It's destiny now.

Arrived in La Paz.
And already in the afternoon tremendous rainfall.
Inundating the streets making them look like swimming pools.

Went to the only trailer park in La Paz.
Found a unique spot to weather the hurricane.





This will be the place for the next days.
As rainfall will be extreme, La Paz becomes a temporary swamp.
Moving will be impossible.

Many people were buying food and drinking water in La Paz.
Preparing to be locked up in their houses for days.

Meanwhile more warnings were made about this hurricane that is now upgraded to the highest category.
The National Hurricane Centre says:

Maximum sustained winds are near 155 mph...250 km/hr...with higher gusts. Jimena is a category four hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale...and very near the threshold of category five status. Some fluctuations in strength are likely during the next day or so...but Jimena is expected to remain a major hurricane until landfall. Jimena is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 5 to 10 inches over the southern half of the Baja California peninsula and portions of western Mexico during the next 2 days...with possible isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches. A dangerous storm surge along with battering waves will produce significant coastal flooding along the Baja California peninsula. PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION.

This is probably the last posting that can be made before the hurricane hits.

Farewell, everybody.

Thank you so much.

It has been wonderful.

Adios.

Pray for us.






.

Running away

Yesterday the situation with the circumstances created by the weather became so bad, it was decided to break up camp and move already to nearby La Ballena.


Where Leonard is living in an old motor home next to a hangar guarding the property of the American developer.



Originally it was believed that La Ballena would be a safe place to ride out the coming storm.
The hurricane called Jimena that is to arrive within one day.

But the thing gained in strength and now the whole south of Baja California is in an official state of emergency.
Winds of Jimena are near 145 mph (230 km/h) with higher gusts...
These winds extend outwards up to 30 miles (45 km) and because Jimena will pass close to the coast, extremely strong winds can be expected at La Ballena.
It is not believed that La Ballena will offer much protection for this kind of forces of nature.

When the National Hurricane Center warns:
Jimena is an extremely dangerous category four hurricane on
the Saffir-Simpson scale, why take risks and stay so close to the ocean and the hurricane?

Therefore headquarters has decided to get the hell out of here today.
To drive to La Paz, on the other side of the Baja peninsula, where the effects of Jimena will be less serious.

Fervent and loyal blog readers also will experience the effects of the hurricane Jimena.
There might be a blog blackout.
When the hurricane comes tonight, because of the strong winds, the satellite disk on the Fuso Szulc cannot operate and make connection to the internet.

Wait for the first new posting on this blog: the hurricane will be survived then.

For those who would like to follow the hurricane Jimena, click on:
http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/ep200913.html#a_topad




.

Hurrying hurricane

Until now it has been very quiet with hurricanes.
Over the last weeks, down south, several have been developing but they all went west towards Hawaï.

But now one is coming.
A bad one, so it seems.
It's called Jimena which means it is the 10th hurricane of the season.
(They use the alphabet to count them giving the hurricane a name of the specific letter: 10 = J = Jimena)

Jimena is moving to the northwest and it is predicted to continue to move up along the western coast of Baja California.


Not to Hawaï but traveling right along where the Fuso Szulc is located.



Once here, on Tuesday, it is predicted to be a category 4 hurricane.
One away from the worst.
Winds will be about 155 mph (250 km/h).
And a lot of rain will fall inundating and destroying.

The reality is that it is out of the question to remain at the current location.
It is wide open at El Triple and a wind of 155 mph will blow the Fuso Szulc away.
Somewhere protection must be found.

About 10 minutes from here is La Ballena.
Used to be a simple Mexican ranch.
Now it belongs to the American developer planning to make a resort here.
He has built at La Ballena a metal hangar and in a motor home Leonardo is living.
The watchman.
La Ballena is not too close to the ocean and is in a valley surrounded by low hills.
There are trees growing there too.

Tomorrow a visit will be paid to Leonardo to inquire if he is going to stay or if he is going to find cover somewhere else.
Going by the expertise of locals is often the best to do.
If he stays, the camp at El Triple will be broken up.
And the Fuso Szulc will go to La Ballena and Leonardo to submit together to the hurricane.

If he gets the hell out of here, his example will be followed of course.
Which means the end of enjoying the retreat.
Because then shelter will have to be found in the city of La Paz.
On the other side of the peninsula.
But after the hurricane it will take days and days before it will be possible to return to El Triple.
Because the dirt roads will have been washed away.

Staying at La Ballena makes it much more easy to return to El Triple.
Just 10 minutes of extreme 4x4-ing.

Usually days are sunny and warm here at El Triple.
Nature very friendly and sweet.
But she has another side too.
At this place one can feel happy, like in heaven.
But one can get killed here too, going straight to hell for being stupid.




.

Oracling over oil

In the north of Africa is a country called Algeria.
33 million people live there.
They export oil.
They make no products themselves they can export.

East of Algeria is Libya.
6 million people there.
They export oil.
But like Algeria, no products they make themselves they can export.

Further east is Egypt.
75 million inhabitants.
The country exports oil.
No export-products they make themselves.

In the Middle East is Saudi Arabia.
25 million people.
Exporting oil.
No products for export they are able to make.

North of these countries, in Europe, we have Belgium.
11 million Belgians living there.
Exporting among others machinery and equipment, chemicals, finished diamonds, metals and metal products, beer and foodstuffs like chocolate.

In France 65 million people are living.
10 million less than in Egypt.
But they are exporting a wide range of products like wine and other alcoholic beverages, aircrafts and aircraft parts, agricultural products, weapons, cheese, cars, trucks and nuclear power plants.

In Denmark 6 million people are living.
Like in Libya.
Denmark exports pigs, bacon, cheese, butter, windmills, ships and Lego.

Why is one country able to produce all kinds of goods that can be exported and another country unable to produce any goods for export?

The countries that are mentioned here and are unable to export make their money selling what they find underneath their land: oil.
With the revenues they import whatever they need.
Why bother making a car if you have the money to buy one?

But we may ask ourselves what this attitude is doing to the minds of those people.
If a country has no oil to export, it must come up with other ways to have money come in.
It inspires the people and challenges them to have the best come out of them.
But if foreign oil companies come to an oil rich country and extract the oil in exchange for tons of money, the people living there become inept.

It is explained in a more simple way by understanding that in Switzerland they know how to make a watch and in Saudi Arabia they don't.

Eventually the oil reserves will run out.
For example, in 63 years Libya will have pumped up all the oil that they have.
Meanwhile, the world will turn more and more to alternative sources of energy.
Every windmill installed is a step bringing the oil price down.

In less than a century the money now going to oil producing countries will dramatically decrease.
And then what?
How are they going to know what time it is?
To buy a watch will be too expensive for them.
While they are unable to make one themselves.
Remembering how much we pay for one gallon of gasoline now, will we care?



.

She can't sail...yet.

Many fervent and loyal blog readers will remember the recent posting about a 13 year old girl from the Netherlands who is planning to sail around the world in a 26 feet / 8 meters boat all by herself.
Her parents agreed and were assisting her in every way possible to have her obtain her goal.
She was to leave the 1st of September, 2009.

However, once this project got into the open, as the girl needed money from sponsors and publicity was made, the Government of the Netherlands and her agencies for the protection of young children intervened.

Today was the court case of the Agency for the Protection of MInors against the parents of the 13 year old aspiring globetrotter.
A female judge made the verdict that for the next two months the girl will be under the supervision of Government agencies.
Not only to avoid she will escape and sail away on her boat anyway.
But also to have her tested.
To see if she could stand the enormous pressures, tensions and challenges that involves sailing around the world by yourself in a small sailing boat.
And to see if she could have proper education by radio and e-mail while two years away from school.

For now that settles the matter.

