N O W , L O O K H E R E !
(publicistics)
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There is no idea about the cover, because in this book are gathered great variety of different journalistic materials, it is not a work of fiction, and such books are usually not illustrated.
[ Remark: As far as the book is enormously big it is published here, by old habit, in small booklets amounting to about 50 (to 100) KB, containing normally from three to five papers. Here we are moving to the end of the Section "For Newspapers" with the next two materials. ]
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CONTENTS OF THE SECTIONS
Foreword
I. For Journals
II. For Newspapers
III. Feuilletons
IV. Others
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Contents Of Section "For Newspapers"
The truth about Bulgaria
About the market and the Bulgarian
Five years of devastation
Do you want to lose your 13th pension?
Time to draw conclusions
About the elections and the demos
Requiem for one coalition
Something more about democracy
What we have messed with the Currency Board
Convergence, what is this?
Why the communism has fallen down?
And where are we?
Predictions for the year 1999
Can the Bulgarian pay 50% taxes?
Reflections on the eve of the "holiday"
About democracy and melioration
About democratic phenomenon
A step forward and two back
Again sharp turn
Oh God, what we eat!
Why the cocks crow early morning?
Does global warming exist?
The fatal 2013 year in Bulgaria
Why we vote, when we ... don't vote?
About the fascism from common sense positions
About the Social Ministry in Bulgaria
How to improve democratic protests?
Read Chris Myrski (in the sense of political reviews)
Thoughts about Ukraine
... new for newspapers
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ABOUT THE SOCIAL MINISTRY IN BULGARIA
I speak with such confidence about this Ministry because I have spoken not long ago about this my idea, which I will explain here in more details. But it is not entirely new for me, because before one or two years I have launched the idea about moderate communism in Bulgaria, which in some extent contacts with this. The difference is that the communism requires immediate prepayment for people with quite low, significantly before minimal monthly salary (MMS), income, while the Social Ministry has to perform also common planning functions,
of social status of
Bulgarians, as well as searching of ways for targeted, in accordance with the kinds of expenses, support, outlining group of, let us name them so,
(SNP) and services, the prices of which have to be brought in line with the abilities of the given person, suppressing, as far as possible, the market mechanism from the standpoint of the individual, yet not excluding the free market from the standpoint of manufacturer or supplier. Putting this in other words, the Social Ministry must provide social help for the population, but under the conditions of right-wing capitalism, with its market and paying for everything. And now, more precisely.
But let me firstly say a pair of words about this, why it must exist in Bulgaria, while in the Western countries, as a rule, there is no such Ministry, there are only social programs to the municipalities. It must exist by us for the simple reason that
we are
we are more savage than them, are not convinced in the necessity of social measures, nor our measures of that kind function good (for example, earlier, in totalitarian time, existed the so called
where, honestly, was not exactly
— this is swine tripe, and from here their name —, in the 80s of the last century, but was soup from swine heads, fat and nutritious as much as you want, where the hot pepper was free of charge, and all this for 10
-cents, i.e. less than an egg for then 13 st.; now even a meatless bean soup costs at least one lev, i.e. 4-5 eggs). To say nothing about cheap hotels and holiday homes, or also baths — there are not more such things, end even the central mineral bath in Sofia, since it was privatized, ceased to exist. Also a heap of bus lines were canceled as unprofitable, and at least in Sofia, one can not more clime the Vitosha mountain for one day — more or less like in the times of our Aleko Konstantinov, more than a century back. Or also the central heating in winter for a modest two-room (i.e. one bed-room) flat amounts to 1/3 MMS, but there were periods when it exceeded half of MMS. And many other examples for our
democracy — when we so strongly did not want it to be people's, right? In addition to this we are the poorest among our European partners, so that it in necessary that we have some special instance which is to fight with the poverty of the poorest, i.e. with the (democratic) misery.
With the initial common things can be engaged also some department of our Ministry of Labour and Social Care, but in my opinion is necessary to have a separate Social Ministry, at least from the moment of common monitoring of all Bulgarians. And this Ministry must be part of
governments, as right-wing or left-wing they can be, be simply
, not that it turned out that the last establishes that one MMS is
levs, but the Trade unions calculate the social minimum to 1.7
and this
, but if in a family works only one person, even if in it are only two persons, because there have left no more "real" families (though for two working grown ups and two children the situation is the same), this means that he /she has to receive at least 3 MMS, what now is widely higher than the average working salary for the country, or that some, so, 90% of the Bulgarians, live on the threshold of poverty. At the same time, however, when it goes about
from the citizens for social securities is accepted that there is entirely
minimal salary, which can reach up to 2 MMS (this is by us so already 10 years and nobody is impressed by it). Id est, we are full with anachronisms, because there is not one opinion on the question of social care for the citizens (well, for the peasants, too, surely), and each new government introduces new dissonances in this regard.
So that the common things are not so much, but they are important, where in addition to the fulfilling of a heap of statistics for the living standard, which are done now by a number of various instances, it has to be engaged first of all with
developing of common strategy against the poverty,
which has to remain unchanged for
a decade, and which must be linked with all kinds of payments and taxes (not that: one finance Minister decides one thing, but when comes another one he decides something else), i.e. it is needed unified and consecutive
, must be clear that poverty in our time is simply a disgrace, and that the state must care about such people even only for the reason that they were born on this world (unfortunately in our ruined, by too many "democrats", country). We must come in the end to the conclusion that must be not only notion of "minimal salary", but also of "minimal income" or "
", which I think quite naturally to be half MMS! ( This is natural because the pensions and scholarships on the West, but also in Bulgaria earlier, are usually 2/3 MMS, but in these cases one, still, does something, goes out on the street, spends money on transport, clothes, breakfasts and lunches, and so on, so that the absolute minimum is logically to be lower, and for round calculations is rightly to accept 0.5 MMS ) And then, if we are on one opinion, that nobody must fall below this minimum —
, no matter whether he is studying, or is ill, or is in some depression, or is just lazy, even if he is drug addict he must have what to eat and dress himself and ride around the town (to say nothing about some domicile, where the question is more difficult and may need, as it really needs, some municipal housing and dormitories) —, so when one drops below this level one must
(!) fall under some protection of the state, not that he must go to different instances and beg them.
