After The Pink Goat

The power of the inner world

nospam@example.com (Denitsa) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 02:41:24 +0300

It's a lovely spring outside and I decided to open the season with some articles on pleasure and well-being. After all, you can't escape the not so fun experiences - we all have to pass trough whatever we've written in our worldline (i.e. destiny). But the rest of the time, we're free to enjoy our life the best we can. So, here is some food for the thought on the nice and lovely and sweet side of our lives.

Why Meditation And Orgasm Feel The Same To The Brain - "According to a recent article in Scientific American, both meditation and orgasm decrease our sense of self-awareness. Bliss, says author Nadia Webb, whether through the experience of meditative contemplation or through the bodily experience of sex, "shares the diminution of self-awareness, alterations in bodily perception and decreased sense of pain." In other words, both experiences lead to a temporary stoppage in the incessant flow of our internal commentary. Even if for only a few minutes, we are able to see ourselves as something other than the ego.

Meditation and orgasm light up different parts of the brain. Meditation, various studies have shown, lights up the left prefrontal cortex -- an area associated with joy and happiness. But during an orgasm, the left cortex remains totally silent. Meditation has also been known to create lasting change in the brain through a thickening of the cortex."

The conclusion is simple - make more sex and more meditation and be happy!

10 Ways to Buy Happiness -

"1. Buy many small lovely things rather than one big one

2. Savour the cheap joys of life

3. Practice 'presence' for an extra jolt of joy

4. Buy experiences, not things

5. Spend on others, not yourself

6. Buy less insurance

7. Delay, delay, delay consumption

8. Happiness is in the details

9. Don't shop around

10. Follow the herd"

A lovely article on Stoicism :

"The core of the philosophy seems to be this: To have a good and meaningful life, you need to overcome your insatiability. Most people, at best, spend their lives in a long pursuit of happiness. So today’s successful person writes out a list of desires, then starts chasing them down and satisfying the desires. The problem is that each desire, when satisfied, tends to be replaced by a new desire. So the person continues to chase. Yet after a lifetime of pursuit, the person ends up no more satisfied than he was at the beginning. Thus, he may end up wasting his life.

The solution, the Stoics realized, is to learn to want the things you already have, rather than wanting other things. The most interesting technique that will help you achieve this is Negative Visualization.

For example, suppose that you currently have a good working set of eyes. Imagine carefully what it would be like to live your life as a blind person. You would have to work very hard to rearrange your life to remain functional (...) - in the end, you could surely survive and even become happy again if you were blind. But now open your eyes. SURPRISE!! YOU HAVE THIS BONUS OF SIGHT!!!. What an incredible life – you are truly blessed with more than you even need.

It turns out that if you practice negative visualization on a regular basis, you learn to both appreciate your current life much more, and to be mentally prepared in the event of any changes in your life as well – loss of health, fortune, a loved one, etc. You have replaced negative emotions with satisfaction and even joy.

The next great trick is the one that allows you to eliminate anxiety about the present and the future. That can be done by separating your worries into things you can control, and things you can’t.

Moving from the mental to the physical, Stoics actually enjoy experimenting with Voluntary Discomfort. (..)It sounds absurd by modern standards, until you realize that by doing this, you are actually broadening your comfort zone, even while you eliminate your fear of discomfort. By experimenting with voluntary discomfort, we learn to appreciate far more of our life, and can be content with a much simpler and more wholesome one.“The more pleasures a man captures, the more masters he will have to serve”

Stoics believe that the main purpose of our productive energy is to fulfill all of our life’s obligations to our best ability, and to help our fellow humans.

Rewarding social interactions are a specialty of the Stoic. They believe that humans are social animals at the core, and thus we must exercise this part of our personality to maintain a balanced happiness. But at the same time, it is not rational to have any interest in fame or social status, since these are fleeting indulgences rather than sources of true happiness."

It's very strange to read an article like that if you're a fan of the positive visualization and the Secret and so on. On the first glance, positive and negative visualization can't be both right at the same time. But that's wrong. The negative visualization is a distinct effort from your side to see the things from another perspective. It's like an exercise you do to get stronger. While the positive visualization should be part of your mind-chatter. To always expect for the best result out of any situation, to become the person to whom such best results occur. It's amazing what our brains can do, if we use them properly.

Another very touching link, I just have to share is that to the alternate gospels, which I think everybody should read at least once, because they are so full of jewels.

http://reluctant-messenger.com/alternate-gospels.htm

with the gospel of Thomas what I find particularly ...interesting right now. It's not so important when and how they were written, the important part is the spiritual message they are brining to our attention.

And yeah, one more link. Read this crazy story : Terrified Woman From Another Universe Wake Up Here and make up your mind about it. For me, it's simply amazing. And also quite spooky. And very uncomfortably realistic. Linking it to the Stoicism - just imagine what would be to wake up like her - in a very familiar, but not the same world you went to sleep. And just appreciate what you have. Because many people do experience such things for very mundane reasons. So I think we should never forget what a wonderful gift our life is. Not because it's perfect, but because it ours.

Finally, I'd like to share a thought I read in a poem by William Mistelle:

"Your body is the cloak your spirit wears

In order to appear in this world"

I love it. I think we all know it, but still refuse to give up to this knowledge and accept it as part of us. In any case, we should enjoy our lives more. It's only them we have. Have a wonderful evening!

Who's saving who in Europe, 2012

nospam@example.com (Denitsa) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 02:13:18 +0200

I haven't published for quite a while now. I'm still to prepare the post I wanted to start with, but today I've found something quite interesting.

http://www.fortunatelyunified.eu/

Clicking on the link above will open a very nice explanation of who's saving who with the European stability mechanism and so on. Because, like any other thinking European citizen, I also grew tired and very annoyed by the endless talking about the hard-working Germans and the lazy Greeks. I mean, it's amazing that in the times when all the information is available with a click of the mouse (or tapping on the tablet), people are still quite ignorant about the true cause of the crisis.

And the ugly truth is that it's not Greek fault (not entirely at least). The Greek were also victims, just like any of us. Not that I'm such fan of Greece, but we must be honest. It could be (almost) anyone of us. In fact, it is not over - the situation is still very very unstable.

And the worst is that instead of trying to stimulate the economics, some countries bet on conservative budgets, cutting money from where it shouldn't be cut. For example, Sarkozy is offering absurd taxes for the rich (could it be fare to lose 75% of your income, just because you earn over 1 000 000?!) or of online ads (how do you prove this income originated in France unless you don't use the statistics gathered by the same company you're taxing). In Spain, the social services are going under heavier and heavier strain (severe cuts in the money for health care and education). Both of those examples simply won't lead to more money in the budget, especially in the short and medium term - the ultra-high taxes for the rich will only scare them away and they will pay their taxes in fiscal paradises. As for the cuts in the health care and education and the idea to be able to fire people collectively ignoring their contracts - I don't see how mass-firing people in Spain can lead to savings in the budget - all those people will take their unemployment insurance payments directly from the state's budget. For at least 6 months! So they won't work and they will get payed. How is this good for the economy? And those are just two examples.