However, we may wonder what good this whole story has been doing the girl.
Her expectations, excitement and hopes have been going sky-high while now she is in a not very pleasant situation.
For now she has to give up her ambitions.
She has to see experts who want to check her out.
And she better does well in school otherwise that will be held against her.

Poor girl.
Who might be traumatized for the rest of her life.
And bad, bad parents.
Because her parents are responsible for the mess this girl is in.

If a girl comes home and says she wants to sail the world, isn't that fantastic?
Because she shows imagination, courage, initiative and lust for life.
But as an adult, as a parent, there is a responsibility to assess how possible and realistic the new ambition of a child is.
The art of pedagogy is to steer a positive and constructive initiative of a child in a positive, constructive and most of all realistic direction.

To tell a 13 year old girl it is OK to sail the world by herself is not positive and constructive.
It has a lot to do with getting worldwide attention: for the girl and for the parents.
How far can you go in wanting to feel proud of your child?
It is an ugly thing, most of all from the parents.

Responsible parents will say to a 13 year old with wild plans: great, fantastic, let's make a plan.
Start preparing, training and meanwhile be the best in school.
And when you are 16, let's see if your ambition is still as strong.

Or the parents should respond by proposing the girl to go on the sailing trip together.
Father and daughter.
Or mother and daughter.
Whoever comes first.
As a compromise and alternative.

The people in the Netherlands live in wealth, comfort and luxury.
Most lives are without any challenges anymore.
So, many people go to nonsense extremes just to stand out.
To become someone.
To get into the spotlight.
It is all of an incredible decadency.

Why doesn't this 13 year old girl want to go to a region in the world where help is needed for the people there to survive?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Many responses came to the posting about the toe nails.
The conclusion is that the best product to apply and fight the fungus is "Miranel".
Check: http://www.miranelbrands.com/
Question now is, can someone send a bottle?
Help the man to be presentable again from head to toes!

Michel Szulc Krzyzanowski

Apartado Postal 191
Calle Adman 1
Officina Correos Centro
La Paz B.C.S.
C.P. 23000
Mexico



.

The toes out of the closet

Most people have secrets.
Things of themselves they fear to share with others.
Because they imagine it results in embarrassment.
Meaning that they fear that sharing the secret will make other people have a negative opinion about them.
Disturbing their social functioning.

However, living with secrets is not very good either.
And in many cases, it is mentally more healthy to stop the secret by revealing it compared to keeping the secret inside.

A person who can go through life knowing to have no secrets is more open, honest and enjoying.
Having a much better time.

Another aspect of having a secret is that it is big and important as long as it is kept private.
It can be then a major personal issue of dramatic proportions.
While the moment it is revealed, shared with others, it turns out the secret is not that important at all.
What was big in the personal imagination, becomes a little nothing once entering the communal conscience.
And can be left behind.

The fear that revealing the secret will have serious and negative social repercussions is most of the time not justified.
The imagination and expectation how people will respond to the issue that is a secret is usually completely wrong.
Most of the time people will understand, accept and tolerate.

Embarrassment is a phantom.
It is caring too much how other people might respond.

All this wisdom about revealing secrets is a preparation and a weapon to reveal here and now a secret that is bothering for several years now.
Yes, fervent and loyal blog readers, a secret is going to be revealed as embarrassment is left behind and trust is put in the audience.

The secret:

It concerns the feet.


More particularly, the toes.



In fact, it is about the nails.



Truth is, the nails of the largest toes.



Don't get it wrong: for most of the life the nails of the largest toes have been alright.
They have been there faithfully although of course needing cutting once a month.
Until when in Brazil in 2002, it was noticed that the nails started to deform.
Showing in a weird way.
Becoming the most ugly ones around.
Nobody can see them without feeling instantly disgusted.



Hence, the feet are kept out of sight.
Under the table.
Covered by socks.
Becoming an issue.
A secret.

The first diagnosis was that it was all because of lack of calcium.
Why then only the nails of the largest toes were deforming remained a mystery.
Anyway, calcium tablets were swallowed daily for a while.
But the nails of the largest toes were not impressed: no change for the better.

Then an expert said: those are marathon nails.
It seems that people who do daily running, develop these weird nails.
It was predicted that all the other nails would start deforming as well.
But this didn't happen.
In any case, stopping the daily running was out of the question.

Then a few months ago, a good friend claimed it was fungus.
Some organisms living underneath the nail deforming it.
Great !
Lodgers !
Every pharmacy has anti-fungus treatment for sale.
A small bottle with a liquid that needs to be applied on the toes twice a day for about 6 weeks.
Killing the uninvited organisms.
For two months the discipline was performed of applying the anti-fungus liquid on the toes twice daily.
Until this effort resulted in feeling a fool because the deformation happily continued.

So now there is nothing left to do but have the toes come out of the closet.
To shout to the world:

"The nails are deformed".

OK, that's done.
The secret is gone.
The feet are free again.

And maybe someone reading this shocking and revealing story has seen nails like this before and knows the remedy.


.

From the Treasury

We all know there is an energy crises.
We are running out of fuels and exorbitant energy use also damages the climate.

But do we know actually how much energy we use.
Per person?
Most fervent and loyal blog readers will live in a house and is there awareness for example how many gallons of water monthly a person is using?

Living in an expedition vehicle offers the opportunity to know quite exactly what is the use of energy.
For example the Fuso Szulc is equipped with a large propane tank.
This energy source is used to run the Dometic refrigerator and to do the cooking of food.
Last week a trip was made to La Paz where propane bottles can be filled.
The Fuso Szulc tank needed 42.4 liters.
That was after 29 days of retreat.
Hence, the consumption of propane gas was 1,52 liter per day.
In Mexico the price of 1 liter of propane is 5,43 Pesos.
Hence, an amount of Pesos 8,25 = € 0,44 = $ 0,64 is spent daily for cooling and cooking.

Then there is drinking water.
Not coming from the large water tank of the Fuso Szulc but bought in 20 liters re-usable plastic bottles.
In 29 days 4 bottles are needed.
Using 2,76 liter per day.
One 20 liter bottle with drinking water costs Mexican 9 Pesos.
Hence, an amount of 1,24 Mexican Pesos = € 0,07 = $ 0.10 is spent daily on drinking water.

Other prices:

Red peppers per kilo
MXP 48,90
€ 2,63
$ 3.77

Avocados per kilo
MXP 47,50
€ 2,55
$ 3.65

Granny Smith apples (imported from the USA) per kilo
MXP 21,90
€ 1,18
$ 1.69

Mangos per kilo
MXP 11,80
€ 0,63
$ 0.90

Anjou pears (imported from the USA) per kilo
MXP 33,90
€ 1,82
$ 2.61

Carrots per kilo
MXP 10,80
€ 0,58
$ 0.83

Bananas per kilo
MXP 14,90
€ 0,80
$ 1.15

Cauliflower
MXP 21,50
€ 1,16
$ 1.66

Melon per kilo
MXP 12,50
€ 0,67
$ 1.09

Tomatoes per kilo
MXP 21,90
€ 1,18
$ 1.69

Papaya per kilo
MXP 16,90
€ 0,91
$ 1.30

Mushrooms per kilo
MXP 59,90
€ 3,22
$ 4.61

Stop her or let her?

Let's say you have a daughter.
Her name is Laura and she is 13.
She comes home and she says she wants to sail around the world by herself in a 8 meter sailing boat.
What are you going to say?
OK, darling, let's go to the supermarket and buy your supplies?
Or will you tell Laura to finish her school first?

In reality, there is a 13 year old Laura that wants to sail around the world in a 8 meter sailing boat.
She lives in the Netherlands.
And without sailing one mile she is already the talk of the country.