Putting this otherwise:
one should not feel in unequal position only because one is poor,
as we said, independently of the causes (for he may also be an intellectual, as e.g., your author, but can also ... become part of some new
, or a good footballer, or can be forced to care about ill parent or child, and so on). Id est, the market is market, the democracy is democracy, but the social care must be social care!
So that to the common questions can be considered also determining from what instances must be required assistance in cases of falling below the social minimum, as well as tying of the things with the budget, with the taxes, not like it is in Bulgaria (that the poor ones pay more than the wealthy, as percent of their income and expenses, naturally, in many cases — let me not indulge also here in more explanations). In addition to this we must be clear that even on this common level
and services must be considered as included in the necessary social minimum, and they must be controlled and ways are to be searched for regulation of their prices, and to be helped people with earnings lower than the social minimum exactly for these articles (because, for example, it is one thing if one must undergo operation because he /she has a harelip, and it is quite different thing if one wants to bore his /her tongue and put something shiny there; or it is one thing to by some special dry salami, and another thing if it goes about common mincemeat or sausage). Id est,
it must be introduced
how it was, in general terms, under the totalitarianism. You see, under conditions of democracy of the right-wing or Western type, this, positively, will be harder (there is no mechanism for central regulation of prices), yet it is not impossible to be done; it is true that now even a system of coupons can not be introduced (by the current potential of copying technology), but there are ways. For example, the West sponsors for a long time in some way the producers of agricultural products (because these are a big number of people, this is their livelihood, they more often produce something natural, i.e. this is not the industry, where a conveyor can be introduced, or even some robot). Or there exists control of various kinds of industry, taxes, excises, list of people to whom things can be sold cheaper (say, medicaments for people with cancer). There are variants, they have to be thought through (as also about the prices on city transport, heating, etc.). Using other words: it must be done everything possible in order to
correct the minuses of market economy,
not only to sing them dithyrambs. The market might have been good in the times before Christ, but nowadays it is not such, the large scale industry just demolishes the small and manual one, yet the last is what creates labour for the people, as well gives them pleasure. So that if we have a view to the point about Social Ministry and SNP, where are supposed also services (say, education, healthcare, transport, heating, an so on), and on the basis of good statistical analysis of their consumption, can be taken right decisions in the concrete cases. ( For example, can be applied some ... colouring of the bread, say, in mouse colour, what would have made it not pretty attractive for the relatively affluent people, but it will be, still, as much nutritious. This is a bit crazy variant, but it can as well be applied for some "people's" bread. Or return to different taxes for cow white cheese and for sheep one. But almost surely must be taken away the taxes on medicines and medical services; it is inadmissible that one dental prosthesis, which is fabricated maximum for one workday, and whose materials cost as a kilo dry salami, to be paid by a price of a whole minimal monthly salary, but it is so by us! )
The next moment, which now, definitely, requires special Ministry, is
monitoring of the social status of all Bulgarians,
and by falling below the social minimum of 0.5 MMS alarming of other instances if necessary, and giving direct help, as far as possible, to the concrete person! Now, on this place some readers can object that: I see it, we are returning back to the communism where was watched about everybody and everything. Well, this is prejudiced statement at least because the income of everybody,
, is watched, or it is
that was watched, for this must be known to the tax instances, so that we simply require that the Social Ministry (SM) becomes the first instance which will know this, and it must send the necessary information to other instances, not vice versa. At the worst, and on the first time, can be on the contrary, but this only complicates the things, so that let us speak about what is proper to be done. It is proper the following: SM maintains thorough records for all Bulgarians above the passport age (but even better for all living citizens of the state), with the following fields: EGN (this is our Unique Citizenship Number, for other countries can be used some unique Identification Number, or Taxpayer Number), names, education (of what kind and type), age (which has to be got and actualized from EGN — in Bulgaria it begins with
according to the used abbreviation), average monthly income for one to three previous years, total income and current monthly income for this year (eventually zero if the person is not of age or is without work), relations with other persons with whom he /she makes one household (this as if is better to be used than the word family) including dependent juveniles (in view of what is better to have full data base of all citizens, no matter that there are various exceptions for those not yet of age), expenses for SNP for the previous (one to three) years and for the current till the moment, possibly ethnic affiliation, disability (if there is any), and so on, and some others service fields which may turn to be needed.
Naturally, the expenses for SNP may not be entered for the moment, because we have not yet explained how they will be made, i.e. how they will be separated from the other expenses, but fields for them must be available also in the beginning. The forming of one household is very important, for it is necessary to know how to compute the corresponding ideal part of the income, so that it is needful to explain in more details how this will be established and who will be "head" of the household, for what purpose people are to sign somewhere, but this is to be done only once and will be significant when there will emerge SNP expenses. Then if all employers, plus the institutions for pensions, scholarships, and other incomes, sent information to this Ministry, it can always have a good sight on the social status of Bulgarians, which has to be accessible by everybody, only not as concrete persons (i.e. without our EGN), but as amount for each of the fields. Important are incomes in the limits: below 0.5 MMS, between 0.5 and 1.0 MMS, then up to 1.5 MMS, then to 2 MMS, to 3 MMS, to 5, and above 5 MMS. Now, let is not argue: if we have not exact sight on the income of every citizen in this limits, eventually with adding of other data like: ethnicity, age, profession, of what kind and level, and similar things, can't exist good social policy, especially in our "specific" conditions. And this always from that moment on, by each ruling.
And as to the necessity of paying of some monetary help by this Ministry to different citizens, even on this stage, is necessary the existence of some banking institute, which we will name
Central Social Bank (CSB).
In the ideal case, once we have this Ministry, it is correct exactly via CSB to perform all payments, like pensions, scholarships, et cetera, according to the data from the corresponding instances, what will facilitate the work of the latter on the account of that of the SM, but when it, anyway, will have all the data, and be
, then this will not increase especially its functions. So the SM, together with the CSB, will preside over all social payments, as well over personal
from part of the citizens, i.e. it will help taxing institutes, as well also have decisive vote in forming of the state budget and setting of the taxes (taking into account first of all the social functions of the state).
