Philip Morris receives EU farm subsidies?

A bit dated but still relevant and sad, in addition to other multinational corporations taking money away from local farmers in developing countries by receiving farm subsidies, Philip Morris is receiving tax breaks for using sugar, which makes it easier for new smokers such as women and children to inhale them. For more on the EU, corporations and subsidies click here.


From the Sunday Express, 29/1/06
Philip Morris benefiting from EU subsidies

Tobacco giant Philip Morris is pocketing millions of pounds in taxpayers' cash under Europe's Common Agricultural Policy, reports the Sunday Express. Philip Morris gets £4.4 million a year in farm subsidies because it uses sugar products in its cigarettes. Philip Morris is just one of a long list of multinational companies which benefit under the EU's controversial farm policy.

The EU spent £30 billion on the CAP in 2004 - more than 40% of the whole EU budget with billions going to support the sugar industry. The policy guarantees artificially high prices to EU sugar producers. When multi-national manufacturers export sugar or processed goods using sugar, they are entitled to refunds on the difference between the EU price they have to pay and the lower world market price.

Osama in Tbilisi?

oil flooding

I am convinced they are looking for Osama bin Laden or perhaps oil on our street in Tbilisi. They have been drilling for awhile and keep moving this oil tanker tower down the street with the asthmatic cranes and trucks which make my lungs shudder. In one of the slightly monsoon-like rains which have been hitting the city, you see the gutters spiling water on to the construction.

They are attempting to put these pillars in the ground to stabilize the earth so that when they dig, the buildings are not affected. When the stores in front of our house expanded, they did not put foundation under the added portions of the stores and now with the drilling to fix the water pipes which were posted in March, the metal shutters will not close anymore provoking the owners to complain and get the city out here to "dig for oil" or pretend that they are fixing the situation. That is what they are really doing with the oil rigs. Please feel free to let me know if you think this fortification will work. I am not convinced having been brought up in an architectural/engineering family.

Rice for sale!

Stocking up with grains

Vitamin Cigarettes? O mon dieu!

I was looking at my news websites and came across this. I have heard of adding sugar to cigarettes to make it easier to inhale for women and children but this borders on the absurd, adding vitamins to cigarettes.


Canadian creates cigarette with vitamin C - From CTV.ca

April 21, 2006

The

The 'VitaCig' was invented by non-smoker Roger Ouellette for his wife.
CTV.ca News Staff

Called the "VitaCig," it was invented by non-smoker Roger Ouellette for his wife, who has smoked a pack of cigarettes every day since the age of 14.

"We give you all the vitamins you lose, plus some vitamins to help you," he told CTV News.

Health Canada is skeptical of the claim, saying any cigarette is harmful.

"I say this half-jokingly: a safe cigarette is one that's not lit," Health Canada spokesperson Mathew Cook said.

Cook added that Health Canada has heard of similar products before, but that this particular brand only recently appeared on the Canadian market.

Because such products still contain tobacco, Health Canada said it falls under the Tobacco Act and should be regulated the same way as any other cigarette.

Although Health Canada has not tested the VitaCig, Cook said that such products are no less harmful than any regular brand.

"We do tests right now, analysis on the tobacco products, on cigarettes, and what we do is measure the toxic emissions," he said.

"We have no evidence that these products are any different at this point."

He also warned against any claims stating the VitaCig brand is healthy, saying "there's a law against making misleading claims about a product."

Quebecers will be able to try the new cigarettes for themselves at one of 2,000 stores across the province, and it could soon reach more locations outside the province.

Smoker Heidi Miller tried the VitaCig and said it does have less of an odour than her regular brand, although she was highly skeptical of the added ingredients.

"I don't think any cigarette can be healthy for you, and I'm a smoker," she said. "No, I wouldn't smoke for health reasons."

Meanwhile, Oullete's wife is pleased with her husband's product.

"I am happy, because I don't have to quit any more," Gisele Tremblay said.

