. They hid in New Zealand and could only come back to England after her husband had died. Very sadly though, the older daughter did not make it until then because she committed suicide when she was 18, which must have been in the 1980s. Being 70 years of age today, the woman has not lost any of her positive spirits, is lively and kind, and does not mind people’s attention which is often directed to her outer appearance in the first instance as she dresses extravagantly and consistently in the style of the 1940s.

"Among Russians"

Colin Thubron in his book Among the Russians - From the Baltic to the Caucasus (1984) captures a testimony of a Latvian man about Russian authorities: "You are always treated like a child. There is nothing but bureaucracy, dogma, interference! It's all so stupid." (p.120, Vintage London)

Quotation from "The Gambler"

Fyodor Dostoyevsky writes in his story The Gambler (1866): "He (Mr Astley) also says that we Russians know nothing, can do nothing, without European help." (Chapter XV)

Bombings in Moscow?

World news can be quite shocking. One wakes up in the morning and hears about killings and bombings and death and catastrophy and agony in the news. This morning though, Monday March 29th, Muscovites did not hear anyhting about the suicide blasts that had hit two underground trains and stations of Moscow's Metro until 2 hours later. National radio and TV kept broadcasting morning shows, advertisements and soaps, but nothing about the devastation in their city. People left homes for work, still embarking trains, clueless about the threat. This practice of delaying news reports or even conceal them must have reminded everyone of the autocratic and secretive way officials handled reporting of current matters in socialist Russia.

In the attacks, occuring at Lublyanka station and Park Kultury, 38 people were killed and dozens more injured. Russian officials blamed Islamist separatists from the Caucasus for the attack in the heartland of Russia. (Picture by Time Magazine)

Beyond Boundaries

Scientists have identified 9 areas that are crucial for the assessment of life on planet Earth as we know it. Exceeding their boundaries means a serious threat to the natural world and resources. They are:

-Fresh water use
-Change in land use
-Rate of Biodiversity loss
-Climate change
-Nitrogen cycle
-Phosporus cycle
-Stratospheric ozone depletion
-Atmospheric Aerosol loading
-Chemical polution
-Ocean acidification
Now, the graph shows that humans have overstepped 3 of the 9 planetary boundaries and are close to transgressing others. The ultimate impact: unknown. The way of limitation: unknown. Wow, what a prospect. (from New Scientist 2010)

Sausages

Bill Clinton quoted in his book My Life: "Someone once said that the two things people should never watch being made are sausages and laws. It was ugly and uncertain." (535)

France & McDonald's

The Times newspaper recently featured an article about French women growing bigger. So far they have been known for being skinny and very body-conscious. Now they waist numbers enlarge, and they are said to like it. French society - even though I think it is more the fashion industry, which is hard to understand anyway as a reasonably rationally thinking human being- is asked to drop they expectations in terms of weight and body shape.

A woman voice in the article further laments how McDonalds, which eventually came to a small French town, lured the people into its halls with people queueing at their counters and cars queueing at their Drive-thru. As if McDonalds were to blame for heavier if not obese bodies?!! Ultimately, it is a person's own choice what they want to eat. I am convinced that everybody is educated enough by now to know what healthy food and lifestyle is about. Speaking of lifestyle, perhaps it is particularly that what the French people want to taste and experience at McDonald's?

Teenagers??!!

Well, one hears 'teenager' and thinks 'gosh, teenager, yes....no wonder. There is quick help in dealing with teenagers, using your common sense, because ultimately common sense and psychology together have produced some key tips, which are said to help 'survive' dealing with teenagers. Surely, they can be demanding, but at the same time inspiring, energizing and just down-right wonderful. My daughter is, at the age of 13. I could have 10 of them now....anyway, 5 good tips are those:
1. Listen actively by acknowledging what they are saying and empathising with them and their feelings that come with it.
2. Acknowledge their anger and frustration in particular; sometimes they cannot quite identify frustration as such.
3. Keep bonding by doing special things together, and alone, just the two of you.
4. Keep reminding them of rules and stick to appropriate boundaries; they may not like it, but certainly respect it.
5. Reins shall be loosened; negotiation may help to do it gradually.
6. As parents, embrace new technology by sending texts or communication via social networking sites.

Five Emotions You Never Thought You Had

The magazine New Scientist, vol. 205 no 2743, reports that they are more than the six basic emotions, one never knew they had. Psychologists agree on the fact that there are the six basic emotions: joy, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust. All of them are expressed in and by our face and have been thought to be important for survival.

