My Life on this planet.

Some people think Stalin's Russia can be used as example against our own society. I don't agree and two discussions on the Flemish radio explained well how certain people in Russia (but also in other countries) think positively about communist Soviet Union because they selectively use its history against greed in our capitalist society. It is good that people want a better society but they should use better examples than the Soviet Union if they want that people take them serious. I believe in a social democracy that helps people who need help while the wealthy can pay for themselves and whereby taxes should be as low as possible and sometimes selective but everyone needs to pay them according what they earn and the wealthy are proud to show their wealth by contributing to a healthy society via paying their taxes instead of escaping to financial paradises. Still, people who invest their own money in companies should not be punished by having to pay taxes. Below I explain wha...

Globalisation, it seems now even some diehards are starting to question it . I still think it is the way forward when well-regulated but that's the problem as the remaining diehards claim it should be even more deregulated to open up markets and stimulate the economy. Globalisation has become that companies are allowed to produce products in poor countries where people are paid too little for the work they do although slightly more than what others in the region earn to attract the best after which companies sell the products in rich countries (mainly the Western world) at prices below the price what should be paid if the same products were produced in wealthy countries where wages are higher. The result : the outsourcing means that people lose jobs in countries where wages are high and thus become poorer while in the developing countries people who work at multinationals improve compared with those without a job at multinationals so local producers can't compete with t...

How people don't seem to understand President Trump as they think he is an isolationist but I don't see him like that. It is not because a leader wants jobs for his own people that that means he wants to close the borders (unless the Mexican border to stop that more drugs can enter the USA). He wants that e.g. cars are made by Americans, sold in the USA and if possible abroad so Americans have jobs. One can disagree with his decision to invest more in fossil fuels instead of renewables but it will (temporarily) provide jobs to people while the rest of the world can decide to do it differently, i.e. invest in renewables. But already during the presidential campaign he indicated he may intervene in the world if necessary while his interest in fossil fuels may be to provide fuel for the army. Indeed, it is not because a president wants jobs for his own people that that means he doesn't want to look outwards as he has strong opinions about North Korea, Iran, Cuba, China...

A brief history Day after day and month after month, Isis is getting worse in it evil acts of killing people although it seems they are getting defeated at certain places. Indeed, they kill people, including women and children, by beheading or burning while the punishment for being gay is being thrown from buildings and then stoning if they are not yet death. And apart from what seems to be only a few attacks against Isis (that I will now call Daesh ) by only a few countries, little is done to stop the progress of Daesh (out of fear to hurt Assad) while the inactivity results in more countries being sucked into the conflict (although doing more may have the same result). Indeed, after some US journalists were killed, the USA and some allies started to bomb Daesh , both in Iraq and Syria. I think the US first tries to locate their targets before striking and thus tries to limit killing innocent people while tries to maximise the killing of the enemy; the US even seems to support some...

The second most important person in the current US government, president Trump’s direct adviser Steve Bannon, told the media “… to keep its mouth shut …” and many journalists were chocked at this direct attack. This is not surprising to me nor should it be for the media that should follow and thus understand what goes on in society, illustrating that Mr Bannon may be right when he says that “ The media should … keep its mouth shut and just listen for awhile ” as “ They (= the media) don’t understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States ” while one would expect journalists may even have foretold this if only they took what's going on in the world more serious: people who protests for a better and fairer society versus people with an opposite view in an increasingly polarised world. But certainly powerful people in movements such as the Tea Party should be taken serious as they can influence politicians and business wit...

Finely, a recent measure suggests that the rise in C02-levels are now almost under control. Unfortunately, now methane-levels (CH4, an about 20 times more powerful greenhouse gas than C02 although with a shorter life) is rising at an alarming speed . They (i.e. scientists) are wondering why this is happening and where it comes from. Of course, they have ideas.   Chemical formulas of the main greenhouse gasses : (a) water vapor, (b) carbon dioxyde, (c) methane, (d) nitrous oxide and (e) ozone while the group of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) is too large to show. Possible origins of increase in methane First, they think probably agriculture is mainly to blame as it produces methane while CO2 is the main component from burning fossil fuels and thus mainly manmade. Thus, while now the release of CO2 slows down, the release of CH4 increases. The result may be that many people will focus attention on animals such as cows and pigs who fart and thus release organic gasses (as do ...