155 Madeira Consorcio meeting 22.11.2025
Nov 23, 2025 at 4:03 pm | Posted in Posts | Leave a commentTags: Consorcio, death, experience, Madeira, near death
Trigger warning: The topic may make the reader feel uneasy.
We saw the video: “From life to death, beyond and back”
https:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMYhgTgE6MU
The medical emergency doctor Thomas Fleischmann talks about the way people usually die, and the reality that most persons die in stages, after having become sick, with a steady decline. We all know that we have to die, and we want to go fast but we usually don’t get what we want…
He also talked about the feedback he got from some of his (more than 2000) patients, who were resuscitated in his care and reported a near-death experience.
Death is a taboo in many human societies, especially in the Western world. We are trying to live as long as possible and keep our bodies (hopefully) in shape to avoid bad diseases. The Churches do not speak about an afterlife, except for some puny pictures of sitting on a cloud and singing Hallelujah.
Buddhists and Hindus have deeper insights from old masters. The “Tibetan Book of the Dead” has a precise description of what happens after death. The demise of the body is not seen as bad but as a transition into a better spiritual state.
Karma is a science in the Eastern traditions. It seems that all of us in the group have a good Karma, because it took us to be here on Madeira Island, with food, shelter, clothing, money, security and good families and friends. Obviously, we must have done something right!
Some of us have had after-death contacts from loved ones.
Our friend Dennis passed away in October, and his wife has dementia since some months. People in this state are on the way to the other side while still alive but they cannot communicate with us any more. Due to Dennis’ demise, he might now able to communicate with this beloved wife again, from the other side.
U. said that the reports on near death experiences should be seen by everybody because they can give us insight that death is really not the end and that all-encompassing love awaits us on the other side. As the speaker said, we don’t need to fear death.
CL. said that he believes that the experiences reported are due to a chemical release in the brain after death (DMT, the scientists say). He does not believe that this is real.
Ce. said that researchers found that people who went through such experiences after an accident or an operation, often change the course of their lives because they are more empathic, and try to help other people around them simply because they understand them better.
Ce. said that the series “Hospice Nurse Julie” (https://www.hospicenursejulie.com/ and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW9VMkNemzqHm_YSTN4Lf5g ) reports on such events as well.
Two interviews with near-death experiencers are here:
Barbara Whitfield 18 min
Lewis Griggs TED 19.30 min
Two trustworthy channels produce good interviews:
www.Thanatos.tv (in German and English)
Anthony Chene (in English) is on https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=anthony+chene
It would be good not to follow the algorithms in YouTube, to watch just anything that comes up because more and more fake interviews are being produced by people who did not experience this, just to create clicks.
153 Madeira Consorcio meeting 19.7.2025
Jul 20, 2025 at 6:04 pm | Posted in Posts | Leave a commentTags: andrew tate, Consorcio, Madeira, men, nigel farage, reform, uk, youngsters
We met in the Gallery and saw this video:
UK teenage boys were asked why their group seems to prefer right wing parties, whereas girls in their age group tend to favour left wing parties.
The word “control” came up, people want to be in control of their lives, and the Generation “Z” doesn’t have a good outlook on their lives, because jobs and job training opportunities are scarce. In terms of relationship, they do not have much hope of finding a partner. They want to feel like men; and they want respect.
Respect, we know, has to be earned, and it usually is built by success at work, and at least in this regard, finding meaning of life. Cl. said that as a youngster, he tried out many things, and made mistakes but his parents accepted this as normal. He also had a good start because although they didn’t have a high education, they allowed him to buy and read a lot of books. (In our group, we had a good foundation for this life.)
Youngsters also complain that life is too expensive now; it will be difficult for them, even with a good job, to someday buy an apartment. The girls have high demands on a potential partner, and the internet turns this into a competition between males for females. Girls can do without a provider, as they can earn their own money. They do not have to marry any more for economic reasons.
