The Ovi; Tuesday March 5th, 2024

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems, the thoughts, the reviews, the photos, the paintings and the cartoons The Ovi covers for Tuesday March 5th, 2024.

Enjoy the full posts by tapping HERE!

---

• Name Hope, aim unknown, habitual unidentified #thoughts by Theodore K. Nasos
• Hungary:Propaganda Law has “created cloud of fear” pushing LGBTI+ community into the shadows by Amnesty International
• #eBook: Everybody knows Joe by C. M. Kornbluth
• AntySaurus Prick #085 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

---

The Ovi
We cover every issue!

Ovi magazine; Tuesday November 14th, 2023

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems, the thoughts, the reviews, the photos, the paintings and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Tuesday November 14th, 2023

---

Hamas-Israel Conflict: No Good-Faith Negotiations in Sight by Rene Wadlow

With Israeli armed forces deep inside the city of Gaza and air attacks on other areas of the Gaza Strip, negotiations on a longer-range peace settlement seem far off.  Even negotiations for a cease-fire are not advancing although more and more governments and non-governmental organizations are calling for such a cease-fire.

There has been an agreement with the Israeli military for a daily four hour “humanitarian pause” so that people can move from north to south within the Gaza Strip and some supplies from Egypt to enter.  However, even this agreement seems uncertain.  There are unconfirmed negotiations among representatives of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Qatari officials for the release of some of the 240 hostages held by Hamas.  Some of the Hamas leadership live in Qatar.

Continue reading HERE!

---

Gothic Urban Decay #poem by Nikos Laios

“The waves crashed 
Against the red rocks,
Surged and washed 
Against the docks,
And the boats swayed
And the masts clanged 
In the silence of the night
To the tick tock 
Of the midnight clocks.”

Continue reading HERE!

---

AntySaurus Prick #078 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more AntySaurus Prick HERE!

For more Ovi Cartoons, HERE!

---

Ovi magazine
We cover every issue!

Ovi magazine; Monday October 30th, 2023

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems, the thoughts, the reviews, the photos, the paintings and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Monday October 30th, 2023

---

The Day Guterres Became Relevant by Dr. Binoy Kampmark

The relevance given to a UN Secretary-General is often judged by the degree of controversy caused.  In history, the most relevant are usually targeted.  Dag Hammarskjöld, refusing to remain a mere bauble of international office, was almost certainly murdered over his intervention in the Congo civil war in 1961.The least relevant (who was that sweet little fella, Ban Ki-Moon?) have barely registered a note of dissent.  The big powers like to know they can render such figures impotent, if not insignificant.

It was, for that reason, refreshing to see the current occupant of that post make the less than startling remark that the atrocious attacks of October 7 staged by Hamas and Islamic Jihad on Israeli soilcould not be seen as standalone acts of individual, unprovoked outrage.António Guterres was careful to also note that there was “nothing” that could “justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians, or the launching of rockets against civilian targets”.

Continue reading HERE!

---

Lake #poem & #painting by Amir Khatib

“The lake lies in the fall, 
no daydreams haunting it
No dream pains disturbing its sleep… 
Its face is covered by a sheet of withered leaves
Floating together in one fate…”

Continue reading HERE!

---

AntySaurus Prick #077 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more AntySaurus Prick  HERE!

For more Ovi Cartoons, HERE!

---

Ovi magazine
We cover every issue!

Ovi magazine; Saturday September 30th, 2023

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems, the thoughts, the reviews, the photos, the paintings and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Saturday September 30th, 2023

---

My Name Is Nostalgia #ShortStory #Fiction by Abigail George

“You don’t love me.” I was in the mood for a fight.
“I have responsibilities.” Tyler did not look up from his omelette.
“So, the argument you had with your wife was about nothing really.” I shrugged my shoulders and crossed my arms. I shivered.
“I really cannot remember who started this conversation first. I told you before that my wife was not up for discussion.” Tyler reached for the coffee pot.
By now I knew how my lover enjoyed his breakfast. I jabbed at the congealed egg on my plate with my fork while Tyler buttered his toast. I was an undergraduate studying towards a social work degree. Tyler Campodonico was my very married boyfriend.

Continue reading HERE!

---

Red Balloons #poem & #painting by Nikos Laios

“The blue sky glowed 
And the sunshone 
Through the white clouds above 
As a group of children played in the park 
On the opposite side of the street.”

