The problem with Europeans and the French in particular regarding DSK’s affair is that in Europe we are not used to rich and powerful people being blamed publicly for their acts and treated like a common citizen
– though they are common citizens, too. This is obviously the people’s fault, but the great majority were “educated” to this idea and apparently never grew up to think with their own heads.
We all know that common people in general can be controlled and even reach paranoia when led by a good-speaking politician. As a consequence of such brainwashing, powerful individuals,
with strong predominance in the political and financial milieu, as is the case of DSK, behave as “untouchable” because they know that money pays everything.
In the case of IMF’s head Dominique Strauss Kahn, his presidential suite and his all other privileges are in fact paid by that same people that he most probably despises and treats as puppets for his own entertainment.
In the aspect of justice equal for everybody independently from their social and financial standing, Europe should be considered more as a third country or continent than as an advanced and democratic society.
Corruption in Europe outspreads like a virus and this is mostly due to the fact that leading European countries’ governments in general have been or still are in the hands of corrupted socialist parties
- except for Italy, in tghe hands of a corrupted "right" wing man. The Northern European countries are less or not at all concerned by corruption.
See what happened in Portugal for decades, what’s happening in Greece, in Spain… to mention only a few.
And above all, recall the Santer’s Commission resignation due to corruption, especially of French members: the arrogance of the Commission in its refusal to answer questions relating to financial mismanagement;
obstruction to audit examinations and investigation; suspension of Paul van Buitenen, the whistle-blower who dared report on the Commission’s widespread frauds and cover ups.
Neither the Parliament, nor the Commission’s President could force the resignation of individual Commissioners and these could only be recalled by national governments,
and as Paris refused to recall Cresson (one of the most corrupted Commissioners) who refused to resign of her own accord, the need for a mass resignation was the only solution.
But the European Commission is still a closed culture, corruption has not been eliminated but simply changed its face, and the same names from the same European nations continue to be a feature of the European Union’s political life.
All this under the blessing of the European “people” who consider corruption as an institutionalized privilege for powerful and rich people – in particular, men – and try to get also their share of the cake.
The convenient ignorance and indifference of the media contributes with their share, too.
I don’t know DSF personally but he is well-known as a pathological womanizer. He is a rich and powerful man and the complacence of all those around him has certainly led him to feel entitled to everything to fulfill his wishes
or everyone to satisfy his sexual appetite. And as long as only money pays for justice, corruption of all kind will overspread in the world.
Justice should no longer be depicted as a woman’s statue wearing a blindfold but rather as a greedy man trying to fill his pockets with as much money as possible.
And as to the victims, they continue to be… victims.
I speak by experience because when a woman defies the privileges powerful men believe to be their own, she usually suffers retaliation for that.
I have myself been something of a victim in this aspect by the simple fact that I dared confront highly placed individuals in my working place – within the NATO organization –
and though the case is now in court and I tried for years to bring the matter to light through the media in Europe, not one single journalist wrote a single word about it. This is Europe.
THE EUROPEEN UNION IS ENDANGERING THE CITIZEN’S HEALTH
with a directive against herbal medicinal plants
I’d like to exceptionally pass on this request for signing a petition because I believe this petition is of the utmost importance for everybody who cares about her/his own health.
This petition is against Directive 2004/24/EC and is extremely urgent because the European Union intends to set an interdiction to the vast majority of health plants as from April 30.
As so many other previous EU’s directives, this will only be to the benefit and profit of multinational pharmaceutical corporations without any respect for the citizens’ health care.
For about seven years from the time it was voted until its forthcoming implementation, the media have kept this matter under great silence.
Entertaining citizens with soap operas, football and scandals seems to be more important for the media than making citizens aware of matters
concerning education, health care and justice, which do not serve the hidden interests of certain lobbies that control economy.
Citizens are regarded as pawns in a chess game and only become a matter of concern if and when they serve the interests of such lobbies.
Fortunately this affair is being known throughout Europe and beyond, and there is now a massive mobilization of citizens.
Should this directive be implemented, the European citizens will be deprived of herbal medicinal products for years and years to come.
The directive in question aims at removing access to such herbal medicinal products as thyme infusions, garlic and ginko biloba caps and a lot more.
This interdiction to ancestral medicinal knowledge is disguised through extremely expensive and long-lasting procedures that should be ready by April 30.
That is impossible. The EU’s directive is only intended in order that multinational corporations sell their pharmaceutical products,
which usually simply camouflage the symptoms without killing the origin of the illness - all this resulting in an endless taking of pharmaceutical products
that can lead to more serious illness; sometimes even to desperate situations. It was the case with Mediator, a pharmaceutical product recommended
for treating diabetes, which led to more than 500 cases of death before a sale interdiction was pronounced.
If, like me, you're fed up with all the violence, tragedies, sex scenes that the mass media and the so-called great producers impose on us everyday,
then watch the Portuguese film "Dot.com", produced by Luís Galvão Teles, and you’ll for sure feel a blow of fresh air while watching the movie.
It’s a sweet and fun story set in a most unusual but dramatically beautiful environment:
the Portuguese small village of Beco (Ferreira do Zêzere), in the area of Tomar, with superb landscapes.
A good laugh is what we all need everyday, and this movie will give you the required amount of "laugh" vitamin to face with joy at least the weak ahead.
Year 2011 started beautifully regarding travelling and cultural events. Three days after my return from Portugal, I took the train down to Geneva for a short visit to my son,
and from Geneva I flew "low cost" to London for the week end. Two major exhibitions were being held in London:
Paul Gauguin, Maker of Myth
The exhibition on Gauguin was organized by Tate Modern in association with the National Gallery of Art of Washington and would be over on January 16, 2011.
The works displayed covered Gauguin's work from every period (c. 1880–1903): paintings, watercolors, pastel, drawings, and prints, ceramic and wooden sculptures, and other genres like still life and landscapes.
Canaletto and his Rivals
As to the exhibition on Canaletto, which would as well run until January 16 only, it presented a fine assembly of his Venetian views and also key works by his 18th-century rivals,
like his nephew Bernardo Bellotto and Francesco Guardi, a real threat during the final decade of Canaletto’s life.