Youngsters do not want to make mistakes, it seems too risky. They are afraid to step up and try things out, they are stuck, and stay at home with the parents, in their comfort zone. (C. said that Dolphins kick their young males out of their group until they have “grown up” and can be re-admitted once they behave better.) Artificial AI “friends” do not argue with their human users, this will be a new “way out” for them (pizza and online games).
In the UK, Nigel Farage’s Reform party is using this insecurity, to compel men to vote for a “back-to-the-old-times” party. (However, many youngsters may not bother to got to the polls.) University is for “the rich” and the population is not in favour of the “upper” education.
U. said that everybody is looking for purpose in their life. And this is not easier, if you are without a good education and good prospects. Then there is the threat of AI, which will replace peoples’ jobs with machines.
There is a sense that happiness is often absent and that there is no justice in life. Stable families are rare now, this adds to the feeling of insecurity. Women are empowered much more. Maybe they could step back a bit, but why should they make space for a partner who does not fit the ideals which are transported by the internet?
U. said, on Madeira (catholic, a bit more fatalistic) and also in other countries, people simply hate their jobs, and have no fulfilment in life. Work is a necessity to make money, and if you don’t like your job, you have to stick with it. You could look actively for a better job and work conditions, but is comes with risks. Many people are averse to risk-taking now.
Sport has a big positive effect, it channels the testosterone energy away from aggressiveness toward others, but sports activities are declining in the population (too much pizza and soft drinks). The internet is bad for youngsters because they keep comparing themselves to their peers and see themselves a coming up short; this causes a kind of paralysis.
This way, youngsters are more frustrated and even angry. Through influencers like Andrew Tate and his brother, the aggression is turned against women and anybody who could be not “us”. The State can become the enemy as well (vaccination). Another result can be depression.
On Madeira Island, we are privileged and are “complaining” on a high level. In our group, we are grateful for our situation.
Is is also true that this year, we have less wars on the world, although with Gaza and the Ukraine, we fail to see that. (https://ourworldindata.org/war-and-peace). Positive news are drowned out.
In Germany, a group of around 300 radical AfD followers gets a lot of attention, but this is overblown for the effect they could possibly have with any of their actions.
It would be good of people were to comprehend that Facebook etc. provides only a bunch of lies. And where is nowadays the 1970’s energy which challenged the establishment but also enticed youngsters try to find other ways to live a better life?
152 Madeira Consorcio meeting 28.6.2025
Jun 30, 2025 at 1:10 pm | Posted in Posts | Leave a commentTags: bad, Consorcio, Funchal, good, Madeira, news, talk, ted
We met with in the Gallery and saw this video:
Angus Hervey: then good news you might have missed:
The speaker, at TED for the second time, brings good news on the affairs of the world.
His résumé: each person has to decide of he/she wants to listen to good news and restrict the intake of bad news, and to either believe in the collapse or the renewal of our human life on Earth.
It’s all about positive and negative news, how are the reactions?
Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are fighting in the US for a positive view of the situation, in order to sway the Americans away from “bad” Trump.
We agreed that altogether, the western world is moving toward the right.
Albuquerque seems to be listening too much to the Trump diatribes. He says the bus drivers are trying to blackmail him to get a higher salary. He has forgotten that the bus drivers are his employees/partners and that he is responsible for their wellbeing . Now, has he hasn’t relented to their demands, they might strike on July 20, the day many bus drivers are needed to carry up the PSD fans to the Chao da Lagoa party…
There are protest in Venice against the Bezos event, people are starting to protest against the rich people.
IN East Germany, there was a “schwarzer Kanal”,a satire broadcast tolerated by the regime, criticizing the West German lifestyle. (the Eats German still coveted the West German achievements.)
“Dinner for One” a satire on an very nice old British lady, famous in Germany, wasn’t even known in the UK until recently although the sketch plays in the UK. In the UK, a lot of the life circumstances remained unchanged, seen from outside, that is bad news. The UK has a lot of artists, and many good musicians and movies come from there. But life is the UK seems to be stagnant. Class is still a system the average Briton accepts as a given.
We also spoke about the universities. In the UK, education is a good product, sold to foreigners (around 70% of the student body is from abroad.)
