Tuesday 29 January 2019

Monday 28 January 2019

Some Soul-Blues



Just discovered this recording by the late Gary B.B. Coleman:  listen to The Sky is Crying

How did I miss it?

How many people remember Peggy Lee's version of "You don't know"?

Both song-interpretations still mighty soulful and impressive. Hints of B.B.King?

Another song, heard in the Vivo Lounge, Dorchester. Nobody knew who the singer was. Finally tracked it down:

Nicolette Larson - Baby, Don't You Do It




Sunday 27 January 2019

Dorset: How to Deal with the Elderly



Sensible advice, no doubt, but if you didn't read the article, you might have found the juxtaposition of the headline and the photograph a little incongruous and potentially unsettling!




I was reminded of the poem, 'The world is a beautiful place to be born into'  by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and the last lines:

"then right in the middle of it 
comes the smiling

mortician"



Cyprus: Independence Struggle; Out of Court Settlement; EOKA Emergency




The Guardian



The Independent:


Forces Network



Washington Post


Martial Law? UK Headlines - and a satirical song; another backstop (in case of civil disorder)?



I couldn't believe my own ears when I heard talk of martial law on LBC last night. I've lived in few countries where there was a military coup and curfews, or where martial law (Στρατιωτικός νόμος) was imposed.



On standby?
 (A local parade, not illustrative of topic)



Ethiopia, 1974


Greece 1967


UK ready to declare martial law to avert no-deal Brexit chaos, Sunday Times, 27th January 2019







Listen:

A satirical song (demo) on YouTube, "Martial Law"


















(from flickr/Presidential Museum and Library, Manila)


Martial Law (Song lyric)


The Army’s ruling the country,
They’re marching everywhere:
They’re feeling trigger-happy,
So don’t just stand and stare.


The Army’s ruling the country,
Ever since the Coup.
If your father’s not a Colonel,
You’d better join up too.


They want to fight inflation,
And all the union crew:
They’re going to save the nation
By eliminating you.


They’re going to lock up lefties,
They’re going to shoot all reds;
The Army’s full of hefties,
Who don’t like men with heads.


The Army’s ruling the country,
They wield an iron rod:
You’re free to speak your mind
And to face the firing squad.


Left! Right! Left! Right!…(Pistol shot)



















Fortunately, Matt Hancock, the impressive and lucid MP and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, interviewed on the Andrew Marr show, 27 January, 2019 (from the 53 minute point), reassured viewers that the mooted uses of martial law and curfews, although on the statute book, were not being stressed or specifically considered by the government and were not the focus of the government's attention.

That is a relief.

Update, from The Guardian:

"Hancock also played down a report claiming that, as part of government planning for a no-deal Brexit, officials had been looking at the possible need to introduce martial law to cope with civil disorder. Under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, sweeping powers are available to the government for use in emergencies, but Hancock said that, while governments have to look at all options, martial law was “not specifically” being looked at".


Update from Mirror, "Brexit: EU spy chiefs brand UK 'unstable' and warn of violence including rioting".


Update from MailOnline: "Brexit will leave the UK 'unstable' for decades with violence on the streets and independence referendums in Scotland and Northern Ireland, EU intelligence secret report warns".

"In a secret report, EU officials are believed to have warned that civil unrest and rioting is almost inevitable, regardless of the out­­­come of the current political deadlock".

Trust the tabloids..."No Deal - No Meal!"


Mirror, 29 January, 2019


Britain's Lost Paths; Recovering Historic Rights of Way; Ramblers



From The Times, 15 January, 2019: Time running out to save lost paths, Jerome Starkey


Memory lanes: the ramblers trying to save 10,000 lost footpaths, From The Guardian, 4/12/2019


"We need to get historic rights of way back on the map before 2026 - this guide explains how you can start the hunt for lost rights of way in your area" - Download the six-page Ramblers Campaign Guide.

