Cat on a Cold Tin Roof

Our cat, called Kiddy-Cat-Cat, is an undeniable roamer.
Even during the coldest Winter days she roams the neighborhood,
including any reasonably accessible roof.
Here is the proof, photographed this morning.

Kiddy-Cat-Cat leaves a deep impression on all our lives.

Hurray for the Skiers

Three Chimneys.

Bleiburg, Main Square!

before the plows arrived.

Hiking and Bicycling Trails.

with two meters snow it will likely take you a little longer.

Donald Trump, 45th President of the U.S.A.

spoke to the Nation and to the World on the 20th day of January 2017

It was with great care that I listened to his Inauguration Speech.

The next morning I printed the speech in its entirety from Google and read it from the first to the last word.

I came to the following conclusion:

Mr. Donald Trump, 45^th President of the USA is a Demagogue of the first water.

What is a “Demagogue”?

A Demagogue is an actual or would-be political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices, rather than by using rational argument and who has little or no regard for Facts or Truth.

Mr. Trump fits this definition like a glove fits on a hand.

In his second sentence, right after greeting the Chief Justice and the four former Presidents present, he says this:

“We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and to restore its promise for all our people.”

If you need to “rebuild” and “restore” you must have first something that has broken down, is no longer as good as it once was:

In fact, the Economy of the United States has grown by an average of 3.23% per annum for the period 1947 to 2016. ( including a high of +17% in 1950 and a low of -10% in the first quarter of 1958 )

Then, Donald, the Demagogue carries on:

“Today's ceremony, however, has a very special meaning. Because today we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another, from one party to another, – but we are transferring power from Washington DC and giving it back to you, the American people.”

What exactly is he suggesting? Is he saying that new Legislation will no longer be made by the various institutions located in Washington DC? That the American people will vote on each new Law, similar to the Swiss example?

Of course he means no such thing. As it has been since the beginning of American Democracy, laws will be issued by America's Lawmakers, the Congress. The people have a say in who gets to go to the House of Representatives, who gets to serve on the Senate and who will be the President for the next four years.

In this respect, nothing will change. But to hear Trump say it, one would think that from now on it will not be the elected few, the Congress, but the “people” who will have the power. 

Well, dear Donald, they have always had the power!

It was their power which got you the Big Job.

But another piece of Demagoguery makes it appear, as if there were a major change in the offing.

"….......Washington flourished – but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered – but jobs left and the factories closed.....That all changes – starting right here and right now, because this moment is your moment: It belongs to you."

His tirade continued in this vein:

"The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.

...mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities,; rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation....."

How, any reasonable person would ask, is it possible for a country to produce 33% of the Gross National Product of the entire world, when, as Trump claims, its rusted out factories lie scattered like tombstones across the country?

How, any reasonable person would ask, is it possible for a country housing but 2.7% of the worlds population to produce 33% of all goods and services when its Economy, as Mr. Trump claims, lies shattered?

"This American carnage stops right here and stops right now."

What “carnage” is he talking about?

The Gross National Income per person, per year, in the USA amounts to about $54,000.00

(2015 stats)

This places it in 10^th place in the world, behind such Nations as Monaco, Liechtenstein, Norway, Qatar, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Australia, Denmark and Sweden. None of the above are particular industrial powerhouses.

In a renewed flight of irresponsible demagoguery, this newly elected President of the USA makes this claim:

“One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions upon millions of American workers left behind.”

Here he is clearly referring to “Unemployment” in the United States of America, which, he should know if he just glanced at the statistics relating to this issue, lies around 4.7 %.

It is generally considered that the 4% threshold is most difficult to achieve for a variety of reasons.,

In reality there are now more people employed in the USA during the month of January 2017 than at any previous time in American history and inflation adjusted wages are higher than they have ever been.

Yes, there are some “shuttered factories,” but overall the United States has never enjoyed larger manufacturing output than it does today.

What will probably enter the annals of Inauguration Speeches is Trumps repeated battle cry:

“America First, America First”

"Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers.....”

If foreign imports will be taxed at levels which will make them non competitive with American products, it is reasonable to expect that these products will become more and more expensive, thereby fueling inflationary trends, which, in turn, will not contribute to the well being of the average American family.

When Trump promised to “reform the world against radical Islamic terrorism which we will eradicate from the face of the Earth” he could easily have expanded this eradication to the concept of “terrorism” and not limited it to “Islamic Terrorism” thereby erroneously linking Terror to Islam.

To defeat 'al-Qaeda' and 'ISIS' would be a laudable and achievable goal, albeit a most difficult one.

At the very least it would require the enthusiastic assistance of several Islamic Nations, which will be harder to obtain with such firebrand calls.

In his Inaugural Address President Trump has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is an accomplished Demagogue, a brazen Populist, as well as a non-hesitating liar.

Bertstravels

hopes that saner minds

will check this man

Ninety Minutes.

90 Minutes;

That's all the time it took, on the 20^th day of January 1942,  exactly 75 years ago today,  for 15 high ranking members of the “German National Socialist Party” to confirm the cooperation of various Government Departments and to decide on the fate of millions of German, French, Italian, Polish, Hungarian and several other European countries' Jewish citizens.

Their fate was to be death.

Their death was to be “the Final Solution of the Jewish Problem”

This “Final Solution” was to be achieved by a variety of means: They were to be starved to death, shot to death and finally poisoned to death by various poison gas compounds.

Actually the decision had been made long ago, namely a few days after Hitler and his Gang of Killers had taken power in Germany in January of 1933.

This 90 minute meeting on the 20^th January 1942 in a Villa on the shores of the Wannsee (Lake Wann) was simply meant to confirm total cooperation of several different Departments and, to an extent, also the methodology to be employed for the extermination of Europe's Jewish population.