Universities are places of innovation, scientific advances, and networking. A title obtained from Oxford or Cambridge is a sound base for a successful career in life. Trump is destroying this system in the US.
K. spoke of her two granddaughters. One is growing up in the US and at five years, under pressure to succeed in school. The other one is growing up in Hamburg, and at this age, is allowed to have a more playful time. Her parents say that the learning of the alphabet etc. will come along in due time.
Youngsters are growing up in a more cosmopolitan ways, automatically with several languages, they move around in the world with more ease and are tolerant of others. Chinese students are often sent abroad by their parents, to a get a good education and maybe, stay abroad to have a better lifestyle than in China. Or they may be pressured to return there and use their education for the homeland.
The US may fall apart soon, in the Western + Eastern seaboard states, and the middle which is pro-Trump. Sad…
Trump wants to have his faced added to Mount Rushmore. Question: will he want them to remove the other faces first??
The résumé. Each of of us has to decide wether to deliberately look on the bright side or to be led by bad news to a negative view of the world.
The Guardian has The Upside:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/the-upside
The SPIEGEL has a regular newsletter with good news:
https://www.spiegel.de/thema/alles-gute-vom-spiegel/
Ursula
151 Madeira Consorcio meeting 24.5.2025
May 26, 2025 at 2:18 pm | Posted in Posts | Leave a commentTags: Consorcio, Madeira, pendemic, simon sinek
We met with in the Gallery and saw this video:
a TED talk with Simon Sinek, a motivational speaker (https://www.ted.com/speakers/simon_sinek)
The conversation took place three years ago during the Pandemic. Sinek is concerned with the public mental health:
- After a difficult event, we may all experience a trauma or depression later, the speaker warned about that during the pandemic.
- Friendships which were established before an event, can help during the event, but they cannot be built up in the difficult time.
- People talked to each other more on the phone during the Pandemic, some children (but not all) may have received more attention from their parents due to home office.
His tips:
- Call you friends and, as a boss, your team members, and ask “Are you ok?”
- People who are grieving a loss: “How are you today?”
- If you know that somebody is not ok, don’t pose a question but make a statement “Something is wrong”, “You are not ok” to get them to talk
What is your WHY in your life?
Are your friends (but not your partner or family members) “What is it you like about me?” “Why are we friends?” They won’t know how to answer (a brain thing); in the end they will describe how they feel in your presence.
The discussion:
The work “friend” has been so abused by Facebook (U: “Foolbook”, “Fluffbook”, “F…book”) that we cannot really use it any more.
Helping others, is the best strategy, to have purpose in life.
Suddenly in the pandemic, people approached others and even strangers, to help them with shopping, and provided disinfectant and home-made masks. The positive side in people showed up. Europeans try to help the Ukraine; many small initiatives send goods, generators and even firemen trucks there.
There is a psychologic trait called “inertia bias” that prevents people from helping others, e.g. if someone is attacked on the street, the bystanders do not know how to deal with a new, unexpected event and remain passive. They cannot even bring themselves to call the police. On the internet, abusive behaviour is not challenged because they fear the shitstorm effect. They are afraid of repercussions. Biases are an important factor, why/when we are blocked to do the right thing.
Some doctors on the Island have forgotten why they went into the profession. They are in for the money, not to help the patients. We, the patients, know whom we are talking about…
150 Madeira Consorcio meeting 12.4.2025
Apr 14, 2025 at 3:28 pm | Posted in Posts | Leave a commentTags: afd, broken windows, chega, consorcfio, Funchal, germany, Madeira, new york, Portugal, Think Tank, trump
We met with a small group in the Gallery and saw this video:
The author wrote about the effect the “broken windows” theory had on the descent of the crime rate in New York City in the 1990’s
Due to “Stop & Frisk” (mainly on black men), the NY police claimed that crime had gone down by 2013. The author said tat by 2019, NY City was deemed to be as safe as Paris. The author, who had written accordingly before, changed his opinion and said in the talk that the NY crime wave was an “epidemic” and as such, died down as any mass disease would do. Crime is being perpetrated by black and white people alike.