Now it comes the third moment, or the time of "maturation" of SM, and this is
execution and control of the expenses on SNP,
as well also their compensation for those for whom these things are beyond their strength. Let us take first only such instances where these expenses are at 100% SNP and these institutions offer only such expenses. For example: central heating, city transport, healthcare, including the pharmacies, education, and similar things. Well, there is no need to "discover America", nowadays already everywhere where only is possible are used ... phone cards, right? So then every citizen (as well also peasant, as I have mentioned) receives one such card — social card or SC —, which, that's for sure, costs cents, when is given by many supermarkets, as also by banks, free of charge, so that this will cost nothing. Then is used specific barcode (social code) where for each such product exist its number. Initially these numbers will be not more than hundred, but the capabilities of this code are quite big, when can include all the books in a library. Then is announced the incredible thing that
each SNP product is firstly paid by
and later on SM calculates how much must pay the citizen in addition, and for what part SM will search where from to pay to him /her, if necessary! Why on the half? Well, because this
, but also because it will turn out, as you will learn now, that 0.5 of the SNP will pay finally each citizen with one MMS on head of the household, and those with less than this will pay also less, while those with more money they will pay more, but only for income higher than 1.5 MMS will turn out that SNP will be paid by its cost price; more than this, for people with income from 3 to 5 MMS is logically that they pay even more for SNP things. More specifically, my proposition is the following: till 0.5 MMS all SNP products (which are included till the moment) are free of charge (so that to the person, the head of the household, are even returned money), from 0.5 to 0.6 MMS will be paid only 10% from these expenses, till 0.7 — 20%, and so on, and till 1 MMS exactly 50%, then in the same way the percents grow, where till 1.1 MMS is paid 60% (i.e. the head of household pays another 10% more), and so on, and till 1.5 MMS, when SNP are paid exactly by their price.
Then further, from 1.5 MMS till 3 MMS we don't do whatever other alignments for the persons, but for those from 3 to 5 MMS, as people with quite affluent earnings, we can allow ourselves to require that they pay a bit more especially for such products, but not too much more, we will heave only with 1% for each 10% of MMS above 3 MMS, i.e. till 3.1 MMS — 1.01 of the price of SNP, till 3.2 — 1.02, and so on, for 4 MMS by 1.1 for SNP, and so on, and for 5 MMS by 1.2 for SNP products, where we stop the further increasing of percentage but it remains. And if somebody from these people with pretty high income wants to refuse to support the others then he must have the right to do this (as it is for healthcare by us), only that if he decides later to pay as the others he will have to wait
years until this begins to be applied also for him, so that a thoughtful person will hardly put himself and the other people from the household in conditions of increased risk (he could rather, if he is wealthy enough, begin spending on some sports, fitness, UV exposure, and similar things, and in this way to spare at least on health care expenses; and as to the communal ones — let him renovate his home, put solar panels, etc.).
Now let us firstly leave aside the most difficult question, i.e. from where will be taken so much money to pay
SNP things for the poverty stricken people with incomes below 0.5 MMS in month (averagely for an year), and inspect the interval from 0.5 to 1.5 MMS. By average monthly salary as a rule, and already also in Bulgaria, of roughly 2.5 MMS and decreasing this nearly twice because of the households (well, not exactly, because some people receive something, say, pensions), we come to 1.5 MMS, so that the middle of the income will correspond to 100 percent payment of SNP products. This means that those from 0.5 to 1 will be compensated in significant extent by the additions of those from 3 to 5 MMS, as well also from various other places (social payments, paying of sick days, etc.). The calculations will be done every quarter (or even half-year, more often maybe will not be necessary, for this will encumber first of all the citizens, about the computers we don't need to bother), but this will be current calculations, which will become final in the end of the year. In any case, there are good reasons to expect that the companies offering SNP products and services will get nearly 90% of the made expenses (without other special measures) for persons with income higher than 0.5 MMS, what can turn out to be even
than this what they receive (let me remind you — well, tell, for the readers abroad — that the heating company in Sofia, "Toplofikatsia", have come to nearly bankrupt situation because of not paid more than 50% of the bills in some apartment buildings, so that in the end the Municipality of Sofia bought part of it to cover the debts). What reduces to this that the offered here measures can even
the collecting of money, in spite of the advertising that half of the services are not paid.
In cases when some of those, who must pay something extra for the current quarter, declare that they can't, or don't want to do this — well, for them simply the "tap" will be closed, via blocking of the social cards (say, after 2 weeks), and when they go to pay something new they will pay it in full and that's it, these expenses will later not be reduced for them. So that such people will think twice before they decide to boycott this good for them system. Besides, nobody has said that everything must start at once and everywhere. The right thing to do is to select in the beginning some not very big town, or city district, with population between 50 and 100 thousands, where this idea is to be applied for first time (I even suppose that there will be necessary to perform drawing of the town, for there will be many willing). After this will be begun with a pair of things only, say, electricity, water, and central heating. Or the tuition fees at universities, or how it will be decided. Having in mind that this, after all, will be a whole Ministry, and it will have in its disposition a lot of analysis, forecasts, and statistics, then it will not be difficult to compute what amount of money will be needed — possibly even more exactly than when a building is to be erected, for example. So that the problem is not there.
The problem will be with those who live in poverty and can't scrape together even 0.5 MMS in month. Well, but
such people should not at all exist, hence, simply must be sought variants for solving of this problem!
I make one proposition in the material about moderate communism, backed up by some approximate calculations. But I think that we should not doubt that when it goes about targeted social assistance the West positively will give us a hand (because the people there want to have something with which to be proud, and also to invest reasonably their money, for this is a kind of investment, this will not only reduce the immigration to these countries, but will also tie us somehow to them, it will be clear who has given and what has given, for them this money will not be thrown to the wind). But surely we alone can also do something — if we don't want that this time, not the communists, but the fascist, for example, come to power (for they wait exactly this, that the situation worsens and that they come to them — our "Hayduk Sider" has begun even to ... nuns to pay electricity bills, if some of you recalls this).
There is one more detail, this about the half price. By one accurate accounting for every citizen will be absolutely well known his (or her) personal coefficient for the previous year, so that he could have paid also according to it, but I don't think that this will be very appropriate, because we not only eliminate one good advertisement (or fraud, trick, how you like it), but introduce also discrimination of customers, and some of these companies can begin to look for loopholes in the orders and
to provide services to people with low coefficient. Although by good work of the system for these companies will exist no difference whether they will receive their money at once, or after 3-4 months; in the sense that the difference will be only
and after this period they
get everything regularly, because will receive additional payment for earlier services, and if the new ones will be as much as the old (as it, in principle, happens), then their revenues will be the same. And as to this delay with several months, it is quite natural that also the tax authorities will not require good balance from them for this time, i.e. that the they also waited a little. So that till now everything is fine.
