Referendum? Did someone mention something about a referendum? Hmmm?

Photo: David & Duomo, by Greg Willis - for Wikipedia

''Hey, you talkin' to me?''


via GIPHY




















LINK - I leave this article (in EN) as I try to find a source to hear the results of today's vote,








and also

 Cicero no Senado - Roma, pintado por Cesare Maccari 

A Heart of Darkness - revisited

Let us imagine, if not for a moment, that there were no "legal" implications for the term refugee.
(there are - but humour me, please, for the moment)

We'd all like to think everyone could picture being close to 400,000 kilometres from our home, no gravity or air, looking back at our home and marvel emotionally, lovingly homesick, as we have
- "a moment" -
in awe of its astounding, penetrating, blue shine, in the midst of an endless, colourless, void.

Yes, it would be nice, but, things aren't quite so.
There are always a few deranged beings who think and act in accordance to their own whims in an illusion of personal freedom. Freedom can never be true liberty or real if it is only sought by, or for, oneself

work from the series "Beaches of Absolution" - Sept. 2011 Guida Almeida

Europe, it's not that different from other continents, with (some) people keeping people in, (some) people keeping people out.  One thing it is known for (also, like the others) is "a past" with a large flux of people fleeing from the horror of wars, from hardship, from political, economic or past religious persecutions throughout the centuries, bloody civil wars and genocides..
It has (also, like the others) its body of artwork (music, fine art, cinema, dance, dramatic art, architecture, literature, et cetera).

Conrad's - A Heart of Darkness - alone, written in one of Europe's idioms tells us so very much, doesn't it?

I was going to place a video clip with Brando's Kurtz..
If I don't it is because I am a sissy, I love the book, films based on it, and love Brando but, no, not this time.


Migrants.

Joseph Conrad was a migrant, a Pole granted British nationality that travelled the seas with the French and the Brits. in merchant vessels.







Merchant vessels. The Market. Dictatorships.

Trade. Treaties. Turmoil

Exploitation. Misery, Human Will. War. Destruction.

"the horror"






It's too easy to put the blame on this or that nation, on those that pray, pray differently or that do not pray, that eat meat or do not eat meat, or on a victim - be they of war, catastrophes, persecution, hate crimes or whatever it may be that is brought upon them due to someone else's whims,
due to others overstepping their own personal freedom or obeying those that do,
or even by simply not acting, by turning away from those that are wronged.


A Heart of Darkness.

Leopold II, one of the world's top genocidal maniacs of all time was not an example of a typical Belgian person, the same can be said of other monstrous beings born in other lands in relation to their countrymen.

One can turn the coin and say that Gandhi,  Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker,  Martin Luther King Jr.  Teresa of Calcutta,  Peltier,   Mandela or Gandhi weren't or aren't the same as others in their lands,

(..one can expand things to say neither
Hannah Arendt, Rabindranath Tagore, Fernando Pessoa, Bill Evans, Kandinsky, Picasso, Einstein, Bach, Rameau, Coltrane, Monet, Pomar, Stephen Hawking, and a number of others weren't or aren't, in a similar fashion)

(Each person has their own capacities, and freedom of choice, all of us take and choose our own paths)

 but one thing one can definitely say is, whether the "authority" is Science or God, even though obedience is important to social structure and survival
(as it is with other species (dolphins, for example are wonderful but they too have the occasional raping, killer psychopath that causes havoc among the others. Like other animal species, we are social beings),
 it can also be lethal and have a horrific outcome.

To think about things, think them through and well may not be easy but it is important.

(playlist with 3 short clips)

It has taken me a while to try to write down my thoughts regarding the "European Migrant Crisis", not because it doesn't hurt me deep down in my soul, but because I have been perplexed at reactions each time news regarding the terrible ordeal is announced.


Some of us comment the news in such a way that we see how "a heart of darkness" can be anywhere, just as one can be shocked by the outcome experiments such as the one above.


The European Union is a union of states. for obvious reasons with open borders among themselves under the Schengen Agreement, a necessary tool for the EU to function, with its 2013 - Dublin Regulation (revised in 2014) is ill equipped to deal with today's world as can be, to our horror, verified.

To my surprise, some go to great lengths to argue over semantics, whether people are refugees, migrants, immigrants, emigrants, citizens of here or there, to such a degree that something is lost - the understanding that these are
people.
Anyone of us, any one of our children, fathers, mothers, wives or husbands, due to catastrophe, war, famine, drought, plague, or whatever, can become from one moment to the next, a refugee.. Think of it.  If the term refugee seems to (for reasons beyond my knowledge) be demeaning to some people, it is because either they do not fathom in the least  (they themselves)  what it is to be caught in an earthquake, plague, a war torn nation, being pursued by a tyrant's special forces because they liked daddy's car - although daddy was a minister in the tyrant's government - and in a "shoot first, ask questions later" mentality - shot daddy's son who was taking a drive and have daddy's nephew who was in the passenger seat throw himself behind the wheel.., never stopping until he gets to a place where those who would cover-up their blunder (thinking if it happened to us what happens to others?) could not get their hands on him - having been refused protection until he got to the third country he arrived in, thousands of km later, struggling with the thought that he may never to be able to see the face of his family, his fiancée and friends ever again.. His country wasn't at war, imagine if it were,, Demeaning, is not the word that comes to mind when I think of a refugee.
A refugee can be anyone.

