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General

Foods for people with uptight nerves

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Best foods for people with uptight nerves

In today's wild times few people remain calm and perfectly balanced.
We are being attacked on all sides by unfavorable news and often also conflicting information and it is difficult to focus on the daily balance in our lives.
Each of us has some bad habits. If you are annoyed that you will jump up  because of every stupidity, or on the contrary, you tend to sadness and crying (yes,that is about us, ladies..:-), try to work with your nature. Surprisingly, it also goes from the inside, ie by adjusting what you eat.
Are you a choleric who is not far from quarrels, or rather a melancholy bundle of nerves? You probably know your nature and you already know a little how to control yourself. But if you are under long-term pressure, your art of self-control can fall apart quickly.

Chocolate wins
A lot of people when stressed take chocolate. You can really feel better after eating it, but choose well. A pile of sugar is more of a fuel for stress, only chocolate with a high proportion (at least 70%) of cocoa can strengthen nerves. It contains anandamide which increases resistance to stress, can improve mood, memory and sleep. It is also a stress-beater thanks to calcium and magnesium, and caffeine and theobromine also stimulate the mood. All these substances then help to produce serotonin, the hormone of happiness.

The tea calms down (- ask the Englishmen about their favourite cup of tea)
Black or green teas contain tein, which has caffeine-like stimulant effects in coffee. At the same time, they contain antioxidants that can relieve tension in the body. That's why the samurai indulged in a tea ritual before the fight. If you are exposed to extreme stress, anxiety or depression, tea will help you regain mental stability. Researchers are even studying the effects of green tea antioxidants in treating post-traumatic stress disorder.

Quality fats drive away depression
Necessary for your functioning both physically and mentally are omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, which the body cannot create on its own and needs to obtain from food. Foods rich in omega 3 mainly include fish such as salmon, tuna or mackerel. But you can also find them in walnuts, flax and chia seeds or in whole milk.

Nuts get rid of aggression
You can add seeds and nuts to the breakfast porridge, smoothie, homemade pastries and salad. They represent a cocktail of nutrients: omega 3 fatty acids, potassium, magnesium or zinc. Almonds, pistachios and pumpkin seeds are guaranteed to help you improve your mood. If you know that you have a busy day ahead of you, mix this mixture as a healthy snack. For example, it contains L-tryptophan, which helps against bad moods and mild aggression.

Dark green vegetables beat long-term stress
Arugula, spinach, chard, but also dandelion leaves contain high amounts of vitamins and minerals, which contribute to the heart and immunity. However, dark green leafy vegetables also benefit people with depression or under the influence of long-term stress, thanks to folic acid.

Chilli will drive away autumn spleen
If spleen falls on you from the gray autumn days, include chilli in your diet. It warms up, supports metabolism and immunity, but it is also a recipe for happiness. This is due to capsaicin, which promotes the production of the fortune hormones serotonin and endorphin. Bet on other thermogenic foods such as garlic or cinnamon.

Dried fruits for better sleep
Cherries, blueberries or figs will also help to relax and calm. It doesn't matter if you don't get fresh fruit, the dried fruit also retains nutrients. It supplements potassium, calcium, magnesium and prized antioxidants, which also help you sleep better.

* * * * *

And what say Czechs about their experience ?

      Home made noodles with poppy seed mixed with sugar,richly greased
         Bread with lard,onion or garlic
            and first of all – for good sleep – beer (hops is also included in tablets sold for sleep support)

 

                         Wishing you strong nerves and good sleep

                                                                                        Margaret

 

General

Putin signed retaliatory sanctions

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Putin has signed a regulation on retaliatory sanctions

(fresh news from today 3rd May 2022)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a regulation imposing retaliatory sanctions in response to "hostile action by some countries and international organizations," TASS reports. It is not yet clear who the sanctions will apply to. The Russian government is to draw up a list of sanctioned persons within ten days.
A number of countries and organizations, including the United States and the European Union, have adopted a series of sanctions against Russia after Moscow launched a war in Ukraine at the end of February.
The decision on retaliatory sanctions was taken "in connection with hostile acts contrary to international law by the United States and other countries and international organizations that join them," TASS was quoted as saying.