Now let us see what will happen
in the shops where will be normal products and SNP ones,
because bread, milk, and other food products, can be (at least for a long time) considered in Bulgaria for at least on 50% SNP products. Well, if the shop is big, if it is a supermarket, then there are no problems, and we can propose that there was pictured a (blue, for example)
— because this is a kind of social "umbrella" — and next to it was the social barcode, so that it will be entered separately (or the computerized system of the shop will easily find the correspondence of the code of product with the necessary social code). In this situation there are no problems that there was also the percent of SNP for some products and everything was computed with precision to the third digit, if necessary. The customers will have to carry with them one more phone card, but such is our fate nowadays. These cards must have also PIN-code, but it might not be required to be entered for products less than, say, 5 levs (2.5 euros), so that a baton of bread and a package of milk did not detain additionally the people in the queue. But these, by God, are details. If in some inhabited place, in rural area, in the common shop, they have not such sophisticated systems, then could be accepted some Solomonic decision to calculate some average sums for such expenses and to pay only to the poorest by 10 levs in month, something of the kind.
Good, and now let us defeat also some readers who are ready to object that: you see, this is one temporary decision only for our country, it is not applied anywhere in the world, and
while we succeed to introduce it, it will already become obsolete, and, besides, it is utopian.
About the utopias — let us clarify that they are such only
they are not realized (e.g., that people flied in the air, or that there were paper signs as substitutes of precious metals, or democracy, or real socialism, called communism, and other things). And the decision is not temporary, this is decision
, what means that sometime there will be benefit from it, if we have introduced it. Because if there is separating of the goods in two categories (and there can be even 20 such divisions, for that matter, and it may also not be necessary new card for them), then this can be used for whatever. For example, can be paid for medical treatment of cancer patients, or AIDS positive, or alcoholics, and on and on, what are things that as if never will disappear from our life, i.e. this is not like only the prices on central heating or city transport and this only in Bulgaria.
In addition to this, for every person will be kept exact records of
his or her social expenses, and these are exceedingly important data for various statistics and planning. ( And don't bother about the information problem, if occasionally some of you have begun to think about this, i.e. how can be kept all bought products, because such product will hardly be more than hundred in a month per person and long by 10 bytes for the record — only the code and the quantity — or simply 1 KB, what is exactly
than one usual ... photo of 1 MB, so that there will be found place also for such data. ) But when each one of these services has its own code, then such codes can be given also to some products which are not necessarily SNP products, but undergo similar processing, at least partially. Id est, I want to say that
it might be that some company decides to propose something on the same conditions,
what will be for it a good advertisement, only that it takes alone the care about this how it will pay extra the expenses of some clients (I bet that taking them from the others, right?). It, though, can declare that in their shops till one loaf of bread is considered as SNP product, if only the client has card for their shop and that he buys, say, at least on 50 levs in month by them, and this product has its code, which code when it comes to SM is taken away and sent back to the company, for some fee to SM for the operation (because, otherwise, for what reason must the Ministry engage itself with this additional work?). Something in that spirit. As also for all specialized social products and services can be sent information to the particular institutions, and so on. As, too, companies or private persons can show a wish to sponsor a certain type of expenses and only it, this is notably valuable division, which will raise the very sponsoring, so that such cards can help also to wealthy countries. In general, a right decision in the common case is always preferable before many different decisions in each special case.
Well,
because this is one extremely reasonable decision,
of it, I personally
that it will be applied sometime in Bulgaria, but, in the end, my task is to propose reasonable decisions, and their implementation (most often by
reasonable ways) I leave to the politicians. Because: let them also do something, ah?
June 2013
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HOW TO IMPROVE DEMOCRATIC PROTESTS?
Before a pair of months I came to the conclusion that we do not know also how to protest correctly, when are dissatisfied with something. And under the word "we" I mean not only by us, in Bulgaria, but all around the world, where in our country be behave even quite culturally, we just hinder the people, our legitimately elected rulers, to do their work, organizing on the square before our National Assembly (this is our Parliament), like on the lawn before the White House, folk festivities with drums, megaphones, songs and dances, and waving of national flags (for there is nothing else to wave, is there?). And this, naturally, impedes the people to walk on the streets around, and for that reason clad in modern "armors"
(this is in Italian) stand there and from time to time stop the protesting people in order to let go the accumulated citizens to pass, and later vice versa. Well, there, surely, for such occasions exist the police, to protect the people from themselves, but this isn't the right thing, because in this way neither the protest is protest, nor the people are free to go everywhere, nor also the corresponding institutions can work properly, and also is engaged time of the police for funny activities — the protesting people are not some criminals, they are young people who simply want to have a bit fun and also show serious appearance and pomposity, even "heroism" in collision with the police. So well, what has to be done, how are we to behave, with the result that the wolf will be satiated and the lamb remains alive?
For proper understanding of the problem is necessary to split it in several moments, which are different but they happen together, i.e. we must decompose the problem for to be able to find the right decision. Because:
0. Why the people protest?
You will say: because they are dissatisfied with something. So it is, but not exactly. There are various factors involved. For one thing people want just to
, to disagree, brawl, raise the devil, show themselves in heroic situations — i.e., they decide that if they do not do some obvious
, setting in peril their own or of someone else's life, the situation will not better. Like, for example, on some Tiananmen Square in China, do you remember this? The foolishness of self-sacrificing is obvious, but how else to attract the public opinion? And what if they will not be harmed? And what if they will be glorified as patriots? For that reason by us are waved also national flags, although our people, thank God, are peaceful, they don't "ask for trouble" without necessity
So that this is
the one side
of the matter, the psychological one, which must not be overlooked. While one is young he wants to change the wold, and to test himself and demonstrate before the others, as well also to leave the accumulated "steam" (and exactly for this reason, I suppose, in Russian exists the word "
" as young man, because he has much "
"-steam, and it is "
"-time for him to marry, to build a pair), after what he usually calms down and feels better. The demonstrations and protest rallies are kind of ... electrical fuses, they must not burn out, in theory, in normal circumstances, but when the situations are not very normal then they also burn out sometimes, but save the system (here the democratic ruling). So that this possibility we must retain in all cases, but it has to be channeled, led to the necessary place, in order that the "lamb" remained alive, i.e. not to hinder the work of institutions. Because there are also protests when some people bring tractors and trucks on the street, block traffic arteries, in short create disorder, although the actions are announced in advance and some measures for diverting of traffic are taken. Or protests before headquarters of parties and movements. Or protests of physicians, teachers, transport workers, and so on and so on. The disorders must be banned, but has to be retained the possibility to protest, and as if till now nobody has come to the idea how to realize this. Only the boldly thinking, though a bit swerving to utopias, Chris Myrski has got the enlightenment, right?
