Yes, I am a stupid idealist who hope for a better tomorrow. I’m not only hoping for it, but writing about it. The only thing I can do, since I don’t have a penny to make it actively change…
Amnesty International, thank you for taking care of our freedoms. Reader, just pay a visit to their website - the information there is worthwhile, and probably uncensored. Participate as well to their projects ?
Pretty harsh vision of this tiny country disappearing during night time (click on the map of this post). This guy spent a few days in one of the most closed country in the world - his speech is pretty much political incorrect ; at least from European standards. Maybe Myanmar in Asia could be considered on an equal basis from a human right point of view ; countries where the notion of human being is actually to be defined.
Despite this context, I found his vision interesting, and honest from an intellectual point of view. The very last footage was a hint about the type of regime ; a human being there is like a pixel - insignificant.
Apollo 11, that’s when I love the USA (despite the political symbol in a cold war context ; the USA had to fight back after Laika and Gargarine ’s trip in the space).
But Kennedy here presented such achievement as a symbol of individuality : sending someone on the moon, and getting him back. Safe. Each of us care. You are unique. You are the center of my attention. I care.
How crazy should have been Armstrong 50 years ago…
- “We would like to send a human being on the moon (and (maybe) getting him back of course) for the first time. Interested ?”
- “Stepping on the moon ? IMPOSSIBLE, no-one has ever managed to do that…” would be the most common answer I believe.
Just imagine someone requesting this from you.
- “I’ll do it for the mankind”
Why is it so difficult to spend time in the progress of humanity in our period of time ? Why don’t we have more Apollo 11 on the news ? Well, we do of course, but does not make you dream as much - it becomes even “has been”. What are the next limits to be pushed ?
If we have enough time to make wars, it is because we don’t have enough challenging goals.
Apollo 11 - The Moon Shot - Click here for funny video clips
Armstrong, the Bougainville of our last century… to continue…
Born in Brussels.
I don’t bloody care about the results of my national football team (ok, maybe except woman tennis), but I don’t mind watching a football match - I actually support the Dutch team (thanks to Overmars, so small, so fast).
I usually play low key when mentioning my origins (”born in Brussels”, that’s it, next?). My nationality is not a big deal when exchanging with “foreigners” (funny concept as well btw…).
I don’t know any Belgian folk songs by heart (and actually any songs), even if I enjoy listening at them (like any other songs from any other country). If it is possible to dance on it, I’ll be the first on the floor.
I don’t know my national anthem by heart (just the main chorus ; “le roi, la loi, la liberté” (”the king, the law, the freedom”) - ready to sing for freedom though). The English and the French ones sound great.
Even if I’m a French native speaker, I am fluent in two other languages (and basics in 5 others), I like to speak them all, alternatively, during the day. English is the new Lingua Franca, it’s a tool, a commodity. Dutch is a part of myself.
I prefer the taste of Czech beer (”Krusovice cerny” is my favorite), Belgian chocolate is fine, but I wouldn’t kill for it.
they are nice people everywhere (in Belgium and abroad). They are *ssh*les everywhere as well.
Oh, yes, I forgot,… Belgium has a government now where nearly all important political parties who competed during these elections, have gained official responsibilities (15 ministries from left to Flemish secessionist far-right sides - Mexican Army, here we are…)… opposition ? Funny Belgian concept… “concertation”, you mean.
Identity like national I.D. - if your personality were limited to what is written on this piece of plastic, I don’t think I would spend a sincere time with you (I might politely listen at you though).
Believe it or not, but this is my profession of faith as a Belgian. Keeping my eyes opened to other ways of thinking, learning from them, the world is big enough… up to you if you want to be considered as a cattle. In my country, we sell (specific) weapons (and bloody good ones) to (selected) third world countries (it is just for business of course), but we don’t use them at home… not legal for civilians to own one… we can make more money in other ways.
In the case of some hurdles in Belgium (split of the country, demonstrations). I’ll check what’s going on - if things get serious (which would sincerely surprise me), I sell everything (easy, I have nothing) and will live somewhere else, abroad (making money and surviving is hard enough) in a more peace minded country - maybe I’ll be entitled to get an Australian nationality ? Cool perspective… Little Belgium between little Armenia and Little Italy in Sidney… but don’t ask me to shoot on my neighbor because he speaks another language, and because we did not manage to communicate together. It is not because buying a gun is less time consuming, it brings a clever and long-lasting solution… and anyway I can’t really shoot.
Powerful video.
Torture should be definitely banned from planet earth.
Summary executions too.
Would be the context legitimate enough to allow such behaviours ?
You might have read a few things about Belgium lately (except from the “Walloon” F1 Grand Prix or the “Walloon” Tennis champion)…
A burning topic, “a whole country in Western Europe in the brink of a civil war” - a new Sarajevo ?
This topic is a pretty hot cookie for international media, a way to describe a country being just without a government for three months now - not because there was a coup, but because the political parties who won the elections (proportional system) didn’t manage to agree on how to share the power, on a common program for the coming government.
Pretty much simplified, the ring is composed as follows :
- On one side ; Flemish - around 6 millions inhabitants, occupying the North of the country, now economically strong, aging & stable population. Their closest language is Dutch, a different culture (Protestants), Flemish (Roman Catholics) don’t feel familiar with.
- On the other one ; French speakers - around 4 millions, occupying the South, pretty high unemployment level (20%) now, young (but not well educated) population, which could have been a bargain for factories on a cheaper side of the world.