Although the Russian government does not yet have a list of sanctioned persons, the document enters into force as of Tuesday 3rd May 2022.
The European Union has so far approved five packages of unprecedented economic sanctions targeting, among other things, Russian banks, transport, industry or the export of important products and raw materials, including coal. A possible energy embargo is currently being discussed. Sanctions similar to the European bloc have also been imposed by the US or Britain.

 

 

                Thanks for reading

                                                     Margaret

General

Traditions in month of May

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Traditions in month of May smiley

The month of May has many traditions. Spring is in full swing, nature is a great inspiration, the weather in the northern hemisphere is nicer and more stable.
On the first of May, the woman is to be kissed under a flowering tree, otherwise she will dry within a year. Yes, the woman. Maybe the tree as well ?
But don't despair, you can catch up in the next few days, a kiss under a blossoming cherry or apple tree will always please and enliven.
From Wikipedia:
A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, around which a maypole dance often takes place.
Sometimes the erection of a maypole is associated with great feasting and celebration with dancing.

Maypole  is the designation of an ornate tree trunk that forms a central element of the spring festivities spread throughout most of Europe. The maypole is most often built on April 30 or May 1, but in some areas it is built during the feast of St. George, Pentecost or most often the summer solstice. Mayas = maypoles  are traditionally renewed every year, this was also the case in the original form of the festivities, but somewhere they change over time, for example in England or Bavaria. In some cases the maypole is a permanent feature that is only utilised during the festival, although in other cases it is erected specifically for the purpose before being taken down again.


Origin

Primarily found within the nations of Germanic Europe and the neighbouring areas which they have influenced, its origins remain unknown. It has often been speculated that the maypole originally had some importance in the Germanic paganism of Iron Age and early Medieval cultures, and that the tradition survived Christianisation, albeit losing any original meaning that it had. It has been a recorded practice in many parts of Europe throughout the Medieval and Early Modern periods, although it became less popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The symbolism of the maypole has been continuously debated by folklorists for centuries, although no definitive answer has been found.
The Czech maypole (máj, májka in Czech language) has the form of a whole tree, deprived – with the exception of the upper part – of branches and bark. In some cases, the bare trunk is left to stand for several years and only the upper part is changed, in other cases it consists of two or three interconnected trunks to achieve greater height. The tree used is most often conifers such as spruce, but you can also find a birch lighthouse. The upper part is decorated with ribbons made of fabric or crepe paper and a decorated wreath is hung on it. The building of May is associated with the habit of its night guard, according to customs, it is usually until sunrise or the first rooster crowing, in front of men from neighboring villages who are trying to beat it or cut off its top. If they succeed, it is a great disgrace for the village.

Celebrating also with folklore dancing, South Moravia

   Ickwell maypole
 


Poet Jonathan Swift in his poem "A Maypole" describes a maypole as:

Deprived of root, and branch, and rind,
Yet flowers I bear of every kind:
And such is my prolific power,
They bloom in less than half an hour;

 

May you happy stay

the whole month of May 

Margaret
 

General

Russian government spokesmen on Ukraine

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Russian spokesmen are very sharp in their comments on the events in Ukraine. As we read their statements during last few days, a chill runs down our spines. They choose very sharp words.
"Russia will respond harshly to further strikes by Ukraine against military facilities on Russian territory initiated by the West", said Russian diplomat spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. According to her, the West openly encourages Kyiv to use the supplied weapons to attack Russia. Several fuel and ammunition depots have recently caught fire in southern and western Russia, with Moscow blaming Ukraine.
"What option do you leave us, idiots? Complete destruction of the remaining Ukraine? A nuclear attack? ” Indicated the possible “ answers ”of the editor-in-chief of the state television, M. Simonjana, who, together with Zacharov, is considered a“ Putin's fury ”and the face of Russian propaganda.

The flames engulfed another strategic point of the Russians. Military warehouses near Belgorod have been burning several times this month. The question of whether Ukrainian forces, Russian sabotage, the Kremlin itself, or the interplay of coincidences are to blame remains unanswered.
 

