Arquivo para a ‘Social Network’ Categoria
Reflections for 2023
27
Dec
I always make a proposal for some readings at the end of the year, sometimes
I abandon some and always attach others, due to the duty of the teaching profession and the emergence of new facts, as was the case of the pandemic in 2020 and the war in Ukraine in the last year.
Among others, four books already ordered, which I intend to read in the year 2023 are: “The new Vicky syndrome: why European intellectuals surrender to barbarism” by Theodore Dalrymple (pseudonym of British physician, psychiatrist and essayist Anthony Daniels, 72). years), although 2016 had several successes of the conjuncture, the second book is by Slavov Zizek: “The year we dream dangerously” (2012), the third is about technology, many bizarre things are written about technology and its advances, since we quote Jean Michel Ganascia: “The Myth of the singularity”, now we want to reread Artificial Intelligence from the author of the area but on basic things and on the dilemmas of AI: “Artificial intelligence: a very brief introduction”, basic but knowledgeable of the subject, a deeper reading requires study and specialization in the area.
A book of a spiritual nature could not be missing from the list, the book by Anselm Grum, who is a 77-year-old German Benedictine monk, and many of his books have had an impact on different situations, and now he wants to respond to anxiety, depression and hopelessness that affects a large part of pandemic humanity.
From Dalrymple we already posted about the book “Our culture or what we made of it” where the cultural analysis precedes the economic one and converges with the social one, about Slavov Zikek we had some quotations and we already have some reflections on his updated vision of socialism, but whose aspect of violence is not discarded.
In Zizek’s view, the overcoming of the social state or the welfare state, the state today is the administration of a permanent social crisis, and in this book still to be read, the releases and readings allowed online that I could read, he reveals the appreciation of intellectuals (I would say especially of the current editorial groups and their narratives) for the catastrophe, and I would say in disagreement with Zizek that he is also in this process, only due to the aspect of the use of violence expressed in several of his books, the indicated however shows the renewing aspect and true change that these movements of the 2011 were marked, but they were consumed by the current culture.
Although he has this ideological disagreement with Zizek, his analysis of 2011 should be quite interesting, remember the Arab Spring, the occupation movements like “Occupy Wall Street”, in Tahrir Square, in London and in Athens, there were strong movements, there were dark dreams, and certainly an event that Zizek does not remember, but it is important: the Fukushima catastrophe, the nuclear problem, was on March 11, 2011.
AI have much literature with little foundation ventures into the area, where the biggest problem is neither mystification nor ethical problems, but knowledge of the basic elements and future possibilities of the area, specialist Margaret A. Boden who researches in the area and understands the doubts on the subject, makes a very brief introduction capable of elucidating lay people already confused by the obscure and critical literature on the issue.
Perhaps there is a lack of frazilian, Latin or African literature, a book that I have seen and I have not formed an opinion is: “Guimarães Rosa: Dimensions of the narrative” catches my attention, I am not aware of the authors Maria Célia Leonel and Edna Maria F. dos Santos, I’m going to research, the synopsis looks interesting when approaching authors like Gèrard Genette and Ernest Cassirer, among others.
Still the war and still the pandemic
26
Dec
The news of the war in Ukraine is of a depletion of military forces, in the middle of 
winter, even though Moscow talks about peace negotiations, a new attack on Kiev is foreseen by the military command of Ukraine, while Russia had an attack on Crimea, what is visible is that each side is starting to use up its reserve forces and the scenario is one of exhaustion.
The human, military and material losses are enormous, as well as the challenge of maintaining the initiative with the arsenal at hand, is the analysis of many war observers, such as Igor Gielow of Folha de São Paulo.
Russia does not cede the conquered territories, which represent its control over the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, passage to the Mediterranean, even if it has to pass through Istanbul, a member of NATO and which controls the strait and the passage of ships.
On the side of Ukraine and NATO, the conquered territories are non-negotiable, so the possible agreement would be to go back to 2014 when Crimea was annexed to Russia.
Another worrying scenario at the end of the year is that of the Pandemic, although some announce the end of masks, the explosion of the Pandemic in China and a significant increase in cases, although the majority are mild, the end of the Pandemic seems to be far away, and the truce inspires even greater care.
