The moon landing - if it happened/La lunisage - s'il a bien eu lieu

Today, 41 years ago, the first human sat foot on the moon - or did he?
Aujourd'hui, il y a 41 ans, le premier homme a marché sur la lune - ou l'a-t-il fait?

Neil Armstrong il a marcher sur la Lune 2_2
envoyé par MOHAMED070691. - Vidéos des dernières découvertes scientifiques.

Chopin and Jazz

As I have written about the bicentenary of Frédéric Chopin I add this article about music cross overs in Kraków Polen/Poland:

15th Summer Jazz Festival at the Cellar under Rams (Piwnica pod Baranami) KRAKÓW, JULY 4th - AUGUST 18th, 2010 The 200th Anniversary of The Birth of Fryderyk Chopin Welcome to the 15th Annual Jubilee Festival, which will last for forty six days this year. We are very happy to have many of the worldwide jazz stars, such as Booby McFerrin, Markus Stockhausen, Paulo Fresu or NDR Big Band. The Jazz Night will be dedicate to Friderik Chopin and will start with the Jazz Festival Award ceremony, where Janusz Ptaszyn Wróblewski- a Polish composer, legendary tenor saxophonist and one of the main founder of the Polish jazz, will be awarded with the Jazz Lamb Statuette. The diversity of the 100 festival concerts makes it a great time for jazz lovers to catch some favourite music, immersed in the magical atmosphere of Kraków and legendary club “Piwnica pod Baranami”. I hope you will enjoy the festival! Witold Wnuk CMA, the Director of the Festival Events: 4 July New Orleans Sunday ="Verdana" size="2">from noon till 4 p.m - Concerts at Cafes on at 5 p.m - NewOrleans Parade sfrom Barbakan to Main Square at 6 p.m -Concert on Main Square ***** 9 July at 8 p.m- Władysław"Adzik"Sendecki - Centrum Manggha The Inaugural Gala of MY POLISH HEART FOUNDATION ***** 17 July at 7 p.m-Krakow's Night of Jazz 2010 Mały Rynek, Jan Ptaszyn Wroblewski Sextet ***** Chopin Warsaw Paris Jazz Quintet & Orkiestra Akademii Beethovenowskiej ***** International Polish Jazz Group "Chopin & Jazz" - J.Jarczyk/A.Olejniczak/D.Oleszkiewicz/J.Stefanski ***** Marek Bałata Band & Orkiestra Akademii Beethovenowskiej - Chopin Project ***** Rotunda Club starts at 10 p.m. 40th anniversary of "Laboratorium" & guests ***** Night Clubs Concertsat starts 10 p.m. club Harris - Aleksandra Tomaszewska Quintet Piec Art - "Jazz Spoken here" Piwnica pod Baranami - Ewa Uryga U Muniaka - Marcin Ślusarczyk Trio Alchemia - Marek Batorski concert and exhibition Drukarnia - Bomba Latina ***** 1 August at 8p.m MARKUS STOCKHAUSEN & WŁADYSŁAW "ADZIK" SENDECKI Centrum Manggha ***** 2 August at 8 p.m PAULO FRESU DEVIL QUARTET - Centrum Manggha ***** 12 August at 7 p.m HERZOG RECORDS presents in Krakow Radio : Jessica Gall-Herzog Records Studnitzky Trio –Herzog Records “Nighthawks”-Herzog Records ***** 18 August at 8 p.m Krakow Opera Hause - Final Concert BOBBY MCFERRIN & NDR BIG BAND - Chopin Project arranged by Gill Goldstein Concerts at the Piwnica pod Baranami at 9 p.m 5.07-Śmietana/Karolak/Czerwiński 6.07-Jarek Śmietana Kwartet 7.07-JBBO 8.07-Skowron/Główczewski/Cichy/Sitkowski 9.07-"Little Egoist" 10.07-Adam Pierończyk Trio 11.07-Marek Bałata /Adzik Sendecki 12.07-"Budapest Ragtime Band"(Hungary) 13.07- Rafał Sarnecki Kwartet 14.07-Oleg Kireyev Kwartet(Russia/Poland) 15.07-Krzysztof Ścierański 16.07-Gary Wittner "Spoken here"(USA) 17.07-"Noc Jazzu" -Ewa Uryga 18.07-Strączek-Małek Group 19.07-Ilona Damięcka Kwartet+Maciek Sikała 20.07-Jarczyk/Stefański/Olejniczak/Oleszkiewicz "International Polish Jazz Group" 21.07-Boba Jazz Band 22.07-Maciej Sikała Trio 23.07-Kuba Stankiewicz Trio 24.07-Tomasz Grochot Quintet 25.07-"Funk de Nite"+Brian Corbett 26.07-Martin Schaberl Trio (Austria) 27.07-Andrzej Przybielski & Oleś Brothers " Abstract Trio" 28.07- “New Bone” 29.07-Heavy Metal Sekstet "Reunion" 30.07- Groborz & Brazilikum 4 31.07- Adam Bałdych "Demage control" August 1.08-Andrzej Marchewka "Beale Street Band" 2.08-Leszek Kułakowski Ensamble Piccolo" 3.08-Zbigniew Czarniecki Kwartet 4.08-Jacek Kochan & co. 5.08-"Kreszendo" 6.08-Wyleżoł/Barański/Dziedzic 7.08-"No Name" Band 8.08- Mateusz Smoczyński "New Trio" 9.08- RGG 10.08-Adam Kawończyk Kwartet 11.08– Jessica Gall-Herzog Records 12.08 – Studnitzky Trio –Herzog Records 13.08- “Nighthawks”-Herzog Records 14.08 – Bernard Maseli Wekka 15.08 - Konrad Orłowski Trio+Maseli 16.08-Kuba Płużek Band 17.08-Josh Lawrence Jazz3 Additional concerts 4.07-18.08 foto exhibition of Piotra Kłoska at Visa-Vie 25.07 at 11.00 - "Wieslaw Wilczkiewicz Ensemble" Radio Kraków Concerts at Haris Club 6.07 - Lidia Pośpieszalska with Band 17.07 - Aleksandra Tomaszewska Quintet 18.07 - Atma Anur Group 7.08 - Maciej Tubis Trio 12.08 - PGR& SAGIT Silberman Afternoon concerts on courtyard Pałacu Pod Baranami every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday at JUREK BOŻYK MIDNIGHT SHOW at Mightnight at Piwnica Pod Baranami codziennie 5.07-5.08
	Contact: tel./fax (48)12-6332839 e-mail: biuro@cracjazz.com address: 18 Warszawska st. PL 31-155, Krakow, Poland

