“Our knowledge has made us cynical,
our cleverness hard and unkind.
We think too much and feel too little.
More than machinery we need humanity;
More than cleverness we need kindness
and gentleness. Without these qualities
life will be violent and all will be lost.”
Charlie Chaplin, final speech from “The Great Dictator”.
Thursday May 13, 2010: Pope Calls Abortion, Divorce & Gay Marriage ’some of today’s most insidious and dangerous threats to the common good.’
Thanks, pope.
I feel relieved.
I always believed that
famine, wars, illnesses, hate, poverty, climate chages….
are the most serious threats
now I can sleep relaxed.
Kad su papu Jožek zvali,
Da l’ je majko i on plako
Kao drugi hlapci mali?
Je l’ dizao desnu u zrak?
Bješe li ga strah od Krista?
Od Židova? Komunista?
O Lili Marlen…
Kad je papa Jožek bio,
Je l’ se igro s malim mendom
Il’ se igro sa Jugendom?
Je l’ za kike vuko klinke
Ester, Hanu i Rebeku
Kad su išle put Treblinke?
O Lili Marlen…
Je li ko od Marktlovčana
Znao da će Jožek mali
Biti papa jednog dana?
A kad dim se bijeli vije,
Da l’ pomisli papa tada:
Je l’ to Moša ili nije?
O Lili Marlen…
Eto, to bih htio znati…
Da l’ mu Moša u san svrati?
Child abuse does not happen only in catholic church, of course. It happens everywhere, every time. But some naive people are surprised that it is also practiced by priests. As more and more cases emerge and more and more victims start to talk about their experiences from the youth, a big picture assembles itself. And it is becoming apparent that catholic church was systematically trying to hide this cases from the public, as much as possible, and to pretend that nothing was happening:
“Very much more serious is the role of Joseph Ratzinger, before the church decided to make him supreme leader, in obstructing justice on a global scale. After his promotion to cardinal, he was put in charge of the so-called “Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith” (formerly known as the Inquisition). In 2001, Pope John Paul II placed this department in charge of the investigation of child rape and torture by Catholic priests. In May of that year, Ratzinger issued a confidential letter to every bishop. In it, he reminded them of the extreme gravity of a certain crime. But that crime was the reporting of the rape and torture. The accusations, intoned Ratzinger, were only treatable within the church’s own exclusive jurisdiction. Any sharing of the evidence with legal authorities or the press was utterly forbidden. Charges were to be investigated “in the most secretive way … restrained by a perpetual silence … and everyone … is to observe the strictest secret which is commonly regarded as a secret of the Holy Office … under the penalty of excommunication.” (my italics). Nobody has yet been excommunicated for the rape and torture of children, but exposing the offense could get you into serious trouble. And this is the church that warns us against moral relativism! (See, for more on this appalling document, two reports in the London Observer of April 24, 2005, by Jamie Doward.)”
Deutsche Telekom is first Dax 30 company to introduce women’s quota Mar 15, 2010
-> 30 percent of management positions worldwide to be filled by women by end of 2015
Taking female advancement seriously: Deutsche Telekom is the first Dax 30 company to introduce a women’s quota. By the end of 2015, thirty percent of upper and middle management positions in the company are to be filled by women. This regulation applies worldwide. In addition to broadening its talent pool, Deutsche Telekom is also expecting to add value to the company in the long term with greater diversity at management level. More…
Pezza Pan: one could of course interrogate why only for management positions. But at least it is something. The french have already introduced women’s quota for their parliament some years ago.