In an interview on Christmas Eve with CNN, infectologist Raquel Muarrek, from the D´Or network, said that specialists are working with a new expectation that Brazil should have “a higher incidence of cases of Covid-19” in the next two months, and I say the origin is the high transmission that is already taking place in China, where control now even generates a social crisis, as the population is exhausted.
It remains to be seen what the attitude of the new rulers in the country will be, since the states enjoy a certain amount of autonomy to face the serious crisis, but the fact is that we will not be able to live with the neglect at the beginning of the year, and we expect preventive attitudes from the governments .
A scenario of uncertainties ensues, the Economic Forum in Davos promises many controversies, it is likely that left-wing countries will not attend, including Brazil, which has a new government in January, when the event takes place.
War in Ukraine and pandemic
19
Dec
Due to visual difficulties, today’s post will be short and without references,
due to the difficulty of reading, however the news of the war between Russia and Ukraine increases the concerns of those who are really in favor of peace, because there is no peace possible if the speeches and positions do not lead to agreements.
Russia continues its strategy of obstructing Ukraine’s energy sources, which are strategic during the cold European winter, on the other hand Ukraine resists in the fights in the east of the country and threatens the Crimea already annexed to Russia in the previous war, with the Russia’s strategy of dominating the Sea of Azor and the Black Sea region.
Ukraine’s strategy is to reach possible targets in Russian territory, which in addition to military bases can operate strategic nuclear weapons, the greatest fear of this war is an imminent and possible atomic war, which would be a scourge.
Christmas, which is a celebration of Light and peace, has the deepest strategic struggle on this side of the planet and with consequences that are still not very predictable, but in the short term, there will be more Russian bases affected in its territory and Ukraine is already experiencing a serious energy crisis , the allied countries react with measures of sanctions against Russia and attempts to help the Ukrainian people.
Regarding Covid 19, there is a concern that cases will increase again in 2023, just as health organizations are already anticipating a possible new pandemic, as we wrote, due to visual difficulties, we were unable to list the sources of this information due to the difficulty of reading.
Ukrainian War and Pandemic´s Brazil
12
Dec
The war in Ukraine continues in increasingly
dramatic situations due to the cold and the Russian strategy of undermining the country’s energy sources, which is a war crime since it hits the entire civilian population and not just the military. , while Ukraine looks to attack military bases now on Russian soil via suicide drones.
The bases attacked were in Engels, in the province of Saratov and Diaguilevo, near Ryazan, only 240 km from Moscow, showing that it has weapons to reach targets on Russian soil.
Russia has an attack in Crimea, while it intensifies defense in the strategic region of Dombass, territory claimed by the Tusso government, the bases for negotiation practically do not exist, since this region is disputed by two countries and there is no possible agreement in this regard.
Russia reiterates that it will not be the first to use chemical weapons, and that it knows the risk of this use, a war of unstoppable humanitarian populations, but both sides have weapons for this, and the very bases that are attacked by Ukraine aim to destroy possible bases of these weapons.
In the middle of winter the martyrdom of the Ukrainian people continues and the calls for peace go unheeded.
Covid 19, although whiter, continues with worrying rates, since it shows no signs of a truce, in Brazil the number of deaths and the moving average of known cases continues to grow slowly.
In the country there seems to be a paralysis of strategy, recommendations for preventive measures and incentives for vaccination, but without responses from society as a whole, or from effective control policies.
The path and the narrow gate
07
Dec
It is common sense culture that we should
seek a region of comfort or security, but it is neither in the great paths developed by current ideologies nor by the wide door of facilities, in fact the great populists of today are sellers of facilities that are expensive security and the popular economy.
[It is always easier and more popular to propose what seems obvious, to distribute benefits or to favor big companies and big banks to make the economy grow, but they are the greatest causers of havoc in the popular economy, as we developed in the last post to idea of tolerating crimes as a way of destroying culture and favoring marginality, what is called impunity is actually the wide door path to social cultural re-education.
People who grow up and develop a safe and secure life, if they are not thieves and sellers of facilities, are those who have gone through deprivation and difficulties to build a stable and sustainable life, even in the midst of crises and periods of difficulties such as the pandemic is being. which is hard to complete, social health agencies are important, but without personal care what they do is palliative.