"We have until January 2026 to save our historic rights of way. Well over 140,000 miles of public paths criss-cross England and Wales. This network has evolved over centuries with many paths dating back to medieval times - or earlier! These paths link villages, hamlets, roads and towns – they describe how generations before us travelled to the pub, field or shops and reflect the changing patterns of human interaction with the landscape. To this day, millions of people across our towns, cities and countryside, use this fantastic network. However, miles and miles of our public paths are unrecorded and if they are not put on the map by 1 January 2026, they will be lost for ever".


The path to 2026: Historic paths and definitive maps timeline


BERKSHIRE LOST PATHS PROJECT 2026 CUT OFF


From Countryfile:  Britain’s footpaths: why are so many disappearing and how to save a footpath
"Thousands of footpaths in England and Wales are impassable, either deliberately or through neglect, and many more could disappear forever unless they are registered. Why is this happening – and what can be done?" BBC Countryfile Magazine reports, in guide to Britain's footpaths

Saturday 26 January 2019

Prague, Etchings: Hollar and Sadeler (Views between 1585 and 1649)




Interior View of Vladislav Hall at Prague Castle during the Annual Fair, A. Sadeler

Aegidius Sadeler II (Netherlandish, Antwerp 1568–1629 Prague), 1607





Wenceslaus Hollar, 1636

Great View (Prospect) of Prague from Petřín Hill



Wenceslaus Hollar, 1649, 

Velký pohled na Prahu


See also:





Image from Kunsthisrisches Museum, Vienna:


Inauguration of Emperor Rudolf II in the Order of the Golden Fleece










Friday 25 January 2019

International News Roundup (Washington DC, NPR 1A)



Listen to the International News Roundup, 25 January 2019, including Nina-Maria


Host: Joshua Johnson

Video stream from 1 hour 2 minutes point

Greek parliament ratifies FYR Macedonia name change



From Euronews (video from Parliament)


From Greek Reporter: NATO, EU Hail Greek Approval of Prespa Name Deal


From eKathimerini: Greek MPs pass Prespes deal with 153 votes in 300-seat House


From eKathimerini: Greek Parliament ratifies 'North Macedonia' accord


From Kathimerini: Υπερψηφίστηκε με 153 «ναι» η συμφωνία των Πρεσπών

Intellectual paths in central Europe, Samuel Abrahám, Eurozine.


From Eurozine, 22 January, 2019:

Intellectual paths in central Europe - An idealistic Havel, a cynical Orbán, and a compassionate Walter

Samuel Abrahám, Rector of the Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts (BISLA), executive director of the European Consortium of Liberal Arts and Sciences (ECOLAS) and the publisher and editor of the journal Kritika.

Greece: Waste Sorting at Source and Recycling (for Hotels and Restaurants); Waste Management on Corfu



Sorting at source now compulsory for hotels and restaurants, Enimerosi


Integrated Waste Management study, Presentation in Corfu, Enimerosi


Waste Management in Corfu, Corfu Owners Assocation





Wednesday 23 January 2019

Greek Video Removed (Oil and Gas Exploration in Epirus)


From Pappas Post

"In the video, a group of friends climb high up to a mountain top in Epirus, in northern Greece, and play a game of ice hockey, while recounting the mythical tale of a Greek dragon.The video carries a warning at the end about protecting Epirus from oil exploration, which according to local activists is being carried out in the mountains along the Greek-Albanian border".


Dragons of Epirus Face oil Exploration (video posted on Pappas Post)


From Facebook:




Saturday 19 January 2019

West Bay, Bridport, Dorset: West Bay flood defence work



From Dorset Echo - Jurassic Coast West Bay flood defence work set to start, BBC News

"The Environment Agency has previously said East Beach was at risk of being "significantly lost" due to flooding. Waves have previously gone over the sea wall and flooded the road and properties behind West Beach".


On Brexit and Leadership Bids (OK what shall we do?)



When I was a teenager (around 14), I wrote this little piece of juvenile invective:



Leaders


Hypocritical political

Leaders. Breeders

Of contempt, exempt

From humanity;

Filled with insane

And empty vanity.

Only seeking in reality

Power, fame and private gain.


