Cape Verde-where love does not last long

The first year we came to Sal island in Cape Verde was in 2010 - a second vacation choice after Malaysia, which is farther. We stayed in Belo Horizonte Hotel which is close to the Sta Maria beach. We were newly in love, so everything we saw in this island with a brown landscape of rocks, pebbles and few wild thorny bushes was exciting, an adventure of two people just re-starting a life together. Where else was a better beginning than a faraway island in West Africa. Africa, afterall was exotic and challenging for anyone whose interest in life went beyond sandy beaches, sunshine and blue sky.

Since we were starting life together, we sold our individual homes in Sweden and bought ourselves a nice spacious apartment with a view of the Stockholm harbour. In 2010, during a walk in Sta. Maria's small commercial center, we looked at some properties advertised on the glass wall of a British property company. The property that caught our fancy was a beach flat in a condominium  by the sea, which was obviously one of the very best locations in town. By the time we returned to Stockholm, that beach property was off the market and in the hands of the lawyer we hired to do all the transactions.

It was the following year in 2011, when we embarked on an Atlantic sailing adventure from Las Palmas, Canary to Sal, Cape Verde. It took nine days and six hours to reach Sta. Maria in Nov. 21, 2011. Today our lifestyle straddles between two continents. From the months of November to April, we live in Sal island, and travel to other islands of Cape Verde where the sceneries vary from mountains to valleys and deep ridges along the coastlines.

Living in Cape Verde if you are retired from full-time active work is ideal because there is nothing to stress about except what fish is available in the fishing wharf, or whether fruits and vegetables are newly-arrived by cargo ships from their source. As long as you are stocked with books to read on those lazy hours, energized by a sun that always rises to explore places already explored, and have occasional encounters with new friends on short holidays, life is best equated with the degree of enthusiasm you can have for a book that lumbers slowly in search of a climax.

The hours of monotony and boredom are tolerable because as I said, energy is from within not outside. It is making things happen not waiting for things to happen. It is smiling first hoping to get a smile back. Since we have been coming to this island every year, the problem of visa has surfaced everytime. During the first three years, we did have an intermediary doing the visa round for us but it had become one problem and another, if not the instability of agency then the rising cost of agency itself. This year, we decided to do it ourselves because a Cape Verdean friend with position in the local government promised to help with the long process.

As it stands today, and I stress today because rules and regulations here are in constant motion, the requirements for a residential visa are: Property title, proof of tax payments, proof of economic sustainability (bank accounts), police criminal record and health certificate. In all these various offices, you pay a fee for the certification. It appears that we are now late with our visa which expires on Jan. 6th, just because no doctor is available until Jan 8th, to give us a health clearance. So we have to pay a fine of 100 euros each. And while those sittting behind these tables are taking life without stress, we- the minority population that tries to inject much needed financial resources into a deeply-starved economy are stressed beyond the limits of love and loving.#

US Pres.Obama visits Sweden

Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt states ahead of the visit of US President Barak Obama that the most important issues on the agenda are free trade, environmental technology and the global security situation, with special focus on Syria.

"There will be a whole deal on free trade, climate policy and the state of the world," Reinfeldt said. "The real controversial issues concern free trade."

It is reportedly unlikely that Reinfeldt will take up issues such as Guantanamo, drone attacks and NSA electronic surveillance, although the Swedish PM denies that any subject has been ruled out.

The Swedish PM is on record as saying that Sweden doesn't believe that a military solution is available for the Syrian conflict. Reinfeldt says however that he can understand the risks of not responding if chemical weapons can be proved to have been used in Syria.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt comments on the fine weather that has greeted Obama in Stockholm:

"Well, first ever bilateral visit by a US President to Sweden has started. Sun shining."

Stockholm is indeed showing its best side on Wednesday with blue skies, 20C temperatures and glittering water are on offer for anyone seeking to tackle the traffic and head in to town in the hope of a glimpse of the man who can.

Obama has landed (for the second time today) at Stockholm's Grand Hôtel for a little lunch and meeting with US ambassador to Sweden, Mark Brzezinski.

The Grand Hôtel, which lies directly opposite the Royal Palace on Blasieholmen in central Stockholm is owned by the Wallenberg dynasty through the family's investment firm Investor.

US President Barack Obama visits Stockholm Synagogue, Wednesday to honour the memory of Raoul Wallenberg, whose relatives asked for his help in establishing the fate of the deceased Swedish diplomat.

The US president does not ride alone. The US entourage extends to some 600 people including some hundred or so journalists who follow the President wherever he goes. Furthermore the vehicle he is now travelling in, nicknamed "The Beast", follows along wherever the President goes.

Sweden's Television questions whether the massive security operation is part of a show of power. The conclusion appears be that the party equates to what is needed for the world's most powerful leader to do go about his business.

After Obama's stop in Stockholm the party will continue to St.Petersburg for a G20 meet.

The brass band begins playing. Barack Obama is walking down the steps of Air Force One. He has just shaken hands with foreign minster Carl Bildt, Vice-PM Jan Björklund and Centre Party and Christian Democrat leaders Annie Lööf and Göran Hägglund respectively.


Earlier:

  US President Barack Obama will arrive in Stockholm on Wednesday morning in a delicate position as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate likely to face pressure to explain his motives for plans to strike Syria.
Obama is set to land in Stockholm's Arlanda airport early on Wednesday morning for a busy two-day schedule including meets with Nordic prime ministers and the Swedish royal family.

