Ξένοι and cats

For those who haven't read Luis Sepulveda, I have a proposal.
Find the book, Story Of A Seagull And The Cat Who Taught Her To Fly, and please read it!
It's exactly what the title describes..
Being back home for Christmas I was surprised to find 4 new cats at my parents garden.
As they told me the first two were raised by a male cat( the panda) and subsequently these two cats "adopted" two grey kitties..
As a human being I feel ashamed by the lesson these cats gave me..
It reminded me once more how wild our human world is, especially towards those we call in greek Ξένος....

Today, December 30 I woke up with bad news...one of the cats was killed by a car..the rest mourn...they lost their father,their brother, the one who protected them...
Adio File...

Human Rights Day....see December 10

On December 10, the international community celebrated the so called Human Rights Day..
The weekend before I was in Paris attending a conference on Diplomacy of Human Rights.
The same day, ironically enough general Gaddafi visited Paris and signed several trade contracts with President Sarkozy, including a massive arms deal!
There is a lawsuit against Gaddafi brought by the NGO Avocats Sans Frontières, on behalf of a Palestinian doctor who was tortured repeatedly while imprisoned in Libya for the HIV case..
Gaddafi has immunity as a Head of State...

La Diplomatie Des Droits De L'Homme as the french would say..

Tejas Verdes...the Triumph of Inhumanity

A former Greek-American CIA agent admitted in an interview at ABC news, that they used waterboarding as a form of interrogation technique against an Al-Qaeda suspect. He "broke" in less than 35 seconds. Mr. Kiriakou admitted that waterboarding was torture but nevertheless necessary!

What is wateboarding?
"Waterboarding is a torture technique that simulates drawing in a controlled environment. It consists of immobilizing an individual on his or her back, with the head inclined downward, and pouring water over the face to force the inhalation of water into the lungs. Waterboarding has been used to obtain information, coerce confessions, punish, and intimidate. In contrast to merely submerging the head, waterboarding elicits the gag reflex, and can make the subject believe death is imminent. Waterboarding's use as a method of torture or means to support interrogation is based on its ability to cause extreme mental distress while possibly creating no lasting physical damage to the subject. The psychological effects on victims of waterboarding can last long after the procedure. Although waterboarding in cases can leave no lasting physical damage, it carries the real risks of extreme pain, damage to the lungs, brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation, injuries as a result of struggling against restraints (including broken bones), and even death."

Please check the website of the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture and why not make a contribution..it will be significant no matter what!http://http//www2.ohchr.org/english/about/funds/torture/

For those also who have the chance, go and see the play Tejas Verdes about the Pinochet Junta in Chile.It was officially called Prison Camp No. 2 of the Military Engineers' School, was one of the first concentration camps created by the military regime and was known primarily as a torture camp.

I saw the play first time in Ireland and I left the theatre speechless..when someone asked me why not torture I said two words: human dignity and when he insisted what I meant..I proposed him to see the play

Gioconda's smile

My recent visit in Louvre, made me look for a classic album written by Manos Hadjidakis, Gioconda's smile
Somehow I had the music in my ears walking around, with an enigmatic smile!

http://www.hadjidakis.gr/

http://www.louvre.fr

London-Paris, a week full of warmth and art

Tate Modern and Louise Bourgeois
Chicago The Musical
Louvre and Ancient Greece
Family, Friendship, Love..
ending up with a bad cold and a huge smile....
needless to mention new books and shoes!!!!!!

World Children Day or Night?

Yesterday Unicef published the new report titled Progress for Children.
Apparently during the last years there is some progress.
Same day, striking news from Australia:
9 rapists of a 10 year old aboriginal girl were allowed to walk free the court after admitting the rape.
The judge justified her decision claiming that the child "probably agreed to have sex" with the 9 men!

I always hated celebration days....

20th World Aids Day

No words...
only this link: http://www.46664.com
It is the campaign inaguarated by Nelson Madela to fight HIV in 2003.
46664 was his prison number.
He was prisoner 466 imprisoned in 1964.