Gluttony

The leading trend of the modern society coincides with one of what people came to know over the centuries as the seven deadly sins. Creeping at the end of the chart in that matter, gluttony is far worse than it seems,and it contains at least two of the other “sins”: greed and lust. Eating is a part of our daily lives. Following the basic law of physics that energy is never wasted, it is only transformed, we transform the caloric energy in our food into energy our body can use for it's daily routines. But along the way we stopped looking at food as a tool, a means to achieve a purpose, and we transformed it into purpose itself. As a saying goes,we no longer eat to live,but live to eat. Of course, you can have a craving, a rare indulgence when it comes to food, spending a bit more, and travelling far to a place that can be considered a food heaven...a restaurant or place that serves something you always wanted to try. And in the aspects of the fact we only live once and who knows how long, I'd say go ahead. But this is where my tolerance for the pursuit of food ends.

If we go to a shop today, you'll find maybe amazed that if you want fresh, healthy, straight from nature food you'll have to pay the big bucks. A kg of apples might be very well over the price of a full 3 course ready-meal. The reason behind this is that we pride ourselves with the ability to modify food. We have plently of plants that can be processed for sugar directly, same as we have sugars in milk, fruits and the delicious honey. Yet the most common sweeteners we find shoved in our mouths are engineered. High fructose corn syrup and others like aspartame are leading the market by far. Helped by fake claims and governments around the world backing this practice through subsidies for corn crops, these junk products became too big to fail. Meanwhile governments complain and pull alarms that the food we produce as a planet is not sufficient to sustain the population. That cannot be farther away from the truth. The truth is we only plants corn, day in day out,we drain the soil since there is no crop rotation and most important, we over-eat.

I am not a fan of the “well,in other places of the world people are starving so eat your vegetables” speech, mainly because me eating my vegetables won't mean that people that were starving before stopped doing so. But as a world that is supposed to have at least some bright people around, I expect us to be more aware. I find it unacceptable that in 2014 people still die of hunger. And this while in other parts of the world, obesity, especially infant obesity is on a rise at a steady pace. And that is not the only issue. To make you see how bad our food has become, look at the ever-shrinking expiration dates on packages. Look at all the food allergies and intolerances the humanity is plagued with. Do you think centuries ago people had peanut allergies or gluten intolerance? The reality is that we bomb our bodies with crappy food everyday, some because we don't care or want to know what we eat, and some because it's more affordable to buy a fast-food deathburger than a tie of asparagus. And it is because we keep our eyes closed, while food companies look for an ever growing profit. Have you ever heard someone saying that a company that stopped growing is a good one? I didn't. And so they push and push, shovelling crap in our direction, always complaining that they need more government help. I am not saying go on a vegan/vegetarian/someothercrapdiet routine. I think adopting one of those routes is as damaging as eating only junk food, and will certainly not take care of the hidden food engineering (seedless grapes anyone?).

I cannot wait for the day when the food industry will get the same treatment as tobacco did. I am a smoker but I'd still want to see big bold letters on food packages warning you of all the crap that “food” contains. Sounds like a fair measure, one that the food industry lobbyists managed to choke by lining the politicians' pockets with cash.

As a departure note, if by some chance you haven't seen the documentary “Food Inc.”, have a look at it. And remember, don't be a pawn of gluttony. Eat smart and with measure; you'll see you'll feel better and won't develop who knows what kind of old or new food related disease.

Photo: gdefon.com

Double play

Hello ladies and gentlemen. "Long time no see". So I'd say let's get straight into business.