But let us continue further. To the people has to be specially given opportunity to express their meaning, and this is
the second moment
, on which we must dwell here. In this regard also wide away from everything is clear, because the rulers as if know that the voice of people is voice of God, but do not like much to ask them, those people. And why? Well, because the people are immoderate and they will tell you a heap of silly things if you leave them to speak. Yeah, but I think that this is mainly because they are not asked, or are asked not in the proper way. For example, when Bulgaria joined NATO nobody asked the people do they really want this or not, or the European union, or when the flat tax was introduced (we have the maximally
income tax, which dos not depend on the amount of income, the percentage is always the same, and this in the poorest country of European Union!), or about the legalization of prostitution, or of marriages between homosexuals (as if they are allowed, I have shown no interest, this does not affect me), and other similar examples. It is clear that if you ask people how much has to cost the bread, or the milk, or the meat, and so on, and if you ask them at all about such things, because by market economy the prices are not established centralized, then the people will choose the possibly lower price, but there are important things about which people must be asked.
under condition that their vote will be approved immediately — because, to remind you, maybe for the umpteenth time now, that the fascism in Germany has come to power in its time exactly because the population wanted it, in democratic way — but to ask is necessary, and, when needed, to involve also the international community and governmental instances, for to convince the people that they are wrong and what they want is not reasonable (as, for example, was with Bulgarian medics in Libya, who were taken for guilty by Libyan Government, as well as by the whole population, in absolutely absurd assumption of
contamination of innocent children for money). Or to remind you about nearly the first in history democratic decision of Pontius Pilatus who to exculpate, Christ (allegedly) son of God, or the bandit Varavva /Barabba. When people are not asked they in the best case become embittered, but the decisions must be taken by the rulers — that is why they are chosen.
But there is also a
third moment
: how to take the meaning of people into consideration? Who will ask questions and of what kind? Will this not turn out to be manipulation of the masses? And when? Because the people are asked in normal situations once in four years, on the elections, but many things age quite fast. And then it is not a good decision to conduct always pompous referendums, or to wait until people go out on the streets to protest, it must be found an easy decision, which is obvious nowadays, to what we shall come after a while.
And there is also
fourth side
of the things: what to do with the trouble-makers by the demonstrations? They, after all, do not do crimes against the people, not rob, not kill, they just hinder the people and society. I mean not only the kinds of penalties, they too, but also the
which they are to fulfill for minor violations, because it is not good to make them drones of society. And there is also no moral, nobody tells us what is good and what is bad, only that the one part thinks that the police is always and everywhere bad, and the other part thinks that the young (mostly) hinder the calmness of society.
So that we don't know how to protest, and even when we want to show support to some party or political figure we don't know how to do this (except to wait till the next elections and then vote for him or her). Well then, let us begin in the right order.
1. Where to protest?
I don't know how simpler to answer this question than with the words:
for that purpose
. Not on the streets and squares, not on the transport arteries, not before the buildings of institutions or organizations or eminent persons, where they, obviously disturb the normal way of life, hinder other people who do not want to protest or who don't give a damn about these protests, but on the approved places. On what places? Well, on special stadiums, because these are the places where it is accepted for large number of people to gather together. Exactly so. In genuine Myrski's way, right?
Now, for the beginning can be used the existing stadiums, i.e. to choose one such object, a bit aged, in order not to be damaged much, but this is only temporary decision due to the lack of something better. The right thing is that this was a separate stadium for protests, where is no need to have many sitting places, only small tribune for, say, a thousand of people, for the official media, because hardly somebody will want to pay entrance fee, but even if it is free here the point is not in seeing of what other people do, the point is in personal participation. There must be broad, about 20 meters, elliptical path (this as if is better than circular one) on the perimeter, with symmetrical entrance and exit somewhere near the focuses of the ellipse but from one part, say, from the part of tribune, with the possibility to go for a next round, or leave for the exit, and in the center must be just an asphalted area, with not very high tribune for potential speakers. All this must be enclosed by high fence, with illumination, with pylons for flags — this is important element, there have to be 3, 5, or 7 such pylons — and equipped with many cameras (about 10 pieces, from various angles). There must be also screens for showing of various slogans, which is more convenient to be placed facing the tribune.
You see, here the people must be separated from the others, but this is not a place for isolation, this is not an exile, which will be unpleasant for the protesters, no, there have to be ensured all necessary means for live transmission from these stadiums in the news, in the same way how is conducted transmission of all debates of the Parliament. So that there have to be acoustic devices and possibility against some payment (or up on request of organizers, because these meetings or demonstrations will be usually organized by some political power) to show different things on the screens in the stadium, listen to music, arrange dances, if you want. More than this, their protests must be shown on several places in the big towns on special screens, in order that the people, those who want this, walking around, were able to watch these events. The protesters, after all, but also all people, nowadays need first of all advertising, publicity, and the other people want most of all to be kept informed about everything! But, dear God, I remember that before twenty or more years I have watched that in Las Vegas was everywhere full with screens, where flash all kinds of images, show animations and such things; in the old days such screens were simply made with big number of light bulbs. And after some 10-20 years will be elementary to have in disposition also movable flat screens, worth about ordinary window frame (together with the frame), to which will be necessary only to connect an accumulator, weighing, say, 2 kilograms; or they could be able to be attached to the facades of buildings with suction cups. There will be no obstacles at all for ensuring of the publicity of events.
