Dr. Filomena

Source: Temeljna ustavna listina o samostojnosti in neodvisnosti Slovenije (Basic Constitutional Charter on the Independence and Sovereignty of the Republic of Slovenia)

The new Slovenian government is led by an ex (radical) communist. Apparently, he was too radical even then and was dismissed from the Party on that account. Ever since, he has been doing his very best to erase his red record. Except that by doing so, he is demonstrating how firmly the principles and M.O. he learned as a young man have stuck within.

An important concept in Slovenia ever since the late eighties has been that of reconciliation. As we (should) know, war is good for absolutely nothing. Glorious victories actually mean years or decades of rebuilding and healing. Physically and psychologically. On both sides. In Slovenia, part of the nation collaborated with the occupying armies. The reasons they did so were varied and personal. Atrocities were committed. Violence invariably leads to more violence and after the war ended, extra-judicial executions were carried out, which included the collaborating Slovenians. But the nation survived contrary to what the Nazis had planned. And the foundation for Slovenian sovereignty was laid right there and then. Literally.

After decades of rebuilding and yes, healing, Slovenian citizens decided to take the route towards independence at a plebiscite where 95% of voters voted in favour of at a 93.5% turnout. The result speaks for itself. The desire for independence crossed all lines of division within the population. Ever since  independence became a reality, however, some of the people involved in the process have been trying to hijack the unique event in Slovenian history and appropriate it for history books to record. The man referred to in the first sentence of this blog post, for example. They easily dismiss the population-wide support for the project, the role of other political actors and civil society (except what they consider their own) at the time and paint a story of how they as the heroes  struggled for the country’s independence while the big bad wolf, I mean the damn communists obstructed them. And in doing so, they keep biting at the role of resistance fighters in Slovenia during World War II. Because the Yugoslavia that was formed after the war had a communist regime, which BTW is not something that all the freedom fighters fought for, they are using every opportunity to represent the collaborators (i.e. Slovenians who fought the Slovenians fighting the occupying armies) as anti-communists who had the nation’s best interests in mind and were actually at least as good a guys as the freedom fighters if not better on some level.

Well guess what. Reconciliation does not mean shifting blame from one side to the other or making excuses. It does not mean repairing injustice by causing more thereof. Reconciliation involves fessing up for both sides. The winners of the WWII who should not have committed extra-judicial executions nor cause problems to collaborators’ relatives after the war and the collaborators who should have thought twice when picking sides. It involves recognising that – again – war is good for absolutely nothing and that it is time to move on and stop the bloody persistent practice of checking what side somebody’s father, grandfather, great-grandfather may have been on. It means respecting the feelings of the families of the deceased on both sides. They were all, after all, human. Lord knows not all of them were humane, but human they were. That’s all there is. Can we please move on? Yes?

No. See, when these guys who are in the process of appropriating Slovenian statehood (patent-pending?) take the wheel (I meant to say win the election, but they actually came in 2nd) of the country, this red-herring keeps popping up. I’ll come back to the herring thing later. The Slovenian MEP who happened to be the independent state’s first PM, for example apparently drafted the resolution for the European Parliament to state that all totalitarian systems, including communism, were equally bad. (Read: therefore Slovenians fighting the Slovenian red threat is equal to the Slovenian freedom fighters fighting the occupying forces whose ultimate objective was to erase the nation.) The latest has to do with the celebration of the Statehood Day. The celebration, which will be marked by folk dances. How is that for an art programme?

The government led by the man who in his younger days marched proudly to Jajce in remembrance of the glory days, decided that this year, for the first time ever, the flag bearers representing the veterans of Slovenian WWII freedom fighters and their legacy would not be invited to the celebration. Only veterans of the independence war were deemed worthy to participate. Actually, several other organisations were invited as well, but refused because the WWII veterans had been excluded. The police veterans from the independence war era rejected the invitation based on solidarity with the WWII veterans as well.

The veterans of 1991 who endured the 10-day war and fought bravely while the politicians, diplomats and media people were engaged in their own important battles, would do well to realise that they are being played and exploited and either demand that their colleagues representing those who fought to keep the nation alive for four years and more are shown respect or refuse to participate in the ceremonies themselves.

As for the red-herring aspect of the whole thing. It is rather obvious that the anti-commie we-are-your-saviours issues are much easier to deal with and respond to in public (especially after years of practice which probably trigger an autopilot with these guys) than to answer questions related to slashing maternity leave benefits and how exactly cutting funding for research and education while lowering taxes for the well-off is supposed to stimulate growth. Or why the ruling party opposed the structural reforms prepared by the previous government claiming they were unnecessary whereas now it wants to bulldoze the public sector and syndicates  claiming the exact opposite. You know, the insignificant little issues.

This whole thing would be funny were it not so sad.

PS: I am quite sure that I will immediately be called a commie for having written this text. I can see communist, Murgle, agitprop and komsomol coming up. All would-be name-callers are kindly referred to the first sentence in this blog post.