Her parents are avid sailers.
Taking the daughter along.
Teaching her how to sail.
Having her once sail by herself from the Netherlands to the UK crossing the North Sea.

Until Laura came up with this plan to sail by herself around the world.
Somehow, she managed to convince her parents this was a brilliant idea.
They got her the boat and started preparations.
Seriously planning to send their 13 year flesh and blood on that journey that will take 2 years.
Leaving September 1, 2009.

Now, this costs money.
So, Laura and her parents went to look for sponsors.
Companies that would make the journey financially possible to get publicity in return.
This is when the plan became publicly known.

Naturally, the Government service that supervises education got to know about Laura's plan.
In the Netherlands a child is obliged by law to study in an official school until the age of 18.
If parents do not take care the child goes to school, they are punished by law.
So, Laura's parents cannot simply allow their daughter to go on a 2 year sailing trip abandoning the school where she is studying now.
The parents are claiming that Laura will study while sailing but this has not been accepted by the authorities.
In fact, the Government went to court to obtain the right to take Laura away from the supervision of her parents.
This means Laura has to go to a temporary and neutral situation, that could be foster parents.
To stop her from getting on her boat to sail away.

Because Laura's boat is ready to sail, many believe she will slip away soon.
Just get on her boat and go in spite of the objections of the Government authorities.

This whole idea of a very young person sailing the oceans is not new.
There is this English chap called Mike Perham, 17 years old who is now finishing his trip around the world in a sailing boat all by himself.
When he was 14 he crossed the Atlantic Ocean although his Dad was in another sailing boat just behind him.
And we have 16 year old Zac Sunderland from California, USA on his $ 6,500 sailing boat taking off for a trip around the world this Saturday.

Obviously, 13 year old Laura in the Netherlands has been thinking that what those boys can achieve, she could do better.

The public debate these days in the Netherlands is whether it is responsible to let a 13 year old girl go on such a trip.
Many people ask themselves if they would allow and support a daughter of 13 to sail the oceans for two years.

On national Dutch TV experts were saying it is entirely possible.
Physically she is believed to be able to handle it.
Persons who know her say mentally she can do it as well.

It is a difficult issue to have a point of view.
One could say she better finishes her school first successfully before to even talk about sailing the world.
But one could also say that it will be the most important experience of her life learning much more than in school.
That is, if she survives.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To learn more about Zac Sunderland, click on:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90990386

To learn more about Mike Perham, click on:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/sailing/5859614/British-teenager-Mike-Perham-aims-for-round-the-world-sailing-record.html


.

Why is Silicon Valley not in Saudi Arabia?

In the late seventeenth century Europe was a brilliant, modern community.
New worlds were being explored not only across the oceans but also in science, music, art and literature.
New instruments to meet practical needs were being invented.
Today, many of these achievements have become the necessities and treasures of modern man.
Like the telescope, the microscope, the thermometer, the barometer, the compass, the watch, the clock, champagne, wax candles, street lighting and the general use of tea and coffee all made their first appearance in those years.
Music in that time was written by Purcell, Vivaldi, Telemann, Rameau, Händel, Bach and Scarlatti.
In literature there was Molière, Thomas Hobbes and John Milton.
In science Descartes, Boyle and Antony van Leeuwenhoek produced scientific papers on coordinate geometry, the relations between volume, pressure and density of gases developing and using a 300-power microscope.
The greatest scientific mind in the seventeenth century was Isaac Newton.
His greatest work was the "Principia Mathematica" formulating the universal law of gravitation.

Meanwhile in those days the Europeans were exploring and colonizing the globe.
Most of South America and much of north America were ruled from Madrid.
English and Portuguese colonies had been planted in India.
Large parts of Africa were colonized by Germany, Belgium and France.
The eastern half of North America was ruled by the English, Dutch and French.

Looking back at that amazing time, we may wonder why there was such an explosion of progress, innovation and prosperity.
One major explanation is that in the seventeenth century the people were liberated from obeisance to religious doctrine.
There was religion but not an imposed doctrine.
Religion served to support all the fantastic efforts and accomplishments that were achieved.
Politicians, scientists and businessmen had specific goals but they were not forced to act and operate out of a rigid religious doctrine.

For a society to flourish religious doctrine must not be the dominant factor.
This is the conclusion when looking back at Europe in the seventeenth century.

But to understand that religious doctrine is making flourishing impossible we only need to look at contemporary countries that have wealth and potential but also have a rigid and strictly applied religious doctrine.
What is coming out of those countries in the field of science, art, literature and innovation?
Why is Silicon Valley not in Saudi Arabia?

Knowing and understanding the fact that religious doctrine is counterproductive for prosperity and innovation, we must make a choice whether to tolerate a dominant and leading position in society of orthodox religious fundamentalists who have as an agenda to have the population follow their religious doctrine.

In Afghanistan the Taliban, a movement implementing religious doctrine by force, closes down schools where girls attend.
In their view of the world, based on the Koran published in the year 632, girls and women have to be kept locked up in the house.
In Saudi Arabia women are not allowed to drive a car.

Anybody who is in favor of prosperity, freedom, equality, democracy and innovation will say no to any religious doctrine.
It should never be allowed in politics.
A segregation between state and church, or mosque, is vital for a society to have a future.

Now, fervent and loyal blog readers may say, what are you worrying about, my friend?

On july 23, 2009 the Hizb ut-Tahrir organization was holding a conference in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Hotel in Oak Lawn, Illinois.
300 persons attended.
Men in the front.
Women in the back.
This Khalifah Conference had as a theme: "The Fall of Capitalism and the Rise of Islam".
One speaker at this conference was an Imam by the name of Jaleel Abdul Razek.
He envisions the USA to become in the future a part of the Muslim world.
At which point, according to Jaleel Abdul Razek, the US Constitution will be replaced by the Shariah: the laws coming from the Koran.

Therefore we say yes to all religions including the Islam.
But in the name of our own future we must say no to every religious doctrine that wants to interfere in and determine our lives.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To learn more about the conference of Muslims in the USA where they discussed replacing the Constitution by the Sharia, click on:

http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2009/07/replacing-the-us-constitution-with-the-koran

The snail and the cheetah

To go to El Triple, Baja California, Mexico one first takes the main highway out of La Paz going north.
A narrow asphalt road that goes all the way to Tijuana and the USA.

After 60 kilometers is a dirt road going west towards the Pacific Ocean.
And to "ejidos": agricultural settlements started by the Mexican Government.

The dirt roads in Mexico are maintained by the Government.
Once in a while they send in a "grader": a wheeled machine that levels the road.
Very necessary because the cars driving the dirt road make it as a washboard.
The road surface gets uneven.
It is like a pattern of waves.
The car goes up and down and up and down.

There are two ways to drive on a washboard dirt road.
Either go high speed.
Or drive as a snail.

When driving high speed, the tires of the car stay up in the air the fraction of a second between two tops of the washboard.
In order to do this the car must be light.
And the driver needs courage: if at high speed on a washboard road suddenly there is a pothole, the car can break its shock absorbers or even its axle.

A heavy truck like the Fuso Szulc has to negotiate a washboard road at the speed of a snail.
Making it an exhausting experience because the truck goes up and down for hours.
Resulting in the body swinging forwards and backwards causing most of all neck pains.
Meanwhile, it requires to maintain absolutely the discipline to remain no matter what at low speed to avoid the whole vehicle will fall apart of heavy vibrations and movements.

These days, for a long time, the Government grader has not appeared to eliminate the washboards.
The road therefore is very, very bad.
It takes over two hours for the Fuso Szulc to get from the main asphalt road to the location of El Triple.

These very bad dirt roads are paradise though for other people.
The ones that are into dirt road racing.
They build specially designed cars to take the dirt roads of Baja California at the highest speed possible.



