My Life on this planet.

A political row was emerging between Germany and Turkey because of what a German comedian said about Turkish President Erdogan. As a reaction, President Erdogan demanded that the German government would take action against the comedian and PM Merkel allowed this to happen as I think should be done although troubles may return later. Here is why … The comedian Jan Böhmermann deliberately insulted President Erdogan during a show on ZDF television in which he called the Turkish president some names and described him as someone watching child pornography but also accused the Turkish president of “repressing minorities, kicking Kurds and slapping Christians”. And this was not by accident because before he read the poem, he informed the public that it contained allegations that breached German rules on free speech and thus he knew (hoped?) actions could follow. Of course, sometimes laws need to be broken (e.g. when Hitler was in power) but I do not agree that here laws should have bee...

In Belgium, since many years people discuss how to reduce or even solve the standstill of the traffic, certainly within major cities and on highways that connect cities and towns as here traffic sometimes comes to a standstill while it is expected that the number of cars will further grow in future. Some politicians think one of the solutions is building shopping malls just outside towns and cities so traffic doesn't need to enter them. However, this means people from within and outside cities and towns need to travel to those shopping malls and this will also cause traffic problems as people will probably use their car since people travelling to those shopping malls often buy plenty or they would buy it in their local shop. In addition, I agree with those who claim that these shopping malls may damage local economies inside cities and towns as people who buy in these malls will probably not visit the city centre to buy, drink or eat something, certainly not if they came by ca...

Saint Nicholas Last weekend was 6 December and that meant Saint Nicholas  day in a number of countries such as Belgium and The Netherlands. This is a day when children receive presents from their parents and at school while even employers can organise a Saint Nicholas celebration whereby the children of parents working for the company can come to collect a gift and enjoy a small party with e.g. facial body painting and sweats. It should be a fun day for everyone, a little like Santa Claus in the English-speaking world (that is based upon the same person) who also gives toys to children during the Christmas period and is now also widely celebrated in other parts of the world. Except that it has become politicised to an extend that some people are calling to end the whole thing and as a result children will no longer receive something on that day although its end will also be cost-effective for society when no longer presents need to be bought - and this ...

Another dish, quickly prepared and nice: a vegetarian pasta. Ingredients Pasta Fennel Red peppers (paprika) Mushrooms Tomato Yellow hot pepper Garlic Red peppers (paprika) sauce Herbs Olive oil Cheese Preparation Cut the red pepper, fennel and mushrooms into small pieces. Place the red pepper and fennel in a pan with hot olive oil. After some time, add the mushrooms and stir so all sides are cooked while it prevents the food from burning. Depending how crisping you prefer the vegetables, heat them for a shorter or longer time in the pan. Just before the vegetables are fine, add pieces of tomato, yellow pepper (if you like it hot) and garlic to the vegetables as well as some red peppers sauce and some herbs such as pepper and continue to heat for a short time while mixing the food. These vegetables don't need a very long time to cook and therefore are added at the end. While preparing the vegetables, cook the pasta for the suggested time as mentioned on the pac...

President Obama, receiving little if any respect from opponents (what may be understandable) but also often loosing any respect from his initial supporters due to wrong decisions so people sometimes wonder on whose side he really stands. Only a few weeks ago President Obama wanted to leave a lasting legacy by announcing a climate deal that should result in a huge reduction in gases that are responsible for causing climate change and this by stimulating investments away from mainly coal. And now President Obama needs to defend himself because he allowed Arctic oil drilling in the Chukchi Sea with the falls argument the economy still needs oil and gas and thus it is better to get this from domestic producers than from foreign import. Falls unless you are convinced that burning oil and gas are essential for the economy and then the argument he uses is correct. One could even accuse the president that he wants to stop the use of coal to promote oil and gas use. Ship guid...

Pope Francis I published his much anticipated encyclical about climate change and the state of our planet . I didn't read the document but read some commentary and it seems it is quite a moderate document although it changes the language by acknowledging that actions are really needed, now. Discussion of document This article summarises the document in eight points and I can agree with seven of them while one point ( point 7 ) shows the pope's age. Indeed, we need new energy sources and mainly renewable energy produced at a local level ( point 4 ). This doesn't mean we shouldn't be realistic by accepting there is a transition period with the continued use of other sources such as gas and nuclear energy but with the need to stimulate investments in new energies and much less in the old ones as they are very expensive ( point 1 ) as it seems President Obama's climate deal is trying to do. Still, the burning of coal should be stopped as soon as pos...