Cl. wanted us to see the video because he is aware that we need to talk to each other better, also to people who have a different background and/or opinion as ours, such as AfD in Germany or “Chega” in Portugal. We should meet opponents and talk to them
U. said that conversation is usually on a rational level but that people with extreme opinions base their stance on emotions such as fear of loss (job, money, status). This way, such conversations may be fruitless. Cl. said that we should talk to them first on other issues and then move to the opinions that they have.
We then spoke about the situation in the US, on how democrats etc. could do damage control and get things back on track.
U. said that the Americans are, after 300 years of democracy, on a learning curve and need to experience another way of government. (The Brexit consequences are the learning curve for the UK.) They – and the Europeans – will see that autocrats (Trump, Meloni, Erdogan, Putin, Orban) are bad rulers because they are just out for money and power. Populations are being manipulated by creating fear of loss. Albuquerque is using the same technique to remain in power.
AfD is strong in the “old” East Germany, they lost the old system which they knew how to deal with. The old regime created a depression for the people, and they obeyed..
Some of us are optimistic that the US will come out of this after seeing how the autocrats are bad for the country. There is already resistance forming in the US. Canada is willing to defend itself and will accept many US citizens now; this may be good for Canada
We all were anonymous in declaring, that our member K., an American citizen, is highly valued by us!
What can we do?
Europeans are opting out from buying US products; any citizen can do this. American cars, we agreed, are of bad quality, so we would never buy an American car anyway. The US tariffs: Trump is trying to get other countries to pay for the American debt.
If we do not need the technology for business purposes, we can try to eliminate US technology from our PCs and Smartphones. We do not need to travel as tourists to the US now. The Tourist Immigration process was bad enough decades ago, now the behaviour of the Immigration agents is reportedly downright threatening. Who needs this?
A bet here: Trump will do the same thing Argentina* did: declare the State’s debt in the hands of other countries to be null and void, in order to get rid of the enormous debt the US has in the world. Just a thought…
*Argentina: Under Kirchner, Argentina restructured its defaulted debt with an unprecedented discount of about 70% on most bonds. The government of Argentina defaulted on 22 May 2020 by failing to pay a $500 million bill by its due date to its creditors. Negotiations for the restructuring of $66 billion of its debt continue. (Wikipedia)
149 Madeira Consorcio Excursion 28.2.2025
Mar 5, 2025 at 12:24 pm | Posted in Posts | Leave a commentTags: cheese, Madeira, santo queijo, visit
We met with a small group at the production facility of “Santo Queijo” (in Santo da Serra), our only professional dairy place on the island (https://www.santoqueijo.com/).
We entered the factory through a “clean” room where we had to wash hands and donned garb as in a clinic, from top to toe (see foto).
Santo Queijo is a family owned company in third generation. João Luis and Sonia gave us a tour through the facility.
The machinery they have in the place is impressive, and cleaning is very extensive at the end of a work day (6 days a week). The factory was enlarged some years ago, due to the success of the products, and state subsidies were used to acquire the high tech equipment.
Santo Queijo collects around 4000l milk per day, with their own milk trucks, from three farmers in Canico, Gaula and S. Vicente. The milk is coagulated and acidic enzymes turn it into cheese with casein. They produce curd, fresh cheese, and other types, for salads, baking and frying as kind of “halomi” (Greek cheese), all of them very tasty! (The whey is a delicacy for farm animals.)
The cheese is also used to produce frozen cheese rolls, with fresh cheese, chicken and spinach “fingers” which the clients can buy in the supermarkets and bake at home in a deep fryer or air fryer (less fatty). Desserts are made of curd with strawberry, maracuja or caramel sauce. All products are more expensive, because the production depends a lot on manual work. All workers are with the companies for a long time. They have health checks at regular intervals.
Sonia, in her laboratory, checks the arriving milk for cow diseases (in which case the milk needs to be pasteurized or destroyed) and makes sure that the pasteurization is complete, so that the products are safe (raw milk is not sold). Madeira is far away and well isolated from any diseases that cows can catch in other environments.