What about the increasingly xenophobic rhetoric in the whole West Europe? Again Sarkozy said he wants to decrease the number of the immigrants. But let's face it! The Magreb immigrants are in France because they can. Because it was French politics to make them happy, so that they can use (and abuse) their home-countries resources. So blaming on the immigrants is merely ridiculous - it was France who invited them on the first place. But of course, when Sarkozy speaks of immigrants, it's not directed on the African immigrants. They are not foreigners, they are "dark-skinned, francophone cousins". By immigrants, he means, East and Central Europeans. True, we belong to the same civilization, have the same culture and similar religious habits, but we're the foreigners. We are the bad people who steal French people their salary. Something that is profoundly incorrect, since the real money drain for France are exactly the "cousins" from Magreb. But if he directs his anger to them, that will be politically incorrect. And then it will be very difficult for France to make solar plants in Algeria, or to count on oil/gas from Africa or to keep the influence in the region they are so happy with. So, Eastern Europeans are much more easy and safe target.

Anyway, Sarkozy may be absolutely unimportant considering the elections in France. We can leave him aside for now. My point is that Europe and its people need a serious reality check. They've been manipulated and this time, it's not some conspiracy theory, it's a fact. Read for example this very recent news: Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs . It's written by a resigning executive director of Goldman Sachs. A very disillusioned one! But I cannot feel compassion to him. Because it was exactly Goldman Sachs who put Greece on its knees. And although I have serious problem with the Greek's version of ancient history, I can't stand the way they indebted it to the point of no return and then even dared to ask that it goes in a default, just to get the insurance for the investment. Indebting every citizen of a European country, ruining the lives of thousands if not millions, just for the profit. And that guy claim he didn't know? I can't believe it. So I have no sympathy for him.

And note - both Mario Monti and Mario Draghi are Goldman Sachs ex-executives. So obviously, this investment bank deserves its nick-name the Vampire Squid. Because it has entangled the whole world and it won't let go.

So, don't be fooled. The real enemy are not your neighbors or the other member-states. The money that the EU gives them to save them from a default go actually directly to European banks who hold their national debts, thus keeping the banks away from a default or from negative credit ratings which will mean higher credit rates for everyone.

The real enemy are precisely those banks. Structures, which are much bigger than their own good. Entities who use our money, when in need, but who do not return this favor when we are in need (and in fact which evade taxes in every possible and more or less legal way). And this is not a conspiracy, it's a mere consequence of the globalisation. Nowadays, governments do not regulate the market, it's banks who regulate the market and the governments. And ultimately they regulate our lives. They have the power to ruing a country or to make it prosper, by dictating its politics, but they do not get elected by us! And we cannot hold them responsible, no matter how wrong they are. In the end, when they do something very stupid, it's once again OUR money who will save them, in the form of government subsidy.

Is this free market? No. It is not. It's the reign of the investment banks, financial trusts and so on parasites. This situation must be changed. Because live thrives on variety, it needs its degrees of freedom. It doesn't matter who is abusing the power, be it banks, governments or corporations, there must be balance. And it is exactly this balance worth fighting for.

Have a nice evening!

Archaeological news from the past year

nospam@example.com (Denitsa) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:29:38 +0200

Some archaeological news left over from the past year. My comments are scarce, but this is not because the news are not interesting, but because I wanted to make the post as short as possible.

As always, I'm particularly interested by the way the dating of things accepted as known goes further and further back in time. Reading trough the news, you can also observe how the boundary between modern humans and their ancestors gets fuzzier.

Stone Age Fertility Ritual Object Found

A Stone Age-era artifact carved with multiple zigzags and what is likely a woman with spread legs suggests that fertility rituals may have been important to early Europeans, according to new research.

The object, which will be documented in the March issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science, is made out of a large elk antler and has been radiocarbon dated to about 10,900 years ago.

Zigzags are very popular motifs on artifacts from many cultures throughout the world, with many possible meanings, but Płonka said, "I think our zigzag lines are connected with water and life symbolism."

The lines also appear to have been carved by different individuals, suggesting that some group effort was involved in the creation of the object.

Giant elks were the most imposing animals of the European Plain, perhaps symbolizing "the power of life," according to Płonka.

Co-author Krzysztof Kowalski of the National Museum in Szczecin told Discovery News that he and his colleagues are not certain what culture produced the piece, but they've narrowed it down to two probable candidates: the Federmesser or the Ahrensburg cultures.

The researchers aren't yet certain if the images on the carved antler are associated with Venus figurines, statuettes of women with exaggerated sexual features that date to as early as 35,000 years ago. source

Lucy's feet were made for walking

By Bruce Bower , March 12th, 2011;

A tiny 3.2-million-year-old fossil found in East Africa gives Lucy’s kind an unprecedented toehold on humanlike walking.

Australopithecus afarensis, an ancient hominid species best known for a partial female skeleton called Lucy, had stiff foot arches like those of people today, say anthropologist Carol Ward of the University of Missouri in Columbia and her colleagues. A bone from the fourth toe — the first such A. afarensis fossil unearthed — provides crucial evidence that bends in this species’ feet supported and cushioned a two-legged stride, the scientists report in the Feb. 11 Science.

“We now have the evidence we’ve been lacking that A. afarensis had fully developed, permanent arches in its feet,” Ward says. Survival for Lucy and her comrades must have hinged on abandoning trees for a ground-based lifestyle, she proposes.

The new fossil confirms that members of Lucy’s species could have made 3.6-million-year-old footprints previously found in hardened volcanic ash at Laetoli, Tanzania (SN Online: 3/22/10), she says. A. afarensis lived from about 4 million to 3 million years ago. source

Ancient teeth raise new questions about the origins of modern man

BINGHAMTON, NY – Eight small teeth found in a cave near Rosh Haain, central Israel, are raising big questions about the earliest existence of humans and where we may have originated, says Binghamton University anthropologist Rolf Quam. Part of a team of international researchers led by Dr. Israel Hershovitz of Tel Aviv University, Qaum and his colleagues have been examining the dental discovery and recently published their joint findings in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

Excavated at Qesem cave, a pre-historic site that was uncovered in 2000, the size and shape of the teeth are very similar to those of modern man, Homo sapiens, which have been found at other sites is Israel, such as Oafzeh and Skhul - but they're a lot older than any previously discovered remains.

"The Qesem teeth come from a time period between 200,000 - 400,000 years ago when human remains from the Middle East are very scarce," Quam said. If the remains from Qesem can be linked directly to the Homo sapiens species, it could mean that modern man either originated in what is now Israel or may have migrated from Africa far earlier that is presently accepted. source

Bronze Age settlement found at NE Hungary construction site

By: MTI

2011-02-17 07:29
Remains of a Bronze Age settlement and a former Sarmatian burial ground have been found at a construction site in the city of Nyiregyhaza in northeast Hungary, daily Magyar Nemzet said on Wednesday.

Several thousand metal objects, Roman bronze, silver and golden coins, and jewellery were excavated by archaeologists in the Oros district of the city, said the head of the excavation. One old pot contained as many as 34 bracelets, project leader archaeologist Eszter Istvanovits told the newspaper.
Some sixty dwellings have been excavated in the 56-hectare area and among the curiosities found has been a bone flute, she said.
Not far from the Bronze Age site, archaeologists also found some 100 graves from the period of the settlement of Magyars in Hungary. Many of the graves included bracelets and belt buckles.
A circular Sarmatian burial ground was also identified in the area but most of these graves have been robbed so archeologists could recover very few items from these.
source
My comment:
Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico at the de Young

Just look at those huge statues! It's amazing what the Ancient people built. Or why they did it at all!