There is even an annual race called the "Baja 1000" with participants even from the USA.
A big event.
From November 19 to 22.



Especially on saturdays and sundays it is therefore possible to meet on the dirt roads one of those high speed cars training for the next race.
Like yesterday.
The return trip from La Paz to El Triple was on a saturday.
Going from the south to the north while the racing cars are driving from the north to the south.

Hence, it was always imagined if a racing car was met, it would be a dangerous situation.
They would not only go at high speed, but they would also probably have a one plan agenda: everybody out of the way to make the fastest time.
While the Fuso Szulc is big and heavy and can't go easily off the road to let a speed maniac pass by.

But fortunately, in the 30 years that the Baja dirt roads have been used, never a racing car has been met.
Until yesterday.

One was coming at ultra high speed.
A blue monster.
With lights on and a huge dust cloud behind.
Then an amazing thing happened.
As soon as the driver saw the Fuso Szulc, he put his foot on the brakes.
And moved his car almost immediately to the side.
High up into the sandy banks between the cactuses.
To allow the slowly moving Fuso Szulc to calmly continue its voyage.

Passing the racing car manual expressions of gratitude were expressed to the courteous driver.

When after a few minutes another racing car came into view.
Who also moved immediately to the side.

Like the next one.

It was speculated then this was probably a policy.
An agreement among the racers that when testing and training to allow priority to the regular users of the dirt road.

Fantastic.

A La Paz massage

In the city of La Paz, Baja California, Mexico, visiting to get supplies, an evening with friend Alonso.
Who was saying: " You stayed 28 days by yourself in the boondocks, right?
Must have gotten pretty lonely, no?"

What to say?
To explain at length how levels of spiritual enlightenment were reached and depths of purity that made life like lived by a virgin?

Hence it was agreed with Alonso that a good massage was needed and him being an expert of the city of La Paz, he was followed to this special place he said he knew.

It was in what looked like an office building but when entering the floor where was the massage parlor it all looked rather luxurious and lavish.
More a place we could call a boudoir.
Alonso announced the new customer to the lady at the reception who asked if Mr. Boondocker wished one or two masseuses.
One or two?

In countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore it is not uncommon to get a massage by two masseuses.
It makes it much more of a special experience.
So, why not?
Let's go extravagant for a change.

The room was large where the massage was to take place.
Beautifully furnished and decorated in a tasteful way.
With an undeniable erotic atmosphere.

The two girls were young and dressed in short white skirts.
They had a warm smile, well trained bodies and brown eyes.
In an excellent mood obviously and ready to give their best.

Before the thinking could wonder what the heck was going on, to possibly intervene or protest, the two girls relieved the customer of all his clothes.
Made him lie down stark naked on a large and soft bed.
With a lot of oil, anywhere muscles could be found, the two girls massaged them gently.
First with their hands, but then they used their elbows too.

As if this was how a massage was common in this parlor, wearing nothing underneath, the girls took off their skirts, and used now their breasts, bellies and buttocks to make the muscles of the customer flexible and rejuvenated.
Who was only thinking that if this was their way, how different though compared to massages enjoyed before, better to surrender and enjoy.

When suddenly the door of the room opened and an amazing person entered.
A woman dressed in tight black latex.
On her head she had a cap of an SS officer.
And in her hand a short whip.
"What is going on here?", she shouted with a threatening voice.
The girls stopped their activities but it was obvious they were all acting like if they were in some film.
"Tie his wrists and give him the real treatment!", she yelled whipping the girls and the astonished customer.

Before a protest could be presented, or even a refusal, or let alone an escape could be made, the wrists were tied with a silk scarf behind the back.
While feeling the whip softly landing on upper legs and arms.
The arrested body was laid down on the bed and fired by the SS officer one girl sat on the face of the customer and started rubbing her femininity for erotic servicing.
The other girl occupied herself doing expertly what is most adequately called a blow job.

Within five minutes the three women had managed to have the customer reach an orgasm that could stand up to the one his very first time.
An explosion of energy, heavenliness and elevation.
Made to jet the universe and reach beyond.
Pushed close to unconsciousness by being turned inside out.

Returned to the lady of the reception, it was time to pay.
She said: "That's $ 20 for the blow job, another $ 20 for the sitting job and $ 20 for the Gestapo woman, tips not included."

When eventually returning to Alonso waiting in a coffee shop nearby who was checking the jokes in an old "Reader's Digest", he asked how it had been.
"Like in a dream, Alonso".









.

Shopping list

Rice
cheese
margarine
raspberry preserve
honey
tomato sauce
fortified milk powder
oatmeal
apple sauce
tofu
raisins
toasted bread
mustard
dried coconut
ginger
garlic

water
drinking water
propane
C batteries

apples
oranges
grapefruits
mangoes
papayas
melons
bananas

carrots
cauliflower
peppers
more vegetables

laundry
post office



.

An unavoidable bridge

A bridge.
Connecting an almost finished 29 days period of time of the current retreat to the next one.
Not that the bridge wants to be crossed.
But if supplies run out, nothing can be done then to go to town and shop.

There is still enough water and propane in the Fuso Szulc tanks.
But the drinking water has run out as well as vegetables and fruits.

Is that an attractive prospect to go to town?
It has to be done but it is not with much pleasure.
Life at El Triple, far away from the real world, is peaceful, harmonious, healthy, interesting and productive.
In the city of La Paz it is very hot, hectic and one needs to run around to get all the supplies.

Nothing other to do but break down El Triple's camp today.
Saturday it can be built up again.
Having fresh fruit, vegetables and new peace.

The ss USA is sinking

Warren Edward Buffett (born August 30, 1930) is a U.S. investor, businessman, and philanthropist.
He is one of the most successful investors in history, the largest shareholder and C.E.O. of insurance and investment company Berkshire Hathaway and in 2008 was ranked by Forbes as the richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of approximately $62 billion.
A guy who knows everything about money and the ways it flows.
If he says something about the economy, we better listen carefully.

Today he has said that the United States is spending 85 % more money than is coming in.
What does that mean?

Imagine, you make $ 3,000 a month.
But you spend $ 5,550 a month.
That's no good, right?
You may get the extra $ 2,550 by using credit cards.
Borrowing the money from the bank.
That's expensive and some day you need to repay the money you borrowed.
Hence, in fact, of the $ 2,550 extra you borrow, part has to be used to pay the interest on the loan.
And the question is, with this extra amount you borrow and that you can spend, are you making more money than if you would simply live of your income of $ 3,000 a month?
You better do otherwise it is like sinking deeper and deeper in the drift sand.

Of course no fervent and loyal blog readers is earning $ 3,000 a month and spending $ 5,550 a month.
That would be really stupid and asking for fatal trouble.
Besides, no bank or credit card company will borrow 85 % of the monthly income.

However, currently the United States as a country, as an economic mammoth, according to Warren Buffet, is just doing that.
Spending 85 % more than is coming in.

How can this happen?
By borrowing.
From Japan and China.
And anyone who believes that the American economy in the future will be able to generate enough money to pay back the loans and pay the interests.

Warren Buffett said today that a revived American economy will not be able to generate enough revenues to bridge the gap between outlays and receipts, so changes in taxes and spending will be required.

Now, that is something no American citizen is prepared to accept.
Change in spending?
Paying higher taxes?
No way, José.

So, any politician who wants to be elected will never have a policy to increase taxes in order to pay off the national deficit that is now reaching almost 2 trillion dollars.
The politician will simply not get enough votes to be elected.
So, according to Warren Buffet, politicians may opt to quietly let inflation increase, a move that will "confiscate" wealth and allow the United States to evolve into a "banana republic economy".