Over the last year we came to find just how much the stories of the tin foil hat adepts were right when it comes to governments snooping into people's lives were real. Quite a lot. From who you call, when, from where,to actively censor the internet in countries deemed as developed, for alleged reasons varying from U.S. national security to protecting the children in U.K.One of the pioneers and ardent supporters in Europe, France, had it's own "drag net fishing" operation too. And as such, with great pleasure I watch people fighting back, knowingly or not. One example of less knowingly started last year,and now it just went insane. And that is the affair of the French president Hollande. Far from being tethered to such news, and even finding them obnoxious in general, I do relish the idea of people in power getting a taste of their own medicine. Everyone is entitled to privacy. EXCEPT when by yourself you decide to place yourself into a position generally known to be associated with tabloid cross hairs.Say you're an actor. The level of your success, as being cast for movies, and how well would they perform in box office or even on pirate websites is dependant on how much people like you. And to be liked you generally need to be known. So like it or not, if you want to be an actor, expect photographers around. Another position like this is reserved for politicians. Granted, once elected you can do whatever you want, but the essence that people placed you in that position remains. You cannot just take,you have to give. So while you take a free house, free all, cars with drivers, travels and fine dining, it is obscene to believe that the people that elected you don't want anything in return. At the end of the day you're deciding their fate. How much do they earn, how are they taxed, freedom of expression and so on. So as a president, you trade your privacy for all the perks and the place in history being it good or bad. If you think otherwise, you're severely deluded. Like being an actor, your job is not mandatory. No one forces you to become president. It's your aspiration and achievement hunger.
In this particular case,it is not even anything trivial. It's not invading a president's privacy to find out if he wears red socks or even if he goes "wabbit huntin" (although not liked by some, in reality not all people will like anyone as a whole).In this case is cheating. A soft, love specific verb for betrayal. So if you're telling me that people that gave you power should not look at what you do,especially when what you do is breaking promises and vows, you're out of your mind. It is a treat of character. How can you be trusted with the future of some people that elected you, people you never met and let's be honest,you most likely don't really give a crap about, when your partner, the person who is supposed to know you better than anyone...who's supposed to be your all, gets hospitalized as a result of your actions? You cannot be trusted. And the public is entitled to know it. You're a freaking president, so rules don't apply in the same manner. You cannot be prosecuted, and if a person kills you, they won't be treated like they just killed anyone. You're special. In this case, a bad kind of special.
To summarize, I do not condone a privacy infringement for a regular Joe, or even for a neighbour that I dislike.But when it comes to people running a country and with a power to impact other lives (see Syria), I think that the lack of privacy is not only not absurd, but it is required.
So, Hollande, when you're not a public figure, do whatever you like, blow up cars and dolls, sign up for Gangbang Weekly, I don't care. Until then, face the probe of whatever journalist for whatever reasons, and see how it feels to be on the receiving end of something you support with zealotry.


Photo: http://empiresandallies.wikia.com/

Spyproof

Unless you live under a rock in the jungle you must have heard by now about the leak of classified documents from National Security Agency regarding a program called PRISM. The person behind this exposure, and ex C.I.A. employee and employee of various N.S.A. private contractors seems to have quite a bit to say regarding the matter. Since it's a topic that was buzzing all over the place, and covered by professional reporters I'll stay away from repeating details, and I'll stick to some questions that sprouted in my mind and that no one else seems to ask.
Obama, the "saviour" jumped out quickly trying to explain to the masses that regarding phone-calls, the program records only caller and receiver phone numbers and duration of the phone call. No content. The reason to do this,in the first place: the same old chewed leitmotif about terrorism. "To catch the bad guys". My question is; If you deny the capture of phone call content, how in the name of hell are you going to explain to us the method to label a person as being a threat? Cause he made a phone call? He has a phone number? Or terrorist only call at a certain hour? See my point? You'll get absolutely nothing just by creating a log of phone calls. And as such I call bullshit on Obama and his acolytes.
Second; if this program is so "innocent" why was it kept a secret and when that secret surfaces, the person responsible for that is labelled "traitor" and "a threat to democracy". As someone said, why say "if you don't have something to hide you shouldn't be bothered by the government looking at your stuff" when on the same principle, if government doesn't have anything to hide, classified documents should not exist.
Third; they've been saying that PRISM doesn't target U.S. citizens or U.S. territory. So I guess screw the rest. If I call someone in the U.S., I'm a target. If I use any of U.S. based companies services (Apple, Google, Microsoft) I'm a target because at the end of the day, it is inevitable that my e-mail, VoIP and so on would go through one of those companies' servers and infrastructure.
Reading into the matter and seeing different positions people take, it is mind boggling the stupidity, ignorance, the amount of shit they can eat, and at the same time posing superior attitudes like the common man is incapable to understand how wholesome and good the "services" they provide are. "We don't tell you about secret programs cause you are not wielding sufficient intellect to understand.