Continue reading HERE!

---

AntySaurus Prick #75 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more AntySaurus Prick HERE!

For more Ovi Cartoons, HERE!

---

Ovi magazine
We cover every issue!

Ovi magazine; Friday September 15th, 2023

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems, the thoughts, the reviews, the photos, the paintings and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Friday September 15th, 2023

---

The Quiet Woman by Abigail George

I feel that I am losing her. The quiet woman. How can a sister or an African country be the love of your life? What was the question? She comes here with her own set of rules and changes everything. The quiet woman. She is everywhere and possesses everything.

The light burns away sin. Why is there so much suffering and not enough self-help, self-love? There is always a journey from darkness to light. What do you do, I was asked once. Oh, I write. The feminine mystique is to go into yourself. To make a statement. You must as Rilke said, ‘go inside yourself’. It is not enough to exist. If I trace it, the breaking point, destiny, the turning point it is connected to my sister. There is a universal truth there. There is always more terror in the world, war, hunger, famine, drought, and more the end of the world as we know it. Marked territory, more development, and more unemployment. When it comes to my creativity, every impulse, and nerve is connected to my mother. Her fury at the world has become my own. A world filled with volcano people. What does a changing world demonstrate?

Continue reading HERE!

---

In the night #poem by David Sparenberg

“in her voice
there was breath
in her breath
sweet scent
of a wild rose
in the rose
pollen
of the woman’s soul”

Continue reading HERE!

---

AntySaurus Prick #074 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more AntySaurus Prick, HERE!

For more Ovi Cartoons, HERE!

---

Ovi magazine
We cover every issue!

Ovi magazine; Thursday August 31st, 2023

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems, the thoughts, the reviews, the photos, the paintings and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Thursday August 31st, 2023

---

Maria Montessori (1870-1952) by Rene Wadlow

31 August is the birth anniversary of Maria Montessori, an Italian childhood educator and world citizen. Her approaches to early childhood education are used both in Montessori schools and also more widely in other schools and home schooling.

Maria Montessori, inspired by the role of her mother was a life-long feminist breaking down barriers which tried to exclude women.  She insisted to be allowed to enter medical school in Rome at a time when the school had only men as students, thus becoming one of the first Italian female M.D. in Italy in 1896. She became known for her work with illiterate children at her Casa dei Bambini, a school set up in 1907 in a building in the slums of Rome. There she developed her own principles of learning.  Montessori had been strongly influenced by the tactile educational methods used for deaf-mutes and retarded children that had been created by two French physicials Jean Itard and his student Edward Seguin.  She took special interest in the retarded and slow-learning children who were locked up in wards without toys or learning materials of any kind.

Continue reading HERE!

---

Thalassa #poem & #photography by Nikos Laios

“A hot summer afternoon, 
The aroma of the nearby beach 
Floats in through an open window, 
Listening to opera and reading poetry, 
The waves are calling me like a siren”

Continue reading HERE!

---

AntySaurus Prick #73 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more AntySaurus Prick HERE!

For more Ovi Cartoons, HERE!

---

Ovi magazine
We cover every issue!

Ovi magazine; Wednesday August 16th, 2023

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems, the thoughts, the reviews, the photos, the paintings and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Wednesday August 16th, 2023

---

Charisma and self-confidence: how it works by Joseph Gatt

A lot of the theory you’ll read out there goes: charisma and self-confidence are built by controlling your emotions and leading a healthy lifestyle. And lots of introspection.

Truth of the matter is, I see things differently. Simply put, I would tend to think that the more people you know, the more people you know at the deeper level, and the more stuff you can discuss with that crowd, the more likely you’ll naturally be charismatic and self-confident.

So, the recipe goes like this. Charisma and self-confidence are not gained overnight, but built over several years. You get a job, join different social circles, get to know people at the job and at the social circles. The more people you know, the more stuff you know, the more comfortable you’ll tend to be.

Continue reading HERE!

---

The Journey #poem by Bohdan Yuri

“It took me thirteen years to reach the restless ones,
Wayward tales filled with Fears, a prelude to be called;
A warm embrace now easily fell into a weak charade.”

Continue reading HERE!

---

AntySaurus Prick #072 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more AntySaurus Prick HERE!

For more Ovi Cartoons, HERE!

---

Ovi magazine
We cover every issue!