                               This map shows fires on Russian territory recently

"Efforts to arm Ukraine, even with heavy weapons, are actions that threaten the continent's security and provoke instability," said Russian President's spokesman Dmitry Peskov in response to words from the British Foreign Secretary. Liz Truss said Russian troops must be pushed out of all of Ukraine and the Allies must "redouble" their efforts and send more military equipment to Kiev.
A spokeswoman for Russian diplomacy also accused the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) of passing data on Russian forces to the intelligence services of the West and Ukraine.

More deliveries of Allied weapons are pouring into Ukraine. The United States in particular is showing faith in Ukraine's victory over Russia. At the summit in Germany, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin pledged to move "heaven and earth" for Ukraine's victory.
Germany has announced that it will send 50 anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine.

In an address to the Australian Parliament at the end of March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky explicitly requested the 11-ton multi-purpose transporter.
The Bushmaster armored vehicles from Australia are already in action. Footage of the Ukrainian army testing them in combat has appeared on social networks.
Australian Bushmaster in Ukraine

The dangerous situation is escalating.

                                                   Thanks for reading          Margaret

General

Being happy alone – the power of being alone

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Being alone is not always easy, but spending time just with yourself holds great power.
Why, and how you manage to be happy alone, I will tell you here and enjoy reading.

The most important relationship is the relationship with ourselves
We care about everything and everyone and sometimes about every trivial thing, sometimes without knowing what for. Yet the most important relationship is the relationship with ourselves. But because we are constantly on the move on the outside, our inner self atrophies. The hectic existence becomes a self-runner, spinning in circles so long and so fast that it makes us dizzy. Then we fall over and are thrown back on ourselves.
And then we lie there …

Escape from oneself – or being alone to develop personally
There are moments when you feel abandoned not only by the world, but also by yourself. After a break-up, a loss or at some other turning point in life, being alone can feel terribly lonely.
Enduring this, or rather enduring oneself, is difficult, but important for our personal development.

Being happy alone can be hard
We have a tendency to want to avoid unpleasant things immediately: Let's get away from this gloomy place that currently knows no laughter and no happiness, that no one visits and that is always rushing from one to the other, so as not to have to endure and feel one's own feelings and so as not to be plunged into the depths by one's own abysses, we think, numbing ourselves with stimuli and running faster and faster in an attempt to outrun ourselves and the challenges of life.

But this will not succeed. We cannot run away from life's trials because they are interwoven with us to the very depths. We should solve them.
If we run away from them, they will always appear before us. They force us to immerse ourselves so that we can develop in the threads of life and go our way.
Therefore, we should not want to run away from loneliness, but meet it courageously.

Why being alone is important
Being alone is important. Perhaps all the more important the lonelier it feels. In a world where one is permanently accessible, one should make oneself temporarily unreachable. We don't have to sink into complete isolation and punish ourselves with solitary confinement. It is simply a matter of not constantly avoiding our own encounters with distractions in the depths – and also the heights – of life.
The truth is: even the greatest distraction cannot separate us from ourselves. We always remain true to ourselves. Even when we have not been true to ourselves and our attitudes or resolutions.
The truth is: we are never alone in the world.
It's all the worse when this feeling feels so real – happiness only shallow and yet any human closeness seems distant.
When everything is colourful but appears to us in black and white, when everything is animated but only emptiness sprouts for us, when we are burnt out because the inner fire has gone out, we should throw the focus back on ourselves. Put our life in perspective, lean back into ourselves and look at what is wrong right now.

Be happy alone? Connect with yourself
When our tank is empty and only a sticky trail of oil drips behind us, we need to refuel – fill ourselves back up with ourselves. Breathe into ourselves a spirit of life that speaks our voice, walks in our rhythm, beats our beat and gives us a warm embrace from within.

We don't have to turn the whole world upside down or travel around the globe to do this – all it takes is time with ourselves.

Inner stability when it's stormy on the outside
We can anchor our roots deep inside so that we stand firm in the storms of life. Gentle breezes will come, storms will come, but hurricanes will also sweep over us, sometimes changing our whole lives.
And then?
One thing is certain, the more firmly we stand in ourselves, the less can bring us down.