Since times are changing, new emotions come under researchers' radar. Such emotions mostly do not have an immediate facial expression, but serve a purpose in our lives: that of motivating activities that help us thrive. Those new emotions are: elevation, interest, gratitude, pride, and confusion. Elevation is for uplifting and linked to the release of oxytocin, which makes people feel more open and trusting, just what is needed for strengthening and repairing relationships. Interest is for curiosity and learning for the own development. Gratitude is said to be the relationship-boosting emotion. It moves us to return kindness and also helps us find individuals who want us well and be there for us in the future. It activates the give-and-take cycle. Pride is the ambiguous emotion: arrogant and noble at the same time. It is important because it makes us look and evaluate ourselves and motivates is to do well and gain respect. Finally, confusion is the emotion indication it is time for change. Still, some psychologists do not accept it as a basic emotion. Nonetheless, this one has a distinctive facial expression, unlike the others, and proves that the way our brain is working does not work at the time of assessment. It motivates us to adjust our activities and, ultimately, brings new knowledge and encourages new relationships.

The Lancet & HIV

I have come across ‘The Lancet’ on the Imperial College London website. An Imperial-based research paper on HIV treatment published online in The Lancet  was voted a must-read research paper in 2009. The Lancet is one of the world’s most prestigious medical research magazines whose mission it is to gather and grow evidence that shows how the global medical community should combat burdens of diseases that span continents.

The bespoken research paper entitled “Routine versus clinically driven laboratory monitoring of HIV antiretroviral therapy in Africa (DART): a randomised non-inferiority trial”, showed how thousands more people in Africa could be treated for HIV if routine lab tests which are very expensive were reduced to clinically necessary cases or even abandoned. The study was related to the Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), involving approximately 3,000 Africans in remote areas who had not had ART before. ART is basically necessary to keep the HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) at a low level, which keeps the immune system from further weakening. Ultimately, patient live with HIV without AIDS really breaking through. (Source of image: Wikipedia.org)

The study found that ART can be delivered effectively without routine laboratory tests on toxic effects. Saving costs on expensive tests would free money for more actual ART treatments, reaching more patients. The DART study was funded by the UK Medical Research Council, the Rockefeller Foundation and the UK Department for International Development, and officials in politics and health organisation now hope that existing HIV policies and programmes incorporate the findings of the study since it has shown how simple, but effective measures can be undertaken and delivered by health workers in even remote areas of Africa. Primary care for HIV positive patients becomes a key issue, allowing them access to ART.

Thubron on Why Russians Drink

"Many Estonians and Russians drank away half their salaries. They drink because they are bored-they've nothing else to think about. They've nowhere to go, nothing to do. When they remember the emptiness of their lives, they drink." (Quote from Among Russians-From the Baltic to the Caucasus, 1984, p.110)

Bulgakov about Vodka

'In my time', began the editor [...], 'when I worked on Vanya Sytin's Russian Word, people used to drink themselves into seeing elephants.' (Mikhail Bulgakov, The Fatal Eggs,1925, Chapter X)

Bulgakov is referring to Ivan Sytin (1851-1934), who became one of the greatest entrepreneurs Russia's when he started publishing books on a large scale, for the first time in Russia. This was extraordinary considering Russian population being predominantly illiterate and his own background, him coming from the class of unlettered peasants (90% of Russia's people that time). His printing plant as well as Moscow daily newspaper were called Russian Word.

"Vodka-the colourless innocence!"

Already back in 1984, Colin Thubron commented in his book Among the Russians-From the Baltic to the Caucasus on the famous Russian drink as follows: "Vodka-the colourless innocence! It's the curse and the liberation of Russia, a self-obliterating escape from tedium and emptiness, from interminable winter nights, and the still longer, darker nights of the soul." (68, Vintage, London) (Image: Amazon)

2010-The Year of Earthquakes?