In the ideal case, I think, will be better to have, at least in big cities, even two such stadiums — white and black ones, i.e. for the approving and welcoming the politics, and for the protesting and spitting at it. This will offer even bigger distancing of the one people from the other. But in small towns will be enough to have only one stadium for protests, and in villages must simply be established some place somewhere away from the center. In full measure, I think, is necessary to perform also police control (for example, by scanning of personal documents) on the entrance and the exit, for the reason that in many cases such info may turn to be useful, in order to perform various analyzes, as well also for control of protesters; don't be afraid by this, because hardly will pass more than a pair of decades and such measures will be introduced in all usual stadiums. And if with this will be engaged different instances, and because after the event, in any case, will be necessary to be cleaned, I think that will be justified to introduce some
fee for entrance — for example such: for unemployed, students, pensioners and disabled, as also for people with less than one minimal monthly salary (MMS) will be free admission, for people with income to 2 MMS to pay, say, 0.5 euros (i.e. half ticket for city transport, and for the others by 1 euro.
So that everything is a matter of habit and customs and if the people will be accustomed that they have every right to go to these stadiums and protest whenever they only want, then they will begin to do it. Now, our protesters, having succeeded at last to change to existing Government, have even decided once to gather every day before the Parliament and ... drink coffee there (I think at five o'clock, at tee time), and what is bad of this place as meetings place for the young, ah? Had I also 25 (instead of 65) years I would have also gone there to have a little chat with the girls. With what I want to say that even unpleasant, but useful, duties can be made attractive with something, if the things are thought through in advance. But protests on the streets and so on, as I said, have to be banned and prosecuted by the law.
2. How to express reasonable opinions?
Here it goes not about such protests where people just want to shout a bit and communicate with their brothers of fate, but about expressing of opinions on various questions, about mass conducting of surveys or referendums. I have mentioned this in other material, but there is nothing simpler than conducting, say, once every month of questionnaire of all citizens of age with five points and with five answers. The points can be more, till ten, but the answers have to be five — the less the better, in order not to confuse the people — and with such, approximately, coding: 1 - strongly approve , 2 - approve, 3 - indifferent to the question, 4 - disapprove, 5 - strongly disapprove; if we want to make difference between not voted and indifferent then to the not voted can be assigned a value of 0.
Now about the questions: there can be new and actual in the moment, as well also permanent, for determining of the rating of leading parties and political figures. If there is some list and has to be chosen one element from it can be joined two such questions in one, but these are details. Can be voted by Internet, or via mobile phones, with the help of password, like it is by withdrawing of money from a bank account, but has to be also possibility in the Municipality (or police stations) to enter new password in case of intervention of people from aside. Filling of all questions in one survey (or referendum, questionnaire) will take about 5 minutes, so that there will be no reasons for the people to refuse to vote (though, naturally, they are free to do this).
Somebody may say that this is not a new element and many media and websites conduct such surveys, yet this is not so. It is one thing when there is one authorized instance, and quite another thing when some company carries its own questionnaires chiefly for advertising purposes, or at least to raise its rating. When this is a private affair then will answer people who watch this broadcasting, and their meanings are already known in outline, because each company has some idea about its circle of audience, and the results of one survey will highly differ from those of another survey on the same questions. Further, if I hate the company "AA", for example, then I will not vote in its survey, I will not want to have whatever in common with it. So that it has to be decided who will conduct this, but in principle
site is good, and they will even compete for to get permission to conduct such surveys. I think the central news agency of the country is the best choice of host for this purpose, but there can be objections, that this is corrupt organization, or that there the people will be deceived, etc., so that I will propose one simple decision that avoids such possibilities.
But in addition to this has to be stressed that the voting has to open, by name, else there will be various speculations, that is why passwords are necessary. But open voting does
mean that it will be accessible for every interested, not. Everybody will be able to check his own answers on different surveys, and for the others receive only summary results, i.e. so many people and percentage have given answer 1, so many 2, and so on. Yet the giver of the vote, together with his password, is needed also because of the possibility to correct the voting, though first of all in order to was possible to apply some not complicated data base of all citizens of the country, where will be includeed such parameters like: age (i.e. the year of birth, and from it to compute the age), education, and not only as tertiary or secondary but also the type of education (out of, say, 10 types), property status, family status, number of children, knowledge of languages, ethnic affiliation, place of residence, an so on. With the help of such data base could be answered exactly questions like, for example: how have voted technical intelligentsia, compared with pensioners, or Gypsies, and so on, on a given question, and this, obviously has big importance for the assessment of results. These are entirely new possibilities, which are absent by the public voting using anonymous bulletins.
So, but the people, you see, are afraid that, for one thing, the agency (site) that processes the results can distort the results on purpose, and for another thing, that the police or somebody up there will find out their meaning and use this information against them. Well, as to the possibility for falsification, then the data can be sent in one central place (say, in the leading news agency of the country), which will multiply them in 3 or 5 exemplars and send to other instances, and via comparison of the common results, but also everybody will be able to check his answers there, will succeed to convince himself (especially if the programs for processing will be the same) that everything is correct. In addition to this is possible somehow to alternate these instances (say, after six months), in order that they did not "forget themselves". As to the fears of using this information to the detriment of the voters, I think that this is just not serious, because when there will be hundreds of questions in an year hardly somebody will decide to draw conclusions based on this about the trustworthiness of the person. And further, the real democracy is unthinkable without the possibility to express in the open one's opinion, so that my advice is to leave the things how they are, i.e. the information open only for authorized instances, that pledge not to use it in improper way.
( Still, in parentheses, I will give just in case one intricate way for untying of the person from his vote with the use of an intermediary site or even intelligence agency — say, CIA, ah, and they know there how to keep secrets — and shuffling of the list of all people. This is done in the following way: when the whole procedure for establishing of the people for the given year is finished (it has to be set somehow an end to the adding of new persons) the central cite sends the list of all people together with their parameters about which we have spoken (age, education, etc.) to this intelligence agency and it performs there the shuffling of all persons, after which to every person is assigned new sequence number but what is the correspondence of this number to the real person can establish only this agency. All further correspondence is maintained with CIA, excuse my, with the chosen intelligence agency, and the latter sends to the central site firstly the attachment of all parameters to these sequence numbers (without other information about identity of the people), and then for each batch of questions gives as code of the person his or her sequence number. Neither the very persons, though, who correspond with this intelligence agency, know this sequence number, nor in the central site, where work with the use of this sequence number, know to whom it refers, neither can be found from where come the answers. That's it. And it is again possible after, say, an year, to change these intelligence or whatever only agencies. But this is unnecessary complicated. )
3. Who will set the questions?
And now let us explain also this, who will compose these questions. Well, in principle this must be done in the Parliament, by some Commission on public opinion surveys, although there can also be variants, can be included representatives of various media, and/or international observers, but the decisive vote has to be that of the Parliament. This is not a difficult procedure, but it is important, and this Commission must be also intermediary, input, for whatever propositions made by the political powers or common citizens. Id est this will be as if pre-protesting instance, and if some political power disagrees with something, and persistently disagrees, then it must firstly approach this instance, and after this think about demonstrations. And this instance must remain in power also when new elections are performed and Government is not yet built, because also in such time can be various questions for regulating. But with this work can be occupied also the Office of the President, in the end. What decision will be accepted. The important thing is that one composes the questions, and the answers come in another place, in order to was disjoining of the instances, because otherwise will always be fears that something is foul.