The problem :
A strong minority of Flemish is fed up with contributing to the National (Belgian) Social welfare. They’d like therefore to stop paying for “lazy” unemployed people in the South of the country. They’d like therefore to contribute less to the National Belgian “Project”, and moving from a federal system (Belgium is indeed a Federation), to a Confederal one (like Switzerland).
Ok then, if this is just a question of money, why hasn’t it already been settled for a long time ?
Brussels, the capital of Belgium, is a huge magnet for Multinational companies, creating wealth, attracting skilled workers from all Europe (and a lot from Flanders as well). It is a French speaking city, regionally independent, surrounded (like Lesotho with South Africa) by Flemish territory. As a reminder, the majority of the country is Flemish speaking, which makes it pretty odd.
If effective territorial separation shall be, the deal for the Flemish would be clearly less attractive without this city. Taxes would be paid where money has been created, and the economical imbalances might be more “subtle”… please refer to the map hereunder.
Dear Reader, this Belgian situation is not “new”.
For more than 100 years, this topic has been on the table. It is part of our Belgian history, day-to-day topics.
Would it be then a cultural problem, the economical discrepancies being just an excuse ?
Yes, it could be, up to a certain point, without any demonstrations on the street, no violence, no “cultural” crimes like we would see in other parts of the world, of Western Europe. Flemish are affluent, people eat here, justice is kind’ of working. Common people have something to lose, and it’s good like that.
This recalls me about this truth : the smaller the cultures who realize the globalization feature of our world, the more vehement they will become to keep their identity.
The more conflicting and less open to cultural differences the context is, the strongest will the injured party retaliate. In our Belgian case, this rule applies, but a real buffer exists : the majority of the population living on the region’s border, is able to speak the other’s language, even if they don’t especially want to… a sign of mutual respect you couldn’t find easily elsewhere.
The surrounding International press is currently blaming us cause this opens their own local and regional Pandora’s “stay on the side” boxes. The UK and Spain have indeed nothing to envy from us - there, they have ETA & IRA. They should clearly keep their lessons for themselves.
Here in Belgium, even if problems are not less serious, no need for such extremists - we can use our tongues and our ears, even nowadays, which is just a common Belgian crisis.
Yes, some recognized countries in our beloved world do not possess any army (even if sometimes limited armed forces).
Some countries in our deep loved world do not massively buy weapons… Politically “weak”, dependent of a foreign armed force, sometimes rogue bank island heavens no-one dares tickling, trade-offs are plenty though, and weapons are sometimes less lethal than a few billion USD from a dodgy origin…
Europe
Andorra : 81 200 nationals, under protection of France and Spain
Iceland : 309 699, under protection of NATO & the US, some armed forces though, but limited
Liechtenstein : 35 000, under protection of Switzerland
Vatican City : 800, under protection of Italy
Monaco : 33 000, under protection of France
San Marino : 31 000, under protection of Italy
America
Costa Rica : 4 468 000, under protection of the US
Dominica : 67 000, under protection of a “Regional Security System”
Grenada : 106 000, under protection of a “Regional Security System”
Haiti : 9 598 000, some military units
Marshall Islands : 59 000, under protection of the US
Panama : 3 343 000, under protection of the US
Saint Kitts and Nevis : 50 000, under protection of a “Regional Security System”
Saint Lucia : 165 000, under protection of a “Regional Security System”
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines : 120 000, under protection of a “Regional Security System”
Pacific
Kiribati : 95 000, under protection of Australia & New Zealand
Micronesia : 111 000, under protection of the US
Nauru : 10 000, under protection of Australia
Palau : 20 000, under protection of the US
Samoa : 187 000, under protection of New Zealand
Solomon Islands : 496 000, no standing army (besides the internal conflicts)
Tuvalu : 11 000, no army
Vanuatu : 226 000, small mobile military force
Indian Ocean
Mauritius : 1 262 000, unofficially under protection of India
It does not mean, as you might have noticed, these listed countries have never experienced war and violence. Haiti, Solomon Islands for instance had many heavy internal conflicts… Army, a necessary evil ?
source : wikipedia.
Article’s idea while going through the blog of war.
Not only in Africa, or Asia, neither in South America or Siberia, but as well right close to your home in the US or Europe. Mainly through forced prostitution, forced house service or unpaid agricultural work.
There are an estimated 27 million slaves alive today. The majority, up to 20 million, are bonded laborers in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. A person there can be trapped into a lifetime of hard labour just to pay the interest on as little as $36.
The CIA and US State Department estimate that over 50,000 women and children are trafficked into the US each year.
Modern slavery usually appears through the following forms :
- Bonded labor (when labor is demanded as a means of repayment of a loan or money given in advance).
- Forced labor (forced to work, usually under threat of violence)
- Worst forms of child labor(work in conditions of slavery)
- Commercial sexual exploitation of children (well, no comment)
- Trafficking (involves the transport and/or trade of humans)
- Early and forced marriage (life of servitude, and often physical violence)
- Traditional or ‘chattel’ slavery (abducted from their homes, inherited or given as gifts)
Slavery was legally abolished in the British Empire in 1838, in Brazil in 1888, in Burma in 1929, in Saudi Arabia in 1962 and in Mauritania in 1980. Slavery still exists in all these areas.
As a citizen, with a free access to knowledge through the Internet, we should be more careful about the supply chain of our purchased goods. Do not forget the Nike or other sportwear episodes. Often, these local actions have global implications… from the raw material collection stage in a developing country to what is on your feet or plate, there may have been some unacceptabe human behaviours… Beware, or don’t sleep.
Related Loca Lingo Post : litterature and slavery
Dedicated website (source) FREE the SLAVES (excellent learning materials, download them!)
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