The oldest salt mine known to date located in Azerbaijan

November 29, 2010

French archeologists have recently provided proof that the Duzdagi salt deposits, situated in the Araxes Valley in Azerbaijan, were already being exploited from the second half of the 5th millennium BC. It is therefore the most ancient exploitation of rock salt attested to date. And, to the researchers' surprise, intensive salt production was carried out in this mine at least as early as 3500 BC. source

Stone cutting tools link early humans to prehistoric India

March 25, 2011
Dating of recently discovered artifacts in South India indicates that early humans lived in the region more than a million years ago, and that they used distinct 'Acheulian' stone cutting tools, a new study reports in journal Science.

Acheulian tools originated in Africa around 1.5 million years ago and are thought to have spread throughout Eurasia.

The artifacts were discovered in one of the richest Paleolithic sites in Tamil Nadu, India, called Attirampakkam. Nestled in the Kortallayar river basin, the site was discovered in 1863 by British geologist Robert Bruce Foote, and has been excavated (off and on) since then.

Shanti Pappu and colleagues determined the ages of these tools, which suggest that Acheulian tool-making humans were present in South Asia around a million years ago or earlier, existing at the same time as other populations in southwest Asia and Africa.

The team discovered more than 3,500 quartzite stone artifacts, including more than 70 Acheulian hand axes, cleavers and flakes (small chipped stones).

By taking paelomagnetic measurements, the researchers were able to directly date the sediments that covered the Acheulian tools. All paleomagnetic measurements from around the site showed a reversed polarity, meaning that the sediment predates the period after the last reversal of Earth’s magnetic field.

The discovery of reverse polarity establishes the fact that the sediments are more than a million years old. source

Neanderthals were nifty at controlling fire: study

March 14, 2011
A new study involving the University of Colorado Boulder shows clear evidence of the continuous control of fire by Neanderthals in Europe dating back roughly 400,000 years, yet another indication that they weren't dimwitted brutes as often portrayed.
The conclusion comes from the study of scores of ancient archaeological research sites in Europe that show convincing evidence of long-term fire control by Neanderthals, said Paola Villa, a curator at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History.

A paper on the subject was published in the March 14 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The second major finding in the PNAS study -- perhaps even more surprising than the first -- was that Neanderthal predecessors pushed into Europe's colder northern latitudes more than 800,000 years ago without the habitual control of fire, said Roebroecks.

Recent evidence from an 800,000-year-old site in England known as Happisburgh indicates hominids -- likely Homo heidelbergenis, the forerunner of Neanderthals -- adapted to chilly environments in the region without fire, Roebroeks said.

The simplest explanation is that there was no habitual use of fire by early humans prior to roughly 400,000 years ago, indicating that fire was not an essential component of the behavior of the first occupants of Europe's northern latitudes, said Roebroeks.

According to Villa, one of the most spectacular uses of fire by Neanderthals was in the production of a sticky liquid called pitch from the bark of birch trees that was used by Neanderthals to haft, or fit wooden shafts on, stone tools. Since the only way to create pitch from the trees is to burn bark peels in the absence of air, archaeologists surmise Neanderthals dug holes in the ground, inserted birch bark peels, lit them and covered the hole tightly with stones to block incoming air.

Some anthropologists have proposed that Neanderthals became extinct because their cognitive abilities were inferior, including a lack of long-term planning, said Villa. But the archaeological record shows Neanderthals drove herds of big game animals into dead-end ravines and ambushed them, as evidenced by repeatedly used kill sites -- a sign of long-term planning and coordination among hunters, she said.

Recent findings have even indicated Neanderthals were cooking, as evidenced by tiny bits of cooked plant material recovered from their teeth. source

My comment: I like how the deeper scientists go, the less pronounced becomes the difference between Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens. As you'll see in the next news, obviously the two groups coexisted even longer in Europe. It was also proved that we have parts of Neanderthals genome. For me, this all means that the Neanderthals weren't that different from us and that we still have absolutely no clue why the one group survived and the other - no. Because clearly, they weren't less intelligent than us or less adapted to the environment than us.

More on this: Research team finds evidence of red ochre use by Neanderthals 200,000 years ago - Archeologists digging in the Netherlands have unearthed flint and bone fragments from 200,000 years ago that have remnants of red ochre on them, indicating that Neanderthals were using the material much earlier than was previously thought. The research team has published their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Homo sapiens arrived in Europe earlier than previously believed -Members of our species (Homo sapiens) arrived in Europe several millennia earlier than previously thought. At this conclusion a team of researchers, led by the Department of Anthropology, University of Vienna, arrived after re-analyses of two ancient deciduous teeth. These teeth were discovered 1964 in the "Grotta del Cavallo", a prehistoric cave in southern Italy. Since their discovery they have been attributed to Neanderthals, but this new study suggests they belong to anatomically modern humans. Chronometric analysis, carried out by the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit at the University of Oxford, shows that the layers within which the teeth were found date to ~43,000-45,000 cal BP. This means that the human remains are older than any other known European modern humans. The research work was published in the renowned science journal Nature.

Paleo-Indians settled North America earlier than thought: study - New discoveries at a Central Texas archaeological site by a Texas A&M University-led research team prove that people lived in the region far earlier – as much as 2,500 years earlier – than previously believed, rewriting what anthropologists know about when the first inhabitants arrived in North America. That pushes the arrival date back to about 15,500 years ago. -

Anthropologists clarify link between Asians and early Native-Americans

January 26, 2012

A tiny mountainous region in southern Siberia may have been the genetic source of the earliest Native Americans, according to new research by a University of Pennsylvania-led team of anthropologists.

Lying at the intersection of what is today Russia, Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan, the region known as the Altai "is a key area because it's a place that people have been coming and going for thousands and thousands of years," said Theodore Schurr, an associate professor in Penn's Department of Anthropology.

The team's study, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, analyzed the genetics of individuals living in Russia's Altai Republic to identify markers that might link them to Native Americans.

Schurr and colleagues assessed the Altai samples for markers in mitochondrial DNA, which is maternally inherited, and in Y chromosome DNA, which is passed from fathers to sons. They also compared the samples to ones previously collected from individuals in southern Siberia, Central Asia, Mongolia, East Asia and a variety of American indigenous groups. Because of the large number of gene markers examined, the findings have a high degree of precision.

Looking at the Y chromosome DNA, the researchers found a unique mutation shared by Native Americans and southern Altaians in the lineage known as Q.

"This is also true from the mitochondrial side," Schurr said. "We find forms of haplogroups C and D in southern Altaians and D in northern Altaians that look like some of the founder types that arose in North America, although the northern Altaians appeared more distantly related to Native Americans."

