FIRST DAY OF SPRING

http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsr/3337471271/

Every year it is a special feeling if you can open all the doors and windows of your apartment and breath some fresh air. Today was for me the first day I was able to do that without getting sick of the draft, my carpet wet by the rain or my fingers freezing off by the cold. It was even possible to sit on my balcony to enjoy the sun.

Therefore today, not a post with much content or meaning: simply, enjoy the day and let good feelings enter. Today was also the second day of my newly introduced scheme to speed up looking for a new job; the latest idea is to imagine that my job is to find a new job; so I will start my day at my desk at nine and work until twelve. After a lunch break (2 hours may seem a little bit long, but hey, there is more to life than work) I return to my desk for the afternoon session from two to five.

OK; it is only my second day, but until now it worked; although I start my day with reading some motivational texts to get me, oh wonder, motivated. Let's see how it works in the long run. I have tried now every trick in the book to get going and I know every trick to sabotage myself. This might be an interesting future post, but today I won't let me ruin my day by highlighting my own inefficiency.

The Hague is slowly getting to normal again, after a first day of spring and a hectic Afghanistan conference in town. Helicopters are flying the whole day to keep an eye on the safety in the city and the police is blocking roads and crossings to get delegations to and from the conference. Maybe they have got time tonight to look for the Labrador of Hillary Clinton, which has escaped and is still missing.

CHECKING REGISTRATIONS

The last few weeks I have started to take my political activities up a notch. With the European elections and the community elections coming up this year and next year the political parties are taking up their campaigning activities and so does the party that I joined a year or two ago, D66. As a social-liberal party they have the following guidelines for their political points of view:

- trust in the self-relying power of people;

- think and act international;

- reward performance and share prosperity;

- strive for a sustainable and harmonious society;

- cherish the fundamental rights and shared values;

On paper this is beautiful and very impressive, but in practice it is not always easy to act in line with all these guidelines. In essence, it is completely in line with my own views as a liberal with high regard for the person of the individual in our current society. I joined a working group on public transport in the city of The Hague; I volunteered to be president of a voting office here in town for the European elections on the 4th of June of this year and I volunteered to write some texts for the campaign for the European elections. I would have liked to have contributed to the special D66-web log on the 4th of June but it is not possible and not democratically sound to combine contributing to a web log and president of a voting office. You have to keep these activities carefully separated.

Our member in the European Parliament, Sophie in 't Veld has been very active in the field of gay rights on a European level; she was even arrested during a demonstration in Moscow. I am confident that she will be again chosen to be an MEP; if we can rely on the polls she will be joined by someone else. She will receive my vote because she is also very active in the field of privacy protection, especially vis-à-vis the US.

Later more on my activities.

CUT OFF FROM THE WORLD

Today I ended my subscription to the Volkskrant. Wtih pain in my heart because I had this subscription for almost 18 years; just after I finished university. Besides the fact that I have to cut down on my monthly costs, I noticed that I read less and less; just skimming the headlines.

In these times of crisis I felt bad after reading the newspaper. Everything is deteriorating and even if you know it is going OK, the newspapers always tend to make things catastrophic. If they continue like this they will make it catastrophic for themselves; people do not want to read how bad it is and that it will even be worse in the future.

"Good news is no news"; this is rubbish. Of course you do not have to shut your eyes for what is happening in the world, but informing us that we are in a recession is also no news. Nice; now it is official what everybody already knew.

I will get my news now from the internet and from TV; and I will still buy a newspaper at the supermarket on Thursday (for the cultural agenda) and on Saturday (for the background stories and entertainment).

I will miss my newspaper in the morning, but I will not miss the costs involved and the frustration why I have to read all the shit that is happening in the world. Hope is what we need.

привет!

привет!

Hello ! What is this ? My blog is in English and this is not English. You are right; it is time for some Russian.

For a long time Russia has my special interest now. When I studied law in the late 80s Russia, or better the Soviet Union as it was called then (remember ?!), was the big enemy and in first instance the relationship between East and West (military, politically and economically) was my main subject of study ... until Reagan and Gorbatsjov thought it was necessary to change it all and my study of international relations changed overnight into a study of modern history. I did not let it happen and switched to the European Union as subject of study.

My fascination for the communist era remained. I read books of Marx and books on Lenin, Stalin and Khrushchev and visited every country in former communist Eastern Europe except Romania. A special experience was the first and only time I went to Moscow; to stand there on Red Square in front of the Kremlin and to visit Lenin's tomb (bizarre !) was something I never forget.