Aloneness transforms
We don't always have to be able to prance through the world with a beaming smile, bubbling over with joy or feeding on our own endorphin cocktail. We are allowed to be weak – but we have to be strong in order to gain new strength. Because true strength is to endure one's own weakness, to dive into it, to draw from the depths and to grow from it.

Aloneness is the key to ourselves
Being alone is always what we make of it. The key to change can lie in honestly and lovingly letting ourselves in, because then we can open up the many (protective) shells and recognise who we really are. What we need and where we want to go.

Having time for ourselves gives us strength and contentment
Without external influences we become calm. We connect with ourselves, process the past and recharge our batteries. We give ourselves time and attention and take care of ourselves.
And in the moment when we are content with ourselves – not needing any stimuli, events or confirmation from outside, accepting our own shadow sides and not blaming anyone else for our happiness – a powerful force full of independence, personal responsibility and genuine contentment awakens.

Being happy alone – this is how it works
Therefore: If life overruns you or is a self-runner and you no longer know whether you are running after your own life or away from it, then just stand still.
Sit back.
Do nothing or what is good for you.
Hold on, catch yourself and catch yourself again when you have run too far away. Take yourself by the hand and pick yourself up where you are – this way you become yourself again and being alone becomes not only less lonely, but your source of strength.

 

General

Elon Musk buying Twitter

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The social network Twitter was opened to the public almost 16 years ago, on July 15, 2006. It allows users to post and read posts posted by other users, known as tweets.
US billionaire Elon Musk has agreed to buy the Internet company Twitter for $ 44 billion. The company announced it 25th April 2022. Musk will gain control of the influential social network used by millions of people around the world. Following the completion of the transaction, Twitter shares will be withdrawn from the exchange they entered in 2013.

Already in early April, Musk announced that he had bought a 9 percent stake in Twitter. In mid-April, he came up with an offer to take over the entire company. The company said today (25th April) that its board of directors unanimously approved the transaction.

Now the agreement has yet to be approved by shareholders and regulator.
According to Musk, it is necessary for Twitter to be transferred to private ownership in order for it to develop and become a real platform for free expression.

"Freedom of speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and twitter is a digital square where fundamental issues for the future of humanity are discussed," Musk said in a press release to Twitter today. "Twitter has huge potential. I look forward to working with this company and the user community to leverage it," he added.

The future of Twitter is uncertain,  boss Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal told employees after announcing the deal. 
The takeover is expected to be completed within a few months, with Musk indicating for a long time that he wants to fundamentally change the way the social network works with tens of millions of users around the world.
However, the details of his plans, which apparently concern the moderation of the content and transparency of the platform, are not clear, which is also reflected in Agrawal's words. "Once the agreement is reached, we do not know which direction the platform will go," he told Reuters.
According to Musk, it is necessary for Twitter to be transferred to private ownership in order for it to develop and become a real platform for free expression.

Comments from web:

And it has recently been written that shareholders will try to dilute Musk's share and somehow prevent a "hostile" takeover. Suddenly he buys Twitter. The turnaround is really interesting.

….
As the rich man begins to buy the media, his entry into politics approaches.

                           Thanks for reading

                                                                Margaret

 

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Inflation in European Union

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Inflation in European Union

The annual inflation rate in the European Union (comparing same month of the year 2021 to this year) rose to a record 7.8 percent in March from 6.2 percent in February. This was announced by the European statistical office Eurostat. The Czech Republic had the third highest inflation in the EU, at 11.9 percent.
Inflation in the euro area is now well above the European Central Bank's 2% target. Upward it is pushed especially by the rising energy. In March, energy prices in the euro area increased by 44.4 percent year-on-year.

The highest inflation in the EU was recorded in Lithuania, where consumer prices increased by 15.6 percent year-on-year. Second place went to Estonia with inflation of 14.8 percent. Czechia takes third place.

In an interview with the BBC,   the president of the World Bank, David Malpass said that war in Ukraine will make food more expensive by up to 37 percent, and the looming food crisis will cause human catastrophe in many poorer countries. Hundreds of millions of people are at risk of poverty and malnutrition if the crisis is not stopped.
The head of the World Bank warned that there is enough food for everyone in the world, and according to comparisons with the situation in the past, there are also high food stocks. But there is a need to change the way food is distributed to get where it is needed.