Ovi magazine; Tuesday August 1st, 2023

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems, the thoughts, the reviews, the photos, the paintings and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Tuesday August 1st 2023

---

The Trials of Godwin Emefiele by Kola King

Godwin Emefiele was appointed Central Bank governor by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014. He was one of the few survivors of the Jonathan administration following the sudden change of power from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to the opposition All Progressives Party, APC that emerged victorious in the 2015 presidential elections. As the nation’s top banker and Governor of the CBN, Emefiele was noted for his trademark suits and tie and with a dark shoe to answer. He was the bankers’ banker.

Having wormed his way into the heart of President Muhammadu Buhari, Emefiele got a second five-year term in 2019 and was due to retire next year. He was the second-longest-serving governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and oversaw an unprecedented downturn of the nation’s economy. Prior to his arrest, he was also one of the movers and shakers and most powerful men in Nigeria. When Emefiele coughed bankers quivered. He also made a controversial run for president but later withdrew from the race after much criticism by civil society and the generality of Nigerians.

Continue reading HERE!

---

Dormant Emotion by David Barger

“The smallest infringement is a ruse
Where I am entertained in laughter,
And tied by the bonds of sorrow,
But where is my enlightenment
That kindles each parting gift released?
Where then is my muse?”

Continue reading HERE!

---

Manish’s Zodiac Signs Predictions for August 2023 by Manish Kumar Arora

Continue reading HERE!

---

AntySaurus Prick #71 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more AntySaurus Prick HERE!

For more Ovi Cartoons, HERE!

---

Ovi magazine
We cover every issue!

Ovi magazine; Monday July 17th, 2023

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems, the thoughts, the reviews, the photos, the paintings and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Monday July 17th, 2023

---

Remembering Srebrenica by Dr. Habib Siddiqui

The 11th of July is a dark reminder of man’s inhumanity. Twenty-eight years ago, and some fifty years after the world had said “Never Again” to the horrors of the Holocaust, Europe allowed the genocide of another minority community on its soil. In Bosnia, between 1992-1995 close to 100,000 people were killed, over 2 million were forcibly displaced, and between 20,000-50,000 women were raped as part of the systematic campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing enacted by the Serb forces.

The name Srebrenica has become synonymous with those dark days in July 1995 whenmore than eight thousand men and boys (and dozens of women) were systematically murdered and buried in mass graves. The victims –all Muslims from an infant of couple hours to a 94-year-oldwoman – were selected for extermination because of their religious identity. This was the worst atrocity on European soil since the Second World War.

Continue reading HERE!

---

The clock besides me #poem & #painting by Amir Khatib

“The clock was ticking,
and I would stroll beside her;
she strolls by the river,
Walking on the water:
speed up,
stumble,
gurgle between,
Flowing,
disappear…”

Continue reading HERE!

---

AntySaurus Prick #70 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more AntySaurus Prick HERE!

For more Ovi Cartoons, HERE!

---

Ovi magazine
We cover every issue!

Ovi magazine; Saturday June 17th, 2023

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems, the thoughts, the reviews, the photos, the paintings and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Saturday June 17th, 2023

---

Planetary Essentials by Jan Sand

I have used this blog to a large extent for my own amusement to play with the elementary formalities of poetry as someone entirely untrained in the medium and thereby stumbling through an alien terrain in naive explorations.  But this is a public display and, as someone who has experienced a somewhat extended life, I am driven to look both backward and ahead to make sense of some personal kind in it all. As Chomsky has repeatedly indicated, this current era of human domination and power has progressed to a point of disrupting the natural complex of life on the planet so that much of civilization and all other life is being driven towards extinction within a few decades and there is little if any powerful effort to deter that finality or even accept that it is occurring.

I cannot but have a viewpoint of humility in this examination since rationality within these last couple of centuries has disposed of the millenniums of self congratulatory  nonsense that previous cultures have used to elevate the egos of ancient philosophers and theologists. Humankind is now firmly placed in the animal kingdom on a small planet which is an inconsequential fleck of dust in an unimaginably huge universe.

Continue reading HERE!

---

A chain of questions #poem by David Barger

“Will the changing climates
    Continue shifting?
Will the seasons ever swap
    With their ways?
Shall winter ever warm us
    In December,
And summer let the snowflakes
    Tell its age?”

Continue reading HERE!

---

AntySaurus Prick #68 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more AntySaurus Prick HERE!

For more Ovi Cartoons, HERE!

