Dr. Filomena

Nasveti nosečim kolegicam

• Gibaj se. V zadnjih mesecih je zlasti fino plavanje (svoboda gibanja FTW). Kondicija ti bo prav prišla med porodom in po njem. O, ja, še kako.
• Nosečnost ni bolezen.
• Nosečnost ni izgovor za nekontrolirano basanje s sladoledom.
• Prehranjuj se zdravo. Ješ “za dva” ne pomeni “dvakrat toliko”. Ne omejuj jedilnika po nepotrebnem. Izogibaj se le surovemu mesu, surovim jajcem in nepasteriziranemu mleku. (Omejevanje cukrov itak velja ne glede na posebne okoliščine.)
• Poslušaj svoje telo. (Če zahteva cukre v ekstra količinah, poiščita saden kompromis.)
• Ko peče zgaga, pomagajo mandlji.
• Če zatekajo okončine, pomaga plavanje.
• Ne pasi se preveč po forumih. Ni dobro za zdravje.
• Pričakuj, da se bo tvoj trebuh nekaterim zazdel dotakljiva last skupnosti in da te bodo z vprašanji, ki drezajo v tvojo intimo, nadlegovali tudi popolni tujci. Pripravi se.
• Od knjig priporočam tole: Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy.
• Ne dovoli nikomur, da te kliče nosečka (ok, tale je izbirna).
• Ne obsesiraj, ne kompliciraj, ne pretiravaj.
• Vzemi si čas za partnerja.
• Nosečnost ni bolezen.
• Gibaj se.
• Uživaj.

(photo: dr. fil at the Ljubljana zoo)

Posted with Blogsy

Sestavine:

• kava
• 400 g piškotov savoiardi
• 120 g sladkorja
• 500 g mascarponeja
• 6 srednje debelih jajc
• kakav v prahu
• (lahko tudi kak dober alkohol – v tem primeru ga nisem uporabila, ker tiramisu obožuje tudi mulc)

Stepaš rumenjake in sladkor, dokler ne nastane gosta svetlo rumena krema.

Nežno vmešaj mascarpone. Mešaj samo tako dolgo, da je krema gladka. (Prevelika vnema lahko pomeni tekočo kremo, ki se težko strdi.)

Iz beljakov stepi trd sneg. Najbolje uspe, če na začetku dodaš ščepec soli, ko nastane rahel sneg, pa še žlico sladkorja (hvala, Julia Child).

Sneg zelo (zelo!) nežno vmešaj v kremo. (O pravilnem zgibanju preberi tule: huferka)

Vsak piškot posebej hitro (!) pomoči v ohlajeno kavo, ga v njej obrni, dvigni in otresi. Presuhi bodo precej brezvezni, premokri pa pocasti, da ne bo za nikamor. Zloži v posodo. Nekateri vanjo položijo vse piškote in prelijejo s kavo. Jaz si ne upam.

Namočene piškote prekrij s plastjo kreme.

Potresi s kakavom.

Ponovi postopek z drugo plastjo piškotov, kreme in kakava.

Voila!

V hladilnik z njim, da se krema strdi in sladica lepo reže. Dober tek!

For a long time now, I’ve been going on about the lack of respect for anyone or anything in Slovenia. Pretty much anything goes. The more primitive, the cooler.

Nevertheless, with my expectations as low as they are, people still manage to surprise me.

Right now, protests are being held in various places around the country, aimed against politics in general, against politicians who have been unable to steer the country clear of the continuously deepening crisis. The protests are spontaneous and no politician or political party dares claim them as their own. They do, however, try to pin them onto others, much to the disgust of the protesters.

Tonight, Pavel Gantar, a politician with a long career of standing up for human rights and a former President of the Parliament, President of the Zares party, twitted in reference to last year’s early parliamentary election which his party had lost:

“Protest proti političnim elitam! Mogoče so volilci leta 2011 na volitvah odslovili napačne ljudi. …samo pravim.”

(A protest against political elites! Perhaps the voters voted out the wrong people in 2011 … Just saying.)

In response, Milan Zver, a Slovenian MEP (EPP) and member od the SDS party, twitted:

@PGantar A se zato poskušate vrniti brez volitev, z demonstracijami, Pavle? Samo vprašam…:)

(Is that why you are trying to make a comeback without an election, through demonstrations, Pavle? Just asking …:) )

I retwitted and added “Maturity FTW”.

An exchange among others followed with people reacting to his tweet. Granted, some reactions were less than kind. When Mr Gantar replied that no comeback is possible without en election, Mr Zver replied in good humour:

@PGantar @drfilomena Ok, to sem želel slišati. A si opazil, kako žolčno je Al Kaida reagirala na najino komunikacijo?