With a report by CTV's Genevieve Beauchemin in Montreal

Video link:

CTV News: Genevieve Beauchemin from Montreal 1:43
http://www.ctv.ca/...=

Related French-language coverage:

Une cigarette... vitaminée - La Presse
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/

Bathroom update

Outhouse with LED light

After going on a quest to see some of the famous monasteries of the Kakheti region in Georgia and the road being impassable with our minivan and the mud on the "highway" going to the area, we went to a lesser known monastery with a better road. At some point, I went to find the toilet that the monks use and to my surprise they had an innovative set up for sanitation and electricity. The little Pepsi bottle cap you see is in fact a LED light with a switch that runs through the other outhouse stall and to some form of electricity source. The bathtub/faucet for washing your hands (not sure if the water was from a well or a overhead container but there was running water) was set up to drain off through a tube which in turn would flush the toilet. This is an excellent example of how to prevent waste of resources but have sanitation of sorts.

Freestyling and High Dives

My mother always claimed I could be an Olympic swimmer and perhaps that could or could have been true, just not really an aim of mine, but I feel the men of Georgia would probably have to agree with. I am a pretty strong swimmer for US standards, having raced but with the trademark of swimming usually 1000 meters or 1Km without stopping which usually blows most people away in the US and here, well quite unheard of. I am actually beginning to think that most girls work out on the machines to watch television and I am not over-exaggerating. Half the women barely break a sweat and the men seem to want to sweat up a storm wearing track suits and as much clothes as they can muster to wiggle off their khachapuri (Georgian cheese bread) and beer filled tummies. The women, on the other hand could almost qualify for needing humanitarian assistance in a lot of cases as they are so very thin. Even in the classic, Ali and Nino, the Azerbaijani, Ali complained about how thin the Georgian women are.

With all of this in mind, Enter Center-Stage: American girl, definitely not super thin, dressed in an unusual attire of racing swimsuit, swim cap (why heavens, what for?) and goggles (even more unusual for women here). The normal swim outfit would be bikini or perhaps one-piece that is fashionable but could possibly not be indecent while swimming, definitely no goggles and perhaps a swim cap, but then again, what for? The normal custom is to do breaststroke with head above water, slowly for relaxing after exercise. If it hasn't been made evident, I swim with the specific purpose of exercising which seems to surprise and amuse a lot of the men here. As I begin swimming freestyle quickly one day. I notice that a man pushes off the wall around the same time as me trying to race me, I presume. Within a couple of strokes, I have passed him. Several of his friends attempt as well, which begins to be a source of entertainment in my swimming meditation. 10 minutes pass and more men seem to be congregating in the lane where I am swimming, blocking the passage for me to do flipturns, which was a big mistake on their behalf as I go pretty fast to the wall then flutter some water as my feet hit the wall. I was beginning to think they were amused by the fact someone, be it more so a woman, is going fast and doing flip turns in the pool. I am surprised they didn't take photos. Although some men started passing comments according to a friend who apparently viewed the incident, complaining about women going faster than the men.

They are quite reckless at the pool with the high dives allowing kids and adults to go off the platforms up to at least 10 meters while the lane dividers are in the pool as well as people swimming below. I've developed a slight complex thinking about some man plummeting on top of me while doing one of my sprints. This is not to mention what would happen to the poor soul that lands between his legs on the lane lines. This is only one of the many examples of serious recklessness in Georgia.

Customer Service in the US

With the 24 hour customer service lines streamlining efficiency through the use of computer answered calls which almost always have you screaming "NO! CUSTOMER SERVICE!" You may find this website useful. I have often avoided going through the computer because most of the time when you type in your account information it doesn't seem to pass it along, making me wonder, Why?

Here is a link from Paul English of Kayak.com as found from Real Tech News

How to Bypass Most Phone Menus and Get to a Live Operator
April 24, 2006


Here are the secret numbers and tips to bypass 108 IVR phone menus to get to a human.


American Express 800-528-4800 0
ATT Universal 800-950-5114 ###
Bank of America 800-900-9000 1 loan; 2 account; 3 investing; 4 info; or 00 to human
Bank One 877-226-5663 0,0
Capital One Visa 800-867-0904 ignore prompts and invalid entry warnings; press #0 four times
Charles Schwab 800-435-9050 3 then 0
Chase 800-CHASE24 5 pause 1 4

Pork Anyone?

In getting lost in Kakheti looking for monasteries on roads that would qualify as 3rd rate roads in most countries, e.g. needing 4 wheel drive and good wheels to go up the mud slope at times, I came across this imcomplete carcass of a pig.