The photos I posted on 20th December last year were all shot in the immediate vicinity of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Central Railway Station in Mumbai. Inside the station photographing was prohibited, as my guide cautiously indicated to me, so we went inside through a dirty understreet passage and just strolled around. It was Sunday morning and I was on a day trip to Mumbai down-town. My guide was a kind young doctor, born and living in Mumbai, whose name I unfortunately can not remember anymore. The day was sunny and hot, and the humid air on the streets was sweet and heavy, polluted by exhaust gases; but inside the station I immediately sensed the smell of tracks and trains, the smell that I liked since my childhood and which for a brief moment filled me with joy. The station was pretty much empty, an unusual situation comparing to other days of the week. This was one of the busiest railway stations in India; on all other days it was always full of people. When Ajmal Kasab and Ismail Khan walked in the station on the evening of 26th November 2008 and opened fire from their kalashnikovs, the place was packed full. They fired at the crowd of unarmed people, threw grenades on police officers and killed and severely injured more than 150 persons. When they left the building the platform I was standing on was covered with dead and dying people.
After the attacks Mumbai police prohibited unauthorised photographing inside the station and increased the security measures. I noticed two police officers sitting at the table in one corner near the main gate and stepped closer, curious to see what they were doing. Maybe they will somehow allow me to take photos anyway? As I neared them I saw that they were inspecting their automatic rifles. One weapon lay on the table, and the officer was checking the leather belt. They seemed not to be paying any attention to me. I stood there watching them for some time, until I realized that the muzzle of the weapon was pointed directly to my belly. I stepped aside.
As I was looking around it occurred to me that I was unconsciously looking for blood stains on the floor. I was standing in the middle of a broad platform surrounded by several people waiting for their trains. In front of me there were old trains with bars on the windows and special wagons reserved only for women (always the first ones - was it the sign of respect in one apparently segregating act?). Few fishermen from the suburbs passed by carrying fresh fish in bowls above their heads, children were chasing each other, sun rays were streaking through the ceiling windows high above. In my conciousness I noticed all this, but in the same time I knew that it was not what I was looking for, the present was like a curtain that I tried whole time to pull away, to see behind it. I was actually looking for blood and dead bodies, searching for bullet holes in the walls, imagining the moment when shootings started, trying to hear the explosions and screams of the victims. I was standing in a slaughter field amidst tens of dead bodies. I felt a tension in my belly, right there where the muzzle of that police officer’s rifle was pointed to just a few moments ago. All of a sudden my desire to make photos seemed deeply inappropriate. I desperately wanted to come back to reality, to forget the horror that happened here one year ago, but it was impossible. My guide asked me if I want him to try to get a permission to make some photos, but I refused. I had enough.
As we were hurrying towards one of the exits on the other end I was thinking that there actually must be many places on the face of the Earth where people died violently. Millions of years of evolution of genus Homo are immensely long time. Thousands and thousands of places were soaked in blood and covered with dead human bodies. So many of our predecessors lived and died without a trace, decayed and forever disappeared everywhere on this planet. Had I believed in ghosts I would have to accept that they were “living” with us now everywhere, in every corner of the only world we know, inhabiting every house and every home in hundreds. But I do not believe in ghosts, and neither in God. I do not think that one continues to live after death in some other form, and that a life has a purpose not revealed to us. I am convinced that we all have only this one life, and that life itself is the highest value. And when I stand in the place where I KNOW that many people lost their lives in a violent way, killed in the name of “higher” purpose, I feel frightened. Murdering a human being is like destroying a world. Our duty is to preserve life and minimise suffering. Nothing else. We are all brothers and sisters, and we do not need any religion to see it, if we just bother to think.
There was an old-fashioned scale short before the exit from the station. It bore the text “EASTERN SCALES” on it, a platform to stand on, and an opening for inserting coins. My guide urged me with a smile to step on it and measure my weight. I complied absently. After a short while the machine spat out a small yellowish card. On one side it read “HEALTH CARD - KILOGRAMS 92 - KEEP FIT - EASTERN SCALES - 49434″. It was wrong. My weight was 82. I turned the other side and read the personal message under the title “BUY YOUR OWN TICKET”: “You will emerge triumphant from your most serious reverses. A happy and comfortable old age”. As we emerged from the station to the sunny street I wondered how many nameless victims of Kasab and Khan got that very same message on the day they were murdered.