Pierre Etaix

REVOIR LES FILMS DE PIERRE ETAIX...
envoyé par iletaixunefois. - Films courts et animations.

Pierre Etaix is a french actor and director born in 1928 but not so well known outside France, I think.

As a result of copyright problems (if I've understood this correctly) his films has not been screened for a long time but during this years Film Festival in Cannes, they screened his film 'Le Grand Amour'.
Now the news reaches us that one officially will release all his films and this beginning the 7th of July this year (2010).
In total it's five feature films and three short films (one never earlier released) that are under restoration.
Responsible for this work is François Ede under the 'auspice' of Pierre Etaix.

This work is in itself unique - according to the responsible - as this is the first time one restore an entire work by a director at one and the same time.
This is due to a collaboration between Pierre Etaix, Studio 37 (owner of the negatives) and the foundations Technicolor pour le Patrimoine du Cinéma and Groupama Gan pour le Cinéma.
These films will also be available on DVD, at least in France and this in connection to this release.

Submission

Submission or in Swedish: Underkastelsen is a new film by Stefan Jarl, the Swedish socially engaged director, who - according to Ingmar Bergman - "fights for ideals and convictions".

This film will premiere any day now and it's another example of a film about the environmental and health problems we cause ourselves by using and being exposed to hundreds of thousands of chemicals every day.

Jarl takes as his starting point the development after the Second World War, when the use of chemicals - to some parts as a result of the use of chemicals in war - became extremely common.
Today - and for years - we are surrounded by some 100 000 chemicals going through our bodies and causing health problems of different kinds.
This is well known and has been discussed earlier but maybe the era we now live in will make us more susceptible to this message?
Why?
Well for some years now - as during the 1960's and 70's - questions concerning environmental and health issues has been on the agenda constantly, not only through different international research programs and conferences but through films and documentaries made in order to highlight these questions.