Santo Queijo could process more milk, produce more and sell more products; the demand is there. They are planning to start their own cow pasture/farm but regulations are very strict (as on the mainland).
We then had a product tasting in the brand-new “Taste House”, it was all delicious. Some of us are fans of the products already, we’ll spread the word, and maybe we’ll get an air-fryer for the deep fried products…
148 Madeira Consorcio Meeting 18.1.2025
Jan 19, 2025 at 11:53 am | Posted in Posts | Leave a commentTags: AGI, AI, Consorcio, Ilya Sutskever, Madeira
We met in the Gallery and saw a Guardian video about “Artificial General Intelligence:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/video/2023/nov/02/ilya-the-ai-scientist-shaping-the-world
The interviewed person, Ilya Sutskever, is one of the creators of AI.
He said that false messages and fraudulent content will become much more common.
BBC had to retract a news item because it was based it on a fake new item from the AI-based “Apple Intelligence” blog:
Ilya had a good analogy: what if AGI will treat us like we are treating animals, even pets? Would we be ok with it? Humans may become insignificant.
On the other hand, humans do not need to have AI to mistreat other humans. One reason why Greenlanders don’t like the Danes is that decades ago, island school girls were fitted with UID devices to keep them from getting pregnant. The population of Greenland has therefore not grown on a normal level.
The question came up: Will AGI be dealing like a human being, will it have empathy, and will that be a kind of empathy that humans have? Can it produce life?
Terry Pratchett (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Pratchett) wrote about the problem of AI morals in this books decades ago
The paper clip story shows how AI can get out of bounds:
https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/ai-and-paperclip-problem
Apparently, AI has already killed people, https://123top.ai/has-ai-killed-people/
The American military is certainly doing a lot of research to use AI and AGI for their purposes. People like Trump and Musk are promoting these technologies.
In engineering and medicine, AI is a useful tool to aid humanity.
More and more, robots will aid humans (in the airport of Stockholm, C. had the first experience), even if in the beginning, humans have to spend a lot of time supervising tasks.
AI is getting better. Google Translate (Deepl is also good) has improved its translation tool recently.
AI and AGI development is decentralized, nobody has it under control. In the end, it will be used to make money for some, and not for others.
Humans have to learn to distrust any message or SMS (No, Brad Pitt is NOT interested in you!)
AGI development (opening Pandora’s box) will be directed to become more “human” by its creators, on one hand,to help, but in the hand of the wrong people, it will be used to manipulate the masses.
What about resistance to this development?
Older people (like us) complain about things that do not work, we are thinking of how we can defend ourselves against evil AI. Youngsters try to set up things via an App, and if it does not work, they simply abandon the effort. Bureaucracy might bite them in the behind later…
The outlook is not good, Wars seem to increase (warlike conflicts have actually decreased), and people like Trump come into power. The antidote will be our growing knowledge that we are one village and that we need to stick together, to deflect attempts to divide humanity.
Note: look how much information Ursula obtained for this report by simply looking it up on the internet…
147 Madeira Consorcio Meeting 23.11.2024
Nov 24, 2024 at 4:12 pm | Posted in Posts | Leave a commentTags: connunity, Consorcio, honeydew, living, Madeira
We met in the Gallery and saw a Guardian video about “Honeydew“ communal living in Italy:
A difficult topic for some of us because it is a bit woo-woo. The community has great plans for a harmonious living community. But someone had to fund the project and without good funding, such projects are only available for a few well-off people who want to flee the “regular” life and give their children a better lifestyle in harmony with nature. This place attracts, apparently, many “tourists” who do not intend to stay longer. Misfits may come as well, or even lead such a community and exploit the members.
Living communities are not automatically a cult. Communal living becomes more difficult when the members stay longer and rub against each other in regards to working chores/hours etc.
We had two similar attempts to create living communities on Madeira, one by Jürgen Schmidt, a German city planner.
https://arttists-villages.blogspot.com, not going ahead.