---

Ovi magazine
We cover every issue!

Ovi magazine; Friday June 2nd, 2023

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems, the thoughts, the reviews, the photos, the paintings and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Friday June 2nd, 2023

---

AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) by Jan Sand

Several highly respected prominent thinkers such as Elon Musk and the English physicist Stephan Hawking have warned that the creation of AGI, artificial general intelligence, which can quickly self-mature to a powerful  control of all human civilization to leave humanity helpless in its power, represents a danger to human civilization that is far greater than the threats of planetary global warming or the misuse of nuclear weaponry that can alter this planet so completely that humanity and much of other life cannot recover. Since this development remains within the future of possibly a few or even many decades ahead, its occurrence is still very theoretical and unresolved. Some digital experts have declared that they feel the huge advance of artificial superior intellect is so valuable and yet, controllable, that there is no real danger. But even in its current primitive state, it has occasionally provided solutions to difficult problems that were beyond the understanding of the experts in control. This is a clear demonstration that this area of research can present problems that lie beyond  the control of the experts investigating them.

Continue reading HERE!

---

I AM STANDING in THIS PLACE #poem by David Sparenberg

“i am standing now
i am standing in this place
i am standing at ocean’s shore
i am talking with water
with sand and water
(in mist
of betwixt and between
i give myself to you
may my presence
be healing energy
do not abandon
the children of humanity”

Continue reading HERE!

---

AntySaurus Prick #067 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more AntySaurus Prick HERE!

For more Ovi Cartoons, HERE!

---

Ovi magazine

We cover every issue!

Ovi magazine; Thursday May 18th, 2023 – International Day of Museums

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems, the thoughts, the reviews, the photos, the paintings and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Thursday May 18th, 2023 – International Day of Museums

18 May is the UNESCO-designated International Day of Museums. Each year, there is an overall theme but presented in many different ways by museums throughout the world.  This year, the theme title is “Museums as Cultural Hubs”. The role of museums in society are changing.  Museums keep reinventing themselves in their quest for becoming ever more interactive and community oriented.  As institutions at the heart of society, museums have the capacity to establish dialogue among cultures and to build bridges.

---

Protecting Cultural Heritage in Time of War by Rene Wadlow

War and armed violence is highly destructive of the lives of persons but also of works of art and elements of cultural heritage.  The war in Ukraine has highlighted the destructive power of war in a dramatic way.  Thus, this 18 May, “International Museum Day” we outline some of the ways in which UNESCO is working to protect the cultural heritage in Ukraine in time of war.

18 May has been designated by UNESCO as the International Day of Museums to highlight the role that museums play in preserving beauty, culture, and history.  Museums come in all sizes and are often related to institutions of learning and libraries.  Increasingly, churches and centres of worship have taken on the character of museums as people visit them for their artistic value even they do not share the faith of those who built them.

Knowledge and understanding of a people’s past can help current inhabitants to develop and sustain identity and to appreciate the value of their own culture and heritage.  This knowledge and understanding enriches their lives and enables them to manage contemporary problems more successfully.

It is widely believed in Ukraine that one of the chief aims of the Russian armed intervention is to eliminate all traces of a separate Ukrainian culture, to highlight a common Russian motherland.  In order to do this, there is a deliberate destruction of cultural heritage and a looting of museums, churches, and libraries in areas when under Russian military control.  Museums, libraries and churches elsewhere in Ukraine have been targeted by Russian artillery attacks.

Continue reading HERE!

---

Collected Moments #poem & #painting by Nikos Laios

“The clouds are misty 
And hang low over the harbour, 
There’s a coolness in the air
And a soft breeze blows across the water”

Continue reading HERE!

---

AntySaurus Prick #66 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more AntySaurus Prick HERE!

For more Ovi Cartoons, HERE!

---

Ovi magazine
We cover every issue!

Ovi magazine; Wednesday May 3rd, 2023

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems, the thoughts, the reviews, the photos, the paintings and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Wednesday May 3rd, 2023

---

Scrapping Charles Darwin: Hindutva’s Anti-Scientific Maladies by Dr. Binoy Kampmark

Welcome the canons of pseudoscience.  Open your arms to the dribbling, sponsored charlatans.  According to a growing number of India’s top officialdom, teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to children in their ninth and 10th grades is simply not on.

