Tax them or let them fight it out amongst themselves

Environmental or Carbon taxes are never popular as people cannot see CO2, nor the environment, a bit like the wood for the trees on this one, and no tax is ever popular anyhow. So, governments shy away from this type where they can. Britain in the rich world has been particularly shy, reducing its percentage of tax income from environmental taxes by 1.68% 1996-20071. This has been despite a labour (new) government who sings the environment song fairly often these days.

The best the new budget of the year could do was to talk about plastic/carrier bags and how they must be reduced, and the government might want to tax them. This is somewhat lame, but even if they did come down and put a proper tax on this, the government must ring fence such a tax for use in tackling climate change. It cannot simply add it to a pool of tax it collects, and then spend it on say a war or nuclear power stations (esp. when it ignored its own white paper on renewable energy).

Most people will not care about this when (if) they vote in the next election, as the downturn in the economy will be far hotter a topic then. But, climate change is not going to go away and is far more serious. People need to think about these matters and demand the right course of action from governments.

In fact, it is down to people to also request it from the private sector. If consumers exercise their choice and pay their hard-earned cash only for green products and think about their use of energy and contribution to climate change, we would be in a different world.

1The Economist - 8th March 2008 – Hot air

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Labels: carbon tax Climate change and energy
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An idiot in France has killed a number of "his enemies", which include children as revenge for children in another part of the world that he probably knows NOTHING about. It is an absolute disgrace and VERY VERY sad.

He is of Algerian origin, influenced by Afghan-based, Saudi-financed idiots. He calls himself a muslim and wants to avenge muslim children who were "murdered" by jews in Israel. FOR GOODNESS SAKE - this is just a mad man. He could also have said he is from the dark-side and would kill all those who wear blue light-sabres. Or he could be a white man from Oslo who kills anyone socialist or brown or ... or....

BUT, we know what will happen now. Marie Le Pen has started it already.

11 months since I last wrote here. There has been and is so much that I want to say and that occupies my mind!

Where do I start, no continue? Okay, in stream of consciousness.

The Arabic spring

Actually I don't know what spring in Arabic is, will have to look it up. It has had some success, much uncertainty and a long way to go. BUT, well done people of these lands. You are making yourselves heard.

Neo-Nazi terror in Germany

This so-called cell of three.

It is a long time since I wrote. In this time I have been growing my second baby, and I guess that is the reason that I have not been busy with other things. There are still 3 months to go, but I cannot avoid what is going on in the area where I kind of originate from, i.e. Mid East/North Africa. This is especially true as I was in Israel for a visit just a month ago.

My first thoughts as I got on my Lufthansa flight back to Germany were "The people here are all mad".

30 years ago it started. 8 year it lasted. It effects will be felt, echoed for many decades still to come.

It put fear in the hearts of millions, cost millions of lives and unbelievable amounts of money of course.

I remember so much fear during the 8 years. It seemed never ending and was the worst thing that can happen to one. Although I saw direct effects far more rarely than those in the south and west, it did and would not stop. It went on and on. For no reason whatsoever.

What is an -ism?

It is a suffix that describes an ideology. Known examples are: Communism, Imperialism, Capitalism, Fascism, Feudalism, Federalism, Optimism, Sexism, Ageism, Judaism, etc. etc.

Another - new-ish -ism

A relatively new -ism is however the ideology that makes Islam (a religion) into a political movement. This is not necessarily a new idea, the caliphate of Islam already existed centuries ago, but the introduction of it to the wide world is new.

Once an immigrant, always an immigrant? Or does this not make any sense? In my case, however it is true. Here I want to put my point of view of immigration across. I am not going to address the whole issue of what a host country should do, how they should prepare for integration or ejection of the immigrants, etc. but how I have gone through it, my personal experience. This is obviously a short summary of the whole deal.

I became an immigrant for the first time at the age of 3.5.

Just eating my lunch, thought again of my theory... The last shah of Iran is not dead, look he is here. Don't believe me, here was the Shah. They are look-a-likes, one has to admit.

How living beings share the sun's light

The light that reaches the earth from the sun changes mostly into warmth and sooner or later leaves our globe. The sun's energy has become the life-giving current, which all take a part of. (Gottfried Schatz, Neue Zurcher Zeitung, 2.11.2009) Translation by Maryam Yahiaoui-Doktor

"The sun rose in Paderborn, with very peevish gesture. She had to indeed carry out an annoying deed.

A poem from Ghadeh Alsaman

An able poet from Syria

If you come to my home, bring me a pencil, a black pencil;

I want to draw a line on my face, so I won't be caged for the crime of beauty, also a cross on my heart so I won't be tempted!

Give me an eraser for erasing the lips, I don't want anyone to blacken me due to their redness.

A shovel, so I uproot my feminine virtues, sow my being... without these is heaven's way easier.

No, I don't mean capitalism gone out of control, but brutality. In Iran a 21 year old man was today killed, because at the age of 17 he had stabbed someone to death. The family of the original victim came to watch the murderer die, and were allowed to also stab him. The mother went along.
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