Calculating how long the mutations they noted took to arise, Schurr's team estimated that the southern Altaian lineage diverged genetically from the Native American lineage 13,000 to 14,000 years ago, a timing scenario that aligns with the idea of people moving into the Americas from Siberia between 15,000 and 20,000 years ago.

source

My comment: This news is actually quite interesting since just yesterday, I read in a book on Latin American shamans that some of their rituals and practices can be followed to the Altai region. And I think this book is very old actually, so obviously, there was a suspicion of this link. But the genetic proof is much better!

Ancient seal found in Jerusalem linked to ritual

December 29, 2011

A rare clay seal found under Jerusalem's Old City appears to be linked to religious rituals practiced at the Jewish Temple 2,000 years ago, Israeli archaeologists said Sunday.

Archaeologist Ronny Reich of Haifa University said it dates from between the 1st century B.C. to 70 A.D. — the year Roman forces put down a Jewish revolt and destroyed the second of the two biblical temples in Jerusalem.

The find marks the first discovery of a written seal from that period of Jerusalem's history, and appeared to be a unique physical artifact from ritual practice in the Temple, said Reich, co-director of the excavation. source

My comment: Ok, is it just me, or on this seal, there is a horse and its rider? If this is true, then I very much doubt the Jewish origin of this seal, since the heroic rider is quite known as part of the Thracian pantheon and can be seen all the way from Bulgaria to Afghanistan. And it has nothing to do with Jewish beliefs and religious practices.

Anthropologists discover earliest cemetery in Middle East -

Anthropologists at the University of Toronto and the University of Cambridge have discovered the oldest cemetery in the Middle East at a site in northern Jordan. The cemetery includes graves containing human remains buried alongside those of a red fox, suggesting that the animal was possibly kept as a pet by humans long before dogs ever were.

Rice's origins point to China, genome researchers conclude

(PhysOrg.com) -- Rice originated in China, a team of genome researchers has concluded in a study tracing back thousands of years of evolutionary history through large-scale gene re-sequencing. Their findings, which appear in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), indicate that domesticated rice may have first appeared as far back as approximately 9,000 years ago in the Yangtze Valley of China. Previous research suggested domesticated rice may have two points of origin -- India as well as China.

In their PNAS study, the investigators also used a "molecular clock" of rice genes to see when rice evolved. Depending on how the researchers calibrated their clock, they pinpointed the origin of rice at possibly 8,200 years ago, while japonica and indica split apart from each other about 3,900 years ago. The study's authors pointed out that these molecular dates were consistent with archaeological studies. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence in the last decade for rice domestication in the Yangtze Valley beginning approximately 8,000 to 9,000 years ago while domestication of rice in the India's Ganges region was around about 4,000 years ago. source

Neolithic humans lived a communal life: study

May 3, 2011 by Deborah Braconnier

(PhysOrg.com) -- A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds evidence that the previous assumption that stone and mud-brick buildings built nearly 12,000 years ago were the homes and settlements of the first farmers may not have been homes at all, but community centers.

These three buildings were found within a cluster of other small buildings, though none of these buildings appear to be individual family homes. The researchers suggest that in this time period there may have been little distinction between ritual and household activities and that people lived and worked as a community. source

No nuts for 'Nutcracker Man': Early human relative apparently chewed grass instead

May 2, 2011

(PhysOrg.com) -- For decades, a 2.3 million- to 1.2 million-year-old human relative named Paranthropus boisei has been nicknamed Nutcracker Man because of his big, flat molar teeth and thick, powerful jaw. But a definitive new University of Utah study shows that Nutcracker Man didn’t eat nuts, but instead chewed grasses and possibly sedges – a discovery that upsets conventional wisdom about early humanity’s diet.

The new study of Nutcracker Man may provoke a major change in how we view the diets of other early humans and human relatives.

source

My comment: OK, you must admit it doesn't sounds good when you hear that your ancestor ate grass. But then, if it is true, then we have to accept it. I wonder how nutritious grass actually is. I mean, we can still chop grass and eat it, even if we don't have the teeth for this. But can our stomachs process it? That's the question. And by the way, this question is not answered for the Nutcracker man either!

Oldest evidence of writing found in Europe

April 4, 2011 by Deborah Braconnier

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a study to be published this month in the Proceedings of the Athens Archaeological Society, archaeologist Michael Cosmopoulos of the University of Missouri-St. Louis shares his discovery of a clay tablet showing the earliest known writing in Europe.

Located in the southwestern corner of Greece, the town where this discovery took place is Iklaina. This town dates back to the Mycenaean period of 1500 BC to 100 BC, and around 1400 BC was conquered by King Nestor.

Cosmopoulos has been actively excavating this site for 11 years and has found evidence of a Mycenaean palace, including colorful murals, Cyclopean walls, and an elaborate drainage system made from clay pipes. However, this tablet has been his most unexpected find.

The estimated 3,500 year-old tablet only measures around one inch by one and a half inches, but shows various symbols of Linear B, an ancient Greek writing consisting of 87 signs, each signifying one syllable. It appears that the Mycenaean’s used this tablet to record economic matters of interest to those in the ruling party.

From what the researchers can distinguish, the front of the tablet shows markings appearing to for a verb relating to manufacturing. The back of this small tablet shows a list with numbers and names.

While this is not the oldest writing ever found, it is the earliest example of writing found in Europe. Writing found in China, Egypt, and Mesopotamia is believed to date back to 3,000 BC. source

My comment: I get utterly mad when I read about those Greek kingdoms and ancient Greek alphabet! There is nothing Greek about this alphabet, because back then, there was no Greece and not Greek people. In fact, the very civilization has little to do with the Hellenistic cities. And so they can shove their Greek egos wherever they see fit. I so hate how everybody on the Balkans loves to distort history and takes whatever they like for themselves.

Archaeologists Explore Site for Answers About First European Farmers - A team of archaeologists and students will begin renewed excavations at a site in Bulgaria that holds promise for shedding more light on some of the first farmers of Europe. Thanks to the results of a 20-year Bulgarian-French excavation project in Kovachevo there are many evidences showing that the first inhabitants of that settlement were people of Anatolian origin, culture Hacilar VI-I. - I kind of don't understand the idea of "Anatolian origin", but anyway. The important part is that they talk about Bulgarian Neolithic settlements.

Was drug-smoking prevalent in the Indus Valley Civilization? -

Cannabis is native to South Asia and is mentioned in the Vedas. Its use was reasonably widespread in the ancient world. Herodotus records that the Scythians has special tents in which people inhaled the fumes from cannabis heated on a tripod. Discoveries in the steppe nomad burials at Pazyryk bear this out. Recently a burial of a man with a sack of cannabis leaves, presumed to be a shaman, was found in Xinjiang province of China. Braziers from the 5th millennium Balkans and from various periods elsewhere in Europe may have been used for heating cannabis or poppy heads.

Poppies, the source of opium, were used in Europe from the Neolithic period onward, and opium was in use in Mesopotamia by the late 3rd millennium BC and by at least the mid 2nd millennium in Egypt; thus the Harappans could also have been introduced to its use. Areca nut and betel leaf, chewed together with lime as paan, are native to South Asia. There is a claim that these were used by the Harappans but I have been unable to track down the evidence on which this claim is based. - Interesting, I didn't know that opium was so used so early (and so widely) on the Balkans. They don't mention, however, how it came here.

