just for the fun of it...

I've no clue if this is actually true. but hey, I'm on holiday... what do you expect ;)

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny %55 plepoe can. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcus eae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

SAY NO TO FUR! get angry.. do something about it!

FACTS

INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS

NEED MORE PERSUASION? (graphic image! dear environmentalists, you already are persuaded so please don't torture yourselves with these!!!)

STILL NEED MORE PERSUASION? (or are masochistic...)

ODE TO A NEWLY-BORN’S FATHER

NEW THINGS ARE HARDLY GOOD ONES FOR THE WORLD THESE DAYS,
THEY USUALLY ARE DIFFICULT TO CELEBRATE
AS THERE ARE

LESS AND LESS FIRMS WITH MORE AND MORE CAPITAL,

MORE PEOPLE WITH LESS ACCESS TO LIVELIHOOD,

LESS FREEDOM FOR PEOPLE, MORE FREEDOM FOR THE GLOBAL CASH FLOW,

MORE WARS AND MORE WEAPONS,

LESS ARMS CONTROL, LESS INTERNATIONAL LAW,

LESS ORDER AND LESS EQUALITY

MORE AND MORE BABIES AND LESS PLACE AND RESOURCES IN THE PLANET...

YET, THIS ONE IS… BECAUSE HERE IS ONE OF THE RARE BABIES
THAT I KNOW WILL DO WELL IN LIFE EVEN WITHOUT MY HELP,
FOR I KNOW HIS FATHER…

STILL ON MY PART, I PROMISE TO DO A FEW THINGS FOR HIM:

I PROMISE TO DO MY BEST IN PROTECTING HIS RIGHTS TO

LIFE,

THOUGHT,

CLEAN WATER, AIR, AND FOOD,

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, EDUCATION,

FREEDOM FROM ALL DOGMAS, AS WELL AS ENSLAVING RATIONAL THOUGHT,

FREEDOM TO LIVE THE LIFE HE CHOOSES,

FREEDOM FROM PATRIARCHAL PREDISPOSITIONS AND ENFORCEMENTS,

AND FREEDOM FROM WARS

WHENEVER, WHEREEVER HE ASKS FOR IT,
AND OCCASIONALLY WHEN HE DOESN’T ASK FOR IT, AS WELL...

I ALSO PROMISE TO STRUGGLE FOR THESE RIGHTS OF OTHERS
WHEN I FEEL THAT HE IS INFRINGING THEIRS.
(ALL IN MY OWN WAY, AND OPEN TO QUESTIONING AND SUGGESTIONS…)

FOR I THINK WE ALL SHOULD FEEL RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR ACTIONS
ON THE PLANET AND THEIR EFFECTS ON OTHERS’ LIVES…

LOVE AND CONGRATS TO RASHMI AND SAM
AND A WARM WELCOME TO THEIR SON…

AYSEM

AND FOR ONCE IN TURKISH:

Canım kızım, güzel kızım,
Adı denizden gelen kızım
Büyükler dünyasına hoşgeldin!
Ne kadar içtendin biliyor musun?
Değişeceksin!
Öğreteceğiz sana okumayı, yazmayı, iyi olmayı
Ancak karşılaştırmak yok yazılanla söyleneni
Çünkü hemen farkedeceksin!
Canım kızım, güzel kızım, adı denizden gelen kızım
Koza gibi gizlenmeyi gösteririz insana
Üç beş deney yeter inan
Hele sev bir insanı;
Yetmeyecek kütüphanler falan anlatacaklarına, göreceksin!
Canım kızım, güzel kızım, adı denizden gelen kızım
Diyeceğiz sana "İnsan Hakları!"
O gün sakın açma gazeteleri
Diyeceğiz sana kardeşlikten barıştan...
Dakikada binler ölüyor açlıktan
Demeyeceğiz tabii: "En özgür, gelişmiş ülkeler en sıkı silah tüccarları"
Onu artık sen bulacaksın
Canım kızım, güzel kızım, adı denizden gelen kızım
Daha güzel bir dünya vermek isterdim sana, ancak ben de bulmadım
Beş on şarkı yazdım sadece
Hayata yeni şarkılar lazım
Sen de öyle yap, yaşayacaksın!

Bülent Ortaçgil

Declaration of the Assembly of the Movements of the 4th European Social Forum in Athens*

(The 4th European Social Forum took place in Athens-Greece on the 4-7 May 2006. The European Social Forum is, alongside Genoa and Seattle, one of the major events of the movement against neoliberal globalization and war, deregulation of labor and poverty, climate change and environmental destruction, violation of democratic rights and sexism, racism and the threat of the far right.)

[...]

Some very important events are already on the agenda:

• We will mobilize for a complete withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afganistan, against the threat of a new war in Iran, against the occupation of Palestine, for nuclear disarmament, to eliminate military bases in Europe and we call for a week of action from 23 to 30 September 2006.

• We appeal for a international day of action and mobilization the 7th of October 2006 in Europe and Africa, for a European unconditional legalization and equal rights to all migrants; for the closure of all detention centers in Europe, for the stop to externalization, for the stop to deportations; against the precariousness and for the uncoupling of the link between resident permit and the labor contract, for a residence citizenship.

• We will mobilize against the casualization and the dismanting of public services and for the social rights coordinating our struggles in the whole Europe in the next months.

In January 2007, the ESF will meet in Nairobi. The growth of the African social movements is crucial for the world. Building for the WSF will be an opportunity to fight against European exploitation and neo-colonialism.

In June 2007, there will be a meeting of the European Union Council and a meeting of the G8 at Rostock in Germany after the one in St Petersburg in July this year. We will seize the opportunity of these occasions for a general convergence of our struggles.