For Christians, the biblical passage that says (Mt 11k28): “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” is complemented in the following verse Mt 11,29: “ Take my yoke under you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart and you will find rest”, which is omitted by religious people who proclaim the wide door of miracles and favours.
In the numerous correspondences that the famous physicist Niels Bohr exchanged with Albert Einstein, one of them is quite revealing, in which Bohr writes to Einstein that the root of all evil lies in the idea of men that someone can possess all the truth, she who was not a believer writing to Einstein that he was, brings a fundamental idea to know that all wisdom is not present in human consciousness.
Likewise, those who proclaim the pride of possessing all the truth or all the answers to human designs, even if they proclaim divine ideas, do not hold the whole truth, which is why the importance of the verse we pointed out: “learn from me that I am meek and humble in heart,” there is no haughtiness in godly wisdom and no desire for war or strife.
The War in Eastern Europe and Covid
05
Dec
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke with President Putin
for the first time since September, last Friday (12/02), for more than an hour, but made little progress.
The German leader tried to find a diplomatic path to the war, suggesting a withdrawal of Russian troops from the disputed regions of Ukraine, using the words “as soon as possible”, which indicates a possible escalation in the near future.
The shipment of long-range weapons to Ukraine suggests that an attack on Russian territory is possible, which would represent a new escalation in the war.
Kremlin diplomats conceded to German pressure, and Putin’s response to Schols was: “reconsider your approaches to the context of Ukrainian events” and drew attention to the “destructive line of Western states, including Germany” and therefore rejected the diplomatic negotiation proposals.
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Kremlin, told journalists earlier that Putin was open to negotiations aimed at “securing Russian interests”, but it is clear that Moscow is not willing to accept the conditions imposed by the US: “what President Biden said in fact ? He said that negotiations are only possible after Putin leaves Ukraine”, and this hypothesis does not exist for Russia.
War continues to worry humanity and its escalation could lead to a conflict of catastrophic proportions.
Another problem that affects humanity is Covid 19, whose numbers have risen again, although less than the peak of the Pandemic, in Brazil 86 deaths have been recorded in the last week and a moving average of 26 thousand cases.
Blindness and new paths
02
Dec
The greatest of all personal blindnesses is hatred, and the greatest social blindness is war, in which men lose their reason and become fanatics.
It is common in times of crisis and few know and actually defend the path of serenity and wisdom in these moments, polarization and war were signs, resorting to authoritarianism and social misguidedness is the consequence.
The visual physical limitation made me have the exact feeling of what this means, first recognizing my own blindness and then knowing how to walk with it and accept the limits resorting to healing.
Socially it is not quite like that because the narratives make men believe in what they say and say and what they imagine they see, we have already posted here Saramago’s essay and other blindness, also their meaning around the pandemic.
The social course of a society in disequilibrium and under tension is always worrying, because common sense does not always win, remember the two wars and their humanitarian disasters and other pandemics.
The Christian liturgy at this Christmas time does not speak only of the advent of the baby Jesus, it also speaks of the Parusia, that is, of a new advent, where it also says that there will be cuts and changes (Mt 3,10): “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire”, that is, the root of all evils and disagreements.
In religious terms, conversion is asked, a change of route, in social terms it is necessary to recognize what is not in the path of hope and love, and cut it at the root because it is the only way to change.
Straighten the paths
30
Nov
What is out of kilter In many times of transformation, the confused
and decadent environment induces irascible reasoning and temperaments and gives vent to what philosophers called drives or, if we want to simplify, a tendency towards what is easier, more useful and more pleasurable, without worrying about the consequences.
This type of impulse can be what in the English language is called “drive” (to direct) or in German trieb (both in the negative trieben deriva, and positive. Triebende driving force), so it is possible, in a very liberal reading, to see these values as positive, but historically they were signs of decay, as at the height of the Roman Empire or at the end of the Middle Ages, the maladjustment of social morals was clear.
However, in all these times, there have always been political, intellectual and social reactions to this decadence, and with that, history walked and some problems were solved, totally or partially, for example, the Roman Empire died little by little with the liberation of the colonies, already the period of liberalism and anthropocentrism at the end of the Middle Ages, gave rise to economic liberalism that led to the construction of new colonies in Africa and America and with this new forms of political and social decay extended until the French Revolution, for example, and in the English case, the coexistence of the monarchy with the republic.