****

Last summer, on Corfu,  I was encouraging one of my grandchildren, aged 8, to perform this famous poem by Roger McGough (from Sky in the Pie, 1983, 1985). He recited it brilliantly, with a superb sense of timing, emphasis and facial expression.



The Leader 


I wanna be the leader

I wanna be the leader

Can I be the leader?

Can I? I can?

Promise? Promise?

Yippee I’m the leader

I’m the leader


OK what shall we do?



It would be very helpful if those bidding for political leadership of the government of the United Kingdom would tell us what it is that they plan to do, not just about Brexit - and without any hint of hypocrisy.

Roger McGough's poem should be quoted by the Speaker (and perhaps, under their breath, by the Leader of the Opposition and all Tory party leadership contenders)  - at every sitting of Parliament.












Perception of Landscape



From some LANDSCAPES blog, Andrew Ray (Plinius)

'Any landscape is a condition of the spirit.' - Henri-Frédéric Amiel

'Every landscape is, as it were, a state of the soul, and whoever penetrates into both is astonished to find how much likeness there is in each detail'.

It could also be said that "the Sublime is in the mind".

It's said, rather too often, that 'Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder' and 'De gustibus non est disputandum'.

Amiel's observation seems more thoughtful and precise.




Friday 18 January 2019

Healthy diets from sustainable food systems. Food in the Anthropocene.



The 21st-century great food transformation, Tamara Lucas, Richard Horton, The Lancet

"Civilisation is in crisis. We can no longer feed our population a healthy diet while balancing planetary resources. For the first time in 200 000 years of human history, we are severely out of synchronisation with the planet and nature. This crisis is accelerating, stretching Earth to its limits, and threatening human and other species' sustained existence. The publication now of Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT– Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems could be neither more timely nor more urgent". The Lancet.

Santorini, Overtourism - European Parliament



From eKathimerini, Ilias Bellos: Overtourism hurts Santorini, says European Parliament report

The same criticism could be levelled at other islands, in the Ionian as well as the Aegean sea...


The unattractiveness of judicial appointments in the United Kingdom, SSRB Report



Report from the SSRB

The attractiveness of judicial appointments in the United Kingdom – Report to the Senior Salaries Review Body

I decided to have a look at this report after reading an article by Frances Gibb and Jonathan Ames in the Law section of The Times, January 17, 2019, "Why being a judge has lost its appeal - Crumbling courts and increasing isolation are among the reasons cited by the judiciary for poor morale".

France: Bruno Le Maire, BBC Radio HARDtalk Interview




HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur in Paris for an exclusive interview with the country’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.


Wednesday 16 January 2019

Hydra, a play by Sue Smith; George Johnston and Charmian Clift. Australia, Queensland and South Australia.



Details from Queensland Theatre

9 March - 6 April 2019

Bille Brown Theatre, Queensland Theatre

Thanks to Brian Sidaway for the information and link


State Theatre of South Australia

Dunstan Playhouse 1 - 19 May


"They were writers, dreamers and free spirits. In the 1950s, Australian authors Charmian Clift and George Johnston fled halfway across the world to the idyllic Greek island of Hydra, determined to carve out a bohemian living as artists.

As they revel in their picturesque community, far off the world’s literary map, inspiration for the great Australian work strikes. But a many-headed monster of jealousy, infidelity, illness and alcoholism also rises from the crystal blue waters of their sun-kissed island home.

Award-winning Sue Smith weaves the original writings of two of Australia’s literary icons into a moving relationship drama. She conjures the passion and intensity of the near mythical ‘King and Queen of Hydra’ as they follow their dream, only to end up in a Greek tragedy of their own making"


.

The History of Wastefulness (BBC World Service); Our Relationship with Rubbish



Episode 1

"Alexandra Spring explores how our relationship with rubbish has evolved over time, beginning on a boat, sailing across the Pacific, with Ocean Conservancy’s Chief Scientist George Leonard. Together, they discuss how trillions of micro plastic particles have created a sea-sized portion of plastic soup, and how poor waste management across the world has led to a garbage emergency.