Let me get this straight. I know of the horrors of communism and I am lucky I did not have to suffer under the rigidity of the regime, but it still is fascinating that people developed a system that worked totally different from the ones before. It also helped us in the West to rethink the rough edges of capitalism.

Besides the Russian classic works of literature, I also like Russian propaganda posters. This is one of the reasons why my blog is called "Red Star"; a simple and powerful symbol. Below is a picture of the propaganda poster which is hanging in my office at home. Although original posters from the period before WWII are valuable this one is not worth stealing: it is a copy. The text on the poster reads "1918 - 1948 HAIL TO THE GLORIOUS SOVIET ARMY !". Very nice for such a peaceful guy as yours truly.














Now I have decided to take my interest for Russia one step further. As a follow up of my course in American History of last year I have now decided to do a course on Politics and Culture of Russia at the University of Leiden and to refresh my knowledge of the Russian language. It starts in February and more on that later.

MY HOPES FOR MY COUNTRY

As with all countries 2008 was not such a fantastic year for The Netherlands. Like everywhere else banks threatened to collapse and you were likely to feel depressed after hearing the news almost every single day for the last six months. Of course I hope that it goes better economically in 2009 but my main concern is that the spirit seems to have gone. How can you keep up the spirit if specialists and politicians say day after day that it gets even worse than we ever thought; what do they want to prove and what is the news value of such a statement ? They only want to be in the picture, that's all.

Losing your job is a life-changing experience, of course. But there is more to life - your health, your love, your personality, your spirit, your soul. Believe me, now I am the specialist. It is worse if that goes down the drain too. We have to keep the spirit up, even it is not easy. A lot of people have lost their jobs over the years; did we pity them or did we support them ? It is the tyranny of the masses - it only gets bad if a lot of people are involved. No, it is the individual that counts - every story is different and every life is worth for society as a whole. The last sentence I read during my study of law years ago as a rationale for why committing suicide is a criminal offence. Although I do not agree with the outcome (suicide is in my opinion an individual decision we have to respect) this rationale is so beautiful that it almost convinced me.

For 2009 I hope we are able to look beyond the economic horizon. In my country the liberty of the individual is getting more and more limited: there is the threat of terrorism, partly forced upon us by paranoia; there is the loss of privacy and attacks out of cyberspace; there is the dogma of religion, which I think is still a form of indoctrination and misplaced feeling of superiority; there is the growing hate crime, which is if you belong to a minority giving you the feeling you do not belong in society; there is the increasing dominance of the family, which pushes you as a single individual more aside and there is the growing amount of official bans of all kinds.

I want to live in a country that respects me as an individual and that gives me the courage and the liberty to live up to my potential. Ten years ago Holland was such a country - it was looked upon as a free and controversial country and was a guiding country in the world on issues such as drugs, gay rights, abortion and euthanasia. I was proud that there was an open discussion possible on these issues and that every individual could decide for himself what to do with his life, as long as nobody else was hurt. I can still remember that a lot of people abroad actually thought that we were all taking drugs and that if you are old you were given an injection to die, hilarious.

Ten years later some groups are forcing their fears and their moral superiority upon us and Holland is back in line. The moral majority rules again like in the fifties. Let us decide for ourselves; everyone has the right to make up his own decision. If you make a conscious decision and nobody is hurt - be my guest. Personally I do not care if I go to hell and don't receive 72 virgins ... if you find comfort and wisdom in religion you are lucky; count your blessings but do not bother someone else with it.

Let's hope that in 2009 the influence of conservatism and paternalism will decrease and that the influence of optimism, individualism and liberty will increase. Down to earth: this government has to go. But that is not enough. We as people also have to take our own responsibility; we get the government we deserve. We all made this country into a colourless, dull and boring country.

TOO CONTROVERSIAL

It is not that often that I am proud of my country. Yesterday France and The Netherlands took the initiative to a UN declaration seeking to decriminalize homosexuality, which is a memorable event because it appears the first initiative to do so. Yes, the first. At first, I thought I did not read it correctly; no mistake, in all those years this was the first time that countries "dared" to come up with such a declaration. Shocking, but true !

First though I owe you an apology. At several occasions I stated that I did not want to turn this blog into a blog on gay issues, but there are such a lot of developments that I can not keep silent. I hope you understand ! Sure you do.

OK. The declaration condemned human rights violations based on homophobia, saying such measures run counter to the universal declaration of human rights. After reading the UN Declaration for Human Rights it is, in my opinion, not possible to conclude otherwise. Look at the first three articles:

"Article 1.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2.