Al Gore is one of many influential opinion-makers but this work is carried out everywhere in the world by people far from the spotlights but at least as engaged in this issue as Gore or even more (an unintentional rhyme).
I have myself seen a great number of films concerning environmental issues - An Inconvenient Truth is one, Bullshit another, to mention two very different films - but I can't mention them all here but through this link to grinningplanet you can find some films in different categories.
Another site is this one: Mother Nature Network.

I recommend you to see this film as the œuvres by Jarl often are very engaging and carried by a great pathos.
In this film he also interviews scientists and politicians and he undergoes blood tests to see how many chemicals he is carrying in his body and so does a Swedish actress who is expecting a baby.
What they found? I don't know but it wasn't particularly encouraging, I guess.
I haven't seen this film myself and I don't know when I will be able to see it in France but if it's released in 'a cinema near me', I will of course try to make it there.

The Right Livelihood Award

Among the different awards in the world I would strongly like to propagate for The Right Livelihood Award, sometimes called the 'alternative Nobel Prize'.

The founder - Jakob von Uexkull - wanted to create a prize awarding people

making a great effort within different areas of society, not only within the scientific sphere, like the Nobel Prize, and not only stemming from the industrial countries.

Jakob von Uexkull

He even offered the Nobel Foundation to contribute financially, creating two new prizes (one ecological) but they turned his offer down, as the very conservative and rigid organization this is.

Without this - or similar awards - the work carried out by the Right Livelihood Award laureates would hardly otherwise be recognized, certainly not by the Swedish Academy.

I feel that it's important promoting the work and engagement within other sectors of society besides natural science, where the latter always have been revered and admired by not least ignorant and historically narrow-minded politicians.

We have to keep in mind that natural science always creates problems for society.

Even the discoveries meant to help humanity - medical discoveries e.g. - always have great side effects and very often causes more problems than it solves.

A great deal of human intellectual resources have also - as we all know - been used to create weapons and other kinds of destructive tools meant to govern and submit humans.

Most inventions, within the natural sciences, devastates our natural resources like forests, lakes, mountains and other biotopes.

We all know this but unfortunately our politicians - and not people in general either - seldom discuss these huge problems caused by scientists who often themselves are quite narrow-minded, only interested in their own career and making some 'revolutionary discovery', rendering them immortality!

Saying this, I'm not as naive to believe that the Right Livelihood laureates are a group of idealists only seeking to promote the good of mankind.

I just want to point out that I think that the work they carry out, seldom gets the attention it deserves, thus making this award very important.

It's however not only important for the laureates and their work but also important as a reminder to people in general that there are other kinds of commitments at least as important as the scientifical work and - I would like to add - sometimes more important.

The laureates 2009 are:

David Suzuki;

René Ngongo;

Alyn Ware;

and

Catherine Hamlin;

As two examples I can mention David Suzuki and Catherine Hamlin.

In the motivations for why they should be rewarded we can read (Suzukis first and then Hamlins):

-"for his lifetime advocacy of the socially responsible use of science, and for his massive contribution to raising awareness about the perils of climate change and building public support for policies to address it".

is awarded -
"for her fifty years dedicated to treating obstetric fistula patients, thereby restoring the health, hope and dignity of thousands of Africa's poorest women".

(Picture logotype copied from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_Livelihood_Award)

(Photo David von Uexkull copied from: https://www.rightlivelihoodaward.org/support/foundation/founder/)

(Photo David Suzuki copied from:https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiPvMuci6vlAhUxDWMBHV1wBt8Qjhx6BAgBEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rightlivelihoodaward.org%2Flaureates%2Fdavid-suzuki%2F&psig=AOvVaw37NepUzgnrE7-fYgOXKd-8&ust=1571669481525089)

(Photo René Ngongo copied from: https://www.rightlivelihoodaward.org/laureates/rene-ngongo/)

(Photo Alyn Ware copied from: http://www.worldmarchusa.net/images/alyn_ware.jpg)

(Photo Catherine Hamlin copied from: http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/03/28/drcatherinehamlin_wideweb__470x318,0.jpg)

Human rights, Alison Des Forges Defender

In these days when we focus a lot around the Nobel Prize Laureates, it's important to pay attention to other prizes for work done in an environment where the laureates risk their life.