So that's my rant. And the truth is this or any amount of press coverage won't change things. So when governments are using this sort of tactics, I find refuge in the deepest, darkest and the safest corners of the internet, where powers like this have no influence. And if it comes to worst, I still have my rock in the jungle to live under.    


Photo: digitalart

Racism, xenophobia and free speech.

So I am asked when can a person be "labelled" as racist, xenophobic and so on, and when it is a matter of freedom of speech. The solution to this question resides mostly in the question itself. You have freedom of speech when you speak. Either from the perspective of a joke or even personal beliefs, speaking in a certain way about a race or nation will most of the time fall under free speech. The exception to this "rule" is the role the person exercising the right of free speech fulfils. To give an example, a joke a saw recently went like this:
"Q: What is the difference between Hitler and Usain Bolt?
 A: Usain Bolt can finish a race"
Funny or not, it is for you to decide. If I repeat that  joke, it is an issue of how my interlocutor takes it. But it is in a wide way, a free speech. Now,if that joke is repeated by a country's president,there is an issue. What gives me the right to hide behind "free speech" while a president cannot? The very function and responsibilities we undertook at some point in our life.
Take note, the content of free speech isn't meant to be liked by ALL the people. The term itself offers this premise. Any offence taken by someone exposed to the described pattern of free speech, is the responsibility of the offence-taker. Judging a person for conflicting your views and even worse,acting on that judgement,in the lack of absolute truth, shows nothing else but daunting immaturity.  
Free speech turns into racism and xenophobia swiftly when a person, no matter who they are, perform actions on these personal beliefs. When it is no longer a speech, but actions, physical under form of violence or written, passed as "laws", then it is clear how to label the person at hand.
Another important part of this is the minority. A lot of people live under the impression, and it is a false one at best, that a person or a group of people that are usually the target of racist and xenophobic content cannot be themselves racist or xenophobes. Slavery is as racist as a person being attacked because they're "white in the wrong neighbourhood". Antisemitism is as racial and national sickening as it is demolishing Palestinian houses to make room for Jewish residential buildings.
And that's that. Just a small glimpse of a very wide and content broad subject. At the end of the day, this post, along with many others, have no other purpose than to put in perspective how you can be a better person. What is a "better person"? Well,
that is a story for another time.

The true democracy?

When it comes to elections, and democracy, U.S. likes to pose as a flag carrier, showing and screaming left and right that they are by far the leading expert.
Well, it really isn't. While having only 2 parties and thus candidates upsets some of you, it doesn't upset me. In the end they are politicians and having only 2 choices means that you have less options for choosing bad. The problem that I have with the U.S. election system is that in no way they actually take notice of the majority's vote. And here is why: especially if you're not familiar with their system.
In U.S. you become president based on electoral votes. This is a number assigned to each state and furthermore divided in the state's districts. To win you need to gather 270 of these "points".Now: states as Alaska, D.C., Delaware,both Carolinas and few others have only 3 votes. While California has 55.So if someone is elected in California, the opposing runner can win the 5 mentioned above, plus Montana, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, and Washington, and the first candidate will still win. So that is 1 state casting other 12 into nothingness.And so,a person can become president in the U.S. winning in about 20-25% of the states. I know what you're thinking. some states have more people, such as New York having way more than Oregon for example.Yes, it is true, but what happens if not all go to vote. Well, if we take the example from above of California vs the 12, California can have 1 person voting in each district while all the other states have a 100% poll presence. California will still win.
A poorly designed structure, that the citizen have embraced and lived with for years and years. They do not question the application and implication and so they silently vote not for a president but for their vote to mean nothing. The whole charade and drum chorus is for nothing else than bathing the population's brain into muddy politic schemes. So when it comes to elections, I dare to say that even the current U.S. arch-enemy, Iran, is more democratic.

