Magazine covers

The American Society of Magazine Editors has announced what they consider to be the best magazine covers of the past 40 years. You can view them here. My personal favorite is the October 1966 issue of Esquire. The minimalist design draws absolute attention to one simple yet shocking quote : "Oh my God, we hit a little girl." This is also the title of John Sack's piece on the infantry company he had been following from their training at Fort Dix to the battleground in Vietnam.

magazine, cover, Esquire, JohnSack

Jackpot

Growing up is realizing the inevitable banality of mankind. When I was a kid and heard people talk about politics, the stock market and all those other things I had no clue as to what those grown-ups were talking about, I marvelled at the complexity of their words. Now I realize that's just what they were: words. Take for instance the stock market: a lot of complicated fiscal and financial mechanisms are the thorns of a rose called 'sentiment'; blind belief, suspicion, fear, greed, proud,...What do 200 pages of graphs prove? That you should hire this broker, and not the other. Believe what you want to believe. As the sophists in ancient Greek pointed out, truth is what people think is true. The truth is what you perceive the truth to be. We are all monkeys keeping ourselves busy with our petty yet somewhat funny games. My family's pet rabbits are my saints from now on. They embody my truth, hell, they embody THE truth.

The European Constitution

Journalists describe it as a prank, an absolute failure. Historians see it as a valuable experiment: the European Constitution. I haven't read all of it yet, but I would like to share these first paragraphs with you.

DRAWING INSPIRATION from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe, from which have developed the universal values of the inviolable and inalienable rights of the human person, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law,

BELIEVING that Europe, reunited after bitter experiences, intends to continue along the path of civilisation, progress and prosperity, for the good of all its inhabitants, including the weakest and most deprived; that it wishes to remain a continent open to culture, learning and social progress; and that it wishes to deepen the democratic and transparent nature of its public life, and to strive for peace, justice and solidarity throughout the world,

CONVINCED that, while remaining proud of their own national identities and history, the peoples of Europe are determined to transcend their former divisions and, united ever more closely, to forge a common destiny,

CONVINCED that, thus "United in diversity", Europe offers them the best chance of pursuing, with due regard for the rights of each individual and in awareness of their responsibilities towards future generations and the Earth, the great venture which makes of it a special area of human hope,

DETERMINED to continue the work accomplished within the framework of the Treaties establishing the European Communities and the Treaty on European Union, by ensuring the continuity of the Community acquis...

Wonderful, noble words. Too bad almost nobody in Europe has ever read this. The gap between the European people, who don't consider themselves to be European at all actually, and the Ivory Tower in Brussels is too wide for these words to be taken seriously. This might sound as if it is coming from a platonic demagogue, but direct education is what the world needs. An ethic reveil is what I am waiting for; one that -just like this constitution- aims at propagating unity through diversity.

unity, Europe, constitution, utopia

Back in the USB (United States of Belgium)

This is to be my first Belgian post in a very long time. Yes, I have returned to my heimat. It strikes me that whereas for the people I have said goodbye to back in Japan, the distance between them and me is much more a distance in time, than it is in space. The contrary can be said for my own personal perception on the matter. Maybe that's because the ones who I left behind, obviously still remain where they were = Japan. Losing track of the thread here? Never mind. Just consider this post as yet another contemplation on the time-vs-space battle.