Drug Legalization

What would be the purpose of legalising illicit drugs?
Some suggest that it would combat illicit enrichment; others defend that it would decrease crime rates related to drug trafficking; others would even argue that it would help fighting money laundering (i.e. preventing drug traffickers from transforming the proceeds of their criminal business into revenue generated by a legal activity).

This sounds simple in theory, but like Antonio Maria Costa (Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) said “transnational organized crime will never be stopped by drug legalization” and I am inclined to agree with him.

So, if drugs become legalized who would then become their main supplier? The government? I suppose this would pose a huge problem, for there would be a portion of citizens who would not agree on financing (through taxes) the supply of the presently called illicit drugs.
Then whom? Para-state organisations? And who would be the CEOs of these groups? Perhaps people trained by incarcerated drug dealers/traffickers (the Feds would make use of their expertise to train future generations of Drug Supply Chief Executive Officers - after all, drug dealers and traffickers do know more about the business than anyone).
However I am suspicious that not even this would obliterate drug trafficking nor decrease drug related crimes.

For example, in the Netherlands, coffee-shops owners are allowed to grow cannabis at home and then sell it in their shops (each shop is allowed to have 500 grams [17.6 ounces] in its premise), but they cannot buy large quantities from external producers/suppliers. This looks good on paper, but the problem is that
Producers, through the use of laboratories, "managed to increase the amount of the active ingredient THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) in their plants from an average of between 4 percent and 9 percent to around 18 percent. Some strains have even reached 30 percent." (source: Der Spiegel). And these sophisticated producers have managed to introduce their products in the coffee-shops (even though it is illegal to buy from external sources). If you follow the provided link above, you will see that even though it is legal to sell cannabis in Holland, drug related crimes have not decreased.

Drug traffickers exist first because there are people who have a genetic pre-disposition to use drugs; and second because people push others to that abyss (through indifference, negligence, abandonment, despise, and more importantly through the lack of sense of community - because nowadays no one is capable of offering a meal, a smile or a hug to its neighbour's child).

Drugs, be it legal or illegal, are addictive, dangerous and they kill.
Illegal drugs will never end for there are several people involved (from all walks of life [social and political]).
About legal drugs, no one will ever make a serious effort to go after pharmaceutical companies, since they contribute to institutions we all profit from (hospitals, schools, sport complexes etc etc etc) and place people, that are favourable to them, in politics (i.e. drug companies finance and win elections).

This makes me come to a conclusion:
Drugs: illegal or legal, it doesn't matter cause either way we are stuck with them.
One could advocate going back to the basics (natural medicine) but how, when even nature is not nature any longer?


For a different perspective on this controversial theme, visit my co-Graffiter LS: Here

The Lusosphere: Brazil

When the Portuguese "discovered" Brazil this country was already inhabited by 2 million indigenous (which were divided into 3 main tribes: the Tupi-guarani, Jê and Aruaque. The Tupis were sub-divided into the Guaranis, the Tupiniquins and the Tupinambás).
So, in some cases when we use the term "discovery" (when referring to Brazil, Mozambique and Angola) we are in fact in error, since these nations had already been discovered by previous civilizations.

22nd of April 1500: Pedro Álvares Cabral arrived in Brazil, whom initially called it "Ilha de Vera Cruz" (Vera Cruz Island), since at first it was thought that it was an island; but after further geographic expeditions it was concluded that Vera Cruz was part of a continent and so the Portuguese re-named it to "Terra da Santa Cruz" (The Land of Santa Cruz; where today is Porto Seguro, in the Brazilian State of Bahia).

26th of April 1500: Father Henrique de Coimbra celebrated the first Mass. The indigenous witnessed this religious celebration with curiosity; which led the Portuguese to think that their Christianisation would be easy. However, they soon found out the opposite: the local Indians were not interested in being Christians, which made the Portuguese re-design the methods of their spiritual conquest.

1532-1822: the new colony is populated (the first village to be founded was São Vicente, in São Paulo), since there was the fear that this "new" land would be invaded by those who had been left outside the "Treaty of Tordesillas" (The Netherlands, France and England). Colonising this land was a form of protecting not only the territory but mainly the exploration of Pau-Brazil (from which derived the name of the land). Nevertheless, the French and the Dutch invaded Brazil. The citizens of the colony were Portuguese.
The economic power of this colony was built by African salves (who, along with the Indigenous, had no right to citizenship and, lived in poorly kept "senzalas"). Later on, in the XVII century gold was discovered, and as such the Portuguese King ordered its exploration (mainly in the regions of Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso and Goiás).
There were several conflicts and colonial revolts (Ex: Emboabas’ War, Guarani War, Minas Conspiracy).
In 1821, Dom Pedro was advised by his father (the King John VI of Portugal) to declare the independence of Brazil and take the throne for himself (in order to protect the Portuguese sovereignty in Brazil). In 1822, Dom Pedro declared Brazil as an independent constitutional monarchy with himself as the Emperor.