I therefore publish this extract from an article concerning human rights workers.

Four courageous and tireless advocates of human rights - from Burma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Russia - have been awarded the prestigious Alison Des Forges Defender Award for Extraordinary Activism according to Human Rights Watch.

These four individuals are, in their work, trying to uphold freedom of expression, to protect women in conflict, and to ease the plight of political prisoners, despite threats and persecution from the authorities.

The awards are named for Dr. Alison Des Forges, senior adviser to Human Rights Watch's Africa Division for almost two decades, who was tragically killed in a plane crash in New York on February 12, 2009. Des Forges was the world's leading expert on Rwanda, the 1994 genocide and its aftermath, and Human Rights Watch's annual award honors her outstanding commitment to and defense of human rights.

The four winners of Human Rights Watch's 2009 Alison Des Forges Defender Award for Extraordinary Activism are:

* Daniel Bekele , lawyer and activist from Ethiopia

Bo Kyi, co-founder of Burma's Assistance Association of Political Prisoners

* Elena Milashina, reporter for Novaya Gazeta, Russia's leading independent newspaper

...and  Mathilde Muhindo, women's rights activist working to stop sexual violence in Democratic Republic of Congo.

The motivation or explanatory statement for this prize:

"These extraordinary individuals confront tremendous challenges every day, yet they work selflessly to end human rights violations and bring abusers to justice," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "We hope this award, named for Alison Des Forges, will inspire and protect them as they struggle to uphold human rights in their countries."

Human rights defenders are critical partners for Human Rights Watch staff conducting investigations in more than 80 countries around the world.

The award winners will be honored at the 2009 Human Rights Watch Annual Dinners in Chicago, Geneva, Hamburg, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Munich, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Toronto, and Zurich.

Daniel Bekele, Ethiopia

In the ever-shrinking space for freedom of expression in Ethiopia, Daniel Bekele, a prominent anti-poverty activist and human rights lawyer, has faced heavy-handed government repression. After leading a grass-roots effort to promote voter education and participation in Ethiopia's controversial 2005 parliamentary elections, as well as election monitoring and reconciliation after the vote, Bekele was arrested and spent two-and-a-half years in prison on charges of inciting violence against the government. Human Rights Watch honors Bekele who, at great personal risk, challenges the Ethiopian government to uphold the civil and political rights that protect all people.

Bo Kyi, Burma

As a former political prisoner and co-founder of the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP), Bo Kyi works tirelessly to secure the release of Burmese people who have been jailed for their political independence and activism. Over the last 20 years, Bo Kyi has demonstrated unfaltering courage, sharing his story and those of other political prisoners and exposing the Burmese military junta's numerous abuses. Human Rights Watch honors Bo Kyi for his heroic efforts to speak out against Burmese repression and to advocate on behalf of those who have dared to criticize the military junta.

Elena Milashina, Russia

As a leading investigative journalist for Novaya Gazeta, Russia's most prominent independent newspaper, Elena Milashina exposes the truth about human rights abuses and widespread government corruption. Despite Russia's attempts to silence its critics and hide abuses, Milashina remains outspoken, publishing accounts of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and torture. She also continues to investigate the 2006 murder of her newspaper colleague and mentor Anna Politkovskaya, calling for accountability at the highest level. Human Rights Watch honors Milashina for her courage in confronting Russia's deeply problematic human rights record.

Mathilde Muhindo, Democratic Republic of Congo

As director of the Olame Centre, a women's rights organization, Mathilde Muhindo empowers women to fight against the pervasive discrimination and horrific sexual violence that are endemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She led a coalition of local women's organizations to advocate successfully for a comprehensive law on sexual violence. Human Rights Watch honors Mathilde Muhindo for her tireless dedication to the safety, health, and rights of the often-forgotten women in eastern Congo.