Ancient Greek City Uncovered in Russia - What is considered to be a unique discovery has been made in Taman, South Russia, at the Black Sea. The ruins of an ancient Greek city, dated around the 6^th century BC, came to light. Archeologists are stunned both by the number of the findings and the condition they were found in.

The excavations are proceeding with extreme caution, in order to avoid damaging the city’s ancient fortress. According to historians, it is assumed that the ruins are the temple of Dimitra, the ancient goddess of fertility and agriculture, while they were able to determine the very spot of the altar. But, the number of the findings induce them to believe that a whole city has been found.

Bulgarian Archaeologists Uncover Sanctuary of Greek Goddess Demeter -

A temple of Ancient Greek goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone has been discovered by a team of Bulgarian archaeologists near the town of Sozopol on the Black Sea.

The archaeological team of Prof. Krastina Panayotova found the Ancient Greek temple Tuesday during excavations on the Skamniy Cape where the archaeologists are exploring a fortress wall and a church that were part of a Byzantine imperial monastery.

Panayotova explained that the figurines and ceramics found in a concentrated spot are clear evidence of the cult for Demeter and Persephone.

7000 years old prototype of European towns found in Bulgaria

4 June 2011 | Bulgarian archaeologists discovered what they believe to be the oldest town in Europe, local media reported. Dubbed a 'proto-town', the site is situated near the town of Pazardzhic, in the center of the country.

In 2008 the team of archaeologist Yasen Boyadzhiev found in the area a large ancient graveyard, which became known under the current name of the area, Yunatsite (The Heroes). Later the excavations were extended and yesterday the researchers announced they have found a surprisingly large settlement, which during 4700-4600 BC spread over 100 000 sq m.

The site possessed all the features of an urban center, Yasen Boyadzhiev was quoted to say. His team discovered vast fortified walls – one wall five meters wide and at least five meters tall, a ditch and then another defence wall, all running along each other.

The citadel was surrounding only the highest part of the settlement, and beyond its walls the buildings continued. Within the walls the archaeologist discovered not only houses, but also what was apparently workshops center. Some of the found artefacts speak of advanced production skills.

So far constructions of this scale and planning were found only in settlements of much later periods, such as classical antiquity. source

My comment: It is amazing that 6000-7000 years ago, people lived in cities which we still find functional.

A civilisation as old as Indus valley?

Friday, May 27, 2011, 1:28 IST , By DNA Correspondent | Place: Mumbai

In what could turn out to be a major discovery,researchers have found a wall-like structure, which is 24km long, 2.7m in height, and around 2.5m in width. The structure shows uniformity in construction. “The structure is not continuous from Shrivardhan to Raigad, but it is uniform. It has been found 3m below the present sea level. Considering the uniformity of the structure, it is obvious that the structure is man-made,” said Dr Ashok Marathe, department of archaeology, Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute, Pune.

However, the age of the structure was decided on the basis of sea level mapping. “There have been exhaustive studies about the sea water coming inside the land. Based on the calculations, experts from the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) pegged the age of the wall at around 6,000 BC,” Marathe informed.

The discovery has raised a number of questions, such as how these huge stones were brought to the shore? What was the purpose behind building this wall? If the date of the wall is accurate, then is it the same age as the Indus civilisation? source

My comment: A 24km long wall built 8000 years ago? That's quite fascinating! I also wonder why did they build it. To protect the coast from tsunamis, maybe? The question, them, is who built it and how! More news:

No cheese for Neolithic humans in France - An excavation of a southern French burial site from about 3,000 B.C. shows that the modern humans who expanded into the area from the Mediterranean lived in patrilocal communities and did not have the genetic mutation that allowed later Europeans to digest fresh milk.

Site hints at Asian roots for human genus -

Most paleoanthropologists have favored an African origin for the potential human ancestor Homo erectus. But new evidence shows the species occupied a West Asian site called Dmanisi from 1.85 million to 1.77 million years ago, at the same time or slightly before the earliest evidence of this humanlike species in Africa, say geologist Reid Ferring of the University of North Texas in Denton and his colleagues.

The new Dmanisi discoveries point to an Asian homeland for H. erectus, the scientists propose online June 6 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Ancient footprints show human-like walking began nearly four million years ago - Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that ancient footprints in Laetoli, Tanzania, show that human-like features of the feet and gait existed almost two million years earlier than previously thought.

Saudi find shows horses used 9,000 years ago - Saudi Arabia has found traces of a civilisation that was domesticating horses about 9,000 years ago, 4,000 years earlier than previously thought, the kingdom said.

Sex with Neanderthals and Denisovans gave healthy boost to human genome: study - Sex with Neanderthals and another close relative — the recently discovered Denisovans — has endowed some human gene pools with beneficial versions of immune system genes, report researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The useful gift was the introduction of new variants of immune system genes called the HLA class I genes, which are critical for our body's ability to recognize and destroy pathogens. HLA genes are some of the most variable and adaptable genes in our genome, in part because the rapid evolution of viruses demands flexibility on the part of our immune system. - Quite surprising discovery and quite cool as well. Because our immune system is what actually keep us alive. That's quite a gift!

Schengen maddness revised, 2012

nospam@example.com (Denitsa) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:57:25 +0200

Hello and Happy New Year to everyone!

I wanted to start the new year with a positive post, but instead, it will be a short overview of the fights over the Schengen Treaty during the past year.

Many people in Western Europe probably see this issue as irrelevant and profoundly not interesting, but I claim this is just lack of perspective. Because the freedom of movement of people and goods is one of the founding principles of the EU. And the biggest harm from any mechanism for disabling this right, will be for the countries which impose it.

Why? Well, as somebody put it, in the accession contract, joining the Schengen Treaty is optional for the country that enters the Union, but not for the Union itself. The EU countries are actually obliged to accept the new country in the family so to say. Furthermore, according to the so called EU constitution, the freedom of movement of people and goods is guaranteed for all the member-states. Which means that the Schengen Treaty is in practice completely outdated and irrelevant to the current situation. Then how come countries hold on to it, like it's the most important thing in the world? How come, the only country which opened its borders for Bulgarians and Romanians in the beginning of 2012 is...Italy? How come the EU which has approximate population of 500 millions is afraid to open its borders to Romania (appox. 20 millions) and Bulgaria (approx. 7 millions), even though, most of the Bulgarian and Romanians who wanted to work abroad are employed in Spain and not planning to relocate? The only people who could look for job in the EU now are...highly educated professionals! (because everyone else is in Spain already - according to official data approx. 1 million Romanians are in Spain currently, but I would bet they are like 2 millions or even more; and the Bulgarians in Spain are around 300 000 or more)

Yet, the EU countries are desperate to convince you that opening the borders will be devastating to their economy. Because the big bad emigrants will come and eat your lunch. Oh well.

Ok, maybe it's hard to believe you're safe in your European home, but for me the question is - is this the most important thing governments must focus on? Emigration? During a huge economical crisis, in time of extremely complicated situation for Europe and the euro, are Bugaria and Romania indeed the problem? Or they are just a way to evade the real problem. Is the corruption in Bulgaria and Romania the worst thing in Europe, if 80% of the EU member states are in huge financial mess, caused precisely by corruption, bribes, crime, abuse of public money and so on and so on. Some could call it hypocrisy, but I call it very well-measured media propaganda. And this is why it is so dangerous for Europe. Because instead of dealing with the real problem, the public attention is focused on demonized third-parties like Bulgaria and Romania. If you that doesn't ring any bells for you, I'll remind you the events during the second world war. A part of the society was demonized to hide serious economical and geopolitical problems, and as a result Europe and the world were in the middle of the worst war ever.