It is easy to see what will be the economic future of the United States.
Either taxes will go up dramatically to pay off the national debt and consequently the American citizen will be forced to seriously limit the life of luxury and comfort.
Or, and this is the most likely scenario, inflation will lower the value of the US Dollar so much, that it will have not much buying power anymore.
Resulting in an American citizen having dollars that buy not much more than the local apples and carrots.
Everything else that comes from outside the USA will be too expensive to buy.
And that includes oil.

Warren Buffet is painting this picture of the USA today.
And nobody will be alarmed, shocked and start taking drastic measures to avoid these horror scenarios.
The ship will continue to sail while the holes in the hull let the water in more and more.
It will sink but on the deck they dance.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To read in detail what Warren Buffet has to say about the US economy, click on:
http://www.rttnews.com/Content/TopStories.aspx?Node=B1&Id=1044505&Category=Top Stories






.

The deserter # 2

What happened before:

Judy Priscoll, an American psychologist, was in Tunisia in 1943 as an officer in the American Army fighting the Germans.
She was send on a fact finding mission when her Jeep hit a land mine.
Locals took her to a village high up in the mountains where a German doctor had deserted to.
Judy was healed and taken care of by the German doctor and a relationship developed between them.
In time she got pregnant and they had a baby.
But then Judy started to feel like going home.

*****************************

Part 2.


The question whether to stay in the Tunisian village, high up in the mountains far away from the rest of the world, became a serious issue between Jurgen and Judy.
The more their son grew up, the more Judy became convinced that she should not limit his life by staying in the village.
At the same time she loved Jurgen and was understanding why he wanted to stay.
But she also started to miss her family.
She felt more and more to see them again and show them her child.
She started to miss strongly the United States: her home, her parents, her friends, her society, her culture.

Jurgen missed Germany, his family and culture also.
But he knew he couldn't go back.
He realized that by deserting the German Army he had made himself an outcast among his own people.
Jurgen therefore focused much more on the positive sides of living and working as a doctor in the isolated Tunisian mountain village.
The peace, the harmony, the simplicity of life.
He had come to appreciate that very highly.
He was content being there.

Over time, because of this issue, the relationship between Judy and Jurgen became bitter.
Jurgen came to realize he could have lived all his life in happiness in the Tunisian village if he had not met Judy.
And Judy came to realize that because of Jurgen she was condemned to live in the village.

The bitterness reached a point that they eventually understood that a compromise was not possible.
Judy couldn't stay and Jurgen couldn't go.

They came to the conclusion that a separation was the only solution.
When a caravan left the village to get supplies from the far away small town of Ksar el Hallouf, Judy and the son joined and they left the village.
Jurgen stayed behind.

Judy managed to find her way back to the USA.
She returned with her son to her native town and soon worked as a psychologist again.
Her mind and her heart were often with Jurgen and to protect him she remained vague to other people about her years in Tunesia and about the father of her son.
She remained single remembering those happy, heaven like years with Jurgen in the village.
She was unable to have a new relationship after what she had experienced in Tunisia.

When her son was old enough to go to College, Judy came home from work one day.
She started preparing dinner when the doorbell rang.
She opened the door and there Jurgen was standing.
They fell into each others arms.

Later Jurgen told her that he had not been able to live in the Tunisian village happily anymore after Judy and his son had left.
He had come to realize that being in the Tunisian village was like a constant escape.
That he had to face up his desertion.
That he had to go back to Germany and work things out there.
That’s what he had done because he realized that was the only way to return to the love he shared with Judy and his son.

Jurgen came to live with Judy and the son.
But within a few years, after the son left the house to study at a University, Jurgen and Judy packed their bags and returned to live again in the village in Tunisia.





.
____________________________________________________________________

The deserter # 1

Story in three parts.
Part # 1


The story plays in Tunisia in 1943, just after Hitler's German Army had been defeated there by the American and English Allies.
Tunisia, in Northern Africa, at the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

It was a time of confusion and anarchy.
The German occupation and military dominance had ended.
The American and English soldiers were now taking over the country.

An officer of the American Army, a woman psychologist called Judy Driscoll, was ordered by her superiors to travel to the deep South of Tunisia.
To the Matmata Hills, to do research and make a report about how local native Tunisian tribes had fared under German occupation.

Together with two American soldiers in a Jeep loaded with food, supplies, fuel and camping equipment Officer Driscoll took off from the Tunisian town of Gabes towards the mountains.

On the way they met local Tunisian people and Judy Driscoll did her research.
They traveled on for a few days and got more and more in a deserted landscape with fewer and fewer villages.

On the fourth day their Jeep hit a landmine.
Because Judy Driscoll was sitting in the back of the Jeep she survived.
The two soldiers were dead and she herself was badly wounded.
Soon she lost consciousness and drifted off into darkness.

When she regained consciousness she became aware she was in a clean but simple room.
Bright sunshine and blue sky she saw from a window.
She noticed she was in bed and her legs and arms were in bandages.

Eventually, a man came into the room.
A tall, good looking man: obviously not a local Tunisian person but a foreigner although dressed in local clothes.
He was the person who was taking care of her.
Treating her wounds, changing the bandages.

When she was able to speak, she asked his name.
He said he was Jurgen Klinsmann, a German doctor.
But he was not very willing to tell much about himself.

Slowly she recuperated from her wounds.
One day she was able to get up and with Jurgen’s help she walked outside the small and simple house.
She saw spectacular mountains all around her and a small village with fields and trees.
There was a well with plenty of water and birds singing and happy people and laughing children.
There was an incredible beauty and harmony.
Judy Driscoll felt happy to be there.

Also because of the German doctor Jurgen.
He was taking so good care of her.
Much of the time they were spending together.

He knew by now that she was an officer of the American Army and the details about what had happened to her.
She came to know that Jurgen had been a doctor in the German Army.
When it became clear that the Germans would loose the battle for North Africa, Jurgen realised that either he would be captured by the Americans and English and would have to go to a camp of prisoners of war.
Or that he would be returned by the German Army to Europe for more cruel fighting and eventually either dead or surrender.
He had made the decision to be a German Army deserter and escape to the Matmata Hills where far away and hidden he had found this peaceful village.

Locals had found Judy after the accident with the land mine and had brought her to the village believing that Jurgen as a Doctor would be able to save her life.

Judy recovering more and more her health and spending most of her time with Jurgen noticed she was developing warm and strong feelings for the German doctor.
Also Jurgen liked her more and more.
They fell in love.

In the village, that was like paradise, they lived like in heaven.
They started sleeping together and became more and more close.

After some time Judy became pregnant.
Jurgen was very happy to become a father.

But Judy had doubts.
She was thinking of the future.
Were they supposed to live in this beautiful and peaceful village for the rest of their lives ?
Away from the world ?
She asked herself if that was what she wanted her child to have as a life.
Was the child never going to see the grandparents, the familymembers ?
Never going to have a proper education ?

She talked with Jurgen about these questions she had.
But for Jurgen the situation was different.
Judy could go back to her country and would have no problems.
But that was very different for him.
He was an army deserter.
Even if the war had finished, Jurgen would never be respected by his own German people when he returned.
He would be considered a coward.
Jurgen could only be happy and live in peace by staying in the isolated Tunisian village and serve the local population with his medical skills.

The child was born.
It was a healthy boy.





.

All women should be allowed to have a face

Bikinis are not as controversial as burquas.
The body and head covering sported by certain Muslim women.



This type of dress has its origins with desert times long before Islam arrived.
It had two functions.
Firstly as a sand mask in windy conditions.
This would be worn by men and women and is still common today.
For women only the masking of the face and body was used when one group was being raided by another. These raids often involved the taking of women of child bearing age.
With all women hidden behind a veil, and the home team fighting back, the chances of being taken were substantially reduced as the women of child bearing age could not be quickly distinguished from the very young and the old.