(Photo Daniel Bekel copied from; https://www.hrw.org/news/2009/10/01/daniel-bekele-ethiopia-recipient-2009-alison-des-forges-award-extraordinary-activism)
(Photo Bo Kyi copied from: http://cynicsandidealists.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/bo-kyi-at-hrw-lectern.jpg)
(Photo Elena Milashina copied from: http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2009/11/13/Elena-306.jpg)
(Photo Mathilde Muhindo copied from:https://www.hrw.org/news/2009/10/01/mathilde-muhindo-democratic-republic-congo)

The Sputnik wll not be back and neither will Lajka!

Today we - or the Russians - celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the first space aircraft launched into space - Sputnik 1.

This marked the start of a race in space and for the Americans it was a great defeat to see the Sovjet Union being ahead of them. 
It was not only a defeat but the American government thought that this could become a military threat against the country.

President Eisenhower at the time declared that the United States also could have launched their own Sputnik if they had lowered the scientific demands of the operation. This was of course nonsense. He lied to the whole nation.

The Sputnik showed that the Sovjet Union now could strike the United States with long distance missiles and USA was actually far behind. 

A month later Sputnik 2 was launched with one passenger, namely the dog Lajka. Poor dog!

Sputnik 3 on the other hand became a failure as the tape recorder that was supposed to record the event did not work. 
This could have been avoided if not the premier of the Sovjet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, had refused to postpone the launch. The reason he did not postpone was because he had promised the Italian communist leaders something special in connection to the election the day after.

Since these early days 4 500 satellites have been launched - half of which have been military spy satellites! 

I heard an interview on the BBC where a Russian space expert thought that within twelve-fifteen years they will be able to launch the first manned space aircraft for a journey to Mars.

And for what good?

Vladimir Putin will be back!

Now it seems as if Vladimir Putin is willing to enter the election in order to become the next prime minister in Russia.

This is not surprising when studying who he suggested as prime minister recently and maybe his successor as president, namely Viktor Zubkov. Zubkov is a person not known to the vast majority in Russia and even less known in the rest of the world.

Putins idea is perhaps - as some have suggested - that he will run for the prime minister post, take the initiative in political matters and gradually undermine the position of the person succeeding him as president. After some years or even earlier than that, he will be back as a presidential candidate, hoping to gain victory. 

Putin is still comparatively young and I don't think he wants to give up the possibility of ruling this vast country again. 

With a small travesty from a well known governor one could say that: Putin "will be back".

(Photo Vladimir Putin copied from: https://www.eurasiareview.com/11092018-revisiting-putins-2007-munich-security-conference-speech-oped//)

(Photo Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator copied from : https://www.theterminatorfans.com/arnolds-ill-be-back-from-the-terminator-tops-movie-quotes-brits-love-to-say/)

Hossein Derakhshan/'Hoder'

Svenska (English below):

Hossein Derakhshan eller 'Hoder' som han kallar sig på sin blogg är en iransk-kanadensisk bloggare som har kommit att bli en symbol för yttrandefriheten i Iran, så som inte minst den västerländska omvärlden ser det.
Dock är det ej endast i väst han framhålls som en banérförare för yttrandefriheten utan även i Iran och många andra närliggande länder i Mellanöstern.

'Hoder' hade tidigare 20 000 dagliga besök på sin blogg bland internetanvändare i Iran.

Det sägs dag finnas mer än 800 000 iranska bloggare, vilka han kan sägas ha inspirerat genom sitt skrivande.
Numer filtrerar dock myndigheterna i Iran hans blogg för att stoppa landets meborgare från att läsa densamma.

Idag har han blivit ett så etablerat namn att han föreläser världen över och skriver debattartiklar i tidningar som New York Times och The Guardian.
Han behandlar främst de politiska spänningsfält som utgörs av triangeln Iran, Israel och USA.

I detta hans senaste projekt har han bl.a. vid upprepade tillfällen besökt Israel i ett försök att ge en annan bild av iraniern än den av oförsonlighet som är det dominerande inslaget från den iranska regimen, detta inte minst gällande Irans syn på Israel som stat och dess existensberättigande.

Just nu befinner sig Hossein Derakhshan i Paris.