Here some examples of prices how it is influencing Czech Republic:
prices gasoline and diesel January 2022 were at petrol stations in the Czech Republic for an average of CZK 36.20,(approx 1,68 USD/liter) . But beginning of April gasoline was approx 2,27 USD/liter which means 38 % more  – this influences of course also the prices of public transport and transport of goods  – 22% up.
Foods – flour 63% more expensive than a year ago which has of course big influence on prices of bakery products. Butter and milk very similar. Bread – some economists say that in the second half of this year 1kg of bread can be even 70 CZK/3,10 USD – that might be increse by 40-50% in comparison with the price now.

This price development is supported by the fact that Czech government is inactive and does not want to do anything against this development arguing it is against rules of Europen Union – while for instance Polish government  decreased the VAT on foods.

This graf shows average prices of electricity in capital Praha – New year 2021 compared to New year 2022 = growth 48,49 %

The complicated situation applies also on enterprises
More than half of domestic enterprises expect their energy inputs to become more expensive by 50 percent or more. At the same time, the vast majority of companies will increase the prices of other cost items, such as input materials. This follows from the survey of the Chamber of Commerce. The most acute situation is in the manufacturing industry and construction.
A few days ago was published that inflation in Czech republic now is near to 13% – and if government will not do anything against it will still grow most probably.

But not every state in Europe has the same aproach – for instance Hungary  – The Hungarian government since 1. February  reduced prices for wheat flour, sugar, sunflower oil, milk, pork  and chicken breasts.

Evidently member states of European Union have different approach to the inflation, some politicians have more courage and the development this year might be still quite wild.

                            Thank you for reading

                                                                Margaret

 

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Constantly online – escape into the digital world

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It's crazy how technology has developed over the past ten and a half years. It offers many advantages, but precisely because we are so often online, it is important to learn a mindful and conscious approach to the ubiquitous media and to remember that life writes the stories in analogue.

I hope you enjoy reading this.

Nightmare: The analogue world is extinct
Online, I have drifted away. Penless writing has steered me the wrong way. I jumped from page to page, kept getting linked and after some fling, I lost my bearings. As if someone had spun me in circles, the world spins in circles, though I remain motionless and just stare apathetically at the screen.

The internet holds me captive.

It is everyone's home, the bread for the world, the religion that everyone believes in without knowing it. Here everyone is equal, here everything is just, and yet it takes revenge, because the internet is big. Infinite and yet finite.

Where I stop, the internet only begins: it has the thoughts that I don't have myself. It shows me the places I have not yet been. It speaks the languages I don't understand. It knows my tastes and what I'm looking for before I know what I need. It suggests friends and sites that suit me. It knows everything and I know that I know nothing, only where to find it: On the internet.

But the internet is big. Infinite and finally boundless. Finally rid of all boundaries and makes little people big.

It is everyone's diary, even if everyone thinks theirs is safely – and safely unread – in the drawer of their bedside table. Yet the most secret secrets of the big secret services and the most private spheres of the small private people online are an open book that you can't open because you have nothing in your hands and nothing in your hands.

The internet is big. So big that you lose yourself in it and yet small enough to find everything else again and again. The streams of data hold me captive like an invisible spider's web. I want to get out of here! But the internet won't go out. I am lost and I have lost myself.

Can you find me?
Can you find yourself in me?

Connected, yet a stranger to myself
Even before I am awake, I am online. My WLAN has the best connection for twenty-four hours – only not to myself. I surf here and surf there, but not on my own homepage. I want to go offline, but I can't find the link. That's how linked the internet is and how big the addiction is that haunts me for many hours every day and makes me keep searching on the many pages.

Can you find me?
Do you find yourself in the addiction?

How difficult it is to bring the soul to rest when it is always kept in motion. When its material surface clings to every worldly possibility and what is underneath must always make waves and never become quiet. Never allowed to become loud. Never allowed to breathe because hardly anyone asks for it.

How difficult it is to quiet the soul when even silence has become loud. The internet is never quiet. Always only wise, because it knows everything, even the senseless.