Serbian Patriarch Pavle died today after two years of serious illness, at the age of 95. Serbian president proclaimed 3 days of mourning, and stated that “…death of Patriarch Pavle represents irreplaceable loss for Serbia.”
If one death in recent Serbian history can be called “irreplaceable loss” than it is the assassination of prime minster Zoran Djindjic in 2003, and not the death of Gojko Stojcevic, the late Serbian patriarch Pavle. Although modest by nature and respected by many, Patriarch was the man of the past, chief of a repressive nationalist organization called Serbian Church, one of most important supporters of Milosevic’s crime regime and a main guardian of xenophobia and serbian isolationism. One of his better statements was the call to fellow citizens some 10 years ago: “Let us be humans, although we are Serbs!“.
Ex Pope Paulus the Second, the passionate traveller, had only one wish left in his life: to meet with serbian patriarch, but Pavle always avoided it; official explanation of serbian orthodox church was that “…it is not appropriate moment for it yet“. Here I depicted how this meeting may have looked like if it had taken place. Maybe now they finally meet, in that hot and awkward place they call hell. Actually not IN the hell, but on the barbwired fence which separates this solemn institution for eternal tormenting of poor christians souls into a Catholic and Orthodox department.
KAD JE SRPSKI SNAJPERIST MOJOJ PRIJATELJICI
ustrijelio dijete u naramku
prestala sam u boga vjerovati. Nema te, bože,
rekla sam, prekrižen si za sva vremena
i tačka. Jer bog što pušta da djecu, majkama
u naručju, ubijaju onako, ni zbog čega,
naprosto iz zabave, takav bog meni ne treba
A drugi – kako god hoće
Inače, prije rata sam mislila da bi se nebesa
na mene sručila ako bih prestala
u boga vjerovati. A eto, nije se desilo ništa
Ni crijep nije napukao na krovu moje kuće
Ja sam i dalje ja. Sarajevo i dalje Sarajevo
Nebo i dalje nebo. I eno stoji gdje je i prije bilo
Iako boga nema. Mislim, nema ga za mene
A drugi – kako god hoće
Sve se kotrlja po starome
Čak mi se čini da je ovako lakše. Ovako,
bez boga ne umijem ti to, bojim se, objasniti
Znaš, pješači se lakše bez ičega u rukama
nego kad vukljaš cekere. Jeste, dobro sam rekla
Bez boga, nekako lakše se pješači
kroz ovaj guravi život. Jedino, svaki čas osjetim
da su mi ruke prazne
“Osobno mi marksizam ništa nije značio; možebitno je, zbog njegovih tumača, izazivao u meni otpor, jer sam pristajao na njegovu neprirodnost, samo poradi gađenja prema nacionalistima. Nemam smisla ni za kakvu vrstu fanatizma. Potpuno sam svjestan da ne mogu pojmiti kakav to mamac vreba u toj filozofiji i u čemu je njezina privlačnost. Veliki pisac Czeslaw Milosz priznao je da se stidio što ne razumije “draž revolucionarnih teorija”, pa mu je preostalo jedino osloniti se na intuiciju, a intuicija je poticala njegov umjetnički um da razmisli o tomu kako “postoji potreba za uprošćenom slikom svijeta koji se zatvara u neki svoj katekizam ili popularnu brošuru”. Ali, marksizam više nije opasan, prešao je iz glava ljudi u udžbenike, još će se rijetke ptice zanimati za tu znanost, a i pisci će se sve manje baviti negdašnjim ideologijama, jer i suvremeni teror nije ništa blaži od svega onoga što je prošlo. Moja je nakana bila da iz nekog svog kuta, bez ambicija i volje da se uplećem u ozbiljna učenja ili nešto raščišćavam na tome terenu, pripovijedam o jednom vremenu i njegovim junacima, a uz pomoć svoje ljubavnice Mnemosine unosim pokoji detalj iz ličnog kuta bez kojega je pripovjedač nezamisliv. Nisam posve siguran jesam li u tomu uspio; pisac mora ponajviše sumnjati upravo onda kad pomisli da je u nečemu uspio.