'Hoder' vill visa att inte alla iranier delar den iranske presidenten Mahmoud Ahmadinejads åsikter om att Israel borde utplånas och att Förintelsen aldrig ägt rum.
Detta kanske också kan ske mer effektivt eftersom han själv är muslim och i princip delar den religiösa övertygelsen hos Ahmadinejad och andra troende muslimer men där skillnaderna i tolkning av och uttryck för denna trosuppfattning ändå står klar.

Risken då man har en ledare i ett land som dessutom är en teokrati och som uttrycker åsikter med hänvisning till en helig text är att ledarens utsaga skulle utgöra en korrekt tolkning av den heliga texten in i nutiden. Detta kanske 'Hoder' och andra mer moderata troende kan förändra genom att uttrycka skiljaktiga åsikter i religiöst-politiska frågor.

Personligen anser jag att den muslimska världen i större utsträckning än som idag skett skall försöka omvärdera synen på Koranen.
Den är en - enligt vedertagen definition - 'heligt skrift' precis som judarnas Torah och de kristnas Bibel men precis som i dessa religioner måste det finnas insikt om att man inte kan läsa en trostext av detta slag som ett 'sanningsdokument' utan att den genom århundraden har tolkats och fortsättningsvis tolkas in i vår egen tid.

Jag vill inte göra gällande att alla kristna eller alla judar ser på sina heliga texter på detta sätt -tyvärr - men jag önskar att det förhållningssättet till heliga texter och tron överhuvud sprider sig. Detta gäller även andra 'trossystem' som exempelvis politiska ideologier.

Parentetiskt kan sägas att det finns inom Islam lärda koranuttolkare som inte alls delar de ledande prästerskapets syn på Koranen, dess uttolkning och tillämpning av exempelvis Sharialagar i vår tid.

Mer om detta i senare bloggar.

Nästa steg i 'Hoders' process är att försöka sätta iranska och israeliska kulturarbetare i kontakt med varandra. Detta för att genom kulturens olika former skapa större förståelse för varandra.

English:

Hossein Derakhshan or 'Hoder' as he calls himself on his blog, is a Iranian-Canadian 'blogger' who have become a symbol for the freedom of speech in Iran.

This opinion is not only manifested in the West but also among those who is longing for more freedom in Iran in order to be able to express their opinion freely both verbally and in writing.
'Hoder' previously had more than 20 000 visitors per day on his blog among internet users in Iran.

According to some figures, there are more than 800 000 Iranians who utilize the 'blogspace' to express their opinion on different issues. Many of these 'bloggers' is said to have been inspired by 'Hoder' and his blog.

Nowadays the Iranian authorities 'filter' his blog in order to prevent the Iranian citizens from reading it.

He has though become such a well known and established debater that he nowadays is invited to lecture all over the world and he also writes debate articles in newspapers like New York Times and The Guardian.

He is dealing primarily with the political field of tension made up by the triangle Iran, Israel and the USA.

In his latest project he has several times visited Israel in an attempt to mediate a somewhat different picture of the Iranians than the one of irreconcilability that dominates the statements from the Iranian government today. This not at least regarding Irans official statements on the state of Israel and its raison d'être.

'Hoder' wishes to show that not all Iranians share the views of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he says that Israel should be exterminated and that the Holocaust never happened.

This is maybe more effectively perceived among the public as 'Hoder' himself is a muslim who in principal must be said to share the religious conviction of Ahmadinejad and other muslims.
The differences concerning interpretation and expression of their common faith is though clarified.

The danger in having a political-religious leader in a country that also is a theocracy - like Iran - is that when he declare his view on political issues by referring to a holy text like the Quran, this is sometimes understood as a correct interpretation of the religious message in to our time.

Personally I would like to see the muslim world reassess their view on the Quran.
When I say "the muslim world" this is of course an inappropriate generalization.
I aim of course on those who read and try to apply the message of the Quran literally, word by word.

The Quran is - according to generally accepted definition among believers - a 'holy scripture' like the Torah in Judaism and the Bible within Christianity.
However it is - I believe - more common within these two last religions to look upon the holy texts as the work of man trying to interpret the will of God more than a work of God dictated to humans. It is important to realize that one can not read a worshipping text of this kind as a document of 'truth' not being aware of that it has been interpreted and still is interpreted in to our own time.

