or the “Sudden Wealth Syndrom”,
by Larry Brillant. Don’t shoot yourself, nor commit suicide after having watched this video. Our world is not that gloomy, c’mon, “always look on the bright side of life” (whistle, whistle) !
Globalization,… C’mon, stay optimistic :-)
Filed under: ENGLISH, society, demography, global trends, Zeitgeist | No Comments »
Localingo & its own world… well mine, for 2 years.
You are right… the editorial is pretty weird ; not many articles (1 or 2 a month), sometimes in French, sometimes in English - no advertising, no clear editorial line, sometimes articles about Belgium, about the Balkans, songs, jokes… and a bunch of pretty personal ways to express viewpoints. Yes, this blog is just for my own pleasure, I’ll try to be more active in the coming months,… like in the old times when I wrote something different every day.
Hereunder is a reader’s world map for the past 2 months (yeah, I know, this is pretty limited).
France and the US seem to be the most enclined to read my articles ; Top10 being France, US, Belgium, Canada, Germany, UK, Switzerland, Poland, Australia, the Netherlands. From a language point of view, French, closely followed by English, and then far away German, Dutch, Polish, and so on.
Interesting to notice a few countries haven’t been “enlightened” by my bulb yet… I could maybe understand for Honduras, Cuba, Algeria, Iraq, Central Asia, North Korea, Burma, Sudan, Zimbabwe,… but for Serbia, and Estonia, I am a bit puzzled (and sad:-( very great countries).
Localingo, the blog at least - the business itself (teaching languages on the internet) probably won’t never be operational - will never be plugged off. It will maybe last 10 years, 20 years, or why not during my whole life (it is already ON for 2 years).
As maybe the earliest readers noticed, the style changed (and still does), the way to approach “ethnical specificities” - the concept I cherish - as well.
There is no advertising on this site, I have been sometimes approached by companies or writers to talk about their books, but well, I have never shown much of enthousiasm (maybe these were not that great), and time did the rest. Sometimes, I participated to “blog buzzes”, created some even, but the blog sphere is a merciless one, where the most successful ones are often hiding marketing agencies behind, or freelancers just in love with this medium (total respect), and (let’s be honest) very talented.
To carry on this honesty attitude, when I started this blog experience, I wanted to make money with LocaLingo, but well, a year ago, I realized with the kind of blog I am writing, this would be very difficult… I want to write about what I like, not what people want to read about ; and this is a very strategic mistake - a common one by the majority of the bloggers.
I might put some “google” style advertising though in the future… maybe, just for the sake to pay the server - hopefully, you won’t mind, even if this could lead to a “keyword strategy”. Let’s see.
Filed under: ENGLISH | 3 Comments »
Belgrade et ses ambassades…
Un indicateur pour connaître la qualité des relations d’un pays avec ses voisins ; l’aspect extérieur de ses ambassades - Exemple pratique ici avec la Serbie !
Toutes dispersées le long d’une avenue qui débute par un bâtiment administratif “stakhanoviste” en ruine, mortellement blessé par des cadeaux du ciel appartenant, 10 ans auparavant, à “l’oncle Sam”. Ce bâtiment est toujours debout, inoccupé - pour la mémoire ?
Par ordre croissant de protection,… ou de son absence.
- Ambassade d’Italie : bel immeuble - normal, sans aucun signe extérieur de sécurité… un peu comme plus loin dans le quartier, celle de la Biélorussie - accueillante. A noter l’ambassade du Canada - un énorme bâtiment neuf à 4 façades ; pour accueillir des nouveaux immigrants ?
- Ambassade d’Allemagne : grand immeuble, aux allures “Allemagne de l’Est” - machine à air conditionné visible. Une couche de fenêtre semble plus épaisse que l’autre. La cabine du gardien est occupée par un agent de police… comme celles de toutes les autres ambassades - la protection est officielle et présente… la Pologne semblait être en état d’alerte à ce moment-là (très proche de celle des USA) - à raison ? Ennemi public n°1 de la Serbie ? Un appel d’air à mon sens.
- Ambassade de Croatie : un petit peu plus loin, une maison villa plus modeste, dont toutes les fenêtres sont recouvertes de panneaux métalliques - pare-balles ? Une cabine de gardien est prévue à l’extérieur. Il était 10.30 du matin - en pause déjeuner peut-être… une porte sur le côté ouverte,… ? Un Serbe se devant de protéger des officiels croates - mmmh, ça laisse à réfléchir.
- Ambassade des USA : la palme d’or. Occupant un coin, avec étonnement de parts et d’autres des panneaux d’interdiction de photographier le bâtiment. Toutes les fenêtres ont été murées. Des bacs de béton blanc délimitent le trottoir, des fleurs tentent d’en faire oublier le côté massif - ils doivent certainement être efficaces dans le cas d’une voiture bélier ; voire de chars. La ruelle d’intersection est interdite au public ; un système de pont-levis empêche toute pénétration possible. Une floppée de gardes veille.
Sur la façade en face, des graffitis - “le Kosovo appartient à la Serbie”… tout s’explique. Un mois auparavant, l’immeuble avait été pris d’assaut par des manifestants.
D’autres articles sur les Balkans, et l’Europe de l’Est
Filed under: FRANCAIS, guerre | No Comments »
Financial crisis & its GeoPolitical consequences.
Less money —> Less travel —> Less contact abroad —> Less efforts to understand each other’s difference —> Less cohesion from an international point of view —> Ghettoisation effect —> Navel effect
More Poverty —> Less security —> More criminal “organisations” —> More violence, Alcohol & drug —> Less education —> Less Dreams —> More political populism.
“First time poors” —> Deception, depressive —> “Pride upset” effect —> Revenge, angerness

Now, this current stage should be very carefully managed :
IF we manage to limit the crisis to just a normal “every 10 years” one, that’s fine.
IF it slides further, the State should definitely provide help to its citizen (and not let the situation to naturally get worse). the State has to be very cautious on how to communicate the present crisis - the most effective remedies having to be prioritised - however immoral they might look like at first sight.
The risks : Strenghtening Far-Right & Far-Left wings, eventually leading Wars inside the EU.
Filed under: ENGLISH, Europe, cross-cultural, ethnic, "race", multicultural, mixity, economy, society, demography, global trends, Zeitgeist | No Comments »


