My Life on this planet.

Finally, the specialists at the European Central Bank (ECB) had the guts to do what they always wanted to do : QE or Quantitative Easing . Not democratically-elected politicians decided this; no, unelected economists and bankers decided to introduce QE as they know everything about bringing a world economy to its knees so they can profit. Because lowering the interest rates to almost zero over the past years didn't seem to stimulate the economy, QE means 'printing money' by buying the government bonds of Member States in the hope it will stimulate the economy and to prevent inflation turns into deflation. Maybe there are moments QE can be used but only when really necessary and not now when the economy is relatively OK (although doesn't grow as strong as it did in the past as can be expected ) because even economists admit QE (and thus its consequences) is little understood. I even claim politicians and economists should have been preparing the people for decreasing...

Today I had one of my favourite dishes, maybe also because I don't eat it as much as other dishes but when I prepare it I always enjoy it. Therefore I want to share it. Ingredients Split green peas (about 50 g) Black eye beans (about 50 g) Potato (one) Mushrooms Courgette (half or quarter) Red pepper (quarter) Garlic Herbs Vegetable bouillon Oil (with herbs) Couscous Note : The above mentioned weights are estimates because I didn't weight the food but it shows some but not huge amounts are used per person. And I prefer to use small courgettes so I don't need to throw away the middle with its seeds. Preparation First put the dry split green peas and black eye beans in a pot with water. Add half (or all, according to taste) of the vegetable bouillon cube and some dry herbs such as basil and pepper. Start boiling. Then wash the potato, mushrooms, red pepper and courgette and cut them in small cubes (I eat the skin of the potato although remove the '...

The elections in Greece are over and the expected party won, i.e. Syriza , and thus congratulations to them although their choice of coalition partner puzzled me and others. In fact, this choice let me almost forget Syriza's victory, a victory that also reduced the parties that were in power for decades and that were to a large extend responsible for Greece situation while many of the old powers throughout Europe still think the loosing parties are the solution for a reborn Greece. Indeed, Syriza's PM Alexis Tsipras chose Anel (or Independent Greeks ) as coalition partner, a right-wing party that is like Syriza opposed to austerity but also seems to be nationalistic and supportive of the Greek-Orthodox Church and also xenophobic, anti-Semitic (and thus probably also anti-Muslim) and homophobic although only gained 5% of the vote and thus Syriza's leader Alexis Tsipras may think that such a small anti-Europe and anti-austerity party may scare the EU into more goodwill w...

Unfortunately, what was to be expected happened again: another terrorist attack on a newspaper, now in France, because some madmen felt they were insulted by cartoons published in a French newspaper. I say 'again' because in the past years there were already attacks on other news agencies such as in Denmark , all for the same reason that cartoons were published that show the Prophet Muhammad and try to ridicule him and thus a whole religion because, as Muhammad was the founder of Islam, ridicule him equals ridicule Islam equals ridicule its believers and their believes . And don't forget, the extremists from other religions are the worse to ridicule people of other religions although some atheists are also good in making fun of others. I have no right to insult, only a right to inform and discuss things in a polite manner It is very sad innocent people died such as the (Muslim) policeman and others during two attacks the next day. I also feel sad journalists we...

Although I never recognised Tony Blair as a real socialist but more as someone in the middle, he is starting to move too far in the wrong direction because of his worship of the powerful. Ones he saw the ugly head of wealth and power, he started to change and as long as he refuses to acknowledge this he can no t correct himself and may move further in that direction, away from the people who ones admired him. If only he stopped praising those who bankrupted the world and oppress others. Indeed, one can be happy for people who are successful in life but not for people who make 'mistakes' and continue making these 'mistakes' because they benefit from their 'errors' and aren't punished for making them, while they refuse to accept they should change their own behaviour instead of always blaming others who have much less and demand others behave well such as paying taxes or they should be punished. And his job as adviser for what others call dictators is quite ...

During his final years as PM, the 'war-on-terror' started (and still continues) whereby the attacks in New York and Washington were game-changers. Before this tragedy, there were interventions in wars such as in Kosovo and Sierra Leone that were celebrated by many but now PM Blair felt the need to start war to liberate people and remove dictators whereby there was the impression lies were told to justify war and to be important and this changed the mood of the people towards him. He also started to believe that police should be able to detain people for up to 90 days without charge while I think politicians should be able to trust judges so they can see evidence and can determine the length that people are locked up. Even torture was started to be used and although I understand this evolution as politicians tried to protect the general public after the attacks on the USA (09/11/2001) but also Madrid (11/03/2004 in which 191 people died) and London (07/07/2005 in which 52 peo...