It seems, Earth has been shaking itself relentlessly this year. Only 2 months after the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, Chile was struck by a seism of a magnitude as strong as 8.8. It was one of the most powerful ever recorded in this country. Those who survided the actual quake, had to face the killing tsunami. Overall death toll: up to 800. This happened at the beginning of March 2010. Just yesterday, 8 March 2010, another earthquake struck. It struck in eastern Turkey, killing at least 57 people, according to officials. Its magnitude was 6.0. The region which is scarcely populated is, nonetheless, heavily affected since resources are limited. (Images by BBC Online News)

A Good Man's Life

"According to Wordsworth, the best portion of a good man's life is his little, unremembered acts of kindness and love." (Bill Clinton, My Life, 2002)

Mother Teresa

I wondered whether todays' youth get to know about Mother Teresa? I have not heard anybody or the news talk about her in ages. She died in 1997, leaving a massive legacy in form of her Charity established to continue to help the poor, suffering and children throughout the world. Shewas awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

(Picture: nobelprize.org)

Mother Teresa & Confidence

"Mother Teresa's famous observation that she knew God would never giver her a heavier burden than she could carry, but sometimes she wished He didn't have so much confidence in her." (Bill Clinton, My Life, 2002)

Advocating Social Justice

Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, restlessly advocating social justice, said: "A dying person does not have time for the peripheral or the accidental ...it is wrong to waste the precious gift of time given to us on acrimony and division." (from Clinton's book My Life, 2004)

Professional Athletes and Sudden Death?

The magazine New Scientist (Vol 203 No 2725, 12 September 2009) had a closer look at the issue of sudden cardiac deaths in young sportsmen in September 2009. Shortly before that, two seemingly healthy athletes had died: the Spanish footballer Antonio Puerta and the British rower Scott Rennie.

Now the so-called 'Lausanne Recommendations' suggest regular physical examinations in order to detect problems triggering heart conditions that could be fatal. The pharma giant Merck elaborated in an article that an estimated 1 in 200,000 apparently healthy young athletes could develop abrupt-onset ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation and can die suddenly during exercise. Screenings to identify risk should be undertaken before the start of any professional sports activity with reevaluation every 2 years (for high school age) or every 4 years (if college age or older). Ultimately, they can save lives as there can be conditions which are silent.

Russia and Vodka

Russia and vodka seem to belong together like hen and egg. Since the times of Peter the Great, Russians have been known to be heavy, but jolly drinkers. Tsar Peter the Great was said to have even encouraged his fellows and subjects to drink more than they could handle as to boost their resilience towards alcohol. Stupid, roar male affectation if you ask me.
Recently though, Russia's vodka consumption as well as population decline have been resounding throughout the lands again. After Gorbachev's unsuccessful attempt to restrict alcohol uptake in 1985, Medvedev has resumed the anti-alcohol campaign in order to stop the shrinking of the Russian population, alcohol is believed to contribute to. According to a report in The Lancet medical journal in June 2009, the average male life expectancy is just over 60. On top, alcohol-related diseases caused more than half of all deaths of Russians aged 15 to 54 in the 1990s. Everybody thinks Russian men just drink themselves to death.

He has urged the government to pass new laws to regulate the sale of alcopops, vodka and beer. Currently, Russians are said to consume about 18 litres (32 pints) of pure alcohol per capita per year, which is more than double the maximum, recommended by the World Health Organisation. What's more, Medvedev wants a minimum price for a bottle and strong government control over the production of any alcohol.

One big supporter stands to his side, the Russian Orthodox Church, whose deputy head Georgy Roshchin expressed willingness and determination to take part and implement the new strategies.

Languages and God

The best stories one can hear in an everyday casual settings. So it happened yesterday during a bus into London. An old lady, sitting in the first row behind the driver said in fine formal English "So I hear you speak several languages." "yes, nine", responded the driver. "That is a favour from God. It has nothing to do with intelligence", he added and kept driving. After a few minutes of silence the lady continued saying: "However, it is great. I used to do French and Spanish in school. Also, I did German, but I was rather bad at it." And with that the conversation concluded until a short while later when the old lady said that she had to catch a bus at Swiss Cottage and the driver offered to stop there for her, which she gratefully accepted.

Eleanor Roosevelt said

..that no one can make you feel inferior without your permission: Don't give them permission." (from Clinton's My Life, 2004.) (Picture: Time)

Sozaboy?

The word 'Sozaboy' caught my attention as I was reading Felix, the Imperial College Student newspaper, published by the IC Student Union. Turns out that Sozaboy is the title of a book, written by Ken Saro-Wiwa and published in 1995. It is a shockingly realistic novel about the madness of war from the perspective of a young, naive Nigerian army recruit during the time of the Civil War (1967-1970) in Nigeria. The special language in which the book is written - called 'Rotten English' - gives the novel, touching upon already powerful, tragic topics such as genocide, war and human rights, effective messages and an extraordinary realism.