He may reprise some of the arguments he made when he picked up his Nobel prize in Oslo in 2009, when he effectively made a case for when a US president may choose to wage war - to protect American security, for humanitarian reasons, or to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

Obama headed for Sweden and the G20 summit in Russia after making important political headway at home when top Republican leaders firmly backed his plan to punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for a chemical weapons attack.

The US president decided to seek congressional approval in a surprise development on Saturday, saying he is ready to launch "limited" action despite Russia's decision to prevent the UN Security Council framing a mandate for action.

Obama does not currently have any one-on-one meetings scheduled with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but the two leaders will run into each other at the inevitable photocalls of the G20 summit in St Petersburg on Friday.

Officials say however, that with press conferences in Sweden planned for Wednesday and in Russia on Friday, the president will be able to make forceful interventions in the debate back home.

When he arrives in Stockholm, Obama will hold talks with Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, in the first-ever bilateral visit by an incumbent US president to the country.

They will discuss climate change, defense and security cooperation and trade and development, as well as key foreign policy challenges including Syria and Egypt, a senior US official said.

Obama will then celebrate the life of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who rescued thousands of Jews from Nazi-occupied Hungary - on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

On Wednesday evening, Obama will attend a dinner hosted by Sweden for the President of Finland and the prime ministers of Denmark, Iceland and Norway. He is due to leave Sweden on Thursday afternoon. (Reports from THE LOCAL, Sept. 4, 2013)

Benigno Aquino Sr and Ferdinand E. Marcos - friends or foes

( A Facebook friend forwarded this article to me, on the relationship between iethe Senator and former Pres. F. Marcos, as revealed in an interview of Roque Ablan, by Gemma Nemenzo. I feel that this article coincides with the anniversary of the assasination of Ninoy Aquino, on August 21st.)

 

Benigno Simeon "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. was a Filipino Senator and was assassinated last August 21, 1983. Who ordered to kill him? Many accuse Former President Ferdinand Marcos. But...

Ferdinand E. Marcos and Ninoy Aquino are more than friends. I'm going to share to you an article written by Nemenzo, Gemma from Filipinas (August 2008). The title of the article is "A Different Take: An Interview with Rep. Roquito Ablan." A lot of you may not know him, but during the Marcos Era, he was a "force" back then. Filipinos are made to believe that Ferdinand E. Marcos and Ninoy Aquino were really arch nemesis, rivals, and even foes. But from this interview, we can see a different view on what was really happening during those times. So here it is...


While writing a book about Upsilon Sigma Phi, the fraternity both Ferdinand Marcos and Ninoy Aquino belonged to, Filipinas managing editor, Gemma Nemenzo, did a one-on-one interview with Congressman Roquito Ablan of Ilocos Norte.

Ablan had the unique privilege of being close to both Ninoy, his batchmate in Upsilon (batch 1950), and Marcos, the undisputed lord of Ablan's province. With such proximity to the two political superstars of that era, the congressman had a ringside view of what was happening behind the scenes of the Marcos-Aquino saga.

Is he credible? People close to Marcos confirm that Roquito Ablan then had a direct line to the former president. Upsilonians also know that he and Ninoy Aquino remained close friends.

Here are excerpts from the interview:
I first met Ninoy at the University of the Philippines (UP) when we were neophytes in 1950. He was a professional absentee from classes. I was working with LUSTEVECO then so I had an open expense account so I would gas up Ninoy's car.

The two of us were the most hazed neophytes in our batch. Our initiation lasted one year and one semester. We joined Upsilon because it was "the only frat in UP"; to be an Upsilonian, you must be good.

Ninoy and FM (Ferdinand Marcos) were more than friends. When Ninoy was in detention, he and FM would speak with scrambler telephones. During FM's state visit to the U.S. in 1982, the two of them talked for an hour about good times.

FM was actually considering Ninoy as his successor. He admired Ninoy for his being a courageous fighter and his vigor. They were on the same wavelength.

In fact, Ninoy's "Iron Butterfly" speech against Imelda and the Folk Arts Theater was edited by FM. I know because I was the intermediary. From the very beginning, FM gave instructions to the military to be lenient with Ninoy.

I met up with Ninoy in New York on April 22, 1983, which was my birthday. He told me he needed a passport. secretary of Foreign Affairs Collantes had earlier issued a memo stating no renewal for Ninoy's passport. So I checked with FM on the phone and Joey Ampeso, a consular officer assigned in New Orleans and an Upsilonian, was asked to assist Ninoy, which he did.

During that New York meeting, Ninoy also told me that he went to see his doctor and his medical exam might require him to rest for six months because of some heart complication. In July that year, Ninoy was told by the State Department that FM was sick and that "if I don't go home, I will not be president."

In early August, FM and Ninoy talked about the latter returning to the Philippines and FM told him not to come home yet because he (FM) was weak and he couldn't protect Ninoy.

On August 17, there was an earthquake in Laoag, Ilocos Norte, so I had to be there as acting governor. I sent two planes to meet Ninoy in Taipei but the first plane, which carried a top officer, could not locate him because he was using a passport with a different name. FM's instructions were to bring Ninoy to Basa Air Base, load him in the presidential helicopter and bring him here to Manila, to protect him.