The conversation continues with author Gay Hawkins, who believes an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ attitude is shaping our psychological relationship with trash.

Then, Alexandra speaks to the photojournalist Kadir van Lohuizen, who has witnessed our human wasteful ways at six major dumps around the world. He shares how litter is not only destroying, but saving some local communities".

Producers: Chelsea Dickenson and Ben Cartwright


"Alexandra Spring continues her exploration of how our relationship with rubbish has evolved through time at the foot of Monte Testaccio in Rome - a hill built of 53 million discarded olive oil amphorae, which were thrown away nearly 2000 years ago. She meets the architect Tom Rankin, who shares how this ‘dump’ is indicative of the Roman spirit to waste.

Moving through the decades, the historian Agnes Sandras takes Alexandra back to France in 1883, when Parisian Prefect Eugene Poubelle sparked public outcry by forcing citizens to buy a box in which they would place their waste. They discuss how this early form of a modern day ‘bin’, or ‘poubelle’ in French, shaped how people viewed litter.

Then, sharing her view on how our attitudes to waste have changed throughout the last century, professor of history Eiko Maruko Siniawer explains to Alexandra how a shift in ideology to embrace modern luxuries saw waste spiralling out of control at the end of the World War Two".

Producers: Chelsea Dickenson and Ben Cartwright.


Episode 3 - to follow when broadcast

UK: Reactions to Brexit deal defeat



From Euronews, Chris Harris


Brexit vote: Donald Tusk suggests UK should stay in EU, BBC News


Brexit: EU opens door to further trade negotiations if Theresa May ditches red lines, MSN/Independent


Brexit crisis: Germany and Europe react — as it happened, DW (Deutsche Welle)


No deal may be better than extending Brexit negotiations: Lithuanian president, Euronews


UK and EU will have to remain very closely aligned on rules in all Brexit scenarios: Irish PM, Euronews


Brexit: How British-Irish relations are coping, BBC


Emmanuel Macron says EU divorce has 'torn British society apart' and 'can't be delivered, MSN/Evening Standard










Tuesday 15 January 2019

Spring and Fall; Dead Leaves























Dead Leaves (detail), Ernest Bieler, 1899




Spring and Fall

to a young child



Márgarét, áre you gríeving

Over Goldengrove unleaving?

Leáves like the things of man, you

With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?

Ah! ás the heart grows older

It will come to such sights colder

By and by, nor spare a sigh

Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;

And yet you wíll weep and know why.

Now no matter, child, the name:

Sórrow’s spríngs áre the same.

Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed

What heart heard of, ghost guessed:

It ís the blight man was born for,

It is Margaret you mourn for. 













Ernest Bieler, Dead Leaves, 1899, Kunstmuseum Bern


Sunday 13 January 2019

Diavata Migrant Camp, Northern Greece; Snow



Migrants Endure Sub-Zero Temperatures in Greek Migrant Camp (video), Tasos Kokkinidis, Greek Reporter



R.D. Laing, 1967 - A Reminder



"Words in a poem, sounds in movement, rhythm in space, attempt to recapture personal meaning in personal time and space from out of the sights and sounds of a depersonalised, dehumanised world. They are bridgeheads into alien territory. They are acts of insurrection. Their source is from the Silence at the centre of each of us".


From The Politics of Experience, VI, The experience of negation

Source: The Politics of Experience (1967), publ. Routledge and Kegan Paul.





"The ‘word-salad’ of the schizophrenic may contain more insight into the inner world than the psychiatric, medical, or psychoanalytic language we translate it into". Benjamin Noys, Verso

A number of relatively sane poets, psychiatrists and politicians (Cf. Brexit*) have also been known to use "a confused or unintelligible mixture of seemingly random words and phrases". 