I'm not claiming that Bulgaria and Romania will be the reason for the next big crisis in the world, I certainly hope not. The thing is that Europe has very serious problems. A lot of public money are missing. A lot of public services are being suspended. Many people are without job, and what's worst - without a perspective for new job. Tax-payers money are poured into banks, even tough those same banks are not public and they won't return those money to the public, ever. Basically, banks are telling governments how to act, which is not a lot better than governments telling banks how to act (i.e. China). We are in the middle of an extreme crisis of trust of the people toward their governments and only the holiday season and pure luck has saved us from BIG demonstrations and chaos. Yet, as you will find out reading trough the articles below, EU governments are having very busy time denying Bulgaria and Romania any fair chance of returning to normality. Of being part of the European Union. All that, in time when countries are questioning the need of the euro and the faith of the EU as a whole.

What's the point, you would say. The point is simple. Every challenge in our lives come in order to make us change, to make us grow and understand ourselves better. This crisis was the perfect chance for the EU member states to grow. But instead of growing, they chose to crouch in their little (or big) shells and stay there. They chose not to change, not to respond to the new situation. And that could cost them the EU. Which I still consider to be the greatest achievement for our continent. The problem is that the EU has grown, and European nations didn't grow with it. Everybody knows that current situation requires reforms and new vision of the EU, with much bigger economical and social integration of the nations, but nobody is doing anything about it. They know that there is a huge demographic crisis awaiting at our doors, yet instead of raising social benefits for mothers and stimulating employers to hire older people, they raise the retirement age hoping things will fix somehow. Well, they won't. They never did. No babies, no young adults, no workforce. It's as simple as that.

And instead of being creative and working on the problems together, as a union, nations are following Germany like little puppies, hoping that mama will do it right for them. Refusing to take responsibility and move on. That's what's bothering me. That's why I write all this. Not because for me it's so important that Bulgaria will be in the Schengen Treaty. For the moment, Bulgarians can travel freely and go anywhere they want, so this is not a big deal. The big deal is politicians use Bulgaria and Romania to scare their people, that they take the liberty to offend our governments, to preach on us about judicial system and corruption, when their nations are just as corrupted, only much more sophisticated. That they use this treaty, to black mail our governments and to set precedent for the whole Europe. Ultimately, they ruin the integration which is so important for the survival of the EU. And that's bad.

Anyway, read the articles and decide for yourself (the articles are many, but they are very seriously trimmed). After all, the EU is what we make it. And many people abandoned that responsibility time ago, when they decided it's all too complicated. It is complicated, but it's not impossible. When the people want it, they can shape the EU and the EC the way they want to. We just have to will it hard enough!

Today:

France, Italy call for Schengen Treaty re-write

Denmark against early Schengen enlargement too

Ministers agree on need for new EU border rules

Barroso warns Denmark on border checks

Bulgaria, Romania denied Schengen entry

Bulgaria, Romania monitoring inspires new Schengen rules

Parliament slams Commission, Council on Schengen

Germany criticises Danish border control plans

New EU members to break free from euro duty
Germany opposes Commission's Schengen revamp plan

Belgium complains of 'social fraud' by Eastern workers

Italy opens up to Romanian, Bulgarian workers

France, Italy call for Schengen Treaty re-write

03 May 2011
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday (26 April) asked Brussels to make changes to the treaty establishing the Schengen border-free area. The proposed changes strengthen the hand of member countries and undermine the role of the European Commission.

At present, member states are only allowed to temporarily introduce such checks in the event of a serious threat to public order. The proposed text now speaks of "exceptional difficulties".

Apparently, such a text would allow France to introduce border checks in situations such as massive influxes of Tunisian refugees or Roma from Eastern Europe.

Sarkozy told journalists yesterday that Schengen must be reformed if it is to survive.

Sarkozy also appeared to reiterate France's opposition to enlarging Schengen to the EU's most recent newcomers, Bulgaria and Romania.

source

Denmark against early Schengen enlargement too

03 May 2011
Danish MEPs across party lines have asked their government to back France and Germany in their opposition to the early accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the EU's Schengen borderless area.
Four MEPs from different political groups have signed a letter to Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, insisting that Romania and Bulgaria should not join the Schengen club before cracking down on corruption and organised crime.

Earlier this week, German MEPs Jens Rohde and Alexander Alvaro (ALDE) tabled amendments to a parliamentary report regarding Romaina and Bulgaria's Schengen accession, asking for the date 2011 to be deleted as a target date for them to join. source

Ministers agree on need for new EU border rules

13 May 2011

Interior ministers from the 27-country bloc have agreed to change the rules of the Schengen passport-free area, seeking to clarify conditions under which national governments can reinstate border controls following a high-level spat between France and Italy.
At an extraordinary meeting in Brussels yesterday (12 May), ministers discussed the conditions under which countries should be allowed to reintroduce border controls for people travelling within the Schengen area.

The issue came to the fore after the arrival in Italy and Malta of thousands of people risking their lives to flee violence in Northern Africa.

Their arrival triggered a serious split between France and Italy after Rome issued temporary travel visas to thousands of Tunisian migrants, many of whom were heading to France. Paris responded by threatening to reintroduce checks along its south-eastern border.

source

Barroso warns Denmark on border checks

19 May 2011
The European Commission has strongly warned against plans by Copenhagen to introduce controls at its ports and airports, the EU executive announced.
Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, spokesperson to Commission President José Manuel Barroso, said on 13 May that the Commission had received an assessment from its legal services over the measures announced by Denmark to re-introduce visible border controls.

The assessment raised "doubts" as to whether the move was in line with the country's legal obligations, she stressed.

There is a clear difference between the free movement of persons and movement of goods, she stressed. While the Schengen agreement allows the re-introduction of border controls under strict conditions, re-instating customs controls of the free movement of goods is not possible under EU law, she explained.

By reintroducing border controls allegedly to fight crime, the Danish government caved in to the demands of the Danish People's Party, a populist and anti-immigration party that has been holding up approval of its 2020 economic plan.

source

Bulgaria, Romania denied Schengen entry

10 June 2011
EU home affairs ministers are today (9 June) set to postpone enlarging the Schengen border-free area for an indefinite period, despite calls to the contrary from the European Parliament, which voted overwhelmingly in favour of Bulgaria and Romania's accession to the EU's passport-free zone.
France, Germany, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium are opposed to Bulgaria and Romania joining the Schengen area, despite the two countries meeting the technical requirements for accession, EurActiv has learned.

Bulgaria and Romania's Schengen accession is on the agenda of meetings of EU justice and interior ministers being held in Luxembourg today and tomorrow.

But ministers are expected to postpone their decision for an indefinite period, even though the European Parliament voted yesterday (8 June) to back the two countries' Schengen accession by 487 votes in favour, 77 votes against and 29 abstentions.