On August 20, I left Laoag at 10 in the evening so I could be in Manila in time to meet Ninoy at the airport. I didn't think much of it then, but my plane was grounded (by someone who knew the chain of command) and the second plane was prevented from taking off When I was driving to the international airport, my car was delayed because of a rally of another Upsilonian, Doy Laurel, in front of Baclaran Church. I arrived at the airport 12 minutes after Ninoy was shot. Someone met me and said "wala na si Ninoy (Ninoy is gone)." I cried like a baby when I found out what happened. If I arrived on time I could have escorted Ninoy from the aircraft and he would not have been shot, or I would have been shot along with him on the stairs.

Almedalen- where Swedish political parties struggle for legitimacy

All the Swedish political parties, media, political observers and cause-oriented groups, ordinary citizens are all converged this week in Almedalen, Gotland for a week of party presentations, discussions, seminars, interviews and speeches by the party leaders.
Almedalsveckan has been arranged on Gotland for over forty years. It all started in 1968 when Olof Palme spoke from a truck at the gunpowder tower in Almedalen.

The early years of political speech has evolved to become the largest political meeting place. Through democracy and openness during the week anyone who wants to debate the social issues attend. (Almedalen website)  It is basically the same issues tackled every electoral year. The only difference is which one is prioritised. There is education and schooling, which means calls for more places for a fast-growing children population that need day care services, so that their parents can go back to work after a year's maternity leave. Then there is also shortage of places in the nursing homes for the elderly for the increasing number of old people needing 24-hour care.

Unemployment is an urgent situation to be addressed, especially of the younger population that expresses their anger against the system through the use of violence and destruction of public properties.

The biggest problem that confronts all politicians and all electoral years is how to handle the unstoppable flow of refugees and asylum-seekers to Sweden, especially for those claiming reunification with families. This problem leads to the double-edged question of where to house them and what will they do for a living. Surely, they cannot depend on welfare benefits for the rest of their stay in Sweden.

The other day, the daily SvD published an article that pointed out the inequity of refugee-taking among the Swedish counties; that economically well-off counties take few while poorer counties have received more. The so-called "richer" counties are over-populated and do not have housing areas for refugees. Most of those living in these counties have work or incomes and can afford the high cost of living.

The minister of industry who heads the Center party-which used to be the farmers' party before, says that the countryside should be made more attractive, labour-market wise so that people, esp. refugees and immigrants can make a life there. However, based on existing realities, refugees and immigrants prefer to live in suburbs already populated by people from their own countries, or where their friends and relatives are living. Therefore there is Tensta, Rinkeby, Södertälje, Hässelby, plus other ghettos spread out in Stockholm's suburbs.

Sweden Democrats or Sverige Democrater is an extreme rightist party that gained its popularity by advocating lesser refugee and asylum-taking. It rationalises it by stating that there are many unemployed immigrants in Sweden, so why take on more and aggravate the employment crises. The other political parties cannot honestly admit that the refugee and asylum-taking burden is unequally- shared not just in Sweden but in Europe, even the Middle East where most of these Muslims are coming from. The Middle East with rich oil revenues don't give a damn about their own people in say, Syria?


Right now, we are all concerned with over-population in certain counties where work is hard to find. A workless situation is a bonfire waiting to ignite into flame. Work, housing, places for the young and the old, schooling, the environment's degradation, our commitment to humanity that should not be abused, and how much we have to pay in the form of taxes, so that everybody enjoys a quality of life that is above average, and where the burden of creating such a quality of life is equally-shared by all and do not rest alone in the hands of the working population. This is the highest form of solidarity in a society.#

What is Islam?

I treat topics like Christianity, Protestantism and Islam from a scientific point of view. My belief in an Almighty power that could be akin to religion is purely private to me and as in all matters of private nature, I hold it close to my heart.

I have a good friend who just finished a political thriller that deals with the terrors of Islam. I have edited it and offered comments that I thought should make the book less subjective. It is a novel based on very contemporary events and has hair-raising effects on what promoters of Islam are prepared to do to gain dominance in countries with very secular traditions. The following was sent to me by another friend who watches how Europe is slowly changing its socio-political and cultural landscape.





A perspective by Dr. Peter Hammond. Dr. Hammonds doctorate is in
Theology. He was born in Capetown in 1960, grew up in Rhodesia and converted
to Christianity in 1977.
Adapted from Dr. Peter Hammond's book: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The
Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat:al

Islam is not a religion, nor is it a cult. In its fullest form, it is a
complete, total, 100% system of life.

Islam has religious, legal, political, economic, social, and military
components. The religious component is a beard for all of the other
components.

Islamization begins when there are sufficient Muslims in a country to
agitate for their religious privileges.

When politically correct, tolerant, and culturally diverse societies agree
to Muslim demands for their religious privileges, some of the other
components tend to creep in as well..

Here's how it works:

As long as the Muslim population remains around or under 2% in any given
country, they will be for the most part be regarded as a peace-loving
minority, and not as a threat to other citizens. This is the case in:
United States -- Muslim 0..6%
Australia -- Muslim 1.5%
Canada -- Muslim 1.9%
China -- Muslim 1.8%
Italy -- Muslim 1.5%
Norway -- Muslim 1.8%

At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and
disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from the jails and among
street gangs.
This is happening in:

Denmark -- Muslim 2%
Germany -- Muslim 3.7%
United Kingdom -- Muslim 2.7%
Spain -- Muslim 4%
Thailand -- Muslim 4.6%

From 5% on, they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their
percentage of the population.
For example, they will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic
standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims.
They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature halal on their
shelves -- along with threats for failure to comply.