Many Muslims believe that the Islamic holy book, the Koran , and the collected traditions of the life of Muhammed, require both men and women to dress and behave modestly in public.
However, this requirement has been interpreted in many different ways by Islamic scholars and Muslim communities.
The burqa is not specifically mentioned in the Koran.
Hence, in most countries where a majority is Muslim the burqua is not required for women to wear.
Only in certain areas women wear burquas, like in North Western Pakistan.
And then we have the Taliban who forces women in Afghanistan to wear burquas.



In Europe the burqua has become controversial.
Some European countries have now large groups of Muslims.
And some of these Muslims are orthodox and fundamental.
Instructing their women to go out wearing a burqua.

An orthodox Muslim woman can do this in Europe.
A woman can walk the streets of Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and London wearing a burqua as she pleases.
She won't be arrested and no naughty boy will try to pull down her veil.
The problems with women in Europe wearing burquas arose when orthodox Muslim girls wanted to attend school dressed in that fashion.
That was considered unacceptable by the authorities resulting in loud protests from fundamental Islamists.

It is a very peculiar situation that a west-european girl dressed in a T-shirt and mini skirt will never be allowed to walk the streets of cities in Egypt, Morocco and Iran.
While people from those countries coming to Europe believe they have a constitutional right to parade around, go to school and to work dressed in a burqua.

In the UK a conflict arose when the politician Jack Straw asked Muslim women from his constituency to remove any veils covering their faces during face-to-face meetings with him.
Straw explained to the media that this was a request, not a demand, and that he made sure that a woman staffer remained in the room during the meeting.
A media furore followed.
Some Muslim groups said that they understood his concerns, but others rejected them as prejudicial.

There is an aspect of forced controversy here.
Of willingly obstructing and challenging European societies by fundamentalist Muslims.
In the own Muslim societies the tolerance is very limited.
However, in Europe the societies are very liberal and that is happily embraced by certain Muslims to practice their customs.
And when then a certain way of dressing, like the burqua, is not everywhere allowed in Europe, like in schools, there is an outcry that this is discrimination, limitation of freedom and anti-Islam.

This policy of creating controversy even went as far as the swimming pool.
Muslim girls would show up in what they called a "burkini".
A swimming suit that is specifically designed for the female adherents of Islam.



Imagine a public swimming pool with boys and girls, men and women dressed in West-European styled bathing suites: most men in Speedos and women in bikinis.
And here come some Muslim girls in their burkinis.
And why?
Because of religion.



In France now it is not allowed anymore to wear burkinis in public swimming pools.
The reason the authorities are giving is that it is unhygienic.

The issue with the burqua and the burkini is that when a woman wears these clothes in Europe, it is a public statement.
It is the statement of saying: "I am a Muslim".
A rather provocative way of propagating a religion when we know that in the Koran, the book on which Islam is based, nothing can be found about burquas and burkinis.

It is not that controversial to express in Europe a religion with a dress code.
In countries like Spain and Italy men can be seen in the streets wearing the soutane.
And women dressed like nuns.
But the fundamental difference with the burqua is that priests and nuns keep their identity.
The people can see them in the eyes and know who they are.

The burqua takes away the public identity of the woman.
As President Sarkozy of France recently put it: "In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity,"

Fundamentalist Muslims are going back in time.
Adapting ways of living even from before the Koran was written.
Pushing women back in a position as in the days when people lived like barbarians.
That is unacceptable.
At least in Europe.



.

With what God agrees

When traveling, Gulliver's representative goes through a constant process of amazement and learning.
Because in almost every new place the locals have found ways to exist in a different way than elsewhere.
The language is different.
The religion.
The customs.
The dress code.
The culture.
The cooking.
Traveling and visiting new people is like landing on a new planet.

To truly enjoy this, one must be able to practice Krishnamurti's technique of "choiceless awareness".
The traveller may learn about a certain surprising and different custom when new people are met.
This then can be absorbed without the traveller being judgmental.
Without condemning the custom or rejecting it.

These days we are all in the footsteps of Gulliver.
Because we don't need to go somewhere anymore to learn about different ways of living.
Television brings it right into our living room.
The hiking shoes can stay in the closet because we have a sofa and a TV with National Geographic and Discovery channels.

One way to effectively practice "choiceless awareness" when learning about a different way to live life is to always keep in mind that in spite of cultural, social and religious differences, some very fundamental things we deeply share.
Things that are the same no matter how different another person elsewhere lives.

One of those things is that any other person elsewhere in the world has also a father and a mother.
There is nobody on this planet who does not have parents.
Every one of us has once been carried in the womb of a woman.

These days, on our planet, an escalation is taking place between religions.
Islam in many places has supporters who would like to see society ruled based on interpretations they make of the Koran.
These persons are very strong believers in what they are convinced of.
So strong that they are prepared to enforce their convictions on others.
This is obviously the opposite of "choiceless awareness".
It is an awareness with a tunnel vision: they see only one truth.

The awareness of a fundamentalist Muslim is within the framework of the Koran only.
Everything is seen through that tunnel.
When this approach to life is imposed on others without respect for different convictions, an unacceptable situation is created.
The principle of "choiceless awareness" cannot be exercised anymore because the personal freedom of others is entered and is tried to be forcibly altered.

Once we have a world where "choiceless awareness" is being corrupted, violence starts.
Imposing results in resistance.
And if the imposing comes with violence, the resistance will not be peaceful.

People have to learn to respect the others and accept them with the values they have.
They have to learn not to impose doctrines.
To allow fellow human beings their personal freedom.

And with this God agrees.





.

A castleless princess

It is the second time to read Tom Wolfe's "A man in full" and after the daily beach walk it is always the right time to enjoy some more chapters and devour his fabulous mastery of English and satire.

When suddenly a coquettish voice behind was heard saying: "Knock, knock".
Holy mackerel!
Right beside the Fuso Szulc expedition vehicle Princess Snow White herself...
In a beautiful dress and with a magical smile.



The pioneering photographer: Welcome your royal highness!

Princess Snow White: You can keep it informal: simply call me Princess.

The pioneering photographer: Well, Princess, what an honor you come by for a visit. Did you have a pleasant journey?

Princess Snow White: Oh, we magical people are never tired. And we don't travel. We just are.

The pioneering photographer: How interesting! By the way, not long ago dwarf Shifty passed by also and talked about you.

Princess Snow White: Really? And what did he have to say?

The pioneering photographer: Well. How to explain this? He said that the seven dwarves had enjoyed very much the time you were in their hands. But that nowadays they are sad that you left them and are living in a castle with a Prince.

Princess Snow White: For sure they are sad I am not "in their hands" anymore!

The pioneering photographer: Princess, what do you mean by that?

Princess Snow White: I will not give you the details but do you believe that me getting into a coma happened just like that?

The pioneering photographer: You, Princess Snow White, was in a coma while with the dwarves and not in a deep sleep?

Princess Snow White: Yes, a coma and you know why?

The pioneering photographer: Did you bump your head or something?

Princess Snow White: No! It was the dwarves!! Although a little bit about it was published in the LaLaLand Gazette, not many people know that the dwarves have not been behaving in an appropriate way while I was with them.

The pioneering photographer: You mean to say that the dwarves have been molesting you, Princess Snow White?

Princess Snow White: It was so bad I fell into a coma.

The pioneering photographer: So sorry to hear this. Those damned dwarves. Couldn't keep their hands off a Princess and now your name, Snow White, is shattered too. We can be sure the dwarves call you now Princess Grey White after the things they did to you.