Here the manner of asking the question is very important, so that to enable understanding of the motives of people, the priorities of values, what is more important for them and what not so much, and after some time to repeat the questions, if they are significant. Also this is not so simple a task in the sense of satisfying of all protests of political powers, which will exist in any case, you can be sure about this. Here is necessary to separate correctly the practical considerations from the political ones, because, at least in Bulgaria, the politics continue to be in the saddle and stay above the economy, in result of what nearly always is taken the wrong decision! For example, there was such issue, what to do with our nuclear power industry and nuclear power plant, to close it gradually, or on the contrary, to increase the production with adding of new blocks, and this question was revised several times and it still, it seems to me, is not definitively solved, because, you see, the power plant is Russian one and from the totalitarian years, and, consequently, for all right-wing, which in Bulgaria are as a rule Russophobes, this means that it, surely, has to be closed, in spite of the opinions of foreign experts, which can be interpreted in different ways. And here is necessary, on one hand, to understand are the fears of people that something may happen with is so high, do the people really think that the Russian technique is so unreliable (when, say, even the Americans work on the Russian Space Station), and, on the other hand, do we think that the production of electricity has to be increased, because there exists market of electrical power and if we have more of it we can sell it, and this can lower the prices of it; the prices of electricity (as well also of all communal expenses) are growing higher all the time and in such poor country like our this is a question of primary importance. Similar with it is now the question about the oil pipeline "South Stream", which obviously is profitable for us, but there are again these Russians, so that it is better not to get involved with them. And other examples.
Id est the decisions, naturally, are taken by the political powers that stay at the rule, this is the essence of party system (to hinder the economy), but if the questions are properly set then they must in maximal measure take away the politics in every situation. By well set questions on principal topics we can try to find common solutions beneficial for the whole nation, not only for certain political powers; this is a way for reaching of Government of national unity, which we never have (and now, as if rejecting the bipolar model BSP - UDF, we again come to similar situation with the successors of UDF). I want to say that in Bulgaria the two poles are really poles — extremely right-wing and extremely left-wing — and this is not good, we must aim at the center (for example, by the well known American system of Democrats against Republicans I don't think that whatever of these parties is extremely left-wing, they have milder division). In this sense it turns out that this Commission must be maximally apolitical, what is quite difficult task, and for this reason it can be also to the Presidency. The things have to be thought through, I give only the ideas, I can't fulfill the work of entire teams of specialists.
4. How to punish the offenders?
Well, first of all, and initially, with fines, this is clear. But they have to correlate with the income of offenders, because it is not right to impose the same fines on an unemployed and owner of a BMW, for example, and in Bulgaria this, sure thing, is not done (and not only by us, for I have not heard about a country where the fines are defined in parts of MMS, how I have proposed in other materials). By repeating of similar offenses the fines have to be doubled, and at most one more time, and later on we have to switch to other measures. But what are these other measures? This is only imprisonment, which is only burden for the state because these are only expenses. And here the question is more broad, because this is how the matters stay also with other minor offenses, like: domestic disturbances, bodily injuries, petty thefts, economic offences, hooligan manifestations, and others, where the important thing is to reeducate the person, make him think, feel ashamed.
And how it was earlier? There were exiles, katorgas or galleys, heavy prison works for non-correctable criminals, in order that they at least worked and in this way atoned to some extent their guilt. In more minor cases were also some works, boring, but giving a little money to the state (say, by Dickens, if I am not mistaken, in the prison they agglutinated envelopes or paper bags for packaging in the shops), but nowadays, on the background of growing unemployment what kind of work is to be allotted to them for to deprive other people of necessary for them earnings, ah? And the unemployment will not lessen with the use not only of automation but also robotization in nearly all industries. And how much unattractive the given work was, say, of hygiene workers, by cleaning of streets, or transport vehicles, et cetera, those who perform it do this diligently (I look at our cleaners), in order not to lose it, and if this will be assigned to prisoners they will intentionally perform it bad (or will be necessary twice as much guards). But in old books one can read about wallowing of somebody in tar and feathers and conducting him so along the city streets, or about branding of criminals and easy women, and other similar variants.
Well, I am not supporter of cruelties, but some not painful and chiefly shaming the person measures can be accepted. Beginning simply with publication of such people in some lists, so that everybody could recognize them (acquaintances, work colleagues, or neighbours, will surely take an interest in this). It is possible also to put on them indelible ink for some time (about a week till a month) and this with controlling that the person does not wash it, requiring from him (or her) to visit each day the nearest police station to sign there and to check him. And where to put it? Well, on the forehead, or on the ... nose, if you like, so that everybody could see him /her, in the transport, on the work place. Further can be applied
trimming of the hair on one quarter — say, beginning with the back left quarter and clockwise if similar cases repeat (but it is possible also on a half, front - back, or left - right). As far as it is possible that this can enter into fashion among the young, such manner of "haircut" must be officially banned and each such person can be stopped by police and asked to prove the cause for this appearance and if it is not result of penalty then impose on him appropriate punishment, beginning with fine (eventually plus entire trimming of the head).
There can also be implanted some electronic chips — say, on the right shoulder or the right buttock. In this way the person can be recognized when needed, but only by the special bodies, by the police. If there turns to be necessary permanent monitoring of the person can be thought also about special transcevers in the manner of mobile phones, but so that it was possible to conduct exact comparing of the signal and the person (either by the pulse of heart, or by the voice), and this so that one can even bathe with these things (in quite near future this can become possible, and I think that similar gadgets are already used for tracking of migratory birds and other animals).