Again

Missed me? Most likely not.
Ages might have passed and with them my silence passed as my true word. Found to be in a place where what I have to say seems obnoxious or redundant I came to consider that silence is golden. In all, a great man knows when to talk, the greatest knows when to be silent. By no means am I the greatest man to ever live but surely that doesn't limit me in following a good teaching.
So what have I been doing? Struggling mostly as my mind fatigues me and grants me sleepless nights or days. Melting into each other, hours pass making no sense or gestures, nothing but the annoying repetitive sound of the clock hanging on the wall. Gazing in objects without reflection, feeling the depths of every inanimate object that crosses my path, I see myself not different from them. From a safe distance I observe the world speeding up past me, the people, the nature, in an uncontrolled frenzy. And as usual, my essence doesn't feel the peace. This place tires me, displaced and sickened I turn page after page. Reading this book called life seems more like a 2 page leaflet found in any puny office. With a smile on one side and the price list on the other.
So here I am again, talking to you, while you legitimately wonder if this post is really something that should "break" the silence. Don't wonder. It isn't. But then again, I'll have enough time to be wordless when I'll be breathless too. So until next time, pray to whomever or whatever you believe in, lobbying that my "next time" will not be as poorly designed as this.

Slumber

I rise between words and dreams,so hard to unwrap and so deep to swim in, that only the night gives me enough peace. Looking at a blank page I find nothing to fill it with, as if my life as a whole collapsed into itself. Defying a purpose that so distant away shimmers I turn my head to watch you sleep. Dreaming things that I was banished from, living in those tenebrous depths that I once belonged to. And I know, in my encumbered heart that I am lost. Lost in a labyrinth that enjoys holding me captive; nothing but a rat smashing it's head in the maze's walls. But as the night guards me, and always being my most devoted confidant I know that now, despite my stray, I am not completely beyond redemption. My salvation, the stake that keeps me grounded in these misty times of my ridiculous existence, is you.
So in my twisted devotion, all my debt can be paid like this. Watching over your restless sleep, as the blank page keeps staring at me.

nEUROzone

The whole world is eye-balling Europe for the continuous stream of emerging problems. And shouts from every corner predict the impending doom of what we once knew as the European Union.
The image will start getting clear in June, when Greece will vote if they want to remain in the EU or not. Spain, Portugal, Ireland and lately Italy are putting requests for money on the European Central Bank's desk, money that believe or not comes in high part from Germany's central bank. In this WWII seeming scenario where the Europe starts owing Germany their existence, the runt of E.U. Romania,the one always taking punches in the mouth for being and saying stupid things, cleverly postponed the adoption of Euro as a national currency until 2019. Year in which if we don't grab tightly the reins now, there will be nothing to adopt.
To be cruel and unfair I can blame all this jitter on Germany who proves again to be too efficient for the good of the others.
All in all, this year is filled with elections all over Europe and such be aware of all the crap served on a daily basis by politicians. They rarely have any decency left and after the lines are drawn, it matters not who won and who lost. Because it is simple to see that politicians never actually lose.  

The mist

I believe in nothing else but me as I feel that slowly I have become something I never would have guessed or expected. People hate me for not being able to see through me. Trees hate me for burdening their branches. Every living creature found something to hate about what I developed into. My body is nothing but an ethereal form, taken away,taken from place to place by the mocking wind. I am cold and alone, dispersed through the streets, the skies, shadowing the lamp-posts and the moon.
Looking around I can see nothing else. Not even me. Without thinking that I don't even remember how I look like. Again bound to nothing, no one and no will, deserted as the arid wastelands I grow impatient. For I seek only my rest. A place, or an idea in which I can reside now, and long after I cease to unveil restless thoughts.
Moments keep running in front of my eyes, filled with people, places, changing scenarios. Everything moves but me. Since I have grown so powerless and dependent, that my hatred has finally stoned me. I guess I deserve my fate and what I am to be. But as long as I still exist in a way or another, I will never stop my desire, my hope of being condensed, being an unique something. Or at least that my existence will end.