Language
The official language is Portuguese.
Many say that the Portuguese spoken in Brazil is mellow, smoother than the one spoken in Portugal (due to its musicality, making it easier for a foreigner to learn it). And the reason for this is the fact that the language has suffered many influences (along its history): the indigenous influence (to start with), the African influence, the French, the Dutch, the Spanish, the Italian and the German.

Interesting Fact
We are used to hear that countries like the US, the UK, France or even Italy are a melting pot. However, Brazil remains the truest melting pot of them all (since its colonial times).
The Portuguese/Brazilians have always favoured assimilation and tolerance for other people; and while intermarriages were not acceptable in other Portuguese colonies, they were encouraged in Brazil.
The Brazilian society is mainly comprised by European descendants (Portuguese, Italian, German, Spanish, etc) but then it is also constituted by the mulattoes (of African and European ancestry) and the mestizos (of Indian and European ancestry).
In Portugal we usually say that all Brazilians are "achocolatados" (a bit chocolate) for we are under the impression that in all Brazilian families there is either African or indigenous blood.

Music
Brazilians use their music in a very powerful fashion so that socialpolitical messages get across to people and the country.
The Brazilian music was basically formed from European and African elements, brought by the Portuguese and the slaves respectively. The indigenous people didn't have much influence in the music produced in that nation (except for a few folk genres).

The main Genres are: Choro ("cry" in Portuguese), Música Popular Brasileira (known as MPB, to refer to Brazilian pop music), Bossa Nova, Música Nordestina (popular music from Northeastern Brazil); Música Gaúcha (from the Rio Grande do Sul state, in Southern Brazil); Repetismo (ballads); Frevo (from Olinda and Recife [Northeast] played during the Carnival); Forró (the foundation of lambada), Sertanejo (country music); Funk Carioca (it has nothing to do with Western Funk; it is a very peculiar sound that I will introduce here); Rock, Metal.
Then we have the Afro Brazilian musical genres: Samba, Capoeira, Afoxé (some sort of religious music, part of the Candomblé tradition); and Samba-reggae. (For a more detailed information, click Here).
(On a personal note: Brazil produces the most beautiful love songs on earth - and many times they pay homage to Portuguese poets in doing so)

We shall begin by experiencing Bossa Nova, in the voice of the great João Gilberto (guitar) and Tom Jobim (piano) performing "Desafinado" (Lyrics & translation: Here). Enjoy!

Next Stop: Goa

Translation: Desafinados

Desafinados

Se você disser que eu desafino amor

Saiba que isso em mim provoca imensa dor

Só privilegiados têm ouvido igual ao seu

Eu possuo apenas o que Deus me deu

Se você insiste em classificar

Meu comportamento de anti-musical

Eu mesmo mentindo devo argumentar

Que isto é bossa-nova, isto é muito natural

O que você não sabe nem sequer pressente

É que os desafinados também têm um coração

Fotografei você na minha Roleiflex

Revelou-se a sua enorme ingratidão

Só não poderá falar assim do meu amor

Este é o maior que você pode encontrar

Você com sua música esqueceu o principal

Que no peito dos desafinados

No fundo do peito bate calado

Que no peito dos desafinados

Também bate um coração

Off Key

Love, if you say that I am off-key

Know that much pain you cause in me

Only the privileged ones have a hearing like yours

I only possess what God betsowed upon me

If you insist in defining

My behaviour as anti-musical

I can argue even if lying

That this is Bossa Nova and that is quite natural

What you know and feel not

Is that the off-key ones also bear a heart

I took a picture of you with my Rolleiflex

And your ingratitude it reflected

You can not speak of my love this way

For it is the biggest that you'll ever find - "ok?"

You, in your music, forgot the main thing

That in the bosom of the off-key ones

Deep in their bosom, in silence, beats

That in the bosom of the off-key ones

A heart also beats

Written By Tom Jobim

Translated By Max Coutinho

Image: Taken from Here.

A comment on two issues...

Une quéstion Musulmane (a Muslim issue)

France has taken a few legislative steps concerning the Muslim customs, which have appalled a few people. For example, Muslim women are not allowed to wear headscarves in state schools; the government is searching for ways to ban the use of burkas (since it is understood that they “reduce dignity” and France “cannot accept to have (...) women who are prisoners behind netting, cut off from all social life, prived of identity,”) and more recently a Muslim lady was prevented from swimming, in a public pool, in a burkini (image above) due to hygiene purposes (the pool prohibits the use of several kinds of swim wear).
Some defend that it represents an attack to the Muslim culture; but I’d say it is a defence of the European culture and tradition.
The burka (and its derivatives) is a symbol of female repression and submission. Europe has already had its share of repression, in the past; it fought against it and it will not go back there in the name of the so-called cultural/religious respect.
When Westerners travel to most Arab countries they are forced to abide to the Sharia Law; and Western women must cover themselves up (under extremely high temperatures) and cannot travel alone with a man (unless he is either the father or the husband). So, are our culture and customs respected there? No.
I do think, though, that Muslim women should be allowed to wear a headscarf (if they wish so), which would satisfy both ends: the Muslim custom would be maintained and we would be able to recognise their facial traits; their identity. We do not wish them to forsake their religion or/and customs; we simply desire to guard our own values and culture.