* click here for the full text

World Press Photo Exhibition in Oude Kerk

World Press Photo contest selected a color image of the Canadian photographer Finbarr O'Reilly of Reuters as World Press Photo of the Year 2005.

This year's exhibition was a little less moving that last year's. Still, it took me a while and a lot of tears to get over the images that will remain with me for the rest of my life. the way it is every year...

The exhibition is in Oude Kerk in A'dam. (list of other cities)So if you are in the center, why not have a look around the tragedies and the beauties of the world from the lenses of the best photographers on the ground?

24 April 2006 - 18 June 2006

Visiting hours:
Monday - Saturday 10.30 - 17.30
Sundays 13.00 - 17.30
Closed 29 April

Guided tours are available on Mondays at 13.30 and on Wednesdays at 10.30
(The tours are free of charge)

Address:
Oude Kerk
Oudekerksplein 23
Amsterdam
tel. + 31 20 625 8284

Organization:
World Press Photo Foundation

Directions:
The Old Church is situated near the Central Station and within walking distance from the Dam Square. Trams 4, 9, 14, 16, 20, 24, and 25.

HOPE!

: Silvio Rodriguez - Ojala : .

Ojalá que las hojas no te toquen el cuerpo cuando caigan para que no las puedas convertir en cristal. Ojalá que la lluvia deje de ser milagro que baja por tu cuerpo. Ojalá que la luna pueda salir sin ti. Ojalá que la tierra no te bese los pasos. Ojalá se te acabe la mirada constante, la palabra precisa, la sonrisa perfecta. Ojalá pase algo que te borre de pronto: una luz cegadora, un disparo de nieve. Ojalá por lo menos que me lleve la muerte, para no verte tanto, para no verte siempre en todos los segundos, en todas las visiones: ojalá que no pueda tocarte ni en canciones Ojalá que la aurora no de gritos que caigan en mi espalda. Ojalá que tu nombre se le olvide a esa voz. Ojalá las paredes no retengan tu ruido de camino cansado. Ojalá que el deseo se vaya tras de ti, a tu viejo gobierno de difuntos y flores. Ojalá se te acabe la mirada constante, la palabra precisa, la sonrisa perfecta. Ojalá pase algo que te borre de pronto: una luz cegadora, un disparo de nieve. Ojalá por lo menos que me lleve la muerte, para no verte tanto, para no verte siempre en todos los segundos, en todas las visiones: ojalá que no pueda tocarte ni en canciones

Priest convicted in nun's slaying

By John Seewer

The Associated Press

TOLEDO, Ohio — The Rev. Gerald Robinson cannot celebrate Mass, cannot anoint the sick and dying. That didn't keep the retired priest from wearing his collar every day of his murder trial.

That symbol was at odds with everything jurors convicted him of doing to a 71-year-old nun in a hospital chapel 26 years ago.

Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, her chest riddled with stab wounds in the shape of an upside-down cross, was found dead, with blood on her forehead as if in a mock anointing, and with her arms and legs straight in what witnesses described as ritualistic fashion.

The state's case came down to the proposition that no one else could have committed the grisly crime. Robinson was the only one with the knowledge of ritual, with the animus toward Pahl and with no plausible explanation for his whereabouts, prosecutors said.

Robinson, 68, was immediately sentenced to the mandatory term of 15 years to life in prison and led away in handcuffs after a trial in which forensic experts matched the victim's wounds to a distinctive, sword-shape letter opener found in the priest's room.

Pahl was choked and then stabbed 31 times while she was preparing the Mercy Hospital chapel for Easter services on April 5, 1980. Robinson, who had worked closely with Pahl as the hospital chaplain, presided at her funeral Mass.

Robert Frost -Opening the Blogfloor to Poetry

It was a peculiar morning, with which I don't know what to do.
It was sunny & warm with a freezing wind blowing every now and then. I was both feeling frustrated at myself, and still great to have beautiful people around (physically and/or spiritually) that took care of me.

For no particular reason, I like Frost. He was there last night with me, and reminded me of something of great importance at that very instance, so we had a small moment ;)
And hence, I thought I should share it with you.

From here on the blogfloor is open to poetry of your choice as well...

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
  Fire and Ice, 1920

Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?

from Reluctance

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

from The Road Not Taken, 1916

Dodenherdenking -Remembrance of the Dead

Every year on May 4 the Netherlands commemorate all civilians and members of the armed forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands who have died in wars or (since 1960s also) in peacekeeping missions since the outbreak of the Second World War.

Traditionally, the main ceremonies are observed in Amsterdam at the national monument on Dam Square. I was in the Vondelpark instead, and due to the first great weather of the spring, so were many others. At 8.00 p.m., two minutes of silence are observed throughout the Netherlands, so we shut up. Since 1994, the flags, having hung at half-staff during the day, are then hoisted to the sounds of the Dutch national anthem. I heard them through a radio that some other people brought and turned on so as to listen (surprisingly). the patriots cheered and the rest listened, and a friend translated. It is interesting to note the lyrics when a national anthem is at hand, but the dutch one is peculiar:
"William of Nassau,
Am I, of Dutch descent
Loyal to the fatherland
I will remain until death
A Prince of Orange
Am I, free and fearless
The king of Spain
I have always honoured"

The next day, on May 5, Dutch people celebrate the liberation from the German occupation of 1940-45. I was with a German friend, and instead, have seen the Rembrandt-Caravaggio exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum. Stared at the masterpiece "Amor Vincit Omnia" (meaning "Love Conquers All", but also known in English as Amor Victorious, Victorious Cupid, Love Triumphant, Love Victorious, or Earthly Love) for over an hour and fell completely in love with the colours and the mastery of Caravaggio... I intend to keep it in my system by going to the exhibition every now and then.