Another side of the matter is the work for prisoners. As I have said it is difficult to find it, but if with this engage appropriate authorities in the frames of some program (nowadays everything is done by some program) then something can be invented. I will propose a pair of things, sounding a bit utopian, in my style, but which can be easily applied. Say, outlets with the "enticing" name "By the violators", where can be eaten a sandwich or a pizza, or drink a bottle of bear, such things. Who knows whether this will not turn to be an interesting lure for the customers? Because if this will turn so, then they will give something to the state. Or not large manufactures, for earthen cups (with painted there, or embossed, half-shorn head). Or send them by one to willing companies or shops. This will be funny, this will be interesting for the others, even for the very offenders, but they will hardly decide to "make career" as partially shorn personages (and they will also not succeed to do this because will be released soon)
Another possibility is to perform some displeasing, but useful for the person — mark this — work in the prison, which may not give much profit to the state, but will do no harm to anybody. For example, to ... pedal bicycle in his /her room, but with attached to the wheels dynamos! It is not necessary that the produced in this way electrical power be fed to the power grid, this may require complicated synchronization, but for heating devices, in the kitchen, or for cooling of the room (if not otherwise then at least with mechanical linkage with a propeller), it will be useful. ( I have come to this idea having heard that somewhere people have made such additional contraption to the computer, so that it were possible to charge an accumulator for a pair of hours work by pedaling bicycle for half an hour. ) Nobody will like much to do something under coercion, so that this will be a kind of additional punishment, but at the same time this will be useful straining for the person, a care for his /her health.
There is another variant, where will be expenses related with the prisoners, but this will be to their advantage, and for the young people this will not be without significance. It goes about including them in some training classes. I means short ones, of two weeks, or in several such parts, but so that one part was with such duration, what is quite enough in many cases. Say, for giving of first medical aid, or on repairing of electric plates and stoves, or of refrigerators, and so on, or on learning typing with ten fingers (this is boring thing, but useful), or as introduction to plumbing, or on interior decoration of houses, and a lot of other variants. Putting it otherwise, this means that a person, entering for a short time a prison, will not consider the time wasted, will not become angry with the police "pharaohs", yet, still, will hardly try to land again there for another thoughtless childish act. Because, as I have said in the beginning, it is possible to satiate the wolf (with soya minced meat, ah?) and preserve the lamb alive.
So with the use of all these measures can be accomplished several goals, namely: people will be able to protest as much as they want, their voices will be clearly heard, they will be able to help the ineffective democratic machinery to fulfill its functions more successfully, will be done something so that the agencies of law and order can diminish a little their expenses, as well also will be helped to the very prisoners to spend more usefully and pleasantly the time of their not long imprisonment. In my opinion all this is wide away from well understood, either by the common people, or by the appropriate instances.
Oct 2014
P.S.
May 2015. I think it is necessary to clarify a bit the idea about surveys, to section 2. First of all that open voting with password is in fact
one, the password is necessary to enter in the system, further on everything is hidden. With the help of CIA or not but will exist central agency where the answers of the people are sent. Let this agency conducts before each survey (usually once in a month, not year, as I have said earlier) adding of new citizens (who may now become of age, or decide to vote), as well also excluding of some deceased (or, say, renounced their citizenship). In this way each time will be formed new file with citizens and new sequence numbers, and once the voting is finished there is no need to correct whatever in the old votings, so that because of this even with password one will not be able (i.e. this has to be forbidden) to find out his (or her) personal answers! This, at one hand, is natural, and at the other hand will be guarantied the anonymity of answers, because, let us imagine this, one can be caught and forced to enter the password and see the results — yeah, but this will not be possible if the voting is finished, and if it is not finished then he can always change later the results.
So, then if each time will be done new sorting of the people (the changes can be quite minor, but somewhere after the hundredth person everything will be new) then also for each voting the tying of people in the list in the central agency will be different, what will make meaningless all tries to guess who under what number is placed in the secondary lists (where is lacking the unique number — EGN in Bulgaria, or social security number or what corresponds to it —, but only the sequence number). And if all these sequence numbers are permutated (or shuffled) each time (in CIA or in neutral agency) then the secrecy will be impenetrable.
Further, I have not explained in details (for I am giving similar ideas in other places) but for this voting can (and as you will now see also need) be had special cards, like for the phones, but they can be also with electronic chips, like for the banks, what costs practically nothing. When there are present well secured banking cards then they can as well be used for banking operations, supported by some bank, by the unique number of the citizen. This gives possibility to conduct the voting also by ATM cash machines (if need be), but the main thing is that can be performed along with this some small money transactions.
What I have in mind is that can be
something for the voting, in order to stimulate people to answer! Pay not at all much, when this is from the state budget, by one or two euro-cents on a
, i.e. if the question is for choosing out of five variants, then 5 or 10 cents on a question, but if is necessary to choose from 20, then respectively more. Nonetheless, if there are ten questions then it will come to half or one euro, and there is no reason to lose this money. They can be allowed to be taken, naturally, when will be accumulated for the smallest banknote, but approximately once in an year this will happen, and then one can quietly treat oneself with this amount.
More than this, these cards can be used also for conducting of voting at all, for the Parliament or Municipalities, and in such cases even if it will be necessary to pay a pair of euros, then the state, definitely, will
saving the electoral expenses, and/or can carry such voting even once in an year (it is not necessary to change the Parliament each year, but to know what kind of majority there could have been and to cause some changes of persons). And there is nothing unlawful in the paying for to make people vote, this is
advertising, because it can't be proved who personally wins (for the reason that there win all, the democracy) — only the electoral activity will increase.
So that I, really, don't see shortcomings in using of this proposition, people are just too inert, otherwise there are no problems for ensuring of secrecy (after all, the banks pay money and do not complain), also for increasing of electoral spectacle, and for bettering of democracy. The main reason, as I see the things, why the very politicians, also on the West, don't begin to advertise something of the kind, is that they rely chiefly on the ... cheating, surely, that they will succeed somehow to mislead the electoral, and if everything is clear and simple then people will begin to think, this will hinder the politicians (by the same reason I can not name even one large company, a supermarket, where they have tried that the advertisements were informative, that it was possible to compare the products, also with other shops, and with similar products — such comparisons are made, but they are kept in secret by the administrations of the shops). Id est everything, again, is reduced to this that the people are quite simple, or childish, they want fables and tales but not the truth. Learn to look in the eyes of the truth and life on Earth (and its surroundings) will just blossom. I try nearly in every my material to force people to ponder a bit. Yeah, and for that reason I am little read!
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