The Left issue
The Portuguese left is ashamed of our historical past.
I recently read that our Minister of culture (José António Pinto Ribeiro) expressed the will to open a Museum of Travel (to be called Museum of the Discovery Age); however a Socialist Party-supporter blog [in the person of Leonel Moura], in a poor attempt to be funny, wrote that the minister (by travelling) could only be referring to surfing the web because if he meant to go back to laud the discovery age, and our past deeds, then he should forget about it because Portugal is way ahead of it. I wonder which Portugal this socialist is talking about...certainly not the same I’m in.
First, our national anthem is about the discovery period and it calls upon us to bring back the glory Portugal once enjoyed – this is called pride for our history and a plea to recall that we are grand & capable of anything.
Second, since when are we “way ahead of it”? What glory do we enjoy as a nation (in the international scenery)? We are not even invited to the G20 meetings; but again how could we? If a foreigner wishes to know more about Portugal (under our perspective) it can’t...for our online press is in Portuguese only (even the Germans have English versions of their e-newspapers). The international press only mentions Portugal to speak of Cristiano Ronaldo; the whores in Bragança; whenever our football (soccer) teams participate in the Champions’ League and to stress our failure in dealing with the case of Maddie McCann.

Does the world know that our scientists (from the Nova University) invented the Paper Transistor? Does it know that a Portuguese company (Solar Plus) is a pioneer in the photovoltaic modules (using the Thin-film technology)? No. The mainstream doesn’t...yet it knows that we discovered the path to India, they know our former colonies; they know we (along with the Spanish) were the most vicious in the slave trade and that we performed the worst decolonisation ever in human history.

So, Mr. Leonel Moura should just wake up and smell the coffee...we are not there yet, let alone “ahead”.
Our past serves as a trampoline to a successful future.

“God wills, man dreams, the task is born.
God wanted the world to be whole,
The sea to connect, and no longer divide.
He chose you and you went forth unraveling the foam,

And the white rim went from island to continent,
Clearing up, racing, to the end of the world,
And the whole Earth was suddenly seen,
Emerging, round, from the deep blue.

He who hallowed you, made you Portuguese.
Of the sea and us, in you he gave us a sign.
The Sea was accomplished, and the Empire was undone.
Lord, Portugal is yet to be accomplished!” ("Prince Henry" by Fernando Pessoa)


Image: taken from Daily Mail

Homophobia as a Perversion

There is nothing sadder than homophobia. God created us all; and I mean all of us.

This article is divided into two parts. The first addresses religious people (from all denominations); the second addresses a recent crime perpetrated against gay people in a Middle East country.

Part I
To: Religious communities around the world
Dear representatives of the several religious denominations: shame on you!
You are supposed to represent God on earth. You claim that God is Love, Merciful, Forgiving, All Good…yet you, as His representatives, display hate, lack of compassion, lack of forgiveness and evil; if/whenever you entice your flock against homosexuals.
I know some Christians and Jews may claim that God (in Leviticus 18:22) declared homosexual relationships (between men) as abominable (= awful, unpleasant, very bad, disgusting)…but to whom? Most certainly not to God (since He creates them & only He knows with what purpose); then why did He make such a declaration? Because He knows the imperfect heart of men. He knows that heterosexuals are hypocritical enough to find a gay relationship “awful, unpleasant, very bad, disgusting” and generate evil based on their hypocrisy (yes, because God knows that many heterosexuals do exactly the same sexual things homosexuals do); but mainly because He knows the danger it may represent to the human body (health-wise) – and this cannot be denied.
Nevertheless, God loves us all. So based on what do you (standing on a pulpit) teach people how to despise or hate other brothers and sisters? With what right? With what authority? Only God can judge us; and being a representative of the Lord does not equal being the Lord.
Many of you accuse gays of being a perversion. You are the ones embodying perversion, because instead of looking at gays as the humans they are and respect them as such; you look at them and immediately think of how their sexual life is; you imagine them having sex; you wonder and try to analyse it – this is a perversion.
People’s sex life (be it hetero or homo) is none of your business. Your job is to nurture the soul, help humans to evolve spiritually and guard the gates of God’s threshold on earth...so, do that and leave sex out of it.

