Heimliche Gedächtnise

It's strange how memories come back to us, always when you least expect them. A small gesture or something that you see with the corner of your eye may bring back thoughts of other times that were kept within the subconscious.

This happened to me this morning as I was locking my bicycle and I held my scarf back to stop it from getting full of oil. This simple gesture, which is by now quite automatic, made me think of a different city and a different time. For a second, I was back in Berlin, locking a different bike (mine was green then) and holding back a different scarf (a very long white one that easily got dirty). Berlin, one city that's actually still two, with its small quasi Victorian buildings in the west, the huge blocks of anonymous apartments in the east and its completely out of scale monuments, scarcely thought for humans. A city so different to all the ones I know.

It's strange how I now miss the streets that were already dark at 3 pm in the winter and empty of people by 6; but then again, a city is not only the buildings, but the moments lived within it. It is so, that, when I recall the huge, impersonal German capital, always fond memories spring to mind. The butcher shop round the corner, Lietzensee park, Straße des 17. Juni, die Weinerei, Unter den Linden, Adlershof, Sophienstraße... all islands within the city which I will always remember as they were 3 years ago, no matter how much they change.

I don't know what's got into me, maybe it's the influence of the books I've been reading (I've just finished The Quiet American and Understanding Power and have started O ano da morte de Ricardo Reis). As H says, I'm only reading sad or melancholic books lately. Perhaps that's the reason why I felt this nostalgia today which made me think of other places.

Nobel prize for... peace?

It's been a while since I wrote the last entry of my blog and I decided I should retake it with this year's Nobel laureate for peace: Barack Obama. I was quite surprised (probably as many of the readers of this blog) when I found out that the Norwegian academy had awarded the peace prize to the president of the United States.

I must admit that what most shocked me was that the prize for peace was awarded to a president that's involved in two wars. Moreover, hours after the announcement, Obama had a meeting with the Department of Defense to decide by how many would he increase the number of troops sent to Afghanistan. Even more astonishing is the fact that the military budget of the US has increased since he's in office.

Looking back in history, it's not surprising that Obama has been awarded the prize considering that also Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Kissinger have been Nobel peace laureates. Although remembered for being the founder of the League of Nations, that was later to become the UN and that was never quite successful in keeping world peace, Wilson involved the US in the first World War, occupied Haiti and bombarded Mexico.

Roosevelt brought peace between Japan and Russia, but also helped Cuba liberate from Spain while setting US influence over the island. He was also president during the war with the Phillipines. Finally there's Kissinger, who ended the war in Vietnam which he had helped start and supported Nixon's bombing of peasant villages in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. All of them were found worthy of a prize that supposedly rewards peace. Unbelievable.

Keeping this in mind, it's hard to find reasons why the Norwegian academy has decided, yet again, to award a peace prize to someone so involved in war. Some say that more than rewarding Obama for his promises (one cannot say deeds, for he hasn't accomplished any), the Nobel Committee has sought to punish George W. Bush for his actions. Even though this may be true, it still seems paradoxical for the above reasons to give a prize to someone that promises so much and, in the end, does so little for peace.

Expensive non-Olympic games

Madrid's mayor, Albert Ruiz Gallardón announced today the cost of Madrid's candidacy for the Olympic games of 2016. In total, the failed candidacy has cost the people from Madrid the total of 16.8 million euros. Since 2006, when it was first decided that Madrid would apply as an Olympic city, 37.8 million euros have been spent, out of which the above mentioned 16.8 million have come out of our taxes.

The question is: what have we, the everyday citizens of the city,  gained out of these many millions? A half built stadium, a nearly one year long paralysed underground system and the prospect of suffering the Olympic games. I say suffering because that is what we would do if the Olympic games were to take place here: the prices of everything would go up, the city would be filled with tourists (sure that tourism is a boost for the economy, or that is what the politicians sell us, but it would only be so for the short time the games last for), property speculation and many many more expensive construction works on a city which isn't precisely lacking them.

I can accept that some people can see something positive in hosting the Olympic games, but it is outrageous and I would also add pretty ridiculous, to have spent so much money, our money, on something that we have lost already twice. When did we give our permission for the government to spend our taxes on such an absurd project? Did they consult the residents of Madrid if we wanted to be an Olympic city? Especially after losing the candidature for the 2012 edition.

At least we have the relief that until after the municipal elections of 2012 Madrid will not apply to be an Olympic city again. Hopefully, people will have learnt the lesson and will not vote Gallardón again; but then of course this is only dreaming, because the PP will win yet again and, because it's so great to be an Olympic city, Madrid will also apply for the 2020 candidature. It always surprises me how people don't seem to mind the endless construction works and the millions spent.

