My Life on this planet.

As Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has stated, it is essential to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, both to defend Ukraine and to prevent the war from spreading to the rest of Europe. However, at times it seems that Germany has learned little from its own history, as its political arrogance once again risks creating problems for other countries—now including Belgium. As I understand it, the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, publicly announced—without prior consultation with Belgium—that Russia’s frozen assets should be used directly to finance Ukraine’s war effort, rather than limiting support to the interest generated by those assets, as is currently the case. The problem is that these Russian assets are held at Euroclear in Belgium. If Russia were to reclaim its funds in the future, Belgium—not Germany—could be forced to pay and bear the political and financial consequences, including Russia’s anger. Therefore, President Putin should note that...

The German elections are over. The coalition of socialists, liberals and greens lost the election, and thus their government leader Chancellor Olaf Scholz will likely be replaced by CDU leader Friedrich Merz , a politician turned banker turned politician again who said during the elections that there will be a turn away from an economy based on climate actions, just when climate actions remain important, certainly now that the USA pulled out of the Paris climate agreement and wants to drill more gas and oil to use.  FB 20/02/2025 This becomes reality: economy and growth before climate measures. Also in Germany, and as it is Europe's leading country, this will become policies throughout Europe. Yes, the more it becomes clear climate change will cost billions of euros, the less we do while we'll speak about more growth. Capitalism, its own doom as growth is its only way forward. Still, there are now more urgent matters as Russia invaded a European country. And while more ...

Freedom of speech in the USA is becoming increasingly difficult—unless, of course, you speak the language of the president. You can insult others freely, but if you speak as, for example, climate activists who highlight that scientists' warnings are becoming reality, you are silenced. Drilling for more oil is prioritized over acknowledging climate change. And when California burns, it must be the Democrats' fault—not the severe droughts of past years. Now, Europe is painted as a threat—unless it aligns with the American president. Many Christian conservatives see Russia as "Gog" in biblical prophecy but believe the real enemy is Europe. The USA still harbors resentment over American lives lost fighting fascism in Europe. Ironically, many of the same people who despise Europe now embrace Hitler’s ideological policies: anti-LGBTQ, anti-left, racism, and religious supremacy. This rhetoric mirrors that of Brexit campaigners. Remember how Ann Widdecombe once spoke about th...

Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov analyses 2023's Russia Russia's Nobel-winning journalist Dmitry Muratov, whose newspaper was closed by the authorities, speaks about Russia's war in Ukraine . Does president Putin have a support base he asks? He answers himself: an enormous one of mainly elderly people who see Putin as their own grandson as they are pleased he wishes them each year "Happy New Year". Many of those elderly wouldn't mind sending their real grandchildren to die for Putin. In contrast, many younger people oppose the war against Ukraine, and many of them are now even imprisoned. So, he hopes the future of Russia will be different.  But yes, while Russian propaganda tries to convince Russians that even nuclear war may be something positive, there are also people in the West who create their own propaganda to justify their support for Russia, and condemn Ukraine because it wants to remain a free democracy, and therefore opposes Russia's invasion. ...

Syria I recently saw a reportage about Syria and the fighting that is going on there. How is happening that one day there will be a ruler in that country who is no longer accepted by many of his people and thus people will fight against him because he refuses to leave. In the end, he will only be remembered as the person who tried to remain in power for as long as possible and as a result the city Damascus (and cities across the country), thousands of years old and one of the oldest, if not the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world, may be completely destroyed , similarly to what happened before during the war in Lebanon. Indeed, already historical parts of cities are gone during attacks from the army while rebels are blowing up parts of the city to undermine the army. If only Assad would accept to leave the country, the destruction of the country could stop and some of his and his family's achievements may remain. Idle hope as he was again elected as president . On...