This is occurring in:

France -- Muslim 8%
Philippines -- 5%
Sweden -- Muslim 5%
Switzerland -- Muslim 4.3%
The Netherlands -- Muslim 5.5%
Trinidad & Tobago -- Muslim 5.8%

At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to
rule themselves (within their ghettos) under Sharia, the Islamic Law. The
ultimate goal of Islamists is to establish Sharia law over the entire world.


When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase
lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions.
In Paris, we are already seeing car-burnings. Any non Muslim action offends
Islam, and results in uprisings and threats, such as in Amsterdam , with
opposition to Mohammed cartoons and films about Islam.
Such tensions are seen daily, particularly in Muslim sections, in:

Guyana -- Muslim 10%
India -- Muslim 13.4%
Israel -- Muslim 16%
Kenya -- Muslim 10%
Russia -- Muslim 15%

After reaching 20%, nations can expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia
formations, sporadic killings, and the burnings of Christian churches and
Jewish synagogues, such as in:

Ethiopia -- Muslim 32.8%

At 40%, nations experience widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks, and
ongoing militia warfare, such as in:

Bosnia -- Muslim 40%
Chad -- Muslim 53.1%
Lebanon -- Muslim 59.7%

From 60%, nations experience unfettered persecution of non-believers of all
other religions (including non-conforming Muslims), sporadic ethnic
cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon, and Jizya, the tax
placed on infidels, such as in:

Albania -- Muslim 70%
Malaysia -- Muslim 60.4%
Qatar -- Muslim 77.5%
Sudan -- Muslim 70%

After 80%, expect daily intimidation and violent jihad, some State-run
ethnic cleansing, and even some genocide, as these nations drive out the
infidels, and move toward 100% Muslim, such as has been experienced and in
some ways is on-going in:

Bangladesh -- Muslim 83%
Egypt -- Muslim 90%
Gaza -- Muslim 98.7%
Indonesia -- Muslim 86.1%
Iran -- Muslim 98%
Iraq -- Muslim 97%
Jordan -- Muslim 92%
Morocco -- Muslim 98.7%
Pakistan -- Muslim 97%
Palestine -- Muslim 99%
Syria -- Muslim 90%
Tajikistan -- Muslim 90%
Turkey -- Muslim 99.8%
United Arab Emirates -- Muslim 96%

100% will usher in the peace of 'Dar-es-Salaam' -- the Islamic House of
Peace.. Here there's supposed to be peace, because everybody is a Muslim,
the Madrasses are the only schools, and the Koran is the only word, such as
in:

Afghanistan -- Muslim 100%
Saudi Arabia -- Muslim 100%
Somalia -- Muslim 100%
Yemen -- Muslim 100%

Unfortunately, peace is never achieved, as in these 100% states the most
radical Muslims intimidate and spew hatred, and satisfy their blood lust by
killing less radical Muslims, for a variety of reasons.


'Before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me
against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against
my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; the tribe against the
world, and all of us against the infidel. -- Leon Uris, 'The Haj'


It is important to understand that in some countries, with well under 100%
Muslim populations, such as France, the minority Muslim populations live in
ghettos, within which they are 100% Muslim, and within which they live by
Sharia Law.
The national police do not even enter these ghettos. There are no national
courts, nor schools, nor non-Muslim religious facilities.. In such
situations, Muslims do not integrate into the community at large. The
children attend madrasses. They learn only the Koran. To even associate with
an infidel is a crime punishable with death.
Therefore, in some areas of certain nations, Muslim Imams and extremists
exercise more power than the national average would indicate.


Today's 1.5 billion Muslims make up 22% of the world's population. But their
birth rates dwarf the birth rates of Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews,
and all other believers.
Muslims will exceed 50% of the world's population by the end of this
century.

Adapted from Dr. Peter Hammond's book: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The
Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat

 

 

 

 

G- 8 versus BRICS

 G-8 - a forum for the governments of eight of the world's wealthiest countries, excluding Brazil 6th, India 9th and China 2nd. is meeting in Irland today.The forum was established in 1975 summit hosted by France.

G8 today is facing criticism for its failure to resolve conflict in Syria, reduce globalization problems such as Third World Debt, global warming, the Aids epidemic, lack of transparency, tax inequality where certain global companies such as Amazon, Google and Apple do not pay tax in markets where they earn huge profits and trade liberalization between USA and EU.

Critics say the G8 has now become unrepresentative of the world's most powerful economies. In particular, China has surpassed every economy but the United States, while Brazil has surpassed Canada and Italy acc. to IMF. India is already larger than Brazil, and according to the IMF and the CIA Factbook, has surpassed Japan in terms of purchasing power parity. This has given rise to the idea of enlarging G8 to the G8+5, which includes these other economically powerful nations. (Source:Wikepedia)

The BRICs countries consisting of Brazil, Russia, India and China had a financial summit in South Africa last March and tackled major projects designed to challenge the existing financial systems. It has agreed to dump the Euro and create its own development bank.

The BRICS nations financial summit in South Africa from 26 to 28 March is officially called "BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Development, Integration and Industrialisation".