Thanks to H for making me aware of this news.

La ciencia en España no necesita tijeras

Esta es una iniciativa colectiva que ha nacido en internet y que creo que merece la pena. El concepto es muy sencillo: todo aquel que tenga un blog debe publicar el día 7 de octubre una entrada en la cual dé una razón por la cual no se debe recortar el presupuesto para la investigación, como prentende y lleva haciendo el gobierno desde el año pasado.

Pues bien, la razón por la cual yo creo que no se debe disminuir el presupesto para la investigación en España es también simple. Si queremos que los investigadores españoles estén al mismo nivel que los del resto del mundo, es necesario invertir en investigación. Ahora que la ciencia está avanzando tanto y que hay nuevos campos por explorar es el momento de participar más activamente. Para ello, el gobierno tiene que ser consciente de que hay que invertir ahora para formar y mantener en España a científicos de alto nivel que puedan competir con los de las mejores universidades del mundo. Si no es así, que no nos sorprenda que todas las futuras promesas se vayan al extranjero.

Los políticos tienen que entender que para salir de la crisis no hay que invertir en construcción ni dar ayudas para que la gente compre más coches. Donde hay que centrarse es en valores sociales, y la investigación es uno de ellos, aunque no tenga necesariamente una aplicación práctica en la sociedad de consumo en la que nos hemos convertido.

Eyes for the blind

Recently, a friend of mine told me that all the entries in my blog are negative. Well, just to prove that I'm also aware of the good things that happen in the world, here is a "happy" post about an article I read a while ago.

The responsible for this positive entry is a physics professor at Oxford University named Josh Silver. His idea, which dates back to 1985, is to make what are now known as adaptive glasses. The physics behind it: lenses that can be filled with a fluid and thus have varying strength (the fatter the lens, the more powerful it is). The motivation: make it affordable for millions of poor people in the world to be able to see.

The principle behind the idea is marvelously simple: you just take a normal pair of glasses and replace the lenses with two circular sacs which are filled with fluid. The amount of fluid that goes into them is controlled by two syringes which can be operated by the wearer of the glasses without the need of a qualified optician, thus reducing their cost immensely.

It has taken over 20 years for this idea to come to fruition. Now Silver, already retired, has embarked himself in the incredibly ambitious project of supplying the poor a billion of these adaptive glasses by 2020. Moreover, the project today is not only pen and paper: there already exist 30 000 such pairs  distributed over 15 countries, being the next target to send a million pairs to India. The project is in a few years to be upgraded to produce 100 million spectacles annually.

The consequences of such idea are well beyond just letting people see. Literacy rates are supposed to improve hugely and people will not have to retire because of poor eyesight. If coordinated with good development strategies, making people see can even change the economic situation of many  Third World countries (in Africa the ratio of people with eyesight problems to optometrists is 1000000:1, forcing most of them to retire at the early age of 35). However, life is not a bowl of cherries and mass producing these glasses is not going to be an easy task. Silver, who isn't making any profit out of it, wants to reach the target price of 1 dollar per pair. To do this, the rather heavy and bulgy model that now exists must be improved to a lighter and cheaper one to produce. Needless to say, although retired, Silver is working on it.

That such projects exist, that there are enthusiasts with such vision for a global good makes it still worth it to have hope in a world like the one we live in. I sincerely hope that Josh Silver succeeds in the task set before him, that is, of course, if it doesn't clash with US corporatist interests... only time will tell.

Áspero Mundo

Para que yo me llame Ángel González,
para que mi ser pese sobre el suelo,
fue necesario un ancho espacio
y un largo tiempo:
hombres de todo mar y toda tierra,
fértiles vientres de mujer, y cuerpos
y más cuerpos, fundiéndose incesantes
en otro cuerpo nuevo.
Solsticios y equinoccios alumbraron
con su cambiante luz, su vario cielo,
el viaje milenario de mi carne
trepando por los siglos y los huesos.
De su pasaje lento y doloroso
de su huida hasta el fin, sobreviviendo
naufragios, aferrándose
al último suspiro de los muertos,
yo no soy más que el resultado, el fruto,
lo que queda, podrido, entre los restos;
esto que veis aquí,
tan sólo esto:
un escombro tenaz, que se resiste
a su ruina, que lucha contra el viento,
que avanza por caminos que no llevan
a ningún sitio. El éxito
de todos los fracasos. La enloquecida
fuerza del desaliento...

- Ángel González (1925 - )