The author Ken Saro-Wiwa was not only a writer, but intellectual and human rights activist, fighting against multinational corporations which were after the oil of the Niger Delta. He was also one of the Ogoni people, decimated by genocide, which Saro-Wiwa denounced. In November 1995, he was hanged by Nigerian authorities after having been formally accused of inciting separation and riots. Informally though, the involvement of Royal Dutch Shell in the death of Saro-Wiwa is assumed and their innocence has not been proved fully.

Guess

Now, I let you guess first what time this picture was taken? 1, 2, 3. What's your verdict? Horse carriages were the most important means of transportation in the 19th Century, weren't they. So, it might be that. But no, this picture was taken on the 10th February 2010! It's Amish people in Maryland, United States, making their way through a snow storm. (Picture by TIME)

World's Disasters

Mankind has seen many disasters, taking millions of lives. This is a true, sad, general fact. Putting faces and numbers to such an informations makes a catastrophy hard to grasp for everyone. Three of the most devastating and deadliest tragedies happened in the last 5 years:
1. 2004, December, Tsunami after earthquake , hitting Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, taking 250,000 lives.
2. 2008, May, earthquake, hitting China, costing 88,000 lives.
3. 2010, January, earthquake, hitting Haiti, costing 230,000 lives.
That is more than 1/2 million lives wiped out in just 5 years. As grim and ghoulish as it may sound, it seems as earth and nature reclaim whatever is theirs by these natural disasters...


Tsunami about to land.
(Photo by BBC)

Haiti's Port-au-Prince after the quake.
(Photo by CNN)






China, Sichuan province.
(Photo by BBC)

Russian TV Show about Schools

The Russian Media is all stirrep up by a new TV show, broadcasted on Channel One Russia, National TV.  Shkola, the Russian word for school, is its title. It is controverse because it is touching upon school issues like sex, alkoholism, abuse and violence-tough areas, of which people and conservative authorities did not want to hear anything for a long time.
The Russian school had been a traditional, sacred place where children were taught big values set by the literary elite such as Pushkin and Tolstoy. Problems were not seen and denied. The producer of Channel One Russia, Igor Tolstunyev, wants to wake people up and sharpen awareness. Therefore, in the series actors are mixed with real students; they are as unadorned as one can be in front of a camera; nothing is glamorised or glossed over. They are simply authentic.
One episode, for example, deals with the issue of gang kidnapping, blind racism and abuse when Wadim (9th grade, Russian) accuses his fellow student Timur (from the Caucasus) of having kidnapped his younger brother Fedya (Russian, Skinhead). Turns out though that Fedya just ran away from home because his father (Russian, alcoholic) beat him up. (Photo by Channnel One Russia)

On Sleeping

Sleeping together in one bed is considered one of the most beautiful things in life. Nobody wants to sleep alone really. Most babies protest and cry when bedtime but do not object if one parent lay down with them; teenagers invite their friends to stay over for the night, and couples (married or not) cherish their king-size bed where they crawl into together at the end of the day. In terms of caring and daring, making and shaking realtionship, sharing beds is priceless.

But what about the quality of the sleep? The magazine Der Spiegel | Wissen (No 4/2009) points out that research on sleep has proved that due to different sleep pattern as well as genetically determined sleep mechanisms, individuals would be required to sleep alone in order to have the restorative sleep that is needed. And yet, despite scientific proof, couples claim to sleep better with their partners. It seems as if sharing beds was an expression of closeness and feeling of security, amongst westerners at least. Notwithstanding fights for the duvet, snoring, being kicked or pushed away, nobody is thinking of having separate beds, especially not women, who wake easier and more often, according to research. Sharing beds seems vital for overall well-being and quality of relationships. The quality of sleep and even sex come second and third.....

Oscar Wilde & Life

In The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), he writes: "One should sympathize with the color, the beauty, the joy of life. The less said about life's sores the better."

Ice Sculptures in Moscow

Ufo

Temperatures in Moscow during winter allow that the Ice Festival can take place every year. This year it is dedicated to the Russian history and achievements in aerospace technology. Thus all the sculptures, ranging from free interpretations related to cosmos e.g. UFO-Unknown Flighing Object, to mini copies of real space rockets, such as Soyus, can be admired at the exhibition.

Soyus

Photos: Fotos: Siegmund/.rufo