It can be you or me in the past, present or future for any reason.

The term exists because Man's world isn't perfect and our backyard may not always be a safe haven.

It is a legal term, with legal implications, defining a hopefully temporary status.


To make things worse, great profit in one of the world's major money making venues is being obtained - human trafficking, blood money being made
- LINK - Guardian news article on Migrant Crisis and Human Trafficking - April 2015 


- GP (international affairs magazine) article regarding flaws in Dublin Convention - Feb. 2015











More LINKS:



Dublin Regulation


NY Times article - Sept 2015


Sputnik News article - Aug 25, 2015


UN Refugee Agency


Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts Project - International refugee law


European Council on Refugees and Exiles

painting from the series "Beaches of Absolution" - Sept. 2011 Guida Almeida

Message to His Excellency, Prime Minister Αλέξης Τσίπρας

I wish to convey my respect, and admiration for the battle you face, in attempting to not only save your nation but what Europe should stand for.  It is ironic the nation that gave birth to "Western Thought" and to Democracy should stand up to the face of that which now so openly opposes both and the "European dream", a dream built at such a high cost in the not so distant past. It further commands respect and solidarity when considering the hardship your country is subjected to. Even the absurd excuse of using "creative" accounting in the past by the very same entities that now directly or indirectly bleed you as well as the rest of the European peoples (Goldman Sachs comes to mind, among other vicious thieves) is not only unacceptable but Kafkian to say the least.


As said by a great human being in the past:
"In the end we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends" (Martin Luther King Jr.)



My government here in Portugal and the head of state by no means represents me or many I hold dear, in this country and abroad.



This has not even been an issue of Left or Right for some time now, but rather right and wrong.
"They" (the assassins of Europe and democracy) are wrong.
They have turned a "WE" into "they", into "those over there" and "these over there" - typical of those who see human beings as a commodity and not as people.

"They" do not respect people. "They" do not like the Spaniards, Germans, Portuguese, Danes, Belgians, Italians, Fins, Mattese, Irish, Austrians, Swedes, British, French, Greeks, or any other peoples of Europe. In fact, they do not like People, period. (whether from inside or outside of Europe).


Although, as I said above, I do not feel represented by the government in this country (Portugal), I must say that if any person exterior to this land were to be so base and improper in an official summit or meeting of any kind as (oh my, I seem to have forgotten the man's name though I do recall that no nation elected him to be the head of any state - let us call him "What's His Name")..
- as What's His Name, towards the person this sovereign state elected (even if the person is the one we presently have, or others we've had in the past, much to my despair) it would not only be foul in terms of protocol (if such meetings are to be taken seriously by the people in general) but an insult to the nation and the nation's freedom to elect whomsoever they please, as well as the other heads of state and states in said meetings. I'm constantly shocked by our election outcomes, seldom not, nevertheless it would still be unacceptable.  Moreover, those who elect are the ones who can keep or eventually remove a nation's government unless there is an invasion, a state of WAR and an invasion.
This is another reason I write to you, dear sir. I am shocked that Europe has "officially" come to this and not just behind questionable curtains of Lobbies and hidden agendas.

Those who know me personally would find it bizarre to see me speak either of protocol or of nations in this way (I never was, nor am I, fond of borders - and - protocol is to me just a ritual that sometimes aids dialogue between who may or may not get along, but nevertheless must talk. Since I'm in the Arts, I have as much use for it as a giraffe has for crochet needles. As a matter of fact, just the mention of a giraffe using crochet needles poses many images, all of them with much more dignity and productive than ..ah, if only I could recall the man's name).

I ask your indulgence for my "casual" way of writing and am embarrassed that Europe has become "cannon fodder" for lowly people such as What's His Name. "They" do in fact have an uncanny resemblance to those in ISIS and the likes. I would not be in the least bit surprised if I were to find out, for instance, that they
"invest" - or had invested - in oil from certain oil fields, it seems to be concurrent with "their" religion.
I shall not mention What's His Name any more for he is soiling my message.






I humbly thank you, and how I wish my thanks could be of any practical use. It is but words, though they are sincere.

Even though I do not know if you will see this message,
I truly wish you the very best, and that you receive the aid you not only deserve, but need.



Any man who can retain his dignity amidst such dealings not only commands respect, he shines the light of dignity upon those who placed him in office.