Romanian stupidity v 3.0

So many days have passed by and the situation here is no more clear than what it was when it began. I'm talking about the protests in Romania. They started on the premises of the new bill of health and degenerated, in a manner typical to our country in riots and side tracks having nothing to do with the cause. And those few that actually had something to say about the new bill, were in an overwhelming majority clueless of what the bill actually standed for. Born with ignorance and continued life in developing this ignorance.
We had so, fights with the law forces. Before that, the poor bastards kept in cold to supervise the manifestations were accused of being politicaly involved because they didn't smacked the violent rioters. When they started beating the crap out of them and loading them under arrest in their vans, the vast majority or plainly said retarded people yelled with all their power that the police is corrupted again, having a comunism alike behaviour and so on. You had no way out to avoid being a target of the language injuries. Banks, cars, shops, even small family ones that X and Y opened to support their family got destroyed by the scum of the earth "protestators" that had nothing to do there,and no other aim but creating havoc. And then you're, to quote Godsmack, "crying like a bitch" when you get picked up by police? And make no mistake, no one would have been there if they would have had to work at night, in cold.
All in all, we prove once again, to us and to an entire world that we are nothing but the lowlife of the European zone, with not much to set us apart from the vandal undeveloped tribes. No respect, no process of thought. And so, we deserve our fate entirely. We deserve to be treated like second hand meat by our government and everyone else. The target of mockery that we painted ourselves on eachother's back.
There is such thing as retaliation, and ignorant myself, I laughed at the Holland tulips event some weeks ago. For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, Holland voted against the fusion of Romania to the Schengen economic space. Days later, trucks with tulips coming from Holland to be sold, for dutch companies profit of course, in Romania, were held on standby at the border, having their right to enter Romanian territory denied. The reason was,that those flowers had a sort of health danger to the humans. But we all know what was about. And spending the days with freshly cut flowers in some parking lot, is not good for business. At that point, even wrong, we showed everyone that we are not the punching bag. I felt in a way proud of the stand we took. Just to be all washed away by the current activities of "democratic protest" we engaged in. I feel disappointed. I feel ashamed of being a part of this.

Clean

We've all been there where our actions turned into a creepling seed for future interactions. The
burden of it all and the heavy pressure on your shoulders were too much to take.So you've "spilled
the beans".Coming clean about something was never more frown upon than today. Because today when
you'll do such thing you'll be labeled as a selfish person. Trying to unload the burden and the
guilt by coming clean, with disregard of the injuries caused to the person you're opening up to.
So I have one question; are you freaking insane? Since when have we hit that bottom line that
classifies us as self centered bastards for telling the truth?! Granted, there is no other thing
that can hurt like the truth but in all honesty, grow a pair. How can you point a finger towards
someone that enables the truth blaming them for it. Certainly a person can be accused and judged
for their actions or lack of, but the self righteous confession to be trashed is lunacy. Of course
someone can live happily in ignorance and painfully with the truth,but does that make the truth
expendable? Or the fact that the said person is by universal law entitled to know the truth as it
is? Only now in this rotting society can you blame someone for being honest. Cause honor no longer
means anything to most of us. Although not precisely comfortable, I understand the value of pain
if it comes as a side effect of truth. I'd chop off the finger of the ignorant self-indulgent
humans. That finger that points towards someone that comes on their knees to put out the reality.
Confessing the truth might not be easy at all. And whomever thinks that doing that will set you
soul pain free is an idiot beyond any acceptable idiocy standard. No one is perfect and we are
bound to mistake. I don't like mistakes. Not to make them, and not to be made towards me. But I
will never punish or be able to understand the logic behind someone who does so, the person who
brings up the honest reality. Being it sense of guilt or whatever else might have triggered this
spontaneous confession, it is glorious. It is the free and pure sign that we, as a humankind
haven't already gone beyond redemption.

Why so grey?

I've been asked where all this grey clouds come from? What happened to me that turned me into what I am. Why no smile?
Well, I am different... not special or good. As I covered some of this in my walk I just have different perspectives and another purpose. I do smile. I do cry. I hate and love all the same, just as you do. Just that in my eternal turmoil, I do it to the extremes. While life is almost always grey shaded, my nuances are deep white or dark. Mixing them will get me nowhere else but in this grey zone.
I snap like a tense cable and I swallow resentment that others would find despicable. It is just what and how I am. You don't have to agree with me, and for all sake, you don't have to be like me. All you can do is listen. Listen to something that you might never hear by yourself. A song so sad that will break the stones of the mountains. So deep that oceans could not compete. A linear string of notes uncommon for most of the living ones, but that doesn't require understanding to enjoy it.
So I am nothing else than you, just lit and set aflame different. Just a rock, no more precious or distinct, but formed with other layers of forgotten sand. And we're here just to complete a background for a painting way more complicated and deep than both of us.