In a number of statements, Paris has made clear that it directly links Romania and Bulgaria's Schengen accession to their progress in fighting corruption and organised crime.

Both the Parliament and the Commission take the view that Schengen accession is an issue unrelated to the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism and that the political considerations of individual countries should not overrule this legal base.

According to diplomats who asked not to be named, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is standing for reelection in May 2012, will not risk making any decisions regarding Schengen which might be exploited by far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. source

Bulgaria, Romania monitoring inspires new Schengen rules

28 June 2011
EU heads of state and government adopted a political decision to reform the Schengen passport-free travel area at the conclusion of a two-day summit in Brussels today (24 June). The new rules were compared by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to the tough scrutiny imposed on Romania and Bulgaria after their EU accession.
Leaders attending the EU summit decided to step up "political guidance" on how the Schengen area is managed, stipulating that this should be done in accordance with "common standards and fundamental principles and norms".

Country-specific evaluations would be performed by groups made up of national experts from EU member states, European Commission officials and competent agencies, the document reads. source

Parliament slams Commission, Council on Schengen

08 July 2011

The European Parliament today (7 July) overwhelmingly rejected a push by EU countries led by France and backed by the European Commission to dilute the bloc's existing border-free area by allowing individual members to re-introduce checks on an "exceptional" basis.

MEPs gathered in Strasbourg overwhelmingly voted in favour of a 'Resolution on changes to Schengen', put forward jointly by all major political groupings: the centre-right European People's Party, the Socialists & Democrats, the liberal ALDE and the Greens/EFA groups.

The Parliament states its opinion that "any new exemptions from the current rules, such as new grounds for reintroducing border controls on an 'exceptional' basis, would definitely not reinforce the Schengen system".

Instead, MEPs take the view that the existing system is sufficiently reliable, asking the Commission to table an initiative making its application more strict.

MEPs also mention that the effectiveness of the evaluation mechanism lies in the possibility of sanctions in the event that deficiencies persist and jeopardise the overall security of the Schengen area.

The new Schengen evaluation system will also make it possible to request and obtain support for its members in the event of exceptional pressure on the EU's external borders.

The Parliament also "strongly regrets" attempts "by several member states" to reintroduce border controls.

MEPs deplore the "double standards" that have blocked the accession to the Schengen space of Bulgaria and Romania. The two EU countries have met the technical criteria, but are prevented from joining the border-free area due to obstruction mainly from the Netherlands. source

Germany criticises Danish border control plans

11 August 2011

Berlin yesterday (10 August) criticised Danish plans to build new installations on its border with Germany, saying its northern neighbour should wait for European Union clearance before starting any construction. The European Commission, which sent an inspection team to the site, said Denmark had failed to justify its new border controls and that the tighter security system currently imposed on its frontiers requires strict monitoring. source

More:

Italy 'ready to give up sovereignty' to save euro

16 September 2011

Ahead of a key eurozone meeting in Poland today (16 September), Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Rome was ready to relinquish "all the sovereignty necessary to create a genuine European central government" and draw a line under the euro zone's debt crisis.

In a rare federalist outing, Frattini, a former European commissioner, may have given an indication of how serious the eurozone debt crisis is perceived in Rome.

"We must work seriously towards the formation of a genuine European economic government. It is no longer sufficient to lead Europe by coming together around a table at intergovernmental level," he said, referring to the numerous EU emergency summits that have been called since the debt crisis erupted.

A growing chorus of politicians – including from the ranks of the UK Conservatives – have called on eurozone leaders to take bold steps towards greater economic and fiscal union as a way out of the debt crisis. source

New EU members to break free from euro duty

13 September 2011

Seven EU members which joined the European Union between 2004 and 2007 are concerned about an obligation to adopt the euro under the terms of their accession and could stage referenda to change their accession treaties, AFP reported, quoting diplomatic sources.

Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania said the euro zone they thought they were going to join, a monetary union, may very well end up being a very different union entailing much closer fiscal, economic and political convergence.

Before the eurozone crisis, several new members that have been close to fulfilling the Maastricht criteria to join the euro zone, including Poland and Bulgaria, had set themselves ambitious plans to speedily join the common EU currency.

More recently, several Polish officials have stated that the country has shelved its plans for early eurozone accession, until it becomes clear what future should be expected for the common EU currency.source

Germany opposes Commission's Schengen revamp plan

13 September 2011

German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich hit back forcefully against a draft plan to give the European Commission more say on when member states can reintroduce border controls in the passport-free Schengen travel area.

Under the draft EU legislation obtained by AFP, a country in the passport-free zone would be able to resume border patrols without asking for permission, but only for five days.

Beyond that, the country would have to ask the European Commission in Brussels for permission.

But Friedrich slammed the proposals, saying: "Security questions are a core competence of member states and we will not accept a transfer of this task to others or an undermining of this competence."

"We will not allow Brussels to dictate when we introduce controls. We control the borders if the security situation requires," Friedrich told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

"It is a matter for individual member states to assess the dangers to public safety," he added. source

Belgium complains of 'social fraud' by Eastern workers

23 December 2011

Belgium has refused to open its labour market to workers from
Romania and Bulgaria on the grounds that many nationals of those
countries already working there cheat the social benefits system,
EurActiv has learned.
Despite earlier indications
to the contrary, one of the first decisions of the newly appointed
Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo has been to extend until the end of 2013 the
restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian workers in Belgium.

The announcement, made by Belgian Employment Minister Monica De
Coninck, is seen as a setback for Bulgaria and Romania, which had
campaigned for lifting all remaining restrictions applying to their
nationals in EU countries (see background).

On 25 October, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for removing restrictions applying to workers from the EU's newest members. source

Italy opens up to Romanian, Bulgarian workers

04 January 2012
Crisis-struck Italy is lifting labour market restrictions for
Romanians and Bulgarians while nine other EU countries are maintaining
their curbs, with several citing high unemployment.
Rome decided to fully liberalise its
labour market for citizens of the EU's two newest members as of 1
January, an official at the Romanian Embassy in Italy told EurActiv. The
Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially informed Romanian and
Bulgarian diplomats about its decision on 29 December. source

Spain defies Commission with Romanian worker ban - 9 July 2011 - The European Commission adopted a defensive stance yesterday (26 July), saying that Spain could introduce restrictive measures against Romanian workers "under exceptional circumstances". Last Friday, the EU executive said Spain had no legal right to impose such a ban. EurActiv Spain contributed to this article.
However, as a consequence of the crisis, Spain now has the highest unemployment rate in Europe (over 20%) and is considering imposing restrictions on its job market. As Romanian workers in Spain are more numerous, the planned restrictions do not concern Bulgaria.

Liberal MEP suggests 'second-class membership' for UK - Andrew Duff, a British Liberal MEP and leader of the Union of European Federalists, has called for a genuine 'fiscal union' and greater EU integration, explicitly saying that opt-outs should be made possible for more Eurosceptic countries like the United Kingdom.

In a political pamphlet published today (5 September), the MEP outlines his vision for a federal Europe. He suggests the creation of a "formal second-class membership" for the UK and any other country which wishes to abstain from federalist goals in the EU's 'core' member states.