“Lua Cheia” is another effort, (Rui Vieira of Biologos knows about it) but both did not come to fruition because of lack of funds.
Casa da Semente (situated in Quinta da Sta. Luzia) is modelled on Montessori, but the Government did not support the salary of 1,5 teachers, so the school-after-school project is also not working anymore.
”Escola Normal” was mentioned, here is more info:
https://www.artmadeira.org/post/escola-normal-a-collective-transforming-madeira-s-cultural-scene
We then deviated from the topic – all was said – briefly to AI which according to rumours, threatens to become “live” soon, and may then dominate humans.
We also spoke about a ferry for Madeira. The old connection was advantageous for small businesses which circumvented the Sousa empire and its high transport prices. Madeira passengers loved the ferry. But there is fear that with a new ferry connection, the island could be flooded by “mobile homes” and many more tourists who disrespect nature. The ecological footprint would be better but might only replace 2 flights a week from the continent.
There a plans for a “Macaronesia Ferry”, linking Cape Verdes Islands, Canaries, and Madeira/P. Santo with the Azores, without including the mainland.
144 Madeira Consorcio Meeting 22.6.2024
Jun 23, 2024 at 2:53 pm | Posted in Posts | Leave a commentTags: brick, Consorcio, heat battery, john o'donnell, Madeira, madeira consorcio, ted
We met in the Gallery as usual and saw an uplifting Talk on new ways to store electricity as heat: “Can a simple brick be the next great battery?”
The Speaker (https://www.ted.com/speakers/john_o_donnell) introduced his company’s idea to store electricity in form of bricks and as heat. This could help to de-carbonize the industry which is responsible for about a quarter of CO2 emissions.
The group was a bit sceptical about the bricks (not like in construction work, strangely shaped and in sealed containers). If and once oil producers and other big industries get the idea that they can make money with this new way of energy storage, and switch from fossil fuels, this would be very positive for the environment and humankind’s survival.
There is also an interesting Spiegel article this week (“The fight for clean energy”) by a German reporter that we are on a good way to lower CO2 emission a great deal (hydropower, geothermal energy, biomass, with wave and current power plants, with green hydrogen, with e- and recycled fuels). Many such initiatives are not being seen and reported on, but they exist.
We also talked about our non-existing ferry and the political cha-cha going on behind the curtains, and decided to go to dinner early.
143 Madeira Consorcio Excursion 11.05.2024
May 12, 2024 at 3:48 pm | Posted in Posts | Leave a commentTags: doctor, eye, Funchal, IOMT, Madeira, munoz, oftalmologico, trindade
We visited the Instituto Oftalmologico Muñoz Trindade IOMT (https://www.facebook.com/iomt.pt/) clinic in Funchal, situated at the back of the LaVie/Plaza.
Drs. Nuno Silva (from the Azores) and Fabio Trindade (Madeira) showed us the installations and the equipment they have. With altogether four doctors working there, they now pay off a (probably big) loan to a bank for the acquisition of the state-of-the-art equipment for diagnostics and treatments. Each doctor covers a speciality in their field. For problems based on other issues such as genetics, a specialized colleague visits from the continent on a regular basis.
They have a nice team (two of us are patients there) and patients are called up by name, not by numbers.
Diagnostic: The equipment enables them to take entire photos of the retina at a glance – just look into the machine and the photo is ready. Eye pressure measurements are just as simple, the machine gives of whiff of air onto the eye. – no stress for the patient.
Treatment: The doctors perform cataract operations in Clinica da Sé (apparently very well equipped) and in the Hospital Particular, and they can do laser treatments for various eye problems in their clinic. They treat glaucoma, and macular degeneration and can also help with dry-eye-symptom. A young patient from the UK with Diabetes 1 and the resulting eye problems, who was not treated adequately in the NHS; was helped by them so that the girl can now see a bit again.
Why do we get bad eyes? The simple answer, Dr. Fábio said, is age. Our eyes are not “designed” for longevity, they deteriorate. So, all of us may get problems with the vision. If an oncoming disease is diagnosed early, a good treatment can avoid bigger issues.
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