Tag Archives: Southern Europe

Blooming Marvelous!

Een van de wagens van de bloemencorso van Wint...

Een van de wagens van de bloemencorso van Winterswijk in 2006 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the south of Europe they seem to have already enough high temperatures to take care more flowers can colour our world. Having the first flower Corso’s and flower parades giving people lots of beauty to enjoy.

Though we also must be careful having also lots of pagan Spring festival showing up, we always have to be careful not to stimulate the wrong sorts of shows and be on the loo out at which flower show or parade’s we want to be seen, and not taking part at processions where heathen symbols are carried or people bow down in front of graven images.

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Funchal, Madeira Portugal Spring Flower Festival = amazing parade of decorated floats, dancers and music

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Damnvan1

Good morning from Funchal, Madeira Portugal! The cruise has been in Funchal for two days to give us time to see the Spring Flower Festival. It is amazing! Yesterday there was a parade of decorated floats, dancers and music. The parade took over an hour to pass through but the decorating with fresh flowers must have taken days. They were all lovely, colourful and happy. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen so many smiley faces in one place.

imageimageimageThe crowds were three and four deep for the whole length of the parade. Please excuse my photographs but I couldn’t get an up close space! Many people waited HOURS to secure a spot but I preferred to sit on a wall eating ice cream in the sunshine. There were people climbing up cliff sides, holding onto fences and sat on Dad’s shoulders to get a good view.

The little children…

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by | 2016/04/11 · 12:06 pm

Refugees At The Border- A Blessing Or Burden?

We may wonder, why the ex-Communist Central European countries display such an intolerant, negative and rigid approach to the plight of the refugees. KTG was one of the first to question the ex communist EU states approach even though on the example the lack of solidarity of Eastern Europe towards Greece’s debt crisis.

For sure the fear of having an other culture taking over theirs is ungrounded when each of the asylum taker states is fierce in making it clear those coming into their country have to accept the values and way of life of the guest country.

Lots of fear in our regions is by not knowing enough of the other culture and not by understanding the real actual facts of the inhumane conditions that ISIS creates, against Koran teaching.

Revealing themselves to be intolerant, illiberal, xenophobic, and incapable of remembering the spirit of solidarity that carried them to freedom a quarter-century ago, the Eastern European countries should seriously reconsider their position they want to take in the European Union, which has to be one of democratic liberty and solidarity.

Europe is a mixture of different cultures, people and tiny states. It has to look for an consensus, finding a way so that all those different cultures, religions can live together without harming each other or standing in the way of the other.

Debates like the one in Belgium taking place know by the complaint of the commission of equality that burkina’s should be allowed in the swimming pools are not helping to the matter. When this would be allowed women’s right could be in danger again for Muslim women. The same nudist should then have the right to demand being able to swim naked in the public baths at any time.

All sorts of religious, philosophical and ethical groups should find a way to have everybody respecting other ones thoughts, but knowing that in the private sphere everybody should be able to do what they want, as long as they do not bring damage to each other, but that in public places all have to put water in their wine, allowing a way of life where the majority can find itself at ease.

Therefore no yelling from mosque towers at the rising or setting of the sun, and no bell ringing from Catholic or Protestant churches early in the morning.

On the examples of Hungary’s government “mistreatment of thousands refugees in front of the eye of the entire world” and Poland’s storm of comments full of hate towards the refugees, we should ask with urgency to those ex-communist countries:

“Have Eastern Europeans no sense of shame? For centuries, their ancestors emigrated in droves, seeking relief from material hardships and political persecution. And today their leaders’ heartless behaviour and callous rhetoric play to popular sentiment. “

Throughout millennia people have been hoovering all over the world to find liveable pastures, let those who claim to be Christians show the right Christian attitude worthy to be called after Jeshua, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who preached love and openness for each other.

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To remember:

  • flow of people from war torn regions of the world in particular Syria, North Africa & Afghanistan is continuing this week and is likely to continue over the next few weeks
  • refugees will go to the region where they are likely to find employment and a better livelihood
  • millions have moved within the middleast to Africa and to South America
  • struggles within Europe = dominating the headlines
  • Southern Europe has been seen to carry out harsh tactics against the suffering people > tear gas, blocking routes, laying down barb wire
  • previous slogans of “open Europe” seems like a distant memory
  • many European countries are squabbling with each other on how many and where the suffering people should go to
  • Europe’s population is near the five hundred million mark, even if there was one million people entering Europe this would be only 0.02% of the population, hardly a huge increase in numbers.
  • Europe’s economic output represents close to 25% of global output.
  • reluctance is founded in a enshrined principle that the identity needs to be protected regardless
  • arrival of the suffering people are seen as a threat to its identity
  • the “defend your culture and identity by no interaction or leave your culture at the border policy” isn’t working
  • allowing refugees in => interaction, discussion, exchanges of views and opinions => beneficial for everyone
  • culture good for one group of people = good for all groups of people
  • worry of compromising their culture and closing the borders = weak position
  • world sees it as outdated and Europe needs to move on.

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Preceding articles

Poster: Please Help The Refugees

The World Wide Refugee and Migrant Crisis and a possible solution for it

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Additional articles of interest:

  1. Sharing a common security and a common set of values
  2. Cognizance at the doorstep or at the internet socket
  3. Faith related boycotts
  4. Mocking, Agitation and Religious Persecution
  5. Economic crisis danger for the rise of political extremism
  6. Americans wrongly informed about situation in Europe
  7. Fitting the bill in the North and in the East
  8. Continues Syrian conflict needing not only dialogue
  9. Can We Pay The Price To Free Humanity?
  10. Are people willing to take the responsibility for others
  11. If Europe fails on the question of refugees, then it won’t be the Europe we wished for
  12. State of Europe 2015 – Addressing Europe’s crises
  13. Schengen area and Freedom for Europeans being put to the test as never before
  14. Europe’s refugees just follow the ancient routes for the peopling of Europe in the Neolithic
  15. Why Russia backs Assad: a view from Russia’s anti-imperialist left
  16. Meeting to focus on humanitarian issues for Syria
  17. Propaganda war and ISIS

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