Duff argues that the practice of deciding bailouts of indebted countries at European summits has been proven ineffective and allowed "Paris and Berlin to form a directoire […] the antithesis of a federal Europe".

Instead, he calls for shifting decision-making to new European institutions through the creation a bigger European budget, an EU treasury, a European Monetary Fund and sanctions for countries lacking budget discipline.

Austria says doesn’t want Turkey as EU member-
Austria would prefer forging a special partnership between the European Union and Turkey over full EU membership for Ankara, Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said today (3 May).
Macedonia's 'warrior' monument infuriates Greece - A statue of a 'warrior on horseback' resembling Alexander the Great, currently being erected in the centre of Macedonian capital Skopje, has sparked fury in Greece, which warned that Skopje was gambling with its EU membership aspirations with such provocations. - What a surprise
EU's anti-corruption drive hits Bulgaria, Romania - The European Commission yesterday (6 June) unveiled its first ever proposal to address corruption at EU level. Meanwhile, pressure is growing on Bulgaria and Romania to tackle corruption and mafia crime as preconditions of their accession to the EU's Schengen borderless area.

Dutch push for Croatia post-accession monitoring - At the two-day EU summit opening today (23 June) in Brussels, EU leaders are set to agree that Croatia's accession talks be concluded before the end of the month. However, the EU hopeful is under pressure from the Netherlands to accept post-accession monitoring until it has joined the border-free Schengen space, EurActiv has learned. - Well, if Bulgaria and Romania are under scrutiny for so long, it makes some sens to monitor Croatia as well. But I must say that I'm less and less willing for Bulgaria to enter Schengen. It simply makes no sens for me anymore. Can we move freely? Yes. Then who cares if you land in the international or local part of the airports in Europe? It's like... whatever.

The metrosexual war or the death of humanity, 2011

nospam@example.com (Denitsa) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 22:07:59 +0200

The war is and has always been an industry. Something that aggressor nations use to prosper and enrich themselves. Only once upon the time, people had the dignity to admit what they are fighting for. Then, the Church came up with the concept of the Holy War, the Crusades and the good publicity became essential for this business. Because only when there is "a cause that is just", soldiers are willing to die for their rulers. If there's no good cause, the soldiers come home very very angry and bad things happen.

Why is this long introduction. Well, I've been quite busy lately, so I don't have to post here regularly. But yesterday, a very interesting article caught my eye. Here's the title:

Western Companies See Prospects for Business in Libya

"Western security, construction and infrastructure companies that see
profit-making opportunities receding in Iraq and Afghanistan have turned
their sights on Libya, now free of four decades of dictatorship.
Entrepreneurs are abuzz about the business potential of a country with
huge needs and the oil to pay for them, plus the competitive advantage
of Libyan gratitude toward the United States and its NATO partners.

Like France and Britain, the United States may benefit from the Libyan
authorities’ appreciation of NATO’s critical air support for the
revolution. Whatever the rigor of new rules governing contracts, Western
companies hope to have some advantage over, say, China, which was
offering to sell arms to Colonel Qaddafi as recently as July."

How about that, huh? Quite disgusting if you ask me. To use people's gratitude for profit. But that's what the whole military industry is, no? Let's set free the country, so that we can buy it cheaply afterwards. Let's destroy anything we see, in the name of the security of the civilians, so that they can pay us afterward to reconstruct it.

It's not the idea of war as industry that provoked me to write. This is not something new, it's a monstrosity which goes on for centuries with the support of public ignorance and greed. What bothers me is that they don't even try to hide it anymore. Articles are published, so that more US companies may join the banquet and earn some money. The public is convinced that this is something good, something normal. It is not good! It's not good for the Libyan people, who will have to eventually pay for all this. The people who suffered the regime, then they suffered the war, now they will suffer the peace. This is what really piss me off. The arrogance!

And that's not even all of it. Here's the other article I wanted to share:

In Strikes on Libya by NATO, an Unspoken Civilian Toll

NATO’s seven-month air campaign in Libya, hailed by the alliance and many Libyans for blunting a lethal crackdown by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and helping to push him from power, came with an unrecognized toll: scores of civilian casualties the alliance has long refused to acknowledge or investigate.

By NATO’s telling during the war, and in statements the alliance-led operation was nearly flawless — a model air
war that used high technology, meticulous planning and restraint to
protect civilians from Colonel Qaddafi’s troops, which was the
alliance’s mandate.

But an on-the-ground examination by The New York Times of airstrike
sites across Libya found credibljuste accounts of dozens
of civilians killed by NATO in many distinct attacks.

In all, at least 40 civilians, and perhaps more than 70, were killed by NATO at these sites, available evidence suggests.

NATO, however, deferred the responsibility of initiating any inquiry to
Libya’s interim authorities, whose survival and climb to power were made
possible largely by the airstrike campaign. So far, Libyan leaders have
expressed no interest in examining NATO’s mistakes.

So, let's repeat. NATO's operation was surgically clean. No collateral damage, no innocent victims, only cruel barbarian killed by the perfect fighters and their pilots? And if there are any victims at all, well, we don't care. Because ... well, because we can.

I think that the most important part of the war in Libya was not so much the end of the regime, but the new stage of media coverage of the issue. Because it wasn't only the operation which was planned to the last detail. The media coverage was also planned. There was not critical to the NATO forces stories, no survivors which had other version of what happened. No cruelty. Everything was clean and cut, just like in a movie. And that's unbelievably scary.

Because it's absurd to believe that there are no casualties. Of course there are. Civilian buildings were under heavy fire from the air. Even statistically, nobody can be that precise. There were also some scarce evidence of victims. Evidences which you could not obtain the normal way, you had to go there and count the bodies yourself. Because as much as NATO is concerned, none of this ever happened. Well, that's a lie. That's a lie in the face of the public, a lie in the face of the voters and of the taxpayers who paid for EVERY SINGLE BOMB! We paid for everything that happened there. And we cannot even get credible account for what we paid for.

And this is not the single occasion in which the public was deceived. How about the murder of Ossama Bin Laden. Which was streamed via video link directly to the US president. Who not only approved the murder, but also witnessed it. And then, we had pictures, videos, and more lies. And in the end, it turned out that the orders were shoot-to-kill and not to arrest him. It was an execution. An execution that the whole world sanctioned and greeted. An execution that US people celebrated on the streets! How is this for civilization?

I don't know about you, but I find this tendency very troublesome. Because war is becoming more and more polished. Metrosexual in a way. Everything is clean and hairless. No blood, no bodies, no death. Almost like in a movie - everything is just an illusion. But it is not. Pain is real. The losses and the destruction in Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan - they are real. This is not simply something happening on the TV/computer screen, it is something that changes, destroys people's life somewhere. And it's our duty as citizens, as children of the so-beloved democracy, to stop it.

Now a new war is being prepared and staged. See Drone Crash in Iran Reveals Secret U.S. Surveillance Effort. Beware! Be ready. Because if the worst happens, the blood will be on our hands. That is what democracy is about. People rule and people are in charge. And we all share our guilt. To all the people our soldiers "set free". So if you don't want that guilt, ask for your right to choose. Defend the democracy, which our ancestors fought for.

Have a good night!