I would like to add that far from all Christians and Jews look upon their Holy texts in this fashion but I wish that this way of confronting your belief system and holy texts will spread within all religious systems (and political too).

As a parenthesis I would like to point out something we all know, namely that there are learned scholars, interpreters of the Quran, who do not share the view of the Holy text as interpreted and practiced through the Sharia laws within Iran.

More about this in later blogs from my side.

The next step in 'Hoders' project is to try bringing Iranian and Israeli cultural workers together in order to increase the understanding between the two countries through culture.







(Photo Hossein Derakshan copied from: http://laregledujeu.org/iranlibre/files/2010/09/hossein121.jpg)

Saddam Hussein hanged (hung)

Svenska (English below):

I morse klockan fyra svensk tid hängdes Saddam Hussein.

Svenska regeringen med utrikesminister Carl Bildt i spetsen uttryckte sitt ogillande mot att dödsstraffet kom att verkställas.
Detta dels ur ett folkrättsligt perspektiv där man rent principiellt är motståndare till dödsstraffet som sådant dels ur det perspektivet att Hussein härigenom ej kommer att kunna ställas till svars för de brott han begick mot kurderna under sin tid som diktator.

En kurdisk god vän till mig reagerade genom att ge uttryck för åsikten att de brott Sadaam Hussein begick mot kurderna var av sådan art att domstolen borde ha tagit upp dessa brott innan man tog sig an andra övergrepp eftersom de var av kanske långt mer allvarlig art, både vad gäller omfattning, motiv och metoder.
Den goda vännen menade dock att dödsstraffet i sig inte var ägnat att kritisera.
Detta inte minst då de flesta människor i regionen vanligtvis har en annan syn på dödsstraff än många människor i väst.

Detta synsätt kanske också till del beror på att man i långt större grad upplevt våld och andra övergrepp i detta land än vi i väst har gjort under efterkrigstiden samt att detta våld drabbat dessa personer och deras familjer på ett synnerligen konkret och mycket våldsamt och drastiskt sätt.

Min vän såg däremot en risk med att döma Sadaam Hussein till fängelse då han dels riskerar att utvecklas till en levande martyr - om något sådant kan sägas existera - alternativt att han fritages från fängelset av anhängare. Detta sett ur min väns kurdiska pespektiv.

Vissa oroligheter kommer man förmodligen att se till följd av Husseins död då hans anhängare och de som kunnat vinna fördelar under hans regim initialt kommer att reagera med sorg och vrede.
Det stora flertalet människor som levt under hans förtryck kommer dock självfallet se Sadaam Husseins död som slutet på en fruktansvärd epok i Iraks historia.

Problemen i Irak är i och med detta inte lösta och parentetiskt skall vi alltid komma ihåg att det var i mycket tack vare eller p.g.a. USA som Hussein en gång kom att kunna bli en så stark maktfaktor i regionen.
Inte minst efter den iranska revolutionen 1979 då Irak sågs som en garant för att inte de islamiska revolutionen skulle sprida sig i Mellanöstern.

Vad det slutliga resultatet av händelserna i Irak kommer att bli står dock skrivet i stjärnorna.
Inbördeskrig eller någon form av demokratiskt styrelseskick?

Min kurdiska vän menade att kurderna just nu inte lika hårt driver en linje som skulle innebära delning av landet i en kurdisk, en shiitisk och en sunnitisk del.
Detta inte minst eftersom sunniternas del av landet inte - som de andras - har oljetillgångar och detta skulle leda till en region som rent ekonomiskt inte kan hävda sig lika bra som de andra.
Även andra faktorer gör att man för tillfället bland kurderna ligger lågt med kravet på ett eget land.

Framtiden får som alltid utvisa vad som skall ske och som så ofta har det stora flertalet expertbedömare helt eller delvis fel då man försöker förutskicka framtidens scenarion.

English:

This morning at four o'clock local Swedish time, Saddam Hussein was hanged.

The Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt expressed his and the Swedish governments disapproval of the hanging. This partly from a Public International Rights point of view as Sweden and many countries in Europe from a principal standpoint are opponents to the death penalty as such.