Fictitious outside show and lack of introspection
How hard it is to quiet the soul when you are constantly following the latest news from around the world and living the lives of others. Like a little parasite that always eats but never gets full, I stick to the pages of others, while my page does not fill up because its host does not nurse it with life.

Because the lives of others are so exciting and one's own life only excites, because the lives of others last so long and one's own life only bores, I am always so happy online.

Analogue I am always lonely, but online I am never alone. Here I have thousands of friends who share things with me, communicate with me and linger with me online. Yet our faces are distorted, just like realities: As avatars, we celebrate holidays, weddings and parties, but we hide the dark sides offline – that's why no one wants to be there anymore. We only post a positive excerpt on the net now and then.

Virtual existence shows us bundled extravagances and the special lives of others. Completely uncensored and without Photoshop, I am happy when my face, which only resembles my profile picture in profile, is not reflected in the screen. Deceptive truth. No one puts the abysses of the soul on display.

Just as advertising plays with perfect-looking characters, we design a flawless catalogue of our selves on social networks. Do we have the wrong role models? Or the wrong images in front of us? Perfect aesthetics, a hunger for experience and starving until we live up to the ideal – yet deep down, nothing can fill us up. We are hungry for life and don't notice it because apathy doesn't like to talk. The inner emptiness is filled on the outside, cluttered up and enveloped by actionism.

Dopamine addict
How difficult it is to bring the soul to rest when one constantly wonders how many unread messages are waiting in the virtual mailbox. Yet it's not the who or the how many – it's much more the meaningless whether someone has written. Whether there is something there that you can open. Like a gift whose contents you don't know, and like a donor whose name you don't give, all you need is the blood. 

Online, I therefore walk the path to the letterbox incessantly, while I only dare to look in my post box at the front door once a week. A message on the outdated letter route can't be of any importance anyway – it has time. How nice for her – I don't have it. Because there's always something going on online and so I'm rid of time without being timeless. Always on the go and yet never ready to jump off, time passes and simply doesn't stop, nor does it stop with me.

Another click on Inbox – my obsessive-compulsive disorder takes on more and more weight. I have become infected online and when I compare the time it takes to send my emails with the time it takes to answer them, an epidemic has long since broken out. If there are more than sixty minutes between sending and receiving, my anxiety neurosis is activated and I worry that the person I am writing to, the patient in the next bed, has died of his neurosis. I should have received a new message long ago, which is like administering my next tablet, so that the anxiety finally gives way.

But nothing happens.

I make an emergency call via Skype and ring for my mother to no avail. To distract myself, I go shopping online and pay the bill for my order via online banking. The internet knows no Sunday, the internet is always nice.

Always hungry inside
The internet can do everything but satisfy my hunger and so I regret that fast food is only fast and not slim. I want to have it in my inbox and unpack it after downloading. An alphabet salad as a favourite dish that satisfies my inner emptiness. Not cooking, not doing the dishes, can't the internet do that? Because I can't leave here or I'll miss something.

I swallow the hunger, but it doesn't fill me up. Because there's a part of me that neither whether nor food can fill. Only I could fill it, if I knew who I was, without being logged in. If I knew who I was offline, I would still be there. But I'm not there, otherwise I'd miss something. Only once a week, when I dare to go to the mailbox, where no one meets me and nothing awaits me.

But there's always something going on online. The whole world is twittering that something is happening and trembling when something does happen. There is always unrest somewhere, because you can't report on calm. Catastrophes are always happening somewhere, because everyday life doesn't write stories.
We love the extravagant and need the rush, being normal was yesterday and so were traditions.

Crazy world
Our life has moved behind the screen. It takes place two-dimensionally, i.e. rather flat, in front of a small horizon. Depth is lost, superficiality lives. One is only on the outside, the inside is glued. Nature is the tilted window, movement the skilful finger play over the keyboard and a good conversation a virtual dialogue.

The analogue world is extinct.

My nightmare has come true and no one has noticed because everyone is behind the display and no one ever sticks their head out. Yet the internet can't dream, can't smell, can't feel, can't laugh and can't do nice things. It numbs the senses and steals our lives.