Obsession

It's pretty difficult going through a day without hearing people repeating in a deafening resonance the same stories, the same topics, to a point it becomes difficult to even withstand those persons. Some might blame this to a sense of boredom, in a way that a person's life doesn't provide anything new,fragrant and vibrant, or it can be just the pure fact of obsession over things. And this is what I'm gonna cover for now. The obsession of thoughts is a very well crafted two edged blade. On one side it can drive you towards some goal that you've set in view for quite a while. The failure in reaching that spot, or the difficulty in getting it to work as you intended can push it towards obsession. And this can be good in a moderate and well controlled amount. But anywhere beyond that very gray and faded line ,the obsession becomes a very powerful tool that start working against you. It is normal to realize it,cause usually comes with a stream of pressure. And while it will still remain a arrow that targets your goal, it will take it's toll by making you daily life overloaded. Stressful, sleepless, agitated like a fish in a way too small aquarium.
So you have to let go, because most of the times,the goal isn't worthy of the sacrifices and the things you'll cut back or loose in the process.
It is difficult... maybe more than anything else you'll experience. You may find yourself in questioning if it will be the right thing to do, that you are possibly close to the objective. Don't fool yourself. Just burn it, bury it and start fresh. A new goal, or the same but using very different approach.
The end point is that almost never is good obsessing over anything. The first step you have to pinpoint is when you actually start doing it. Cause then you can act on cutting back with minimal to no damage.
Don't disregard the effects of obsession. After all, it's still what I said it is... a blade.

Photo: Rob Wiltshire  

Numb

I feel tired. Drowning in my own calm seas, seas I've created with disregard of the fact that in truth I cannot swim. The gestures that my hands make are complex and intricate, but serve for nothing. Like my skin stands covered in a layer of mud, my sense became unable to adapt to anything. I feel an "old dinosaur". Pinned in a point that surges my veins with sore thoughts.
Winds took pieces of me. Shape-shifted by them, like a mountain edge, I stand witness to the time passing by. I have no other choice than to stand there, armed with the patience that abandoned me ages ago. And embrace my endless destiny.
No human made apocalypse, not the Sun gulping the Earth, nothing can make it end. Bound by the depths of time I, like an Egyptian effigy stand still, impervious to a common mortal life. I die and get reborn again every day like a cruel joke, a way diminished version of the gods.
So lay now besides me, as long as the life allows you. Be a part of something that although I don't yet fully understand, is something bigger. Freeze in this allegory. It will come that day when I'll figure out everything that is to know. A day when I'll be able to round up the concept of what my life was. Or the fact that I never actually lived.


Photo: Master Isolated Images

Trust

What is trust? I think you've said or heard the expression "Trust me". And it comes pretty easily to use, but can you really trust that person? Or even more than that, can you be trusted?

Well, first, the trust whatever might it be in essence, is earned. "Given trust" just like that, by default is a mistake. So you possibly think that a person you trust is a person that can save you from danger in a life threatening situation. But factually you need to trust that person with your day. Daily based, life is more difficult than death.

Assuming that you will find a right path and a right person toenable that fuzzy refreshing feeling, that comfort of decision named trust, you might find yourself in the next situation; the betrayal.And this can have two forms. It's either the fact that your whole trust assigning process is rotten, or it's target was unworthy of it. The best way to spot the issue and if it is your thought or the person is realizing how many times this happened to you so far. If you are consttanlty let down by people you entrust, then you have to reconsider the ways you let yourself trust. It is crucial to understand and perfect this, like any other aspect of your life. You might come as a harsh and cold hearted in this transition, but keep in mind how necessary it is.

Trust comes in various shapes and sizes. It is specific and personal for each individual. There isn't such thing as an universal recipe for it. Tailored by one's spirit and personality, it can be perfected only from inside. A self made custom product that can enable, if handled right, a whole new and brilliant path to guide your steps through the daily mayhem delivered by our human existence.