Of the 15 attendees, 8 carried the academic title of “Doctor”.

The only name, remembered by most, is that of “Obersturmbannführer ( Lieutenant Colonel ) Adolf Eichmann.

(Eichmann escaped after the War's end to Argentina, lived there for several years, was finally kidnapped by Israeli Special Forces, brought to Israel, charged with the crime of Genocide, convicted, and finally executed by hanging.)

Other members, present at this conference, died in subsequent war actions, or committed suicide, or just disappeared. Some were charged, incarcerated for some years and died of natural causes.

During this Conference, a list was produced of the number of Jews living in various European countries. Those, living within German Jurisdiction, were to be killed, men, women and children, not after the War, but, on Hitler's specific order, as soon as possible. Then the Holocaust was continued at an accelerated pace. A careful count by several independent research groups arrived at a number between 5,600,000 and 6,000,000 killed Jewish individuals.

Today, on the 20^th January, we stand in stunned silence, contemplating how 15 intelligent persons

( we presume their intelligence ) can coldbloodedly discuss the extermination of millions.

During his trial in Israel, Adolf Eichman testified, that the terminology used during the Conference was guarded and the expressions “killing” or “extermination” were usually circumscribed as “finding a final solution” or “transporting to the East.”

After the official part of the meeting “the participants, toasting each other with Cognac, and in a relaxed way, used the expression “extermination” freely and without hesitation.

Involved in this entire 12 years of shame were Doctors, Lawyers, Judges, Engineers, Industrialists, Teachers, simple Men and Women and Religious men of all stripes.

How could this happen?

Actually it was quite simple.

Bertstravels

Goshawk close

Could not resist the gleam in his eye !

Just 3 Pix

Goshawk: Hey, Judge, I've been framed.

flying right side up and upside down

Two Zebs

Swans in Winter

When shipping has come to a halt, this river belongs to the Swans!

The Swans in the river Drau 

stick around all year long.

Snow

Went to bed one evening and our lawn was a dirty Green.

Got up in the morning and what did we see ?

Just white fields and white houses and white hills.

Everywhere one looked: SNOW !!!

A bit too Blue, don't you think ?

Nice Guys

What do I read in today's newspaper ? And why am I glad about it ?
Let me go  back a step to 1997, when amidst great fanfare it was announced that 192 countries had signed the so-called Kyoto Protocol, intending to reduce Greenhouse Emissions (CO2 etc) to 5% below the 1990 standard.
Developing Countries, including China and India, were exempted from this requirement, and 3 countries refused to sign, among them the USA.
It had been established that China and the USA were and are the biggest contributors of Greenhouse Gases.
President Bush refused to sign this Protocol on the grounds that it is based on flawed scientific research, its goals would, given prevailing circumstances, not be achieved by any of the industrial Nations, and would only serve to create, higher fuel prices, rising unemployment, in short, economic downturn of the United States of America.
The storm of protest emanating from the EU was loud and clear, descending to the level of kindergarten arguments and insults.

Germany claims to have reached the levels proposed by the Kyoto Protocol.
Then came the Volkswagen scandal.
It was clearly demonstrated that diesel-operated automobiles of this manufacturer were deliberately produced to show low emissions on the test stand, but much higher emissions when the vehicle was in normal use. This con-job cheated not only the Kyoto set goals, but also every buyer of these VWs.

Volkswagen now admitted in a U.S. Court that it cheated on over 500,000 such automobiles.
The Company further declared itself guilty of a 
"Conspiracy and the Undermining of US justice *." 
It was emphatically stated, however, that these crimes were committed by "lower echelon" managers and not by members of the Board of Directors. 

What a bunch of sad-sack cowards...

* Undermining Justice simply means that they lied in court.

The fine: 4.3 Billions of U.S. Dollars.

Now, that's for half a million vehicles in the U.S.A.! How many vehicles did this "conspiracy" fraudulently put on the market in Europe and elsewhere in the world ? 
This conspiracy of "lower level managers."

Bertstravels
drives a Renault
and hopes that they do not cheat.

just two pictures

Seagulls on Lamp post

Escape !!!

15 below 0

When it's 15 below, a storm howls atop the "Petzen" 

making the slopes inaccessible for skiers,

 they unbuckle their skies, snap on a pair of skates

and head for the "Turner See". 

Blue on Blue

A true work of Art?

or, what is it ?

The "Blue Flag" and the "Calypso"

This "Blue flag" belongs to the group of "Irises" and grows in some abundance in Algonquin Park, where this intricately woven picture was taken.
I particularly like the green leaves of this flower, which display an almost artistically woven pattern supporting the "Blue Flag."

In Lake Huron, just off Tobermory, at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula,

you may find "Flowerpot Island."

There is a narrow opening in the rocky ground, out of which

a steady warm breeze blows. Summer and Winter.

Therefore, even though the winters there are ferocious,

there grow a number of Orchids.

This one is the so-called "Calypso Orchid!"

The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci

In the Museum of Modern Art in Klagenfurt, there is a most interesting photograph in a light box, featuring a take-off on da Vinci's painting of the Last Supper.
The photographer decided to place women instead of men around the table, in the same gestures and postures as da Vinci's work does. There is only one man shown in the photograph in the place where Leonardo's painting features a person with extremely feminine features.
The photographer places his subjects in the same groupings of three persons in four groups, with Jesus as the Centerpoint.

for more detail

click on image to enlarge.

So there it is: a reproduction of the original painting by Leonardo da Vinci and a photograph in a light box, depicting the same (or is it a 'similar') setting, but gender reversed.