Princess Snow White: Fortunately the Prince that kissed me back to life didn't know about it.
But moving to his castle and living with the Prince turned out to be a nightmare too.

The pioneering photographer: Oh no, Princess Snow White, this is all so shocking. It is believed you lived a life of a fairy tale princess.

Princess Snow White: This Prince, he made me do all the bookkeeping of his castle. You know, IRS, income tax, property tax. The whole administration. I spent more time working in the office than riding Blackie the horse.

The pioneering photographer: So, what did you do?

Princess Snow White: I left the Prince and his confounded castle.

The pioneering photographer: And now? Where do you live and with who?

Princess Snow White: You could say I am castleless now and single too.

The pioneering photographer: Without a castle and single, you say?

Princess Snow White: Yes... Give me a handkerchief please, to wipe these tears from my eyes.

The pioneering photographer: What a dramatic situation: Princess Grey White, sorry, Princess Snow White all on her own in this cruel world.
You need help, your majesty. Somebody new to take care of you. To treat you as a real Princess. Not like those dwarves and the Prince did. You need a real gentleman.

Princess Snow White: You sound like one.

The pioneering photographer: Well, what to say? Thank you, Princess.

Princess Snow White: Maybe I should move in with you?

The pioneering photographer: For sure there are no dwarves around here and neither is there financial administration to do. No danger to fall in a coma again.

Princess Snow White: You have a comfortable bed?

The pioneering photographer: It is a Tempur-Pedic! The best there is!!

Princess Snow White: No peas or other objects underneath?

The pioneering photographer: It is a most comfy bed where two can sleep peacefully.

Princess Snow White: Be aware though that you will sleep at the foot of the bed.

The pioneering photographer: Not next to you?

Princess Snow White: At the foot, you hear?

The pioneering photographer: But how about kissing you goodnight?

Princess Snow White: You are allowed to kiss my feet.

The pioneering photographer: And you, Princess, my ass.

Instantly she was gone.
Totally disappeared.
What a thing to say to a Princess: kiss my ass!
What a dwarf!



.

Goats kill

There is currently an epidemic raging, growing and spreading that is making more and more people very sick.
So sick that people are even dying.
The epidemic is called Q-Fever and a major outbreak is now happening in a province of the Netherlands called Noord-Brabant.


Q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii, a species of bacteria that is distributed globally.
It is a bacteria that comes from the excrement of goats and sheep.
The wind may blow over goat's pooh and carry the bacteria that can survive by itself for months.
If a human being breaths air that contains this bacteria, likely that person will get the Q-fever.
Getting headaches, feel without any energy, becoming totally miserable.
Like a 23 year old victim said: I feel like a 70 year old man.
In most cases, a treatment with antibiotics during three weeks will eventually heal the Q-Fever person.
But in many cases patients develop pneumonia.
Or the liver is attacked.
And most particularly, the heart valves may get infected needing replacement.

In this province of Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands about 2.5 million people are living.
And they happen to have industrial breeding of animals in their province.
In large halls they keep pigs, veal, chicken and goats.
Animals that never see the light of day, have no space to move and have to stand on metal grills.
How excessive and perplexing this industrial breeding has become is explained by the figures.
In an area where 2.5 million people live, they are keeping 5 million pigs.
Then there are 30 million chicken kept in halls in that part of the Netherlands.
And over 100.000 goats.

Large ventilators blow the air out of the halls where these animals are housed.
Introducing bacteria's in the environment of the human beings.
Who breath them.
And then there are millions of tons of feces coming from the animals that end up in the environment.

It is totally unnatural and irresponsible to keep so many animals together under those extreme conditions in a highly populated area.
Hence, it is only logic that diseases break out like Q-Fever.
And we may expect new and worse epidemics in the future.

So, the solution is simple.
Close down these places of hell for animals that make victims among humans.
But at that very moment, money comes into the picture.
Well being of animals and humans gets then positioned opposed to the material and economic interests of the bio industry.

For now this epidemic in the Netherlands is alarming.
Making victims.
Over 1,500 people are officially infected and this number is rising rapidly.
Three persons have died of the Q-Fever until now.
But still no initiative has been taking by the authorities to start limiting the presence in those huge numbers of animals in their province.
For that to happen, first more people must get sick and die.
Because, in the end, it is about how much money is a life of a human being worth.
For three dead people the authorities are not going to force bio-industrialists to close down their centers of animal cruelty.
The question is when drastic action will be taken: after 30 deaths? 300? 3.000?

The public would be fools for this to happen.
They must come to realize that the bio-industry is the result of their own way of how they want to spend their money.
Consumers want to buy in the supermarket a steak or a chicken for as little money as possible.
Forcing themselves not to think about the consequences of paying so little for meat.
Forgetting how those animals are treated and what food and chemical substances they are given to eat.
Ignoring how nature responds when you put 5 million pigs among 2.5 million people.

So, either the public starts boycotting meat that comes from the bio-industry.
To bring that horrible business to a halt.
Or they continue to buy and eat cheap meat and more and more people will die.






.

A visible visitor

Yesterday an unexpected visitor came by.
Because who ever expects a dwarf to knock on the door?
And there he was: an older man with a beard not taller than one foot (30 cm).
Dressed in a blue shirt, long pants, soft leather boots and a felt hat.

It was the first time a dwarf was met.
And for sure it was a shock.

Until then dwarfs were considered only to be present in fairy tales.
And in Walt Disney films.
But never ever it has been imagined that a dwarf could be met in reality.

For sure anybody who reads this will think that it is not going very well with the blogwriter.
That he starts to suffer of deprivations, illusions and hallucinations because of being in retreat too long.
But why is a reader thinking this?
Because the absolute conviction exists that dwarfs can't be real.

To illustrate more in detail this analysis: imagine the posting of today would report that a monkey came by here at El Triple in Mexico.
Many fervent and loyal blog readers will be surprised to read this but might consider that it is possibly a true report.
In the end, there are monkeys around and who knows: maybe one managed to go where the Fuso Szulc is stationed these days.

Hence, a reader will only believe that what is a truth in the own life.
If dwarfs have been seen only on the screen of the movie theatre and in the books of the grandchildren, not likely it will be taken serious that a dwarf appeared on the terrace in front of the Fuso Szulc in Mexico.

That's fine.
But remember that many people never imagined that commercial airliners would once crash in the New York Twin Towers.
So be aware how limited the imagination can be.
Something beyond the personal imagination is not necessarily impossible or untrue.

His name, the dwarf said, was Shifty.
And the following conversation developed:

S: I wish you a most beautiful morning on this wonderful day.

M: Who the hell are you? What are you? How can you be possible?

S: Relax, relax: I am a dwarf and my name is Shifty. I have come to visit you.

M: Shifty... A dwarf... This is too much!

S: Don't worry. Calm down. Nothing extraordinary. Just me, Shifty the dwarf, visiting you.

M: Explain at least how it is possible that you are here on the terrace in Mexico! Do you live nearby maybe?

S: No, my friend. We dwarves do not live in a forrest or in a village.

M: So where do you live then?

S: We live where you and certain other humans are.

M: How is that?

S: Well, you see, we are a realization in reality of us in your mind. We can sometimes become a true presence originating from your fantasy.

M: How does that work, Shifty?

S: See me as a projection. A three dimensional hologram. But with a mind that is independent and original for the time we are realized in reality.

M: That means we are really connected then, no? You a kind of spiritual offspring by originating from a human mind and existing as long as the projection works, isn't it?

S: Exactly.

M: Not having the intention to be impolite, Shifty, but now you appear to pay a visit and the question is if there can be hope that soon for example Princess Snow White may pass by too?

S: Look, my friend, you know that seven of my brothers have been involved with her, right? Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy and Sneezy. And you may know we are not on speaking terms with Princess Snow White anymore.

