Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

In May 25th 2007, there was a comment in a newspaper respect to thedraughts forecast which had been voiced by our environment state minister. Such comments accused the minister because such a draught hadn't been as severe as it had been said.

When we speak about climate we have to face stacks and stacks of opinions and as many things in life "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". I mean, depending on your position respect a man-made climate change or a natural  climate change, your points of view will difer from others. Man-made climate change is the official theory accepted nowadays but to fail some predictions doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Climate change is a reality which was forseen for some people more than 60 years ago, I would dare to say more, but whose effects, without taking into account how fast they develop, they won't be in the twinkling of an eye. We should be more accurate when speak in terms of time. It is not the same to speak in geological terms than in human life length terms. In fact, climate change is developping so fast, as never seen or at least recorded, that we could speak of important changes during a human life. If we compare human life lenght and geological changes lenght we are speaking about an enormous difference. Such faster changes are already having some visible impacts on fauna and Earth ecosystems which are not having enough time to readapt to the new circumtances. For better for worse, we humans have the ability to adapt as faster as the environment changes (and that's bad because people is not enough concerned to begin to make a change). The question is how long we will be able to keep the rate of change (maybe when we realize is too late).

I think our minister was right accepting the predictions from the IPCC so there is only room for three possibilities: she didn't expain accurately or she wasn't properly understood or people didn't want to understand her message. I think she would try to say thay periods of draught will be longer with periods of rain shorter than nowadays and maybe more intense. Now, more than ever, we should take profit of the smallest drop of water. Waste is not synonim of well-being.

A Message From Music

Juan Carlos Císcar

That's the name of a graduate who works at the Sevilla's Insitute for Prospective Technological Studies. In January 14th 2007 the newspaper called Levante published an interview to Juan Carlos with regard to climate change. Among other questions.... Campaigns in order to create awareness on climate change  appeal to the role that citizens play at this issue. Do you think they can do something in order to prevent pernicious effects on agriculture and marine coasts? Something in particular?

Juan Carlos' answer was... Undoubtedly. The problem of climate change is in short a problem generated by we citizens who ask for products which are polluting as a last resort, from using cars to something so common as switching on a bulb.

He commented as well that citizens should be persuaded from polluting activities, e.g. flying,  through taxes..... Fortunatelly in that moment I was not the only one asking people for reducing domestic flights as a first measure... And some good news, in that moment 35% of the companies all over the world were planning to reduce their flights or at least it was in their plans in the short-medium term. How is it possible to find flights at a european level at 30€? Maybe my petitions could be too demanding but I am one of those who think that low-cost flights = a free terrorist attack against the environment. I agree that everybody has the right to flight but in a reasonable way. As we humans sometimes don't have clear ideas about what is wrong or right, a first approximation could be attacking our budgets. He who pollutes must pay.

"Share" Is The Key

Some days ago I read an article about the otters resurgence in some parts of England. However, such resurgence has shown once more the concept of property that we have respect to the planet. And maybe here we have the key to resolve the problem of cohabitation that we have with the rest of forms of life with which we share the planet. I repeat the keyword: share. We are not only unaware of the point that we human species alone are consuming more than 50% of the resources of the planet. We are so cheeky that have even claimed for the recovery of some species like the one of the otters.

I could understand that someone claims because a certain species is destroying their way of making a living but having someone claiming because on holidays are not going to fish as much as expected is outrageous. This is the case of the otters in England. Maybe the selfishness and blindness of those claimers prevent them from understanding that planet Earth is shared. The otters have the same rights than humans to enjoy the rivers and make of them their way of living. It seems that everybody is wrong except us. I think it's high time to understand that our overpopulation and comsumption of resources should be the first thing on this planet to be under a strict control.

Thanks Rafa for your videos, they show the shameful way of how we deal with Life all over this planet.

Bloody Party

For different questions, one of the things that get on my nerves is everything related to bullfighting. I don't know if it is the experience of Life or whateverthing related with the pass of the years but fortunately little by little I'm getting over the subject and I am able to cope with it when somebody says they are for the "party".

Some time ago, when for circumstances of life I spoke more to my friend Vicente about this issue, one of my statements was to say "I don't know what's up in the mind of those people who enjoy such insulting spectacle. How do people can enjoy  such slaughter and call it "art"?

From my mind "art" it's creation. How can people call art something which suposes the jibe and destruction of a life just for fun? Can we call art the fact of pierce with a sword  sombody's lungs and heart? Does it justify the diversion of a minority the violation of the most important right that any thing on Earth has (it's the right to live)? To make matters worse, there are some people who attend bloody events like bullfighting and later are saying they're against war and abortion... I can't absolutely understand  how somebody can call art the fact of stucking harpoons (normally called banderillas) to an animal without any reason and last but not least,  to go through its lungs, causing a flood of blood which culminates in death by suffocation.

It's not something punctual to see how the animal ends its days among vomits of blood, I can't think in such fast death as someone tries convince us... have we gone crazy? Has somebody heard the word "puntilla", that's the typical knife used just in case the animal is a bit "rebel" to die. No comments, there are no justification to  keep this bloody business on.

Here you can appreciate the bullfighter sticking something on the upper part of the bull's neck (the "puntilla").

After seeing all this we have still people for bullfighting saying, you eat pollo and beef, don't you? In my case difficult it is besides I'm a vegetarian, but in a slaguhterhouse, if the animal is treated as it is supposed ,it should not suffer a hell as it happens in the square, what some of us call the circle of the unliterates. Everybody deceives a decent death.

If you come to Spain you will be able to listen quotes as "if bullfighting didn't exist bulls would become extinct" but as romans did, e.g. threw christians to lions, today we can continue enjoying the lions in the wild fortunately. What's more, we have some animals like donkeys which became obselete but which are protected and subsidized nowadays. So what's the problem? 

Others say that bullfighters put into risk their "boles", yes, as you listen but... let me tell you that there are other "machos" like workers cleaning windows in skycrapers, divers working in the very deep in oil rigs at sea, people working at height in windpower farms, electric pylons, police officers, fire men, military, etc, etc... And of course, it is unacceptable to say that the bull can defend itself cause if it is not killed by the first bullfighter will be the second or the third and so on. Bullfighting is not hunting, I'm not for hunting but in general the animal has the possibility of escaping. The story of the bull is crystal clear: once in the square, what we call "ruedo", its days are numbered, the story is finished (except in a very, very few number of occasions in which it's reprieved).

Last but not least, I leave you a video to show everybody round the world a little sample of what happens in our "national party". This is not Spain and not all spaniards are for bullfighting, for goodness' sake!! Thanks Stefano for the links.

Happy new year 2011 to everybody and I hope the new year comes with stronger acts to prohibit bullfighting once for all.

Xmas Time Is Coming: Keep This In Mind

Oceans Empty Of Life And Plenty Of Noise And Rubbish

The Revenge

Some shameless people should be in the situation of the video.He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword.