OliCritical

This is alarming. This is revolting.

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 18:09:07 +0000

This is alarming.

This is revolting.

Koreas

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 22:27:03 +0000

This is a photograph of the Korean peninsula during the night taken by NASA. It’s completely astonishing how huge the difference in the illumination levels is between South Korea and North Korea which only demonstrates the sharp economic backwardness of the communist country. With a GDP per capita of just 1800$, Kim Jong-Un’s country is considered one of the poorest and least developed in the world as opposed to South Korea - one of the strongest economies in the Asian region.

Photo

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 21:28:46 +0000

Expansion

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:44:43 +0000

Hi everyone. From now on my publications will also be posted on my new blog olicritical.blogspot.com . I decided to this because in Tumblr I can only receive comments from Tumblr users but in Blogger I can receive comments from every single people in the world! Both blogs will have the exact same stuff. Thank you.

We Fight Censorship

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 06:41:35 +0000

We Fight Censorship:

We Fight Censorship is the new project from Reporters Without Borders that aims to fight all forms of censorship in the world and allow freedom of information and expression. This site is mainly used to “publish content that has been censored or banned or has led to reprisals against its creator” but it also explains how can we use our computers and electronic devices in a safer way.

You can (and should) help this project in five ways: donate any amount you want to; send any censored material you have in your posession; create a mirror site of We Fight Censorship; volunteer as a translator to the project; and share the website to all your friends.

Click on the title to go to the website.

For Whom The Bell Tolls

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 22:09:00 +0000

Yesterday I was going to start reading Hemingway’s masterpiece For Whom The Bell Tolls which I received this Christmas. Truth be told I‘ve only read two pages. This happened not because the book is poor or boring but because of the powerful quote chosen by Hemingway to start the narrative. It is actually a poem from John Donne.

“No man is an Island, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.”

This thing blew my mind away. By reading this poem I have regained part of my love and hope for mankind. We really are one. We are a group. A group whose individuals could not live only by themselves. A group capable of achieving great things. But then I remember how the world really really works and all these happy thoughts vanish. At least I had them for some moments.

Video

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 20:58:00 +0000

"All our dreams can come true - if we have the courage to pursue them."

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 17:45:07 +0100

“All our dreams can come true - if we have the courage to pursue them.”

- By the great Walt Disney. Some people just have no idea of how much this is true.

Yesterday morning, the island of Funchal was full of graffitis...

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 08:59:19 +0100

Yesterday morning, the island of Funchal was full of graffitis in protest against corruption. As you can see the author of this message compares life in the archipelago to a dictatorship. There wer also lots of appeals to the resignation of the President of the Regional Government, Alberto João Jardim.

Conflicts in the Pacific

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 23:20:00 +0100

Disputed Islands

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 23:05:17 +0100

Since last Friday, thousands of Chinese have been manifested in several cities against Japan due to a dispute between the two Asian powers regard to a set of islands.

The Chinese have been burning Japanese flags, throwing eggs and rocks to the Japanese embassy in Beijing and even destroying Japanese cars and stores. This is mainly due to the increasing tension between the two countries in the disputed Senkaku (in Japanese) or Daiyou (in Chinese) Islands that was recently triggered by the Japanese government’s decision to buy them for ¥2.05 billion to the Kurihara family.

This is not a recent conflict and there are many strong arguments given by both countries. The two governments of China (People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan)) argue that:

They have discovered the islands and have noted them in the earliest maps;
The islands were used as a defense post against Japanese pirates during the Ming and Qing dynasties. A Chinese map of Asia, as well as a map compiled by a Japanese cartographer in the 18th century, shows the islands as a part of China;
Japan took control of the islands in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894/95);
After World War II, the Potsdam Declaration stated that “Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine” (“we” – USA, UK and China). Japan accepted the terms of the Declaration when it surrendered;
Both governments of China never approved the transfer of control of the islands to Japan in 1970s.

However, Japan counter-argument with the following points:

The islands had been uninhabited and showed no trace of having been under China’s control prior to 1895;
The islands were neither part of Taiwan nor part of the Pescadores Islands, which were ceded to Japan by the Qing Dynasty of China in Article II of the May 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki, thus were not later renounced by Japan under Article II of the San Francisco Peace Treaty;
Though the islands were controlled by the United States as an occupying power between 1945 and 1972, Japan has since 1972 exercised administration over the islands;
Japanese allege that Taiwan and China only started claiming ownership of the islands in 1971, following a May 1969 UN report that a large oil and gas reserve may exist under the seabed near the islands.

This last point is of major importance because if you do some research you’ll find in many sources that it is true Taiwan and China only started to pay attention to these Islands after the information about the oil was known. Also, some international media have said that this dispute is just a strategy to start a conflict against Japan. Yet I am not able to say who’s right and who’s not because I’m not an expert in the subject.

What I know is that these events have already caused the suspension of big Japanese companies in China such as Panasonic, Canon, Nissan, Toyota, Mazda and others and a “commercial war” (in newspaper Público) between the countries have started.

"Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings"

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 23:10:54 +0100

“Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings”

- Salvador Dali

Portugal, 15th September 2012 If the government does not step...