Last month, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), a purportedly autonomous government organisation responsible for curricula content and textbook publishing for India’s 256 million primary and secondary students, continued its hostility against Darwin as part of its “content rationalisation” process.  NCERT had taken the scrub to evolution during the COVID-19 pandemic, implausibly arguing that it was necessary to drop its teaching in moving classes online. (Darwin would have been most bemused.)

A closer look at the list of dropped and excluded subjects in the NCERT publication of “rationalised content in textbooks” from May last year is impressive in its philistinism.  In addition to dropping teaching on Darwin, the origin of life on earth, evolution, fossils and molecular phylogeny, we also see the scrapping of such subjects as electricity, the magnetic effects of electric current and the “sustainable management of natural resources”.

Evolutionary biologist Amitabh Joshi of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research was less than impressed, calling the measure “a travesty of the notion of a well-rounded secondary education”. 

Continue reading HERE!

---

The Vine #poem & #painting by Nikos Laios

“The fruit of
The vine;
Flowing 
Red wine
Glowing,
Glowing,
Glowing.”

Continue reading HERE!

---

AntySaurus Prick #65 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more AntySaurus Prick HERE!

For more Ovi Cartoons, HERE!

---

Ovi magazine
We cover every issue!

Ovi magazine; Wednesday April 19th, 2023

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems, the thoughts, the photos, the paintings and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Wednesday April 19th, 2023

---

Benjamin Ferencz, Champion of World Law, Leave a Strong Heritage on Which To Build. by Rene Wadlow

Benjamin Ferencz, champion of World Law and World Citizen, died on 7 April 2023 at the age of 103, leaving a strong heritage of action for world law.  He was particularly active in the creation of the International Criminal Court located in The Hague. 

He was born in March 1920 in what is now Romania, close to the frontiers of Hungary and Ukraine.  In the troubled period after the end of the First World War, the parents of Ferencz who were Jewish decided to emigrate to New York with the help of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.  They settled in New York City, and Ferencz changed his Yiddish name Berrel to Benjamin and studied in the New York school system. He did his undergraduate work at City College and then received a scholarship to Harvard Law School, a leading U.S. law school.

At the end of his law studies at Harvard, he was taken into the U.S. Army and in 1944; he was in Europe with the Army legal section, the Judge-Advocate General Corps.  By conviction and interest, he began to collect information on the Nazi concentration camps.  He was able to find photos, letters, and other material that he later was able to use as one of the prosecution team in the Nuremberg trials of Germans accused of war crimes. 

Continue reading HERE!

---

Starry Night #poem & #painting by Nikos Laios

“The stars shone
Over the sea
And I sat on 
A moonlit beach
And watched the waves 
Gently lapping the shore, 
And a night breeze
Bent the long grass.”

Continue reading HERE!

---

AntySaurus Prick #64 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more AntySaurus Prick HERE!

For more Ovi Cartoons, HERE!

---

Ovi magazine
We cover every issue!

Ovi magazine; Wednesday April 5th, 2023

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Wednesday April 5th, 2023

---

Conscience: The Inner Voice of the Higher Self by Rene Wadlow

The United Nations General Assembly has designated 5 April as the International Day of Conscience. An awakened conscience is essential to meeting the challenges which face humanity today as we move into the World Society. The great challenge which humanity faces today is to leave behind the culture of violence in which we find ourselves and move rapidly to a culture of peace and solidarity. We can achieve this historic task by casting aside our ancient national, ethnic, and social prejudices and begin to think and act as responsible Citizens of the World.

An awakened conscience makes us sensitive to hearing the inner voice that warns and encourages. We have a conscience so that we may not let ourselves be lulled to sleep by the social environment in which we find ourselves but will remain alert to truth, justice, and reason. As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says in Article 1 “All human beings are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”

Continue reading HERE!

---

Olympian Muse #poem by Nikos Laios

“The clouds part 
And my muse sings
To me pouring forth 
Inspiration down 
From the heavens,
Washing me with images 
And words as my hungry pen 
Hurriedly scratches across 
The page rushing 
To capture it all.”

Continue reading HERE!

---

Ovi Bookshelves: Rainbow Street by Richard Stanford

A new book for the Ovi bookshelves from the multi published writer and Ovi magazine contributor, Richard Stanford, “Rainbow Street”.

Continue reading HERE!

---

AntySaurus Prick #63 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more AntySaurus Prick, HERE!

For more Ovi Cartoons, HERE!

---

Ovi magazine
We cover every issue!