NB A 'word salad' is quite different from 'gobbledygook"

gobbledygook (n.) - "the overinvolved, pompous talk of officialdom" [Klein], 1944, American English, first used by Texas politician Maury Maverick (1895-1954), in a memo dated March 30, 1944, banning "gobbledygook language" and mock-threateaning, "anyone using the words activation or implementation will be shot." Maverick said he made up the word in imitation of turkey noise".  www.etymonline.com



*BBC Guide to Brexit jargon, for instance












Saturday 12 January 2019

Corfu, Capodistrias Airport - Increase in numbers in 2018


From Enimerosi online

"A 17% increase in the number of flights at Corfu Capodistrias Airport in 2018 - 29% for domestic flights and 14.5% for international flights".


Corfu is top destination for British tourists but also an expensive one, KTG




Brits Abroad: How Many?




The puzzle of how many Brits abroad there really are, Dr Michaela Benson, BBC News


Certainly nobody seems to know how many British people are resident on Corfu.

There must be huge margins of error when trying to make estimates.


Friday 11 January 2019

UK, Rubbish Incinerators to double; (Small) particulate pollution?


From Tom Bawden, inews: (11 January 2019)

The UK will burn more than half its rubbish as it doubles the number of incinerators over next 10 years


Tonnes of recycling burned every day, says Brighton binman, Joe Riddle, The Argus


"100 - number of new incinerators being proposed - to add to the 44 that already exist" inews




Paxos, Greece: Waste Management



An Enimerosi report on 'integrated waste management' on Paxos (from November 2018).

'Construction of a transshipment station, processing unit and creation of green points'

Q. Transshipment to where?



The Paxos Rubbish Dump (Enimerosi photograph)


"Actions for Integrated Urban Solid Waste Management in the Municipality of Paxos", amounting to € 1.637.331. It includes the construction of a waste transshipment plant, the construction of a pre-treated biowaste and mixed municipal solid waste treatment plant and the supply of sorting equipment to the biowaste source.

"Creation of a green point and recycling corners in the municipality of Paxos" at 373,414 euros. It includes the creation of a green point, recycling angles and awareness and publicity actions.

Construction of a rural road construction project in Antipaxos, totaling 441,000 euros. Enimerosi.

Tuesday 8 January 2019

Greece, Ionian Sea: Farmed Fish; 'The truth about the fish we eat and the drugs the fish are fed'. ' Όλη η αλήθεια για τα ψάρια που τρώμε'. Professor T. Albanis, University of Ioannina





From enallaktikos.gr - 'The whole truth about the fish we eat'

'Όλη η αλήθεια για τα ψάρια που τρώμε - Από τη φορμόλη στα... ψυχοφάρμακα', 5.1.2019.


"The Rector and director of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Ioannina explains that the fish we eat have taken in many other medicines in their lives. Among other things, their bodies have ingested or been penetrated by analgesics, antibiotics and psychiatric drugs.

According to the results of research in Ionian areas with a strong presence of fish farms, presented by Professor T. Albanis, the fish that reach our table have consumed large quantities not only of human drugs, but also of pesticides and other dangerous chemicals.

Among others, 67% of the research samples were found in chemical substances (pesticides). Moreover, in the sensitive ecological area of ​​Louros and Arachthos estuaries, high concentrations of psychiatric drugs were identified, while in several areas along with the above, the presence of antibiotics, analgesics, etc. was detected.

The professor also explained that about 85% of organic compounds that are artificially produced and are potential pollutants for water and aquatic ecosystems end up in the oceans. Among them, the 1,000 new chemical compounds produced each year.

Thus, fish do not only consume the medicines used in fish farms to keep them "healthy" (to protect them from certain diseases, at the same time as hazardous chemicals), but also those that end up in the sea as pharmaceutical waste".

(Google Translate)

From the Greek article:

'Σήμερα, ο Πρύτανης και διευθυντής του τμήματος Χημείας του Πανεπιστημίου Ιωαννίνων, μας εξηγεί πως τα ψάρια που τρώμε, έχουν πάρει πολλά ακόμη φάρμακα στη ζωή τους. Ανάμεσα σε άλλα, ο οργανισμός τους έχει ποτιστεί με αναλγητικά, αντιβιοτικά και ψυχιατρικά φάρμακα!