Salt

So let's talk...salt.I haven't yet swapped the content on my posts towards cooking nor inorganic chemistry. I am in search of the salt that resides in our beings. And if you ask in what way or what salt, well, let me try and paste a picture. Just moments ago I was mentioning cooking. Some roast... mashed potatoes... some sauce, pasta, pickles, chocolate even. All nice,with flavor. But then get those cooked without salt. No salt at all. The all round enhanced taste is gone. The roast tastes like... plastic. And so on.
Salt is not the most complex and complete product. You cannot have only that and get by. But you definitely need it in order to spice up your food and in this particular case, your soul. So I kept thinking what is this salt? I don't know yet. You might have encountered people that besides their almost identical appearance or structure... moral or immoral grounds of their personality, they are so distinct that all you can do is wonder.
We might have ideologies, qualities and defects, and they are all part of who we are. And they are common in existence to all. Not the same, or the same quantity, because after all we're individual beings. But what not all have is this... salt.And unlike gastronomy, I feel that a person cannot have too much of it.
This salt is sometimes visible to a trained eye. A spark in someone's look. Or the delicate touch that someone lands on something or another someone. In might be a sort of inner peace, case in which I am sad to realize I have none of it. Yet by now you know already that I'm not the top of the human food chain, and there should be no surprise if I get outrun by others.
So while I keep searching for the exact definition of this "salt" that resides in some of our souls, I'd urge you to do the same. And by that I don't mean specific finding a definition, but finding the salt in you.

Equinox

Today, at 9:04 am GMT, the equinox "hit". At that point the day was as long as the night, and from there on, the night will only get more and more territorial, grabbing her rightful place. And with it I revive. The days will be filled with darkness and cold, resembling a bit my will, and the remains of my soul. I love everything that is to come beyond this date, escalating until the winter solstice, when the night is at it's peak. Why do I or what's to love about it? Well, the dead cold silence. No more the fuss of people roaming around, tourists, joggers. And the ones that will remain will be deserving of it. Whomever dares defy the slicing cold and the rarity of life forms has my respect and gratitude.
The trees will turn brown. The air will fill your lungs with power, feeling it reaching for each bone. Birds will fly away or find shelter. The nature's life as we know it, is preparing for a hold. And when our reign comes to an end, only the deserving ones would have made it through.
So, slowly, children of the summer, gather your things and be on your way. Now the time is ours. And we intend to benefit from it. Held in captivity for over 6 months we are now ready to erupt and lay our dry cold touch on the world.

Power surge

How many times have you felt weak? Almost lifeless. Just a shade, barely scraping with your fingers what future weaves for you. Well, that must have been because in truth,you are weak. We're all weak and fragile. Thin sheets of glass trying to withstand the winds, the pressure that others and us create all around. But since you already feel weak,you are on the right way. Thinking you are not is an ultimate mistake. Not knowing what you are will help in no way to find a remedy for it.

And now you have to let go everything that doesn't serve you well. The people in your life, the circumstances, the places that are tampering your will. Keep close just your values of life. Don't lie to yourself. It's not good as an end result to lie to anyone, but lying to you it's beyond stupid. You have to live with yourself all day long,all your life, through sleep, through seasons...
You are important and insignificant at the same time. Important for you and people in your life; insignificant for the world as a whole and the Universe itself. So embrace the truth as it is. It is highly probable to be not so nice to visualize or accept. But never deny it. Your life will then be nothing. You will be then truly and irreversible weak. If that is something you can live it, okay... good for you. At least you might remember that it was your choice that you opted to live your life like this. If what you do with your life can be actually called living.
I'm not trying to sell a book, not even a blog post about self help or such similar techniques. As you read this, depending who you are, I am important or irrelevant for you. What I can offer you is only insight gained from my own mistakes. As I am constantly alpha-testing my life, I come up with numbers, data and statistics about... life. So, if these lines make no sense for you, put them aside for a while. Leave them there, safe, as I know that one day, they will come and reach for you. One day you'll find some for them some use.