In this financial meet, the heads of the emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) – agreed to cut their foreign currency reserves in euro, having sold €45 billion of the currency in 2012, according to data gathered by the International Monetary Fund.

After the cut, the euro represents just 24% of the BRICS foreign reserves, the lowest level since 2002 – the year when euro coins and banknotes first entered circulation – and down from a peak of 31% in 2009, according to reports in the financial press.

The move reportedly due to the developing world’s disillusionment with the status quo of world financial institutions. The World Bank and IMF continue to favor US and Europe over BRICS nations. And in 2010, the US failed to ratify a 2010 agreement which would allow more IMF funds to be allocated to developing nations.

Once a loose political affiliation, the BRICS bloc is now a serious economic contender in the world economy, representing 40% of the world’s population, and accounting for one fifth of global GDP.

The five countries hold foreign-currency reserves of $4.4 trillion (€3.4 trillion), and need an institution to safeguard this tremendous wealth. The reserve will also protect members from short-term liquidity volatility and balance-of-payment problems.

Is the G-8 coming together with BRICS for a better and more effective global management of the world's resources and fair distribution of wealth and profits. This is a question that defies any easy answer.

When leaders of the world's wealthiest countries meet to decide on the fate of the less wealthy, the poor and the deeply-marginalised countries whose state of poverty remains unchanged and whose freedom from wars and ethnic conflicts is the least priority, one wonders what these organizations really achieve other than securing its members' continued access to wealth and power.#

　







　

Stockholm archipelago - a tourist paradise

I used to say with great pride that the Philippines has "7, 700 islands depending upon the tide". But the Swedish archipelago consists of 30,000 islands, rocks and skerries . Many of these islands are inhabited all-year-round or as summer residences. From the month of May, the tourist boat traffic to several of these islands and within Stockholm city's nearest waterways attractions gather momentum and reaches its peak in the month of June.

The boat trips offer varied destinations and time length, from regular passenger trips to "hop in, hop off", to special sightseeing ( 7 bridges under ) or a 1 and 1/2 hour trip with an English-speaking guide mainly for foreign tourists who want a bit more info on the historical landmarks and buildings along the way.

The state through the "landsting" operates a regular ferry service to several farther islands. These are bigger white boats moored infront of the Grand Hotel. They serve food. And then there are a few privately-owned shipping companies that have been serving the Swedish archipelago since many years back, which owns boats as old as 100 years. They say that it is part of the charm of the archipelago with these aged boats.

Many boat trips are chartered fór many celebratory reasons: corporate parties, weddings. birthdays, student parties, even funerals - spreading ashes in the lake. Weddings are done either in the boat, in the Stockholm city hall, in a church in an island or in one of the many castles near Stockholm.

Last June 1, my significant other (SO) who is a ship captain drove this 100-year old Gurli boat from Stockholm city to Västerås city, a trip that started at 4 in the morning and ended at 22.00 in the evening. It took six hours to negotiate the distance, counting some five bridges of which three had to be opened for the boat to pass through.

All these bridge openings and closings were very interesting for me, in particular the Hammarby-Slussen or lock. The boat waits inside as the lock opens and water fills the narrow passageway. Then it closes again.

Västerås city I know from few years back when I was actively chairing the Women Rights Forum or Kvinnorättsforum. I travelled to these places to meet Filipinos, get to know them and introduce the association. A very good friend of mine, Monica Dahlström Lannes lives here. She was a police commissioner who became an ardent advocate of children rights. In 1994-95, we worked together on my SIDA-funded project - a one-month training program for senior Philippine social workers involved in the rehabilitation of sexually-abused children.

Historically, Västerås which is one of the largest cities in Sweden is today a major industrial area with ABB and Atlas Copco among others. In 1947, global company HM started its first store here.
And in the 16th century or so, Sweden's powerful king Gustav Vasa decided to take away the powers and riches of the Catholic church and established Lutheranism as state religion.

The boat trip I got myself into - for a new sightseeing experience was chartered for a wedding party by some wealthy people who all came in fine formal gowns and tuxedos. The caterer was a Thai company that served Thai delicacies and fruits, as well as bubbles opened by a sable.

 

They were in the boat for two hours, afterwhich they were deposited in a big castle in Västerås. They were picked up by a tourist bus for the short ride, which was good for the ladies wearing three inches heeled shoes.

 

Today, the Stockholm archipelago is a tourist paradise where the locals and tourists can visit any of the 50,000 cottages in different islands and have boat trips in any of the 150,000 pleasure boats and ferries that are available for short days trips, as well as water transport to various places of interest in the city such as the Djurgården park, Vasa museum, the new ABBA museum, the palace on Skeppsholmen, Grönalund-Stockholm's Disneyland, the Fjäderholm islands - are just some landmarks in the sighteeeing tour.

 

Stockholm suburbs under seige

Immigrant group spreads violence in Stockholm suburbs.
May 23, 2013. This is the fourth day of violence triggered by a group of immigrant youngsters in at least 15 Stockholm suburbs. There have been massive destruction to vehicles and properties set on fire, as well as injuries suffered by members of the police force and bystanders caught in the crossfire.

Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt commented on the matter in a press conference at the Riksdag on Tuesday afternoon.

"We've had two nights with great unrest, damage, and an intimidating atmosphere in Husby and there is a risk it will continue," he said.

"We have groups of young men who think that that they can and should change society with violence. Let's be clear: This is not OK. We cannot be ruled by violence."