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 01:06:00 +0100

Portugal, 15th September 2012

If the government does not step back face to this event it is once again disrespecting the Portuguese people. We are tired of incompetent and cowardly politicians. We are fed up with the poor getting poorer while the rich get richer without doing anything useful to the society. Want to reduce the debt? Cut off the salaries of deputies then. Cut off the luxury cars paid by the state. Cut off what really should be cut!

Non of these photos belong to me.

Om Advaitic Songs

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 22:45:47 +0100

In this new project the American duo, Om, present us with an even more eastern-influenced-sound and which begins to deviate from its doom metal origins. With this fifth studio album they are still defining themselves and showing that they can still surprise the listeners.

Advaitic Songs starts with Kate Ramsey’s beautiful and relaxing voice in the track Addis. It follows “State of Non-Return” whose distortion sound is more akin to previous works but ends up in a more melodic way as if the cello and the violins were telling us a story; a sad story. The three following tracks - ”Gethsemane”, “Sinai” and “Haqq al-Yaqin” - show us perfectly how the band is heading to new paths. Om are going beyond doom and metal. They are trying to achieve a state of universality by linking the eastern and western sounds and channeling them into something unique. Something listened by everyone; something felt by everyone.

The only bad thing in the album is that can be a little monotonous and repetitious but its musical quality is superb!

Rating - 9/10

My trip to Auschwitz.

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 00:20:00 +0100

My trip to Auschwitz.

François Hollande

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 00:03:00 +0100

Millions thought that everything would be different and better with monsieur François Hollande as President of France. Well it seems they were pretty wrong about that.

Firstly, Hollande promised he would break Germany’s supremacy over Europe (something which the French and lots of other Europeans) but as soon as he was elected his plane was hit by a lightning bolt while on the way to Berlin and I seriously think that the new President may have suffered some brain damage in consequence. Why do I think that? Because after his first meeting with Merkel, we could understand that their relationship would be exactly the same as “Merkozy” was. He didn’t fought against her political decisions; he was unable to stand out - he was weak.

Secondly, Hollande has decided to continue Sarkozy’s anti-gypsy policy. He started to dismantle encampments and (as the government said) paying 300e and 150e by adult and children respectively so they can return to their country of origin (mostly Romania). Some French are really shocked with this decision because (once again) they thought that without Sarkozy things would be different. The issue of immigration in France is very delicate especially with the resurgence of nationalist movements and ethnic conflicts (not only with gypsys (roma) but also with muslims).

What I want to say with all of this is that we live in a period in history where politicians are too afraid to take a real and extreme position about any issue. Not only because most of them just want to take all the money they can but because in European countries extremist political parties (left or right) are losing support and only the center ones survive.

"With great power comes great responsibility"

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 19:33:00 +0100

“With great power comes great responsibility”

- Voltaire. This one’s a classic.

Industrial Workers of the World poster in 1911… And people...

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 01:55:40 +0100

Industrial Workers of the World poster in 1911… And people talk about evolution..

Hypocrisy of North Korea

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 22:21:50 +0100

Recent floods in North Korea have caused the death of more than 150 people and nearly 63000 are homeless. Due to this situation the economic situation of the Korean population is devastated and the UN said that nearly two thirds of the population is facing food shortages. Yesterday the UN has declared that the country is asking immediate food aid.

The UN or any other organization should not help the country in any way. Of course it’s a really sad situation to those people but we all know that any help sent will not reach them because the military forces will keep it for their interests. If Kim Jong Un didn’t spend billions in weapons and military parades maybe he would have some to get all the food his country needs. Stop being a hypocrite kid and get some sense.

UN Security Council

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 16:24:20 +0100

I think it’s consensual that the Security Council of the United Nations (UNSC) needs a serious reform.

The UNSC is the most important organism of the UN and is charged with the maintenance of global peace and security. It is composed by 5 permanent veto-wielding members (let’s call them Big 5) - USA, Russia, United Kingdom, China and France - and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms.

Some of you may ask “why do things need to change?” and that’s what I’ll explain. First we must bear in mind that the Big 5 were chosen solely because they were the big winners of WWII and for being the greatest world powers at the time. With the exception of France of course but that’s another story.

But nowadays do these countries deserve to be the only ones in the UNSC? Well… Not quite. You see, nowadays there are other countries that have the same or even more influence in the world than some of these ones. But in my opinion I think that only France should leave the Council. There is no reason why the Frech are there. All the other members have great political and economic influence in the world but not this country.

The world’s problems of today require full attention, lots of effort and many ideas and opinions to solve them. It is therefore necessary that a bigger group of countries are directly in charge of making the big decisions. So in addition to the output of France, I support the idea of the entry of more permanent members like some emerging countries such as Brazil, India, Japan and Germany (G4) and also two African countries as the African Union as suggested. This last point is of paramount importance since the african continent has no representation in the UNSC although many of its resolutions are about it.

Against the G4 group is a group of countries called Uniting for Consensus (Italy, Spain, Argentina, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Pakistan, etc). They believe that adding more permanent members it’s a wrong thing to do and that what should change is the number of non-permanent ones. An opinion of which I agree. A few more countries in the Council would lead to a better regional representation on the decisions taken.

Besides the issue of the members, another controversial point has been the veto power. I think that the use should be limited and that the Big 5 should give a strong explanation to the General Assembly every time one of them uses it.

There are other issues also needing a reform. Not only in the Security Council but in other organisms of the UN.

I hope that soon someone has the courage to take the first step.