(foto dr. fil)

Pred nekaj dnevi sem si ogledala film Recount. Odlično prikaže metode republikancev, s katerimi so Georgeu W. Bushu uspeli zagotoviti predsedniški položaj kljub temu, da je najverjetneje prejel manj glasov kot protikandidat Al Gore. Priporočam ogled.

Včeraj sem videla nekaj zelo sorodnega v Mariboru na otvoritvi Evropske prestolnice kulture. V številčni publiki je nekdo začel skandirati “Janša, Janša!” Nihče mu ni pritegnil. Ljudje so ga utišali z glasnim neodobravanjem in žvižgi. Po kratkem premoru je spet začel skandirati. Med publiko je bilo čutiti močno nezadovoljstvo nad njegovim početjem in jezni ljudje okrog njega so ga še glasneje izžvižgali.

Gospod je dosegel svoje. Žvižgalo se je. In  tisti, ki jim gre slovenski predsednik v nos, so takoj začeli trditi, da so v Mariboru izžvižgali njega. Ne glede na to, kolikokrat bomo jaz in drugi, ki smo bili tam, povedali, kaj se je dejansko zgodilo, nič ne bo pomagalo. Prepričani bodo ostali prepričani. Morda celo po ogledu videa “neobjavljeno“, na katerem se sliši se tisto, kar se na televiziji ni.

Mimogrede, reakcija bi bila verjetno enaka ne glede na to, z imenom katerega politika bi izzivali na kulturni prireditvi.

Glasovnice z ameriških volitev leta 2000 so ročno preštevali pari republikanec-demokrat, navzoči so bili opazovalci, vse skupaj so snemali novinarji. Nič od tega Bobu Dolu ni preprečilo, da bi v kamero zatrdil, da se glasovnice ne preštevajo, ampak se ponarejajo novi glasovi za Ala Gora. In Danila Türka so izžvižgali.

Diplomatski odziv predsednika Türka na provokacijo si lahko ogledate na tem posnetku. Zgovoren je aplavz, ki mu je sledil.

Optimistično upam, da bo tudi provokator zavrtel človeka v sebi.

(26. 10.  2011: Priznati moram, da sem danes cenzurirala lastno kletvico. Redko preklinjam in tisti prvi naval besa me je minil. Še vedno mislim enako, le izrazila bi se danes drugače.)

Včeraj zvečer se na Twitterju nisem lepo obnašala. Ves dan sem se načrtno izogibala spletnim mestom, na katerih sem pričakovala objavljene fotografije umorjenega človeka, na koncu pa je tik pred spanjem vame iz zasede skočila z MMC-ja. Zaklela sem. Odziv je bil zelo mešan. Nekateri se strinjajo, da je zadeva neokusna, drugi neprizadeto trdijo, da gre “samo za kadaver”, spet nekdo tretji se je obregnil le ob mojo kletvico. Zjutraj me je razveselil še Dnevnik, ki je fotografijo na prvi strani objavil kar v triplikatu. Da bo bolj prijelo. Ok, če smo natančni, je objavil fotografijo izložbe, v kateri trije televizorji prikazujejo umorjenega človeka.

Pogled na mrtvega človeka ni prijeten. Na umorjenega še manj. Z dejstvom, da fotografijo ta hip lahko vidi vsak otrok, se na tem mestu ne bom ubadala. Ker me v resnici muči krvoželjnost ljudstva, ki mu prodajno usmerjeni uredniki servirajo odsekane glave. Ne ubijaj! Se je kdo spomnil na to malenkost? Ne ubijaj nikogar. Človeška družba potrebuje celo večnost, da prileze do neke stopnje, ki ji samovšečno rečemo civilizacija, zelo hitro pa zdrsne proti svojim živalskim koreninam. Maščevanje, kri za kri, naj pravica meč zavihti! Natanko to me je globoko prizadelo v času vojne v Bosni. Kako hitro pozabimo svoje domnevne civilizacijske vrednote. Kar bliska se.

Ljudi se ne (bi smelo) mori(ti). Tudi padlih samodržcev ne. Sodi se jim. In če jih brez sodnega postopka usmrti kdo drug, potem pa še v žaru zmage vlači naokrog kot kos mesa, se ne (bi smelo) naslaja(ti) nad njimi, ampak storilce obsodi za njihovo dejanje. To so ljudje, ki bodo zamenjali krutega diktatorja. Spodbudno. Zmaga, res.

Nespoštovani mediji, ponudili ste brezplačni razstavni prostor eksekutorjem, katerih dejanje bi morali obsoditi. Lepo vas prosim, da naslednjič, ko začutite močno potrebo po prikazovanju takih grozovitosti, bralce/gledalce opozorite, da sledi želodec obračajoč material. Tako bomo lahko izbirali, ali bomo zadevo pogledali ali ne. Veste, nekateri še nismo popolnoma otopeli.