Wednesday night saw more burning cars, smashed windows, and stone throwing at police in at least 15 suburbs around Stockholm, as the fourth night of riots swept the Swedish capital.

The unrest began shortly after 10pm in Husby, northwestern Stockholm where the riots began on Sunday night. Youths gathered in the town square, some of them masked.

Hagsätra in southern Stockholm came under fire at roughly the same time. A police patrol was attacked, and one officer was taken to hospital with serious injuries to the head.

By 2am, Stockholm's fire service had attended 75-80 incidents across the city. Much of their work was delayed by youths throwing stones at them, meaning police were left to attend to the stone-throwers to allow the fire fighters access to the fires.

A restaurant went up in flames in Skogås, southern Stockholm. Police labelled the crime as aggravated arson.

In Rågsved, a police station was set on fire, with officers gathering young people in a police bus and escorting them away to other parts of the city.

Many believe the catalyst to the riots was the fatal police shooting of a machete-wielding 69-year-old man in the area last Monday.

　Police arrested eight people on Tuesday night as thirty cars were torched across southern and western Stockholm, in what was the third consecutive night of unrest in the Swedish capital.
Rioters lit fires in cars in western and southern Stockholm, and threw stones at police officers and fire fighters. Cars were torched in Rinkeby, Skarpnäck, Norsborg, Kista, Fittja, Bredäng, Flemingsberg, Edsberg, and Tensta.

"These are places that have not been affected by this before and this is sad to hear. It feels like people are taking the opportunity in other areas because of the attention given to Husby," Kjell Lindgren of the Stockholm police told the Aftonbladet newspaper.
fatal police shooting of a 69-year-old man in Husby last Monday.
"You have to see what happened from a wider point of view. It's not the first time something like this has happened, and it's not the last. This is the kind of reaction when there isn't equality between people, which is the case in Sweden," Rami al-Khamisi, a law student and founder of local youth organization Megafonen, told The Local.


Restless immigrant youth with little to do

Lebanon-born Marianne Farede, 26, said that high youth unemployment was part of the problem, she put more blame on parents rather than a lack of support programmes from the Swedish state.

"It's how they've been raised. Everything comes back to their parents," she explained. "It's not the state's fault. You have to take control of your life, you can't just go out and ruin things for everyone else. That's doesn't help anything."

She also thought the young people of Husby and surrounding districts seem to have failed to realize how good they have it.

"If I lived in my homeland, I wouldn't have it as good as I do now. That's something I really appreciate," Farede explained.

"There aren't enough who do appreciate what they have. They want even more. You don't have to feel like a Swede to adjust to Swedish society."

Shahnaz Darabi, who runs a flower shop on Husby's main square, also attributed the recent violence to a group of disgruntled youths with too much time on their hands.

"It's just a bunch of young people who have no jobs and nothing to do. They think it's fun," she said.

Darabi, a native of Iran who has lived in Sweden for 19 years, also cited a lack of involvement by parents as a contributing factor to the riots.

"Parents are ultimately responsible. They need to set boundaries. They need to have more of a check on their children's lives," she said.

"If parents try to discipline their children, the kids complain in school, and say their parents have done this or that, and then [social services] steps in and tries to take the children away. Parents are scared they'll have their children taken from them."

The transition to life in Sweden is hardest for those who come to Sweden as young children, she added.

"They don't know what they are supposed to do, how they are supposed to act. They were raised differently in their home countries, where things are tougher. Here things are more lax. Too lax," the mother of two explained.

Darabi believes that too many immigrant parents fail to integrate into Swedish society, thus making it harder for their children.

"Many sit at home and watch television from their home countries, don't learn the Swedish language, they are out of work and living on benefits and can't move forward. They are stuck," she said.

"It's the individual and parents who need to take responsibility. But many don't; they only think about money and how to get benefits this month and next month. That affects their children. There has to be a limit. The state has given them too much, frankly." ( Summary from THE LOCAL's news reports)

The Meaning of Dreams

I have dreams almost every night. Some are so real that I could be watching a film. Mostly, they are combinations of scenes and places I have never been to, people that have nothing to do with my real world. I used to be more interested in the meaning of dreams and what I dream of. My dead sister Daisy was a believer in astrology.

A long time ago, my dreams were kind of prophetic. It was on three occasions when I dreamt of the Virgin Mary. I just lost my job in Dept. of Trade as Foreign Trade Officer after Alejando Melchor published a list of 5,000 "undesirable" government employees, those with records of political activism and a "wanted" kin in the underground. It was an awful situation for a single mother to wake up one morning, read in the papers that she has no more job. Then the Lady of the Immaculate Conception came to me ..as a dream. I woke up to the soft music from my stereo in the living room, went out of the bedroom and saw the front door open with so much light streaming in. She was there in the middle of a flowering garden and was floating closer to me, smiling, her hands outstreached. I stood, half paralyzed and then after some minutes the apparition gently receded behind some clouds. She came to bring you dramatic changes in your life, my astrology expert sister told me.

A few days later, I got a call from Johnny Gatbonton of Editorial Associates. He asked me if I was interested to do media representation work for a Hongkong company. I said yes and that's how the media door opened to me, first via advertising and much later, editorially.