Part II
To: Israel
This country is a pioneer in gay rights (for example, the Israeli Defence Forces has homosexuals serving openly without any discrimination, since 1993) and yet, last week it was the stage of a trashy tragedy: Liz Trobishi (17) and Nir Katz (26) were killed and 15 others were wounded in a gay club, in Tel Aviv.
The police said there is no indication of hate crime, however Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (rightly so) compared the sad event to an act of terrorism.
This incident caused a survey to be done, from which it was concluded that 46% of the inquired Israelis consider homosexuality a perversion.
Let’s analyse this...it is known that some Israeli men go to Pattaya, in Thailand, to practice what is called sex tourism, because of “the humanity, the smiles of the beautiful sexy and open-minded women. It's not like the Israeli women, with their nose so far up in the air that it slaps Jumbo planes flying by in the sky.” [Source: here]; so what does this mean? It means that since Israeli women are not willing to fulfil their perverted fantasies they go to fulfil them abroad with “sexy and open-minded women”. Being a pervert with women is quite all right; cheating on your wife and going abroad to be blown is quite all right; going to Thailand to pay 13-year-old girls to provide sexual services is correct...but...two consenting adults (even if of the same gender) having a relationship and loving each other is a perversion...right...

Paedophilia is a perversion.
Necrophilia is a perversion.
Coprophilia is a perversion.
Urophilia is a perversion.
Paraphilia is a perversion.
Domestic violence is a perversion....

Our body, our flesh is a fantasy costume...it’s an illusion. Reality is what emanates from behind the mask: the spirit.
Spirits have no sexual agenda for they are simply the essence.
We incarnate to evolve. Thus, despising, disrespecting, hating, beating up and killing people based on their sexual preferences is not evolving.

Image: Two young men by Cariani

Me Young You Old, You Young Me Old

Love is a magical feeling: it brings light into the household of darkness; it bestows upon you happiness; it softens the hardest of hearts; it melts the iciest of beings and helps us to evolve.

Love ignores the boundaries of age.

However, society has managed, once again, to express its bigotry, lack of sensibility; poor judgment and, foment sexism even when it comes to feelings.

Who the bloody hell decided that a lady (let's say, in her 40's or more) should not be involved with young men (for example, in their 20's or 30's)? Moreover, why are they labelled as cougars or pumas when they do so?

We all know that whenever a lady falls in love with a younger man, people will either say "Oh, he's after her money" or "Oh, he's seeking for adventure with a more experienced woman" or even "What a waste! So many beautiful young ladies around, and he chose to be involved with an old bad".

Let's analyse these ridiculous sentences:

"Oh, he's after her money" - that's what they said, in India, when a young man (of +/- 40 years old) got married to a 96-year old lady; but it turned out that she was not even rich...well, she was not even a middle-class citizen. Is it possible that Love might've been the key factor here?

I do not deny the existence of cases where young men do marry big fortunes for the sake of fortune; however I do reject the idea of pre-judging a relationship solely based on age disparity.

"Oh, he's seeking adventure with a more experienced woman" - this sentence is utterly demodé, for there are 18-year old girls (and I am being generous here) who are more "experienced" than my granny, my mother and I put together.

"What a waste! So many beautiful young ladies around and he chose to be involved with an old bag!" - first of all, why is dating an older woman a "waste"? Second, who commanded that simply because one is young one must like young people? Third, "old bag" is another obsolete concept for I know ladies who look much much better than many girls in their 20's.

Today's young ladies seem to enjoy cultivating their futile side; they seem to find it interesting to be shallow and immature whose notion of quality time is to catch gonorrhoea in their throats by performing oral sex in every being with a penis.

Older women seem to be more interesting, more selective, more creative, more powerful (and power can be an incredible aphrodisiac).

Whenever a man marries a younger woman he receives no label, he is simply a man marrying a younger lady. Nevertheless, the wife doesn't escape the silly assumptions some people make...such as "Oh, she married his money!" or "She's looking for a father" or "Oh, she must be really good in bed" or even "she's a black widow".

Yes, some older men marry younger women for the sex only; yes, some women marry old men for their money; yes, some marry each other for social-status reasons; yes, some women are indeed black widows and, yes; some are (in fact) looking for a father figure in their husbands...and then there are those who actually marry for love, care and/or respect, companionship. So what? In what will meddling in these people's life and making stupid comments about their relationship enrich our intellect or spirit?

The He-old She-young/She-old He-young question is daft and a complete waste of time. As long as the involved young people are not underaged; what they do, whom they choose to sleep or marry with and, the reasons why they do so is none of our business (specially if they are not family members).

A cliche is in order here:

Live and let live!

Image I: Amorous Old Woman & Young Man by Lucas Chranach the Elder

Image II: Old Man & Young Woman by Lucas Chranach the Elder