Sheep and Cars - peaceful reconciliation?

Reflections

Tbilisi as reflected through the Philharmonica windows.

Anti-smoking Soviet cartoon

Staying up late at night has proven fruitful for once and so has Vova's amusement with cartoons after midnight. In flipping channels we happened upon a cartoon from Soviet times when the earth was smoking itself into a frenzy, puffing away and making a huge smoke bubble around the planet. This Martian from a far away planet, (Not from the league of "clean air" as this Superman style hero tells all the smokers) decides to investigate just into a pair of bowls placed together and turns into a flying saucer scuttling down to earth. There he finds everyone smoking and he is gasping until Superman with a mustache gives him a World War II issued gas mask, then he is able to observe easier. Superman tells the smokers not to kill him too much as he is not from the League of Clean Air, which is another interesting symbol to dissect at a later time. The Martian eventually escapes but Superman, who is obviously playing for both teams slips a pipe in his saucer. By the time he gets back home, he is happy as a clam, smoking away and his Martian wife is begging for some.

Throughout this cartoon, anti-smoking messages such as smoking kills you, reduces your life, etc is very extensive. This was shown on Russian TV here in Tbilisi. I am wondering when this cartoon is from exactly. It seems like it would be the 80's. There were some tobacco ads from Soviet and Western companies but I am curious what Soviet symbolism would be. Obviously, the Martian is the protagonist, but he is from another planet. I suppose that would make it easier in propaganda terms to digest as it is more removed. But the Superman creature? What does he represent? It would seem that it is the neighbor who seems friendly but in the end will sell you to the highest bidder. So, the moral of the story is report on your neighbors and keep to yourself. Any other interpretations?

Magestic Dancing

Elegant floating Georgian Queens flutter back and forth in the sunset hues.

Kidnapped Caucasian Style

There is this film called Kidnapping, Caucasian Style from the 1970's about "an athlete, activist and beauty" (sounds a bit like me, but isn't, I was too young then :) ) being kidnapped for marriage, which is an old "beloved" tradition of the region. The film is totally kitsch complete with this "students'" song about bears rubbing their backs on the axis of the world to make it go round.

When I heard about the marriage kidnapping I thought it was a slight joke of sorts, or at least not really mainstream these days. I went to a hair salon today and the woman who was waxing me, when talking about my "kartuli kmari" or Georgian husband* she asked the normal questions, kids? Where did we meet? etc. The tables then turned and I started to ask as well. After learning that she had three children and was only four years older than myself I was curious when she had started being the baby-maker. Apparently she was kidnapped when she was 19 by a friend of hers, not a close one, just a friend and definitely not a boyfriend, and before she knew anything he had had his wicked way with her and she was pregnant. As this was the first man in her life she didn't really understand the consequences at first. He told her that you are my wife now despite the fact that she didn't want to be and her parents didn't want her to be. This conversation was in Georgian-English and the quest for getting the word "kidnapping" was quite amusing. She was explaining, I supplied the word kidnapping, she didn't understand; then I did a demonstration of what is happening in Iraq with people getting kidnapped and she understood. I was a bit in shock as this is at the hair salon of the super posh gym where I go. She is half Finnish and half Georgian so her family is not totally from back country but she was indeed kidnapped, Caucasian style. To add to the fact of being a kidnapper and a bit of a rapist, the man apparently is too proud to work as Georgians want to be managers and not workers. So he got himself a wife to be the worker for him. Slave and wife at once.



* There is no word in Georgian for boyfriend, or partner really. Just husband, spouse or friend. Girlfriend is even trickier as they don't exist, they are wives, spouses or prostitutes, or fiancee, but no girlfriend.

Yoga in Tbilisi

There is a yoga class at the Vake Park gym. I was curious what their idea of "Fitness Yoga" is as for me it involves hard-core sun salutations and what would probably be the Georgian idea of exercise suicide here. Then again, Americans are a bit more loco with exercise than most, n'est-ce pas?