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3.

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person."

Where is the spirit of brotherhood; what right to life, liberty and security of person ? What is so controversial about that ? Only 66 countries supported the initiative (mainly European and Latin-American states) even though it was not a UN resolution and therefore not binding. It is not a surprise that the Vatican and Islamic states were not among those states, but what about US, Russia and China ? What are they afraid of or do they want to preserve their "right to discriminate"?

The bloody limit is that 60 states supported an opposing statement which rejected the idea that sexual orientation was a matter of genetic coding and that the effort threatened to undermine the international framework of human rights by trying to normalize pedophilia, among other acts. I take this as a personal insult ! As if people deliberately choose to live in fear and risk to be stoned, hanged, decapitated and tortured ! How dumb people can be - it makes me angry and sad !

For 2009 I decided to boycot those states in which homosexuality is banned (80) and in which it is subject to the death penalty (9; Mauretania, Nigeria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi-Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen). Those states will not lose any sleep over it, I know, but I have to do this out of selfrespect. It will not be manageable to check for every banana or every liter of petrol where it is from; my best must be good enough. And don't come up with the argument that the peoples of those countries will suffer from boycots. In my opinion this is paternalism; you can not hide behind ignorance. Respect has nothing to do with poverty !

My world is getting smaller and smaller (no more holidays to Africa and Asia) and I want it to grow !

THE BLACKLIST:

AFRICA:
Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mauretania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe;

AMERICAS:
Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia, Trinidad;

ASIA:
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Burma, Cook Islands, India, Kiribati, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Western Samoa;

EUROPE:
none (yes, even the Vatican);

MIDDLE EAST:
Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen;

http://www.sodomylaws.org/world/world.htm
http://www.amnesty.org/en/sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/world/19nations.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=United%20Nations&st=cse
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/12/18/un-general-assembly-statement-affirms-rights-all

WILL IT CHANGE ?

As a part-time student American history it is more than logical that I would write a post on the American elections. Because they are today I have to hurry; there is not much time left.


Finally, finally, the elections have come: and we outside the US can not even vote. We can only hope that the Americans have a clear mind and do not make the same mistake for the third time after 2000 and 2004. The last years were one big inspiration for satire TV and for nothing and no-one else. So change is needed more than ever.


If you have read my other posts on the weblog you will not be surprised that I am not a big fan of McCain. As a non-religious person and a fierce opponent of the death penalty there is no reason whatsoever to vote for a conservative candidate (oh yeah... that is true, I can not vote). Conservatism can never bring change and we need change to be ready for future challenges.


But there is also not much reason to vote for Obama (if I could vote). He is a great motivational speaker, but I actually know more about his grandma and his relatives in Kenya than his views on crucial issues. What change does he want and is this the change I would have wanted ?


I did some research and read that Obama also supports the death penalty, which in my view is a cruel sentence that in no civilized country should be enforced; never. Also the current American legislation on the possession of weapons is not understandable for me. After the bloodshed on the Columbine High School and Virginia Tech one should expect measures to be taken; not in the USA - it is a right of all citizens to carry a weapon and whether kids kill whole school classes or fired employees kill their former boss and colleagues, that is not our problem. They should have bought weapons and have defended themselves ... Also no big changes by Obama here.


Then a third big ethical issue: same-sex marriage. Obama opposes same-sex marriage but says no to initiatives like proposition 8 in California. What is here the big change; it is easy to hide behind state legislation and to not take a stand. At least he is not denying a whole group of citizens their civil rights as McCain does.


Still waiting for the big change ... I suppose we have to find it in the person of Obama, certainly not in his views, although his standpoint on other issues than those mentioned above could be more revolutionary (!?). They will certainly not make him a socialist (or even a social-democrat) or a supporter of terrorism as McCain would like to make us believe.


So in the cradle of capitalism people can choose between two candidates: a conservative and a very conservative candidate. You can choose more brands of peanut butter, not only in the US but even here in the Netherlands.


OK, it is the system, I know, and this system has not changed in the last 200 years and will certainly not change in the next few years. And this voting system might be the best system to get the people back to the voting booth. People can identify with two candidates of flesh and blood. This has the same fascination as Big Brother and the Idols series on TV; once you get to know the people involved you want to know how it all ends and who will win.


But can we put the whole burden of realizing change on the shoulders of one person ? Are we so desperate or is his power that enormous that he can change a whole nation with his motivational talks ? Time for change.


Will Obama fix it ? He might. There is only one who can certainly fix it: YES, HE CAN :