The second time I had an apparition of the the Virgin, it was the Lady of Mt Carmel - floating in a field of tulips with the blue ocean in the background. I was then in a Batangas resort learning to dive. I had already began my new job as media representative for major foreign publications. With the supportive help of former bosses I had in the banking sector, I succeeded to put together Philippine supplements for Financial Times and later, for Int'l. Herald Tribune. At that time, Manila was being promoted as a financial centre.

The third apparition was of the Lady of Lourdes sorrounded by a sea of devotees. By this time, I had switched jobs as media representative for Financial Times and the Int'l. Herald Tribune to being a regular contributor to Far Eastern Economic Review. It was on one of my visits to London when I met FEER's business manager who asked me if I wanted to work for Review, instead of FT. Jokingly, I thought. But then Rodney Tasker materialised from one of these FOCAP happy hours. He had a book review to write and asked me if I would do it as he was leaving for Bangkok next day or so.  I gave him the 1000-worded book review, was fully satisfied and disappeared from Manila's radar. He was also ASEAN correspondent which required him to travel regularly.

Then I got an urgent message from FEER's editor in Hongkong. It said that Tasker may not be able to return anytime soon. FEER and Tasker were sued for libel by then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile. I don't know if it was seriously or jokingly said, but Derek Davies said they needed someone with "balls" to write political report on the Marcos regime. Leo Gonzaga was the business correspondent. These were days of dictatorship and press censorship.

Three dreams, three apparitions and life on a fast changing lane. It was never anything like one I've dreamt of. It was a dream and a reality all at once. Today, early Sunday morning, I woke up early due to an attack of severe coughing. Got out of bed, took some ginger tea, opened my Facebook and read through words of wisdom regularly coming from FB friends. You are always compelled to measure your own adequacy and inadequacies. I went back to bed and fell asleep deeply. And I dreamt I was having a stroll on a sunny day with my best friend. I wanted to take pictures of spring. I tried to fish out my camera from my handbag. It wasn't there. My HTC was also missing. There was another camera but it wasn't mine. Then I took the Saltsjöbanan train and there I met the face of Sweden's postal code lottery, Rikard Sjöberg who was joking with the driver. Rather undramatic and unprophetic! But maybe I'll get the lottery and start a women livelihood foundation in Cape Verde.#

Reconnections

 

Life is all the experiences lived through from birth, distilled in different memory chambers. Many memories of growing up are just stored, oftentimes undisturbed in one's passage through life. Some return because they trigger unforgettable events that refuse to pass into oblivion. There is no life I believe is uninteresting, wherever it is or in whatever time and space it occupied. They are just untold, and therefore uncherished and forgotten. Mine is a chain of living events.

I wrote not too long ago, how amazing Facebook had become in making reconnections with the past, with people and events that crossed one's life. I could never imagine how one midnight, while reading Facebook updates, someone from the very distant past just came up to say " Good evening! " This is so and so. I wonder if you still remember the last time we met."

The name rang a bell and catapulted me to the early 60s. I said: "Of course, it was in Baguio city. Was it not the Editors' Guild or was it the National Council Presidents' conference." He said: " You have a good memory. It was the College Editor's Guild conference." He was Editor of U.P Collegian. I was Editor of "The Mentor", the publication of Albay Normal School ( now Bicol University ) as well as Council President. Later in the 60s, I moved to Manila and started a family and studied for another degree in Lyceum University. I also became Editor of "The Lycean".

Being a student leader in the 6os was a very interesting time. From the narrow confines of a small town and college, I suddenly found myself in the national arena where politics and student participation were intimately woven. I needed to learn very fast how I could become part of this challenging time and to find my place as an active participant. The 60s saw students, labour, farmers, urban poor in a united front to oppose certain policies of the Marcos government, for instance involvement in the Vietnam war. It was too much " isms " to understand all at once.

Such memories rushed back one midnight just because a distant friend made the reconnection. He has gone a long way in the world of academe. I've also gone a long way from government service to journalism, and from a small town at the foot of Mayon Volcano, to places I have never thought existed.

As I reminisced the 60s, my FB chat box opened. It was someone I have not actually met, but who accidentally inherited some books I left during my one month's political detention in Camp Vicente Lim. She knew my family and Albay High School, where I finished my secondary education. She said: " You were the very first to wear the mini skirt on campus. A feminist!" And I added: "...and to wear heeled shoes that drove my Home Economics teacher insane." I refused to be a vendor of meriendas cooked in the H.E. building.

I had a flood of memories of my high school year- how I won in the regional oratorical contest, played a strict Mother Superior in a school play, got only First Honourable Mention on my graduation because I lacked residency. I moved to Albay from Camarines Sur after my father died. The Junior and Senior Proms, my aunt as watchdog against aspiring suitors, the Albay town fiestas and the multi-layered petticoats so much so that buses refused to stop as I took so much space.

All these flashbacks and reconnections in one midnight , from one based in the USA and the other in Albay, Philippines. Does that sound believable? It is on Facebook and I am making no commercials. On another FB session, someone opened my chat box. The flashback was not too long ago. Maybe 30 years or something. He asked me if I still remember Tipanan in Manila Peninsula. And that I used dance there. I don't remember this one but I know that there was a Tipanan and I had been there to eat. It was a disco? Manila Pen was a favourite hangout of media people and politicians, as much as Inter-Continental Hotel had its famous Coffee shop breakfasts presided over by the Lords of Philippine column writing like Doroy Valencia.

