Green house

Model of an eco home by Bengt Warne, displayed at the Stockholm museum for architecture. The house actually looks like a greenhouse. It is said to be selfsufficient as a mini eco system is created by the glass surrounding the home. Waterdrainage and heat, but also planting and eating self grown vegetables seems easy in this place.

The real house is located at Saltsjöbaden, Sweden, and built in 1976 -1980.

Green capital in white

'It is like in my youth,' the taxi driver says. 'This much snow and ice we haven't seen in 23 years.'

Stockholm is blazing in white. Ships, cars and bicycles, as well as governmental buildings, castels and houses, are covered underneath a thick layer of white crystals that keep coming from the sky like the frosty tears of an abandoned bride.

Sculptures of Nikki de St Phalle, Tinguely and Alexander Calder hide their secrets of abundance quiet in front of the museum of Modern Art. Picasso's 'Dejeuner à l'herbe' vanishes grey in white. All one hears is the cracking of gravel underneath the warm shoed feet of bypassers. 'Hey', they greet one another. Some walk quick with a purpose. Others stay in awe of nature's presence in the Swedish capital.

The water between the isles is frozen. You can almost walk across the see from Skeppsholmen to Djurgarden. Almost...

'Come back in summer,' the taxi driver adds. 'She will be dressed in green. The most beautiful city on earth, if you ask me.'

Sami in Norway, Sweden, Finnland and Russia

Europe has its own indigenous people among which, the Sami. Like the Kurds they live in four different countries. Reindeer herding is one of their specialties. The Nordic Museum in Stockholm pays attention to the Sami traditions and poses questions, like: Who was first?

Off course, in this case it was the Sami people.

But, who cares about who was first? It is more important who is in charge. That person, party or institute, needs to question him/her/themselves: do I have a mandate from the people? Do I serve or do I rule? Do I represent or dictate? At that point the difference between the Sami, the Dutch, the rest of Europe, vanishes.

We arrive at the questions: 'Whose story?' Who is going to tell my story? Mr Balkenende, Mr Bos, Mr Rouvout?

And: 'Whose law?' Who is going to write my law? Mr Wilders? Noooooooooooo! None of these men (where are the women in Dutch politics??) has the ability to write my laws and my stories. How then, can they ever reign over me??

I want to ride my bycicle

People on the move

When there is a hole, new content will fill it. And society nowadays is filled with holes, financially, ecologically and socially.

We created systems that we cannot control, inside the system covering all, which is the planet.

Big is vulnerable, because big is not maneuverable. Big, therefore, is no longer desirable. The time of large, shiny office buildings is over. Huge plants to produce more of the same are redundant. We don't want more of the same. We want to express ourselves as individuals, different from each other and: special! That is why we have avatars. That is why we think others are interested in our tweets. And surprisingly, they are. Even a cat can attract followers on twitter.

Individuals all over the world connect with kindred spirited people to work together. They are flexible and innovative. Their agility makes them quick. Emergency (socially, economically as well as ecologically) makes them alert and creative. The holes will be filled with new content and people are on the move looking for new frontiers. Frontiers that will be encountered. New challenges ahead. It is the dynamic we call life.

ECHR calls the Dutch government to account

The Dutch immigration law seems to be designed to give NO for an answer. This presupposition is supported (once again) by the way the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) treats the young members of youth circus Afrisinia. But in this case the European Court of Human Rights thinks it is time the Dutch government answers some questions.

The case of one of the acrobats versus the Netherlands is causing shame and scandal for the national government. The questions the European Court puts forward are such that asking is like saying: ‘You did a poor job’.

Afrisinia goes Europe

The ECHR politely asks the Dutch government if there has been any investigation at all on the subject of abuse, slavery and maltreatment of the youngsters.

This letter is a statement because the IND, obviously, never investigated anything. They have only been looking for procedures to send the acrobats and musicians back to a country where, at the very best, prison without trial awaits them.

The coming days the letter by the EHRM will be published on www.nonfixe.nl

Greed, the vicious sister

Eris threw the apple, long ago. And the girls started a fight. A tradition we have to depart from.

Now countries break down, economically. To save Fortis € 90 billion was thrown in the bucket. Greece can be cheaper, experts claim. What'll the old boys do? Buy the country, so we all own a holiday house soon? Or change the system?

The financial crisis is a symptom of a disease much more threatening: the bankruptcy of the Western way of organizing and dealing with natural sources, be it people or planet. This system has all eyes on the Profit (with a capital P indeed). Not that there is anything wrong with profit, the wrongness is in the one-dimensional thinking.

What is profit? Economical gain, wealth for a few? And if so, how do these happy few intend to keep their wealth, while hungry, wealth desiring people on the other side of the fence, are anxious to break through? How to maintain your wealth in a world where everybody lives in fear of losing status? Or, in desire to gain status?

What a relief it would be if we could lose the status thing. Then sharing would be much easier and defending property less necessary. We could get rid of armies, they would be broke and in need of salvation. We also could get rid of banks that lend money and ask interest. Asking interest for doing nothing is a silly thing. Money would become it's true self: a means to exchange and a unit of account.

We would start to value in a different way. The immeasurable then, becomes the most precious. Personal development, participation in society and more soft, but not less needed: love, creativity, freedom and peace.

Sounds boring? Don't worry; there still would be competition. Only no longer fed by status fear and his vicious sister, greed. And Greece will be safe, proud of its Olympic tradition. Greece is a lot more than a pile of Euro’s, which cannot be said of all the banks that held up their hands and asked for cash.