Volim Chestertonovu esejistiku, uživam u njegovim obratima i duhovnim senzacijama, u lakoći s kojom izlaže svoje kršćanske svjetonazore, pa kad sam od jednog katoličkog pisca pročitao da su Karl Marx, Aristotel i Calvin “čvrsti i neustrašivi muževi mišljenja”, gotovo sam došao u napast da odem u neku knjižnicu i nađem nešto od filozofa koji tako čvrsto stoji uz Aristotela i Calvina, ali sam tu kušnju odmah zatomio, jer je vjerojatno Marx izbačen iz naših knjižnica. Bjegunci od Marxa završavaju mahom u crkvama ili na krajnjoj desnici. Kao da je Marx bio žandar koji sprječava povratak tradiciji i ulazak u crkvu. Oni koji sada hrle u katedrale, ne znaju ništa o religiji, ali taj je bijeg zgodan da se svrstaju u neku zajednicu, “u jedno tijelo” - tako se oslobađaju razmišljanja o budućnosti čime su ih marksisti gnjavili, a uza sve, žele postati obični vjernici, mali ljudi, na minimalcu individualne egzistencije. Čak im je naporno saznati nešto i o svom ideologu Isusu Kristu, pa su tako nedavna istraživanja pokazala da više od pedeset posto novokomponiranih katolika u Hrvatskoj ne zna gdje je Krist rođen, a isto ih je toliko ostalo osupnuto kad im je predočeno da je Krist bio Židov. Tako to biva kad crkva i nacionalisti kupuju komunistički otpad.”
Serbian Ministry of (mal)education has published “A collection of exercises in Serbian language” for the entrance exam for enrollment in secondary schools. Questions are related to the school textbooks that children use every day. So is the national fairytale “Mute tongue” also in the textbook for the eighth grade (13 years old pupils). This is a story about a shepherd who, after rescuing a snake, received as a gift from her the ability to understand animals. So he learns from the mare that his wife is pregnant and smiles on hearing it; his wife, however, wants to know why is he smiling, but he must not disclose the secret of his gift. As the woman persistently continues to question him, shepherd, advised by the rooster, takes the club and beats her.
So far, so good. A fairytale is a fairytale and we can not question the attitudes of medieval narrators. But in the collection of exercises (which the Ministry has approved) the correct answers to the following questions are these:
1. Shepherd’s wife in the fairytale deserves to be punished because of
- her inappropriate curiosity and negligence (fantastic)
2. Reader would have wished to have the power of the main character in order to
- deal with every situation correctly and therefore always be in the service of justice and good (even better)
3. Shepherd shows the following characteristics:
- curiosity, devotion and loyalty, persistency, honesty and kindness (aggression is not mentioned)
Propaganda poster from occupied Serbia during WWII. It says “Germany has work for all”.
Between 1941 and 1945 whole population of around 60,000 Jews has been exterminated by Serbian collaborating regime and German occupational forces. Further 200,000 serbian citizens have died, many of them in forced labour camps in Serbia and Germany.
“In order to achieve great changes that we need as a nation we must have energy. Therefore, political leadership must act as a motivational trainer in order to arouse that energy.“
“My priority is to remove all obstacles on Serbia’s road to Europe, without thinking whether those obstacles are set in a justified or an unjustified way.“
“Several things are necessary in reforms, first of all a unique vision of society. I call on people to remember that vision, the vision they fought for, the vision of an organized and successful country in which every individual is well aware of its position and responsibility“
“We want victory at any price. We know no fear. If you have a right idea and if that idea is historically alive and if your only opponent is one historically dead idea, then the victory is a matter of survival for one nation“
“If someone believes they can stop the implementation of the law by eliminating me, they are seriously deluding themselves, because I am not the system. The system will continue to function, and noone will receive amnesty for their crimes by eliminating one or two government officials.”