As my list of FB friends increase, so does my reconnections with the past become a regularity. Even after I've closed the chat box, I lean back in my chair and continue the travel back in time. Two weeks, my boss in the Financial Times of London where I was Philippine rep in the late 60s to early 70s, just materialised from nowhere and reminded me that it is only 33 years ago since I met him for a special supplement project on RP.

I sometimes laugh alone at funny incidents I remember, or become sad over the loss of close friends like Nelly Sindayen. Many things in the past that enriched my years of growing up, of becoming an adult, of taking risks and challenges along the way, of struggling for survival as "enemy of the state", of loving and being loved. They are beyond replacement. No matter how far I have travelled, I want to go back to certain places and times I have been before, even for some moments.#

Nobility in poverty, humility in wealth

I recently received an inspiring story from a dear friend about getting paid back from what one has done in kindness, without thoughts of self-gain or personal reward. As the story of Easter goes, life is a continuing cycle of paybacks - what you owe and are owed, that comes with giving to those in need and in distress. And there is also payback for failures and apathy toward others suffering and misfortune. Simply put, we reap what we plant.

The following is a story of nobility in poverty and humility in wealth.

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his toolsand ran to the bog.

There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.

'I want to repay you,' said the nobleman. 'You saved my son's life.'

'No, I can't accept payment for what I did,' the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.

'Is that your son?' the nobleman asked.
'Yes,' the farmer replied proudly.

'I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my own son will enjoy If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of.' And that he did.

Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.

Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia.

What saved his life this time? Penicillin.

The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill .. His son's name?

Sir Winston Churchill.

Someone once said: What goes around comes around.

Work like you don't need the money.

Love like you've never been hurt.

Dance like nobody's watching.

Sing like nobody's listening.

Live like it's Heaven on Earth. #

Blending...becoming

I come from exotic Philippines, land of seven thousand, seven hundred islands lying in close proximity to Indonesia and Malaysia in the Pacific ocean. That was many moons ago. Today, I am in Cape Verde - home of some half a million Creoles scattered in ten islands. It is situated on an archipelago in the northern Atlantic Ocean, off the west coast of Africa. It is the land of Amilcar Cabral, the freedom fighter and of Evora Cesaria, the barefoot diva who lives on with her famous music, the "mornas".

I am in the process of "blending...and becoming", what I would describe the metamorphosis of being outside and coming inside a new community. I blended in many communities before and almost became a part of. The local language helps the way to "becoming" because unless you try to learn the local tongue, you will always be an outsider. Yet, understanding the nuances of a foreign tongue takes time.

In Cape Verde, they speak Creole - a dialect they developed under Portuguese tutelage in order not to be understood by the conquerors. They understand Portuguese and Spanish and few speak English as well as Italian. I learned Portuguese during five years of diplomatic residence in Mozambique - former colony of Portugal until the fall of the Salazar govenment and the Frelimo freedom fighters took over the government.

After three years of straddling between two continents, that is to say, half-year living in Sal island or rather three winter seasons of five months from November to May since 2010, I visited four Cape Verdean islands, all distinctly different from each other. Praia, Santiago is the seat of government - an old capital that linked East and West, North and South via the slave trade. Walking around the city on a plateau and then visiting Cidade Velha - where Christianity and slavery co-existed, transported me to the bygone days of abductions, auctions and transport of slaves to America and Europe.

Mindelo, capital of Sao Vicente is the maritime centre - home to sailors and ships needing anchor for rest and supply. Mindelo has problems with a growing criminality - house break-ins and street holdups. It seems that many menfolk who can work don't like work. It is a daily sport to spot and follow foreigners and beg for money.

Then we came to San Antao, Cape Verde's second biggest island that is famous for its "rebeiras" that become raging rivers during the rainy months from August to September. Hence the thriving agriculture on man-made terraces by the mountain sides. San Antao boasts of an almost 100 percent Creole population.

If Sal island is looking like a lunar landscape of volcanic rocks, sorrounded by the ocean- where the Sahara sand-carrying wind blows hard from the East, and where waves come as high as 4 to 5 meters high, San Antao offers a lush tropical vegetation of terraced agriculture and deep "rebeiras". The contrasts of landscapes between islands offer a myriad of environments to experience.

Sta. Maria, the town centre of Sal has become a miniature melting pot of many cultures - both transients and residents. Senegalese curio vendors accoust you with " Hello, how are you today? Come and visit my shop! No stress." Some go after certain women and asks : " What's your name? Are you married?" It seems that these West African men have learned a new livelihood as sex partners for lonely single women on holiday, much like the "ladies of the night" solicit sexual favours from tourists as well as local men.

In these different places of the same people and history, one cannot say that "blending...and becoming" is easy and that there is reciprocity of friendship and purpose. I have the feeling that friendship varies from person to person and that there is that guarded distance between the insider and the outsider. The outsider, like we who have our second home in this island are not really accepted as being part of "them". We are "those" that the local population - at least here in Sta. Maria, can dole out small monies for beer and food. We are "those" who have enough food, water and money for things to buy. There are two separate prices here: the Cape Verdean price and the tourist's price. This is particulartly true with for instance the WiFi vouchers of Cabocom. It is also true when you want to buy a small boat. Yes, two prices in most areas of transaction.

"Blending" is a delightful social experience, yet the "blending" that has offered interesting friendships have not been with the locals. Instead, we found friends and kinship with Europeans those who like us have second homes here in Cape Verde.#