Photo: Ambro

Money talk

Ok. Let's take a break from the common human inner struggle and talk money...sort of...human external struggle.
Some of you might still feel the 2008 crash and burn in the worldwide economy. Some of you might have been caught off guard.So let's see what it is all about in short and common terms.
It's not the first time something like this happened. Sometimes more locally than global,but in the end is something of an old story.
So in 2008, what happened was an economic display of the saying "Don't stretch more than your blanket can cover". What I am amazed by even now is that no one saw it coming.And by no one, I mean people that could have done something to prevent it. I saw it, but not in the exact proportion (I'll tell you later on why), and well, I was and still I'm not in any position to influence even the market of the vegetables the old lady sells few streets away. So we either have our destinies held in the hands of the blind people or ignorant ones. And ignorant it is. Because,if you remember what started the fire was the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. And that was no mistake. It was a premeditated act, to make an example out of that company for everyone that stretches more than they can cover. While a logic goal, it was totally messed up. Because markets panic. And in stock markets decisions are made within seconds, sometimes only on superficial information. So, L.B. goes south, market sees it, while the people that took the decision don't feed any information into the system. All panic, start selling short, everyone remembers that guy X,company Y owe them money, margin calls come to a flow. And everyone tries to get their hands on money. But the issue is that at no point there will be so many printed money to cover the quantities of transactions. And what started as a snowball fight turned into an avalanche.
Now, what can you do to craft a safety net? First stop spending what you don't have. I know that car looks shiny and that brochure for summer in Cabo is tempting. And you should go for it.Maybe when you'll come home you won't have anything else that a "Foreclosure" post on your door.
If you have money to invest, two words: Precious metals.I am following their markets for over 4 years. I still pummel myself in the head for not getting my hands on as much silver as possible.Why silver? Well, I don't have exactly the purchase power for gold or rhodium. But to make it simple... how much interest does your bank pay for your deposit? Depends on the country of course but as a simple example, U.S. maximum deposit interest I could find was 1.1% /year.That while if you try to get a loan,they go up to 5%. So that's a 400% roughly in profit for giving you someone's else money. So, let's say you have.... $10.000.We're gonna make some simple math,excluding taxes and fees and the little mazes that every country's laws have.So if in 2007 you would have made a deposit,now you would have got in your balance ... less than $10.500. Now let's put that money in gold and silver.In 2007 gold started at $648/oz and silver at $13/oz. Today, gold is at $1840 and silver at about $42. Translated, gold would have got in your balance almost $29k and silver $32k. That is 19 or 22 thousand dollars profit. How is that compared to the $500?
Now I know it seems boring and tedious, and even more sounds over hyped, but this is the reality. You can buy it and have it delivered, or keep it in a pool account, works the same.
I remember an interview from 2 years ago when an economist said "If I'm forced to keep currency,I'll take only coins: the metal they are made from is at least worth something"

War

War. If I think a while this might be the human's first "proffession".Not gathering, not farming or hunting but war. Something appealing about the bloodshed that kept the cavemen, then tribes, empires and countries revolving around this habbit. And for what?
I am no pretender and I can't pose into the light of a pacifist,driving a stereotypical Volkswagen van. War was and sometimes is necessary. My "beef" with it though,is the same as with any other thing or action that cannot be justified. Or even more, with wars that are carried on false pretenses. Any sort of violence is to be frown upon, but we also have to understand it. And it has come more and more difficult to see the real reason behind the curtains. Look what we have today: Wars in Middle East, "revolutions" in countries of North Africa, riots along the board everywhere. And it has to stop. Which can be hard when you are fed missconceptions. Hard when you get a jeans advert with a dude that walks up to a police shield wall on a street with riots,raising his hands with a messagge of "bring it on" and the advert voices it as "You are marvelous". One of the most common forms of war starting is instigation.
As people we lost respect as a whole. But when you provoke violence, when you have that need of "let's smash and destroy something" and you opt for something else than your own dishes and TV set, then expect violence.In this context there isn't "be a greater man".You should be held responsable for every of your actions and paid back in full and the same "currency" as the one you claimed.
I know there are countries and nations oppressed by somehow tyrant remains.And those will fight their way out of it, because after all, the rule of reciprocity applies there too. Be oppressive and you shall expect feedback ...and not the most kind of feedback.
But after all, just understand the reasons of war as you should try to understand everything that happens around you. Fire can only be fought with fire if you crave for efficiency. And if you open your eyes you'll see that what you've thought before was in fact no thinking.Was a veil of shadows sawn to cover the eyes of those who cannot be bothered with searching for the truth. Unfortunately that mass of people is still overwhelming. But as it will decrease you'll see that less and less violence will emerge. It will never be extinct. It should never be so. At least not until the last person that sustained it through ignorance has closed it's eyes for the last time.