Σύμφωνα με τα αποτελέσματα έρευνας σε περιοχές του Ιονίου με έντονη παρουσία ιχθυοκαλλιεργειών, που παρουσίασε ο καθηγητής Τ. Αλμπάνης, τα ψάρια που φτάνουν στο τραπέζι μας, έχουν καταναλώσει μεγάλες ποσότητες, όχι μόνο ανθρώπινων φαρμάκων, αλλά και φυτοφαρμάκων και άλλων επικίνδυνων χημικών ουσιών'.


More information - 'Kαταναλώνουμε ψάρια με αναλγητικά και ψυχοφάρμακα'


Most of the farm-reared sea-bream (Gilthead Bream, Sparus aurata, farmed in marine open net pens) which are on sale in British supermarkets are imported - and responsibly sourced- from Greece and Turkey. 

'Η κύρια περιοχή της μελέτης που ολοκληρώθηκε εστίασε σε παράκτιες περιοχές του Ιονίου όπου υπάρχει μεγάλη συγκέντρωση Ιχθυοκαλλιεργειών με αλιεύματα που καταναλώνονται σε όλη τη χώρα και εξάγοντα'.

"Following an investigation in Epirus, Sagiada and the estuary of Kalamas where there is the most intensive exploitation at the level of fish farming in the country, according to Mr. Albanis, they identified:

In a total of 600 samples taken at different sites, pesticide and other plant protection substances - pollutants were identified. 67% of the samples received were found to be more than one, while in a more limited number of samples there were 5-10 of the investigated compounds - pollutants.

Large concentrations of drugs contained in psychiatric drugs, antibiotics and mainly analgesics, a sample of intensive use as well as other sources of contamination such as hospital waste.

Pharmaceutical chemicals, also in large proportions like pesticides, coexist in the same samples that were investigated.

High concentrations of psychiatric substances have been identified at the estuaries of the Louros and Arachos rivers that form a single ecosystem (life cycle in nature) for aquatic organisms....

Now, after this useful pilot research project funded by the 7th Framework Program of the EU, Research and Technological Development in seven countries, including Greece, Italy, Spain, France and Norway, has already been completed, the University of Ioannina is now focusing on the further investigation of the effects and the biological cleansing of Hospitals, starting from the University Hospital of Ioannina, in cooperation with the Hospitals of Avlona in Albania and Bari in Italy".

(Google Translate)

Article by PANOS SAKELLAROPOULOS

That's apart from micro-plastic particles!



Related: Scottish salmon farming's sea lice 'crisis', BBC News


Sea lice 'breakthrough' for salmon farmers


From The Ferret on Farmed Salmon


Sea-bream, salmon, what next?


Related:

'Future of Mediterranean fishing on the line after European Parliament vote, say environmental groups', Euonews






Monday 7 January 2019

Vitsa, Zagori, Houses, Vitsa Steps, Bridge of Misiou; Η Βίτσα, Σπίτια, χωριό του Κεντρικού Ζαγορίου




Vitsa Steps


http://www.vitsa.gr/node/212

The Bridge of Misiou


http://www.vitsa.gr/node/175


Houses


http://www.vitsa.gr/node/178


http://www.vitsa.gr/node/177

Examples of the Kato Vitsa houses (illustrated prominently, top right, above, on the signboard at the entrance to the village, and on the cover of the Zagori Traditional Architecture publication below:

"Της Αλεξοβασίλαινας ή των Αναγνωστάκηδων
Αριστερά προς Αϊ Ταξιάρχη
Το 1852 σε αυτό κατοικούσε η οικογένεια του Βασίλη Αναγνωστάκη
Αργότερα του Πανούλα, της Βασιλικής και του Ξενοφώντα Αναγνωστάκη
Στον ίδιο χώρο βρίσκονται δύο σπίτια
Έχουν πουληθεί σε αλλοδαπούς"

Don't αλλοδαπόi have names?

 Is a Corfiot who has been there for over 35 years still considered an αλλοδαπός?

Some publications: