Breast cancer. At age 50, my age.
Far too young, it's absolutely obscene.
Mother of two young boys.
I first met Corry in 1975. I was 17, in the Netherlands for the first time to meet up with my family. My aunt was involved in some youth activity group and took me along for movie night. They were showing Easy Rider and that's where I met Corry for the first time. The movie blew my mind, little dumb girl from the sticks in South Africa. Corry blew my mind too, beautiful, blonde, so much wiser to the world than I was, she knew exactly what she wanted: to become a hairdresser.
And she did, too! And married a firefighter, and had two gorgeous kids. We were not close friends but we kept in touch all these years. She often did my hair and was possibly the best sales person I have ever met, selling me skin care products I did not really need. And she was right too, once I tried it, I loved it and am still using it! Over these 30-some years I've known her, I always admired her spunk and really liked the person she was.
She will be so very missed by all who knew her.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Prisoner 345
= Sami al-Haj.
In Guantanamo for 2096 days now, that's more than five years.
Rumoured to be released end of this month of March, 2008. Hopefully. But you never know, do you. He has no rights, he could just as well still be there a year from now...
He's a journalist, and it's never been clear why he was held in the first place, and why he had to remain in Guantanamo for so long.
You hardly ever hear about him any more. You see, after a while, this kind of thing becomes normal.
I thought, in response to Bush's veto of the waterboarding legislation, I'd take the time today to remember at least one of the people in Guantanamo.
(I really hope the veto is overturned, but I would not count on it. The USA is no longer the country it was - imperfect but striving towards being a force for good in the world)
Is the man guilty of anything? I don't know and I don't care. He's been held without any form of legal representation for over five years, and during that time he has been subjected to the most inhuman treatment. This has deeply affected his life and psyche, and surely his wife and child suffered greatly as well.
There is no justification at all for this.
That the USA does this, is unacceptable. Unacceptable.
More information
In Guantanamo for 2096 days now, that's more than five years.
Rumoured to be released end of this month of March, 2008. Hopefully. But you never know, do you. He has no rights, he could just as well still be there a year from now...
He's a journalist, and it's never been clear why he was held in the first place, and why he had to remain in Guantanamo for so long.
You hardly ever hear about him any more. You see, after a while, this kind of thing becomes normal.
I thought, in response to Bush's veto of the waterboarding legislation, I'd take the time today to remember at least one of the people in Guantanamo.
(I really hope the veto is overturned, but I would not count on it. The USA is no longer the country it was - imperfect but striving towards being a force for good in the world)
Is the man guilty of anything? I don't know and I don't care. He's been held without any form of legal representation for over five years, and during that time he has been subjected to the most inhuman treatment. This has deeply affected his life and psyche, and surely his wife and child suffered greatly as well.
There is no justification at all for this.
That the USA does this, is unacceptable. Unacceptable.
More information
Jeff Healy is dead
on March 2, at age 41, of the same cancer that blinded him as a kid.
I only just found out.
What a life he led, full of music and joy.
He led from the heart, and brought so many people happiness and inspiration by doing so.
What a great loss to us all.
I only just found out.
What a life he led, full of music and joy.
He led from the heart, and brought so many people happiness and inspiration by doing so.
What a great loss to us all.
Return to whaling?
no no NO, hell no!
I am becoming so very angry over this.
This kind of compromise is unacceptable.
If world governments keep moving into this kind of direction, more and more people will become supporters of Sea Shepherd instead of Greenpeace. Open confrontation, war. That's the way we seem to be heading in more ways than one.
With the American president openly condoning waterboarding (after WW2 people were sentenced to death over this!), world governments greenwashing instead of acting on climate change, hunger increasing, global conflict increasing... what kind of world are we creating for ourselves??!!
Controversial plans to lift the worldwide ban on whaling were presented to a secret meeting of more than 70 governments in London last week.
The plans, which have alarmed environmentalists, have been welcomed by both pro- and anti-whaling governments and seek to lift a long stalemate over hunting, enabling Japan officially to resume commercial whaling for the first time in more than 20 years.
The plans would permit the world's main whaling nation to carry out a limited hunt in waters close to its shores. In return, Japan would have to stop exploiting a loophole in international law, through which it kills hundreds of whales around Antarctica each year under the guise of "scientific research".
The plans – drawn up at another unpublicised meeting in Tokyo last month – were presented by the governments of Argentina and the Netherlands to a closed three-day session of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) at the Renaissance Hotel near Heathrow airport, which ended yesterday.
source
I am becoming so very angry over this.
This kind of compromise is unacceptable.
If world governments keep moving into this kind of direction, more and more people will become supporters of Sea Shepherd instead of Greenpeace. Open confrontation, war. That's the way we seem to be heading in more ways than one.
With the American president openly condoning waterboarding (after WW2 people were sentenced to death over this!), world governments greenwashing instead of acting on climate change, hunger increasing, global conflict increasing... what kind of world are we creating for ourselves??!!