Coming into the class I hear Chinese music. The type you may hear on a Wai Lana soundtrack. I used to see some of her yoga videos on public TV in the US. I remember tropical flowers and the beach. I believe she did yoga with a crown of flowers on her head which could make it more challenging to do headstand I suppose. Anyway I will diverge later into the politics of cultural adaptation and fusion of traditions, e.g. Hawaiian yoga, Brazilian belly dancing, etc. So the Chinese music which was slow with flutes and meditative did not really invoke the idea of fitness to me. Then again, what really is fitness? Fitness to one person could be again, locura tremenda, or huge craziness to another. The idea of a room full of Georgians working up a storm, sweating and doing boot-camp Vinyasa sequences would be enough to get a crew of TV reporters on the fitness revolution taking place in Tbilisi, e.g. not happening any time soon. So flute music, no verbal instruction, no mats, at least she got the concept of not wearing shoes but they had their socks on which is somewhat understandable as it was cold. As expected there was no meditation, shivasana (final relaxation pose). The teacher did have us to shoulder stand but once again, no mention of not moving the neck around to prevent injuries which would be crucial for Georgia as it is safe to say most people do not know yoga here.

It was a curious sequence with most of the resting postures between more strenuous postures being the quadriceps stretch, and stretching the arms across the chest in a self-hug. We did that quite a bit. I suppose the yoga in this class was not judging the class and being open to the new ideas for which I was open. However, calling the class "Fitness Yoga" at a serious gym seems like a bit of a misnomer. The mats which we were to use for the second half of the class weren't yoga mats but rather athletic cushing which I have been using in the exercise area for yoga sometimes but difficult as downward facing dog pulls the mat quite a bit

After class I asked the teacher about Fitness yoga. She said it was a style from Moscow that is not Hatha, Ashtanga, etc. but rather using yoga elements and is a stretching class. I suppose then for the Russians, stretching=fitness. She I believe has learned from videotapes. I am teaching the teacher on Thursday to show her some yoga as she is interested in Ashtanga.

Ghost Dancers

Bull fighting dancing ghosts

Stomatologist commonly referred to as Dentist

Even Happy Jaws the shark has his teeth cleaned at the Stomatologist, how dentist is usually translated from Georgian.

The Future of Georgia

The youth of Tbilisi, will the Rose Revolution help them?

I was a bit worried for Georgia's Future as I thought they may be lost. But, they have been found: at the local video game players in the underground passageways between Tbilisi's streets. I had been wondering what happens to Georgian children once they clear 16 years old. While they are young it seems like they play football, swim, dive, among other sports. I have seen few young adult men engaging in outdoor activity of the type of their youth. As many men smoke here, I was fearing that young boys look up to them as role models and begin to imitate once they hit their teens and then become addicted before they are aware of the fate to which they have succumbed. As I was crossing through the underground passage today I found Georgia's youth. In addition to the wafting aroma of urine, there are several stalls with TV's and video games. I bet you are curious what game they are indulging in. Could it be driving recklessly? Hmmm... well, they probably are doing that in their own cars so where is the fun in that? Shooting people? Nahhh, guns are for New Years only :)

The video games are for playing Football, or for Americans: Soccer. So, they used to play outside and get exercise. These boys/men are sitting inside, smoking, crowded around TV screens with a virtual reality of a football field. I spied about 5 of these rooms, each one quite full of testosterone. Quite an interesting site, at the very least.

Crazy going slowly I am

After about 3 weeks of learning Georgian with the practice of writing the 33 hieroglyphics of the language as I fondly call it, I have started mentally writing my occurring thoughts without thinking about it in Georgian. That is, if I say absolutely, I start to write out the letters in Georgian script in my head. I have officially gone crazy I believe. Who would have thought that I ever would be able to read the majority of these letters yet have conversations with taxi drivers. I knew I could but it is so hard.

The Other Georgia

It's the other one not this one. But I suppose this and that are relative, aren't they? I was trying to deal with my frequent flyer miles last night and American Airlines has issues over crediting miles for transatlantic flights taken with British Airways. So, I was discussing that flight from the US and then a European flight as well, to Tbilisi. As I ask the attendant how many miles I would get for my flight from London to Tbilisi mentioning that it is a European flight, the woman started to say that it is a transatlantic flight as well. I would say maybe it is nighttime where she was, but it was 2am for me so, being in Georgia, the country, it is quite improbable she is at a time zone earlier than mine. In other words, the American Airlines people are not terribly familiar with some of their flights nor geography.

Ice ice baby

In Gudauri, the last week of skiing this season in late April!