Image: a rather old but effective way to keep thieves at bay (window in my hometown | Convento dos Cardaes - founded by Dª Luisa de Távora, built in the early XVII century, resisted the catastrophic earthquake & tidal wave of 1755 - photo by G. Almeida)

Post Scriptum:

 I'm not aware of where negociations are exactly at this point, but I see some reactions on "twitter" to suggest one has been reached, I  hope that any "deal" made on behalf of your people does not come out as further pillage. I will say no more for it is easy for me to sit and write a message. I have no idea what it is to have the responsibility of relieving  a nation that has seen in the past weeks even more relentless underhanded attacks through the "temper tantrums" of babies (without the lovability of infants) who have far too much power and have been spoiled rotten by the EU.
I can not imagine the pressure of knowing you must be able to put "food on the plate" (I use the metaphor but fear how literal it may infact be for your nation under such ruthless bullying by psycopathic, terrorist thought and capabilities from people who are in dire need of a good spanking).

LINK - to a past article

another LINK - to another past article (there are more)

(post author: Maria M FA Costa)

Along came rosy fingered dawn.. (post in EN)

painting by Nikolaos Gyzis 

Could I take me to some cavern for mine hiding,

In the hilltops where the Sun scarce hath trod;

Or a cloud make the home of mine abiding,

As a bird among the bird-droves of God.

Could I wing me to my rest amid the roar

Of the deep Adriatic on the shore

Where the water of Eridanus is clear,

And Phaeton's sad sisters by his grave

Weep into the river, and each tear

Gleams a dropp of amber, in the wave.

To the strand of the Daughters of the Sunset,

The Apple-tree, the singing and the gold;

Where the mariner must stay him from his onset,

And the red wave is tranquil as of old;

Yea, beyond that pillar of the End

That Atlas guardeth, would I wend;

Where a voice of living waters never ceaseth

In God's quiet garden by the sea,

And Earth, the ancient life-giver, increaseth

Joy among the meadows, like a tree.

(O FOR THE WINGS OF A DOVE - Euripides)

In an age where political office and its contenders (in many nations) are muddied, turning it all into a sad mockery, when democracy though hailed and held high is but an empty word devout of meaning - soiled by lobby, bullied by despotic whim, ravaged by thieves and disgraced by cowards, when people are looked upon as commodity or as a nuisance we find a country where something long gone seems to shine among the ashes of Western Thought.

Politicians, from left to right, who fear and/or dislike their people, are the face of tyranny.
I'm always grateful when I see the opposite anywhere in the world.

From South to North, East to West - all of Europe has things to be thankful for.
Like anywhere else on this tiny blue ship that sails the heavens, in a pirouette among other piroettes concentrically circling in a 'grand ballet', it has its beauty.


Thank you Greece

(I shall return to speak my thoughts regarding last week's events, occurring on other side of the Atlantic.
The subject above and the two from last week are too powerful to be in one post.
Thank you for reading.
Have a nice day) 

Sophocles seems to bring us a new Play - thank you / Sófocles - voltou e traz consigo uma nova peça

Há alturas em que não se pode cruzar os braços, não se pode ficar à espera, não se pode ficar indiferente.   Já nem é (e por mim, há muito que já nem é) uma questão de "esquerda / direita", é uma questão de humanismo, de livre arbítrio, e de dignidade, neste caso humano (de todos, todos mesmo sem excepção quanto a mim).   Há que agradecer, nem que seja por uns dias enquanto se faz marcha atrás para se estar menos "discrente".  

Thank you Yannis, and at least for the present moment, I also thank the rest of your collegues.  I wish you strength, stamina, courage and that the hard road ahead of you not hurt you in any way.

Thank you.

Obrigada

I shall also leave a LINK with an article written elsewhere in the early morning of January 27, 2015 - Guida Almeida     -  for whomsoever may wish to take a peak.







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(image: Art Mktg Management ‏@AMMblog  Nov 11

@ammblog #masterpieces The two version of #Samotracia #Nike Pitocrito, 200-180 a.C. Yves Klein, 1962 

@MuseeLouvre )

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- and finally, posted some years ago here in this blog:

Resonance - Liberation

I have walked the walk of millions,
of those who had fallen, of others who had not. 

I've walked the ages, 

counted each imprisoned breath born from ordinal numbers 

and wept at your feet.

These wings on my back, tattered, worn,
Laced,
they hang with the dust of time,
hugging my body,
barely visible.  

 Looking back,  

Conquered, yet "Un-Conquested", 

bedded upon endless gardens, 

taken 

mysteries nearly plundered 

and unveiled... 

I weep at your feet.

Legion surrounding the lake 

as Aegle slumbering in grief, but in numbers, 

a multitude of wooded beings,

sleeping, 

I dreamt of you.

Rivers of time try to erase,
start anew

yet within the steadfast darkness 

of my silence

I have heard your words in Morphic Resonance 

- Come hither.. the world changes. Quick, hurry.. - 

From the shores I return,
we
turn
return
turn
in turn
turnin-g

arriving at each new angle 

360 degrees
... and back
and again
and back again.

poem written by Margarida Costa 

(aka: Guida Almeida, Guida Costa, Maria MFA Costa)

.

.

(the above poem is in this article - LINK)












When the left hand is helped by the right hand I am finally taken to a place of respect I thought didn't exist.





These may be troubled times but for a momment, even if it be fleeting (I truly hope it is not), the darkened, heavy clouds that have been hovering above us seem to dissipate..










Wishing a good day to all.

Bom dia

.