Longing for reality
When the whole world works like this
you can no longer take yourself out of it,
you can only exclude
and create boundaries
that leave room for oneself,
even if others hate you.
Be with yourself again, all alone.
Being analogue again, not always online.
What used to be quite normal
is a rarity today.
Today, rarely does anyone have time,
because everyone wants to do everything,
because everyone can do everything,
because everyone wants to be everywhere
and preferably at the same time.
Here and there, in space and above space,
and everywhere that no one has ever been.
And everyone wants to be back right away,
so as not to be left behind,
and hurry behind.
Because whoever loses the connection, loses the connection. Yet we have long been wirelessly networked and yet are entangled in something that is supposed to hold us together, but which takes away our breath and sometimes suffocates us

General

New rules for internet in Europe

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New rules for internet in Europe

Countries and EU members have agreed on new rules for internet content. Negotiators from the European Parliament and EU member states have agreed on new rules under which technology giants must more closely monitor the content on their platforms and pay fees to regulators monitoring their compliance. Thus, hate speech and other illegal content on the internet should be removed more quickly in the future.

The agreement has yet to be confirmed by the European Parliament and EU states, but this is considered a formality, wrote the agency DPA.

The digital services act (DSA) is the second point of the strategy of the European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, which aims to limit the power of the technology giants. The agreement was concluded after more than 16 hours of negotiations.

"We have a DSA agreement: the Digital Services Act will ensure that what is illegal offline is also perceived and addressed as illegal online – not as a slogan, as a reality," Vestager wrote on Twitter.

According to the DSA, companies face fines of up to six percent of their global turnover for violating the rules. In the event of repeated infringements, they could be prohibited from doing business in the EU.

The aim of the DSA is, among other things, to ensure that illegal content such as hate speech is removed more quickly from the network, that harmful disinformation and war propaganda are shared less, and that counterfeit products are sold less on internet marketplaces.

DSA is part of a large digital package proposed by the European Commission in December 2020. The second part is the digital markets act (DMA), for which the agreement was concluded at the end of March. The DMA aims above all to limit the market power of technology giants such as Google and Facebook with stricter rules.

One of the points at issue was, for example, the legislation under which the illegality in question would be assessed.

* * * * *

Many internet users comment on this as oppression of freedom of speech. "Still no one really knows what it is hateful content and what it is misinformation, it is not specified, so it can be anything and also it will still change, swearing at Putin is now allowed, but for exactly the same swearing at Ukrainians you can also go to prison, but the hateful content is exactly the same." Or another comment " And who will ensure that those who will carry out these "regulatory" interventions are so well versed in the law (they should actually be judges by profession, right?) to be able to evaluate the contributions immediately and to judge whether or not they comply with the law??? "

Governments are clearly eager to tighten their censorship measures. But we have this free platform – Markethive.

                     Thank you for reading

                                                               Margaret

 

 

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91-year-old Holocaust survivor dies in Mariupol

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As a child, Wanda survived the Nazi roundup by hiding in a cellar. Of all places, it was in a cellar that the Ukrainian woman died 81 years later.

A 91-year-old Holocaust survivor has died in the heavily contested south-eastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, according to the Jewish community.

"At the age of ten, Wanda Semyonova Obyedkova survived the Germans by hiding in a basement in Mariupol. 81 years later, she died in a basement in the same city while hiding from the Russians as a result of the terrible war," the Auschwitz Museum announced on its Twitter channel. News of the woman's death went viral on social media on Wednesday.

According to the report, Obyedkova had already died on 4 April. Her daughter Larissa reported that she and her husband had subsequently had to bury the 91-year-old in a city park while the city was being bombed. The couple was then able to flee Mariupol. Much of the news from the city is delayed because there is no internet and rescued people cannot communicate with the outside world until they are in a safe place.

Obyedkova was born in Mariupol on 8 December 1930 and was ten when the SS rounded up the local Jewish population to murder them on the outskirts of the city after the Wehrmacht invaded Mariupol. It is estimated that between 9,000 and 16,000 Jews were killed, including Objedkova's mother.

Little Wanda survived the Nazi roundup by hiding in a cellar. When she was discovered later, friends of the family were able to convince the SS that the girl was of Greek descent. The child was thus saved from execution