At a request of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), the Government of Serbia withdrew on Wednesday, Mar. 4, 2009 the Draft Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination from the parliamentary procedure. SPC filed its objections to the Draft Law the day before it had to finally be proposed to the Parliament, after five years of preparations and a broad public debate.
SPC allegedly had the consent of the Belgrade Archbishopric of the Catholic Church, the Islamic Community of Serbia, the Evangelical Church and other religious communities.
Apart from the fact that it belongs to the legislative package to enable Serbia’s inclusion into the “white Schengen list” and enable its citizens visa-free travel to EU and some other European countries, the Law represents one of the pieces of legislation most essential for the further development of democracy and respect, uphold and protection of human and minority rights, change in the value system and acceptance of equality as a condition for the functionality of the system. This Law contributes to the harmonization of Serbian legislation with the standards enshrined in numerous international instruments and the European Convention on Human Rights.
Disputed provisions of the Anti-Discrimination Law:
§ 18:
“Discrimination exists if steps are taken against the principles of freedom of expression of belief or conviction, or if an individual or a group is denied the right to acquire, maintain, express or alter their faith or conviction, as well as the right to privately or publicly express their convictions, in accordance with the law.”
§ 21:
“Gender identity and sexual orientation are a private matter and no person can be called upon to publicly declare one’s gender identity and sexual orientation. Everybody shall have the right to express their gender identity and sexual orientation, whereas discriminatory measures based on expression of gender identity or sexual orientation shall be prohibited. Freedom of expression of gender identity and sexual orientation shall relate to cases of transsexual persons as well.”
Whole text about this blatant act against further assurance of human rights and individual freedoms in Serbia is to be found here.
In order to rebuild what has been destroyed in Gaza during the latest attacks by Israeli military, it is estimated that 40 trucks full of building materials should be arriving at Gaza each day for a whole year. Even if these trucks do arrive in this small land turned into a concentration camp, their load will not be able to help children traumatized by this never-ending war rooted in stupid and banal religious hatred. How many dead humans, ruined existences and destroyed cities are necessary before people realise that there is no God, and stop killing each other over dead ideas?
Citizen Joseph Ratzinger, current elected CEO of the Catholic Church (“The Pope”), expressed his views on homosexuality again. Few days ago, addressing the Vatican’s governing body (“The Curia”), he has declared that saving the world from homosexual behaviour is as important as saving the rainforest:
On ‘human ecology’ “We need something like human ecology, meant in the right way. The Church speaks of human nature as ‘man’ or ‘woman’ and asks that this order is respected.
This is not out-of-date metaphysics. It comes from the faith in the Creator and from listening to the language of creation, despising which would mean self-destruction for humans and therefore a destruction of the work itself of God.”
On ‘gender’ “What is often expressed and signified with the word ‘gender’ leads to the human auto-emancipation from creation and from the Creator. The human being wants to make himself on his own and to decide always and exclusively by himself about what concerns him.
But, in so doing, the human being lives against the truth and against the Spirit creator. Rain forests deserve, yes, our protection but the human being - as a creature which contains a message that is not in contradiction with his freedom but is the condition of his freedom - does not deserve it less.”
Not stating by which means should the human being be ‘protected’ from all love and intimate behaviour not approved by Catholic doctrine, and how should this ‘human ecology’ be reinforced, citizen Ratzinger left me with many questions and doubts, and fears. Abusing the influential post he is currently occupying, 85-year old Joseph Ratzinger sends around the world a message which contains resemblancies to the basic concepts of ideologies responsible for immense suffering of mankind in the past. Similar views on ‘human nature’ and the necessity to ‘protect’ humans from their freedom have been most brutally enforced during the horror years of Nazism, which originated in the same country where Mr. Ratzinger was born.
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