Friday, March 07, 2008
Tipping Points
A tipping point is where, once you go past it, there is no possibility of recovery or repair. There is no going back, at least not in the short term. Of course, natural cycles being what they are and because things are forever changing on this dynamic planet, over (geologic) time things might change yet again. But this is looking at the short term, at our lifetimes and the lifetimes of our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Very short-term of course, when looking at the lifetime of a planet. But for us humans, entirely natural and of extreme importance. After all, this is our habitat that's changing. We are adaptable but question is if we can adapt en masse fast enough and effectively enough, to survive as a species. It is from that point of view that I'm looking at these issues. Selfishly, I want survival of the human species and more specifically, my family.
Science has identified a number of tipping points in our world's climate. Over the next months I'll be looking at each of these in detail, examining what the current situation is, what it used to be, where it's heading to, and what the expected effects will be of crossing that point of no return.
So far, on my list, are:
1. Loss of Arctic summer sea ice
2. Melting of Greenland ice sheet
3. (Partial) collapse of the Gulf Stream
4. Collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet
5. Severity and frequency of El Niño
6. Amazon rain forest - permanent change into Savannah-type landscape
7. Monsoons - West African, Indian
8. Loss of Boreal forests
Other urgent issues that will severely affect human society and resources (local and global):
• Worldwide loss of coral reefs, destroying much of world fisheries
• Global sea level rise
• Increasing severity of weather
• Permafrost disappearance and the resultant release of huge quantities of Methane into the atmosphere
• Desertification
• The ozone hole (no, that problem is not "fixed")
• Changes in ocean salinity and pH
Like a thread running through it all is the Carbon Dioxide level, whether it will exceed 450 ppm.
Science has identified a number of tipping points in our world's climate. Over the next months I'll be looking at each of these in detail, examining what the current situation is, what it used to be, where it's heading to, and what the expected effects will be of crossing that point of no return.
So far, on my list, are:
1. Loss of Arctic summer sea ice
2. Melting of Greenland ice sheet
3. (Partial) collapse of the Gulf Stream
4. Collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet
5. Severity and frequency of El Niño
6. Amazon rain forest - permanent change into Savannah-type landscape
7. Monsoons - West African, Indian
8. Loss of Boreal forests
Other urgent issues that will severely affect human society and resources (local and global):
• Worldwide loss of coral reefs, destroying much of world fisheries
• Global sea level rise
• Increasing severity of weather
• Permafrost disappearance and the resultant release of huge quantities of Methane into the atmosphere
• Desertification
• The ozone hole (no, that problem is not "fixed")
• Changes in ocean salinity and pH
Like a thread running through it all is the Carbon Dioxide level, whether it will exceed 450 ppm.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Wil je heel snel mijn stem kwijt?
Doe dan zoiets:
Belachelijk!!!
En dan de volgende stap, een database van mensen. Het liefst met een chip ook, net zoals bij Fikkie...
De lokale SP in Tilburg wil DNA van alle honden in de stad afnemen om problemen met hondenpoep tegen te gaan.
'Losliggende hondendrollen' kunnen zo aan de hond en aan de eigenaar worden gekoppeld. De fractie dient dinsdag een initiatiefvoorstel in voor de hondendatabank.
Bron
Belachelijk!!!
En dan de volgende stap, een database van mensen. Het liefst met een chip ook, net zoals bij Fikkie...
Monday, March 03, 2008
I turned 50 today
and we did it in style!
Yesterday I celebrated it at home with family and friends, with lots of cake and good food.
Today, two of my sisters took me to the sauna and wellness centre Elysium at Bleiswijk.
Starting this morning at ten, and ending around 7.30 in the evening, it was an orgy of self-indulgence. My nose is still filled with the scent of herbs, I'm smooth as a baby's butt from the oils and lotions and I've had so many steam baths and saunas and bubble baths etc. etc., that I'm now utterly boneless and blissfull.
Yes, we included some sin in the package as well, beginning the day with a lovely slice of chocolate caramel cake and ending it with a double thick hot chocolate milk with a fat dollop of whipped cream.
This probably is the best birthday I've ever had :-)
Yesterday I celebrated it at home with family and friends, with lots of cake and good food.
Today, two of my sisters took me to the sauna and wellness centre Elysium at Bleiswijk.
Starting this morning at ten, and ending around 7.30 in the evening, it was an orgy of self-indulgence. My nose is still filled with the scent of herbs, I'm smooth as a baby's butt from the oils and lotions and I've had so many steam baths and saunas and bubble baths etc. etc., that I'm now utterly boneless and blissfull.
Yes, we included some sin in the package as well, beginning the day with a lovely slice of chocolate caramel cake and ending it with a double thick hot chocolate milk with a fat dollop of whipped cream.
This probably is the best birthday I've ever had :-)
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