A new cycle of decadence opens in this second decade of the millennium, with a visible fall in social and moral values, where politics is not a separate case.
Thus appear men and women capable of fighting to revert the historical picture of decay, but without a deep analysis the picture is confused, while ideas could be propagated in smaller circles in previous periods, now they travel the world in a fraction of seconds and invade even closed countries, such as Iran (there is a revolt for women’s rights) and China (where the strict confinement because of Covid provokes protests), but the background is a social reorganization.
In a small colony of Judea, in a period of many false prophets and rebellions against the Roman Empire, there was a religious figure called John the Baptist, who challenged the powers and governors, Herodes feared him not because he had an army or because the people followed him, but for the harsh words he had.
The lessons of John the Baptist are valid for our time: straighten the paths and level the hills, that is, seek straight paths that help open minds and forces to social reorganization.
Folly and messy house
29
Nov
In addition to the war in Eastern Europe, a possible return of the
pandemic, human common sense seems to be out of fashion, days are confusing, even the dates of the week and the end of the year, traditionally more festive and calm, seem to give in to an atmosphere of foolishness and protest, due to the sporting event that involves at least 32 nations: The World Cup.
Although the house is in disarray, all the political rage seems to have gone to football, in fact politics looks like football with organized supporters destabilizing social life and removing authorities from their status quo, the judge who lowers himself to the fool, the president who rebels with the power it represents, new land invasion movements and calls for more authoritarianism in the midst of an evident crisis of authority.
Although the fan threw the LGBTQIA+ flag on the lawn, he was also protesting the war in Ukraine and the oppression of Iranian women (see the picture).
The Cup already had a protest from an Islamic country that did not sing its own anthem, a fan who invaded the field to protest against gender inequality and even a request for the selection to be expelled from the World Cup, the player is injured and the fans themselves celebrates, finally, wisdom seems to be out of kilter.
After all, a sport is fun, it does involve passion, but it is only within its limits, and cultural diversity must also be respected, as well as the right to protest within the limits of the demonstration.
The important analysis is that none of these facts should be taken out of context, an isolated fact or just the manifestation of minority groups, the house is in disarray, there is something dark in the air.
There are isolated and muffled voices that ask for a return to the axis and the solution of problems that are serious, yes, but they cannot be solved with foolishness, a messy house requires care in tidying up every corner, cleaning every hidden object or left aside, and let that sport is what it is in essence, a peaceful way to compete and bring joy to balanced national hearts and sentiments.
New variant and covid 19 on the rise
28
Nov
Although the numbers are not the same as the peak 
of the pandemic, the upward trend in cases remains and a new concern emerges as a worrying factor.
According to the German Primate Center (DPX), the Leibniz Institute and the Friedrich Alexander Erlangen Nurbnerg University, the therapies currently approved to treat people at risk of developing severe cases of Covid-19 are also not effective against the viral variants that are in worldwide ascension, especially the underlining of }omicron BQ.1.1. on the rise worldwide.
Also the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) which regulates drugs in the United States as well as the European Medicines Agency (European EMA0, the previous vaccines do not work for this variant, new vaccines in tests are already being used, and as always there are already denialist theory circulating, and the excessive lockdown in China already generates a wave of protests.
What is at stake, as at the beginning of the pandemic, is the fall or rise, now with previous experience, of a new lethal wave over all of humanity, the picture promises to get worse if measures are not taken or if they are not accepted by already exhausted populations containment and preventive measures.
The number is not exaggerated, neither in the moving average in the number of cases, in Brazil in the range above 20 thousand daily cases, nor in the number of deaths, in Brazil less than a hundred (80 at the weekend). However, the rate remains (see the figure).
In addition, in the Brazilian case, the tumultuous transition and government, which generates a certain inertia in the health system, where costs are also high and, according to the elected government, very chaotic.
In the northern hemisphere it is winter and this worries even more, the inefficiency of preventive measures is also a concern, not to mention the aggravating factor of a war that undermines the energy sources necessary for heating environments and coping with the cold, especially in the region where the war does not give truce.
Everyone in the world, and especially in Brazil, is expected to show some sense from the authorities who are ultimately responsible for the health and lives of thousands of people at risk.