Another negative effect of this hanging according to Bildt - and many others, not least the Kurds - is that Sadaam Hussein never will be put on trial for the crimes he committed against the Kurds in Halabja in 1988 for example.

A kurdish friend of mine althought said that the hanging as such was a good thing, seen from many perspectives.

The epoc Sadaam is now finally over and he will never again be a threat towards the kurdish people or others in the region. As in many other countries in the area one look upon the death penalty i another way compared to most countries in Europe. It's not as traumatic as in Sweden or other western countries.

My friend did though say that it's regrettable that Sadaam Hussein was not put on trial for the - what my friend regarded as - most serious crimes he committed and that was the crimes against the Kurds in Halabja and other places. This because of the magnitude of these crimes, the cruelty and the planning behind them.

The problems are however not solved with the death of the dictator.
There will be disturbances because of this capital punishment of Sadaam but they will probably be temporary as most people have suffered enormously during his reign and these people will now be able to dictate the immediate agenda in the country.

We also have to remember that it was because of the United States of America and their support for Sadaam that he could gain such strenght in the area.
This not least after the Iranian revolution in 1979 when USA supported him as being the foremost opponent against an islamic 'awakening' and its consequent take over of power in the area.

My kurdish friend said that the Kurds are not fighting as strong as before in order to establish an independent state through dividing the country into three parts.
This because of the problems with differences in natural recourses in the country where a division of the land would leave the Sunnites without oil.

Democracy or civil war?
The future will as always show but I think that even if some kind of democracy would develop in the country, we cannot be shure that it is a stable one.

The conflicts between the different groups in society have deep roots, nourished under the leadership of Sadaam Hussein and with other foreign interests underlying the surface.

Will ETA break their promise on cease fire from March this year?

Svenska (English below):

Kommer ETA att bryta sitt löfte om eldupphör från i mars och åter gå fram med våld?

Det är en fråga som diskuteras häftigt i Spanien just nu eftersom det inte syns några som helst spår av framsteg i den process som skulle skapa fred i Baskien.
ETA förefaller ha tappat tålamodet.

Den spanka regeringen vill att ETA:s politiska gren, Batasuna, skall fördöma våldet men de vägrar.
Detta gör att Batasuna även forsättningsvis förblir ett förbjudet parti i Spanien.

Den spanska regeringen kanske dock måste lyssna till Batasuna eftersom de trots allt har 15% av befolkningen bakom sig.
Däremot har man tidigare gjort undersökningar som visar att en klar majoritet av den baskiska delen av befolkningen motsätter sig ETA:s användande av våld.

ETA vill också förhandla om amnestier och omplaceringar av fångar men det förvägras dem av den spanska regeringen.

ETA har inte på många år använt sig av dödligt våld och många kommentatorer tror inte heller att de avser återuppta sina våldshandlingar, inte minst sedan de försvagats efter islamisternas attentat i mars 2004 och polisens terroristjakt.
Dock tror man sig veta att ETA-medlemmar ligger bakom en stöld av flera hundra vapen i Frankrike och att man sedan tidigare vet att organisationen inte handlar utefter vad som kan benämnas som rationellt tänkande.

English:

The question of wether ETA will brake their promise on cease fire from March this year is heavily debated in Spain at the moment.
This because the peace process concerning the Basque Country is not proceedning, on the contrary there is a stand still right now.

ETA seems to have lost their patience and the Spanish government wants the political fraction - Batasuna - to condemn the violence but they refuse.
This has lead to that Batasuna still is a forbidden political party in Spain and the government refuses to negotiate with them.

Batasuna though is supported by more than 15% of the Basque population and this might force the Spanish government to initiate negotiations despite not wanting to.

When it comes to the use of violence ETA have not used any letal violence for many years.
Commentators don't think they will do so either, not least after the islamistic act of violence in March 2004 that weakened the organization.

Some are though worried about the theft of hundreds of weapons in France recently, believed to be the work of ETA.
ETA is also known to act in an irrational way.

(Photo representatives from ETA copied from: http://www.come4news.com/images/stories/eta.jpg)