(Ok, this is what I wanted to hear. Have you noticed the bitterness in the Al-Qaeda’s reaction to our conversation?)

Consider me naive, but I do somehow expect a different level of public communication from a Member of the European Parliament. While it may have been funny on some level that I am not privy to and Mr Zver was just teasing, the humour is lost on me in the light of the recent trend in the Slovenian right-wing politics (to which the SDS by some twist of the Slovenian political imaginarium belongs) to brand as left-wing extremists anyone disagreeing with their opinions.

I presume that this post will be considered another Al-Qaeda attack on an innocent politician, an exemplary democrat and, mind you, presidential candidate in the election that has just produced the new Slovenian President. Thankfully, it is not Mr Zver.  Incidentally, the man who holds a PhD in political science is right now preparing his lectures on democracy, the crisis and youth. He says the provocation from “extremists” (there goes that word again) is an added incentive for him to continue his work. Should be interesting. Well, at least he hasn’t called anyone plebs. Just yet.

Politiki imajo pri meni vsaj to srečo, da mi je približno jasno, da so vendarle ljudje in kot takšni ne morejo biti popolni. Hkrati se mi obrača ob bistroumnosti o domnevnih privzetih lastnostih politikov, ki naj bi bili vsi enaki. Tako kot so si enaki vsi zdravniki, vsi učitelji, sploh pa vsi pravniki, najbrž. Pa vsi moški, vse ženske, vsi otroci. Vsi ljudje.

Glede izbire pa takole. O Zveru nima smisla izgubljati besed. Žal mi je, da ‘desnica’ ni bila sposobna ponuditi kakšnega resnega kandidata. Zdi se, da bi za kaj takšnega lahko poskrbela le SLS, nikakor pa ne SDS ali NSi, ki ponižno igra žalostno vlogo njenega priveska.

Pahor. Politik, ki ga za svojega voditelja ni več hotela niti lastna stranka. Politik, ki se odlično znajde pred kamero in fotoaparatom, je pa žal pogorel na najodgovornejšem mestu v državi. In za to svojim velikim besedam navkljub ni prevzel odgovornosti. Trenutni domnevni metalci polen pod njegove noge so strici iz ozadja, za katere pravi, da “se ve”, kdo so. Borut Pahor je očitno opravil kar nekaj dobrega dela v svoji stranki. In bil je uspešen pri arbitražnem sporazumu, kar ni majhna stvar. Ampak menda najbolj povezovalen politik v državi ni bil sposoben izpeljati zanjo bistvenih reform. Zaradi stricev? Človek, ki trdi, da se upira vsem pritiskom in vplivom, je dopustil TEŠ 6.

Borutu Pahorju je razpadla vlada, ko je Zares odšel po neuspešni pobudi, naj se vsi (takrat že močno nepriljubljeni) predsedniki koalicijskih partnerjev odstranijo s položajev. Na predčasnih je v primerjavi s prejšnjimi volitvami njegova stranka pogorela. Ni imel niti toliko občutka za odgovornost, da bi odstopil s položaja predsednika stranke in si privoščil odmor, preden bi se spet podal na politično prizorišče. Ne, stranka je morala izvoliti njegovega protikandidata, da mu je dala vedeti, da ga ne želi več. Kam gre odslužen kader? Na mesto predsednika države?

Danilo Türk ni popoln. Kot pač ni popoln nihče. Naredil je tudi kakšno neumnost in kdaj rekel kaj, za kar bi bilo bolje, da ne bi. Kljub temu je najbolj predsedniški med tremi kandidati. Dokazal je, da razmišlja z lastno glavo, da vztraja pri svojih načelih in ja, da je sposoben za mizo pripeljati precej zanimivo zasedbo najmočnejših političnih akterjev. V tej kampanji je pri meni dobil več točk, kot sem si mislila. Pokazal se je kot bolj zanimiv in večplasten človek, kot sem pričakovala, pričakovano široko razgledanost pa je potrdil. In napadi nanj tekmujejo v svoji primitivnosti, ki vse našteto samo še osvetljuje.

Volila sem Danila. Ker je umirjen, sposoben pogovora z drugače mislečimi in ker takšnega dialoga očitno ne razume kot samodejnega podpiranja vsakega ravnanja vlade. Ker ni hodeče nalivno pero. Ker ima stik z realnostjo.

Njegova izvolitev v prvem krogu se nikoli v tej kampanji ni zdela res mogoča. Pa bi bilo vseeno dobro, če bi mu uspela. Tako bi prihranili kar nekaj denarja. Borut Pahor je državo stal že dovolj.

Slovenija:

Kdor visoko leta, nizko pade.

Amerika:

Always shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.

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Izberete lahko več odgovorov. V pomoč:
plonkceglc 1, plonkceglc 2, plonkceglc 3, plonkceglc 4

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.