M: Now, Shifty, why is that?

S: You remember how we took care of her, no? Made her life as happy as possible until she seemed to be dead. Than we made this beautiful glass coffin trimmed with gold for her and we kept watch over her body through the seasons. And then this damned Prince appears, kisses her, she wakes up and follows the Prince to his castle. Do you realize we were left behind empty handed? The ungrateful bitch!

M: Yes, that is understandable you feel pissed off by Princess Snow White.

A sound of a car coming with Mexican fishermen to take oysters from the rocks.
Turning back to Shifty, he was gone.



.

Political solutions

There are several decisions governments worldwide could made that would drastically change the political and social situation in the world.
Unorthodox and rather revolutionary decisions but they have that nature because the current strategies and policies are old fashioned and not working.
In the past we have seen similar situations that revolutionary approaches to how to organize and direct societies suddenly came about.
The French revolution of 1789 and the Russian revolution of 1917.
These days we are in such a mess it is time for a new revolution.
By democratically forcing current governments to change fundamentally their policies or by a real revolution coming from the majority of the population.

Some decisions governments could take that drastically will improve the lives of many people:

1/
In the USA and elsewhere drugs should be legalized in a controlled manner.
Anybody should be able to obtain and use drugs like hard liquor, marijuana, cocaine and heroine.
Users of hard drugs can go to their GP, obtain a permit for a certain amount and buy their quantum in an official shop for prices controlled by the Government.
In this way drugs are de-criminalised.
It will end the illegal drug trade and the drug wars.
Drugs then will become a source of income for the governments.
This money should be spend to assist medically and psychologically the drug addicts.

2/
All foreign troops and fighters must leave Iraq and Afghanistan right away.
The people of Iraq and Afghanistan must be allowed to create the societies they want in a way they prefer.
Even if those societies will not be to our liking or to our economic advantage.
If the Taliban wants to create an orthodox Islamic state in Afghanistan, why should we be opposed when we tolerate it so generously of our friend Saudi Arabia?
Next, we can deal with countries with who we disagree concerning democratic rights and equality between men and women in a civilized way without violence.
By using methods like economic boycott and cultural isolation.
And using institutions like the International Court of Justice.

3/
The US Dollar must end as the worldwide leading standard in the economy.
Because the US Dollar by now is a hollow balloon and in fact completely worthless.
Business can only be allowed in currencies like the Chinese Yuan, the Japanese Yen and the European Euro: currencies that are backed up by sufficient reserves.
This will stop a standard of luxurious living in the USA that is financed by borrowing that makes billions of people elsewhere live in painful poverty.

4/
Annually the USA donates to Israel about 2,5 billions of dollars.
Since the formation of the Hamas led Palestinian Authority government after democratic elections in March 2006, the US administration has suspended its foreign assistance program to the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
What should happen is this:
Half of any financial support to Israel must go to the Palestinians.
Linked to very precise and rigorous conditions.
Any action contrary to international laws and previous agreements are immediately punished by withholding financial assistance.
This new way of financing applies not only to the USA, but to the European Union as well.
It also goes for the financial aid that Iran and Saudi Arabia are giving to the Palestinians.
Half of the money donated to the Palestinians goes to Israel but again, with very precise and rigorous conditions.
Otherwise: nothing and let the Palestinian and Israeli populations then have it fight out with their political leaders.

5/
Islamic fundamentalists must be allowed to come to Europe and the USA and propagate their ideas.
This fundamental and democratic right is exercised by Christian fundamentalists also, is it not?
However, the promoting of certain religions and ideologies is only allowed within the frame work of democracy.
Only in the lawful way as is democratically agreed upon.

6/
Industrial breeding of animals for meat consumption should be banned.




.

We kill women and children

A myth has been launched years ago by the war criminals George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld that if the Islamic militants were not fought and defeated in Iraq and Afghanistan, these Islamic militants would come and fight on European and American soil.
That the war would transfer from over there to right in your front yard.
This myth has been repeated over and over again and by now many European and American people are brainwashed in believing this is the truth.
This explains why there is little disagreement in the European and American societies with what the politicians and the military are precisely doing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Occasionally there is a public outcry, when again own troops were killed.
Or a debate in Parliament about how much longer all that money needs to be spend on the costly war.
But each time the opposition fades into impotence and the war goes on costing more lives, more destruction, more hate and more money.
And an acceptable solution is less and less likely.

Fervent and loyal blog readers based in the USA and Europe should realize that this war currently going on in Iraq and Afghanistan is OUR war.
WE started it and WE are continuing it.
That makes us implicitly responsible.
Unless you publicly speak out against the war.

Especially the war in Afghanistan is something seriously to consider to agree or disagree with.

Last week, the Head of the British Army in Afghanistan, General Sir David Richards, declared that the Afghanistan conflict could last 40 more years.
How doubtful does that make war as the way to solve a problem?
Very likely a sensible person will conclude now and here that other ways should be found to deal with the Afghan situation.
Ask the Russians!

Another very good reason to stop the daily activities in life for a moment and to think about the war in Afghanistan and how justified our involvement is, comes from learning HOW we are actually fighting that war.
Because remember, everything that happens caused by the American and NATA-troops, happens on our behalf.
We are personally responsible!

So, how do we fight this war in Afghanistan?
With drones.



Drones are unmanned airplanes loaded with missiles.
They are controlled by men in trailers in the USA.
Such a drone is the MQ-9 Predator.
The thing can stay in the air for 14 hours non-stop.
It can fly a 5.926 km (3,682 miles) at about 300 km per hour (190 miles).
The Predator has a lot of armament:
• 6 Hardpoints
◦ 1,500 lb (680 kg) on the two inboard weapons stations
◦ 500–600 lb (230–270 kg) on the two middle stations
◦ 150–200 lb (68–91 kg) on the outboard stations
• Up to 14x AGM-114 Hellfire air to ground missiles can be carried or four Hellfire missiles and two 500 lb (230 kg) GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs. The 500 lb (230 kg) GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) can also be carried. Testing is underway to support the operation of the AIM-92 Stinger air-to-air missile.



This Predator is used by the CIA and the US Special Operations Command against people.
They obtain intelligence about the possible whereabouts of Taliban or Al-Qaeda persons.
Next, they send a Predator there to bomb the location to dust.
Often, it is a gathering.
Like a wedding.
Where possibly a Taliban or Al-Qaeda person might be.
Or not.
In any case, the operator, safely inside a building in the USA, doesn't know who exactly is inside the Afghan house.


But fires a Hellfire air to ground missile at the building anyway.
Killing every single person inside.
That includes, on our behalf, women and children.



In many cases it has been established later that no Taliban or Al-Qaeda person was present at all.
That the intelligence of the CIA and the US Special Operations Command was not correct.
Apologies are then offered and the next day another house gets a Hellfire missile on its roof killing everybody inside.
According to the Marine Corps Times of August 5, 2009, the number of civilian deaths in Afghanistan in the first half of 2009 soared by 24 percent.

There is a Convention of Geneva that regulates what is allowed in a war.
There are International Laws to protect civilians when a war rages.
To shoot indiscriminately missiles at villages and civilian houses might very well be a crime of war.

What is our position in this matter?
Is that OK for us that women and children are killed in Afghanistan on a daily basis to stop a possible intrusion of Taliban and Al-Qaeda persons who may act on our soil?

If you feel uncomfortable about this situation, and you should very much do so, check out the organization Justice with Peace.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The link to learn more about "Justice with Peace":
http://www.justicewithpeace.org/


To learn more about the weapon killing civilians:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MQ-9_Reaper

Current military situation in Afghanistan as the Marine Corps Times sees it:
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/08/ap_nato_afghanistan_080509w/





.