Logotip ljubljanskega Twestivala @betmenka

Danes, 24. 3. 2011, se ob 19h dobimo na Ljubljanskem gradu. Lokalna dobrodelna prireditev Twestival Ljubljana je del krovnega dogodka, pri katerem sodelujejo ekipe prostovoljcev v več kot 160 mestih po svetu. Družili se bomo ob dobri glasbi, se nasmejali stand-up komikom, zraven pa zbirali sredstva za ustanovo Mali vitez, ki pomaga otrokom, ki so premagali raka. Podrobnosti najdete na spletni strani Twestivala Ljubljana.

Twestival sicer organiziramo tviteraši, vabljeni pa ste prav vsi!

Se vidimo!

PS: Sicer upam, da vam bo uspelo priti, če ne utegnete, pa lahko pomagate vsaj z donacijo 1 €. Preprosto pošljite SMS z vsebino MALIVITEZ na številko 1919. Hvala!

A detail of an immense canvas of Water Lilies by Claude Monet in the Musée de l’Orangerie (photo by dr. fil)

Time flies and it is the fourth time in a row that this blog is part of the annual Blog Action Day event. Other entries:  2007, 2008, 2009.

This year, the topic is Water. The precious liquid that rendered life possible and still does. I’m sure fellow bloggers will cover it thoroughly, discuss the importance of the issue for world peace and repeat the mantra of turn off the tap while brushing your teeth, take a shower rather than a bath, use efficient washing machines etc.

What really gets to me personally is the cult of bottled water. Yes, there are places around the world where tap water is not safe to drink and people must resort to using bottled water, but in most European cities where waiters will try to push a plastic bottle, the tap water is just fine. For years now I’ve been refusing to drink bottled water whenever I could (and it was safe to do so).  I have actually walked out of restaurants because the waiter would refuse to serve (expensive) food with tap water after I explained that the reason for my choice were environmental concerns and not its price.  I must add that lately, during the last six months or so, I have been having much less of a problem in this respect than before.

So much energy is used to bottle the water, produce the bottles themselves and then transport them half way across the world or at least continent to be consumed in place of perfectly good water flowing from a safe, controlled water supply system. What a waste! Ah, and water in glass bottles is only better with regard to its packaging, but no different when it comes to the energy used in its ‘production’ and transportation.

So my contribution to today’s topic is a call to shun bottled water whenever safe tap water is available. Since I’ve just spent a month in Paris, here’s my tip when in France. With your meal, ask for tap water by saying “une carafe d’eau, s’il vous plait”.

Cheers!
(and don’t forget to tip)

A vision of two horsepowers at the Paris Motor Show 2010 (photo: dr. fil)

The future as seen at the Paris Motor Show (photo by dr. fil)

Lamborghini at the Paris Motor Show (photo: dr. fil)

Foto dr. fil

V času pariškega tedna mode je potekal tudi štiridnevni sejem oblačil in modnih dodatkov Atmosphere’s. Modni  kreatorji so svoje delo predstavljali butikom, ki zdaj izbirajo, kaj nam bodo ponudili marca.

Objava fotografij je nezaželena, ker se razstavljavci bojijo plagiatorstva najnovejših umetnin. Tako lahko žal le opišem, kar je videlo moje neuko oko.

Prevladujejo nežne barve od peščene do rjave, ki jih poživijo pastelne kombinacije. Črno-bela klasika očitno tudi naslednji sezoni ne uide. Bolj me presenečajo zlati in srebrni čevlji. Kroji so preprosti in čisti, brez navlake. Veliko je platna, ki včasih daje že kar vtis brezoblične žaklovine. Naravno.

Tako kot na pariških ulicah in že zdaj v butikih, šik bejbe hodijo v polnih petah, ki se meni sicer ne zdijo dosti elegantnejše od povprečnega parklja ali kopita.

Splošni vtis je diskretna eleganca.

Elemente Clemente                                            Rosamunda

Adawa S

Last night, I saw a production of Verdi’s Aida with a friend who came over for the weekend. It was a grand affair at the colossal Stade de France whose capacity of 80,000 seats was full but for the top two rows and whatever the orchestra took up. With 500 actors in gorgeous costumes marching faultlessly on 400 tonnes worth of sand covering the arena, the horse-drawn chariots making their way through the array of obelisks and pillars and roars from the tribunes, the show thoroughly deserved its tag of a “spectacle pharaonique“.

The sound was far from perfect for the most part, with orchestra overpowering the singers in a near cacophony, but at times, especially when Aida sang her arias, it was just right. At no point, however, did the imperfections of the sound take away from the breathtaking visual impressions. The final scene with stars flowing from the centre of the arena to the tribunes and up until the entire stadium was a gently blinking starry sky, was magical.

I was impressed with the flawless organisation and execution, the calmness of everyone involved and last but not least with the way that the what must have been a 70,000 strong crowd dispersed through the exits, walked to the metro station and entered the trains without a problem. Oh, and the fact that the stadium featured free Wi-Fi that allowed me to share with friends while the “men in black” were resetting the scenery in one seamless motion and the man on the big screen was explaining what had just happened and what part of the story would follow.

A feast for the eyes, just slightly less so for the ears, but an undoubtedly unforgettable once-in-a-lifetime experience. Bravo!